Today's Politics - Bloomberg News Headlines - Yahoo! News: | | New York court overturns zoning law on adult clubs, video stores Thu,30 Aug 2012 10:55 PM PDT Reuters - NEW YORK (Reuters) - A New York City zoning law designed to keep adult entertainment businesses away from schools, churches and residential neighborhoods was deemed unconstitutional by a New York state judge on Thursday. Justice Louis York of the New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan said a set of amendments in 2001 meant to tighten the city's regulation of strip clubs, topless bars and adult video and book stores violated the constitutional protections of free and were unnecessary. ... Full Story | Top | Lop-sided Angola vote to keep Dos Santos in power Thu,30 Aug 2012 10:52 PM PDT Reuters - LUANDA (Reuters) - "Victory is certain" runs the old war slogan of Angola's ruling MPLA party, and few doubt that a one-sided election on Friday will keep President Jose Eduardo dos Santos at the helm of Africa's second largest oil producer. Despite palpable discontent among ordinary Angolans about the unequal distribution of their country's oil wealth, Dos Santos' MPLA is expected to win most of the votes at the expense of much smaller and weaker opponents, including the former rebel group UNITA. ... Full Story | Top | Medicare's political importance goes beyond seniors Thu,30 Aug 2012 10:47 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Medicare debate promises to be front and center in this fall's presidential campaign, as not just seniors but aging baby boomers focus on retiree healthcare. Recent polling data shows that the issue resonates with boomers in key swing states. In Wisconsin, about 80 percent of respondents aged 50 to 64 ranked Medicare as "important" or "very important" in a Quinnipiac University/CBS/New York Times survey taken August 15-21, versus 91 percent for those 65 and older. Florida and Ohio produced comparable results in the same survey. ... Full Story | Top | Four Eritrean journalists die in prison: watchdog Thu,30 Aug 2012 10:46 PM PDT Reuters - ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Four journalists have died in prison in Eritrea after spending years behind bars, the media watchdog Reporters Without Borders said on Thursday. Eritrea is routinely labelled by watchdogs as one of the world's worst offenders against human rights, but the Horn of Africa country rejects the allegations and often accuses rights groups of working for foreign intelligence services to undermine its government. "After several weeks of investigating reports from sources ... ... Full Story | Top | Ghana's NDC backs Mahama, seeks unity ahead of vote Thu,30 Aug 2012 10:45 PM PDT Reuters - KUMASI, Ghana (Reuters) - Ghana's ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) party nominated interim president John Dramani Mahama on Thursday as its candidate for a December presidential race, hoping a near-unanimous vote will restore unity after months of infighting. Mahama, who replaced the late president John Atta Mills as head of the cocoa, gold and oil-producing nation when he died last month, was the party's intended candidate but had to be confirmed by a vote of the party congress in the town of Kumasi. He won 99. ... Full Story | Top | Ivory Coast using attacks as pretext for crackdown: opposition Thu,30 Aug 2012 10:44 PM PDT Reuters - ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Ivory Coast's main opposition party on Thursday accused the government of a campaign of repression against supporters of former president Laurent Gbagbo, using attacks on soldiers and police as a pretext. Around 20 people, most of them soldiers, have been killed in the raids, which have revived the spectre of unrest in the world's top cocoa grower, still deeply divided a year after a brief civil war that claimed more than 3,000 lives. ... Full Story | Top | Tunisian TV channel owner jailed Thu,30 Aug 2012 10:40 PM PDT Reuters - TUNIS (Reuters) - The owner of a private television channel was jailed in Tunisia on Thursday pending trial for corruption, an official said, in a case he has described as an attempt to stifle the media. Sami Fehri, who launched the channel in partnership with Belhassen Trabelsi, the son-in-law of former President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali, handed himself over to the authorities after an arrest warrant was issued a few days ago. ... Full Story | Top | Angolan police arrest opposition members before vote Thu,30 Aug 2012 10:38 PM PDT Reuters - LUANDA (Reuters) - Angolan police arrested several members of an opposition party on Thursday on the eve of national elections after they tried to enter the electoral commission building to demand credentials to observe the vote at polling stations, a party official and police said. William Tonet, a candidate for the opposition CASA-CE party, told Reuters that police guarding the national electoral commission (CNE) in Luanda fired shots to keep back dozens of young CASA-CE militants who approached the building. About a dozen party members were taken away by police, Tonet said. ... Full Story | Top | Bernanke may hint at stimulus without boxing Fed in Thu,30 Aug 2012 10:31 PM PDT