Three years into the Berlusconi government, there has been no pension reform, limited debt reduction, only modest privatisation and no growth-inducing jolts on either the demand or the supply side.

ECONOMIST: Italian politics

Netanyahu said at a closed-door Knesset committee meeting that Israel would agree only to a partial reduction of housing construction and for a limited time, not the year the United States would like, said a government official who was not authorized to speak about the meeting and did not want to be identified.

CNN: Netanyahu rules out freeze on Israeli settlements, source says

Earlier in the week, Netanyahu said in a closed-door Knesset committee meeting that Israel would agree only to a partial reduction of housing construction and for a limited time, not the year the United States would like, said a government official who did not want to be identified because he was not authorized to speak about the meeting.

CNN: U.S. envoy struggles to renew Mideast talks

Given that from the outset the accord was criticized by environmental groups for setting its greenhouse gas reduction targets way too low, however, the fact that even the limited targets it did impose are now unlikely to be met suggest that, while not an absolute failure, the Kyoto Protocol is still far from being a success.

CNN: Kyoto: The next generation

This past October, CMS began requiring hospitals to cut readmissions within 30 days of discharge or face a reduction in Medicare payments, but Amarasingham started long before tinkering with algorithms that could help hospitals with limited resources.

FORBES: Can Algorithms Save Parkland Hospital?

In particular, Obama called for Congress to come back after Christmas and work with him on a limited agreement to prevent tax hikes on the middle class, extend unemployment insurance and set a framework for future deficit reduction steps.

CNN: Down to the fiscal cliff wire, with no solution in sight