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Friday, December 30, 2011 7:16 AM PST

Today's Politics - Bloomberg News Headlines - Yahoo! News: Jamaica's ruling party concedes election defeat North Korea's new leadership lashes out at South Korea Bachmann campaign loses second key staffer Struggling Perry looks to Texas Invasion in Iowa Mexican candidate sees possible Pemex listing Romney looks more confident in Iowa vote run-up U.S., South Korean defense chiefs discuss regional stability New Year's Day to come early as Samoa leaps ahead Republican Huntsman shuns Iowa, bets on N. Hampshire Private companies ratchet up lobbying to stay dark Court invalidates Washington state cap on PAC donations Voting ends in hard-fought Jamaica general election Iowa's evangelicals moving to Santorum Egypt police raid U.S.-backed pro-democracy groups U.S. deeply concerned by Egypt raid on pro-democracy groups Syrians plan Friday protests as monitors visit Russia submerges nuclear submarine to douse blaze Iran warns U.S. over Strait of Hormuz SEC chided again by judge in Citigroup fraud case U.S. Saudi fighter jet sale to help offset Iran Turkey acknowledges killing civilians in Iraq strike Could Romney score an early knockout? Appeals court revives Countrywide homeowner case U.N. complains to Iraq over attack on dissident camp Treasury to charge banks for risk monitoring Italy orders list of women with French firm's implants Clean-cut Romney sons on the stump in New Hampshire Author has no claim to Ghost Rider character: judge Somali staff member kills 2 MSF aid workers in Mogadishu Russian officials rattled by breach at rocket plant California court says state can kill redevelopment agencies French VAT hike to hit pizzas, quiches - not baguettes Poland announces amnesty for illegal immigrants Economy gaining momentum, housing shows a pulse Financial market credit tightened at year end: Fed Greek bond swap deal may soon be reached: official Analysis: Iraqi Kurds maneuver in political minefield Rick Perry's abortion view at odds with wife? Judge to hear Virginia ballot fight on January 13 News Int'l has 100 million pound hacking legal fund: report Jamaica's ruling party concedes election defeat Thu,29 Dec 2011 07:03 PM PST Reuters - KINGSTON (Reuters) - Jamaica's ruling party conceded defeat in national elections on Thursday, as preliminary official results showed the party of opposition leader and former Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller scoring a landslide victory. "The people have spoken," said Karl Samuda, campaign director of the ruling Jamaica Labor Party. "We have not won," Samuda conceded in his comments to national television. "We have done what we could on behalf of the people of Jamaica," Samuda added. "There will be another day." (Reporting by Horace Helps; Editing by Tom Brown) Full Story Top North Korea's new leadership lashes out at South Korea Thu,29 Dec 2011 06:55 PM PST Reuters - SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea's first official communication with the outside world following the death of leader Kim Jong-il and the transition of power to his son was a sombre warning to South Korea and its allies that it would not change policies. The main target of the message, delivered by state news agency KCNA and attributed to the North's National Defence Commission, was South Korea's conservative government headed by President Lee Myung-bak who has pursued a hardline stance against the isolated and impoverished North. ... Full Story Top Bachmann campaign loses second key staffer Thu,29 Dec 2011 06:45 PM PST Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann has lost a second top campaign staffer in another setback before the Iowa caucuses on January 3, NBC News reported on Thursday. Bachmann's political director, Wes Enos, resigned a day after her Iowa campaign chairman, Kent Sorenson, left to support Texas congressman Ron Paul's bid for the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic President Barack Obama in elections in November next year. ... Full Story Top Struggling Perry looks to Texas Invasion in Iowa Thu,29 Dec 2011 06:21 PM PST Reuters - DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - Texas Governor Rick Perry, down in the polls and failing to find a winning campaign strategy, is relying on folks from back home to help lift his struggling presidential election bid in Iowa. More than a dozen Texans stuffed boxes with Perry signs and T-shirts at a hotel conference room in West Des Moines, Iowa, chatting about their hometowns and sampling Texas-size