Yahoo! News: Politics News

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• Obama: Don't hold middle-class tax cuts hostage
• Mexico's Pena Nieto takes power vowing to end violence
• Mursi calls referendum as Islamists march
• Syria rebels bombed as opposition open to peacekeepers
• Egypt's Mursi calls December 15 referendum on constitution
• Egypt opposition figure says draft constitution undermines freedoms
• Egypt's President Mursi receives draft constitution
• Kuwaiti holds divisive vote after mass protest
• Chinese tycoon must reapply for approval on Iceland resort: media
• Kim Kardashian brings out fans, Islamists and police in Bahrain
• Colombia, Nicaragua want to avoid war over water rights dispute
• Factbox: Mexico's new president debuts with raft of proposals
• PM says Greek pension funds won't join debt buy-back
• Tunisian troops fire tear gas at protesters
• UK and France pile censure on Israel's new settlement plan
• Detained Italy editor "escapes" to push for press freedom
• Iran's Ahmadinejad gives new job to aide seen as possible heir
• Clinton Criticizes Iran, Palestine, Israel
• Mexico's new president eyes balanced budget for 2013
• Thousands attend farewell ceremony for USS Enterprise
• Little progress in U.S. "fiscal cliff" talks
• Democrats attempt longshot to force "fiscal cliff" vote
• Obama aides seek to counter Republican charges on "fiscal cliff"
• House and Senate sit on tax bills the other passed
• Syrian opposition may allow peacekeepers if Assad goes
• Obama pipeline decision may preview energy policy
• Merkel reaffirms support for Israel after U.N. vote
• Kuwaitis vote in divisive election after protests
• Hamas complains to Egypt after Israeli army kills Gazan
• Congo rebels quit Goma, saying it's "for peace"
• Internet back on in Damascus, Homs: residents
• North Korean rocket launch would be "highly provocative act": U.S.
• Mitt Romney's loss creates GOP leadership vacuum
• Myanmar govt asks Suu Kyi to investigate mine dispute
• French firms must fight China for stake in Africa: Moscovici
• When Inauguration Day Falls on a Sunday, the Constitution Won't Wait
• Georgian investigators question former prime minister
• Grand jury probing meningitis-linked pharmacy: newspaper

Obama: Don't hold middle-class tax cuts hostage Posted: 01 Dec 2012 03:05 AM PST President Barack Obama says it's unacceptable for some congressional Republicans to "hold middle-class tax cuts hostage" because they don't want tax rates to rise on the wealthy.

Mexico's Pena Nieto takes power vowing to end violence Posted: 01 Dec 2012 02:17 PM PST MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Enrique Pena Nieto took over as Mexico's president on Saturday, promising to end years of violence and sluggish economic growth, and giving the party that shaped modern Mexico a shot at redemption after 12 years out of office. The 46-year-old Pena Nieto said the people had been let down since his centrist Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, fell from power in 2000, and pledged a raft of changes to boost growth, create jobs and fight poverty. "The state has lost ground in important areas. ...

Mursi calls referendum as Islamists march Posted: 01 Dec 2012 02:16 PM PST CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's President Mohamed Mursi called a December 15 referendum on a draft constitution on Saturday as at least 200,000 Islamists demonstrated in Cairo to back him after opposition fury over his newly expanded powers. Speaking after receiving the final draft of the constitution from the Islamist-dominated assembly, Mursi urged a national dialogue as the country nears the end of the transition from Hosni Mubarak's rule. ...

Syria rebels bombed as opposition open to peacekeepers Posted: 01 Dec 2012 02:11 PM PST BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian jets bombed rebel-held areas of Damascus on Saturday, residents said, as the opposition indicated it could accept an international peacekeeping force if President Bashar al-Assad is forced from power. Warplanes attacked the Damascus suburbs of Kafar Souseh and Darraya, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition-linked group. The air strikes follow intensified rebel activity in the capital, Assad's seat of power, as well as successful stormings of government military bases in recent weeks. ...

