Though the fiscal cliff has been averted, Democrats and Republicans are preparing for the next possible budgetary impasse: raising America’s borrowing limit, reports the New York Times. Democrats have warned Republican leaders not to use the debt authorization for political leverage. In his weekly address, President Obama again said he would not trade spending cuts…

The victim of a hate crime in Lutz, Fla., had the opportunity to shoot his attacker but chose not to. Cameron Mohammed was walking into a Wal-Mart with his girlfriend when Daniel Quinnell approached the couple from behind and began yelling racial slurs before firing on Mohammed with a pellet gun, reports the Tampa Bay Times.…

Mamie Rearden, the oldest person in the United States, died on Saturday. A native of Edgefield, S.C., she was 114, reports the Huffington Post. “My mom was not president of the bank or anything, but she was very instrumental in raising a family and being a community person,” said Sara Rearden, her youngest child. “Everybody…

The five suspects in the gang rape of a woman in India are scheduled to appear in court on Monday, and a sixth suspect is awaiting charges, reports CNN. The suspects will appear in a so-called “fast-track” court in a southern New Delhi district, a Metropolitan Magistrates’ Court said, according to CNN’s sister network, CNN-IBN.…

In Aurora, Colo., on Saturday an unidentified gunman took a number of hostage and then killed three of them, before the police shot and killed him, the New York Daily News reports. Officers were called to the townhome in Aurora, Colo. around 3 a.m. after reports of shots fired, Sgt. Cassidee Carlson told the Daily…

On Dec. 28, poet Jayne Cortez died of heart failure in New York City. She was 78 years old. Known for her fiery poetry, Cortez was a performance artist and an internationally published author. She wrote the poem “If the Drum Is a Woman,” a strong indictment of domestic violence, long before the Violence Against Women…

President Obama’s 2008 campaign has received a $375,000 fine from the Federal Election Commission. USA Today reports it is one of the largest sums that a campaign has had to pay. The fines are related to missing reports for nearly 1,300 last-minute donations, totaling nearly $1.9 million. In the 20-day period before an election, candidates…

(The Root) — In an effort to improve educational offerings, some school districts across the country have taken up President Obama on his recent efforts to spur academic achievement. His Race to the Top initiative seems like a positive push that a lot of states could use. But when winners of the educational competition were…

In some states, such as Louisiana, home to Gov. Bobby Jindal, Republicans are continuing their fight against President Obama’s Affordable Care Act. The Huffington Post reports that this pushback, which has the support of some in Congress, including Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, prevents some of the 49 million Americans without health care from reaching a…

Jordan Davis, shot in Florida in November, will be on the first 2013 cover of Jet magazine. MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry spoke with Jet’s editor in chief about this choice, and how the magazine has long been a vehicle for civil rights journalism, beginning with the publication of controversial photos of Emmett Till’s disfigured corpse…