Republicans are again demanding that President Barack Obama name specific cuts in government spending that he would support as part of any compromise aimed at avoiding the “fiscal cliff.”

Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell says Obama seems to think that if he only talks about taxes, Americans will “forget that government spending is completely out of control.” McConnell says there are plenty of programs worth cutting, saying taxpayers “just spent $325,000 on a robotic squirrel named RoboSquirrel.”

The White House responds that it made an offer with “very specific” cuts — including more than $300 billion in proposed Medicare savings, and another $250 billion in non-health benefit programs.

House Speaker John Boehner (BAY’-nur) says Republicans have offered a plan that’s “consistent with the president’s call for a balanced approach.” And he says he’s waiting for the White House to do the same.

Meanwhile, the White House is coming under renewed pressure from within his own party, as liberal Democratic senators warn him against cutting the Medicaid health care program. They say cuts in the program that covers nearly 60 million low-income and disabled people shouldn’t be accepted as a trade-off with Republicans in exchange for higher income tax rates on the highest earners.

A top-secret mini-space shuttle has blasted off from Cape Canaveral.

The Air Force launched the unmanned spacecraft Tuesday aboard an Atlas V rocket.

It’s the second flight for this original X-37B spaceplane. It circled the planet for seven months in 2010. A second X-37B spacecraft spent more than a year in orbit.

These mystery machines are about one-quarter the size of NASA’s old space shuttles and they can land automatically on a runway.

The military isn’t saying much if anything about this new secret mission. But one scientific observer, Harvard University’s Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, speculates the spaceplane is carrying sensors designed for spying and likely is serving as a testbed.

The two previous secret flights were in roughly 200-plus-mile-high orbits.

Another Florida man is suing the former Elmo puppeteer who resigned amid sex abuse allegations, claiming the voice actor befriended him in Miami and promised to be a father figure before flying him to New York to have sex with him.

The alleged victim is now the fourth to accuse Kevin Clash, who resigned from “Sesame Street” last month after 28 years. The three legal actions filed so far have been civil cases.

But Monday’s lawsuit could involve criminal charges because the victim claims Clash transported him across state lines for the purpose of engaging in sexual activity.

Attorney Jeff Herman said he encouraged his client to report the incident to authorities but it’s unclear if the victim had done so.

An email to Clash’s publicist was not immediately returned.

A traffic stop on Interstate 80 in Lancaster County led a Nebraska State Patrol trooper to seize 124 lbs of marijuana from an external fuel tank in the bed of a pickup.

Just after 2:00 p.m., Monday, December 10, a trooper stopped an eastbound 1999 Dodge pickup on I-80 near the Lincoln Airport exit  for failure to signal, failure to maintain lane and no front license plate. The trooper was given consent to search the vehicle. The search led to the seizure of 124.2 lbs of marijuana. The marijuana, contained in 63 packages, was located in a compartment beneath an external fuel tank in the bed of the pickup.

The driver and lone occupant of the vehicle, John W. Henman, 68, Boise, Idaho, was lodged in the Lancaster County Corrections on a charge of possession of marijuana with intent to deliver.

Former President George H.W. Bush continues to recover at a Houston hospital where he’s in the third week of treatment for a bronchitis-related cough.

Methodist Hospital spokesman George Kovacik said Monday that the 88-year-old Bush remains in stable condition. Kovacik says Bush continues to make progress but no discharge date has been set. Further details were not released.

The 41st president has been hospitalized since Nov. 23.

He and former first lady Barbara Bush divide their time between homes in Houston and Kennebunkport, Maine.

A 7.1-magnitude earthquake has been reported off the coast of Indonesia.

The U.S. Geological Survey says the quake struck offshore, with the epicenter 147 miles (236 kilometers) northwest of the city of Saumlaki. The quake was reported at a depth of 96 miles (155 kilometers).

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has no immediate tsunami warning.

The quake hit shortly before 1700 GMT.

Indonesia is located in the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” where earthquakes and volcanic activity are common.

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board is confirming that famed Mexican-American singer Jenni Rivera died in a plane crash in northern Mexico.

It is the first official confirmation of Rivera’s death, although she has been widely presumed dead since the wreckage of her plane was found Sunday.

The NTSB is sending a team to assist Mexican authorities with the investigation. NTSB spokesman Keith Holloway says Mexican aviation authorities had confirmed Rivera’s death to the NTSB.

With the completion of a training manual, an 18-member task force has taken a big step toward determining the nature and extent of human trafficking in Nebraska.

The Lincoln Journal Star reports that the task force delivered the manual and a report to the state Legislature last week.

The report says human trafficking occurs primarily in prostitution, pornography, farming and the drug trade. Victims include foreigners but also U.S. citizens, including runaway teens whom traffickers scoop up off the streets.

Task force member Al Riskowski says the size and nature of Nebraska’s problem isn’t clear. He says the task force will define the problem and then employ the training manual to prepare law enforcement personnel and others to help find the traffickers who are preying on people.

The Nebraska State Patrol (NSP) in conjunction with the Polk and York County Sheriff’s Offices, York Police Department and the Southeast Coalition conducted compliance checks at 43 alcohol retail outlets in Polk and York Counties on Saturday, December 8.

During the compliance checks, one business in Polk County and two businesses in York County were found to be non-compliant after selling alcohol to minors. The retail outlets checked included convenience, liquor, and grocery stores, as well as, restaurants and bars.

Compliance checks are conducted to help communities determine the extent of the problem of alcohol sales as a source of youth access to alcohol. Local law enforcement conducts compliance checks to ensure that businesses are in compliance with the state’s youth alcohol law.

The Nebraska Office of Highway Safety (NOHS) provided $1,980 in grant funds to assist with the enforcement efforts. Media requests for additional information may be made to Sgt. Jeromy McCoy at (308) 385-6000 during regular business hours.

Iowa authorities say an 18-year-old Nebraska man is expected to live after accidentally being shot by his father while the two were hunting pheasants in southwest Iowa.

Iowa Department of Natural Resources spokesman Kevin Baskins says Ryan Rearick, of Omaha, was shot at fairly close range in the back of his head by a shotgun being carried by his father, Christopher Rearick, also of Omaha. The two were hunting in Page County when the accident happened around 10:30 a.m. Saturday.

The younger Rearick was taken to a Red Oak hospital, then flown to Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha. Baskins says Rearick is in stable condition and expected to survive.

Baskins says the shooting likely would have been fatal if the gun had been loaded for deer instead of pheasant.