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The major general who was head of Syria's chemical weapons division until he defected in July says that if rebels advance on Damascus, President Bashar Assad will deploy his deadly arsenal.

As the White House and Congressional leaders negotiate, we're watching for the best stories about what's going on. Here are some of the latest.

While one bottle of a special Glenfiddich recently sold for $94,000, a Macallan was bought at auction for much more than that in 2010. It's the real record-holder, according to Guinness. Our apologies for earlier reporting that the Glenfiddich had set a new standard.

The GOP-backed measures, passed earlier in the day by Michigan's state House, were signed into law by Republican Gov. Rick Snyder in the afternoon.

Mexican-American singer Jenni Rivera was killed in a plane crash over the weekend. She's remembered as a legendary vocalist, selling over 15 million albums, and earning three Latin Grammy nominations. Host Michel Martin pays tribute to Rivera with Jasmine Garsd, co-host of NPR's online music program, Alt.Latino.

The offer from the speaker follows his remarks on the House floor in which he said the White House was slow-walking the process. Unless a deal is reached, automatic across-the-board spending cuts and sweeping tax increases are scheduled to go into effect at the first of the year.

Oprah Winfrey says her Book Club grew out of a desire to talk to authors after finishing their books. While the original version of the club ended when Winfrey's television show went off the air in 2011, it has now been rebooted online and on the new Oprah Winfrey Network as Book Club 2.0.

Farm-state lawmakers are urging leaders to include a farm bill as part of any budget deal to avert year-end tax increases and spending cuts. But others argue that Congress shouldn't toss the farm bill into a giant package because it would very likely stifle debate and amendments.

Democrats are worried that cuts to the program will go beyond the impact on the people it serves. It will also affect the Affordable Care Act, which calls for expanding Medicaid to as many as 16 million more people. The states are watching closely because the federal government has promised it will pay most of those additional costs.

Egypt's protest movement against the controversial draft constitution appears to be losing steam after a lackluster turnout Tuesday night. Opposition leaders had called for mass demonstrations, and they're scrambling to decide whether to boycott Saturday's referendum on the constitution.