Four people were discovered dead Saturday inside a suburban Denver home following a barricade hostage situation, which drew in a team of 40 officers. One woman reportedly escaped the townhome, although it is unclear whether or not she sustained injuries. Officials first arrived on the scene close to 3 a.m. Saturday following reports that shots had been fired inside the home. The "armed and dangerous" man is reported to be among the deceased. The identities of the victims have yet to be released. 

John C. Kiriakou is making history, but probably not in the way he'd hoped. On Jan. 25, the former CIA operative will become the first agent to face prison for a classified leak to the news, a crime punishable by 30 months in jail. Kiriakou’s fatal miscalculation came in the form of an agent’s name that he disclosed to a reporter via email. “If I’d known the guy was still undercover,” Kiriakou said, “I would never have mentioned him.” The violation is the first (known) one of its kind, breaking 1982’s Intelligence Identities Protection Act. Over the course of six decades, he is the only CIA operative who has been caught leaking classified information to the news. Kiriakou spent many of his 15 years in the agency undercover chasing al Qaeda and other terrorist groups.

The father of the young woman whose rape and murder has incited protests across India says he wants her name revealed to the public. "We want the world to know her real name," her father, who has called for legislation on sex crimes to be named in his daughter's honor, told Britain's Sunday People newspaper. "My daughter didn't do anything wrong, she died while protecting herself. I am proud of her. Revealing her name will give courage to other women who have survived these attacks. They will find strength from my daughter." The 23-year-old student died December 28th from her injuries after being gang raped on a bus in New Delhi ten days earlier. Indian authorities have banned the media from revealing her name thus far.

The fiscal-cliff has been averted, the holidays come and gone, and it’s No More Mr. Nice Guy Obama. On Saturday the president berated Congress in a rare primetime radio and Internet address calling Republicans’ unyielding approach to the debt ceiling a “dangerous game.” The president pointed to Republican clashes over national debt in 2011—which ultimately resulted in a downgrading of the country's credit rating—as proof of the severity of their actions. "Our families and our businesses cannot afford that dangerous game again," he said. This week's fiscal cliff deal did not cover the debt ceiling.

Delhi isn't the only city erupting in protests over a rape. Officials in Steubenville, Ohio, have launched a website to keep the facts straight on a controversial rape that's raised questions of a cover-up and launched protests in the small town. Two members of the local high school football team are being charged with raping a young girl. It has been insinuated that officials interested in protecting the school's reputation hid the controversy, which town officials deny. The site, SteubenvilleFacts.org, was created to "present only the facts and provide information on the government of the city, as well as the transparency and the timeline of the evidence," according to the city manager, who added that the site will combat the notion that "everyone in Steubenville is acting or is like the individuals that are involved in the case. That we are a community that is run by football. That is not the case."

The attorney for Lance Armstrong is denying a published report that the legendary cyclist will admit to the doping charges that cost him seven Tour de France titles. Tim Herman told the Associated Press that he has “no knowledge” of Armstrong's plans to confess. “When, and if, Lance has something to say, there won’t be any secret about it,” he said. The New York Times was the first to report his alleged plans to discuss the “sophisticated doping ring” he was rumored to have headed. Armstrong was stripped of all seven Tour de France titles and banned from cycling for life by the USADA.

Alaska may not be the first place that comes to mind when someone mentions tsunamis, but Saturday morning it came close to being the latest coastal area to be struck by one. An earthquake rated at 7.5 struck the state about 60 miles west of the coastal town of Craig around 1 a.m. Friday morning, triggering a tsunami warning that extended all the way up to Vancouver Island, Canada. The area under watch spanned over 700 miles. Luckily, the ocean had other plans and the warning was canceled later Saturday morning.

An awkward situation faced by the Los Angeles Court of Appeal has brought to light an uncomfortable law still on the books. The law, which dates to the 1870s, makes rape by impersonation a crime only if the victim is a married woman. The legislation forced the court to overturn the rape conviction of a man who had sex in a darkened bedroom where a woman—who was sleeping—began resisting upon realizing it wasn't her boyfriend. California's Assembly speaker John A. Pérez announced on Friday that changing the law would be a top priority in the coming legislative session. "We've got to fix this," said Pérez. You think?

The eldest son of Ottavio Missoni, founder of the eponymous Italian fashion brand, disappeared when a small tourist biplane fell off the radar off the coast of Venezuela Friday. The plane, which carried six people, was 10 nautical miles from its takeoff point in Los Roques when it disappeared. The disappearance immediately spurred a search-and-rescue mission by the Venezuelan government. The incident bears creepy similarities to another disappearance five years ago, when a plane of Italians disappeared in the same area on January 4. Missoni, who was spending the holidays at a Venezuelan resort, is the brand's marketing director.