Reuters - JACKSON HOLE, Wyoming (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will likely acknowledge the U.S. central bank is actively considering another round of monetary easing in his keynote Jackson Hole speech on Friday. But the Fed chief could disappoint fidgety financial markets if he stops short of signaling another bond-buying program is imminent, which many analysts say is a strong possibility. "We have had low expectations for significant news," said Vincent Reinhart, an economist at Morgan Stanley and a former top staffer at the Fed. ... Full Story | Top | Analysis: Romney looking for voters' respect, if not love Thu,30 Aug 2012 10:26 PM PDT Reuters - TAMPA, Florida (Reuters) - Republicans unveiled several catchy slogans when they met here to nominate Mitt Romney for president. But one word kept popping up that summarized the shortcomings of their chosen candidate: "humanize." Though U.S. voters may respect Romney, they don't seem to like him much, and the central mission of the Republican convention was to show the personal side of a candidate who has been reluctant to reveal it himself. ... Full Story | Top | Economic uncertainty growing massively: ECB's Nowotny Thu,30 Aug 2012 10:11 PM PDT Reuters - ALPBACH, Austria (Reuters) - Economic uncertainty in Europe is rising "massively" as growth prospects worsen, especially for debt-strapped southern euro zone members, European Central Bank Governing Council member Ewald Nowotny said. Nowotny told reporters late on Thursday he could not reveal the latest ECB forecasts for growth in the euro zone before their official release. "But I can say this much: there will not be an improvement, but rather a deterioration in expectations," he said, noting the divergence in growth rates between northern and southern members was widening. ... Full Story | Top | U.S. Senator Reid, son combine for China firm's desert plant Thu,30 Aug 2012 10:08 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Harry Reid recognized nine years ago that connections between his official duties and the lobbying activities of his relatives could lead to ethical questions. In 2003, the Nevada Democrat publicly banned relatives from lobbying him or his staff after newspaper reports showed that Nevada industries and institutions routinely turned to Reid's sons or son-in-law for representation. Now, questions surrounding family ties are flaring again in Nevada around the Senate majority leader. ... Full Story | Top | After early successes, Obama struggles to implement disarmament vision Thu,30 Aug 2012 10:06 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Less than three months after his inauguration, President Barack Obama stood before a cheering throng in Prague's historic Hradcany Square and outlined an ambitious vision of a world without nuclear arms. In remarks recalled later by the Nobel Peace Prize panel, Obama promised to negotiate a new strategic arms treaty with Russia, strengthen safeguards against the spread of nuclear weapons and engage Iran and North Korea to stop proliferation. ... Full Story | Top | Analysis: JPMorgan faces sea of trouble resolving "Whale" probe Thu,30 Aug 2012 10:02 PM PDT Reuters - NEW YORK (Reuters) - The fallout from a nearly $6 billion trading loss at JPMorgan Chase & Co looks like it will haunt the big U.S. bank and its high-profile chief executive, Jamie Dimon, for months to come. U.S. authorities are interviewing witnesses in both the United States and Europe to determine if three former London-based traders and others who worked with them at JPMorgan tried to hide some of the mounting losses during the first quarter of this year, said people familiar with the situation. The situation presents several challenges to U.S. ... Full Story | Top | Romney appeals to voters disillusioned with Obama Thu,30 Aug 2012 09:53 PM PDT Reuters - TAMPA, Florida (Reuters) - Republican Mitt Romney urged voters on Thursday to help him rebuild the U.S. economy and create millions of new jobs, asking them to overcome their disappointment in President Barack Obama and join him in restoring the promise of America. In a high-stakes speech accepting the Republican presidential nomination, Romney said he would work to unify a divided country that believed Obama's lofty campaign promises but had lost hope they would be fulfilled. "What is needed in our country today is not complicated or profound. ... Full Story | Top | Did Clint Eastwood lose the plot at Romney's convention? Thu,30 Aug 2012 09:51 PM PDT Reuters - TAMPA, Florida (Reuters) - Republicans may have made Mitt Romney's day with the presidential nomination he long sought, but it was Dirty Harry himself who nearly hijacked the show with a rambling diatribe against President Barack Obama - addressed to an empty chair. Hollywood icon Clint Eastwood brought his star power and trademark gravelly voice to the stage of the convention hall in Tampa on Thursday, jetting in as a surprise last-minute speaker to warm up the crowd for Romney's acceptance speech. ... Full Story | Top | In testimonials, Romney's Mormon faith takes spotlight Thu,30 Aug 2012 09:45 PM PDT Reuters - TAMPA, Florida (Reuters) - They were stories of Mitt Romney's Mormon