Daily News Digest: Politics - Bloomberg News Headlines - Yahoo! News

Yahoo! Alerts

Yahoo! News | My Alerts | Edit Alert

Tuesday, March 27, 2012 8:30 PM PDT

Today's Politics - Bloomberg News Headlines - Yahoo! News: Romney would squeeze China on currency manipulation-adviser Panetta says focus on strategy, not polls in Afghanistan MF Global executive details scramble for funds Australia open to U.S. spy flights from Indian Ocean island Senate panel may vote on Russian rights bill Phone tapping scandal envelops Mexican ruling party candidate North American defense ministers launch joint security forum Joking Romney has job for Santorum: press secretary Pope, Castro meet as official squashes reform hopes U.S. presses Syrian opposition to unite, shun abuses Bill to ramp up Iran sanctions fails in U.S. Senate Afghan soldiers arrested over Defence Ministry plot: NYT Analysis: French shooting case shows counterterrorism limits Australian govt says News Corp claims are serious Democratic lawmakers blast police in U.S. teen killing Mali neighbors threaten force to reverse coup FBI said to have gathered intelligence on California Muslims U.S. judge dismisses most charges against militia members Ontario to favor home bond market, wary of Europe Syrian opposition reunites, but Kurds walk out Miami Police detective says racism "alive and well" JetBlue flight diverted, passengers say captain restrained Tweaks to Wall Street overhaul law starting to move Skeptical justices question Obama healthcare law Phone tapping row envelops Mexican ruling party candidate Schools, jobs seen key to prevent repeat of English riots Struggling Santorum vows to make a stand in Wisconsin Annan says Syria accepts peace plan, U.S. skeptical Pressure grows on Ottawa to lean on Air Canada Democratic lawmakers blast police in U.S. teen killing Americans angry with Obama over gas prices Factbox: Healthcare issues at Supreme Court Broccoli, cellphones and the Obama healthcare law Twitter coverage of court gets struck down Ontario targets labor costs in bid to cut deficit Ontario targets labor costs in bid to cut deficit Pope honors patron saint, heads to meeting with Castro Authorities drop remaining charges in arms bribery case Senate to soon move on new Iran sanctions-Reid Top Canada minister faces second ethics probe Romney would squeeze China on currency manipulation-adviser Tue,27 Mar 2012 07:57 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is looking at ways to increase pressure on China over what he sees as currency manipulation and unfair subsidy practices, a Romney campaign adviser said on Tuesday. "I think he wants to maximize the pressure," Grant Aldonas, a former undersecretary of commerce for international trade, said at a symposium on the future of U.S. manufacturing. Aldonas served at the Commerce Department under Republican President George W. Bush. ... Full Story Top Panetta says focus on strategy, not polls in Afghanistan Tue,27 Mar 2012 07:20 PM PDT Reuters - OTTAWA (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Tuesday it was important for NATO-led forces to continue implementing their strategy to end the conflict in Afghanistan despite growing signs of public fatigue after 10 years of war. "We cannot fight wars by polls. If we do that we're in deep trouble," Panetta told a news conference in Canada. "We have to operate based on what we believe is the best strategy to achieve the mission that we are embarked on," he said. ... Full Story Top MF Global executive details scramble for funds Tue,27 Mar 2012 07:15 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - MF Global's North America chief financial officer plans to tell lawmakers on Wednesday that she desperately sought fund transfers to cover the customer account shortfall in the final hours before the firm's collapse, but that some banks would not execute them. In prepared testimony, Christine Serwinski also said she was convinced at first that the roughly $1 billion deficit in customer funds had to be an accounting error and only learned on the morning of the bankruptcy that the shortfall was real. ... Full Story Top Australia open to U.S. spy flights from Indian Ocean island Tue,27 Mar 2012 07:09 PM PDT Reuters - CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia could one day allow U.S. spy flights to operate from a remote Indian Ocean island, Defense Minister Stephen Smith confirmed on Wednesday, supporting the U.S. pivot to Asia but likely upsetting Australia's biggest trading partner, China. Smith said the possible use of Australia's remote Cocos Islands territory had been raised with the United States, but the