Yahoo! News: Politics News

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• Obama is flexing his leverage on debt, immigration
• Obama unveils gun plan, concedes tough fight ahead
• Reaction to Obama's gun control proposals
• Pakistan turmoil not as "chaotic" as appears: foreign minister
• Factbox: Obama's gun-control plan draws strong response
• Interior chief Salazar stepping down in March
• France launches ground campaign against Mali rebels
• Malicious virus shuttered power plant: DHS
• Liberal Voices Unite to Counter Chorus of Opposition to White House Gun Control Proposals
• Missing data on half million Canadian student loans to draw suit
• NRA begins pushback with Web ad criticizing Obama
• Michelle Obama lets wardrobe take back seat
• AP-GfK poll: Anger, concern follow Conn. shooting
• Detroit council approves cost cuts to stave off state takeover
• Analysis: Property risk reigniting as China economy turns corner
• Talk to us, Venezuela's Capriles urges Chavez
• Analysis: Obama's gun-control plan faces steep challenge in Congress
• Colombian president opens door to popular vote on FARC peace deal
• Seven members of Syrian family killed in fire at refugee camp
• Obama makes biggest gun-control push in decades
• Obama likely to make foreign policy adviser chief of staff
• Trayvon Martin's mother urges Florida to repeal self-defense law
• Lawyer for accused Ohio rapist blames online group for notoriety
• Clinton calls on Laos to find missing activist
• Sahara Islamists take hostages, spreading Mali war
• Canadian natives slow trade traffic in day of protest
• SEC Republicans don't back political disclosure rule
• Flaherty takes active role in search for central bank head
• New York City school bus drivers go on strike
• As "Roe v. Wade" turns 40, most oppose reversing abortion ruling
• U.S. studying legal basis for assisting France in Mali: Panetta
• Muni bonds' U.S. tax breaks will remain
• In test of influence, NRA gets personal in anti-Obama ad
• Goldman, Morgan Stanley cut $557 million foreclosure deal
• Massachusetts governor offers new gun laws after Newtown
• Episcopal priest chosen for inaugural benediction
• Pakistan protests to India over Kashmir killing
• Desert site is home to kidnapped foreign gas workers

Obama is flexing his leverage on debt, immigration Posted: 16 Jan 2013 02:49 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is assembling an ambitious second-term agenda, pushing aggressively where he thinks he has political leverage but moving more cautiously on issues where he has less control.

Obama unveils gun plan, concedes tough fight ahead Posted: 16 Jan 2013 02:44 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — Conceding "this will be difficult," President Barack Obama urged a reluctant Congress on Wednesday to require background checks for all gun sales and ban both military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines in an emotion-laden plea to curb gun violence in America.

Reaction to Obama's gun control proposals Posted: 16 Jan 2013 12:13 PM PST President Barack Obama unveiled sweeping proposals to curb gun violence, including calls for Congress to pass universal background checks and an assault-weapons ban, plus 23 executive actions that don't require congressional approval. Quotes about the proposals:

Pakistan turmoil not as "chaotic" as appears: foreign minister Posted: 16 Jan 2013 03:16 PM PST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar suggested on Wednesday that the Supreme Court was trying to boost its power by ordering the arrest of the prime minister on corruption allegations, but during a speech in New York she said the situation was not as "chaotic" as it might appear. Pakistan's Supreme Court ordered the arrest of Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf on Tuesday. In June, Ashraf replaced Yusuf Raza Gilani, who was disqualified by the Supreme Court in a showdown between the government and the judiciary. ...

Factbox: Obama's gun-control plan draws strong response Posted: 16 Jan 2013 03:10 PM PST (Reuters) - President Barack Obama revealed plans on Wednesday for America's biggest gun-control push in decades, spurred by last month's massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut in which a gunman killed 20 children and six adults. Many of Obama's proposals, which include enhanced background checks for gun buyers and the reintroduction of a ban on assault weapons, face tough opposition from gun enthusiasts led by the powerful National Rifle Association. Below are some of the comments on gun rights and controls by key debate-shapers and observers. ...

Interior chief Salazar stepping down in March Posted: 16 Jan 2013 03:08 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, who oversaw a moratorium on offshore drilling after the BP oil spill and promoted alternative energy sources throughout the nation, will step down in March.

France launches ground campaign against Mali rebels Posted: 16 Jan 2013 03:01 PM PST BAMAKO/PARIS (Reuters) - French troops launched their first ground assault against Islamist rebels in Mali on Wednesday in a broadening of their operation against battle-hardened al Qaeda-linked fighters who have resisted six days of air strikes. France has called for international support against the Islamist insurgents it says pose a threat to Africa and the West, acknowledging it faces a long fight against the well-equipped fighters who seized Mali's vast desert north last year. ...

