Yahoo! News: Politics News

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• Obama lauds coordinated response to Colorado fires
• AP source: Adelson giving $10 million to aid GOP
• Young Afghans seek solace from war in heavy metal rock
• Elton John urges Ukraine to stop attacks on gays
• Yitzhak Shamir, hawkish Israeli premier, dies
• Assad's fate unclear in world powers' Syria plan
• Syria conference leaves open Assad question
• Exclusive: Saudi dissident set to come off U.N. al Qaeda blacklist
• Georgian president names new PM as elections loom
• Mining claim markers killing millions of birds in U.S. West
• Tables turn as Egypt's Islamist president sworn in
• Mali Islamists destroy holy Timbuktu sites
• Clinton says Syria deal means Assad must go
• World powers agree on Syria unity government
• Fort Bragg shooting victim identified as decorated war veteran
• Mood pessimistic on Syria peace plans
• Belarus frees journalist, seen as gesture to Poland
• Palestinian leader Abbas postpones Israel meeting
• Syrian forces push into Douma, residents flee
• Airbus' Alabama plant to create 2,500 construction jobs
• Some Dems still skittish on health care; GOP riled
• Factbox: Timbuktu - heritage in danger
• France eyes computer screen tax to boost revenues
• Obama lauds coordinated response to Colorado fires
• Eyes on future ahead of Spain-Italy Euro final
• Brief relief, long-term questions on student loans
• Raised on power, Assad risks all
• For Obama, a transcendent win still not assured
• Germany denies Schaeuble talk of Greece euro exit
• Iran urges emergency OPEC meet as price drops
• UK orders bank review, calls Diamond to panel
• Dozens killed by al Qaeda mines in Yemen

Obama lauds coordinated response to Colorado fires Posted: 30 Jun 2012 08:33 AM PDT President Barack Obama praised the coordinated response to Colorado's wildfires and said trying times bring Americans together.

AP source: Adelson giving $10 million to aid GOP Posted: 29 Jun 2012 05:08 PM PDT Casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson is making another huge campaign contribution aimed at electing Republicans and voting President Barack Obama out of office.

Young Afghans seek solace from war in heavy metal rock Posted: 30 Jun 2012 03:06 PM PDT KABUL (Reuters) - On a dimly lit stage the godfather of Afghan rock prepares for the next song, as images of the French movie La Haine (Hate) flicker above and his audience is asked what song would they sing if they were lying in the gutter dying. For "District Unknown", Afghanistan's first heavy metal band, the answer could be "Two Seconds After the Blast", from their soon-to-be recorded first album, "A 24-hour life time". ...

Elton John urges Ukraine to stop attacks on gays Posted: 30 Jun 2012 03:00 PM PDT KIEV (Reuters) - Elton John used an AIDS charity concert in Kiev on Saturday to make an emotional appeal to Ukraine to stop what he called persecution of gays. The 65-year-old singer broke off during a two-hour performance, part of the Euro 2012 soccer tournament co-hosted by Ukraine, to speak about reports of physical attacks on members of the former Soviet republic's gay community. John, a regular visitor to the country, drew cheers from thousands of Ukrainians watching his performance on huge street screens when he described Ukraine as "my second home". ...

Yitzhak Shamir, hawkish Israeli premier, dies Posted: 30 Jun 2012 02:16 PM PDT JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Yitzhak Shamir, the hawkish Israeli leader who two decades ago first balked at U.S. calls to trade occupied land for Middle East peace, died on Saturday after a long illness. He was 96. The second longest-serving prime minister after Israel's founder David Ben-Gurion, Shamir clung to the status quo. Admirers saw strength and resolve in his position, while critics called him an intransigent naysayer who allowed Arabs to cast Israel as obstructing reconciliation. ...

Assad's fate unclear in world powers' Syria plan Posted: 30 Jun 2012 02:15 PM PDT GENEVA (Reuters) - World powers agreed on Saturday that a transitional government should be set up in Syria to end the conflict there but they remained at odds over what part President Bashar al-Assad might play in the process. Peace envoy Kofi Annan said after talks in Geneva the government should include members of Assad's administration and the Syrian opposition and that it should arrange free elections. "Time is running out. The conflict must be resolved through peaceful dialogue and negotiations," Annan told reporters. ...