Egypt's Mursi calls December 15 referendum on constitution Posted: 01 Dec 2012 02:10 PM PST CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi called a December 15 referendum on a draft constitution and urged a national dialogue on the "concerns of the nation" as the country nears the end of the transition from Hosni Mubarak's rule. Mursi was speaking after receiving the final draft of the constitution from the Islamist-dominated constituent assembly. "I am issuing my decision to call people for a referendum on the draft constitution on Saturday, December 15," Mursi said in an address to the constituent assembly that approved its final draft on Friday before handing it to Mursi. ...

Egypt opposition figure says draft constitution undermines freedoms Posted: 01 Dec 2012 02:10 PM PST CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian opposition figure Mohamed ElBaradei said on Saturday the "struggle will continue" after President Mohamed Mursi called a December 15 referendum on a draft constitution. "(Mursi) put to referendum a draft constitution that undermines basic freedoms and violates universal values. The struggle will continue," ElBaradei said on his Twitter feed. (Reporting By Tamim Elyan; Editing by Ralph Gowling)

Egypt's President Mursi receives draft constitution Posted: 01 Dec 2012 02:10 PM PST CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's constituent assembly handed its final draft of a planned new constitution for the country to President Mohamed Mursi on Saturday so he could approve it before calling a referendum. The Islamist-dominated assembly finished voting on the draft on Friday. (Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Ralph Gowling)

Kuwaiti holds divisive vote after mass protest Posted: 01 Dec 2012 01:42 PM PST KUWAIT (Reuters) - Kuwaitis voted on Saturday in a divisive parliamentary election held under new polling rules that triggered an opposition boycott of the ballot and mass protests. The election is the second this year in the oil-rich Gulf Arab state, where a series of assemblies have collapsed due to a power struggle between elected MPs and the cabinet. Tens of thousands marched on Friday in what organizers said was the largest protest in Kuwaiti history, to urge people to shun the ballot box in protest at a rule change they say will skew the outcome in favor of pro-government candidates. ...

Chinese tycoon must reapply for approval on Iceland resort: media Posted: 01 Dec 2012 12:59 PM PST REYKJAVIK (Reuters) - A Chinese tycoon who wants to build a major tourist resort in a remote corner of northeast Iceland must reapply for permission to go ahead with the project, Icelandic media reported on Saturday. Cabinet ministers, led by Industry Minister Steingrimur Sigfusson, said they were unable to make a final decision on Huang Nubo's application as much information remained unavailable, state radio RUV reported. ...

Kim Kardashian brings out fans, Islamists and police in Bahrain Posted: 01 Dec 2012 12:41 PM PST MANAMA (Reuters) - Television celebrity Kim Kardashian brought out screaming fans, angry Muslim hardliners and police throwing stun grenades on Saturday when she visited Bahrain to launch a milkshake franchise, witnesses said. About 100 Sunni Salafists demonstrated with banners outside The Walk Bahrain, an upmarket mall in the capital Manama, after some MPs tried to block the visit over what they called her "bad reputation", according to a local newspaper. ...

Colombia, Nicaragua want to avoid war over water rights dispute Posted: 01 Dec 2012 12:29 PM PST MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The presidents of Colombia and Nicaragua on Saturday both said they hoped to avoid war and use dialogue instead to solve a dispute over a recent U.N. court ruling that shifted some of Colombia's resource-rich water to the Central America country. The Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ) earlier this month shocked Colombia by giving a large expanse of its fishing and potentially oil rich maritime territory to Nicaragua while handing some disputed islands to Colombia in a binding ruling. ...

Factbox: Mexico's new president debuts with raft of proposals Posted: 01 Dec 2012 12:28 PM PST MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - New Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto proposed a series of economic, security and social measures as he took office on Saturday, aiming to reduce drug war violence and beef up growth in Latin America's second biggest economy. Following are his main proposals, which come on top of his pledges to enact major fiscal and energy reforms: * Propose a balanced budget for 2013, reducing the fiscal deficit to zero. Issue a decree requiring austerity measures and budgetary discipline in public spending. ...