muffins from a buffet table. ... Full Story Top Mexican candidate sees possible Pemex listing Thu,29 Dec 2011 06:13 PM PST Reuters - MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A leading presidential candidate of Mexico's ruling conservatives raised the possibility on Thursday of listing oil company Pemex on the stock exchange to help revamp the state-owned giant. Josefina Vazquez Mota, who is bidding to become the first woman to serve as Mexican president, told Reuters in an interview the next administration needed to examine how Brazil had managed its partly privatized state oil firm Petrobras. ... Full Story Top Romney looks more confident in Iowa vote run-up Thu,29 Dec 2011 05:41 PM PST Reuters - AMES, Iowa (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's campaign has a hint of a swagger about it as a good showing looks more likely next week in the Iowa caucuses, where his 2008 campaign crashed badly. While his staff dampened expectations of winning the caucuses vote this time, large crowds gathered at Romney events in the state and his Iowa poll numbers increased again. "It's a fair wind that blows in Iowa," Romney mused to no one in particular as he headed toward his campaign bus on Thursday morning. "It's very nice. ... Full Story Top U.S., South Korean defense chiefs discuss regional stability Thu,29 Dec 2011 05:40 PM PST Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and his South Korean counterpart discussed the stability of the Korean peninsula on Thursday, the day after North Korea mourned the death of its long-time leader Kim Jong-il. Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said Panetta spoke with South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin for 20 minutes. "The Secretary and the Minister shared the view that peace and stability on the Korean peninsula is our overarching priority and agreed to maintain close cooperation and coordination in the weeks and months ahead," Little said in a statement. ... Full Story Top New Year's Day to come early as Samoa leaps ahead Thu,29 Dec 2011 05:20 PM PST Reuters - CANBERRA (Reuters) - If you are reading this on Friday you cannot be in Samoa. Friday, December 30, has been cut this year for the tiny South Pacific island nation as it ditched a time-zone alliance with the United States and moved its time zone 24 hours ahead to catch up with Asia, New Zealand and Australia. ... Full Story Top Republican Huntsman shuns Iowa, bets on N. Hampshire Thu,29 Dec 2011 04:35 PM PST Reuters - LACONIA, New Hampshire (Reuters) - All eyes are on Iowa before the first Republican presidential race vote next week, but former Utah Governor and underdog Jon Huntsman is many miles away, trying to win votes one handshake at a time in New Hampshire. Wearing a New Hampshire lapel pin given to him at his first campaign event and joking about picking up a local accent, Huntsman made his 130th public appearance in the state before a few dozen people at a Rotary meeting in the lakeside city of Laconia. ... Full Story Top Private companies ratchet up lobbying to stay dark Thu,29 Dec 2011 04:32 PM PST Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two traditional retailers and a manufacturer have joined the ranks of hot tech companies like Facebook in the debate over a U.S. securities rule that can force privately held companies to disclose finances they'd rather keep secret. The three companies - Wawa Inc, Wegmans Food Markets Inc, and W.L. Gore & Associates, best known as the maker of GORE-TEX clothing - have formed a loose coalition and retained a former U.S. congressman as their lobbyist. ... Full Story Top Court invalidates Washington state cap on PAC donations Thu,29 Dec 2011 04:01 PM PST Reuters - (Reuters) - Washington state cannot prohibit individuals from making large donations to certain political action committees in the weeks leading up to a general election, a federal appeals court ruled on Thursday. