Yahoo! News: Politics News

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• THE RACE: Trivial issues fly in White House race
• Romney backs student loan proposal Obama supports
• Romney says he enjoyed French vacations
• Repsol warns potential YPF investors of lawsuits
• Without reforms, U.S. retirees to face dwindling funds
• Al Qaeda challenges with lone wolf tactics: Canada
• Cheney Speaks, Rubio's DREAM, Romney at Champs Elysees, Sin vs. Crime and John Edwards (PM Note)
• Romney backers tied to mysterious $400K donation
• Ontario Liberals dodge election with tax-the-rich deal
• Wal-Mart shaken by bribery probe, shares plunge
• U.S. lawmakers launch Wal-Mart bribery probe
• Social Security heading for insolvency even faster
• Aging workforce strains Social Security, Medicare
• Report: VA failing to provide timely mental care
• 12th military member tied to prostitution scandal
• Prosecutors call John Edwards manipulative, ambitious
• AP NewsAlert
• U.S. says gasoline prices still too high
• U.S. says has raised North Korea missile-linked sale with China
• Nonpartisan gov't auditors rebuke Medicare bonuses
• White House Downplays GAO Report on Questionable Bonuses Through Medicare Advantage
• Rubio campaigns with Romney, raising VP speculation
• Venezuela's Chavez calls home to squash death rumors
• Complaint tests conservative group's charity status
• Romney backs student loan proposal Obama supports
• Russian envoy warns on U.S. human rights bill
• Romney says he enjoyed French vacations
• U.N. condemns Sudan's bombing of South, calls for peace
• Mexico presidential candidate calls for Wal-Mart probe
• Trayvon Martin's killer leaves Florida jail
• UN condemns Sudan's bombing of South, calls for peace
• SPIN METER: Romney roadmap leaves voters guessing
• Signs of cheaper gas could brighten Obama campaign

THE RACE: Trivial issues fly in White House race Posted: These are the dog days of the presidential race, so to speak.

Romney backs student loan proposal Obama supports Posted: Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Monday embraced a student loan proposal that President Barack Obama is selling on the campaign trail and refused to endorse Sen. Marco Rubio's conservative immigration plan aimed at helping young illegal immigrants.

Romney says he enjoyed French vacations Posted: Mitt Romney spent two years as a Mormon missionary in France but says his best memories of the country are from vacations there.

Repsol warns potential YPF investors of lawsuits Posted: MADRID (Reuters) - Oil major Repsol warned it could take legal action against companies that invest in YPF after Argentina seized control of the Spanish company's energy unit last week. Argentina expropriated the 51 percent of YPF owned by Repsol, saying that the company needed to invest more to address the South American country's energy shortage. Argentine Planning Minister Julio De Vido approached Brazil's state-run oil company Petrobras over investment in YPF last week. ...

Without reforms, U.S. retirees to face dwindling funds Posted: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Aging baby boomers got some jolting news on Monday when the U.S. government said the Social Security retirement program is on track to go bankrupt three years earlier than expected if reforms are not made. Unless Washington politicians, who have been at war with each other over government spending priorities and federal budget deficits, can decide how to put Social Security on a sound footing, retirees' pension checks would start running out in 2033, according to an annual report. ...

Al Qaeda challenges with lone wolf tactics: Canada Posted: OTTAWA (Reuters) - Al Qaeda's new focus on "lone wolf" tactics is making it tough for Western intelligence agencies to prevent terror attacks, the head of Canada's spy service said on Monday. In a rare admission that al Qaeda's switch to "individual jihad" was posing problems, the head of Canada's spy service said lone wolves are tough to detect because they do not belong to a larger network that might attract attention. ...

Cheney Speaks, Rubio's DREAM, Romney at Champs Elysees, Sin vs. Crime and John Edwards (PM Note) Posted: Pick Me - Dick Cheney led George W. Bush's vice presidential search effort and ultimately chose Dick Cheney.  Today, he said this about the process: "I've been involved in a number of vice presidential searches – some more successful than others… "I think the single...

Romney backers tied to mysterious $400K donation Posted: A mysterious firm that gave $400,000 to help elect Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has direct ties to a married couple who already are among Romney's top Florida fundraisers, The Associated Press has learned.

Ontario Liberals dodge election with tax-the-rich deal Posted: TORONTO (Reuters) - Ontario's ruling Liberals on Monday agreed to introduce a new tax on the "super rich" to win support for their budget from the left-leaning New Democratic Party, averting a second election in six months for Canada's most powerful province. The NDP said it will not oppose the minority government's spending plan after the Liberals agreed to introduce a surtax for Ontario residents earning more than C$500,000 ($500,000) a year. ...

