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Monday, February 27, 2012 8:30 PM PST

Today's Politics - Bloomberg News Headlines - Yahoo! News: Anti-capitalist camp cleared from St Paul's Fukushima: Japan leaders feared "devil's chain reaction" Insight: Conflict looms in South China Sea oil rush Costa Cruises liner adrift in Indian Ocean U.S. cites "heightened threat"; 9 killed in Afghan airport bomb Keystone breakthrough may muffle Republican attack on Obama Romney, Santorum in late pitches for Michigan votes Student in webcam case said unfazed by roommate's sexuality U.S. rejects strategy shift after Afghan protests, shooting Napolitano defends U.S. drug war in face of legalization debate Romney, Santorum in late pitches for Michigan votes Syria approves new constitution amid bloodshed S&P downgrades Greece to selective default UK risks Argentine ire with South Atlantic marine reserve Watchdog calls for probe of Romney Super PAC ad Fake Avastin had salt, starch, chemicals: Roche Ex-SEC top lawyer settles with Madoff trustee Pending home sales near 2-year high Gunman kills one, injures four in Ohio school shooting Too soon to tap U.S. oil reserves: Senator Murkowski Romney's tough line on immigration jars with some Conservatives pressed over "dirty tricks" Obama welcomes TransCanada plan for southern Keystone leg Plenty of room for 2 Cushing lines: TransCanada WikiLeaks targets global risk company Stratfor S&P cuts Greek sovereign debt to selective default Saleh hands "difficult phase" over to new Yemen Iraq militia hands over last missing U.S. soldier's remains Government closes bank bond buyback tax loophole U.S. cites "heightened threat"; 9 killed in Afghan airport bomb U.S. murders at heart of Afghan ministry raise questions Costa Cruises liner adrift after fire on board Police, Murdoch aides stalled hacking probes, inquiry told Wisconsin governor will not challenge recall signatures Nigerian politician owns up to corruption in UK court Attempt to kill Russia's Putin foiled: security agencies Analysis: Oil price rise raises specter of global recession Consumer debt falls in Q4 on mortgage balances Five killed in attack on Ivorian voting station Sudan rebels say behind attack on Sudanese army Anti-capitalist camp cleared from St Paul's Mon,27 Feb 2012 07:34 PM PST Reuters - LONDON (Reuters) - Bailiffs, backed by riot police, evicted British anti-capitalism activists from a protest camp outside St Paul's Cathedral in London in the early hours of Tuesday morning. There was no violent resistance from the activists as bailiffs employed by the City of London Corporation, which owns the land on which they were camped, removed around 50 tents within an hour shortly after midnight. Around a dozen activists remained on a barricade made of wooden crates, chanting "Occupy Everywhere," surrounded by a ring of riot police. Bailiffs later removed that too. ... Full Story Top Fukushima: Japan leaders feared "devil's chain reaction" Mon,27 Feb 2012 07:31 PM PST Reuters - TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's prime minister ordered workers to remain at the tsunami-crippled Fukushima nuclear plant last March as fears mounted of a "devil's chain reaction" that would force tens of millions of people to flee Tokyo, a new investigative report shows. Then-premier Naoto Kan and his staff began referring to a worst case scenario that could threaten Japan's existence as a nation around three days after the March 11 disaster, according to the report by a panel set up by a private think-tank. ... Full Story Top Insight: Conflict looms in South China Sea oil rush Mon,27 Feb 2012 07:02 PM PST Reuters - PUERTO PRINCESA, Philippines (Reuters) - When Lieutenant-General Juancho Sabban received an urgent phone call from an oil company saying two Chinese vessels were threatening to ram their survey ship, the Philippine commander's message was clear: don't move, we will come to the rescue. Within hours, a Philippine surveillance plane, patrol ships and light attack aircraft arrived in the disputed area of Reed Bank in the South China Sea. By then the Chinese boats had left after chasing away the survey ship, Veritas Voyager, hired by U.K.