The same officials reported major progress in U.N.consultations on North Korean firms and individuals to be sanctioned under Resolution 1874, saying Pyongyang's recent behavior has left it almost completely isolated in the world community.

VOA: standard.2009.07.15

He vetoed first an American resolution calling on both belligerents to withdraw and on other states to refrain from using or threatening force in the area, and then a Russian resolution which left out the second part of the exhortation.

ECONOMIST: Splenetic Isolation | The

But there is so little common ground left in Washington for compromise that resolution looks unlikely before January.

FORBES: Defense Industry Facing Biggest Funding Cut In 60 Years Next January

The chaotic resolution of the fiscal cliff left Republicans even more battered.

NEWYORKER: The House of Pain