Yahoo! News: Politics News

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• 'Cliff' talks: White House waiting on GOP move
• Partisan split over UN Ambassador Rice widens
• Bersani wins big in Italian center-left primary
• Netanyahu brushes off world condemnation of settlement plans
• Egypt's opposition alliance calls for protests
• Wall Street finds a foreign detour around U.S. derivatives rules
• Analysis: Nationalist strains echo on Japan campaign trail
• Indian reforms face test with parliament vote
• Suspected Islamists kill 10 Christians in Nigeria
• Geithner predicts Republicans will yield on taxes
• Opposition candidate wins Slovenian presidential election
• Islamist protest shuts down Egypt's top court
• Kosovo demands investigation into ex-U.N. prosecutor del Ponte
• Russia may soften religion law over Putin concerns
• French rightist's ally calls for new leadership vote
• Thousands rally against far right in Hungary
• Analysis: EADS revamp brings government out of industry's shadow
• Egyptian judges' body urges members to boycott referendum
• Malaysia PM uses Romney defeat to warn divided party
• Analysis: Steel reprieve comes at price for France's Hollande
• Syrian army pounds Damascus suburbs, flights to resume
• Flag-waving Palestinians cheer Abbas for U.N. recognition win
• Lebanese army clashes with Syrian rebels on border
• Snow traps drivers for days in giant Russia traffic jam
• France, Germany aim to settle EADS shareholder structure
• South Sudan: could restart oil by year-end after Sudan talks
• John Boehner, Timothy Geithner Report Little Progress on 'Fiscal Cliff'
• Starbucks says may pay more UK tax
• Fore: Obama, Bill Clinton enjoy round of golf
• Turkey's defense, Pakistan top Clinton's agenda
• Strategy, timing key to states' pot legalization
• Kenyan contenders facing ICC cases to run jointly in vote
• Rwanda says FDLR rebels cross from Congo, attack wardens
• Rep. Tom Cole: Republicans Don't Need to Present a Plan Yet
• North Korea plans new rocket launch as leader asserts power
• EgyptAir to resume flights to Syria
• Highlights of the approaching 'fiscal cliff'

'Cliff' talks: White House waiting on GOP move Posted: 02 Dec 2012 12:27 PM PST Republicans have to stop using "political math" and say how much they are willing to raise tax rates on the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans and then specify the spending cuts they want, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said in an interview that aired Sunday.

Partisan split over UN Ambassador Rice widens Posted: 02 Dec 2012 08:40 AM PST The partisan political divide over the potential nomination of U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice to be secretary of state intensified Sunday with Republicans questioning her fitness for the job and Democrats defending her.

Bersani wins big in Italian center-left primary Posted: 02 Dec 2012 02:25 PM PST ROME (Reuters) - Pier Luigi Bersani won a run-off primary election by a huge margin on Sunday to become the Italian center-left candidate for prime minister in national elections early next year. In his victory speech, Bersani promised to tackle Italy's economic crisis and high unemployment if elected and said his Democratic Party would have to win by telling Italians "the truth, not fairy tales" about the grave situation. ...

Netanyahu brushes off world condemnation of settlement plans Posted: 02 Dec 2012 01:38 PM PST JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday brushed off world condemnation of Israel's plans to expand Jewish settlements after the Palestinians won de facto U.N. recognition of statehood. "We will carry on building in Jerusalem and in all the places that are on the map of Israel's strategic interests," a defiant Netanyahu said at the weekly cabinet meeting. In another blow to the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, Israel announced it was withholding Palestinian tax revenues this month worth about $100 million. ...

Egypt's opposition alliance calls for protests Posted: 02 Dec 2012 01:26 PM PST CAIRO (Reuters) - An alliance of Egyptian opposition groups called for protests in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Tuesday to protest against President Mohamed Mursi's decision to call a December 15 referendum on what it called an illegitimate draft constitution. In a statement issued after a meeting on Sunday, a copy of which was seen by Reuters, the alliance of liberal, leftist and socialist parties accused Mursi of putting the interests of the Muslim Brotherhood - the group that propelled him to power in a June election - ahead of the interests of the nation. ...

Wall Street finds a foreign detour around U.S. derivatives rules Posted: 02 Dec 2012 01:11 PM PST SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Wall Street banks are looking to help offshore clients sidestep new U.S. rules designed to safeguard the world's $640 trillion over-the-counter derivatives market, taking advantage of an exemption that risks undermining U.S. regulators' efforts. U.S. banks such as Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs have been explaining to their foreign customers that they can for now avoid the new rules, due to take effect next month, by routing trades via the banks' overseas units, according to industry sources and presentation materials obtained by Reuters. ...