-based Forum Energy Plc. ... Full Story Top Costa Cruises liner adrift in Indian Ocean Mon,27 Feb 2012 06:42 PM PST Reuters - (Reuters) - A liner owned by the same company as the Costa Concordia, on which at least 25 people died when it ran aground off Italy last month, was adrift in the Indian Ocean after a fire in the engine room left it without power. Costa Cruises said the fire on the Costa Allegra had been put out and none of the 636 passengers and 413 crew were hurt. The cause of the fire was still unclear. A French fishing vessel arrived at the stricken ship late on Monday and was helping it to communicate with the Italian authorities, the Italian coastguard said. ... Full Story Top U.S. cites "heightened threat"; 9 killed in Afghan airport bomb Mon,27 Feb 2012 06:36 PM PST Reuters - KABUL (Reuters) - A suicide car bomber killed nine people in an attack on a military airport in eastern Afghanistan on Monday, officials said, the latest bloodshed since copies of the Koran were burned at a NATO base last week. There was no official indication the explosion at the gates of Jalalabad airport was linked to the deadly protests, but the Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack as "revenge" for the Koran burnings. ... Full Story Top Keystone breakthrough may muffle Republican attack on Obama Mon,27 Feb 2012 06:16 PM PST Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Canadian company's decision on Monday to proceed with part of a U.S. pipeline might end up muffling one of the Republicans' loudest arguments in this election year: that President Barack Obama has pursued failed energy policies. TransCanada Corp announced it intended to begin work on the southern leg of the $7 billion Keystone XL project, from Oklahoma to Texas, leaving for later another run at the more controversial, and complicated, northern segment. ... Full Story Top Romney, Santorum in late pitches for Michigan votes Mon,27 Feb 2012 05:37 PM PST Reuters - ROCKFORD, Michigan (Reuters) - Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum crisscrossed Michigan attacking one another as well as President Barack Obama on Monday in a last-ditch grab for votes a day before a primary that could prove pivotal in choosing the 2012 Republican presidential nominee. With polls showing the two men essentially tied, Romney and Santorum traded jabs in remarks focused on the U.S. economy, not abortion or other social issues that had begun to dominate the nomination fight. ... Full Story Top Student in webcam case said unfazed by roommate's sexuality Mon,27 Feb 2012 04:58 PM PST Reuters - NEW BRUNSWICK, New Jersey (Reuters) - A former Rutgers University student on trial for allegedly spying on the homosexual tryst of his roommate who later committed suicide did not have a problem with the roommate's sexuality, a key witness in the case testified on Monday. Molly Wei said Dharun Ravi, who faces the possibility of 10 years in prison, had mentioned that roommate Tyler Clementi was gay, but that Ravi "didn't make a big deal out of it. ... Full Story Top U.S. rejects strategy shift after Afghan protests, shooting Mon,27 Feb 2012 03:58 PM PST Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration will not swerve from plans to move into an advisory role in Afghanistan, U.S. officials said on Monday, despite the killing of U.S. advisers over the weekend that underscored the risks foreign soldiers will face as they rush to train Afghan forces. "We're not going to let the events of the past week, which are regrettable and unfortunate and tragic, influence the long horizon view that we're taking," Defense Department spokesman George Little told reporters at the Pentagon. ... Full Story Top Napolitano defends U.S. drug war in face of legalization debate Mon,27 Feb 2012 03:36 PM PST Reuters - MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano defended Washington's drug war strategy on Monday despite calls by some Latin American leaders to consider decriminalizing narcotics. Napolitano, who is touring Mexico and Central America to strengthen security cooperation, said the United States would continue assisting efforts by Latin Americans to go after producers and traffickers in the region despite relentless drug-related violence. "I would not agree with the premise that the drug war is a failure," Napolitano said. ... Full Story Top Romney, Santorum in late pitches for Michigan votes Mon,27 Feb 2012 03:28 PM PST Reuters - In a tight race to win the Michigan primary, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney strongly defended his wealth on Sunday and challenged voters to support someone else if they did not like his success. Questions about Romney's high earnings and taxes have dogged him throughout the primary elections and came up again in the run-up to Tuesday's vote in Michigan, where main rival Rick Santorum has presented himself as a blue-collar Republican. ... Full Story Top Syria approves new constitution amid bloodshed Mon,27 Feb 2012 03:25 PM PST Reuters - AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian artillery pounded rebel-held areas of Homs as President Bashar al-Assad's government announced that voters had overwhelmingly approved a new constitution in a referendum derided as a sham by his critics at home and abroad. The outside world has proved powerless to halt the killing in Syria, where repression of initially peaceful protests has spawned an armed insurrection by army deserters and others. ... Full Story Top S&P downgrades Greece to selective default Mon,27 Feb 2012 03:23 PM PST Reuters - ATHENS (Reuters) - Standard & Poor's on Monday cut Greece's long-term ratings to 'selective default', the second ratings agency to proceed with a widely expected downgrade after the country announced a bond swap plan to lighten its debt burden. S&P said that once the debt exchange is concluded, it would likely raise Greece's sovereign credit rating to the speculative 'CCC' category. "We lowered our sovereign credit ratings on Greece to 'SD' following the Greek government's retroactive insertion of collective action clauses (CACs)," the U.S. ratings agency said. ... Full Story Top UK risks Argentine ire with South Atlantic marine reserve Mon,27 Feb 2012 03:21 PM PST Reuters - LONDON (Reuters) - Britain said on Monday it was creating one of the world's biggest marine reserves around a cluster of South Atlantic islands claimed by Argentina, a move that may fuel tensions already rising before the 30th anniversary of the Falklands war. The declaration of a reserve covering more than 1 million sq km (386,000 sq miles) of ocean around the remote British territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands is designed to protect the fragile environment in an area teeming with penguins, seals and seabirds. ... Full Story Top Watchdog calls for probe of Romney Super PAC ad Mon,27 Feb 2012 03:13 PM PST Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. campaign finance watchdog on Monday officially challenged the legality of a presidential election campaign ad aired by a pro-Mitt Romney "Super PAC," calling for an investigation by the Federal Election Commission. The non-profit, non-partisan Campaign Legal Center filed a complaint alleging a violation of campaign finance rules by Restore Our Future, the political action committee supporting Romney as a Republican presidential nominee. ... Full Story Top Fake Avastin had salt, starch, chemicals: Roche Mon,27 Feb 2012 03:03 PM PST Reuters - (Reuters) - Counterfeit versions of the cancer drug Avastin found in Europe and the United States earlier this month contained salt, starch and a variety of chemicals, but none of the life extending medicine or any other biotech drug, Roche said. The Swiss drugmaker said on Monday that British health regulators sent it a small number of vials of the counterfeit Avastin to it for analysis. Roche analyzed three of the vials and found that they contained none of the injectable cancer medicine's active ingredient or any protein or biologic drug, the company said. ... Full Story Top Ex-SEC top lawyer settles with Madoff trustee Mon,27 Feb 2012 03:00 PM PST Reuters - (Reuters) - A former general counsel at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has settled a lawsuit accusing him and two brothers of receiving money derived improperly from Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme. David Becker and his brothers agreed to pay $556,017 to settle the case brought by Irving Picard, the trustee seeking money for former customers of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC. The payout represents roughly all of the so-called fictitious profits that the Beckers received after inheriting money from their mother Dorothy, who died in 2004. ... Full Story Top Pending home sales near 2-year high Mon,27 Feb 2012 02:50 PM PST Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Contracts to purchase previously owned U.S. homes neared a two-year high in January, an industry group said on Monday, further evidence the housing market was slowly turning the corner. The National Association of Realtors said its Pending Home Sales Index, based on contracts signed in January, increased 2 percent to 97.0 - the highest reading since April 2010. New contracts generally lead sales by a month or two. Housing data ranging from home building to resale's have been relatively upbeat, buttressing other signs of underlying economic strength that should help the ... Full Story Top Gunman kills one, injures four in Ohio school shooting Mon,27 Feb 2012 02:48 PM PST Reuters - CHARDON, Ohio (Reuters) - A student gunman opened fire