Yahoo! News: Politics News

---

• Polls on gay marriage not yet reflected in votes
• U.N. Security Council condemns Syria over massacre
• Fresh from defeat, Serbia's Tadic poised for PM
• Labor board member accused of leaks resigns
• Spain may recapitalize Bankia with government debt: source
• Father of prisoner of war speaks at annual rally
• U.N. confirmed use of heavy artillery, tank shells in Houla
• U.N. Security council meets to discuss Syria massacre
• McCain: Don't count on Russia to force out Assad
• U.N. says estimates at least 108 dead in Syria massacre
• Shelling on Syria opposition center kills 30: activists
• Nepal faces fresh turmoil after charter deadline missed
• Wounded Warriors Train Service Dogs For Fellow Veterans - Our Political Punch Digital Show
• Syria opposition criticizes U.N. on Houla massacre
• U.N. Security Council meets on Syria massacre, Russia skeptical
• No strict sharia in Mali's independent north: MNLA rebels
• Syria massacre deserves condemnation: Russian diplomat
• Moscow police arrest dozens at Occupy-style rally
• AP NewsAlert
• Iran not ready for visit to suspect nuclear site
• Hezbollah "deplores" Houla massacre in Syria
• Sunday Sound: Heard on 'This Week'
• White House: Houla killings a "vile testament" to Syria regime
• NATO has fight on its hands in Afghanistan: Panetta
• Merkel's lead over German opposition slumps: poll
• Bahrain convicts six of plotting with Iran
• Jake Tapper: My Memorial Day Message
• Bowles: Not interested in top Treasury job
• Lawmakers work with Simpson-Bowles for tax deal
• Egypt presidential election body weighs complaints
• France Telecom acquires 94 percent of Egypt's Mobinil: bourse

Polls on gay marriage not yet reflected in votes Posted: 27 May 2012 05:47 AM PDT Poll after poll shows public support for same-sex marriage steadily increasing, to the point where it's now a majority viewpoint. Yet in all 32 states where gay marriage has been on the ballot, voters have rejected it.

U.N. Security Council condemns Syria over massacre Posted: 27 May 2012 03:09 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council on Sunday unanimously condemned the Syrian government for heavy-weapons attacks on the town of Houla, the site of a massacre of at least 108 people, including many children, the council president said. ...

Fresh from defeat, Serbia's Tadic poised for PM Posted: 27 May 2012 02:35 PM PDT BELGRADE (Reuters) - Serbia's Boris Tadic, fresh from defeat in a presidential election a week ago, put himself forward on Sunday as his party's candidate for the more powerful post of prime minister at the helm of a renewed centre-left coalition. After eight years as president, Tadic lost his bid for re-election to rightist opposition leader Tomislav Nikolic, a former leader of the ultranationalist Radical Party who says he now shares the goal of taking Serbia into the European Union. ...

Labor board member accused of leaks resigns Posted: 27 May 2012 02:28 PM PDT A member of the National Labor Relations Board accused of leaking inside information has resigned.

Spain may recapitalize Bankia with government debt: source Posted: 27 May 2012 02:21 PM PDT MADRID (Reuters) - Spain may recapitalize Bankia with Spanish government bonds in return for shares in the bank which last week asked for rescue funding of 19 billion euros ($24 billion), a government source said on Sunday. Bankia could use the sovereign paper as collateral to get cash from the European Central Bank, forcing the ECB to get involved with restructuring Spain's banking sector, laid low by lending to property developers in a boom that ended in 2008. ...

Father of prisoner of war speaks at annual rally Posted: 27 May 2012 02:19 PM PDT The father of a U.S. soldier who was taken prisoner in Afghanistan thanked the motorcycle riders of Rolling Thunder on Sunday for raising awareness of missing-in-action troops and prisoners of war.

