| House GOP budget plan heats up as campaign issue Posted:  The new debt-slashing budget plan pushed by House Republicans heated up as a presidential campaign issue Sunday as the proposal's architect, Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, sparred with top Democrats over its political fallout and downplayed the possibility he could be tapped as a vice presidential candidate.
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| With win in hand from La., Santorum eyes Wis. Posted:  Another victory in hand but still badly trailing rival Mitt Romney, Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum vowed to continue his campaign despite an increasingly steep climb to the nomination.
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| Obama squeezes N. Korea to change, China to help Posted:  Trying to muscle North Korea toward peace over provocation, President Barack Obama is broadening his squeeze play from the heart of this tensely divided peninsula, pressuring China to show more influence and warning North Korea that it is headed toward a crippling "dead end" of isolation.
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| Baseballs, beer, masks: Cuba's patron saint ready for pope Posted:  EL COBRE, Cuba (Reuters) - Dressed in a billowing pink ball gown for her 15th birthday celebrations, Lisette Catanares smiles at the myriad offerings on a shrine to Cuba's patron saint, a doll-sized figurine that Pope Benedict will visit this week. A can of strong 'Bucanero' beer, a medal, carnival masks, signed baseballs, locks of hair: Cubans of all beliefs make offerings here when they ask for miracles and blessings from The Virgin of Charity of El Cobre, a symbol of nationalism that transcends religion. ...
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| Mali's capital returning to normal, north threatened Posted:  BAMAKO (Reuters) - Life in Mali's capital slowly returned to normal on Sunday after most mutinous soldiers returned to their barracks, but rebels exploiting a military coup in the country pushed towards three northern towns. Underscoring the threat to Mali's north, the head of the Ganda Iso militia, which has tried to fill the gap left by defeated or stretched government forces, was killed alongside about ten others in clashes with the rebels, a militia source said. The scene in Bamako, the capital, was calmer though. ...
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| Anti-Kony campaign in turmoil after filmmaker's breakdown Posted:  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The public meltdown of the man behind the viral "Kony 2012" video has thrown his campaign into turmoil even as the film succeeded in turning the world's attention to capturing an elusive and brutal Ugandan warlord. Jason Russell, whose 30-minute video sensation shone a spotlight on Joseph Kony's use of child soldiers in Uganda, was taken by police to a hospital in California last week after suffering what doctors described as a brief psychotic breakdown. ...
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| Cuba's Ladies in White march in peace, want pope meeting Posted: HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba's Ladies in White held their weekly protest march without incident on Sunday just before Pope Benedict's visit to the island and said they wanted to meet with him, if only for a minute, to discuss human rights. The dissident group's leader, Berta Soler, told reporters she agreed with the pope's comments on Friday that communism had failed in Cuba and a new economic model was needed. ... |
| U.S. negotiation efforts with Taliban have failed: group Posted:  KABUL (Reuters) - U.S. negotiation efforts with the Taliban have failed and the United Nations should take the lead to optimize the chances of ending almost 11 years of war, a think tank said on Monday. In a blow to hopes of a negotiated end to the war, the Taliban suspended talks with the United States two weeks ago after the alleged massacre of 17 Afghan civilians by a lone U.S. soldier and the burning of Korans at a NATO base last month. "U.S. ...
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| French gunman's brother suspected of complicity Posted:  PARIS (Reuters) - The brother of an al Qaeda-inspired gunman shot dead by French police was placed under investigation on Sunday for suspected complicity in a killing spree that has made security a central election issue, with President Nicolas Sarkozy scenting an advantage. Sarkozy, buoyed by a rise in opinion polls four weeks from the first round of a presidential vote, renewed hostilities with rival Francois Hollande over the weekend, saying the Socialist front runner was unfit to protect France's security interests. ...
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| Little home comfort for Santorum in Pennsylvania Posted:  VILLANOVA, Pennsylvania (Reuters) - A staunch conservative from a moderate state, Rick Santorum is unlikely to get much home comfort in Pennsylvania as he tries to stay near the front of the race for the Republican presidential nomination. Early opinion polls show Santorum leading main rival Mitt Romney ahead of the April 24 primary in Pennsylvania, a state he represented in Congress for 16 years before being resoundingly voted out of the Senate in 2006. But Santorum faces a tough fight to hold his lead in a state where he must win - and win well - to keep his presidential ambitions afloat. ...
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| BATS founder pushes for IPO despite "freak" glitch Posted:  NEW YORK (Reuters) - BATS Global Markets, the U.S. exchange operator that withdrew its public offering Friday after a computer glitch sent its newly-issued stock into a tailspin, should develop a "credible IPO plan" and go through with it in the second quarter, its founder and current director said. BATS' own stock was to be its first listing. But the initial public offering ended up a disaster after a software bug briefly sent the price of the shares down from $16 to less than a penny, before trading was halted. ...