with a handgun in the cafeteria of a high school near Cleveland on Monday morning, fatally wounding one boy and injuring three other boys and one girl before he was chased from the building by a teacher and was caught, police said. The injured students were rushed to area hospitals where a boy identified as Daniel Parmertor, 16, died at MetroHealth System in Cleveland. Parmertor, a high school junior, went to a nearby vocational school where he studied computer science, and was waiting in the cafeteria for a bus when the gunman opened ... Full Story Top Too soon to tap U.S. oil reserves: Senator Murkowski Mon,27 Feb 2012 02:47 PM PST Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The government should save its strategic oil reserves for a true supply emergency and resist the temptation to tap them now as a "quick fix" to quell rising gasoline prices, Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski said on Monday. Releasing oil too soon from the salt caverns storing 696 million barrels of crude could have a short-term political pay-off by lowering gasoline prices but would sell the country short if tensions in Iran severely restrict world supplies later this year, Murkowski said in an interview. ... Full Story Top Romney's tough line on immigration jars with some Mon,27 Feb 2012 02:34 PM PST Reuters - MESA, Arizona (Reuters) - For years, Nora Castaneda watched her Mormon community grow and grow as it drew converts from a burgeoning Hispanic population in Mesa, Arizona. Then, in 2010, it all went into slow motion. It turned out the author of Arizona's tough illegal immigration law, then State Senator Russell Pearce, was a Mormon. As word got around, the dark-suited missionaries who'd been having great success in this Phoenix suburb were suddenly having doors slammed in their faces. "Now we hardly have a baptism," Castaneda said. ... Full Story Top Conservatives pressed over "dirty tricks" Mon,27 Feb 2012 02:30 PM PST Reuters - OTTAWA (Reuters) - The Conservative government came under increasing pressure on Monday to explain what the opposition said were dirty tricks the Conservatives used during last year's election to cut into the number of votes going to other parties. Opposition parties allege the Conservatives made phone calls that directed opposition supporters away from the correct polling stations. They also charge they made rude calls impersonating the Liberals to turn voters against them. ... Full Story Top Obama welcomes TransCanada plan for southern Keystone leg Mon,27 Feb 2012 02:19 PM PST Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Monday welcomed TransCanada Corp's plan to build the southern leg of its controversial Keystone XL pipeline first, to carry oil from Oklahoma to the Gulf of Mexico, and said it would work with the company to ensure it is built in a safe and timely manner. White House spokesman Jay Carney, also commenting on TransCanada's new proposal to the State Department for the stalled northern leg of the pipeline, said the government would "ensure any project receives the important assessment it deserves. ... Full Story Top Plenty of room for 2 Cushing lines: TransCanada Mon,27 Feb 2012 02:19 PM PST Reuters - CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - TransCanada Corp believes there is more than enough crude supply forecast for the Cushing, Oklahoma, storage hub to accommodate the southern portion of its Keystone XL pipeline and the competing Seaway pipeline expansion, both of which would take oil to Texas refineries, an executive said. TransCanada, which said on Monday it plans to build the southern part of Keystone XL by mid- to late 2013, sees about 2 million barrels a day of new light crude flowing into Cushing in the coming years. ... Full Story Top WikiLeaks targets global risk company Stratfor Mon,27 Feb 2012 02:02 PM PST Reuters - (Reuters) - The anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks began publishing on Monday more than 5 million emails from a U.S.