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit invalidated a Washington state law that barred individuals from contributing more than $5,000 to PACs supporting ballot measures during the three weeks before a vote. But the court upheld two other Washington laws that require political action committees to disclose information on donors who give more than $25 or $100. ... Full Story Top Voting ends in hard-fought Jamaica general election Thu,29 Dec 2011 03:53 PM PST Reuters - KINGSTON, Dec 29 (Reuters) - Voting ended in Jamaica on Thursday as Prime Minister Andrew Holness sought a popular mandate to tackle the Caribbean country's deepening economic woes in a closely contested general election. On the eve of the voting, polls showed Jamaica's two long dominant parties, the governing Jamaica Labor Party (JLP) and People's National Party (PNP), running neck-and-neck in parliamentary elections focused on the island's stagnant and debt-ridden economy. Police and soldiers stood guard at polling stations across the country throughout the day. ... Full Story Top Iowa's evangelicals moving to Santorum Thu,29 Dec 2011 03:47 PM PST Reuters - DES MOINES (Reuters) - Signs that Rick Santorum is suddenly a contender in the race for the Republican nomination for president were all over Iowa on Thursday. The former Pennsylvania senator - who has built his long-shot campaign around trying to appeal to evangelical Christians in the Iowa caucuses on Tuesday - received a boost when several prominent preachers said their followers were coalescing behind Santorum. ... Full Story Top Egypt police raid U.S.-backed pro-democracy groups Thu,29 Dec 2011 03:43 PM PST Reuters - CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian prosecutors and police raided offices of 17 pro-democracy and human rights groups on Thursday - drawing criticism from the United States which hinted it could review its $1.3 billion in annual military aid. The official MENA news agency said the groups had been searched in an investigation into foreign funding. "The public prosecutor has searched 17 civil society organizations, local and foreign, as part of the foreign funding case," MENA cited the prosecutor's office as saying. ... Full Story Top U.S. deeply concerned by Egypt raid on pro-democracy groups Thu,29 Dec 2011 03:43 PM PST Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States expressed deep concern on Thursday after Egyptian police raided offices of U.S.-backed pro-democracy and human rights groups, saying the harassment should stop immediately and hinting that Washington could review its $1.3 billion in military aid if the raids continue. "The United States is deeply concerned that Egyptian judicial and police officials raided the offices of a number of non-governmental organizations today," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told a news briefing. ... Full Story Top Syrians plan Friday protests as monitors visit Thu,29 Dec 2011 03:40 PM PST Reuters - BEIRUT (Reuters) - Opposition activists urged people to take to the streets on Friday, the main day of protest in the revolts that have swept the Arab world, to convince Arab League peace monitors to pay attention to their plight. The Arab League mission to verify whether President Bashar al-Assad is keeping to a pledge to end the crackdown on a nine-month pro-democracy uprising has so far failed to bring a reduction in violence. Government security forces shot dead 25 people on Thursday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. ... Full Story Top Russia submerges nuclear submarine to douse blaze Thu,29 Dec 2011 03:27 PM PST Reuters - MURMANSK, Russia (Reuters) - Russia said it had won the battle with a raging blaze aboard a nuclear submarine on Friday by submerging the stricken vessel at a navy shipyard after hours of dousing the flames with water from helicopters and tug boats. There was no radiation leak, authorities said. Television pictures showed a giant plume of smoke above the yard in the Murmansk region of northern Russia as over 100 firemen struggled to douse flames which witnesses said rose 10 metres (30 feet) above the Yekaterinburg submarine. ... Full Story Top Iran warns U.S. over Strait of Hormuz Thu,29 Dec 2011 03:15 PM PST Reuters - TEHRAN (Reuters) - A senior Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander said on Thursday the United States was not in a position to tell Tehran "what to do in the Strait of Hormuz," state television reported, after the U.S. said it would preserve oil shipments in the Gulf. Tehran's threat to block traffic through the crucial passage for Middle Eastern crude suppliers followed the European Union's decision to tighten sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program, as well as accompanying moves by the United States to tighten unilateral sanctions. ... Full Story Top SEC chided again by judge in Citigroup fraud case Thu,29 Dec 2011 02:53 PM PST Reuters - (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission got a fresh dressing-down from the judge who rejected its $285 million settlement with Citigroup Inc, as he said the regulator kept him out of the loop on its efforts to salvage the case. In his latest sharply-worded