Analysis: Nationalist strains echo on Japan campaign trail Posted: 02 Dec 2012 01:08 PM PST TOKYO (Reuters) - Be careful what you wish for. U.S. officials have long urged Japan to loosen limits on its military, bear more of the burden of its own defense and play a more prominent global role. Now, Japanese politicians gearing up for a December 16 parliamentary election are promising to do just that - but with a strain of strident nationalism that could give not only Asian neighbors but also Washington cause for concern. ...

Indian reforms face test with parliament vote Posted: 02 Dec 2012 01:01 PM PST NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's stuttering economic reform program faces a key parliamentary test this week on whether to let foreign supermarket chains such as Wal-Mart Stores set up shop, in a vote that could pave the way for further measures to revive the economy. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's minority government bowed to opposition pressure last week in agreeing to a vote, ending days of deadlock in parliament and cheering investors who saw it as a sign of a renewed policy momentum to come. ...

Suspected Islamists kill 10 Christians in Nigeria Posted: 02 Dec 2012 12:36 PM PST MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) - Suspected Islamist fighters went on the rampage in northeast Nigeria overnight, killing 10 Christians with guns and machetes and burning down their houses, witnesses said on Sunday. The attack happened in a village called Chibok, in a remote part of northeastern Borno state, at the heart of an insurgency led by Islamist sect Boko Haram. "Suspected Boko Haram came at night and set people's houses on fire before killing their victims," said Nuhu Clark, a former councilor of the village who escaped the attack. He said he counted 10 bodies afterwards. ...

Geithner predicts Republicans will yield on taxes Posted: 02 Dec 2012 12:25 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner pushed Republicans on Sunday to offer specific ideas to cut the deficit, and predicted that they would agree to raise tax rates on the rich to obtain a year-end deal and avoid possible economic doom. But the top U.S. Republican, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives John Boehner, stood firm and renewed his stand against increased tax rates, leaving talks at a stalemate. "Here's the problem," Boehner told "Fox News Sunday" as both sides took their battle to TV talks shows. ...

Opposition candidate wins Slovenian presidential election Posted: 02 Dec 2012 12:24 PM PST LJUBLJANA (Reuters) - Former center-left prime minister Borut Pahor was elected to the largely ceremonial post of Slovenian president on Sunday to a backdrop of rising unrest in the recession-hit euro zone state. Pahor is a member of the opposition Social Democrats, and has called for cooperation between the government and opposition to tackle the economic crisis and prevent Slovenia becoming the latest member of the 17-member currency union to seek a bailout. In a run-off vote, Pahor won 67.4 percent, ahead of incumbent Danilo Turk on 32.6 percent with 99. ...

Islamist protest shuts down Egypt's top court Posted: 02 Dec 2012 12:11 PM PST CAIRO (Reuters) - Protests by Islamists allied to President Mohamed Mursi forced Egypt's highest court to adjourn its work indefinitely on Sunday, intensifying a conflict between some of the country's top judges and the head of state. The Supreme Constitutional Court said it would not convene until its judges could operate without "psychological and material pressure", saying protesters had stopped the judges from reaching the building. ...

Kosovo demands investigation into ex-U.N. prosecutor del Ponte Posted: 02 Dec 2012 12:09 PM PST PRISTINA (Reuters) - Kosovo called on Sunday for an investigation into the work of former United Nations chief prosecutor Carla del Ponte after the country's former prime minister was acquitted for a second time on war crimes charges brought by the Swiss lawyer. Ramush Haradinaj, a Kosovo Albanian former guerilla commander who served briefly as prime minister, was cleared last week of crimes against humanity in a retrial at the U.N. tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague. ...

Russia may soften religion law over Putin concerns Posted: 02 Dec 2012 12:03 PM PST MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian lawmakers are reworking a draft law introducing prison terms for religious offences after signs that Vladimir Putin is concerned it could undermine the delicate balance between the country's many religions. The president's party proposed the law after two members of the Pussy Riot punk band were jailed for two years over a protest in a cathedral against Putin's increasingly close ties with the Russian Orthodox Church. ...

French rightist's ally calls for new leadership vote Posted: 02 Dec 2012 11:19 AM PST PARIS (Reuters) - France's main conservative party edged closer to resolving a crisis on Sunday as an ally of one of the two men disputing its leadership called for a new vote to pick a leader. A two-week-old row over who won a November 18 vote for the UMP's presidency has plunged the opposition party into disarray and self-absorption, leaving Socialist President Francois Hollande unchallenged to advance left-wing policies. ...

Thousands rally against far right in Hungary Posted: 02 Dec 2012 11:17 AM PST BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Around 10,000 Hungarians protested on Sunday against the far-right opposition Jobbik party, after one of its lawmakers triggered outrage and memories of Nazism by calling for lists of Jews to be drawn up. The rally outside Budapest's parliament brought together leaders from governing and opposition parties in an unprecedented show of unity in the country's deeply divided political scene. ...

