major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions

and by the alfred p. sloan foundation.porting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: the president today welcomed the end of the war in iraq with all u.s. troops due to leave before the month is out. he also acknowledged the costs of the long conflict. >> on behalf of a grateful nation, i'm proud to finally say these two words, and i know your families agree: welcome home, welcome home. ( cheers and applause ) >> woodruff: it was a homecoming-- complete with the commander in chief-- for the latest detachments of troops arriving back at fort bragg, north carolina. president obama praised the efforts of one and a half million americans who've served in iraq since 2003. >> we're building a new partnership between our nations and we a

and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> suarez: the carnage that has bloodied much of syria came home to the capital today. two bombs erupted in damascus, killing nearly four dozen people and wounding more than 150. we begin with a report narrated by inigo gilmore of independent television news. >> reporter: one of the bomb blasts left this huge crater in the ground. the tangled bodies of the dead were ferried away on stretchers, a doubly whammy in the heart of the capital damascus. the targets-- two buildings belonging to syria's security forces. >> ( translated ): i heard the explosion and saw many body parts. there were dead bodies all over the place. bodies of women and children in the

major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> ifill: the u.s. house balked today at approving a short-term extension of the payroll tax cut. that touched off a new war of words between the president and the speaker of the house, with each side demanding the other give ground. >> brown: the challenges flew back and forth between the white house and the capitol. >> i'm calling on the speaker and the house republican leadership to bring up the senate bill for a vote. >> i need the president to help out, all right? >> brown: president obama and house speaker john boehner spoke separately, minutes after house republicans rejected a bipartisan senate bill that extended the payroll tax cut by two months.

and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> suarez: the carnage that has bloodied much of syria came home to the capital today. two bombs erupted in damascus, killing nearly four dozen people and wounding more than 150. we begin with a report narrated by inigo gilmore of independent television news. >> reporter: one of the bomb blasts left this huge crater in the ground. the tangled bodies of the dead were ferried away on stretchers, a doubly whammy in the heart of the capital damascus. the targets-- two buildings belonging to syria's security forces. >> ( translated ): i heard the explosion and saw many body parts. there were dead bodies all over the place. bodies of women and children in the

and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> suarez: the carnage that has bloodied much of syria came home to the capital today. two bombs erupted in damascus, killing nearly four dozen people and wounding more than 150. we begin with a report narrated by inigo gilmore of independent television news. >> reporter: one of the bomb blasts left this huge crater in the ground. the tangled bodies of the dead were ferried away on stretchers, a doubly whammy in the heart of the capital damascus. the targets-- two buildings belonging to syria's security forces. >> ( translated ): i heard the explosion and saw many body parts. there were dead bodies all over the place. bodies of women and children in the

and by the alfred p. sloan foundation.porting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> brown: the secretary of health and human services has waded into the politically charged issue of birth control for younger girls. in a very public and high-level disagreement, kathleen sebelius today blocked the food and drug administration from allowing girls under 17 to buy the plan "b" morning-after pill without a prescription. for the details, we're joined by rob stein covering the issue for the "washington post." rob, so fill in what's happened here. this is the h.h.s. secretary overruling her own f.d.a. >> right. this was a big surprise. a real shock. nobody knew what the f.d.a. was going to do but nobody expected the secretary of health and human se

and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> ifill: the u.s. house balked today at approving a short-term extension of the payroll tax cut. that touched off a new war of words between the president and the speaker of the house, with each side demanding the other give ground. >> brown: the challenges flew back and forth between the white house and the capitol. >> i'm calling on the speaker and the house republican leadership to bring up the senate bill for a vote. >> i need the president to help out, all right? >> brown: president obama and house speaker john boehner spoke separately, minutes after house republicans rejected a bipartisan senate bill that extended the payroll tax cut by two months.

major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: and by the alfred p. sloan foundation.g science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> ifill: the u.s. house balked today at approving a short-term extension of the payroll tax cut. that touched off a new war of words between the president and the speaker of the house, with each side demanding the other give ground. >> brown: the challenges flew back and forth between the white house and the capitol. >> i'm calling on the speaker and the house republican leadership to bring up the senate bill for a vote. >> i need the president to help out, all right? >> brown: president obama and house speaker john boehner spoke separately, minutes after house republicans rejected a bipartisan senate bill that extended the payroll tax cut by two months.

and by the alfred p. sloan foundation.porting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> ifill: the capital city of north korea was a vast sea of grief today. thousands upon thousands of people turned out in bitter cold for the two-and-a-half-hour funeral procession for kim jong il. we begin with a report from angus walker of independent television news. >> reporter: it was perhaps fitting for a leader of a country still trapped in the cold war, that kim jong il's funeral procession made its way through the capital of his regime. as the snow fell, so did the tears. voices trembling with emotion, state tv commentators said the people would devote themselves to the departed dear leader. in a nation shrouded in secrecy cut off from the world, he w

and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> brown: the november jobs report came out today, and it showed new job creation and a surprising drop in unemployment. it also gave president obama some progress to point to as congress battled over bills to help those working and those out of work. >> this morning, we learned that our economy added another 140,000 private-sector jobs in november. the unemployment rate went down. >> brown: at a construction site in washington this morning, the president was eager to plug the news from the labor department. the economy scored a net gain of 120,000 jobs, combining the 140,000 created in the private sector with the loss of 20,000 government jobs. the increa

and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> this is "bbc world news america." funding for this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. and union bank. >> union bank has put its global expertise to work for a wide range of companies. what can we do for you? >> and now, "bbc world news america."