order, U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff chastised the SEC for not telling him it had filed an emergency request with an appeals court to put the case on hold, after making the same request to him. So when Rakoff on Tuesday issued a ruling opposing any delay in the case, he was beaten to the punch; 78 seconds earlier, the 2nd U. ... Full Story Top U.S. Saudi fighter jet sale to help offset Iran Thu,29 Dec 2011 02:37 PM PST Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States will sell $29.4 billion in fighter jets to Saudi Arabia in a deal the White House said would support more than 50,000 jobs and help reinforce regional security in the Gulf amid mounting tensions with Iran. The sale covers 84 new Boeing F-15 fighters with advanced radar equipment and digital electronic warfare systems plus upgrades of 70 older F-15s as well as munitions, spare parts, training, maintenance and logistics. ... Full Story Top Turkey acknowledges killing civilians in Iraq strike Thu,29 Dec 2011 02:28 PM PST Reuters - ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish warplanes killed 35 civilian smugglers in northern Iraq after mistaking them for Kurdish militants, Ankara's ruling party said on Thursday, promising not to allow a cover-up of an incident that threatens to wreck relations with minority Kurds. The attack, which Turkey's largest pro-Kurdish party called a "crime against humanity," sparked clashes between hundreds of stone-throwing protesters and police in Diyarbakir, the largest city in Turkey's restive, mainly-Kurdish southeast. ... Full Story Top Could Romney score an early knockout? Thu,29 Dec 2011 02:27 PM PST Reuters - NORTH LIBERTY/MASON CITY, Iowa (Reuters) - Mitt Romney's campaign did its best on Wednesday to lower expectations, but no one was really buying it. As six of the contenders for the Republican nomination for president barnstormed across Iowa, there was a clear sense that Romney could be in position to lock down the nomination far sooner than could have been expected just a few days ago. Urging Iowans to vote in the caucuses that kick off the nominating process next Tuesday, Romney and his aides were surprised at the size and enthusiasm of overflow crowds at diners and coffee shops. ... Full Story Top Appeals court revives Countrywide homeowner case Thu,29 Dec 2011 02:25 PM PST Reuters - (Reuters) - A week after settling a landmark federal discrimination case, Bank of America Corp's Countrywide unit was ordered to face a lawsuit by a Hispanic couple who said it applied excessive pressure to refinance their home on terms they did not accept and could not afford. In an opinion by a prominent Republican-appointed judge, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Pasadena, California said a lower court was wrong to dismiss the complaint by Victor and Belen Balderas, who claimed they could not read the English language loan documents they signed. ... Full Story Top U.N. complains to Iraq over attack on dissident camp Thu,29 Dec 2011 02:11 PM PST Reuters - UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations has complained to Iraq about mortar attacks this week on an Iranian dissident camp near Baghdad and has won a promise that they will be stopped, a U.N. spokesman said on Thursday. Two mortars hit Camp Ashraf on Sunday, just days after Baghdad extended a year-end deadline for the facility to be closed as the United Nations negotiated resettlement of 3,000 residents there. ... Full Story Top Treasury to charge banks for risk monitoring Thu,29 Dec 2011 01:39 PM PST Reuters - (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department plans to start charging large banks a fee to cover the costs of the financial risk council it leads and a research office tasked with measuring threats to financial markets. The Financial Stability Oversight Council and the Office of Financial Research were created by the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial oversight law, which instructs the government to bill banks for their operations. Treasury on Thursday released a proposed rule, which would apply to banks with more than $50 billion in total assets, starting in the middle of next year. ... Full Story Top Italy orders list of women with French firm's implants Thu,29 Dec 2011 01:37 PM PST Reuters - ROME (Reuters) - Italy will tell hospitals and clinics to compile a list of women who received breast implants from a French firm accused of selling faulty prosthetics, Health Minister Renato Balduzzi said Thursday. Clinics that had not used any implants