PM says Greek pension funds won't join debt buy-back Posted: 01 Dec 2012 12:23 PM PST ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek pension funds will not take part in a debt buy-back that is a key part of the country's international bailout, Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said in a newspaper interview. Greece must conduct the deal by December 13, before it receives more than 30 billion euros ($39 billion) in bailout payments from the euro zone and the International Monetary Fund. ...

Tunisian troops fire tear gas at protesters Posted: 01 Dec 2012 12:13 PM PST SILIANA, Tunisia (Reuters) - Tunisian security forces fired tear gas and live rounds into the air on Saturday to try to disperse thousands of protesters in a town that has seen days of clashes over economic hardship. National guard forces belonging to the Interior Ministry fired tear gas and rounds from inside armored personnel carriers in the town of Siliana, southwest of Tunis. ...

UK and France pile censure on Israel's new settlement plan Posted: 01 Dec 2012 11:55 AM PST JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Britain and France condemned on Saturday a plan by Israel to expand settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, saying international confidence in its desire to make peace with the Palestinians was at risk. Stung by a UN vote according de facto recognition to a Palestinian state, Israel on Friday said it would build thousands of new settler homes, including in a wedge zone between Jerusalem and the West Bank, known as E1, which Washington considers especially sensitive. ...

Detained Italy editor "escapes" to push for press freedom Posted: 01 Dec 2012 11:54 AM PST ROME (Reuters) - The editor of an Italian newspaper was re-arrested on Saturday, police said, after he intentionally violated the terms of his house detention to draw attention to the issue of press freedom. Alessandro Sallusti, editor-in-chief of Il Giornale, a newspaper owned by the family of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, was sentenced to 14 months in September for a libellous article in 2007, when he was at another newspaper. ...

Iran's Ahmadinejad gives new job to aide seen as possible heir Posted: 01 Dec 2012 11:53 AM PST DUBAI (Reuters) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has moved his chief of staff, seen as a potential successor and a target of criticism from hardline conservatives, to another job, according to the president's official website on Saturday. Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie has provoked the ire of Ahmadinejad's conservative rivals, who accuse him of trying to undermine Iran's theocratic system. Ahmadinejad has defended his closest aide throughout the attacks. ...

Clinton Criticizes Iran, Palestine, Israel Posted: 01 Dec 2012 11:24 AM PST WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Hillary Clinton criticized Iranian and Palestinian leaders, and didn't spare Israel, either, in her address at the Saban Forum, continuing her trend of increased frankness as her time in the Obama administration winds down. Clinton gave the 30-minute keynote address...

Mexico's new president eyes balanced budget for 2013 Posted: 01 Dec 2012 11:06 AM PST MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's new president, Enrique Pena Nieto, said on Saturday he would propose a balanced budget for 2013. Pena Nieto formally took office on Saturday, and has promised to push for major energy and fiscal reforms. (Reporting by Mexico Newsroom; Editing by Sandra Maler)

Thousands attend farewell ceremony for USS Enterprise Posted: 01 Dec 2012 10:57 AM PST (Reuters) - The world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the USS Enterprise, was formally retired on Saturday at a ceremony in Norfolk, Virginia, attended by thousands of crew members who served on the ship during its five decades in the U.S. Navy fleet. The 1,123-foot (342-metres) long Enterprise was commissioned in 1961 with eight nuclear reactors on board, and the next year was deployed to participate in a blockade of Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis. ...

Little progress in U.S. "fiscal cliff" talks Posted: 01 Dec 2012 09:06 AM PST HATFIELD, Pennsylvania (Reuters) - With barely a month left before the "fiscal cliff," Republicans and Democrats remained far apart on Friday in talks to avoid the across-the-board tax hikes and spending cuts that threaten to throw the country back into recession. While President Barack Obama visited a Pennsylvania toy factory to muster public support for tax hikes on the rich, portraying Republicans as scrooges at Christmas time, his primary adversary in negotiations, Republican House Speaker John Boehner, continued to describe the situation as a stalemate. ...