Well folks, it is officially awards season. The National Society of Film Critics has unveiled its picks for the last year in cinema, and picked the end-of-life drama 'Amour' for best picture, best director and best actress awards Saturday. Daniel Day-Lewis got a best actor award for 'Lincoln,' and 'The Master' snagged a best supporting actress award for Amy Adams. Matthew McConaughey was named best supporting actor for his performances in both 'Magic Mike' and 'Bernie.' Oscar pool, anyone?

It's the stuff 'MTV Cribs' dreams are made of. Jay-Z and Beyonce have reportedly dropped a massive $1 million on daughter Blue Ivy Carter's nursery at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. A source revealed details of the space for US Weekly. "Jay rents a luxurious basement suite for $1 million a year....it has an area for Blue filled with toys." The VIP multi-purpose room--the most expensive in the building--is also furnished with a champagne bar and TV screen for adults. The music world's royal couple has spent a great deal of time at the Barclays Center since Jay-Z became minority owner of the Nets. Next up: play room courtside.

The Afghan government released 80 detainees on Friday, part of a continuing effort to assert its sovereignty over the treatment of its prisoners. The mass release precedes Afghani President Hamid Karzai’s visit to Washington. America has long been uneasy with what they consider the premature release of prisoners in Afghanistan. Officials there counter the argument by claiming that detaining suspects without enough evidence is illegal. The rare release—which stemmed from an agreement to transfer control of the Parwan Detention Facility to the Afghan government in March—was televised.

Don't count him out yet. Venezuela’s vice president, Nicolas Maduro, said in an interview Friday that if President Hugo Chavez isn't well enough to take the oath of office on Jan. 10, he can be sworn in later by the Supreme Court, according to the country’s constitution. Opposition leaders were hoping new elections would be called if Chavez could not take the office, but Maduro says since the president is already in power, he can remain and take the oath later. Under the Constitution, a new election will only be held if the president is unable to take the oath, or dies during his first four years in office. On Thursday, Venezuelan officials revealed that Chávez is suffering from a “severe” respiratory infection after undergoing his fourth surgery in the past year and a half.

The Supreme Court agreed on Friday to hear a contentious case on the adoption of Native American children, in which a couple was ordered to return a 27-month-old girl they had raised since birth to her father, since the girl and her father are both Cherokee and the couple is not. The biological father had earlier renounced his parental rights, and the couple had thought they were free to adopt the girl. The case—described as a "human tragedy"—is the result of the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978, which was intended to keep Native American children from being unduly separated from their families and heritage.

Hopefully this will lead to fewer listeria and E. coli outbreaks. The Food and Drug Administration proposed the most sweeping (and long-awaited) food-safety rules in decades Friday—two years after the passage of the Food Safety Modernization Act. The new regulations will require farmers to take new precautions against contamination, so that the organization can prevent contaminated food from hitting grocery shelves, and potentially reduce the estimated 3,000 deaths a year linked to food-borne illness. The FDA is responsible for roughly 80 percent of the food the nation consumes, while the Department of Agriculture is held accountable for contaminated meat, poultry, and some eggs.

The police officers in the Michoacán town of Marcos Castellanos sent a loud, clear, ‘Twisted Sister’-style message Saturday: We’re not going to take it. Nearly the entire force reportedly resigned after being the target of a series of attacks by criminals in the last days of 2012. In total, four officers were killed, five seriously injured, and one kidnapped (his fate is still unknown). The waves of violence, which seem to be the result of rival criminal groups, were enough to convince even the director of police to surrender. Only 11 cops remain to protect the town of 20,000 inhabitants, working in two shifts of five and six.

A pre-trial hearing for the horrific gang-rape case that resulted in the death of a 23-year-old was held in India Saturday amid audible pleas for justice from surrounding protestors. DNA evidence from the clothing of the victim links five suspects to the rape—a sixth is expected to be tried as a juvenile. Possessions stolen from the victim, who died of multiple-organ failure following the ordeal, were also recovered. The five accused—ranging in age from 19 to 35—are being charged with rape, abduction, and murder. A follow-up hearing is set for January 10.

The fallen cycling star may be changing his tune. Lance Armstrong is reportedly considering admitting to doping charges in order to be able to compete again, sources tell The New York Times. After being stripped of his seven Tour de France titles on doping charges, Armstrong has officially cut all ties with Livestrong, the charity he founded 15 years ago while battling testicular cancer. But Armstrong's lawyer is denying the report, for now anyway. Tim Herman, Armstrong’s longtime lawyer, said: “I do not know about that. I suppose anything is possible, for sure. Right now, that’s really not on the table.”