No emissions reductions targets were met by the end of the United Nations summit on climate change, but five countries—the U.S., China, India, Brazil, and South Africa—have agreed to list the actions they will take to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by specific amounts and have agreed to a cap on worldwide temperature increases at no more than 2 degrees. But world leaders dropped their goal of creating a legally-binding treaty before the end of 2010, so enforcement of their agreement is unlikely. The major positive outcome for developing nations is the $30 billion of climate aid richer nations have promised to provide over the next three years, and $100 billion a year from 2020. Countries have until February 1 to announce emissions targets, though it's unlikely any of them will. “We need to strive for a more binding agreement over time,” Obama said at a press conference after the deal was forged.  “The most important thing I think we can do…is to build some trust between the developed and developing countries.”

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid spent his Friday in a marathon negotiating session with Sen. Ben Nelson, the last Democratic holdout to the health-care reform bill. But Nelson emerged from the meeting at 8 p.m. and told reporters there's "no deal" yet on the bill, though he says he isn't ruling out the possibility that he will vote for the bill. Nelson said Reid’s Saturday-morning deadline does not encourage him to speed up his decision. He is seeking stronger language about financing of abortions and Medicaid obligations for his state. In order to pass the bill by Christmas Eve, Reid will need a deal in place by morning so that the reading of the full amendment that Republicans are expected to demand can end by 11:59 p.m. Saturday. Reid needs a full day between ending debate on the amendment and when the Senate votes on the full bill Monday morning, Politico reports. If the amendment is introduced Saturday, Reid will most likely have 60 votes to break a potential Republican filibuster next week.

Iranian soldiers have crossed into a disputed southern oilfield, according to an Iraqi senior official. Despite previously denying the reports, Deputy Interior Minister Ahmed Ali al-Khafaji said the invasion at the Fakka oilfield, southeast of Baghdad, was the latest in a series this week. Khafaji told Reuters that at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, 11 Iranian soldiers raised their country’s flag at the oil well, where they allegedly remain. Tehran did not make any official statements about the incident, which caused oil prices to rise after it was first reported on al-Arabiya television. According to Khafaji, Iran and Iraq’s respective oil ministers reached an agreement to resolve the disputed land issue diplomatically, saying they had taken no military action against the Iranian soldiers. An anonymous Iraqi security source in the province in which the Fakka oilfield is location confirmed the Iranian troops’ entrance, but said they withdrew after several hours. A source from the Iranian embassy in Baghdad, however, said he had no information about the alleged incursion, adding, “If such a thing had happened, they would have told us.”

It appears top American military officers may have been able to prevent Iraqi insurgents from hacking U.S. drones, considering they reportedly discussed the possibility in 2004. Members of the Pentagon's Joint Chiefs of Staff deliberated about the possible threat in both 2004 and 2005, according to two officers involved with the matter. Though they reportedly weren't concerned about interception from Iraq or Afghanistan, deeming their militants not technically complex, they were worried about Russia or China manipulating the video to hide certain military movements. According to The Wall Street Journal, senior Joint Chiefs staff members largely dismissed the concerns, instead focusing their attention on more immediate battlefield dangers.

Weather reports predict more than a foot of snow from Virginia to the New York area, threatening travelers and retailers in what is normally a big shopping day. The storm first hit Alabama, Georgia, and Florida with heavy rainfall, but the big weather is supposed to hit the East Coast Saturday afternoon, with more than a foot of snow forecast for New York City. "A snowstorm like this is not good news," said weather researcher Scott Burnhardt. "This is 'Super Saturday,' we're talking about well over $1 billion traded on this day." Delta Airlines has also canceled all Saturday flights from Philadelphia, Richmond, Va., and Washington, and a government forecaster predicted the I-95 will "be a mess." The governor of Virginia has already declared a state of emergency.