Syria conference leaves open Assad question Posted: 30 Jun 2012 02:14 PM PDT An international conference on Saturday accepted a U.N.-brokered peace plan for Syria, but left open the key question of whether the country's president could be part of a transitional government.

Exclusive: Saudi dissident set to come off U.N. al Qaeda blacklist Posted: 30 Jun 2012 02:08 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A U.N. Security Council committee is set to remove Saudi dissident Saad al-Faqih from the United Nations' al Qaeda sanctions list this weekend if no council member demands that the 15-nation body intervene, U.N. diplomats said on Saturday. The London-based Faqih was added to the U.N. al Qaeda sanctions list in December 2004, days after the U.S. Treasury Department hit him with U.S. sanctions for suspected links to the late Osama bin Laden's militant network, which was responsible for the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. ...

Georgian president names new PM as elections loom Posted: 30 Jun 2012 12:27 PM PDT TBILISI (Reuters) - Georgia's President Mikheil Saakashvili named his close ally, Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili, as the new prime minister on Saturday ahead of parliamentary elections due in October. Saakashvili, who faces growing competition from a newly-created opposition group ahead of the elections, said he wanted Merabishvili to tackle Georgia's 16 percent unemployment and implement agricultural and health care reforms. "It's important for our people to know what are and will be the government's priorities ahead and after the upcoming election," Saakashvili said. ...

Mining claim markers killing millions of birds in U.S. West Posted: 30 Jun 2012 12:02 PM PDT SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) - Millions of birds have died and millions more are in danger from an obscure but widespread hazard in 12 Western states - uncapped plastic pipes used to mark many of the 3.4 million mining claims on public lands, wildlife advocates say. Migratory birds from western meadowlarks and mountain bluebirds to screech owls and woodpeckers are mistaking the open ends of polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, pipes for natural hollows suitable for nesting, roosting or congregating to generate body heat. ...

Tables turn as Egypt's Islamist president sworn in Posted: 30 Jun 2012 12:00 PM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - In a day full of memorable images, none on Saturday was more powerful than that of Egypt's first Islamist president, Mohamed Mursi, flanked by generals at a military parade where he was formally handed authority to govern the nation. For six decades, Mursi's seat had been filled by presidents drawn from the ranks of the military. And for half that time, it was occupied by one man, Hosni Mubarak, a former air force chief who hounded and jailed members of Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood. ...

Mali Islamists destroy holy Timbuktu sites Posted: 30 Jun 2012 11:11 AM PDT BAMAKO (Reuters) - Al Qaeda-linked Mali Islamists armed with Kalashnikovs and pick-axes destroyed centuries-old mausoleums of saints in the UNESCO-listed city of Timbuktu on Saturday in front of shocked locals, witnesses said. The Islamist Ansar Dine group backs strict sharia, Islamic law, and considers the shrines of the local Sufi version of Islam to be idolatrous. Sufi shrines have also been attacked by hardline Salafists in Egypt and Libya in the past year. ...

Clinton says Syria deal means Assad must go Posted: 30 Jun 2012 11:03 AM PDT GENEVA (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Saturday strongly endorsed a new international plan for a political transition in Syria, saying it would send a clear message to President Bashar al-Assad that he must step down. "Assad will still have to go," Clinton told a news conference after international mediator Kofi Annan announced that major powers including Russia and the United States had reached a deal that calls for a transitional unity government to take power in Syria. ...

World powers agree on Syria unity government Posted: 30 Jun 2012 10:50 AM PDT GENEVA (Reuters) - International powers agreed on Saturday that a national unity government should be set up in Syria to resolve the conflict between President Bashar al-Assad and opposition forces trying to oust him. Peace envoy Kofi Annan said after the talks in Geneva that the government should include members of Assad's administration and the opposition. But it was not immediately clear what role, if any, was envisaged for Assad. "It is for the people to come to a political agreement but time is running out," Annan said. "We need rapid steps to reach agreement. ...