Malicious virus shuttered power plant: DHS Posted: 16 Jan 2013 02:54 PM PST BOSTON (Reuters) - A computer virus attacked a turbine control system at a U.S. power company last fall when a technician unknowingly inserted an infected USB computer drive into the network, keeping a plant off line for three weeks, according to a report posted on a U.S. government website. The Department of Homeland Security report did not identify the plant but said criminal software, which is used to conduct financial crimes such as identity theft, was behind the incident. ...

Liberal Voices Unite to Counter Chorus of Opposition to White House Gun Control Proposals Posted: 16 Jan 2013 02:54 PM PST ABC News' Michael Falcone and Shushannah Walshe report: Earlier this month, after President Obama struck a deal with Republicans to avert the fiscal cliff, a top official from a leading liberal organization accused the president of being "clueless about how to use leverage in a...

Missing data on half million Canadian student loans to draw suit Posted: 16 Jan 2013 02:48 PM PST OTTAWA (Reuters) - A Newfoundland lawyer said he will launch a class action lawsuit on Thursday against the Canadian government which lost a portable external hard drive containing the personal information of 583,000 Canada Student Loan borrowers. The privacy breach, possibly the largest in Canadian history, affected students involved with the student loan program from 2000-2006. The external hard drive went missing on November 5 from a Quebec office. Human Resources Minister Diane Finley announced the breach on Friday and said the Royal Canadian Mounted Police were investigating. ...

NRA begins pushback with Web ad criticizing Obama Posted: 16 Jan 2013 02:47 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — In a sharp pushback against any new gun regulations, the National Rifle Association posted a Web video that labels President Barack Obama an "elitist hypocrite" for allowing his daughters to be protected by armed Secret Service agents while not embracing armed guards for schools.

Michelle Obama lets wardrobe take back seat Posted: 16 Jan 2013 02:38 PM PST NEW YORK (AP) — Michelle Obama has proven her fashion savvy time and again since she was introduced as first lady in a lemongrass-yellow sheath and coat by Isabel Toledo on Inauguration Day 2009 — so much so that we don't discuss it nearly as much as we used to.

AP-GfK poll: Anger, concern follow Conn. shooting Posted: 16 Jan 2013 02:37 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans were angrier about last month's horrific school shooting in Connecticut than they were about the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, according to a new Associated Press-GfK poll.

Detroit council approves cost cuts to stave off state takeover Posted: 16 Jan 2013 02:37 PM PST (Reuters) - The Detroit City Council on Wednesday continued its offensive against a possible state takeover of the city by passing a cost-cutting measure sought by Mayor Dave Bing for his reform agenda. A majority of the nine-member council has been approving contracts and measures in recent weeks to fill Detroit's near-empty coffers and aid efforts to restructure city operations. ...

Analysis: Property risk reigniting as China economy turns corner Posted: 16 Jan 2013 02:37 PM PST BEIJING (Reuters) - Business is booming in Beijing's real estate offices -- good news for property agents like Zhang Huanhuan, but a headache for China's policymakers as worries resurface about the sustainability of investment in the sector. "We've got off to a flying start in 2013 -- transactions are picking up, so are prices," said Zhang, a saleswoman at an outlet of Maitian Real Estate Agency Co. in the capital. Recent sales included six high-end apartments at a condominium in Beijing's Dongzhimen area, a neighborhood favored by the city's expatriates, she said. ...

Talk to us, Venezuela's Capriles urges Chavez Posted: 16 Jan 2013 02:35 PM PST CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's opposition leader, Henrique Capriles, called Wednesday for a proof of life from ailing President Hugo Chavez who has not been seen since cancer surgery in Cuba five weeks ago. Chavez's signature appeared in the government's official gazette on Wednesday decreeing his new foreign minister - though the document wrongly placed him in Caracas. "If the president of the republic can sign decrees, I call on him to show himself, to talk to Venezuela," Capriles said at his inauguration for a new term as Miranda state governor. ...

Analysis: Obama's gun-control plan faces steep challenge in Congress Posted: 16 Jan 2013 02:33 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's proposals to curb gun violence face a difficult path through a sharply divided U.S. Congress, where the biggest gun-control fight in decades looms on an issue that has long been one of the most divisive in American politics. Obama's plan sets up a showdown between a gun-control movement re-energized by the massacre of 20 children and six adults last month at a Connecticut school, and a powerful gun-rights lobby led by the National Rifle Association, which has blocked new action on gun control for almost two decades. ...

Colombian president opens door to popular vote on FARC peace deal Posted: 16 Jan 2013 02:29 PM PST BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos on Wednesday opened the door to a popular vote on any peace accord negotiated and signed with FARC rebels, but rejected a guerrilla demand to change the constitution if a deal is clinched. Talks to bring an end to Latin America's longest-running insurgency began in Cuba in November, when the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as the FARC, sat down for the first round of a five-point peace agenda. ...

