Yahoo! News: Politics News

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• AP Interview: Obama on Romney's 'extreme' views
• Obama-Romney race is focused on 7 states
• Romney stresses economy as convention nears
• Syria activists report "massacre" by army near Damascus
• Obama-Romney race is focused on 7 states
• Romney stresses economy as convention nears
• Nicaragua jails Mexican policeman, 17 others transporting cash
• Last rebel group signs deal with Central African Republic
• Activists say 122 more bodies found in Damascus suburb
• Romney on Armstrong: an "American hero"
• Little respect for conventions in never-ending U.S. campaign
• French police union demands tougher legal action after shootings
• A paint-by-numbers portrait of changing nation
• Akin Senate bid tests GOP strength in Missouri
• AP Interview: Obama on Romney's 'extreme' views
• A look at where the presidential race stands
• Colombia's president says to keep defense minister in post
• Obama Says Mitt Romney Would 'Make Things Worse for Middle Class'
• Groups to push marriage equality during DNC
• University of Virginia Declines to Host Obama Campaign Rally
• Legal marijuana backers raise $3 million in two states
• Hollande approval rating slips to 54 percent: Ifop poll
• Lebanese Shi'ite hostage arrives home from Syria
• ICE chief of staff accused of sexual misconduct
• Merritt eyeing world record in Birmingham
• Highlights of Obama's AP interview
• South Sudan denies abuses cited by HRW in Jonglei report
• AP interview transcript with President Obama
• Quotes from AP interview with Obama
• Sign-of-the-times stats on eve of the conventions
• Two dead, 9 wounded in gunfire near NY's Empire State Building
• Romney turns to Ohio amid series of distractions
• Sweden to buy 40-60 next generation Saab Gripen jets

AP Interview: Obama on Romney's 'extreme' views Posted: 25 Aug 2012 01:15 PM PDT President Barack Obama said Mitt Romney has locked himself into "extreme positions" on economic and social issues and would surely impose them if elected, trying to discredit his Republican rival at the biggest political moment of his life.

Obama-Romney race is focused on 7 states Posted: 25 Aug 2012 02:48 PM PDT On the eve of their national party conventions, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are locked in a close race to amass the requisite 270 Electoral College votes for victory. And the contest is exactly where it was at the start of the long, volatile summer: focused on seven states that are up for grabs.

Romney stresses economy as convention nears Posted: 25 Aug 2012 02:44 PM PDT Mitt Romney pledged to help women entrepreneurs and innovators eager to create small businesses on Saturday in an economy-themed countdown to the Republican National Convention, taking shape in a city bristling with security and bracing for a possible hurricane.

Syria activists report "massacre" by army near Damascus Posted: 25 Aug 2012 03:07 PM PDT AMMAN (Reuters) - The bodies of at least 200 people were found in a town close to Damascus on Saturday, according to activists who said most appeared to have been killed by Syrian troops "execution style". The deaths would bring the toll from an offensive by President Bashar al-Assad's forces on Daraya, a working class Sunni Muslim town on the southwestern edge of Damascus, to 270, according to a tally by opposition activists in the capital. ...

Obama-Romney race is focused on 7 states Posted: 25 Aug 2012 02:48 PM PDT On the eve of their national party conventions, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are locked in a close race to amass the requisite 270 Electoral College votes for victory. And the contest is exactly where it was at the start of the long, volatile summer: focused on seven states that are up for grabs.

Romney stresses economy as convention nears Posted: 25 Aug 2012 02:44 PM PDT Mitt Romney pledged to help women entrepreneurs and innovators eager to create small businesses on Saturday in an economy-themed countdown to the Republican National Convention, taking shape in a city bristling with security and bracing for a possible hurricane.

Nicaragua jails Mexican policeman, 17 others transporting cash Posted: 25 Aug 2012 02:38 PM PDT MANAGUA (Reuters) - A Nicaraguan judge on Saturday ordered the incarceration of 18 people, including a Mexican policeman, who had posed as journalists while attempting to pass through the Central American country last week with at least $7 million in cash. The suspects will remain behind bars in "protective custody" until a September 5 court date, when they will face money laundering and other criminal charges lodged by the federal prosecutors. ...

Last rebel group signs deal with Central African Republic Posted: 25 Aug 2012 02:28 PM PDT BANGUI (Reuters) - Central African Republic's last armed rebel group signed a peace deal with the government on Saturday that was designed to end years of violence in the country. "We picked up guns to fight the bad governance, corruption, nepotism and exclusion that characterized this regime, and we think that our message has been heard," Abdoulaye Issene Ramadan, leader of the CPJP rebel group, said in the capital Bangui. "Today we bury the hatchet. ...