faith, the kind of stories the Republican presidential candidate has not said much about during his run for the White House. There was Grant Bennett, a former assistant to Romney who described how Romney, as a Mormon pastor in the late 1970s, devoted 15 to 20 hours a week visiting sick members of his congregation, delivering meals or shoveling snow for the elderly. ... Full Story | Top | Florida's Rubio cements role as future of Republican party Thu,30 Aug 2012 09:08 PM PDT Reuters - TAMPA, Florida (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Marco Rubio made his first major speech at the Republican National Convention on Thursday, and his eloquence and ease on stage suggested it won't be his last. The first-term senator from Florida had the daunting task of introducing Mitt Romney as the party's nominee to challenge Democratic President Barack Obama in the November 6 election. Coming on stage after movie star Clint Eastwood gave a rambling and at times incoherent speech, Rubio took the pressure in stride and quickly had the sign-waving crowd eating out of his hands. ... Full Story | Top | Voices from the right: Best quotes from the Republican convention Thu,30 Aug 2012 08:54 PM PDT Reuters - TAMPA, Florida (Reuters) - "I wish President (Barack) Obama had succeeded because I want America to succeed. But his promises gave way to disappointment and division. This isn't something we have to accept." - Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney "President Obama promised to slow the rise of the oceans and to heal the planet. My promise is to help you and your family." - Mitt Romney "What is needed in our country today is not complicated or profound. It doesn't take a special government commission to tell us what America needs. What America needs is jobs. Lots of jobs. ... Full Story | Top | Advance excerpts of Romney's convention speech Thu,30 Aug 2012 08:49 PM PDT Reuters - TAMPA, Florida (Reuters) - The following is a selection of advance excerpts of Mitt Romney's speech on Thursday to the Republican National Convention accepting his party's nomination to face President Barack Obama in the November 6 election: * Four years ago, I know that many Americans felt a fresh excitement about the possibilities of a new president. ... I wish President Obama had succeeded because I want America to succeed. But his promises gave way to disappointment and division. This isn't something we have to accept. Now is the moment when we can do something. ... Full Story | Top | Mexico electoral judges reject challenge to Pena Nieto victory Thu,30 Aug 2012 08:42 PM PDT Reuters - MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's electoral tribunal on Thursday unanimously rejected a legal bid to overturn Enrique Pena Nieto's victory in the July 1 presidential election, paving the way for the centrist to take office and press ahead with his reform agenda. Pena Nieto, 46, and his Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, were accused by runner-up Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of laundering money and buying votes to secure victory, but the judges said there was insufficient evidence of wrongdoing. ... Full Story | Top | Pentagon threatens legal action over bin Laden book Thu,30 Aug 2012 07:47 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon warned on Thursday that it was considering legal action against a former U.S. Navy SEAL for material breach of non-disclosure agreements with his first-hand account of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden. In a letter obtained by Reuters, and subsequently released by the Pentagon, the Pentagon's top attorney said the Department of Defense was also considering legal action against anyone "acting in concert" with the author. It hinted that the book's royalties might be subject to government claims. ... Full Story | Top | Newt, Callista Gingrich hail Reagan at Romney convention Thu,30 Aug 2012 07:25 PM PDT Reuters - TAMPA, Florida (Reuters) - Newt Gingrich felt the sharp boot of Mitt Romney during a bitter Republican presidential primary battle, but he buried old bones and united behind his former rival on Thursday, albeit through a tribute to Ronald Reagan. Gingrich and his wife, Callista, standing side by side on stage at the Republican National Convention, hailed Romney in the name of Reagan, the late president who is considered a hero to conservatives. "Governor Romney will return Americans to work and to the principles that are the core of President Reagan's legacy," Callista said. ... Full Story | Top | Jeb Bush defends brother George's record Thu,30 Aug 2012 07:21 PM PDT Reuters - TAMPA, Florida (Reuters) - Jeb Bush came to Tampa to talk about education, but first he had some things to say in honor of his sometimes-maligned brother, former President George W. Bush. A former governor of Florida, Jeb Bush is often mentioned in Republican circles as a possible president. All that was set aside for a while on Thursday as he offered a defense of George W., who was notably absent from the convention, and urged Democratic President Barack Obama to stop blaming him for the country's ills. "Mr. ... Full Story | Top | Colorado shooting suspect may have called