Daily News Digest: Politics - Bloomberg News Headlines - Yahoo! News

Yahoo! Alerts

Yahoo! News | My Alerts | Edit Alert

Friday, June 8, 2012 12:03 AM PDT

Today's Politics - Bloomberg News Headlines - Yahoo! News: Uganda eyes $400 mln loan from state pension fund Egypt female rights official battles Islamists UN deeply concerned about armed raids in Sudan state Arrested Ivorian was plotting from exile: gov't Egypt's army says ends deadlock on assembly Egyptian judges, stung by criticism, assert powers Sudan, S.Sudan break off talks, no deal in sight UNICEF targets deadly diarrhea, pneumonia in poor kids Young Americans get health insurance, still have debt: study Argentines bang pots and pans to protest government MPs call for stronger BoE oversight EPA sued over wildlife exposure to lead from spent ammunition China says to provide "selfless" help to Afghanistan Fitch slashes Spain rating by three notches to "BBB" Fourteen dismembered bodies dumped in northern Mexico Dad still "first choice", but Rand Paul backs Romney New York City official defends "supersize" drink ban Former Tepco chief to be grilled over Fukushima disaster Zoellick hits at U.S. on trade, says Chavez's clout waning Arizona to beef up patrols of polygamist Jeffs' town U.S. crackdown on child predators nabs 190 in May U.N. monitors shot at in Syria, Annan plan crumbles Japan April current account surplus dips, growth revised up Australia lifts sanctions against Myanmar, doubles aid Senator seeks FTC probe of West Coast gas spike Obama campaign raises more questions about Romney's wealth Pulitzer Prize-winner Trethewey named U.S. poet laureate MPs call for stronger BoE oversight CACI International sees FY13 profit above estimates Romney tops President Obama in fundraising in May Factbox: A poem from new poet laureate Trethewey Sudan, South Sudan break off talks, no deal in sight Senator Reid makes new offer on student loans Insight: Can Occupy Wall Street survive? U.S. pushes for more global cooperation in space Texas studies 85 mph speed limit, fastest in U.S. Bernanke offers few hints of Fed stimulus Calls grow for outside probe of U.S. national security leaks House votes to kill Obama's medical device tax U.N. monitors shot at in Syria, Annan plan crumbles Uganda eyes $400 mln loan from state pension fund Thu,7 Jun 2012 10:55 PM PDT Reuters - KAMPALA (Reuters) - Uganda's government is considering borrowing about $400 million from the country's sole statutory pension fund to finance the construction of roads, the president said on Thursday. Yoweri Museveni said his government needed about $4 billion to fund the construction of about 3,400 kilometres of roads and was eyeing the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) among other possible sources of credit. "NSSF doesn't have much money, it has about 2,800 billion shillings ... ... Full Story Top Egypt female rights official battles Islamists Thu,7 Jun 2012 10:54 PM PDT Reuters - CAIRO (Reuters) - The head of Egypt's state council for women has accused resurgent Islamists of seeking to roll back female rights on such issues as divorce and custody and undermine the council as a discredited remnant of the Hosni Mubarak era. "They are trying to take away rights that women attained in compliance with Islamic sharia," said Mervat Tallawy, head of the National Council for Women, adding that criticism of the council was an attempt to erode female rights. ... Full Story Top UN deeply concerned about armed raids in Sudan state Thu,7 Jun 2012 10:52 PM PDT Reuters - KHARTOUM (Reuters) - The United Nations is deeply concerned about reports of armed groups raiding and looting markets in Sudan's North Kordofan state, forcing civilians to flee and marking a possible escalation of violence in borderlands. Rebels of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) from the Western region of Darfur are thought to be behind the violence, a U.N. source said on Thursday. JEM confirmed it had troops in North Kordofan but denied it had raided any markets. ... Full Story Top Arrested Ivorian was plotting from exile: gov't Thu,7 Jun 2012 10:51 PM PDT Reuters - ABIDJAN (Reuters) - A former top adviser to Ivory Coast's ex-President Laurent Gbagbo was plotting to destabilise the West African nation's government before he was arrested in Togo this week, an Ivorian government spokesman said on Thursday. Gbagbo has been charged with criminal responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity and is awaiting trial at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Togolese authorities raided the residence of Moise Lida Kouassi, who served as defence minister under Gbagbo, in the capital Lome early on Wednesday. ... Full Story Top Egypt's army says ends deadlock on assembly Thu,7 Jun 2012 10:50 PM PDT Reuters - CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's ruling army council called on Thursday for parliament to meet next week to pick members of an assembly tasked with drawing up a new constitution, signalling the end of a weeks-long deadlock. The previous assembly was dissolved by court order after liberals and others quit the body complaining it was dominated by Islamists. The military council that took over after former President Hosni Mubarak was toppled last year has promised to hand over to a newly elected president by July 1, but no one knows what constitutional authority the next head of state will have. ... Full Story Top Egyptian judges, stung by criticism, assert powers Thu,7 Jun 2012 10:49 PM PDT Reuters - CAIRO (Reuters) - Senior judges defended Egypt's judiciary on Thursday from attacks