Fort Bragg shooting victim identified as decorated war veteran Posted: 30 Jun 2012 10:48 AM PDT (Reuters) - A soldier at the Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Army base fatally shot by another member of his unit was identified on Saturday as Lieutenant Colonel Roy Tisdale, a highly decorated veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Tisdale, 42, commander of the 525th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, was killed on Thursday by another member of his unit, who then turned the gun on himself. The shooter, who has not been identified, was in critical condition. A third soldier, Specialist Michael Latham, 22, suffered a non-life threatening wound. ...

Mood pessimistic on Syria peace plans Posted: 30 Jun 2012 10:15 AM PDT Major powers meeting in Geneva have adopted a watered down version of special envoy Kofi Annan's Syria plan that leaves open whether President Bashar Assad can be part of the transition government.

Belarus frees journalist, seen as gesture to Poland Posted: 30 Jun 2012 10:05 AM PDT MINSK (Reuters) - Belarus officials conditionally released a Polish newspaper correspondent from jail on Saturday in a move seen as easing tensions before a likely meeting between Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko and his Polish counterpart at the Euro 2012 soccer final. Andrzej Poczobut, a Belarussian citizen who works for Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza and is a prominent activist for the rights of the Polish minority in Belarus, was arrested a week ago in his hometown of Grodno. ...

Palestinian leader Abbas postpones Israel meeting Posted: 30 Jun 2012 09:32 AM PDT RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has postponed a controversial meeting with Israeli Vice Premier Shaul Mofaz that had been scheduled for Sunday, Palestinian officials said on Saturday. The officials did not say when a new date might be set for what would be the highest-level meeting between the sides since peace talks broke down in 2010. "We know that Mofaz will bring nothing new," said Wasl Abu Yosef, a member of Abbas' Palestine Liberation Organization, who told reporters of the postponement. ...

Syrian forces push into Douma, residents flee Posted: 30 Jun 2012 09:16 AM PDT BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian government forces pushed their way into Douma on Saturday after weeks of siege and shelling, and fleeing residents spoke of corpses in the streets of the town near the capital Damascus. The residents said hundreds of people were fleeing the town as government forces swept the streets in search of rebels trying to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad. They reported many bodies buried under the rubble of houses in the town of half a million people, 15 km (10 miles) from Damascus. ...

Airbus' Alabama plant to create 2,500 construction jobs Posted: 30 Jun 2012 09:13 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Airbus should create about 2,500 construction jobs to build a new $600 million airliner assembly plant in Mobile, Alabama, and 400 to 500 full-time jobs once production starts in 2017, a source familiar with the plans said on Saturday. The European planemaker, owned by EADS, is poised to announce plans to build the plant for its single-aisle A320 passenger jet that will begin producing four planes a month in 2017, according to multiple people familiar with the plans. The announcement may come as early as Monday. ...

Some Dems still skittish on health care; GOP riled Posted: 30 Jun 2012 09:01 AM PDT Victory at the Supreme Court for President Barack Obama and Democrats on health care is reopening political divisions within the party over the unpopular law.

Factbox: Timbuktu - heritage in danger Posted: 30 Jun 2012 08:54 AM PDT (Reuters) - Armed fighters of Mail's al Qaeda-linked Ansar Dine Islamist group on Saturday destroyed mausoleums of saints in the ancient trading city of Timbuktu, classified as a UNESCO World Heritage site, witnesses said. Ansar Dine, which experts say has links to local al Qaeda factions, has gained the upper hand over its erstwhile rebel allies, the secular MNLA group, since the two routed government forces and seized control of Mali's desert north in April. Timbuktu has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1988, but tourism has suffered from years of security problems. ...

France eyes computer screen tax to boost revenues Posted: 30 Jun 2012 08:40 AM PDT PARIS (Reuters) - The French government is considering extending the television license fee to include computer screen owners to boost revenues for public-sector broadcasting operations, the culture minister said on Saturday. President Francois Hollande's Socialist government already aims to raise an extra 7.5 billion euros this year through tax rises included in an amended budget bill to be unveiled next week. ...