proposal was not under active consideration and was not among current plans for Canberra to strengthen military ties with Washington. "We view Cocos as being potentially a long term strategic location. ... Full Story Top Senate panel may vote on Russian rights bill Tue,27 Mar 2012 06:55 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Human rights legislation named after an anti-graft lawyer who died in a Russian jail is likely to be considered by a Senate committee this spring, the panel's chairman Senator John Kerry said on Tuesday. The Sergei Magnitsky bill would require the United States to deny visas and freeze the assets of Russians or others with links to his detention and death, as well as those who commit human rights violations against other whistle-blowers like him. ... Full Story Top Phone tapping scandal envelops Mexican ruling party candidate Tue,27 Mar 2012 06:43 PM PDT Reuters - MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's ruling party presidential candidate has been forced on the defensive after a leaked recording emerged in which she appeared to accuse the government of spying on her phone calls. In what seems to be a conversation between Josefina Vazquez Mota and a campaign official, she blames members of President Felipe Calderon's cabinet for taping her calls, fueling talk of divisions in her party's faltering bid to retain the presidency. ... Full Story Top North American defense ministers launch joint security forum Tue,27 Mar 2012 06:26 PM PDT Reuters - OTTAWA (Reuters) - North America's three defense ministers declared their first-ever dialogue on common security threats on Tuesday an "historic occasion," even though their main accomplishment was to agree to continue regular discussions. Canadian Defense Minister Peter MacKay, who hosted the gathering in Ottawa, said he and his counterparts from Mexico and the United States decided to develop a common assessment of threats facing the continent and to cooperate to address them. ... Full Story Top Joking Romney has job for Santorum: press secretary Tue,27 Mar 2012 06:22 PM PDT Reuters - BURBANK, California (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney had this assignment for Rick Santorum on Tuesday to make light of his chief rival's frequent tussles with the news media: "Press secretary." Romney, who sometimes struggles to connect with everyday voters, appeared on NBC's "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" for an interview that was at times serious and at times humorous. ... Full Story Top Pope, Castro meet as official squashes reform hopes Tue,27 Mar 2012 06:10 PM PDT Reuters - HAVANA (Reuters) - Pope Benedict and Cuban President Raul Castro met on Tuesday for talks on a papal trip that has sparked hopes for economic and political change, but one national leader said there would be no political reform on the communist island. Cuban television showed the pope and Castro in the Palace of the Revolution at the beginning and end of an hour-long meeting, but they did not speak to the press. They were expected to affirm improving relations between the government and the Roman Catholic Church and discuss the Church's desire for a greater role in Cuba. ... Full Story Top U.S. presses Syrian opposition to unite, shun abuses Tue,27 Mar 2012 06:01 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Tuesday urged the Syrian opposition to unite and pledge to respect minority rights in a future Syria should President Bashar al-Assad be driven from power, and warned armed rebels and government forces against committing human rights abuses. Disunity among the Syrian opposition to Assad has fed fears that Syria could slide into sectarian and ethnic conflict, much as Iraq did after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. ... Full Story Top Bill to ramp up Iran sanctions fails in U.S. Senate Tue,27 Mar 2012 05:57 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Republican lawmaker on Tuesday blocked Democrats from passing legislation designed to further punish Iran for developing its nuclear program, and each side blamed the other for its failure in a presidential election year that will put extra scrutiny on President Barack Obama to be tough on Tehran. The legislation, which had the backing of many Democratic and Republican Senators, focused on foreign banks that handle transactions for Iran's national oil and tanker companies, and included a host of measures aimed to close loopholes in existing sanctions. ... Full Story Top Afghan soldiers arrested over Defence Ministry plot: NYT Tue,27 Mar 2012 05:50 PM PDT Reuters - (Reuters) - More than a dozen Afghan soldiers