Hope you didn’t ask for health-care reform for Christmas: New obstacles make it unlikely that the Democrats will meet their goal of passing legislation before Christmas Eve. Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska rejected compromise abortion language in the bill and said he does not think the bill can pass by Christmas. Majority Leader Harry Reid, meanwhile, still has no legislative text or cost analysis to release. And the Republicans are announcing now that they’re going to do everything they can to slow the bill’s progress, including trying to require lengthy amendments to be read aloud on the Senate floor. Rumor has it Reid might schedule the vote for 7 p.m. on Christmas Eve if Republicans continue to prolong the debate.

Voters are not keen on the idea of health-insurance mandates without a public option or Medicare expansion, according to a new survey conducted by Research 2000 for the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and Democracy for America. The poll shows only 33 percent of likely voters prefer a health-care bill without expansion of Medicare or a public-health insurance option. With those two ideas included, however, 58 percent of people surveyed support the idea. "This poll shows voters in full-blown revolt against the Senate bill," said PCCC's co-founder. "This will be a disaster of epic proportions for Democrats in 2010 if it's not fixed—fast." Another recent PCCC and DFA poll found that a third of Democrats are less likely to vote in 2010 if the health-care bill does not include a public option.

The cast may be packed with award-winners, but reviews for Nine are far from glowing. The highly anticipated adaptation of the musical—produced by the Weinstein Company and directed by Chicago’s Rob Marshall—hits theaters this weekend. But critics are taking the film to task for being what the Village Voice calls “the celluloid equivalent of a 12-car pileup.” Other reviews were just as harsh on the film: USA Today called it “surprisingly vapid,” while The New York Times said that it suffered from “a fatal lack of inspiration,” and that it descends “into vulgar chaos.” The all-star cast, including Penelope Cruz and Kate Hudson, spend much of their time on-screen frolicking in lingerie, which the New York Post’s Lou Lumineck pointed out “more closely resembles a video catalog for Victoria’s Secret” than a movie.

The transition of Citigroup and Wells Fargo & Co. out of the federal bailout program this week has been anything but smooth, with bank officials blaming the Treasury Department for a series of difficulties in the process and a decline in share value. As the Treasury tries to determine a timeline for the companies to pay back federal bailout money, executives and officials have butted heads over how much money each company must raise in order to leave TARP, an argument that intensified this week when Citigroup ran into problems selling its $17 billion in stock and the Treasury had to freeze a plan to sell down its stake in the company. Citigroup higher-ups reportedly blame the government for poor timing and have complained that selling shares from Wells Fargo and Citigroup at the same time will lower demand for their company’s shares.

The iron sign bearing the Nazi slogan "Arbeit Macht Frei," the German words for "Work Sets You Free," vanished from the former Auschwitz death camp Thursday night between 3:30 a.m. and 5 a.m. Avner Shalev, the head of the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial institute in Jerusalem blames neo-Nazis. “We don’t know the identity of the perpetrators but I assume they are neo-Nazis,” he said. He also said the act "constitutes a true declaration of war." Recovery of the sign is seen as "a matter of national honor," and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said hunting down the thieves is "an absolute priority." The sign, which marked the main entrance to the former Nazi death camp in Poland where more than 1 million people died during World War II, had been unscrewed on one side and pulled off on the other.

When the U.S. invaded Iraq in March 2003, the Pentagon hired 8,000 interpreters from Titan Corp., a San Diego defense contractor. At a $12,000-a-year salary, these interpreters have braved roadside bombs and sniper fire, and some have also been the subjects of torture and assassination because the insurgency views them as collaborators. Between March 2003 and 2008, nearly 360 translators employed by Titan (or its successor company) have been killed, and approximately 1,200 were injured. But despite the service these individuals are providing the U.S., they are not seeing many benefits—specifically disability benefits. An investigation by the Los Angeles Times and ProPublica revealed that the insurance program funded by American taxpayers has "fallen painfully short of what was promised." Injured translators have faced delayed or denied claims by insurers for disability payments and death benefits, have been sent to Jordan for medical treatment, and have been pressured to accept lump-sum settlements instead of receiving a stream of lifetime benefits. Benefits only apply in translators’ home countries. American International Group Inc., the main provider of insurance, declined to respond to the investigation.