over its handling of the trial of toppled ruler Hosni Mubarak, accusing critics of trying to interfere with the institution's powers and drag it into political battles. Judge Ahmed el-Zend, head of the influential Judge's Club, called for legal investigations into members of parliament for "slandering" the judiciary and the judge in the Mubarak case. "This is an intervention in the work of the judiciary," Zend told a news conference. "This is a dark, fierce attack against the judiciary. ... Full Story Top Sudan, S.Sudan break off talks, no deal in sight Thu,7 Jun 2012 10:47 PM PDT Reuters - ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Sudan and South Sudan broke off security talks on Thursday after failing to agree on a demilitarised zone along their disputed border to help prevent them slipping into outright warfare. The African neighbours came close to war when a border dispute in April saw the worst violence since South Sudan split from Sudan in July under a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of civil war. Both countries, which accuse each other of supporting rebels in the other's territory, returned to African Union-mediated negotiations last week, the first direct talks since the border clashes. ... Full Story Top UNICEF targets deadly diarrhea, pneumonia in poor kids Thu,7 Jun 2012 09:16 PM PDT Reuters - NEW YORK (Reuters) - Concerted efforts to control diarrhea and pneumonia, the biggest killers of children under the age of five, could save the lives of up to 2 million of the world's poorest children each year, the United Nations Children's Fund said on Friday. The lives saved would be largely in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, according to a new study from the Fund. ... Full Story Top Young Americans get health insurance, still have debt: study Thu,7 Jun 2012 09:00 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Healthcare reform likely enabled about 6.6 million young adults to join their parents' health insurance plans last year, a report found on Friday, though problems with medical bills and debt remained an issue. President Barack Obama's 2010 healthcare reform law allowed young adults - who previously had the nation's highest uninsured rate - to stay on their parents' private insurance plans through age 26. ... Full Story Top Argentines bang pots and pans to protest government Thu,7 Jun 2012 08:48 PM PDT Reuters - BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Several thousand Argentines protested against the government of President Cristina Fernandez by banging pots and pans in front of the presidential palace in Buenos Aires late on Thursday. Pot-banging protests are highly symbolic in Argentina, stirring memories of the street demonstrations staged by angry savers, housewives and students during a devastating economic and political crisis of 2001/02. ... Full Story Top MPs call for stronger BoE oversight Thu,7 Jun 2012 08:44 PM PDT Reuters - LONDON (Reuters) - MPs stepped up calls for the government to strengthen oversight of the Bank of England, which next year will gain new powers to regulate the country's banks. The Lords will debate new legislation on Monday that will make the central bank one of the world's most powerful financial regulators, under laws drawn up by the Conservative-led coalition government to help avoid a repeat of the credit crisis of 2007-08. ... Full Story Top EPA sued over wildlife exposure to lead from spent ammunition Thu,7 Jun 2012 08:37 PM PDT Reuters - (Reuters) - Environmental groups filed suit on Thursday seeking federal regulation of lead in ammunition, claiming exposure to the toxic metal from spent bullets fired into the environment by hunters kills millions of birds and poses a risk to human health. The Center for Biological Diversity was among 100 organizations that this year unsuccessfully petitioned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to restrict the use of lead-based ammunition, which accounts for most bullets and shot used by hunters and other shooting sportsmen in the nation. ... Full Story Top China says to provide "selfless" help to Afghanistan Thu,7 Jun 2012 08:36 PM PDT Reuters - BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese President Hu Jintao told his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai on Friday that China will provide "sincere and selfless help" to Afghanistan, promising to step up trade, aid, investment and security cooperation. "At present Afghanistan has entered into a critical transition period. China is a trustworthy neighbor and friend of Afghanistan," Hu told Karzai in central Beijing's cavernous Great Hall of the People. ... Full Story Top Fitch slashes Spain rating by three notches to "BBB" Thu,7 Jun 2012 08:28 PM PDT Reuters - NEW YORK/MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's credit rating was slashed by three notches on Thursday by Fitch, which signaled it could make further cuts as the cost of restructuring the country's troubled banking system spiraled and Greece's crisis deepened. Fitch cut its rating on Spain's government debt by three notches to BBB and placed the country on 'negative outlook', meaning a further downgrade could come in coming months. ... Full Story Top Fourteen dismembered bodies dumped in northern Mexico Thu,7 Jun 2012 08:21 PM PDT Reuters - MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Fourteen dismembered bodies were found in a truck in the center of a town in northern Mexico on Thursday in what appeared to be the latest atrocity committed by rival gangs battling over drug-smuggling routes, local media