suspected of plotting to attack the Defence Ministry in Kabul were arrested after 10 suicide vests were found inside the ministry, the New York Times reported, citing Afghan and Western officials. Security across Afghanistan has worsened after a string of incidents that have enraged Afghans in recent weeks, including the shooting deaths of 17 civilians in the volatile south more than two weeks ago blamed on a U.S. sergeant. ... Full Story Top Analysis: French shooting case shows counterterrorism limits Tue,27 Mar 2012 05:48 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mohamed Merah, the French gunman who killed Jewish children and French soldiers and then died in a firefight with police this month, was hardly an unknown quantity to intelligence and law enforcement officials on both sides of the Atlantic. Merah made two trips to Afghanistan between 2010 and 2012, and was detained by U.S. forces during the first. He had a record of moderately serious criminal activities in France. ... Full Story Top Australian govt says News Corp claims are serious Tue,27 Mar 2012 05:48 PM PDT Reuters - CANBERRA (Reuters) - Media reports that Rupert Murdoch's News Corp promoted the pirating of its international pay-TV rivals were serious, and allegations of any criminality should be investigated by police, the Australian government said on Wednesday. "These are serious allegations, and any allegations of criminal activity should be referred to the AFP (Australian Federal police) for investigation," a spokeswoman for Communications Minister Stephen Conroy told Reuters. ... Full Story Top Democratic lawmakers blast police in U.S. teen killing Tue,27 Mar 2012 05:33 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday blasted police handling of a racially charged case in which a neighborhood watch volunteer shot dead an unarmed black teenager in Florida, accusing local law enforcement officials of botching the investigation. The lawmakers, speaking at a congressional forum attended by the parents of the slain teenager, called for the immediate arrest of 28-year-old George Zimmerman, the white Hispanic who shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin on February 26 in what Zimmerman said was self-defense. ... Full Story Top Mali neighbors threaten force to reverse coup Tue,27 Mar 2012 05:30 PM PDT Reuters - ABIDJAN/BAMAKO (Reuters) - Mali's neighbors threatened on Tuesday to use sanctions and a readiness to use military force to dislodge the army leaders behind last week's coup, urging them to quickly hand back power to civilian rulers. A summit of the West African ECOWAS bloc agreed to send a team of heads of state to confront the putschists in the next 48 hours, a sign of the region's growing resolve to end the instability that has dogged it for decades. ... Full Story Top FBI said to have gathered intelligence on California Muslims Tue,27 Mar 2012 05:22 PM PDT Reuters - SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - U.S. civil liberties advocates said on Tuesday the FBI had engaged in secretly collecting intelligence about Muslims in the San Francisco Bay area in recent years, including details about a sermon delivered at a mosque. The American Civil Liberties Union called for an inquiry into the FBI's data collection, citing investigative practices from between 2004 and 2008 that it said raised the possibility of privacy violations. ... Full Story Top U.S. judge dismisses most charges against militia members Tue,27 Mar 2012 05:19 PM PDT Reuters - DETROIT (Reuters) - A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed conspiracy charges against seven members of a U.S. militia group known as the Hutaree, saying prosecutors failed to prove that they were doing more than talking about their hatred of the government. The seven were accused of plotting to kill law enforcement officers as a way to incite a wider rebellion against the U.S. government. Defense attorneys had argued that what the seven had done was protected by their free speech rights. ... Full Story Top Ontario to favor home bond market, wary of Europe Tue,27 Mar 2012 05:07 PM PDT Reuters - TORONTO (Reuters) - Ontario will look to the local Canadian-dollar bond market to meet most of next year's funding needs, but expects to borrow less at home than the 81 percent it did this year, the chief executive of the Ontario Financing Authority said. Gadi Mayman, speaking ahead of the release of the provincial budget on Tuesday, said Ontario was able to easily tap the local market to fund 81 percent of the 2011-12 borrowing requirement due to a strong international appetite for Canada's high-flying currency, the