U.N. confirmed use of heavy artillery, tank shells in Houla Posted: 27 May 2012 02:08 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. observers in Syria have confirmed that artillery and tank shells were fired at a residential area of Houla, Syria, where at least 108 people, including many children, were killed, the U.N. chief said on Sunday in a letter to the Security Council. The letter from Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, which was obtained by Reuters, said the observers "viewed the bodies of the dead and confirmed from an examination of ordnance that artillery and tank shells were fired at a residential neighborhood. ...

U.N. Security council meets to discuss Syria massacre Posted: 27 May 2012 01:46 PM PDT AMMAN/UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council met on Sunday to discuss the killing of at least 108 people in the Syrian town of Houla, a sign of mounting outrage at the massacre that the government and rebels blamed on each other. Images of bloodied and lifeless young bodies, lain carefully side by side after the onslaught on Friday, triggered shock around the world and underlined the failure of a six-week-old U.N. ceasefire plan to stop the violence. Western and Arab states opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad put the blame for the deaths squarely on the government. ...

McCain: Don't count on Russia to force out Assad Posted: 27 May 2012 01:46 PM PDT The U.S. can't count on Russia — a major arms supplier to Syria — to force President Bashar Assad from power, Sen. John McCain said Sunday, blaming President Barack Obama for embracing a "feckless" foreign policy and punting tough decisions until after the fall election.

U.N. says estimates at least 108 dead in Syria massacre Posted: 27 May 2012 01:29 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations believes that at least 108 people were killed in a massacre in the Syrian town of Houla that the world body has blamed on the Syrian army, the U.N. peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous said on Sunday. Earlier, a diplomat said that General Robert Mood, head of the U.N. observer mission in Syria, told a closed-door meeting via video link from Damascus that at least 116 had died. They later clarified that the 116 figure was actually the rebel Free Syrian Army's estimate, diplomats said. ...

Shelling on Syria opposition center kills 30: activists Posted: 27 May 2012 01:08 PM PDT AMMAN (Reuters) - At least thirty people were killed on Sunday when Syrian army tanks shelled residential neighborhoods in the city of Hama that have been serving as bases for rebel attacks against loyalist forces, opposition activists said. The reports could not be verified independently. Opposition sources said the shelling began in the morning on areas near the northern entrance of Hama, after a series of rebel attacks on army roadblocks in the city, and resumed in the evening on the southern al-Malaab district. ...

Nepal faces fresh turmoil after charter deadline missed Posted: 27 May 2012 12:43 PM PDT KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Nepal's warring political parties failed to meet a midnight deadline to agree on a new constitution on Sunday, plunging the Himalayan republic into further uncertainty, but the government moved quickly to defuse the crisis with a call for elections. A new constitution was widely seen as crucial to ending the instability that has plagued Nepal since the end of a Maoist-led civil war in 2006 and subsequent overthrow of the monarchy, but it has been thwarted by demands for the country to be divided into states along ethnic lines. ...

Wounded Warriors Train Service Dogs For Fellow Veterans - Our Political Punch Digital Show Posted: 27 May 2012 12:33 PM PDT Embed – http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/power-players-abc-news/warrior-canines-homefront-213428188.html -Jake Tapper

Syria opposition criticizes U.N. on Houla massacre Posted: 27 May 2012 12:12 PM PDT AMMAN (Reuters) - Opposition activists in Syria on Sunday criticized U.N. observers for failing to take action to prevent the massacre of at least 109 people in the town of Houla. They also criticized the U.N mission for not condemning President Bashar al-Assad's forces for the killings on Friday. Syrian authorities have denied responsibility, blaming "terrorists" for the massacre. "The observers' delegation remained helpless and did not take an initiative to intervene, except to count the victims the day after the massacre just as the U.N. ...

U.N. Security Council meets on Syria massacre, Russia skeptical Posted: 27 May 2012 12:10 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council met on Sunday to discuss the recent massacre in the Syrian town of Houla, which the United Nations has blamed on the Syrian government but Damascus and Moscow suggested was due to a rebel attack. At least 116 people, including many children, were killed in the Houla attack, the head of the U.N. observer mission in Syria General Robert Mood told the 15-nation council, according to a diplomat who was in the closed-door meeting. The diplomat spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity. Russian Deputy U.N. ...