manufactured by the now-defunct French firm Poly Implant Prosthese (PIP) would be required to send a declaration saying they had not done so, he said. PIP is accused of selling breast implants made with industrial rather than medical silicone, potentially affecting hundreds of thousands of women worldwide. ... Full Story Top Clean-cut Romney sons on the stump in New Hampshire Thu,29 Dec 2011 01:35 PM PST Reuters - CONCORD, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Square-jawed and clean-cut, four of Mitt Romney's five sons made a campaign swing through New Hampshire on Thursday to push their father's presidential bid and try to boost his credentials as a family man. While the elder Romney stumped in Iowa ahead of the January 3 caucuses there, Tagg, Josh, Matt and Craig Romney met voters at a coffee shop and ate lunch with local Republicans in New Hampshire, which holds its primary in the Republican race to nominate a presidential candidate on January 10. ... Full Story Top Author has no claim to Ghost Rider character: judge Thu,29 Dec 2011 01:33 PM PST Reuters - NEW YORK (Reuters) - The rights to Ghost Rider, the motorcycle riding comic book hero whose skull is engulfed in flames, belong to Marvel Comics and not to the writer who dreamed him up, a U.S. judge ruled. Ghost Rider's first Marvel Comics appearance as a fiery vigilante superhero was in 1972, after Marvel freelancer Gary Friedrich first conceived him, an opinion by Manhattan federal court judge Katherine Forrest said. But it was not until 2004 that Friedrich began considering legal action against the comic book giant, when he learned of an upcoming Ghost Rider movie adaptation. ... Full Story Top Somali staff member kills 2 MSF aid workers in Mogadishu Thu,29 Dec 2011 01:15 PM PST Reuters - MOGADISHU (Reuters) - A Somali staff member of Medecins Sans Frontieres shot dead two of the aid agency's foreign workers in Somalia's capital Mogadishu on Thursday, police said. Police spokesman Abdullahi Barise said the gunman had been taken into custody. A Reuters witness said the man was dragged from the building, still holding a pistol. "The man was armed with a pistol and we understand he had a quarrel with the coordinator. It is very shocking," Barise said. He said the gunman had worked as a logistics officer for the agency. ... Full Story Top Russian officials rattled by breach at rocket plant Thu,29 Dec 2011 12:57 PM PST Reuters - MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's deputy prime minister vowed Thursday to punish "sleepy" security officials after bloggers posted dozens of photos of an apparently unguarded strategic military rocket motor factory near Moscow. Blogger Lana Sator said she and friends met not a soul, much less any security guards, as they roamed around state rocket-maker Energomash's plant, snapping pictures, on five separate night-time excursions in recent months. ... Full Story Top California court says state can kill redevelopment agencies Thu,29 Dec 2011 12:45 PM PST Reuters - SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - In a major victory for California Governor Jerry Brown, the state supreme court on Thursday upheld a law that would eliminate 400 local redevelopment agencies and could divert billions of dollars to schools and other local services. The court ruled that the state legislature was within its rights to abolish the agencies, which have long played a major role in local development projects ranging from apartment houses to train stations and sports stadiums. ... Full Story Top French VAT hike to hit pizzas, quiches - not baguettes Thu,29 Dec 2011 12:41 PM PST Reuters - PARIS (Reuters) - The French government was forced to clarify on Thursday that a Jan 1. VAT hike will apply only to certain takeaway foods like pizzas, quiches and hamburgers, as the public fretted that prices could jump for staples like bread and pastries. France announced in November that it would raise its lower 5.5 percent valued-added tax rate - applicable to restaurants, certain foodstuffs, energy and house repairs - to 7 percent under a package of measures aimed at slicing 65 billion euros off its bloated budget deficit between 2012 and 2016. ... Full Story Top Poland announces amnesty for illegal immigrants Thu,29 Dec 2011 12:32 PM PST Reuters - WARSAW (Reuters) - Thousands of illegal immigrants will be allowed to stay and work in Poland under an amnesty unveiled on Thursday that highlights the country's transformation into a regional economic powerhouse from communist-era basket case. Traditionally a country of emigration, Poland