country's sound fiscal reputation and higher yields than federal debt. ... Full Story Top Syrian opposition reunites, but Kurds walk out Tue,27 Mar 2012 05:01 PM PDT Reuters - ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Syria's splintered opposition leaders reunited under an opposition umbrella group on Tuesday in a bid to show the world they can form a real alternative to President Bashar al-Assad. At the same time, Assad's opponents grouped around the Syrian National Council (SNC) remained skeptical of a peace and ceasefire plan drawn up by U.N. and Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan if that plan did not lead to Assad's removal. The Syrian government said on Tuesday it had accepted Annan's plan [ID:nL6E8ER9C0], but some SNC members dismissed Assad's word. "He is buying time. ... Full Story Top Miami Police detective says racism "alive and well" Tue,27 Mar 2012 04:51 PM PDT Reuters - MIAMI (Reuters) - A black veteran Miami police officer said on Tuesday that "racism is alive and well" in the United States and is evident in the case of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed African American teenager gunned down by a neighborhood watch volunteer in central Florida last month. George Zimmerman, the white Hispanic crime watch volunteer, has managed to avoid arrest under Florida's controversial "Stand Your Ground" law because he said he shot and killed Martin in self-defense. ... Full Story Top JetBlue flight diverted, passengers say captain restrained Tue,27 Mar 2012 04:50 PM PDT Reuters - (Reuters) - A JetBlue flight bound for Las Vegas was diverted to Texas on Tuesday following what federal authorities described as erratic behavior by the captain, who passengers said had to be restrained after he pounded on the locked cockpit door. The FBI is investigating the incident on Flight 191 from New York, which had 135 passengers on board when the pilot-in-command decided to redirect the plane to Amarillo, Texas. JetBlue said in a statement the flight was diverted due to a "medical situation" involving the captain but made no mention of any commotion on board. ... Full Story Top Tweaks to Wall Street overhaul law starting to move Tue,27 Mar 2012 04:33 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Support is growing in Congress for tweaks to the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial oversight law, a possibility that until recently seemed remote given partisan acrimony over the law, as well as between Republicans and Democrats. None of the proposed bills would make major changes to the law and they could still become bogged down in the Senate, where even bipartisan legislation can face a gauntlet of challenges. ... Full Story Top Skeptical justices question Obama healthcare law Tue,27 Mar 2012 04:29 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration faced skeptical questioning from a U.S. Supreme Court dominated by conservatives on Tuesday during a tense two-hour showdown over a sweeping healthcare law that has divided Americans. A ruling on the law's key requirement that most people obtain health insurance or face a penalty appeared likely to come down to Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Anthony Kennedy, two conservatives who pummeled the administration's lawyer with questions. ... Full Story Top Phone tapping row envelops Mexican ruling party candidate Tue,27 Mar 2012 04:26 PM PDT Reuters - MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's ruling party presidential candidate has been forced on the defensive after a leaked recording emerged in which she appeared to accuse the government of spying on her phone calls. In what seems to be a conversation between Josefina Vazquez Mota and a campaign official, she blames members of President Felipe Calderon's cabinet for taping her calls, fueling talk of divisions in her party's faltering bid to retain the presidency. ... Full Story Top Schools, jobs seen key to prevent repeat of English riots Tue,27 Mar 2012 04:07 PM PDT Reuters - LONDON (Reuters) - Schools that fail to teach children to read and write should face fines to improve an inadequate education system, a panel set up to draw lessons from riots that swept England's cities last year said on Wednesday. The panel's report, presented to Prime Minister David Cameron, said there were half a million "forgotten families" who "bump along the bottom" of society and urged the government to develop a strategy to help them turn their lives around. ... Full Story Top Struggling Santorum vows to make a stand in Wisconsin Tue,27 Mar 2012 03:58 PM PDT Reuters - BEAVER DAM, Wisconsin (Reuters) - Under