Activists say 122 more bodies found in Damascus suburb Posted: 25 Aug 2012 02:26 PM PDT AMMAN (Reuters) - More than 200 bodies were found on Saturday in a town outside Damascus a day after it was retaken by the Syrian army, opposition activists said, accusing President Bashar al-Assad's forces of mass summary executions. Local activists initially reported finding 79 bodies, but 122 more were found later in the day. Most were found in houses and basement shelters of residential buildings and appear to have been shot dead by troops who had stormed the premises, they said. Due to restrictions on non-state media, it was impossible to independently verify the accounts. ...

Romney on Armstrong: an "American hero" Posted: 25 Aug 2012 02:22 PM PDT Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney says astronaut Neil Armstrong is an "American hero."

Little respect for conventions in never-ending U.S. campaign Posted: 25 Aug 2012 02:17 PM PDT COMMERCE, Michigan (Reuters) - There are few timeouts in U.S. presidential campaigns any more. A tradition of candidates keeping a low profile while opponents bask in the limelight at their party conventions has frayed in recent elections. This year, that custom will be all but ignored as President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney compete to be heard amid the cacophony of campaign noise on Twitter, YouTube and the 24-hour news cycle. ...

French police union demands tougher legal action after shootings Posted: 25 Aug 2012 01:59 PM PDT LA ROCHELLE, France (Reuters) - A leading French police union called on Saturday for tougher legal measures after three officers were shot and injured in clashes in the Paris suburb of Grigny overnight. "Criminal determination and the extreme violence of organized gangs in the face of the national police can no longer be trivialized," Nicolas Comte, secretary general of the Unite SGP Police-Force Ouvriere union, said in a statement. Anyone firing on police should be automatically charged with attempted murder, Comte said. ...

A paint-by-numbers portrait of changing nation Posted: 25 Aug 2012 01:51 PM PDT We're heavier in pounds and hotter by degrees than Americans of old. We're starting to snub our noses at distant suburbs after generations of burbs in our blood. Our roads and bridges are kind of a mess. There are many more poor, and that's almost sure to get worse.

Akin Senate bid tests GOP strength in Missouri Posted: 25 Aug 2012 01:23 PM PDT A "bellwether," quite literally, is a male sheep wearing a bell that leads the flock — or at least allows a farmer to find his sheep, because the clanging ram is never too far from the rest of the group.

AP Interview: Obama on Romney's 'extreme' views Posted: 25 Aug 2012 01:15 PM PDT President Barack Obama said Mitt Romney has locked himself into "extreme positions" on economic and social issues and would surely impose them if elected, trying to discredit his Republican rival at the biggest political moment of his life.

A look at where the presidential race stands Posted: 25 Aug 2012 12:27 PM PDT The race between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney to amass the requisite 270 Electoral College votes needed for victory is exactly where it was at the start of the long, volatile summer: focused on seven states that are up for grabs.

Colombia's president says to keep defense minister in post Posted: 25 Aug 2012 11:57 AM PDT BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said on Saturday he would not remove his embattled defense minister in a cabinet shake-up despite growing criticism over an increasing number of attacks by Marxist guerrillas in Latin America's No. 4 economy. Two years into his four-year term, the 61-year-old Santos is reshuffling his 16-member cabinet to shore up slumping approval ratings and strengthen his support base within the ruling national coalition ahead of his likely re-election bid in 2014. ...

Obama Says Mitt Romney Would 'Make Things Worse for Middle Class' Posted: 25 Aug 2012 11:51 AM PDT With Mitt Romney poised to accept the Republican nomination this week, President Obama today accused his rival of backing policies that would "make things worse for the middle class." In an in interview with The Associated Press, the president told the Associated Press that  "we...

Groups to push marriage equality during DNC Posted: 25 Aug 2012 11:47 AM PDT The constitutional ban on same-sex marriage in the host state of the Democratic National Convention has stirred anger and resentment among advocates for marriage equality, many of whom are converging on Charlotte this weekend for the city's gay pride festival.

University of Virginia Declines to Host Obama Campaign Rally Posted: 25 Aug 2012 11:21 AM PDT The University of Virginia has declined a request to host President Obama for a campaign rally next week, complicating his planned tour of swing-state college campuses to court younger voters. The school cited the impact of a presidential visit on the university's academic schedule and...

Legal marijuana backers raise $3 million in two states Posted: 25 Aug 2012 11:12 AM PDT (Reuters) - Campaigns to become the first U.S. states to legalize marijuana for recreational use in Washington and Colorado have raised $3 million ahead of a November vote, far outpacing the opposition. Proponents of pot legalization in Washington state have raised nearly $2 million since the initiative qualified for the ballot in January, and about $1 million in Colorado since its measure earned a place on the ballot the following month, according to the most recent state campaign figures. ...