Sue Lowden is a favorite among those who want to give Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid a run for his money in the 2010 campaign, and she certainly has the funds to back it up. Lowden's financial-disclosure report filed with the Senate Office of Public Records shows she owns shared valued at more than $50 million in Archon Corp., a Las Vegas investment and gaming company. That makes her capable of financially backing her own campaign, though she says she does not want to dip into personal funds. Despite the many millionaires up against Reid, Lowden's holdings will put her at the top, reports The Associated Press. Lowden has already resigned as chairwoman of the Nevada Republican Party in preparation for the race.

Tiger Woods was all smiles for his August 2007 Men’s Fitness cover, reportedly because his posing for the American Media Inc. publication prevented a scandalous photo leak. In 2007, Woods gave a rare, in-depth interview to the magazine, granting the publication access to his private life. It turns out that Woods had cut a deal with American Media Inc., which owns both Men’s Fitness and The National Enquirer, agreeing to do the cover story for the former if the latter would kill its story and accompanying photos that reportedly showed Woods with another woman, allegedly the Florida watress Mindy Lawton. Though American Media denies the reports and Woods’ agent declined to comment on the allegations, former AMI employees confirmed the deal.

After a summer and subsequent months of financial disputes, 22-year-old girlfriends, and uncomfortable television appearances, Jon and Kate Gosselin’s divorce is final. Judge Arthur Tilson signed the documents legally separating the two previously bound by their now nonexistent show Jon & Kate Plus 8 Friday after the arbitrator ruled on how their property is to be split up. The couple filed for divorce in June, shortly after their tenth wedding anniversary, and continued publicly feuding thereafter. On Thursday, MSNBC reported one of the final points of contention regarding the divorce was allegedly Jon’s .38 pistol that he’d been seen shooting at their Pennsylvania home. A judge reportedly issued a court order banning the gun from the property Thursday saying that it is not allowed in the house with their eight children.

GM says it will begin a "wind-down" of Saab operations as the company has failed to find a buyer for the Swedish car brand since January. Talks with Spyker, a Dutch specialty car maker, were in the works, but GM Europe boss Nick Reilly recently announced that the two companies were not able to reach an agreement. Saab has not made a profit since 2001, and has not replaced its 9-5 model (which has been on the market for over a decade), while most companies release new models every five or six years. The Swedish government said it will not step in to save Saab. Saab employs 3,400 people in Sweden, and GM says approximately 8,000 people will "suffer indirectly” from its demise.

The 24-year-old Keira Knightley was so nervous before starting rehearsals for The Misanthrope that she wanted to vomit. She survived: on Thursday night she made her stage debut in London's West End. Yet the question, according to The Times of London, is not whether she can act—as one insider crudely put it, "Can the Smile on a Stick hack it?"—but whether hard times in Hollywood are driving screen actors to the stage. As the producer who brought Harry Potter/Daniel Radcliffe to the stage for Equus said, "Twenty years ago if I rang up CAA [the big Hollywood agents] for one of their actors for the stage they would hang up on me," adding "I can do it today and they will take my calls and be considerably politer. They are thinking more about theater."

Washington, D.C. may have a new, non-party crashing power couple: Office of Budget and Management Director Peter Orszag is dating Bianna Golodryga, a financial reporter for ABC News whom some have called "TV's new money honey." The pair has reportedly been dating for a while now (she recently used his office to change into her dress for the Meridian Ball) but have now gone public, holding hands in front of photographers at the White House Hanukkah party. "Their hand-holding at the White House Hanukkah party made it clear they're officially an item," said The Washington Post.

Climate-change talks continued in Copenhagen, with most negotiators expecting to work through the night. Earlier Friday, President Obama urged leaders of 193 countries to accept an agreement, even one that he acknowledged was far from perfect. "We are running short on time, and at this point the question is whether we will move forward together or split apart, whether we prefer posturing to action," Obama said, arguing that all major economies should agree to national actions to reduce emissions and a system of evaluating whether countries are keeping their promises. After the speech, Obama met with China's Wen Jiabao for nearly an hour, a development the White House called a "step forward." The U.S. and China may hold the key to striking an agreement.