pressure to pull off a big primary victory, Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum vowed on Tuesday to make a stand in Wisconsin next week despite a poor record in large Midwestern states. Santorum is trailing front-runner Mitt Romney in delegates for the Republican nomination and doubts have begun to surface about the social conservative's ability to win populous states that do not have large evangelical voter bases. Battered by negative ads put out by Romney's well-financed backers, Santorum lost Ohio, Illinois and Michigan in recent weeks. ... Full Story Top Annan says Syria accepts peace plan, U.S. skeptical Tue,27 Mar 2012 03:55 PM PDT Reuters - BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria has accepted a U.N.-sponsored peace plan, international envoy Kofi Annan said on Tuesday, as troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad raided rebel forces who have taken refuge across the border in Lebanon. The United States reacted skeptically to Annan's announcement, saying it would judge Assad's sincerity in agreeing to the peace plan by what he did and not by what he said, given his record of "over-promising and under-delivering. ... Full Story Top Pressure grows on Ottawa to lean on Air Canada Tue,27 Mar 2012 03:18 PM PDT Reuters - OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's opposition parties stepped up pressure on the Conservative government on Tuesday to force Air Canada to maintain aircraft overhaul facilities that were shut down last week. By allowing the facilities to shut down, Air Canada is violating a law that requires it to keep open fleet service stations in three Canadian cities, said opposition members of Parliament and unions representing 2,600 workers who have lost their jobs. ... Full Story Top Democratic lawmakers blast police in U.S. teen killing Tue,27 Mar 2012 03:16 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday blasted police handling of a racially charged case in which a neighborhood watch volunteer shot dead an unarmed black teenager in Florida, accusing local law enforcement officials of botching the investigation. The lawmakers, speaking at a congressional forum attended by the parents of the slain teenager, called for the immediate arrest of 28-year-old George Zimmerman, the white Hispanic who shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin on February 26 in what he said was self-defense. ... Full Story Top Americans angry with Obama over gas prices Tue,27 Mar 2012 03:13 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than two-thirds of Americans disapprove of the way President Barack Obama is handling high gasoline prices, although most do not blame him for them, according to a Reuters/Ipsos online poll released on Tuesday. Sixty-eight percent disapprove and 24 percent approve of how Obama is responding to price increases that have become one of the biggest issues in the 2012 presidential campaign. In the past month, U.S. fuel prices have jumped about $0.30 per gallon to about $3. ... Full Story Top Factbox: Healthcare issues at Supreme Court Tue,27 Mar 2012 03:05 PM PDT Reuters - (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday will hold its second day of arguments on President Barack Obama's sweeping healthcare law, which aims to provide health coverage to more than 30 million uninsured Americans. Following are three sets of issues that surround this week's hearings and the high court's ultimate ruling expected in June. A central issue is that of the individual mandate requiring nearly all Americans to have health insurance. ... Full Story Top Broccoli, cellphones and the Obama healthcare law Tue,27 Mar 2012 02:59 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - If Congress has the power to require that Americans obtain health insurance, U.S. Supreme Court justices on Tuesday asked hypothetical questions on what would be next - insisting that people eat broccoli, buy a cellphone or get burial insurance? During a second day of arguments over President Barack Obama's 2010 healthcare law, conservative Chief Justice John Roberts likened healthcare services for the sick to such emergency services as police, fire and ambulance assistance. "You don't know when you're going to need it. You're not sure that you will. ... Full Story Top Twitter coverage of court gets struck down Tue,27 Mar 2012 02:56 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A lawyer discovered how far the U.S. Supreme Court will go to close itself off from the public when it hears a case, no matter how many people on Twitter may be interested. Casey Mattox went to the court on Tuesday to see