has become an increasingly attractive magnet for immigrants, especially from neighboring former Soviet republics such as Ukraine and Belarus, as it notches up high rates of economic growth. ... Full Story Top Economy gaining momentum, housing shows a pulse Thu,29 Dec 2011 12:14 PM PST Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New U.S. claims for jobless benefits rose last week but the underlying trend pointed to an improving labor market, while regional factory data showed the economy gaining momentum as the year ended. The growth picture was brightened by other data on Thursday showing pending sales of previously owned homes jumped to a 1-1/2 year high in November, adding to signs of a tentative recovery in the housing market. ... Full Story Top Financial market credit tightened at year end: Fed Thu,29 Dec 2011 11:26 AM PST Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Banks tightened the screws on lending to major financial market participants in recent months, the U.S. Federal Reserve said on Thursday, reflecting concerns about Europe's banking crisis. The central bank's survey of senior credit officers did not mention Europe directly, but indicated a "broad but moderate tightening of credit terms applicable to important classes of counterparties over the past three months. ... Full Story Top Greek bond swap deal may soon be reached: official Thu,29 Dec 2011 10:47 AM PST Reuters - ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece could soon reach a deal with banks and private creditors on a bond swap to reduce its mountain of debt, the government spokesman said on Thursday, as it tries to resolve differences with its creditors and avoid default. The deal is a pivotal part of a second, 130 billion euro ($168.3 billion) bailout package for Athens agreed by euro zone leaders in October. Greece, which faces bond redemptions of 14.5 billion euros in March, needs to seal the deal to avert a costly default. "I think there will be an agreement relatively soon. ... Full Story Top Analysis: Iraqi Kurds maneuver in political minefield Thu,29 Dec 2011 10:18 AM PST Reuters - ARBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraqi Kurds, at odds with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki over oil and power, have thrown down another challenge to the Shi'ite-led central government by giving refuge to Iraq's Sunni Muslim vice-president, despite a Baghdad warrant for his arrest. The Kurds, whose kingmaking role in Iraqi electoral politics has been eroded by Maliki's assertion of his own authority, will try to use Vice-President Tareq al-Hashemi's plight to gain leverage in their own disputes with Baghdad, analysts say. ... Full Story Top Rick Perry's abortion view at odds with wife? Thu,29 Dec 2011 10:06 AM PST Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry's new opposition to abortion in almost any situation may appease conservatives in Iowa, but it moved his views further from those of a sexual abuse organization supported by his wife, Anita. During an emotional appearance this week while campaigning for the January 3 Iowa caucuses that kick off the presidential nominating process, the Texas governor said he had undergone a "transformation" in his views toward abortion. ... Full Story Top Judge to hear Virginia ballot fight on January 13 Thu,29 Dec 2011 09:52 AM PST Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal judge on Thursday set oral arguments for January 13 on Texas Governor Rick Perry's bid to get on the Virginia's Republican primary election ballot after he failed to qualify by the deadline. The Republican presidential candidate failed to get the 10,000 verifiable signatures, including at least 400 qualified voters from each congressional district, that are necessary to be included in the March 6 primary. ... Full Story Top News Int'l has 100 million pound hacking legal fund: report Thu,29 Dec 2011 09:47 AM PST Reuters - LONDON (Reuters) - The British arm of News Corp has increased the legal fund it will use to settle civil litigation cases brought by victims of phone hacking to 100 million pounds ($155 million) from 20 million, the Independent newspaper reported Thursday. Rupert Murdoch's News International has earmarked the money to settle several high-profile cases, with some settlements expected to be well over 1 million pounds apiece, said the newspaper, citing sources close to the situation. A News International spokeswoman called the 100 million pound figure "purely speculative. ... Full Story Top

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