A Paris court convicted Google of copyright infringement in a suit over online publication of French books on Friday. The web giant has been ordered to pay $430,000 in damages and interest to French publisher La Martiniere, as well as $14,400 per day until all the extracts of the French books have been pulled from its online database. Google's plan to scan the world's books and place them online has drawn the ire of publishers and libraries across the U.S. and Europe.

The Salahis had one heck of an audition tape, and now the Bravo network may be thinking of giving the White House party crashers their own reality show. NBC Universal, which owns Bravo, issued an online survey that asked consumers about the Salahis. The survey included asked whether giving Michaele and Tareq a show would "negatively influence" opinions about a network, whether Michaele Salahi is "great eye candy," and whether audiences thought the pair would make great “love to hate” characters on a reality show. In January, the couple is set to answer a subpoena related to crashing Obama's first state dinner.

Tiger Woods is learning that, in the immortal words of Neil Sedaka, breaking up is hard to do. The New York Post reports that a lonely Tiger has isolated himself from friends. Not even buddy and former NBA star Charles Barkley has been able to get in touch with him. "I've been trying to get to him and can't, it's very frustrating," Barkley said, adding, "Hey man, we love you. If you need anything, pick up the phone." The golf star reportedly spends his days eating cereal and watching cartoons, and his nights hitting golf balls, leading to concern among his friends "that he is dealing with the situation in a very unhealthy way," according to an unnamed source. Woods has reason to worry. His wife, Elin Nordegren, is intent on divorce and has reportedly consulted top Hollywood divorce lawyer Sorrell Trope. British bookmaker William Hill is already taking bets on how much of Woods' $1 billion fortune Nordegren will get, offering 25-1 odds that she'll receive more than $500 million in the divorce settlement, 6-4 odds for less than $100 million, and 1-2 odds for between $100 million and $500 million.

Hopefully they'll settle this before your boss sees your profile: Ten privacy and consumer groups have filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission against Facebook, claiming the site's recent privacy-setting changes are illegal. Last week, the popular online social network began offering its 350 million members more control over their privacy settings, but default settings would essentially allow anyone to see their profiles. According to a statement released by the Electronic Privacy Information Center, nine groups and EPIC itself are asking the FTC to investigate Facebook's privacy-policy modifications, which they say violate federal consumer-protection law, and require the company to restore its original privacy safeguards. EPIC says Facebook "should not be allowed to turn down the privacy dial on so many American consumers." In response to the claim, a Facebook spokesperson said the company discussed the new program with the FTC before it launched, adding "We're disappointed that EPIC has chosen to share their concerns with the FTC while refusing to talk to us about them."

House Minority Leader John Boehner expressed confidence Thursday that he and his party could block the administration's proposed transfer of prisoners—as part of a plan to shut down Guantanamo—from the unpopular Cuban detention center to a prison outside of Chicago. Explaining there were at least two pieces of legislation that would need to pass through Congress for the transfer to be approved, Boehner said "I wouldn't want to be on when those two pieces of legislation will pass, if ever." The Obama administration reiterated its support for the move, calling Guantanamo Bay a "deadly recruiting tool for al Qaeda" and saying it would close the detention center as promised.

Despite the supposed good news that Citigroup and Wells Fargo planned to leave the shelter of TARP this week, the two banking giants' stock sales led to infighting and finger-pointing between bank executives, regulators, and federal officials over the financial health of the institutions and where blame lies for Citigroup's anemic performance in its Wednesday sale. Citigroup Vice Chairman Ned Kelly made an angry call late Monday to the Treasury Department, expressing frustration with the government's willingness to let Wells Fargo sell their stocks Tuesday and saying that the sale would lower demand for Citigroup stocks. Treasury officials said Citigroup dug its own grave, and its ambitious plan for the Wednesday sale was their own doing.