-based global security analysis company that has been likened to a shadow CIA. The emails, snatched by hackers, could unmask sensitive sources and throw light on the murky world of intelligence-gathering by the company known as Stratfor, which counts Fortune 500 corporations among its subscribers. Stratfor in a statement shortly after midnight EST (0500 GMT) said the release of its stolen emails was an attempt to silence and intimidate it. ... Full Story Top S&P cuts Greek sovereign debt to selective default Mon,27 Feb 2012 01:48 PM PST Reuters - NEW YORK (Reuters) - Standard & Poor's on Monday cut Greece's credit rating to SD, or selective default, after the Greek government amended the original rules governing some of its sovereign debt to bind all private bondholders to a bond swap necessary to complete a 130-billion-euro rescue package. (Reporting By Daniel Bases and Walter Brandimarte; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama) Full Story Top Saleh hands "difficult phase" over to new Yemen Mon,27 Feb 2012 01:34 PM PST Reuters - SANAA (Reuters) - Yemen's new president took over on Monday from Ali Abdullah Saleh, his predecessor of 33 years, saying the impoverished Arab state faced a "complex and difficult phase" after a year of violent political turmoil over Saleh's fate. Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi took office after elections last week in which he was the sole candidate to replace Saleh, the target of mass protests that came to be matched by open warfare among rival wings of Yemen's military and tribal militias. ... Full Story Top Iraq militia hands over last missing U.S. soldier's remains Mon,27 Feb 2012 01:19 PM PST Reuters - BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A Shi'ite militia has handed over the body of the last U.S. soldier missing in Iraq, closing a final chapter of the war two months after U.S. troops left and more than five years after the soldier vanished while secretly visiting his wife in Baghdad. A source in Shi'ite militia Asaib al-Haq said the group had acted as an "intermediary" in handing the body of American soldier Ahmed al-Taie to the Iraqi government. The source denied the group was behind his abduction and killing. ... Full Story Top Government closes bank bond buyback tax loophole Mon,27 Feb 2012 01:15 PM PST Reuters - LONDON (Reuters) - The government is to end "aggressive tax avoidance" schemes used by banks from the profit they can make buying back their own bonds, in a move that could cost Barclays more than 100 million pounds. The government said on Monday it was closing two tax loopholes immediately to save it more than 500 million pounds, adding the loopholes were disclosed to it by an unnamed bank. ... Full Story Top U.S. cites "heightened threat"; 9 killed in Afghan airport bomb Mon,27 Feb 2012 01:09 PM PST Reuters - Seven U.S. military trainers were wounded on Sunday when a grenade was thrown at their base in northern Afghanistan, police said, underscoring the depth of anti-Western fury over the inadvertent burning of copies of the Koran at a NATO base. Despite an apology from U.S. President Barack Obama, riots raged across the country for a sixth day against the desecration of the Muslim holy book last week at the biggest NATO base in Afghanistan. Some protesters hoisted the white Taliban flag. With few signs of the crisis abating, the U.S. ... Full Story Top U.S. murders at heart of Afghan ministry raise questions Mon,27 Feb 2012 01:09 PM PST Reuters - KABUL (Reuters) - The two high-ranking U.S. officers were sitting at the nerve centre of one of the most heavily-guarded buildings in Afghanistan when their killer walked into their shared office and shot them both in the head. The audacity of the attack stunned both NATO and the Afghan government - the gunman had managed to get his weapon through crowded offices and past door after door secured with electronic locks into the heart of Afghanistan's Ministy of Interior. The killing of Air Force Lieutenant Colonel John D. ... Full Story Top Costa Cruises liner adrift after fire on board Mon,27 Feb 2012 01:02 PM PST Reuters - ROME (Reuters) - A liner owned by the same company as the Costa Concordia, on which at least 25 people died when it ran aground off Italy last month, was adrift in the Indian Ocean on Monday after a fire in the engine room left it without power, the company said. Costa Cruises said the fire on the 29,000-tonne Costa Allegra had been put out and none of the passengers or crew were hurt. The cause of the fire was still unclear. The giant Costa Concordia capsized on January 13 after hitting rocks off the island of Giglio. ... Full Story Top Police, Murdoch aides stalled hacking probes, inquiry told Mon,27 Feb 2012 12:27 PM PST Reuters - LONDON (Reuters) - British police and officials from Rupert Murdoch's now-defunct News of the World newspaper stalled early attempts to investigate allegations of phone hacking by its journalists, a British judicial inquiry was told on Monday. Investigators for London's Metropolitan Police Service had evidence in 2006 that "hundreds" of victims had been targeted for possible phone hacking by the News of the World, a former police commander said. But officers had other