Democrats attempt longshot to force "fiscal cliff" vote Posted: 01 Dec 2012 09:06 AM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday announced a longshot bid to force an early vote on tax hikes to break the stalemate in negotiations over the year-end "fiscal cliff." The Democratic plan, which Senate Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said could begin on Tuesday, involves getting a majority of the Republican-controlled House to sign a petition scheduling a vote over the objection of the Republican leadership. Such a procedure, called a "discharge petition," might generate considerable publicity, fire up Democrats and anger Republicans. ...

Obama aides seek to counter Republican charges on "fiscal cliff" Posted: 01 Dec 2012 09:06 AM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration sought to counter Republican charges on Friday that President Barack Obama's plan to avoid a year-end "fiscal cliff" is light on spending cuts and too reliant on tax increases. Administration officials said the overall plan, offered to Republicans on Thursday and quickly rejected by them, would achieve $4.5 trillion in savings to the government. This includes around $1 trillion in cuts already enacted into law and would set up an "expedited process" to spirit through Congress some of the most comprehensive legislation in decades. ...

House and Senate sit on tax bills the other passed Posted: 01 Dec 2012 08:49 AM PST It may not sound like it from the rhetoric, but both the House and Senate already have passed separate bills to delay big tax increases awaiting nearly every taxpayer next year if Congress and the White House can't agree on a plan to avert the "fiscal cliff."

Syrian opposition may allow peacekeepers if Assad goes Posted: 01 Dec 2012 08:44 AM PST CAIRO (Reuters) - Syria's newly-formed opposition coalition said on Saturday it might allow an international peacekeeping force into Syria if President Bashar al-Assad and his allies leave power. Coalition spokesman Walid al-Bunni, asked about statements by U.N. mediator Lakhdar Brahimi that a ceasefire would only hold if overseen by a peacekeeping mission, said the opposition could accept such a deployment if Assad stepped down first. The issue of peacekeepers is highly sensitive. ...

Obama pipeline decision may preview energy policy Posted: 01 Dec 2012 08:31 AM PST It's a decision President Barack Obama put off during the 2012 campaign, but now that he's won a second term, his next move on a proposed oil pipeline between the U.S. and Canada may signal how he will deal with climate and energy issues in the four years ahead.

Merkel reaffirms support for Israel after U.N. vote Posted: 01 Dec 2012 08:28 AM PST BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel reassured Israel of her country's support on Saturday, two days after Berlin disappointed the Jewish state by abstaining in a U.N. vote on the Palestinians' status. Germany, which will host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and many of his ministers next week, abstained in Thursday's vote in the U.N. General Assembly which provided de facto recognition of a sovereign Palestinian state. Netanyahu's government had hoped that Berlin would join the United States and a handful of other countries in opposing the resolution. ...

Kuwaitis vote in divisive election after protests Posted: 01 Dec 2012 08:13 AM PST KUWAIT (Reuters) - Kuwaitis voted on Saturday in a divisive parliamentary election held under new polling rules that triggered an opposition boycott of the ballot and mass protests. The election is the second this year in the oil-rich Gulf Arab state, where a series of assemblies have collapsed due to a power struggle between elected MPs and the cabinet. Tens of thousands marched on Friday in what organizers said was the largest protest in Kuwaiti history, to urge people to shun the ballot box in protest at a rule change they say will skew the outcome in favor of pro-government candidates. ...

Hamas complains to Egypt after Israeli army kills Gazan Posted: 01 Dec 2012 08:08 AM PST GAZA (Reuters) - Hamas accused Israel on Saturday of violating the shaky, Egyptian-brokered Gaza truce of November 21 after Israeli troops killed a Palestinian taking part in a protest at the enclave's border fence. Medical officials said the 21-year-old man had been among six Palestinians wounded by gunfire during Friday's demonstration near southern Rafah, and had later died in hospital. The Israeli military said the Palestinians had tried to vandalize the fortified fence and that soldiers shot at their legs after first trying to warn them away. ...

