Yahoo! News: Politics News

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• Obama, Romney see what they want in jobs report
• THE RACE: Obama and Romney portray rival economies
• Romney: 'I have paid taxes every year'
• Syrian army moves on rebels in Aleppo, Damascus
• Some Turks call foul over Obama-Erdogan bat photo
• Tenn. Dems disavow Senate nominee, cite hate group
• U.S., Pakistan appear to make little headway in spy meet
• Progress and tradition collide in Poland's green oases
• Belarus expels Swedish ambassador, EU weighs response
• Treasury says to raise $5 billion from AIG stock sale
• Michigan emergency manager law repeal on ballot: court
• Poland win gold on bodyweight
• Romney: 'I have paid taxes every year'
• Putin "cheated us again," Russian band lawyer says
• Jobs Numbers Quickdraw, Issa's Dragnet, Reid vs. Romney, Missile Defense Porn - PM Note
• Germany should use armed drones: defense minister
• Syria opposition plans for post-Assad era
• Michigan attorney general knocks unions' bargaining-rights ballot bid
• U.S. SEC examining risk controls at Knight Capital
• Bill Clinton Backs Obama Super PAC
• U.S. bomb dogs slept in hotel beds in Colombia security scandal: report
• Panetta orders review of military justice in combat zones
• U.S. set to start program sparing young illegal immigrants deportation
• Obama, Romney see what they want in jobs report
• U.S. hiring picks up but not enough to sideline Fed
• Rep. Darrell Issa Demands Details on White House Email Use
• Ex-Idaho senator: Bathroom trip official business
• U.N. nations condemn Syria; Russia, China seen isolated
• Geithner speaks with Greece's Samaras by phone
• U.S. nuclear bomb facility shut after security breach
• Camp "Romneyville" protesters ready to greet Republican convention
• Innovation tax break gaining some support in Congress
• Greek central banker says country being "defamed"

Obama, Romney see what they want in jobs report Posted: 03 Aug 2012 02:14 PM PDT Sputtering along, the economy on Friday offered some hope but no illuminating help to voters who are mired in a weak jobs recovery and flooded with familiar promises from President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney. The new employment snapshot seemed too mixed and middling to jolt a consistently close race.

THE RACE: Obama and Romney portray rival economies Posted: 03 Aug 2012 10:40 AM PDT Seldom are differences between the candidates so stark as on jobs and the economy. President Barack Obama sees a glass half full and rising, Republican rival Mitt Romney describes one that's half-empty and falling.

Romney: 'I have paid taxes every year' Posted: 03 Aug 2012 02:53 PM PDT Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney declared Friday that he has "paid taxes every year — and a lot of taxes" as he rejected an anonymous claim that he hadn't paid taxes for a decade on his vast personal wealth.

Syrian army moves on rebels in Aleppo, Damascus Posted: 03 Aug 2012 03:23 PM PDT ALEPPO, Syria (Reuters) - Syrian forces stormed the last rebel stronghold in the capital Damascus in tanks and armored vehicles on Friday and blasted artillery at rebels in Aleppo, where the United Nations said the army was preparing a massive assault. The violence came within hours of former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan quitting as international peace envoy for Syria, underlining the impotence of mediation efforts in the 17-month-old uprising against President Bashar al-Assad. A senior U.N. ...

Some Turks call foul over Obama-Erdogan bat photo Posted: 03 Aug 2012 03:20 PM PDT ISTANBUL (Reuters) - A photograph of U.S. President Barack Obama holding a baseball bat while talking on the phone to Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan was intended to show their close relationship, a White House spokeswoman said, after the photo caused a stir in Turkey. The two leaders spoke on Monday to discuss the crisis in Syria, after which the photograph of Obama seated at his desk, talking on the phone while holding a bat autographed by black-American baseball great Hank Aaron, was released by the White House. ...

Tenn. Dems disavow Senate nominee, cite hate group Posted: 03 Aug 2012 03:16 PM PDT The Tennessee Democratic Party is disavowing the man who won the party's nomination to challenge Republican Sen. Bob Corker in November, saying the little-known candidate belongs to an anti-gay hate group.