Wal-Mart shaken by bribery probe, shares plunge Posted: CHICAGO/MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc lost $10 billion of its market value on Monday on concerns that a bribery investigation in Mexico could be very costly and hinder its plans to grow. In a sign that the problem was widening for the world's largest retailer, lawmakers in the United States and Mexico called on authorities to investigate allegations in a New York Times article that Wal-Mart de Mexico had engaged in a campaign of bribery to build its business. Legal and retail experts said the allegations, if true, could violate the U.S. ...

U.S. lawmakers launch Wal-Mart bribery probe Posted: (Reuters) - Two Democratic U.S. lawmakers on Monday said they were launching an investigation into allegations of bribery at Wal-Mart Stores Inc's Mexican affiliate. Representative Elijah Cummings, top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and Representative Henry Waxman, top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, sent a letter to Wal-Mart Chief Executive Mike Duke, requesting an in-person meeting with company officials. ...

Social Security heading for insolvency even faster Posted: Social Security is rushing even faster toward insolvency, driven by retiring baby boomers, a weak economy and politicians' reluctance to take painful action to fix the huge retirement and disability program.

Aging workforce strains Social Security, Medicare Posted: An aging population and an economy that has been slow to rebound are straining the long-term finances of Social Security and Medicare, the government's two largest benefit programs.

Report: VA failing to provide timely mental care Posted: Federal investigators reported Monday that nearly half of the veterans who seek mental health care for the first time waited about 50 days before receiving a full evaluation, a much longer lag-time than cited by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

12th military member tied to prostitution scandal Posted: The Secret Service prostitution scandal grew Monday to include a 12th member of the U.S. military as the Pentagon suspended the security clearances of all the military personnel who have been implicated. The Secret Service has also taken action against 12 of its employees.

Prosecutors call John Edwards manipulative, ambitious Posted: GREENSBORO, North Carolina (Reuters) - Prosecutors in the criminal campaign finance case against former Senator John Edwards described him on Monday as a manipulative politician who refused to let his affair or his mistress' pregnancy sideline his presidential ambitions. But Edwards' defense asked jurors to "follow the money," saying the nearly $1 million in illegal campaign funds he is accused of secretly accepting as he sought the 2008 Democratic nomination instead went to a former campaign aide who used the money to pay for his $1.5 million house. ...

AP NewsAlert Posted: City commission rejects police chief's resignation in Fla. town where Trayvon Martin killed.

U.S. says gasoline prices still too high Posted: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration said on Monday gasoline prices were still too high despite a decline at the pumps and that the government is in talks with international partners about high energy costs. Rising fuel costs have stirred economic concerns and become a central theme in the U.S. presidential election race this year, prompting the administration to consider several options, including releasing emergency oil reserves, to tamp down prices. Gasoline prices have dipped for three consecutive weeks, however, easing concerns that U.S. ...

U.S. says has raised North Korea missile-linked sale with China Posted: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Monday it had raised with China new allegations that a Chinese firm sold North Korea components for a missile transporter showcased in a recent military parade, despite a U.N. ban on such sales. The Obama administration suspects that the Chinese manufacturer supplied chassis and other parts for the vehicle, and Washington planned to use the incident to press Beijing to tighten enforcement of sanctions on Pyongyang, a senior U.S. official said on Saturday. The U.S. ...

Nonpartisan gov't auditors rebuke Medicare bonuses Posted: In a blow to the Obama administration on Medicare, government auditors Monday called for the cancellation of a costly bonus program for private health plans that congressional Republicans have criticized as a wasteful political ploy.

White House Downplays GAO Report on Questionable Bonuses Through Medicare Advantage Posted: The White House Monday downplayed a Government Accountability Office report calling into question the effectiveness of bonuses distributed in a $8.3 billion demonstration program for Medicare Advantage. The bonuses are part of a scaled structure which is supposed encourage "larger and faster annual quality improvement,"...

Rubio campaigns with Romney, raising VP speculation Posted: ASTON, Pennsylvania (Reuters) - Popular Florida Senator Marco Rubio campaigned with Mitt Romney on Monday, increasing speculation that the conservative Cuban-American might be high on the Republican presidential front-runner's list of potential vice presidential running mates. Rubio would bring a number of attributes to the ticket should Romney pick him. He could appeal to some Latinos, a large majority of whom back Democratic President Barack Obama, and he could inspire conservatives who worry Romney is too moderate. ...