Seven members of Syrian family killed in fire at refugee camp Posted: 16 Jan 2013 02:25 PM PST AMMAN (Reuters) - Seven members of a family of Syrian refugees were killed when fire broke out in their prefabricated hut in a refugee camp in northern Jordan on Wednesday, officials said. The fire was started by a gas heater, officials said. The hut was located in a public park being used for refugees in the border town of Ramtha, near the border with Syria. A civil defense source said that, in addition to the dead, at least three people were injured. More than 200,000 Syrian refugees are now living in towns and cities across Jordan. ...

Obama makes biggest gun-control push in decades Posted: 16 Jan 2013 02:24 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama launched the biggest U.S. gun-control push in generations on Wednesday, urging Congress to approve an assault weapons ban and background checks for all gun buyers to prevent mass shootings like the Newtown school massacre. Rolling out a wide-ranging plan for executive and legislative action to curb gun violence, Obama set up a fierce clash with the powerful U.S. gun lobby and its supporters in Congress, who will resist what they see as an encroachment on constitutionally protected gun rights. ...

Obama likely to make foreign policy adviser chief of staff Posted: 16 Jan 2013 02:23 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama is likely to name deputy national security adviser Denis McDonough his next chief of staff, replacing Jack Lew after his nomination to be treasury secretary, according to sources familiar with the matter. McDonough, a longtime Obama foreign policy adviser who worked on the Democrat's 2008 presidential campaign, would bring a strong working relationship and long history with the president to the job. ...

Trayvon Martin's mother urges Florida to repeal self-defense law Posted: 16 Jan 2013 02:16 PM PST TALLAHASSEE, Florida (Reuters) - The mother of Trayvon Martin urged lawmakers on Wednesday to throw their support behind a bill that would repeal Florida's controversial Stand Your Ground law, which she blamed for the death of her son who would have turned 18 on February 5. Speaking to reporters outside the state Senate chambers, Sybrina Fulton said the 2005 Florida self-defense law that allows people who fear for their lives to use deadly force resulted in the February 26, 2011, shooting of her unarmed son by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman. ...

Lawyer for accused Ohio rapist blames online group for notoriety Posted: 16 Jan 2013 02:15 PM PST PITTSBURGH (Reuters) - An Ohio football player seeking to have his rape trial moved and closed to the public is blaming notoriety fueled by an online activist group, according to documents obtained on Wednesday by Reuters. Ma'Lik Richmond, 16, is one of two members of a Steubenville, Ohio, high school football team charged with raping a classmate at a party attended by many teammates last August. ...

Clinton calls on Laos to find missing activist Posted: 16 Jan 2013 02:14 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday added to international pressure on the authoritarian government in Laos to investigate the disappearance a month ago of a prominent social activist and reunite him with his family.

Sahara Islamists take hostages, spreading Mali war Posted: 16 Jan 2013 02:09 PM PST ALGIERS/BAMAKO (Reuters) - Islamist fighters seized dozens of Western and Algerian hostages in a dawn raid on a natural gas facility deep in the Sahara on Wednesday and demanded France halt a new offensive against rebels in neighboring Mali. Three people, among them one British and one French, were reported killed, but details were sketchy and numbers of those held at Tigantourine ranged from 41 foreigners - including perhaps seven Americans as well as Japanese and Europeans - to over 100 local staff, held separately and less closely watched. ...

Canadian natives slow trade traffic in day of protest Posted: 16 Jan 2013 02:00 PM PST TORONTO (Reuters) - Canadian natives slowed traffic on a bridge crucial to U.S.-Canadian trade on Wednesday as aboriginals across the country staged a "National Day of Action" to protest their living conditions. Hundreds of natives, some wearing colorful dress and banging drums, blocked an access road leading to the Ambassador Bridge, according to the Globe and Mail, slowing traffic on a major trade artery that connects Windsor, Ontario, with Detroit, Michigan. ...

SEC Republicans don't back political disclosure rule Posted: 16 Jan 2013 01:58 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - There is not enough support among top U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission officials to advance a proposal that would require companies to disclose their political spending, a Republican commissioner said on Wednesday. Daniel Gallagher said the agency had other priorities, and said the two Republican commissioners would not back such a measure. With the SEC currently divided between two Democrats and two Republicans, the lack of support effectively kills the measure, which has been pushed by disclosure activists, in the near-term. ...

Flaherty takes active role in search for central bank head Posted: 16 Jan 2013 01:54 PM PST OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's finance minister will interview candidates for governor of the Bank of Canada, his office said on Wednesday in an unusual announcement that highlights the central role the minister intends to play in the recruitment process. Mark Carney is stepping down as governor of the Bank of Canada in June to head the Bank of England, and the process of finding his replacement is under way. Tiff Macklem, currently the senior deputy governor, is considered the front runner. ...