U.S., Pakistan appear to make little headway in spy meet Posted: 03 Aug 2012 03:15 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. and Pakistani spy chiefs exchanged grievances in their first official meeting this week, sources familiar with the discussions said on Friday, but it was unclear if the two uneasy allies made any progress to end deep divisions on militants living in Pakistani tribal areas or on U.S. drone strikes. Lieutenant-General Zaheer ul-Islam, who was named in March to head the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), on his first official visit to Washington met on Thursday with CIA Director David Petraeus at CIA headquarters. ...

Progress and tradition collide in Poland's green oases Posted: 03 Aug 2012 03:12 PM PDT WARSAW (Reuters) - Krystyna Pakulska walks down a dirt track lined with silver birch trees and stops for a moment to breathe in the air. "Look at the beauty around you, the flowers and the trees," says the 59-year old, a retired employee of Polish state television. "Why destroy this beautiful land?" This is an allotment garden, one of dozens carved out of the Polish capital by the country's previous rulers so that workers could relax in their spare time by tending flowers and shrubs on their personal plots. ...

Belarus expels Swedish ambassador, EU weighs response Posted: 03 Aug 2012 03:08 PM PDT STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Belarus has expelled Sweden's ambassador over his actions to support democracy, Sweden's Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said on Friday, as the European Union's foreign policy chief said the bloc would consider responding with "appropriate" measures. The diplomatic dispute flared up after a plane chartered by a Swedish public relations firm dropped hundreds of teddy bears over Belarus on July 4 in a pro-democracy stunt, prompting President Alexander Lukashenko to sack his air defense chief and the head of the border guards. ...

Treasury says to raise $5 billion from AIG stock sale Posted: 03 Aug 2012 03:05 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department said on Friday it expects to raise $5 billion from its sale of American International Group stock, cutting the government's stake in the bailed-out insurer to 55 percent. The move comes as President Barack Obama's campaign for a second term in which he has been forced to defend his administration's decision to use taxpayer money to prop up companies during the crisis. The Treasury, which earlier on Friday said it expected to sell $4.5 billion in AIG stock, priced the offering at $30.50 a share. ...

Michigan emergency manager law repeal on ballot: court Posted: 03 Aug 2012 03:05 PM PDT (Reuters) - Michigan voters in November will decide the fate of a law that gave the state more control over struggling local governments after a court on Friday gave them the chance to repeal it. Michigan officials said that once the measure is officially certified for the November 6 state-wide ballot as directed by the state supreme court, the 2011 law known as Public Act 4 will be suspended and a former, weaker, emergency manager law will replace it in the interim. ...

Poland win gold on bodyweight Posted: 03 Aug 2012 02:54 PM PDT LONDON (Reuters) - Weightlifter Adrian Zielinski won Poland's first gold of the London Olympics on Friday, edging out Russia's Apti Aukhadov by virtue of his 130 gram lighter bodyweight after both athletes tied on a total of 385 kilograms. Twenty three year-old Zielinski took advantage of other athletes' failure to complete key lifts during a tight 85 kg weight class contest in which four out of twelve competitors in the evening session failed to finish. "I was sure I was going to get a medal. ...

Romney: 'I have paid taxes every year' Posted: 03 Aug 2012 02:53 PM PDT Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney declared Friday that he has "paid taxes every year — and a lot of taxes" as he rejected an anonymous claim that he hadn't paid taxes for a decade on his vast personal wealth.

Putin "cheated us again," Russian band lawyer says Posted: 03 Aug 2012 02:53 PM PDT MOSCOW (Reuters) - Members of an all-woman Russian punk band on trial for staging a protest at the altar of Moscow's main cathedral will likely receive long jail terms despite President Vladimir Putin saying they should not be judged too harshly, a defense lawyer said. A Moscow court refused to hear most defense witnesses called to testify on Friday on behalf of the protest action by the Pussy Riot band, dimming hopes among human rights groups that Maria Alyokhina, 24, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 29, could escape lengthy sentences. ...