Congo rebels quit Goma, saying it's "for peace" Posted: 01 Dec 2012 07:55 AM PST GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) - Hundreds of rebel fighters, singing and brandishing weapons, pulled out of Congo's eastern border city of Goma on Saturday, raising hopes for negotiations to end the insurgency. The withdrawal of the M23 rebel movement from Goma on Lake Kivu, a strategic hub in Democratic Republic of Congo's war-scarred east, was agreed in a deal brokered by presidents of the Great Lakes states under Uganda's leadership a week ago. "M23 has been leaving Goma. By noon today, 750 M23 elements left Goma ... ...

Internet back on in Damascus, Homs: residents Posted: 01 Dec 2012 07:51 AM PST BEIRUT (Reuters) - The Internet was working in Syria's capital of Damascus and the central city of Homs on Saturday, residents said, after a two-day blackout that experts said was highly likely to have been caused by authorities. President Bashar al-Assad's government has been accused before of cutting Internet and telephone connections to block opposition activist and rebel communications during the 20-month-old revolt. Authorities had attributed the latest outage to a "terrorist" attack or a technical fault. ...

North Korean rocket launch would be "highly provocative act": U.S. Posted: 01 Dec 2012 07:45 AM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Saturday condemned North Korea's plan to carry out its second rocket launch of 2012 as a "highly provocative act" that would threaten peace and violate U.N. sanctions. "A North Korean 'satellite' launch would be a highly provocative act that threatens peace and security in the region," said U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland in a written statement. "Any North Korean launch using ballistic missile technology is in direct violation of U.N. Security Council Resolutions," she added. ...

Mitt Romney's loss creates GOP leadership vacuum Posted: 01 Dec 2012 07:44 AM PST Mitt Romney's shadow looms over a Republican Party in disarray.

Myanmar govt asks Suu Kyi to investigate mine dispute Posted: 01 Dec 2012 07:34 AM PST MONYWA, Myanmar (Reuters) - Myanmar's president asked opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Saturday to head an investigation into the planned expansion of a copper mine that has led to evictions and protests that were forcibly put down by riot police this week. Activists said at least 50 people were injured on Thursday, including more than 20 Buddhist monks, after riot police raided camps set up round the Monywa mine in the north west Sagaing region by villagers protesting the evictions. ...

French firms must fight China for stake in Africa: Moscovici Posted: 01 Dec 2012 07:25 AM PST ABIDJAN (Reuters) - French companies must go on the offensive and fight the growing influence of rival China for a stake in Africa's increasingly competitive markets, France's Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici said on Saturday. France, which once ruled over much of West Africa as colonial master, continued to exert direct and indirect influence over its ex-colonies for decades through a murky system of patronage known as "Francafrique". However, that regional reach is now being challenged by a new Chinese investment blitz. "It's evident that China is more and more present in Africa... ...

When Inauguration Day Falls on a Sunday, the Constitution Won't Wait Posted: 01 Dec 2012 07:22 AM PST When Inauguration Day falls on a Sunday, the Constitution won't wait. The iron beams are in place jutting out over Pennsylvania Avenue outside the White House.They will become the roof of the presidential reviewing stand for the second Obama inaugural next month. But the traditional...

Georgian investigators question former prime minister Posted: 01 Dec 2012 07:08 AM PST TBILISI (Reuters) - Georgian investigators were questioning former prime minister Vano Merabishvili on Saturday in the latest of a string of legal cases brought against members of the ousted administration of President Mikheil Saakashvili. The detentions of former state officials since billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili's coalition defeated Saakashvili's long-ruling party in parliamentary elections in October has raised opposition complaints of a political witch-hunt. ...

Grand jury probing meningitis-linked pharmacy: newspaper Posted: 01 Dec 2012 06:51 AM PST BOSTON (Reuters) - A grand jury is investigating the compounding pharmacy at the heart of a deadly meningitis outbreak, the Boston Globe reported on Saturday. The grand jury has begun issuing subpoenas to people who worked for the New England Compounding Center, which closed after investigators determined it had produced the tainted injectible steroid that has killed 36 people, the newspaper reported, citing unnamed people who formerly worked for the company. ...

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