Analysis: EADS revamp brings government out of industry's shadow Posted: 02 Dec 2012 11:12 AM PST PARIS (Reuters) - An imminent shake-up of EADS is expected to lead to a rise in state shareholdings in Europe's largest aerospace group, but in reality merely changes the rules for what is already a wary co-habitation. Officials were putting finishing touches on Sunday to a deal to bring Germany on board with 12 percent of the maker of Airbus jets and Ariane rockets, at parity with France. The move paves the way for an exit by founder companies Daimler , the German carmaker, and French media firm Lagardere , increasingly viewed as state proxies. ...

Egyptian judges' body urges members to boycott referendum Posted: 02 Dec 2012 11:09 AM PST CAIRO (Reuters) - An influential body representing Egyptian judges has decided not to oversee a December 15 referendum on a draft constitution, the state news agency reported, in a blow to President Mohamed Mursi. The decision was made at a Judges' Club board meeting in Cairo on Sunday. Club decisions are not binding on its members. The Club had voiced strong condemnation of a November 22 decree issued by Mursi that expanded the president's powers and shielded them from judicial review. ...

Malaysia PM uses Romney defeat to warn divided party Posted: 02 Dec 2012 11:08 AM PST KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - When Malaysia's ruling party gathered for a tub-thumping pre-election rally last week, Prime Minister Najib Razak delivered a stern behind-the-scenes warning: don't repeat the mistake of Mitt Romney. Just as the U.S. Republican presidential candidate's over-reliance on older, white voters lost him last month's election, so could the dependence of the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) on rural, ethnic Malay voters, Najib told delegates at the assembly, according to a senior party insider. ...

Analysis: Steel reprieve comes at price for France's Hollande Posted: 02 Dec 2012 11:03 AM PST PARIS (Reuters) - Francois Hollande's bid to rescue steel furnaces in France's historic industrial heartland was to be the mark of a president on the side of the workers and a state with the courage to bring a multinational to heel. But the two-month stand-off over steel giant ArcelorMittal's Florange plant in Lorraine has unnerved investors in the euro zone's second largest economy, confused France's unions and exposed his six-month-old government to international ridicule. ...

Syrian army pounds Damascus suburbs, flights to resume Posted: 02 Dec 2012 10:56 AM PST BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian army forces pounded rebel-held suburbs around Damascus with fighter jets and rockets on Sunday, activists said, killing and wounding dozens in an offensive to push rebels away from the airport and stop them closing in on the capital. The army struck hard after a week of rebel advances, including the capture of two military bases near the capital. Rebels had been planning to push into central Damascus from their strongholds on the outskirts and fighting in the past week has been fierce. ...

Flag-waving Palestinians cheer Abbas for U.N. recognition win Posted: 02 Dec 2012 10:48 AM PST RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Crowds welcomed President Mahmoud Abbas back to the West Bank on Sunday and celebrated the United Nations General Assembly's de facto recognition of Palestinian statehood. "Abbas, onwards, we are with you until liberation," flag-waving Palestinian well-wishers chanted at their president, returning from the assembly which voted 138 to nine with 41 absentions on Thursday to implicitly recognize Palestine. ...

Lebanese army clashes with Syrian rebels on border Posted: 02 Dec 2012 10:32 AM PST BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanese troops fought with Syrian rebels on the border between the two countries on Sunday, in what a security source said was the first such clash between Lebanon's army and the rebels. The clash occurred when a Lebanese border patrol spotted the rebel fighters along the border and the rebels opened fire to prevent the patrol from approaching, a Lebanese military source said. He said there were no casualties. (Reporting by Erika Solomon; Editing by Ralph Gowling)

Snow traps drivers for days in giant Russia traffic jam Posted: 02 Dec 2012 10:16 AM PST MOSCOW (Reuters) - Thousands of trucks and cars have been stuck on a major highway, some for more than two days, in a traffic jam dozens of kilometers (miles) long caused by heavy snow northwest of Moscow, Russian media reported on Sunday. Police in the Tver region said field kitchens were operating on the road, but many drivers complained supplies never reached them and they were running out of gasoline to keep their engines running and heating on in subzero temperatures. ...

France, Germany aim to settle EADS shareholder structure Posted: 02 Dec 2012 10:05 AM PST BERLIN (Reuters) - France and Germany held talks with representatives of EADS and Daimler in Paris over the weekend with the aim of settling a new shareholder structure for Europe's largest aerospace group, according to a German media report. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung said in an advance copy of a report due to appear in its Monday edition that talks focused on capping state shareholdings in EADS at 30 percent, giving France and Germany 12 percent each, Spain 4 percent, and leaving a 2 percent buffer that states could still possibly acquire later. ...