Jobs Numbers Quickdraw, Issa's Dragnet, Reid vs. Romney, Missile Defense Porn - PM Note Posted: 03 Aug 2012 02:49 PM PDT Missile Defense Porn: Watching the Wrong Bombshells-A top official at the government agency charged with protecting America from incoming nuclear missiles recently had to order his employees to keep their eyes on the sky and off pornographic websites they had accessed on secure computers. http://abcn.ws/PKdVS8...

Germany should use armed drones: defense minister Posted: 03 Aug 2012 02:42 PM PDT BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany, which used unmanned aircraft in warfare during World War Two, should deploy armed drones in its military, its defense minister said. "A drone is nothing more than a plane without a pilot," Defence Minister Thomas de Maiziere told the daily "Die Welt" in an article to appear on Saturday. He said he was in favor of the German armed forces using armed drones, according to an advance copy of the article. "Planes can be armed so why shouldn't unmanned aircraft be allowed to be armed as well? I don't understand that," he added. ...

Syria opposition plans for post-Assad era Posted: 03 Aug 2012 02:41 PM PDT The Syrian National Council is deep into organizing an alternative to the regime of President Bashar Assad that could include those already in state institutions or even the ruling Baath Party, a senior member of the opposition group said Friday.

Michigan attorney general knocks unions' bargaining-rights ballot bid Posted: 03 Aug 2012 02:38 PM PDT (Reuters) - A proposed referendum that would enshrine the right to collective bargaining in the Michigan state constitution is too complicated for the ballot, the state's top legal official said, dealing a major blow to the labor movement's campaign for the measure. Attorney General Bill Schuette, a Republican, said in a legal analysis obtained by the Detroit Free Press and published on Friday that Michigan ballot measures are limited to 100 words and the implications of the proposed measure are so numerous that it would be impossible to communicate them. ...

U.S. SEC examining risk controls at Knight Capital Posted: 03 Aug 2012 02:31 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top U.S. securities regulator said government lawyers are trying to determine if Wednesday's big trading blunder at Knight Capital Group violated a new rule designed to protect the markets from rogue algorithmic computer trading programs. The Securities and Exchange Commission's market access rule, which took effect last year, requires brokers to put in place risk control systems to prevent the execution of erroneous trades or orders that exceed pre-set credit or capital thresholds. ...

Bill Clinton Backs Obama Super PAC Posted: 03 Aug 2012 02:27 PM PDT Former president Bill Clinton is throwing his support behind Priorities USA Action, the super PAC backing President Obama, agreeing to headline a "briefing" for potential donors in New York City later this month. The event marks Clinton's first foray into fundraising for the group, Priorities...

U.S. bomb dogs slept in hotel beds in Colombia security scandal: report Posted: 03 Aug 2012 02:26 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Security personnel entangled in a prostitution scandal in Colombia in April irritated hotel staff by letting bomb detection dogs sleep in hotel beds and soil the linens, a U.S. military report released on Friday said. Hotel guests "thought to be American" were "bothering and propositioning" college-age female greeters working at the hotel for the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the report by the U.S. military's Southern Command. The report gave details of how unhappy hotel staff contacted U.S. ...

Panetta orders review of military justice in combat zones Posted: 03 Aug 2012 02:19 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has directed a panel of experts to assess whether reforms are needed in the way the military justice system handles crimes committed by U.S. forces against civilians in combat zones, the Pentagon said on Friday. While the Pentagon said the decision was not linked to any specific case, it follows a spate of incidents in Afghanistan that have outraged the local population, including one in which a soldier is suspected of killing 16 villagers in a shooting rampage. ...

U.S. set to start program sparing young illegal immigrants deportation Posted: 03 Aug 2012 02:15 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Young illegal immigrants - many of whom have spent much of their lives attending schools in the United States - will be able to begin emerging from their uncertain status on August 15 when the Obama administration begins letting them apply to stay temporarily. An estimated 800,000 young undocumented residents could qualify for the program that would grant deportation deferrals of at least two years for those who are approved. ...