university before rampage Thu,30 Aug 2012 07:18 PM PDT Reuters - CENTENNIAL, Colo. (Reuters) - Accused Colorado gunman James Holmes may have phoned h is former university just nine minutes before last month's shooting at a midnight screening of "The Dark Knight Rises" that killed 12 people, his lawyer said on Thursday. In a pretrial hearing, defense attorney Tamara Brady raised the possibility of such a call while questioning Dr. Lynne Fenton, a University of Colorado psychiatrist w h o treated Holmes in the month before the July 20 movie house shooting. ... Full Story | Top | Washington state Catholic bishop warned over anti-gay marriage campaign Thu,30 Aug 2012 07:12 PM PDT Reuters - OLYMPIA, Washington (Reuters) - Washington state regulators have warned a Roman Catholic bishop that his diocese risks running afoul of state campaign finance laws if he follows through with a planned fund-raising effort opposing same-sex marriage on the November ballot. State law prohibits organizations, including churches, from raising money from individuals to give to political campaigns, said Lori Anderson, a spokeswoman for the state's Public Disclosure Commission. "It's not because it's a church. It's because it's not a stand-alone individual," Anderson said on Thursday. ... Full Story | Top | Chicago teachers vote to strike on September 10 if no deal Thu,30 Aug 2012 06:48 PM PDT Reuters - CHICAGO (Reuters) - The Chicago Teachers Union voted on Thursday to allow its first strike in 25 years starting on September 10 in the nation's third-largest school district if negotiators cannot reach a contract with city officials. The strike would start during the second week of classes for most of the system's more than 400,000 students. The last Chicago teachers' strike lasted four weeks in 1987. ... Full Story | Top | U.N. all talk on Syria aid as West mulls military action Thu,30 Aug 2012 05:10 PM PDT Reuters - UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A U.N. Security Council meeting on Syria's aid crisis achieved nothing new on Thursday except to highlight global paralysis on the 17-month conflict as western powers warned that military action to secure civilian safe zones was still an option. While the Security Council impasse between western nations and Russia and China means a resolution to approve such a move appears impossible, countries could act outside the authority of the world body and intervene, as happened in Kosovo in 1999. ... Full Story | Top | World Bank chief heads to Africa in first overseas visit Thu,30 Aug 2012 05:01 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New World Bank President Jim Yong Kim heads to the Ivory Coast and South Africa next week on his first trip to Africa since taking the reins of the global development lender two months ago. The visit comes at a time when African economies are among the fastest growing in the world although their development is constrained by shortages of roads, ports, power supply, water and sanitation. Despite high rates of growth, rising youth unemployment and inequality are a growing concern. ... Full Story | Top | Federal court blocks Texas voter ID law Thu,30 Aug 2012 04:59 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal court on Thursday blocked a Texas law that would require voters to show photo identification before casting ballots, saying the measure would likely curtail the ability of minorities to vote in the November 6 presidential election. Evidence showed the law did the most harm to African Americans and Hispanics, who are more likely to live in poverty, Circuit Judge David Tatel wrote for a three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court in Washington. Those without the underlying documents to obtain ID would have to purchase them, discouraging poor voters, he wrote. ... Full Story | Top | Scores arrested in new Maldives protest against Nasheed ruling Thu,30 Aug 2012 04:55 PM PDT Reuters - MALE (Reuters) - Maldives police arrested at least 12 people in the early hours of Friday to break up a protest by supporters of former president Mohamed Nasheed against a report that said he had been replaced legitimately. Hundreds of angry supporters of Nasheed had blocked a main road in the capital Male for three hours before the arrests forced them to disperse. On Thursday, around 50 protesters had been detained. After his removal on February 7, Nasheed, in power since 2008, said he had been forced to resign at gunpoint by mutinying police and soldiers. ... Full Story | Top | No charges for deaths of terrorism suspects: Justice Department Thu,30 Aug 2012 04:53 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An investigation launched in 2008 into the CIA's program of detaining and interrogating captured militants was closed on Thursday with no criminal charges, the Justice Department said. The interrogators used techniques like "waterboarding," or simulated drowning, which President Barack Obama and human rights advocates say is torture. ... Full Story | Top | Romney tells voters to move on from Obama disappointment Thu,30 Aug 2012 04:19 PM PDT Reuters - TAMPA, Florida (Reuters) - Republican Mitt Romney will urge Americans in a major speech on Thursday to