No strict sharia in Mali's independent north: MNLA rebels Posted: 27 May 2012 11:45 AM PDT DAKAR (Reuters) - Malian rebels who declared an independent Islamic state in the country's north said on Sunday they would impose sharia but not in a strict form. The National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), which has fought to make Mali's northern Azawad region an autonomous state, on Saturday signed an agreement to merge with Islamist Ansar Dine rebels seeking to impose sharia across Mali. A mix of rebels have occupied the northern two-thirds of Mali since a March 22 coup led to a collapse of army resistance. ...

Syria massacre deserves condemnation: Russian diplomat Posted: 27 May 2012 11:44 AM PDT MOSCOW (Reuters) - A senior Russian diplomat said on Sunday the massacre of civilians in the Syrian town of Houla "deserves condemnation" but that it was too early to say who was to blame. "The tragic events in Syria and the deaths of tens of people deserve condemnation. However it is necessary to seriously examine the causes of what happened," Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said on Twitter. "Let's wait for the objective evaluations of the U.N. mission," he said. The U.N. Security Council was meeting later on Sunday to discuss the killings of at least 109 people. ...

Moscow police arrest dozens at Occupy-style rally Posted: 27 May 2012 11:32 AM PDT MOSCOW (Reuters) - Police detained dozens of opposition protesters on Sunday at an Occupy-style rally against President Vladimir Putin in central Moscow. Activists gathered near Red Square in front of the Kremlin and walked toward the popular Arbat pedestrian district, but were detained upon reaching the sit-in protest which began earlier this month. Witnesses said riot police treated protesters who resisted roughly. "One man in his 50s was grabbed and carried away by his arms and legs. ...

AP NewsAlert Posted: 27 May 2012 11:03 AM PDT Forecasters say Beryl now a tropical storm as it threatens rain, wind for southeastern US.

Iran not ready for visit to suspect nuclear site Posted: 27 May 2012 11:01 AM PDT DUBAI (Reuters) - The U.N. nuclear watchdog has not yet given good enough reasons to visit an Iranian site where it suspects there may have been experiments for developing nuclear weapons, Iranian media said. The Parchin complex is at the centre of Western suspicions that Iran is developing a nuclear weapons capability despite Tehran's repeated denials of any such ambition. A report from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) last week said satellite images showed "extensive activities" at Parchin. ...

Hezbollah "deplores" Houla massacre in Syria Posted: 27 May 2012 10:55 AM PDT BEIRUT (Reuters) - The Shi'ite guerrilla group Hezbollah, President Bashar al-Assad's main Lebanese ally, said on Sunday it deplored the Houla massacre in neighboring Syria. Without assigning a blame for the killings of at least 109 civilians in Houla in central Syria, a statement by Hezbollah said it "strongly condemns the massacre and deplores those who carried it out". ...

Sunday Sound: Heard on 'This Week' Posted: 27 May 2012 10:37 AM PDT Below are some of the notable comments made Sunday on "This Week with George Stephanopoulos." Sunday Sound: Heard on This Week Leon Panetta, U.S. Secretary of Defense   Panetta on Being Secretary of Defense PANETTA: Well, you don't get a hell of a lot of...

White House: Houla killings a "vile testament" to Syria regime Posted: 27 May 2012 10:19 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Sunday it was horrified by the credible reports of brutal attacks on women and children in Houla, Syria, calling the acts further evidence of an inhuman and illegitimate Syrian government. "These acts serve as a vile testament to an illegitimate regime that responds to peaceful political protest with unspeakable and inhuman brutality," a White House spokesman said. (Reporting by Jeff Mason; Editing by Philip Barbara)

NATO has fight on its hands in Afghanistan: Panetta Posted: 27 May 2012 10:17 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - NATO forces still have a fight on their hands in Afghanistan, where the Taliban has displayed resilience although its fighters have not regained territory they lost during the decade-long war, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Sunday. Panetta said plans for foreign troops to hand over security responsibilities to Afghan forces starting in mid-2013 were on track and necessary to ensure that the Taliban, which governed Afghanistan before the U.S.-led invasion, is kept at bay. U.S. President Barack Obama, who ordered a surge of U.S. ...