Venezuela's Chavez calls home to squash death rumors Posted: CARACAS (Reuters) - A healthy-sounding President Hugo Chavez called Venezuelan state television from Cuba on Monday to dispel rumors fanned by a nine-day silence that he had died undergoing cancer treatment at a hospital in Havana. "It seems we will have to become accustomed to live with these rumors, because it is part of the laboratories of psychological war, of dirty war" the 57-year-old socialist leader said in the telephone call. ...

Complaint tests conservative group's charity status Posted: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A conservative group that promotes legislation in state capitals is mainly a lobbying organization and should not benefit from a special tax status meant for charities, a liberal group says in a complaint to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. The complaint, released on Monday, challenges the tax-law status of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) as a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) charity. That status lets ALEC avoid paying taxes and lets its supporters deduct their contributions. ...

Romney backs student loan proposal Obama supports Posted: Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Monday embraced a student loan proposal that President Barack Obama is selling on the campaign trail and refused to endorse Sen. Marco Rubio's conservative immigration plan aimed at helping young illegal immigrants.

Russian envoy warns on U.S. human rights bill Posted: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Russia's ambassador to the United States warned that proposed U.S. legislation to punish Russian officials involved in human rights abuses could a have significant negative impact on U.S.-Russian relations. Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak said the U.S. Congress should not tie the so-called Sergei Magnitsky bill to an expected vote this year on establishing "permanent normal trade relations" between the two countries. "If that is taken to an extreme, it'll be a significant negative impact on Russian-Americans relations," Kislyak told reporters. ...

Romney says he enjoyed French vacations Posted: Mitt Romney spent two years as a Mormon missionary in France but says his best memories of the country are from vacations there.

U.N. condemns Sudan's bombing of South, calls for peace Posted: UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned Sudan's bombardment of a market in the capital of South Sudan's oil-producing Unity State on Monday and urged Khartoum to stop fighting. "The Secretary-General condemns the aerial bombardment on South Sudan by Sudanese Armed Forces and calls on the Government of Sudan to cease all hostilities immediately," Ban's press office said in a statement. "(Ban) reiterates that there can be no military solution to the disputes between Sudan and South Sudan," it said. (Reporting By Louis Charbonneau; Editing by Doina Chiacu)

Mexico presidential candidate calls for Wal-Mart probe Posted: MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The front-running candidate for Mexico's presidency and lawmakers on Monday called on authorities to investigate allegations of bribery at the Mexican unit of Wal-Mart Stores Inc, though prosecutors said it may not be a federal matter. Opposition lawmakers urged Mexico to launch a probe into the allegations, and Enrique Pena Nieto, the favorite to succeed conservative President Felipe Calderon, backed them up. ...

Trayvon Martin's killer leaves Florida jail Posted: SANFORD, Florida (Reuters) - George Zimmerman, the former neighborhood watch volunteer charged with second-degree murder in the killing of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin, was released early on Monday from a Florida county jail on $150,000 bail. Wearing a brown jacket, jeans and carrying a brown paper bag, Zimmerman walked out of the John E. Polk Correctional Facility in Sanford, Florida, moments after midnight after posting bail and meeting other conditions set for his release at a hearing on Friday. ...

UN condemns Sudan's bombing of South, calls for peace Posted: UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned Sudan's bombardment of a market in the capital of South Sudan's oil-producing Unity State on Monday and urged Khartoum to stop fighting. "The Secretary-General condemns the aerial bombardment on South Sudan by Sudanese Armed Forces and calls on the Government of Sudan to cease all hostilities immediately," Ban's press office said in a statement. "(Ban) reiterates that there can be no military solution to the disputes between Sudan and South Sudan," it said. (Reporting By Louis Charbonneau; Editing by Doina Chiacu)

SPIN METER: Romney roadmap leaves voters guessing Posted: Mitt Romney's roadmap for governing the country is so vague that it has even Republican allies questioning his intentions.

Signs of cheaper gas could brighten Obama campaign Posted: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New signs of lower U.S. gas prices could give a boost to President Barack Obama's re-election hopes and blunt a potent weapon that Republicans have used to attack him. News on Monday of a month long delay in the planned closure of the largest refinery on the U.S. East Coast was the latest indication sky-rocketing gasoline prices may have peaked. Industry experts say keeping Sunoco's Philadelphia refinery open will ease supply concerns and help underpin a gradual decline in gasoline prices during the summer. That, in turn, would ease a burden on the U.S. ...

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