leave behind their disappointment in President Barack Obama and join him to rebuild the U.S. economy and generate millions of jobs. Taking center stage with an address to the Republican convention in Tampa, Florida, Romney will vow to be a champion for small business and to restore a sense of innovation in America. "What is needed in our country today is not complicated or profound. It doesn't take a special government commission to tell us what America needs. What America needs is jobs. ... Full Story | Top | New judge named in case against Trayvon Martin shooter Thu,30 Aug 2012 04:12 PM PDT Reuters - (Reuters) - A new judge has been assigned to hear the murder case against former Florida neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, who shot and killed black teenager Trayvon Martin in February. Debra Nelson is the third judge to be assigned to the case since Zimmerman's April arrest on one count of second-degree murder in the death of the 17-year-old Martin. On Wednesday, a three-judge appellate panel ordered the case's previous judge, Kenneth Lester, to step aside. ... Full Story | Top | Ecuadorean journalist granted asylum in Miami Thu,30 Aug 2012 04:06 PM PDT Reuters - MIAMI (Reuters) - A newspaper columnist who fled Ecuador after he was sentenced to jail and ordered to pay millions of dollars in a libel case pushed by President Rafael Correa has been granted asylum in the United States, his lawyer said on Thursday. Emilio Palacio, a columnist at El Universo, one of Ecuador's leading newspapers, has been living in Miami since last year. He applied for asylum claiming he was a victim of political persecution. "It's been a long road for him and his family," said Palacio's lawyer, Sandra Grossman. ... Full Story | Top | Cuba reports mixed results of labor reform Thu,30 Aug 2012 03:53 PM PDT Reuters - HAVANA (Reuters) - Communist-run Cuba's five-year plan to cut more than a million state jobs, create a strong "non-state sector" and improve wages has made only limited progress, according to a government report released this week. Authorities announced the shift of state workers to private and leased small businesses and farming in late 2009 as the core of a broader reform of the state-dominated economy that employed 90 percent of the workforce. ... Full Story | Top | Austal's first high-speed ship completes U.S. Navy acceptance trials Thu,30 Aug 2012 03:43 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Navy's first Joint High Speed Vessel, a catamaran transport ship built by Australia's Austal, has passed a comprehensive set of Navy performance and equipment tests, the U.S. unit of the company said on Thursday. Austal said completion of the Navy acceptance trials marked the last significant milestone for the ship, USNS Spearhead. The company did not say when it would be delivered to the Navy. The second ship in the new class is due to be christened on September 15 at Austal's facility in Mobile, Alabama, where two other ships are under construction. ... Full Story | Top | Spanish court says sick Basque separatist can be freed Thu,30 Aug 2012 03:30 PM PDT Reuters - MADRID (Reuters) - A top Spanish court ruled on Thursday that a Basque ETA separatist jailed for his involvement in several kidnappings and murders could be freed because he has cancer. Jesús MarÃa UribetxeberrÃa Bolinaga last week abandoned a two-week hunger strike that had prompted around a hundred fellow ETA prisoners to refuse food to press for his release. ETA, which wants independence for Basque lands in northern Spain and southern France, laid down its weapons last October after four decades of armed struggle that resulted in more than 800 deaths. ... Full Story | Top | Surprise guest at Republican convention: Clint Eastwood Thu,30 Aug 2012 03:08 PM PDT Reuters - (Reuters) - "Dirty Harry" star Clint Eastwood will bring a touch of Hollywood glamour to the Republican National Convention on Thursday, jetting in as a surprise last-minute speaker to warm up the crowd for presidential candidate Mitt Romney, according to a Republican official. The Academy Award-winning director and actor endorsed Romney earlier this month, appearing at a fundraiser for him in Idaho. Eastwood, 82, was reluctantly drawn into the 2012 campaign earlier this year when an ad by Chrysler, titled "Halftime in America" and narrated by Eastwood, ran during halftime of the Super Bowl. ... Full Story | Top | Record farm export sales seen despite drought: USDA Thu,30 Aug 2012 03:06 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Farm exports will set a sales record in the new marketing year due to high commodity prices that will magnify the value of dramatically smaller harvests amid the worst drought in half a century, the government forecast on Friday. At $143.5 billion for the year that opens on Oct 1, it would be the second export sales record in three years. Farm exports were a record $137.4 billion in 2011, but will fall just short of it, at $136.5 billion, this marketing year, said the Agriculture Department. High prices for corn, soybeans and wheat -- the three most widely grown U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
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