Hollande approval rating slips to 54 percent: Ifop poll Posted: 25 Aug 2012 11:07 AM PDT PARIS (Reuters) - French President Francois Hollande's approval rating fell to 54 percent in August, continuing a steady decline since he came to office, according to a poll released on Saturday. The declining ratings reflect the challenges Hollande faces in tackling high unemployment and a stagnant economy as he seeks to slash 33 billion euros from next year's budget to meet deficit targets, part of a drive to restore faith in the euro. ...

Lebanese Shi'ite hostage arrives home from Syria Posted: 25 Aug 2012 10:40 AM PDT BEIRUT (Reuters) - A Lebanese man who was kidnapped with a group of 10 other Lebanese Shi'ite pilgrims in Syria in May arrived home on Saturday, hours after Syrian rebels released him as a "goodwill gesture". Hussein Omar is the first of the group, seized after they crossed into Syria from Turkey, to be freed. Omar told reporters in Beirut that the kidnappers had promised him that they would release the rest of the group within days. The kidnapping inflamed tension in Lebanon, a country divided between friends and foes of the 17-month armed revolt against Syria's President Bashar al-Assad. ...

ICE chief of staff accused of sexual misconduct Posted: 25 Aug 2012 10:40 AM PDT At least three employees at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have made serious complaints alleging inappropriate sexual behavior by a senior Obama administration political appointee and longtime aide to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, according to court records and a letter describing the claims submitted to a congressional oversight committee.

Merritt eyeing world record in Birmingham Posted: 25 Aug 2012 10:24 AM PDT LONDON (Reuters) - Olympic 110 meters hurdles champion Aries Merritt is eyeing the world record when he races at a Diamond League meeting in Birmingham, England on Sunday. The American hurdler, who was disqualified from the event at the Lausanne Diamond League earlier this week for a false start, said if conditions were agreeable bettering the world mark of 12.87 seconds was within his reach. "I think the world record is obtainable," Merritt told a news conference said. "I just need the right conditions and I need to stay in the blocks," he said in reference to Lausanne. ...

Highlights of Obama's AP interview Posted: 25 Aug 2012 10:11 AM PDT President Barack Obama, in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press, sought to steal some of Mitt Romney's thunder as he heads into the Republican National Convention beginning Monday in Tampa, Fla. Obama said Romney's policies would hurt the middle class and enrich the wealthy.

South Sudan denies abuses cited by HRW in Jonglei report Posted: 25 Aug 2012 10:09 AM PDT JUBA (Reuters) - The head of a South Sudan disarmament campaign dismissed a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report saying soldiers had raped, beaten, tortured and killed civilians during the campaign in Jonglei, the country's largest state. South Sudan seceded from Sudan a year ago under a 2005 peace deal and is awash with firearms after a decades-long civil war with Khartoum that killed an estimated two million people. Run mostly by former guerilla fighters, South Sudan's nascent government has struggled to assert control over its vast and restive territories since declaring independence. ...

AP interview transcript with President Obama Posted: 25 Aug 2012 10:06 AM PDT Question: Mr. President, thank you for the opportunity.

Quotes from AP interview with Obama Posted: 25 Aug 2012 10:06 AM PDT Some quotes of President Barack Obama in an interview with The Associated Press:

Sign-of-the-times stats on eve of the conventions Posted: 25 Aug 2012 10:04 AM PDT A look at the U.S, past and present, by the numbers:

Two dead, 9 wounded in gunfire near NY's Empire State Building Posted: 25 Aug 2012 09:36 AM PDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - An out-of-work fashion designer fatally shot a former co-worker near the Empire State Building on Friday and was then killed in a blaze of gunshots by police, stunning tourists and commuters outside of one of New York's most popular landmarks. Nine bystanders were wounded, possibly all of them by police bullets, though none of their injuries were life-threatening, police said. Much of the day, police listed the casualty total at 10 people but late Friday changed the number to 11. ...

Romney turns to Ohio amid series of distractions Posted: 25 Aug 2012 09:24 AM PDT Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney declared Saturday that "women need our help" as he promised to promote women-led businesses should he defeat President Barack Obama in November's election.

Sweden to buy 40-60 next generation Saab Gripen jets Posted: 25 Aug 2012 09:23 AM PDT STOCKHOLM/ZURICH (Reuters) - Sweden said on Saturday it would buy 40-60 new JAS 39 Gripen fighter jets from aerospace firm Saab after inking a deal last year to share some of the development costs with Switzerland. Sweden has not previously said how many of the next generation Gripen planes it would buy, although its development partner for the jet, Switzerland, said late last year it would buy 22 at a cost of 3.1 billion Swiss francs. ...

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