Many foreigners choose South Africa as plastic surgery destination.

U.S.A.

Connecticut-Sandy-Hook-Lawsuit

Outcry over a request for permission to sue the state of Connecticut for millions of dollars in the aftermath of the Newtown shooting prompted a New Haven attorney to at least temporarily withdraw his client's petition, the attorney said Tuesday. "I was getting hundreds of (Facebook) comments" about the potential lawsuit. "So I figured I'd take (the request) off the table for now," said Irving Pinsky, who represents the parents of a 6-year-old survivor of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook elementary school. Last week, Pinsky said in his filing that the state had failed to protect his client from what he described as "foreseeable harm."

Alaska-Drilling-Rig

A Royal Dutch Shell oil drilling barge remained grounded Tuesday on an island off southern Alaska amid a fierce winter storm that hindered recovery efforts, Coast Guard and Alaskan authorities reported.

Maryland-Same-Sex-Marriage

Jim Scales and William Tasker have been a couple for 35 years, but only on Tuesday were they able to legally marry, thanks to Maryland's new same-sex marriage law, which went into effect on New Year's. Seven couples exchanged vows at Baltimore city hall past midnight.

Colorado-Marijuana-Clubs

A small group of New Year's Eve revelers here ditched the traditional champagne toast, lighting up joints instead at a newly opened marijuana club. The members-only Club 64 is the first of its kind to open in Colorado since November when voters approved Amendment 64, which legalized possession of small amounts of marijuana for recreational use.

California-New-Year's-Eve-Shooting

A 22-year-old man was in custody as a suspect in a shooting during a New Year's Eve fireworks show in Sacramento, California, where two people were fatally shot and three were wounded, police said Tuesday.

US-Hannah-Storm-Returns-After-Injury

Less than a month after suffering serious burns in a propane grill accident, sports broadcasting pioneer Hannah Storm returned to TV Tuesday, hosting Southern California's historic Rose Parade.

TRAVEL-Airplane-Collision

2012 ended for 162 passengers on a Spirit Airlines plane with an unexpected bump.

FISCAL CLIFF

POL-Fiscal-Cliff

A last-ditch Senate compromise to avert the fiscal cliff appeared to be in jeopardy with House Republicans slamming the deal negotiated with the White House and demanding more must be done to cut spending.

MONEY-fiscal-cliff-deal-cbo

The fiscal cliff deal passed by the Senate Tuesday morning would increase deficits over the next decade by close to $4 trillion, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

POL-Fiscal-Cliff-5-Things

It's complex, dense, and filled with compromise. And the deal passed by the Senate to avert the "fiscal cliff" might not even become law, depending what actions the House takes. Here are five things to know about the bill that passed the Senate overwhelmingly in the middle of the night.

MONEY-fiscal-cliff-senate-bill

The fiscal cliff compromise passed by the Senate in the early morning hours Tuesday would mute much but not all of the negative economic impact of going over the cliff.