said. The bodies of 11 men and three women were discovered in the sugar-cane farming town of Ciudad Mante in the south of Tamaulipas state, which borders on Texas, daily Milenio reported on its website. Officials at the state attorney general's office could not immediately confirm the report. ... Full Story Top Dad still "first choice", but Rand Paul backs Romney Thu,7 Jun 2012 08:18 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senator Rand Paul, whose firebrand father Ron has effectively ended his White House bid but still seeks to grow his movement and influence Republicans nationally, endorsed party nominee Mitt Romney on Thursday. Rand Paul is a conservative Tea Party favorite mentioned as a possible Romney vice presidential pick for the November election. He told the "Hannity" program on Fox News that the time was right to back Romney publicly. "My first choice has always been my father. He's still my first pick," Rand Paul said. ... Full Story Top New York City official defends "supersize" drink ban Thu,7 Jun 2012 07:32 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New York City's top health official shot back on Thursday at critics who have blasted the city's plan to limit the sale of oversized sugary drinks such as soda, calling beverage industry opposition ridiculous. The proposed ban, which caps most sugar-sweetened beverages at 16 ounces (half a liter) and carries a $200 fine for vendors that do not comply, met immediate backlash from beverage companies and others who argue it is government overreach, but was lauded by public health experts. "It's not saying 'no' to people. ... Full Story Top Former Tepco chief to be grilled over Fukushima disaster Thu,7 Jun 2012 07:30 PM PDT Reuters - TOKYO (Reuters) - The former president of Fukushima plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co faces questioning for the first time on Friday by a high profile investigative panel seeking to uncover the causes of the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. Members of the panel appointed by parliament will likely grill Masataka Shimizu over whether he planned to abandon the tsunami-devastated Fukushima plant at the height of the crisis in March 2011, as reactors melted down and the situation was in danger of spinning out of control, threatening Tokyo itself. ... Full Story Top Zoellick hits at U.S. on trade, says Chavez's clout waning Thu,7 Jun 2012 06:39 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Outgoing World Bank chief Robert Zoellick on Thursday called for a new partnership in the Americas, criticizing the United States for insufficient leadership on trade and saying that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's political influence is waning. In a politically pointed speech, which is unusual for the head of the global development institution, Zoellick urged strengthened ties between North and South America through more cooperation in trade, energy and security. ... Full Story Top Arizona to beef up patrols of polygamist Jeffs' town Thu,7 Jun 2012 06:12 PM PDT Reuters - (Reuters) - Arizona will funnel more than $400,000 to a sheriff's office on the Utah-Arizona border to beef up police patrols of a town that is home to followers of imprisoned polygamist leader Warren Jeffs, the state's Attorney General said on Thursday. The money will aid Mohave County Sheriff Tom Sheahan in providing police services in Colorado City, one of two communities dominated by members of Jeffs' Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. ... Full Story Top U.S. crackdown on child predators nabs 190 in May Thu,7 Jun 2012 06:01 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal agents targeting child predators arrested 190 suspects in an operation during the month of May that reached across the United States and into four foreign countries, government officials said on Thursday. Those arrested possessed, distributed or produced photographs or videos of child pornography. Some of the suspects had sexually assaulted minors or engaged in "illegal sexual enticement," according to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which conducted "Operation Orion. ... Full Story Top U.N. monitors shot at in Syria, Annan plan crumbles Thu,7 Jun 2012 05:35 PM PDT Reuters - BEIRUT/UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. monitors came under fire in Syria on Thursday while trying to investigate reports of a new massacre that raised the pressure on world powers struggling to halt the carnage and save a peace plan from collapse. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon described as "unspeakable barbarity" the reported killing of at least 78 villagers by forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and warned that a civil war was imminent. Speaking at a special session of the U.N. General Assembly on Syria, international envoy Kofi Annan acknowledged his U.N. ... Full Story Top Japan April current account surplus dips, growth revised up Thu,7 Jun 2012 05:23 PM PDT Reuters - TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's current account surplus unexpectedly fell from a year earlier in April in a sign that a slowdown in China is weighing on demand for the nation's exports and casting doubt on the strength of its economic recovery. First quarter economic growth was revised up to 1.2 percent from initially reported 1.0 percent, reflecting upward revisions in capital spending and private consumption, separate data also showed on Thursday. However, Japan's current account surplus fell 21.2 percent compared with the median estimate for a 2.8 percent