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| IPO was pulled because confidence eroded: BATS CEO Posted: NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. exchange operator BATS Global withdrew its initial public offering mid-Friday after it became clear investor confidence had eroded, and there are still no plans for an IPO in the foreseeable future, its chief executive said in an interview on Sunday. "Basically because we're an exchange listing our own stock, and we're having trouble operating the auction process and continuous trading as an exchange, it became clear to us that investor confidence had eroded," Joe Ratterman said, adding he won't let technical problems that hit BATS define the company. ... |
| Friends fear for safety of man who shot Florida teen Posted:  SANFORD, Florida (Reuters) - Friends and supporters spoke out on Sunday on behalf of the neighborhood watch volunteer who shot and killed an unarmed teenager in Florida, saying he fears for his safety after receiving death threats. George Zimmerman, who has claimed he shot Trayvon Martin on February 26 in self-defense, is staying at an undisclosed location after widely circulated death threats and word of a $10,000 bounty to find him, said legal adviser Craig Sonner, who said he would represent Zimmerman if charges are filed. ...
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| Pope condemns drug trade, corruption in Mexico Posted:  LEON, Mexico (Reuters) - Pope Benedict at a huge outdoor Mass on Sunday condemned drug trafficking and corruption in Mexico, urging people to renounce violence in the country where a brutal war between cartels has killed tens of thousands of people. On his last day in Mexico, the pope said Mass for a vibrant crowd that organizers estimated at more than 600,000 people in a sprawling park on the edge of Leon, a central city which has escaped the worst of the criminal violence plaguing the country. ...
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| House GOP budget plan heats up as campaign issue Posted: The new debt-slashing budget plan pushed by House Republicans heated up as a presidential campaign issue Sunday as the proposal's architect, Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, sparred with top Democrats over its political fallout and downplayed the possibility he could be tapped as a vice presidential candidate. |
| Lawyers for Strauss-Kahn, accuser to spar in court Posted:  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Seven months after New York prosecutors dropped criminal charges against former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, his lawyers will fight a civil lawsuit brought against him in a Bronx courtroom this week. Lawyers for Strauss-Kahn and his accuser, hotel maid Nafissatou Diallo, will wrangle on Wednesday over whether Strauss-Kahn's former IMF position grants him diplomatic immunity from the suit. ...
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| Syrian forces on offensive, Moscow says peace takes time Posted:  MOSCOW/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Russia offered "full support" for peace envoy Kofi Annan's efforts to end fighting in Syria on Sunday but said his mission would need more time as forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad attacked Homs and other rebel strongholds. Moscow also suggested foreign support for the Syrian opposition was the main obstacle to peace while U.S. President Barack Obama and Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan discussed how to get non-lethal aid to the opposition. Western and Arab states have urged Assad to step aside to end violence which the U.N. says has cost 8,000 lives. ...
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| Obama gets personal over killing of black Florida teenager Posted:  WASHINGTON/SANFORD, Florida (Reuters) - President Barack Obama weighed into the controversial killing of a black teenager in Florida in very personal terms on Friday, comparing the boy to a son he doesn't have and calling for American "soul searching" over how the incident occurred. Seventeen-year-old Trayvon Martin, dressed in a "hoodie" hooded sweatshirt, was shot dead a month ago in Sanford, Florida by a 28-year-old white Hispanic neighborhood watch volunteer who said he was acting in self-defense. ...
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| Afghan gun massacre families paid compensation Posted:  KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - U.S. authorities have given cash compensation to the families of Afghans killed in a shooting rampage allegedly carried out by an American soldier in Kandahar province, a family member and a tribal elder said on Sunday. The families received around $50,000 for each person killed and about $10,000 for each wounded in the shootings in two villages in Panjwai district earlier this month. Afghan officials say 16 people, including nine children and women, were killed in the attacks. ...
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| Beijing loyalist to lead Hong Kong after fraught election Posted:  HONG KONG (Reuters) - An election committee of about 1,200 Hong Kong notables picked Beijing-loyalist Leung Chun-ying as the city's next leader on Sunday, after a fraught campaign which will intensify pressure on China to keeps its promise to allow Hong Kong a direct leadership election in 2017. Hong Kong, a former British colony that returned to Chinese rule in 1997, is a freewheeling capitalist hub which enjoys a high degree of autonomy and freedom, but Beijing's Communist Party leaders have resisted public pressure for full democracy. ...