Obama, Romney see what they want in jobs report Posted: 03 Aug 2012 02:14 PM PDT Sputtering along, the economy on Friday offered some hope but no illuminating help to voters who are mired in a weak jobs recovery and flooded with familiar promises from President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney. The new employment snapshot seemed too mixed and middling to jolt a consistently close race.

U.S. hiring picks up but not enough to sideline Fed Posted: 03 Aug 2012 02:12 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. employers hired the most workers in five months in July, but an increase in the jobless rate to 8.3 percent kept prospects of further monetary stimulus from the Federal Reserve on the table. Nonfarm payrolls rose 163,000 last month, the Labor Department said on Friday, breaking three straight months of job gains below 100,000 and offering hope for the ailing economy. "It's a relief we did not post another number like 75,000, but the reality is it's not night and day. ...

Rep. Darrell Issa Demands Details on White House Email Use Posted: 03 Aug 2012 02:08 PM PDT The powerful chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Republican Rep. Darrell Issa, today escalated a showdown with the White House over use of personal email accounts to conduct official government business. In a letter to White House chief of staff Jack Lew,...

Ex-Idaho senator: Bathroom trip official business Posted: 03 Aug 2012 02:03 PM PDT Former Republican U.S. Sen. Larry Craig aims to fend off a federal election lawsuit against him by arguing his infamous July 11, 2007, Minneapolis airport bathroom visit that ended in his sex-sting arrest was part of his official Senate business.

U.N. nations condemn Syria; Russia, China seen isolated Posted: 03 Aug 2012 01:59 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. member states on Friday overwhelmingly voted to condemn the Syrian government at a special session of the General Assembly that Western diplomats said highlighted the isolation of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's supporters Russia and China. The 193-nation assembly approved the Saudi-drafted resolution, which expressed "grave concern" at the escalation of violence in Syria and condemned the Security Council for its action, with 133 votes in favor, 12 against and 31 abstentions. ...

Geithner speaks with Greece's Samaras by phone Posted: 03 Aug 2012 01:58 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner spoke by phone with Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras on Friday to discuss the European country's efforts to maintain financial stability, Treasury said. "Secretary Geithner spoke by phone earlier today with Greek Prime Minister Samaras to discuss Greece's continued efforts to reform in order to ensure economic recovery and financial stability," Treasury said in a statement on Friday. (Reporting by Jason Lange)

U.S. nuclear bomb facility shut after security breach Posted: 03 Aug 2012 01:48 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government's only facility for handling, processing and storing weapons-grade uranium has been temporarily shut after anti-nuclear activists, including an 82-year-old nun, breached security fences, government officials said on Thursday. WSI Oak Ridge, the contractor responsible for protecting the facility at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, is owned by the international security firm G4S, which was at the center of a dispute over security at the London Olympic Games. ...

Camp "Romneyville" protesters ready to greet Republican convention Posted: 03 Aug 2012 01:47 PM PDT TAMPA, Florida (Reuters) - A group of protesters in pink tents are creating a headache for Tampa city officials after they rented land inside a restricted zone near the location of the Republican National Convention being held in Tampa later this month. The small camp, dubbed "Romneyville," population roughly 15, could soon swell to 300 activists who plan protests over social and economic issues during the convention. ...

Innovation tax break gaining some support in Congress Posted: 03 Aug 2012 01:35 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A proposed corporate tax break on profits derived from research and development done in the United States is winning some bipartisan support in Congress, with the promise that it could spur jobs and innovation. A "patent box" tax break is in the policy mix as lawmakers target full-scale tax reform in 2013. The idea is to give companies a tax break, and a sizable one, on profits derived from patented products that originated with U.S. research and development. Several European Union countries have embraced the patent box and the United Kingdom is set to adopt it next ...

Greek central banker says country being "defamed" Posted: 03 Aug 2012 01:29 PM PDT ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's central bank governor George Provopoulos told parliament on Friday the Greek banking system was well regulated, otherwise it would have collapsed. Provopoulos was answering questions about Piraeus Bank's takeover of troubled state lender ATEbank. MPs also asked him about reports by Reuters regarding Piraeus' chairman, Michael Sallas. ...

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