John Edwards may never have admitted to father a child with Rielle Hunter, but now there are legal documents to tell us what we all knew already: John Edwards is (probably) the father of Frances Quinn Hunter. The documents stem from a legal battle between Edwards and Hunter and name “custody,” “parenting time,” and “child support” as issues in the dispute. Frances, the docs say, is a “child … from this relationship.” Hunter wants more than $17,000 a month from Edwards.

In a tactical move designed to push a Senate vote on health-care legislation past Christmas, Republican lawmakers attempted to filibuster a major spending bill that funds the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The move, which came in the early hours of Friday morning, was ironic given that Republican lawmakers often accused Democratic lawmakers of jeopardizing troops by voting against funding the wars in previous years. "They are prepared to jeopardize funding for troops at war," Senate Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) told the Washington Post. "If Democrats did that, there would be cries of treason." Hoping to quickly end the filibuster, Democrats secured the vote of antiwar liberal Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) in order to overcome the GOP's obstructionist tactics.

A spate of recent attacks and plots involving Muslim Americans, from the Ft. Hood killings to an alleged bomb plot by a New York City coffee vendor, have raised fears of homegrown terrorism inspired by Islamic extremists. But Muslim religious leaders say that the incidents have led law enforcement to go too far in investigating their community, leading to a breakdown in cooperation.  A number of court cases charge the FBI with threatening to intervene in green-card applications unless immigrants agree to spy on relatives overseas, souring relations with the bureau. “There is a sense that law enforcement is viewing our communities not as partners but as objects of suspicion,” Ingrid Mattson, president of the Islamic Society of North America, told the New York Times “A lot of people are really, really alarmed about this.”

The housing crisis may not be over. According to the Los Angeles Times, 1.7 million homes headed for sale due to foreclosure or delinquency and could dampen progress toward the recovery of the housing market. A variety of measures, including moratoriums on foreclosures by major lenders and federal initiatives to help keep people in their houses with affordable mortgage payments, has increased the so-called shadow market of properties that are not included in official tallies by 55 percent over the previous year. It's unclear what effect these properties will have on the market if lenders sell them in 2010. It's possible that lenders concerned with potential losses will slow the rate of repossessions to avoid depressing the market, or that government efforts might not be able to keep pace with defaults caused by unemployment and depressed home values. As a senior economist for First American put it, "Our forecast is that [home] prices will drop."

A 24-year old man, his father, and his grandfather, are dead, along with a suspected gunman in a brutal shootout in Manhattan. Another woman was wounded. The crime took place in the apartment on the Upper West Side, one of the city's priciest and safest neighborhoods. According to police, the grandfather, 87-year-old Fernando Gonzales, was found shot in a bathroom; the father, Carlos Rodriguez Sr., and son, Carlos Rodriguez Jr., in a bedroom; and the suspected killer, 44-year-old Hector Quinones, fell to his death from the third-floor fire escape. The motive is not yet clear, but police say that they're investigating whether drugs were involved.

Just when the Democratic caucus pulled Lieberman back in, another dissenter has flown the coop: Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson has rejected an abortion compromise in the health-care bill and is threatening to filibuster, calling into question whether the Senate can pass the bill before the Dems' self-imposed Christmas deadline. Meanwhile, the AFL-CIO joined the SEIU in saying it won’t support the bill without “substantial changes”—namely, a public option, an employer mandate, and an elimination of a tax on so-called Cadillac plans. Bill Clinton, on the other hand, is urging passage of the bill: “Our only responsible choice is the path of action. Does this bill read exactly how I would write it? No. Does it contain everything everyone wants? Of course not. But America can't afford to let the perfect be the enemy of the good.”

President Bush has remained quiet since leaving office, but Democrats may not let him depart so easily. According to Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), who heads the Democrats' campaign committee in the House, the party plans to feature the previous administration front and center in an effort win over voters. "The Republican Party in Washington today is no different than the Republican Party that ran the Congress before," Van Hollen told Talking Points Memo. Democrats are hoping that the economy will be on the upswing by the midterm election, allowing them to use the current GOP obstructionism against them to show that they didn't participate in the turnaround. "The big question will be who was on your side during this very difficult period of time," he said.