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| Exclusive: Shell scrambles to pay huge bill for Iran oil Posted:  LONDON (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell is struggling to pay off $1 billion that it owes Iran for crude oil because European Union and U.S. financial sanctions now make it almost impossible to process payments, industry sources said. Four sources said the oil major owes a large sum to the National Iranian Oil Co (NIOC) for deliveries of crude, with one putting the figure at close to $1 billion. A debt of that size would equate to roughly four large tanker loads of Iranian crude or about 8 million barrels. ...
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| Chavez starts radiation therapy, may meet Pope Posted:  CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's Hugo Chavez said on Sunday he had started radiation treatment in Cuba, where he could also meet Pope Benedict in the latest high profile development as the president tries to fight off cancer and win re-election. Chavez was back in Havana a month after he had surgery there to remove a second malignant tumor from his pelvis. The treatment will take him off the political stage just as his election rival gears up a nationwide campaign tour ahead of the October 7 vote. ...
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| Pope's trip sparks hopes for change in Cuba Posted:  HAVANA (Reuters) - For years at Havana's historic Cristobal Colon cemetery, Communist Party members refused to enter the Roman Catholic chapel there for funeral services. They stayed outside while others honored the dead because religious believers were banned from the party and being seen in a church, particularly a Catholic one, could bring trouble even for someone in mourning. But those days are gone and the Church has taken a bigger role in Cuban society since the visit of Pope John Paul II in 1998, said 68-year-old Erick Osio, who remembers standing outside the cemetery chapel. ...
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| Egyptian Christians await new pope, debate role Posted: CAIRO (Reuters) - Picking a new pope for Egypt's Orthodox church could take months, officials said on Sunday, allowing debate to gather pace among Christians over the political role the next leader should have as Islamists rise to power. Pope Shenouda, who died on March 17, led the Coptic Orthodox church for four decades. He acted as the main political advocate for the nation's Christians, who make up about a tenth of Egypt's 80 million people, while Hosni Mubarak was in charge. ... |
| French judge opens formal probe into gunman brother Posted: PARIS (Reuters) - A French judge placed the brother of an al Qaeda-inspired gunman under formal investigation on Sunday, meaning he will be moved to a prison and remain there for the duration of an inquiry into suspected complicity in a spate of fatal shootings. A legal source told Reuters that four anti-terrorist judges would lead an inquiry into gunman Mohamed Merah's killing of three Jewish children, a rabbi and three soldiers, and investigate his elder brother Abdelkader Merah for complicity. ... |
| Is Dick Cheney Too Old for a Heart Transplant? Posted:  Cheney, 71, Is Recovering from Heart Transplant Surgery
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| Spending cuts bite in Paul Ryan's home town Posted: JANESVILLE, Wisconsin (Reuters) - Republican U.S. Representative Paul Ryan's budget-cutting vision has made him a hero to conservatives across the country. It's less popular in his hometown. As Ryan's proposal to slash taxes and spending started to move through Congress last week, local officials in this humble Rust Belt city scrambled to recover from last year's cutbacks. The U.S. ... |
| Egypt military fends off Islamist critics Posted:  CAIRO (Reuters) - The ruling army council on Sunday defended its handling of Egypt's political transition against withering attacks on the army-backed government by the Islamist-dominated parliament. The Muslim Brotherhood, whose Freedom and Justice Party has the biggest bloc in parliament, described Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzouri's cabinet as a failure and criticized the army for continuing to support it, in a statement on Saturday. The military took over more than a year ago after a popular uprising ended President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule. ...
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| Donna Brazile, George Will Question 'Stand Your Ground' Law Posted:  The "This Week" roundtable joined the roiling national conversation on the shooting death of unarmed Florida teenager Trayvon Martin, questioning the controversial "Stand Your Ground" law at the center of the case.
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| Transcript: David Plouffe on NBC's Meet the Press Posted: On NBC's Meet the Press, Obama senior advisor David Plouffe defended the president's positions on health care and energy. He also called Mitt Romney "the Godfather of our healthcare plan." Read the full transcript here. |
| Transcript: Paul Ryan on Fox News Sunday Posted: On Fox News Sunday, Obama senior advisor David Plouffe talked energy and the election, while House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., defended his new tax plan and budget proposal. Read the full transcript here. |
| Transcript: Lindsay Graham on CNN's State of the Union Posted: On CNN's State of the Union, Florida Gov. Rick Scott talked about the ways his state is handling the Trayvon Martin shooting case. Also on the show were Obama senior advisor David Plouffe and Sen. Lindsay Graham, who talked about the general election and health care. Read the full transcript here. |
| Transcript: Michele Bachmann on ABC's This Week Posted: On ABC's This Week, Obama senior advisor David Plouffe attacked Republican field and defended the president's health care law. Rep. Michele Bachmann also made an appearance, and discussed wide range of issues, from Obama's health care law to the Trayvon Martin case. Read the full transcript here. |
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