Tuesday Top Stories: 12/7-12/13

Tuesday 12/7:

• (NewsObersver)- Elizabeth Anania Edwards, who became a national figure in her fight against cancer and as a partner in her husband John's political career, died today. She was 61. Edwards spent much of her life as a little-known Raleigh lawyer and mother. But that all changed when her husband, John Edwards, entered politics as a U.S. senator and became a two-time presidential candidate and the Democratic nominee for vice president.
• (HuffPost)- WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was arrested and jailed without bail Tuesday in a sex-crimes investigation, but his organization scarcely missed a beat, releasing a new batch of the secret cables that U.S. officials say are damaging America's security and relations worldwide. A month after dropping out of public view, the 39-year-old Australian surrendered to Scotland Yard to answer a warrant issued for his arrest by Sweden. He is wanted for questioning after two women accused him of having sex with them without a condom and without their consent.

Wednesday 12/8:

• (PioneerPress)- More than a month and 2.1 million recounted ballots after Election Day, Republican Tom Emmer stood outside his Delano home in frigid temperatures this morning and conceded the 2010 governor's race to DFLer Mark Dayton. The concession comes a day after the state Supreme Court issued a ruling that seemed to foreclose any hope Emmer had of overcoming Dayton's nearly 9,000-vote lead heading into an automatic statewide recount, which concluded last week with little change to the overall vote total.
• (HuffPost)- The House on Wednesday rejected a bill that would have adopted sweeping changes in mine safety regulations in response to the explosion that killed 29 West Virginia coal miners in April. The measure would have made it easier to shut down problem mines, increased penalties for serious safety violations and offered more protection for whistle-blowers.

Thursday 12/9:

• (NationalJournal)- In a stunning act of defiance against President Obama, House Democrats said today that they will not take up the tax-cut deal that the White House reached with the GOP earlier this week.In a voice vote that appeared almost unanimous, the Democrats passed a resolution asserting that they are unwilling to vote on the package unless significant changes are made to some of its key components. One of their primary demands is that the issue of tax-rate cuts for middle-income taxpayers be “decoupled” from those for the wealthiest Americans.
• (MSNBC)- A key procedural vote on the bill containing a repeal of the military's Don't Ask Don't Tell policy failed Thursday, likely dealing a final blow to advocates who hoped to overturn the 17-year old ban on gays and lesbians serving openly in the military during this session of Congress.

Friday 12/10:

• (WashPost)- According to the Westboro Baptist Church's Web site, the Kansas church known for its anti-homosexual protests will protest Elizabeth Edwards's funeral in Raleigh, N.C., near the Edenton Street United Methodist Church on Saturday. Elizabeth Edwards died Tuesday from cancer. Westboro's Web site does not say why it has singled out Edwards's funeral, but it was likely protesting Edwards' stance on gay marriage: she once said she was completely comfortable with it.
• (NYT)- President Bill Clinton is to met on Friday with President Obama at the White House for a post-election conversation about moving the agenda forward in a new political environment, a senior Democrat told of the meeting said. The meeting was the first between the two men since the midterm elections, when voters handed Mr. Obama a political rebuke not unlike one Mr. Clinton suffered 16 years ago

Weekend-

• (McClatchy)- President Barack Obama's approval ratings have sunk to the lowest level of his presidency, so low that he'd lose the White House to Republican Mitt Romney if the election were held today, according to a new McClatchy-Marist poll. The biggest reason for Obama's fall: a sharp drop in approval among Democrats and liberals, apparently unhappy with his moves toward the center since he led the party to landslide losses in November's midterm elections. At the same time, he's gained nothing among independents.
• (HuffPost)- Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin began a tightly stage-managed visit to Haiti on Saturday in which she visited cholera clinics while avoiding crowds and the press.The 2008 vice presidential candidate was a guest of Rev. Franklin Graham, whose aid group works in the impoverished country. Haiti is facing a brutal cholera epidemic while struggling with an electoral crisis and reconstruction from the January earthquake.

Monday 12/13-

• (ABC)- Richard Holbrooke, the US Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, has died. On Friday, Holbrooke was rushed to the hospital with a torn aorta. He went through more than 20 hours of surgery. Earlier this evening, speaking at the US State Department, President Obama sang Holbrooke's praises and called him "a tough son of a gun."
• (PolitcalWire)- A federal judge upheld a constitutional challenge of the insurance coverage mandate in the new health care law but denied an injunction to stop its implementation.The case will almost certainly make its way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Update: Gawker reports that the judge "owns between $15,000 and $50,000 in a GOP political consulting firm that worked against health care reform."