Merkel's lead over German opposition slumps: poll Posted: 27 May 2012 09:35 AM PDT BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives saw their lead over the main centre-left opposition party crumble in the sharpest one-week shift in German voter sentiment in seven years, an opinion poll showed on Sunday. An eight percentage point lead by Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) over the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) fell to just two points during a week that saw the chancellor face pressure over the euro crisis and domestic turmoil, according to the Emnid poll. ...

Bahrain convicts six of plotting with Iran Posted: 27 May 2012 09:35 AM PDT DUBAI (Reuters) - A Bahraini court on Sunday sentenced six people to 15 years in jail each for plotting with Shi'ite Iran to stage attacks on targets including the Saudi embassy and the Interior Ministry, the official BNA news agency and a lawyer said. Bahrain, a U.S. ally and home to the U.S. Fifth Fleet, has been in turmoil since pro-democracy protests led by majority Shi'ites erupted last year after revolts in Egypt and Tunisia. The Sunni-led island, along with fellow Gulf Arab countries, have accused Iran of being behind the unrest which continues to rock the country. ...

Jake Tapper: My Memorial Day Message Posted: 27 May 2012 09:34 AM PDT I hope you have a very meaningful Memorial Day. And a personal note – getting to know troops and their families these past two years while working on a book project, has left an indelible impression of the world of service and sacrifice made by...

Bowles: Not interested in top Treasury job Posted: 27 May 2012 09:17 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former White House chief of staff Erskine Bowles, whose name has surfaced as a potential successor to U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, said on Sunday he does not want the job and has not been asked by Democratic President Barack Obama. "I don't want a job. Thank you," Bowles said on the CNN news program "Fareed Zakaria GPS." Economists, investors and veterans of past administrations are weighing potential successors to Geithner, who has said he is leaving the post even if Obama wins a second term in the November 6 election. ...

Lawmakers work with Simpson-Bowles for tax deal Posted: 27 May 2012 08:58 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two respected former lawmakers whose names have become synonymous with bipartisan compromise in a highly divisive Congress are meeting with dozens of lawmakers to forestall a potential year-end fiscal crisis dubbed "taxmageddon." Former Democratic White House chief of staff Erskine Bowles said he and former Republican Senator Alan Simpson, are working with a bipartisan group of 47 Senators and as many House members to frame a compromise on $7 trillion in looming fiscal decisions, Bowles said on CNN's news program, "Fareed Zakaria GPS. ...

Egypt presidential election body weighs complaints Posted: 27 May 2012 08:42 AM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's election committee on Sunday considered complaints about a presidential poll that has left voters with what many see as a painful run-off choice between an Islamist apparatchik and a throwback to Hosni Mubarak's era. Both contenders are seeking to lay claim to the mantle of the "revolution" that toppled Mubarak 15 months ago, and to appeal to the many Egyptians who picked more centrist figures in last week's first round. ...

France Telecom acquires 94 percent of Egypt's Mobinil: bourse Posted: 27 May 2012 08:33 AM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - France Telecom acquired 94 percent of Egyptian mobile phone company Mobinil in a tender offer, Egypt's stock exchange said on Sunday, giving the French group control of a top sector player in a volatile but lucrative emerging market. Mobinil, founded by Egyptian businessman Naguib Sawiris, vies with Vodafone Egypt for dominance of Egypt's mobile market, which was buffeted by political headwinds after an uprising ousted President Hosni Mubarak last year. ...

You are subscribed to email updates from Politics News Headlines - Yahoo! News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610