annual increase and followed an 8. ... Full Story Top Australia lifts sanctions against Myanmar, doubles aid Thu,7 Jun 2012 05:08 PM PDT Reuters - CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia will lift its remaining financial and travel sanctions against Myanmar and double its aid in a move to encourage further democratic reform as the country tentatively emerges from decades of military rule, Foreign Minister Bob Carr said. The lifting of economic sanctions, which follows a U.S. suspension of sanctions, will come into effect in coming weeks but Australia's arms embargo against Myanmar will remain in place, Carr said in a statement. "Myanmar has made great strides over the past year, though there is more to be done," Carr said. ... Full Story Top Senator seeks FTC probe of West Coast gas spike Thu,7 Jun 2012 05:07 PM PDT Reuters - (Reuters) - A U.S. senator for Washington state wants the Federal Trade Commission to investigate possible manipulation of the market for West Coast gasoline, which has been trading at a premium to the rest of the country for weeks. Senator Maria Cantwell wrote in a letter to the FTC on Thursday that over the last month, the average price per gallon of gasoline in western Washington rose about 20 to 25 cents, while the national average price declined by about 17 cents. ... Full Story Top Obama campaign raises more questions about Romney's wealth Thu,7 Jun 2012 04:58 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is not doing enough to ensure his political actions are not influenced by his multimillion-dollar fortune, officials with President Barack Obama's campaign said on Thursday. The Obama campaign questioned why Romney has kept his extensive investments in a blind trust administered by his longtime lawyer, rather than setting up a trust that meets more rigorous federal conflict-of-interest standards. ... Full Story Top Pulitzer Prize-winner Trethewey named U.S. poet laureate Thu,7 Jun 2012 04:44 PM PDT Reuters - NEW YORK (Reuters) - Natasha Trethewey, author of three poetry collections and winner of the Pulitzer Prize, was named on Thursday as the 19th U.S. poet laureate, becoming only the second Southerner appointed to the position. The Library of Congress, in announcing the appointment, said Trethewey would succeed Philip Levine and officially take up her duties in the fall, around the time her fourth collection, "Thrall," is due to be published. Trethewey, an English and creative writing professor at Emory University in Atlanta, won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize in poetry for her collection "Native ... Full Story Top MPs call for stronger BoE oversight Thu,7 Jun 2012 04:44 PM PDT Reuters - LONDON (Reuters) - MPs stepped up calls for the government to strengthen oversight of the Bank of England, which next year will gain new powers to regulate the country's banks. The House of Lords will debate new legislation on Monday that will make the central bank one of the world's most powerful financial regulators, under laws drawn up by the Conservative-led coalition government to help avoid a repeat of the credit crisis of 2007-08. ... Full Story Top CACI International sees FY13 profit above estimates Thu,7 Jun 2012 04:12 PM PDT Reuters - (Reuters) - Information technology provider CACI International Inc forecast 2013 earnings ahead of market estimates and said Daniel Allen, who heads the company's U.S. operations, will take over as chief executive next month. CACI International, whose main client is the U.S. government, said it expects to earn between $6.60 and $6.90 per share for 2013 on revenue of $3.8 billion to $4.0 billion. Analysts on average had been expecting earnings of $5.69 per share, excluding items, on revenue of $3.9 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. "We are confident that direct labor growth ... ... Full Story Top Romney tops President Obama in fundraising in May Thu,7 Jun 2012 03:56 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mitt Romney's presidential campaign significantly outpaced President Barack Obama in fundraising last month, a sign that the challenger could at least match the incumbent in the overall race for campaign cash. Romney and Republican groups raised more than $76.8 million in May, his campaign said on Thursday, topping the more than $60 million Obama and his Democratic allies collected in the scramble for the cash that will fuel the campaigns through the November 6 election. ... Full Story Top Factbox: A poem from new poet laureate Trethewey Thu,7 Jun 2012 03:53 PM PDT Reuters - NEW YORK (Reuters) - The following is a poem by Natasha Trethewey, who on Thursday became only the second Southerner appointed as poet laureate. Trethewey, 46, born in Gulfport, Mississippi, and author of three poetry collections, is the first African-American to be awarded the honor since Rita Dove in 1993. This poem is from her third collection, "Native Guard," which won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize in poetry. It was inspired by the union of her parents - her mother was black and her father was white. Mixed marriages were a crime in the mid-1960s in Mississippi. ... Full Story Top Sudan, South Sudan break off talks, no deal in sight Thu,7 Jun 2012 03:50 PM PDT Reuters - ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Sudan and South Sudan broke off security talks on Thursday after failing to agree on a demilitarized zone along their disputed border to help prevent them slipping into outright warfare. The African neighbors came close to war when a border dispute in April saw the worst violence