奥巴马总统呼吁朝鲜结束他所称为的好战态势。最近几周，面对联合国对其核武器项目发起的制裁，朝鲜威胁将对美国及其同盟发起战争。 在和联合国秘书长潘基文会谈后，奥巴马总统表示没有人愿意看到朝鲜半岛爆发冲突。“对于包括朝鲜在内的各个国家来说，遵守包括联合国决议在内的基本章程和制度十分重要。我们将继续尝试通过外交途径解决其中一些问题。同时我也向秘书长表明美国将会采取必要措施保护美国人民并履行美国在本区域内的责任。”

The government of Cyprus has confirmed that it will have to raise nearly twice as much money as previously thought towards an international bailout. An extra six billion euros on top of the seven billion it had already agreed. Officials said a deeper recession had resulted in more government spending on benefits and further recapitalization of troubled banks.

塞浦路斯政府表示为获得国际援助贷款，其筹资规模将达到之前预想的两倍。除了之前达成的70亿美元，塞浦路斯还需筹集60亿美元的资金。 有关人士表示经济的衰退程度加深，这导致政府加大在福利上的支出，并加强对问题银行的资本重组。

The Untied States senators have voted to debated new gun restrictions for the first time in 20 years. The vote was prompted by a massacre at a Connecticut primary school last year. Republicans who'd threatened to filibuster the motion were defeated by 68 votes to 31. The Democratic leader in the Senate, Harry Reid said the killings at Newtown had changed attitudes. "America has a different view of this and blame us just a while ago. We all believe in the constitution, we all know what all these amendments are about and what they're supposed to do and we're going to make sure that during this debate we keep the constitution in mind. But the families of the most recent tragedy in Newtown deserve a debate."