A terrifying video shows a Bulgarian politician surviving an assassination attempt early today when a man stormed the stage and held a gun to his head as he was giving a speech. The gun misfires and the suspect was tackled the ground by bystanders before he could get off another shot.

The Daily Mail has pictures from the scene.

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“As India awaits sentencing of the men who gang-raped a young woman in Delhi, a politician was arrested on rape charges in the northeastern state of Assam, then stripped and beaten by a crowd,” the New York Times reports.

Amanda Marcotte notes that the news of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s blood clot still isn’t ending talk of Concussiongate among some conservatives.

“Of course, wingnuttery nowadays is entirely dependent on the asinine belief that widespread conspiracies are a daily occurrence. These folks believe that thousands of scientists worldwide have been in cahoots for decades to perpetuate the false claim that global warming is real for no other reason than a vague hatred of capitalism, and that not one has ever thought to blow the whistle on this evil scheme. But riddle me this, wingnuts: If Secretary Clinton is such an evil mastermind that she can repeatedly bend so many people to her will with full confidence that not a one will ever blow the whistle, why couldn’t she just get up and say whatever the hell she wants under oath if she did testify? … So many questions. But in the meantime, the reality-based community wishes Hillary Clinton a speedy recovery.”

Scott LeMieux: “It’s like 1990s-vintage Clinton derangement.”

Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez is conscious but in a “delicate and complex situation” after a cancer operation in Cuba, the BBC reports.

Chavez was elected for a fourth term in October and “is due to be sworn in for a new term on 10 January, but it is unclear if he will be able to attend ceremony.”

Doctors treating Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that she “suffered a blood clot in a vein between her brain and skull behind her right ear but predicted that she would make a full recovery,” the New York Times reports.

“Her doctors said in a statement on Monday that the clot did not result in a stroke or neurological damage and that she was being treated with blood thinners.”

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will return to the State Department next week after three weeks of recovery from a stomach virus and a related concussion, The Cable reports.

“Clinton’s ongoing recovery will still prevent her from flying abroad, but will allow plans to move forward for her to testify in open hearing on the Sept. 11 attack on Benghazi, testimony that she was unable to give — as per her doctor’s orders — on Dec. 20. Her return to a public schedule could also end the weeks of conspiracy theorizing and wild speculation about whether or not she was faking or misrepresenting her illness to avoid testifying.”

Fox News: Will Clinton testimony hold up John Kerry’s nomination?

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he “would sign into law a ban on adoptions of Russian children by American citizens, retaliating against an American law that punishes Russians accused of violating human rights and dealing a potentially grave setback to bilateral relations,” the New York Times reports.

“The leaders of an independent panel that blamed systematic State Department management and leadership failures for gross security lapses in the deadly Sept. 11 attack on a U.S. diplomatic mission in Libya will explain their findings to Congress on Wednesday,” the AP reports.

In a letter that accompanied the transmission of the report to Capitol Hill, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton “thanked the board for its ‘clear-eyed, serious look at serious systemic challenges’ and said she accepted all of its 29 recommendations to improve security at high-threat embassies and consulates.”

Clinton was supposed to testify on Benghazi today, but will not appear due to a concussion suffered after fainting from a stomach
flu over the weekend. Charles Krauthammer says Clinton instead “seems to have a severe Benghazi allergy.”

“The spread of economic hardship is fraying Greece’s social fabric and straining its political cohesion as the country enters the harshest winter of its three-year-old debt crisis,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Many families are sliding down the economic ladder that their parents and grandparents climbed, often making them reliant on those same retirees’ shrinking pensions. Already-poor families are slipping off the ladder, into the arms of overburdened charities. In a country of 11 million, only 3.7 million people have jobs, down from 4.6 million four years ago. Economic activity has shrunk by over 20% in that time.”

“The pressure on society is testing the country’s political stability. Crumbling establishment parties cling to office. Radical-left populists wait in the wings, promising to restore state largess. Violent neo-Nazis are boosting their political profiles by exploiting fear of immigrants, crime and social breakdown. Many Greeks worry that the current government coalition could collapse in 2013, leading to renewed political turmoil that could revive the specter of national bankruptcy and exit from the euro.”

Sources tell ABC News that President Obama has decided that he will nominate Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) to be Secretary of State.

The Week summarizes the case for and against picking Kerry.

A new study finds that more than 60% of Pakistan’s cabinet and two thirds of its federal lawmakers paid no taxes last year, AFP reports.

“Pakistan has one of the lowest tax-to-GDP ratios in the world, estimated at 9.2%. Only 260,000 out of 180 million citizens have paid tax consecutively for the last three years.”

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) told The Cable that he will join the Senate Foreign Relations Committee ahead of confirmation hearings for whomever President Obama nominates to replace Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

NBC News: “U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice is reportedly a finalist for Secretary of State. McCain has been a main critic of Rice’s, stemming from her appearances on Sunday shows following the attacks in Benghazi that killed four Americans, including an ambassador. But McCain’s move may not be all about Rice. Because of Republican Conference rules, he is term-limited as ranking member of the Armed Services Committee.”

As Susan Rice comes under increasing fire, the New York Times reports congressional Republicans appear to be coalescing around a familiar name as an alternative candidate for Secretary of State: their current colleague and former presidential foe, Sen. John Kerry (D-MA).

“Gone are the criticisms of Mr. Kerry as a waffler who tried to have it both ways on the Iraq war and the caricature of him as a windsurfing symbol of privileged East Coast liberalism. Instead, Mr. Kerry, a Democrat, is depicted as a deeply knowledgeable statesman who would breeze through confirmation on his way to Foggy Bottom.”

“In just two quick meetings on Capitol Hill, Susan Rice may have blown up any goodwill she had with the very senators she’ll need for confirmation if she’s ever tapped as the next secretary of state,” Politico reports.

“Over the past two days, four key Republican senators have emerged from private meetings to blast the United Nations ambassador’s explanation about what happened during and after the deadly attacks on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. It’s not clear what Rice said behind closed doors to anger all these senators, but it’s clear the meetings went badly and this was hardly a nominee-in-waiting charm offensive.”

Possible promotions for U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice and acting CIA
Director Michael Morell “remain in jeopardy” after the two officials met with three of their Republican critics in the U.S. Senate regarding the attacks in Benghazi, Libya, the Washington Post reports.

Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-SC) reaction best summarized the reaction: “Bottom line, I’m more disturbed now than I was before.”

The Wall Street Journal has a round up of reactions.

“A Hungarian far-right politician urged the government to draw up lists of Jews who pose a ‘national security risk’, stirring outrage among Jewish leaders who saw echoes of fascist policies that led to the Holocaust,” Reuters reports.

As Ambassador Susan Rice prepares to meet with GOP senators today to discuss the administration’s handling of the attacks in Benghazi, Libya, a new CNN/ORC poll finds 54% disapprove of the White House’s actions.

However, 54% also do not believe that the administration purposefully misled the public.

U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice will be on Capitol Hill the next two days to meet privately with select senators, including Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), regarding the attacks in Benghazi last September, sources tell NBC News.

Rice requested a meeting with McCain, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH). These are significant because McCain, Graham and Ayotte are prominent GOP national-security voices and have been among Rice’s harshest critics for her handling of the situation in Benghazi.