New York City school bus drivers go on strike Posted: 16 Jan 2013 01:54 PM PST NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City school bus drivers went on strike for the first time in 34 years, creating headaches for up to 152,000 students in the nation's largest public school system on a sleet-soaked Wednesday. The strike was triggered by the city's decision to seek new, less expensive contracts for routes that serve children with special needs. The union representing bus drivers - who are employed by private contractors, not the city - says this will end job security for its drivers. ...

As "Roe v. Wade" turns 40, most oppose reversing abortion ruling Posted: 16 Jan 2013 01:49 PM PST (Reuters) - Most Americans remain opposed to overturning the controversial Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, which 40 years ago legalized abortion at least in the first three months of pregnancy, according to a poll released Wednesday. The poll by the Pew Research Center found that 63 percent of Americans believe that Roe v. Wade should not be completely overturned, compared to 29 percent who believe it should be. These opinions have changed little from surveys conducted in 2003 and 1992, Pew reported. ...

U.S. studying legal basis for assisting France in Mali: Panetta Posted: 16 Jan 2013 01:46 PM PST ROME (Reuters) - The United States takes the French fight with al Qaeda-affiliated militants in Mali "very seriously" but must evaluate French military needs and the legal basis for U.S. action before providing aid, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Wednesday. Panetta, speaking to reporters in Rome, said the United States already was providing information to Paris to help French forces in their effort to disrupt the advance of Islamist groups in Mali until the ECOWAS grouping of African nations can put troops on the ground. ...

Muni bonds' U.S. tax breaks will remain Posted: 16 Jan 2013 01:40 PM PST NEW YORK (Reuters) - The $3.7 trillion U.S. municipal bond market took a big hit in December when investors feared a fiscal deal between Republicans and Democrats could include the elimination of the tax-exempt status of bonds that finance roads, hospitals and schools across the country. The tax hikes for the wealthy that Congress approved on January 1 spared those bonds, making them even more appealing to well-heeled investors seeking to minimize their tax hit. ...

In test of influence, NRA gets personal in anti-Obama ad Posted: 16 Jan 2013 01:32 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Hours before President Barack Obama revealed his plan to decrease gun-related violence, the nation's leading gun-rights group took its opposition to a personal level by releasing a video ad that refers to Obama's two school-aged daughters. The ad released by the National Rifle Association, which advocated putting armed guards in schools after the December 14 massacre of 26 people in a Connecticut school last month, casts the president as elitist and hypocritical for wanting schools to be gun-free zones. ...

Goldman, Morgan Stanley cut $557 million foreclosure deal Posted: 16 Jan 2013 01:27 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Morgan Stanley will pay a total of $557 million in cash and other assistance to troubled borrowers to end a case-by-case review of past foreclosures required by U.S. regulators. The U.S. Federal Reserve said on Wednesday that the two banks will pay $232 million to eligible borrowers and $325 million in loan modifications and forgiveness. The agreement is similar to the $8.5 billion deal reached between the Fed, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and 10 other bank servicers on January 7. ...

Massachusetts governor offers new gun laws after Newtown Posted: 16 Jan 2013 01:27 PM PST BOSTON (Reuters) - Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick introduced a new series of gun laws on Wednesday that would tighten rules on sales of weapons and ammunition, in the wake of last month's deadly school shooting in neighboring Connecticut. Patrick made the announcement a day after New York state adopted one of the toughest gun-control laws in the United States and shortly before President Barack Obama proposed a new national assault-weapons ban and strengthened background checks on prospective gun buyers. ...

Episcopal priest chosen for inaugural benediction Posted: 16 Jan 2013 01:24 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — The pastor of the Episcopal parish known as "the church of the presidents" will give the benediction at President Barack Obama's inauguration.

Pakistan protests to India over Kashmir killing Posted: 16 Jan 2013 01:22 PM PST ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's army protested to India on Wednesday over the killing of one of its soldiers in Kashmir, the fifth fatality this year in heightened hostilities that have raised concern about violations of the truce between the nuclear-armed neighbors. Indian troops shot the soldier at a position called Kundi during firing from the Indian side of the Line of Control (LoC) in the disputed Himalayan territory, the Pakistani army said in a statement. ...

Desert site is home to kidnapped foreign gas workers Posted: 16 Jan 2013 01:16 PM PST LONDON (Reuters) - The gas installation where dozens of foreign gas industry workers were being held hostage on Wednesday is their home as well as their workplace. Algerian state oil company Sonatrach's base in Tigantourine, the site of the kidnapping according to the Algerian interior ministry, lies about 25 km (15 miles) southwest of the town of In Amenas, a settlement of about 5,000 people near the Libyan border surrounded by oil and gas production facilities. The rectangular-shaped Tigantourine installation (sometimes spelled Tiguentourine) looks a lonely place on a Google satellite map. ...

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