priorities and insufficient resources to pursue the matter as thoroughly as they could have, a lawyer for the inquiry said. ... Full Story Top Wisconsin governor will not challenge recall signatures Mon,27 Feb 2012 11:55 AM PST Reuters - MADISON, Wisconsin (Reuters) - Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker will not challenge any of the more than one million signatures gathered by opponents to force a vote to recall the controversial Republican, saying his campaign did not have enough time to review them. Walker faced a deadline Monday to file challenges after a Dane County judge granted him a 20-day extension beyond the 10 days allotted under state law. Walker also sought an additional two weeks but was turned down. "We faced an impossible timeline," Walker spokeswoman Ciara Matthews told wispolitics.com. ... Full Story Top Nigerian politician owns up to corruption in UK court Mon,27 Feb 2012 11:45 AM PST Reuters - LONDON (Reuters) - The former governor of a Nigerian oil state pleaded guilty in a British court on Monday to laundering millions of dollars in a rare case of a Nigerian politician being held to account for the corruption that blights Africa's most populous nation. London hailed the case of James Ibori, a prominent power-broker in Nigeria's ruling party, as a major victory in the British justice system's efforts to stop corrupt foreign politicians laundering stolen funds via UK channels. ... Full Story Top Attempt to kill Russia's Putin foiled: security agencies Mon,27 Feb 2012 11:30 AM PST Reuters - MOSCOW (Reuters) - Security services in Russia and Ukraine said on Monday they had foiled a plot to kill Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, but his opponents ridiculed the announcement as a campaign stunt six days before he runs in Russia's presidential election. Russia's pro-government Channel One television said two men arrested belonged to a group seeking an Islamist state in Russia's North Caucasus. A computer seized contained numerous video files showing Putin's motorcade moving about Moscow, said the report. ... Full Story Top Analysis: Oil price rise raises specter of global recession Mon,27 Feb 2012 10:39 AM PST Reuters - LONDON (Reuters) - A jump in energy prices is jamming the slow-turning cogs of an economic recovery in the West, but that may be nothing compared to the economic shock an Israeli attack on Iran would cause. Oil rose to a 10-month high above $125 a barrel Friday, prompting responses from policymakers around the world including U.S. President Barack Obama, watching U.S. gasoline prices follow crude to push toward $4 a gallon in an election year. ... Full Story Top Consumer debt falls in Q4 on mortgage balances Mon,27 Feb 2012 10:35 AM PST Reuters - NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. households continued to shave debt in the fourth quarter as mortgage balances declined, while there were tentative signs Americans are increasingly willing to spend, according to a report released on Monday by the New York Federal Reserve. Total consumer debt slipped a modest 1.1 percent from the third quarter of 2011, led down by a 1.6 percent decline in mortgage balances, suggesting households continue to slowly heal from the housing-market collapse and 2007-2009 recession. Credit inquiries - an indicator of consumer demand - rose 2. ... Full Story Top Five killed in attack on Ivorian voting station Mon,27 Feb 2012 10:26 AM PST Reuters - ABIDJAN (Reuters) - At least five people were killed late on Sunday when unidentified attackers fired automatic weapons at a polling station in western Ivory Coast, hours after voting had ended, an official said on Monday. The locality of Bonon, about 300 km (180 miles) west of Abidjan, is one of several areas that had to organise a rerun of voting in the West African state's parliamentary election after some results from the December poll were annulled over irregularities. ... Full Story Top Sudan rebels say behind attack on Sudanese army Mon,27 Feb 2012 10:24 AM PST Reuters - JUBA (Reuters) - Rebel groups in Sudan said on Monday they had captured a Sudanese army garrison near the border with South Sudan in an operation that Khartoum blamed on the south's army. The rebels said in a statement they killed 130 members of the government forces in the attack. The figure could not be independently verified. The South Sudan government said none of its forces were involved, but the assault fuelled tensions between the neighbours already at odds over oil exports and border disputes. ... Full Story Top

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