since South Sudan split from Sudan in July under a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of civil war. Both countries, which accuse each other of supporting rebels in the other's territory, returned to African Union-mediated negotiations last week, the first direct talks since the border clashes. ... Full Story Top Senator Reid makes new offer on student loans Thu,7 Jun 2012 03:47 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON/LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid on Thursday offered a new way to avert by the end of this month a doubling of the 3.4 percent interest rate on federal student loans. A Senate Republican leadership aide said the proposal would be reviewed and that it may represent progress toward ending an election-year standoff that has seen each side accuse the other of bargaining in bad faith. ... Full Story Top Insight: Can Occupy Wall Street survive? Thu,7 Jun 2012 03:39 PM PDT Reuters - (Reuters) - More than eight months after Occupy Wall Street burst onto the global stage, decrying income inequality and coining the phrase "We are the 99 percent," the movement's survival and continued relevance is far from assured. Donations to the flagship New York chapter have slowed to a trickle. Polls show that public support is rapidly waning. Media attention has dropped precipitously. Bursts of violence, threats of municipal chaos and two alleged domestic terror plots have put Occupy on a recurring collision course with law enforcement. ... Full Story Top U.S. pushes for more global cooperation in space Thu,7 Jun 2012 03:29 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States wants more global cooperation in space including joint war games and combined operations with allies, and is pushing for data-sharing deals with France, Japan and other countries, a U.S. defense official said in an interview. Greg Schulte, deputy assistant secretary of defense for space policy, said in an interview on Wednesday that it made sense for countries to work together in space given tight defense budgets and the increasingly congested and contested nature of space. He said even joint ownership of satellites would strengthen U.S. ... Full Story Top Texas studies 85 mph speed limit, fastest in U.S. Thu,7 Jun 2012 03:21 PM PDT Reuters - SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - A stretch of highway under construction in Texas could be the first U.S. road to have a posted 85 mile per hour speed limit, according to the Texas Department of Transportation. Texas State Highway 130 will run between San Antonio and Austin with the aim of taking traffic loads off of Interstate 35. The major north-south highway was named the fourth most congested road in the state by the Texas Department of Transportation last year. Most of Highway 130 is built - and speed limits are posted at 80 mph - with the remaining section set to open before the end of this year. ... Full Story Top Bernanke offers few hints of Fed stimulus Thu,7 Jun 2012 03:19 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Thursday the U.S. central bank was ready to shield the economy if financial troubles mount, but offered few hints that further monetary stimulus was imminent. Bernanke told Congress the Fed was monitoring "significant risks" to the U.S. recovery from Europe's debt and banking crisis closely. But for financial markets hungry for clues about the prospect for a third round of Fed bond buys, Bernanke's testimony disappointed. ... Full Story Top Calls grow for outside probe of U.S. national security leaks Thu,7 Jun 2012 03:19 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congressional intelligence committee leaders turned up the heat on the White House over alleged national security leaks on Thursday, with the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee suggesting she might be willing to join Republican demands for an investigation by a special counsel. ... Full Story Top House votes to kill Obama's medical device tax Thu,7 Jun 2012 03:16 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican-led House of Representatives voted on Thursday to strike down a 2.3 percent tax on medical devices and other parts of President Barack Obama's healthcare law, although the effort is likely to hit a wall in the Democratic-led Senate. More than three dozen Democrats sided with Republicans to repeal the provisions, including the tax that the medical device industry has fiercely opposed. The vote was 270-146. ... Full Story Top U.N. monitors shot at in Syria, Annan plan crumbles Thu,7 Jun 2012 03:11 PM PDT Reuters - BEIRUT/UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. monitors came under fire on Thursday while trying to investigate reports of a new massacre that raised the pressure on world powers struggling to halt the carnage in Syria, where a U.N.-Arab League peace plan has all but collapsed. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon described as "unspeakable barbarity" the reported killing of at least 78 villagers by forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Speaking at a special session of the U.N. ... Full Story Top

You received this email because you subscribed to Yahoo! Alerts. Use this link to unsubscribe from this alert. To change your communications preferences for other Yahoo! business lines, please visit your Marketing Preferences. To learn more about Yahoo!'s use of personal information, including the use of web beacons in HTML-based email, please read our Privacy Policy. Yahoo! is located at 701 First Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA 94089.