Obama lauds coordinated response to Colorado fires Posted: 30 Jun 2012 08:33 AM PDT President Barack Obama praised the coordinated response to Colorado's wildfires and said trying times bring Americans together.

Eyes on future ahead of Spain-Italy Euro final Posted: 30 Jun 2012 08:29 AM PDT KIEV (Reuters) - UEFA soccer supremo Michel Platini ignited a debate over the future of the European Championship on Saturday as Italy and Spain prepared to do battle in the keenly awaited final of the current edition on Sunday in Kiev. The tournament in Poland and Ukraine, the biggest sporting event in eastern Europe since the fall of the iron curtain, has been a roaring success despite off the field rows over racist fans and the jailing of a Ukrainian opposition leader. ...

Brief relief, long-term questions on student loans Posted: 30 Jun 2012 08:20 AM PDT Congress may have averted a doubling of interest rates on millions of new federal student loans, but the fix is only for a year, leaving students on edge over whether they'll face a similar increase next summer.

Raised on power, Assad risks all Posted: 30 Jun 2012 08:10 AM PDT BEIRUT (Reuters) - His father had a face of stone and a hard glare. He has a mild gaze and a weak chin. But there the dissimilarity ends. Syria's President Bashar al-Assad has proved himself as uncompromising as the late Hafez, who ran the Arab republic with an iron fist for 29 years and bequeathed a formidable, police-state dynasty to his son in 2000. Bashar was only 16 when Assad senior ordered one of the bloodiest atrocities in modern Arab history: the 1982 massacre of at least 10,000 Syrians in Hama to crush a revolt by Sunni Muslims. The repression worked. The lesson may have been ...

For Obama, a transcendent win still not assured Posted: 30 Jun 2012 07:53 AM PDT Presidents live in a world of wins and losses quickly forgotten. Rarely are they presented with the kind of defining moment that President Barack Obama experienced when the Supreme Court upheld his health care law.

Germany denies Schaeuble talk of Greece euro exit Posted: 30 Jun 2012 07:42 AM PDT KREFELD, Germany (Reuters) - A deputy German Finance Minister dismissed a magazine report saying Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble had told conservative members of parliament on Friday to prepare for a looming Greek bankruptcy and euro zone exit. "This report is nonsense," Deputy Finance Minister Steffen Kampeter told Reuters on Saturday on the sidelines of a regional meeting of Christian Democrats in the western town of Krefeld. Kampeter said that Schaeuble had spoken to the conservative MPs on Friday about the need for the austerity and reform measures in Greece to be implemented. ...

Iran urges emergency OPEC meet as price drops Posted: 30 Jun 2012 07:35 AM PDT DUBAI (Reuters) - Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi urged OPEC's secretary general to call for an extraordinary meeting amid falling oil prices, Iranian Oil Ministry's website SHANA said on Saturday. "In 161st meeting of OPEC it was agreed if oil prices fall below $100 per barrel it means that prices are in crisis, so we have urged secretary general of OPEC...to make preparations for holding an emergency meeting," Qasemi told SHANA. International crude benchmarks Brent and U.S. ...

UK orders bank review, calls Diamond to panel Posted: 30 Jun 2012 07:22 AM PDT LONDON (Reuters) - The British government ordered an independent review into the workings of key lending rates between banks, after Barclays was found guilty of rigging them, and summoned the bank's boss to answer questions about the scandal. U.S. and British authorities fined Barclays $450 million for manipulating the London Interbank Offer Rate (Libor), the interest rate on loans that banks make to each other. Barclays was the first to settle in an investigation that is expected to name others and reaches across Europe, Japan and North America. ...

Dozens killed by al Qaeda mines in Yemen Posted: 30 Jun 2012 07:13 AM PDT SANAA (Reuters) - More than 50 Yemenis were killed by mines planted by al Qaeda-linked fighters as they fled two of their main strongholds in Yemen's restive south this month, the defense ministry said on Saturday. Ansar al-Sharia, a group which swears allegiance to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, seized control of several cities in Abyan province last year during a wave of protests that forced former President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down. Yemen's army drove the militants out of the provincial capital Zinjibar and strategic city Jaar this month, a major breakthrough in a U.S. ...

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