The education of John Boehner

It may have looked like chaos at times, but House Speaker John Boehner got what he wanted from a five-day debate on a bill that 61 billion U.S. dollars would be cut from the budget this year and setting up a showdown with President Barack Obama Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) in the two weeks before the government any more money on March 4.

The new speaker turned his legion of loose tea party for an epic first battle lines and the Republicans gave free rein to go after all aspects of government operations. The new GOP majority responded by targeting dozens of federal programs for the cuts, including Planned Parenthood, the new health law, and even an engine for the Joint Strike Fighter military benefits that Boehner of Ohio, the home region. Democrats joined in the action, with members of both parties to combine to 583 amendments to write.

It was not beautiful, it was not on track and it was not the least bit predictable.

Pirates hijack 4 Americans; US mulls responses

Nairobi, Kenya  - The U.S. government on Saturday said it was possible to assess the reactions after the Somali pirates hijacked a yacht with four Americans on board in the Arabian Sea off the coast of Somalia.

Pirates hijacked the yacht Quest on Friday, two days after a Somali pirate sentenced to 33 years in prison by a New York court for the 2009 hijacking of the Maersk Alabama. That case ended in a spectacular Navy rescue when two snipers who pirate captain, Richard Phillips slain.

The Quest is the home of Jean and Adam Scott, a couple who already sail around the world since December 2004, according to a website to keep Adams.

A U.S. military spokesman at Central Command in Florida said: "We are aware of the situation and we continue to follow."

Matt Goshko, a spokesman at the U.S. embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, Somalia, which monitors said preliminary reports indicate four U.S. citizens aboard the Quest.

"All relevant U.S. agencies are monitoring the situation in the further information to develop options and assess possible solutions," said Goshko.

Pirate attacks have increased off the coast of East Africa in recent years, despite an international fleet of warships devoted to protect ships and stopping the pirate attacks.

Multimillion-dollar ransom to increase trade, and prices for the release of a ship and hostages have risen sharply. A ransom last year was reported at $ 9.5 million. Pirates currently have 30 ships and more than 660 hostages, not counting the attack against the Quest.

Bahrain's king seeks dialogue after another crackdown on protesters

The wide unrest in the Middle East took a more violent turn Friday US-allied governments in Yemen and Bahrain opened fire on their citizens, prompted Britain and France to a halt in arms sales to announce.

The use of live ammunition against the pro-democracy demonstrators also triggered sharp criticism of Obama, who appeals to authorities in Yemen, Bahrain and Libya to show restraint and "the rights of their people to respect." Obama later said the Bahraini king Friday night and insisted that "those responsible for violence" be held accountable.

Clashes erupted in the region Friday, Jordan to Djibouti. An eighth consecutive day of violence in Yemen claimed at least one life in the southern city of Aden, where police fired shots to break a crowd. In Libya, the death toll was reported in the dozens after four days of fighting in the coastal city of Benghazi, where security forces have also fired on demonstrators.

But the reaction of the security forces was the most brutal in tiny Bahrain, home to the U.S. 5th Fleet, where soldiers used tanks and machine guns fire on the demonstrators, wounding dozens, at least four of them critically.

Bahrain king tried to restore calm following the appointment of his son, the crown prince, to a dialogue with the anti-government protesters lead, most of them Shiite Muslims, a greater representation and other democratic reforms requirements in a country where most power is exercised by the Sunni minority.

TV Reporter Serene Branson on her migraine-induced Grammy incident

After CBS correspondent Serene Branson's frightening on-air lapse into slurred and incomprehensible speech during a post-Grammy newscast Sunday night, neurologists offered an array of potential diagnoses. Was it a stroke? An epileptic seizure? Or the isolated "mini-stroke" episode known as a transient ischemic attack?

None of the above. It turns out that Branson suffered a "migraine aura"--a speech and sensory-impairing side effect of certain severe headaches--according to Dr. Andrew Charles, director of UCLA's Headache Research and Treatment Program, who treated the Emmy-nominated entertainment reporter following the unfortunate episode.

"She has no residual symptoms. I expect this not to be a significant problem for her moving forward," Charles told the Los Angeles Times.

Branson, who works for a local Los Angeles CBS affiliate, appeared on Friday's CBS "Early Show" in the first TV interview she's given since the Grammys broadcast. You can watch the video below:

"I knew something wasn't right as soon as I opened my mouth," Branson told "Early Show" co-host Erica Hill. "I hadn't been feeling well a little bit before the live shot. I had a headache, my vision was very blurry. I knew something wasn't right, but I just thought I was tired. So when I opened my mouth, I thought, 'This is more than just being tired. Something is terribly wrong.' I wanted to say, 'Lady Antebellum swept the Grammys.' And I could think of the words, but I could not get them coming out properly."

Egypt women stand for equality in the square

CAIRO - Women think as differently as they dress here, but they have emerged from the barricades agreeing on one thing: This is their moment in history, and they cannot afford to lose it.

During 18 days of demonstrating for freedom and democracy, Egyptian men and women walked into Tahrir Square separate and unequal, divided by gender as they passed through checkpoints. Men were scrutinized by men, and women had their bags and person searched by other women. There were several lines of men to every one for the fewer numbers of women.

Beyond the checkpoints, distinctions vanished and they stood side by side, defying the police, challenging the government, one and the same before the thugs throwing rocks and molotov cocktails. They died next to men and did not falter, steadfast for freedom and democracy.

Now, as they leave the square behind them, they want to use the strength they revealed to address long-standing inequities, to make sure women have the equality in day-to-day life that they earned in Tahrir Square.

"It was amazing to see men and women together when we took to the streets," said Marwa Faroak, a political activist. "A lot of people were saying Tahrir Square was the future of Egypt, men and women equal, fighting for freedom. And now we have to translate this into action and change."

Soha Abdelaty, deputy director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, said Egyptians are building a new country, and women must be at the forefront so they can be effective advocates for their interests. She is optimistic but not yet ready to predict that women will indeed achieve more rights.