South Sudan: could restart oil by year-end after Sudan talks Posted: 02 Dec 2012 10:03 AM PST KHARTOUM (Reuters) - South Sudan could resume oil exports through Sudan by the end of the year, the South's chief negotiator Pagan Amum said on Sunday, after meeting with Sudan's defense minister and other officials in Khartoum. "By the end of this year it is possible to load the first ship of oil, especially after the agreement in the meetings today and yesterday," Amum told reporters. "Implementation will begin in the coming days," he added. (Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz; Writing by Alexander Dziadosz; Editing by Dale Hudson)

John Boehner, Timothy Geithner Report Little Progress on 'Fiscal Cliff' Posted: 02 Dec 2012 10:02 AM PST Negotiations between Congress and the White House over the "fiscal cliff" may be continuing in private this weekend, but on television airwaves the top Republican on Capitol Hill reported talks are still at an impasse. "I would say we're nowhere. Period," House Speaker John Boehner...

Starbucks says may pay more UK tax Posted: 02 Dec 2012 09:53 AM PST LONDON (Reuters) - Coffee chain Starbucks said it was considering changes to its UK tax practices, which allowed it to make billions in revenue while paying little in income taxes, following criticism from lawmakers, tax campaigners and the media. A Reuters examination of Starbucks accounts published in October showed the company had reported 13 years of losses at its UK unit, even as it told investors the operation was profitable and among the best performing of its overseas markets. ...

Fore: Obama, Bill Clinton enjoy round of golf Posted: 02 Dec 2012 09:50 AM PST Fore — 42 and 44 are playing 18.

Turkey's defense, Pakistan top Clinton's agenda Posted: 02 Dec 2012 09:44 AM PST Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is heading to Europe to discuss Turkey's defense and U.S. relations with Pakistan.

Strategy, timing key to states' pot legalization Posted: 02 Dec 2012 09:44 AM PST In the late-1980s heyday of the anti-drug "Just Say No" campaign, a man calling himself "Jerry" appeared on a Seattle talk radio show to criticize U.S. marijuana laws.

Kenyan contenders facing ICC cases to run jointly in vote Posted: 02 Dec 2012 09:41 AM PST NAIROBI (Reuters) - Two Kenyan presidential hopefuls indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for allegedly inciting post-election violence said on Sunday they would join forces in next year's vote and run on the same ticket. Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, son of the Kenya's first president after independence from Britain in 1963, will seek the presidency while former cabinet minister William Ruto hopes to be vice president, according the deal. ...

Rwanda says FDLR rebels cross from Congo, attack wardens Posted: 02 Dec 2012 08:51 AM PST KIGALI (Reuters) - Rwanda said FDLR rebels crossed the border from the Democratic Republic of Congo on Sunday and attacked a game warden camp, killing one warden in the second attack by the Rwandan Hutu group in six days. Rwanda has in the past cited the presence of the FDLR, or Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, as a reason for sending troops into neighboring Congo. Experts say the rebel group has dwindled in strength. ...

Rep. Tom Cole: Republicans Don't Need to Present a Plan Yet Posted: 02 Dec 2012 08:50 AM PST Republicans don't need to counter President Obama's proposal to avert the fiscal cliff with a formal plan of their own, according to Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., the deputy majority whip in the House of Representatives. "I don't think we need to put a formal proposal out...

North Korea plans new rocket launch as leader asserts power Posted: 02 Dec 2012 08:33 AM PST SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said it would carry out its second rocket launch of 2012 as its youthful leader Kim Jong-un flexes his muscles a year after his father's death, in a move that South Korea and the United States swiftly condemned as a provocation. North Korea's state news agency announced the decision to launch another space satellite on Saturday, just a day after Kim met a senior delegation from China's Communist Party in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang. ...

EgyptAir to resume flights to Syria Posted: 02 Dec 2012 08:07 AM PST CAIRO (Reuters) - EgyptAir will resume flights to Damascus and Aleppo airports on Monday after a three-day halt due to a deterioration in the security situation, the head of EgyptAir said on Sunday. "The decision comes after coordination with the Egyptian embassy in Damascus and the EgyptAir office in Syria and making sure the security conditions are stable at the moment in Syria, especially on the roads leading to Damascus and Aleppo airports," Roshdy Zakaria in a statement. ...

Highlights of the approaching 'fiscal cliff' Posted: 02 Dec 2012 08:02 AM PST The "fiscal cliff" is an economy-rattling combination of expiring tax cuts and major across-the-board spending reductions to the Pentagon and domestic programs.

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