historic arguments over whether to strike down the Obama administration's healthcare law. His plan was to give live updates and the idea appeared to work as descriptions from the arguments showed up on the Twitter feed of the Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative legal group where Mattox is a senior counsel. ... Full Story Top Ontario targets labor costs in bid to cut deficit Tue,27 Mar 2012 02:55 PM PDT Reuters - TORONTO (Reuters) - Ontario's minority Liberal government put corporate tax cuts on hold and pledged a renewed effort to rein in public sector labor costs in an austerity budget designed to eliminate the deficit in six years and convince rating agencies the province is fiscally sound. Canada's most populous province, which accounts for about 40 percent of the country's economy, will run a budget deficit of C$15.3 billion ($15.4 billion)in 2011-12 under the budget plan unveiled by Finance Minister Dwight Duncan, down C$700 million from November's forecast and below the record C$19. ... Full Story Top Ontario targets labor costs in bid to cut deficit Tue,27 Mar 2012 02:52 PM PDT Reuters - TORONTO (Reuters) - Ontario's minority Liberal government put corporate tax cuts on hold and pledged a renewed effort to rein in public sector labor costs in an austerity budget designed to eliminate the deficit in six years and convince rating agencies the province is fiscally sound. Canada's most populous province, which accounts for about 40 percent of the country's economy, will run a budget deficit of C$15.3 billion ($15.4 billion)in 2011-12 under the budget plan unveiled by Finance Minister Dwight Duncan, down C$700 million from November's forecast and below the record C$19. ... Full Story Top Pope honors patron saint, heads to meeting with Castro Tue,27 Mar 2012 02:20 PM PDT Reuters - HAVANA, Cuba (Reuters) - Pope Benedict urged Cubans to "work for justice" as their country changes and prayed for "those deprived of freedom" in a visit to the shrine for Cuba's patron saint on Tuesday and then flew across the country for talks with President Raul Castro. Upon arrival at the Havana airport, he was greeted by Roman Catholic Church Cardinal Jaime Ortega and Communist Party officials ahead of a late afternoon meeting with Raul Castro and possibly his older brother, former leader Fidel Castro. Benedict, the leader of the world's 1. ... Full Story Top Authorities drop remaining charges in arms bribery case Tue,27 Mar 2012 02:10 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. federal prosecutors on Tuesday dropped the remaining charges arising out of a bribery sting involving arms sales and an FBI agent who posed as an African defense official, letting three men who had already pleaded guilty off the hook. A U.S. district judge said he would grant the Justice Department's request to dismiss its case against Jonathan Spiller, a British citizen residing in the United States, and two Americans, Haim Geri and Daniel Alvirez. The three had previously pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate a U.S. ... Full Story Top Senate to soon move on new Iran sanctions-Reid Tue,27 Mar 2012 02:01 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate may soon consider a new package of sanctions targeting Iran's oil revenues, Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid said on Tuesday. The legislation would focus on foreign banks that handle transactions for Iran's national oil and tanker companies, and include a host of measures aimed to close loopholes in existing sanctions. ... Full Story Top Top Canada minister faces second ethics probe Tue,27 Mar 2012 01:51 PM PDT Reuters - OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's industry minister, found guilty of an ethics violation last week, is being formally investigated for possible wrongdoing in a second case and faces opposition allegations of inappropriate behavior in a third. Christian Paradis, who handles some of the government's most sensitive files, may be turning into a political problem for Prime Minister Stephen Harper, whose Conservatives came to power in early 2006 promising more accountability in government. ... Full Story Top

You received this email because you subscribed to Yahoo! Alerts. Use this link to unsubscribe from this alert. To change your communications preferences for other Yahoo! business lines, please visit your Marketing Preferences. To learn more about Yahoo!'s use of personal information, including the use of web beacons in HTML-based email, please read our Privacy Policy. Yahoo! is located at 701 First Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA 94089.