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Thursday, August 30, 2012 8:30 PM PDT

Today's Politics - Bloomberg News Headlines - Yahoo! News: Romney tells voters to move on from Obama disappointment Chicago teachers vote to strike on September 10 if no deal Exclusive: Pentagon threatens legal action over bin Laden book Mexico electoral judges reject challenge to Pena Nieto vote win Colorado shooting suspect may have called university before rampage U.N. all talk on Syria aid as West mulls military action World Bank chief heads to Africa in first overseas visit Federal court blocks Texas voter ID law Scores arrested in new Maldives protest against Nasheed ruling No charges for deaths of terrorism suspects: Justice Department New judge named in case against Trayvon Martin shooter Ecuadorean journalist granted asylum in Miami Cuba reports mixed results of labor reform Voices from the right: Best quotes from the Republican convention Austal's first high-speed ship completes U.S. Navy acceptance trials Advance excerpts of Romney's convention speech Spanish court says sick Basque separatist can be freed Surprise guest at Republican convention: Clint Eastwood Record farm export sales seen despite drought: USDA Antitrust group asks for Universal, EMI deal to be stopped Budget poses challenge to Irish government future: minister A "close call" on more Fed easing University of Iowa rejected accused Colorado gunman: records Michigan judge upholds Detroit police wage cut Canada orders deportation of female U.S. soldier U.S. guard pleads guilty to trying to pass secrets to China Insight: Does China's next leader have a soft spot for Tibet? Tiny Singapore risks economic gloom without big baby boom Factbox: Republican party convention speaker Jeb Bush Iran doubles underground nuclear capacity: U.N. agency Romney takes lead over Obama with convention "bounce": Reuters/Ipsos poll Fed's Plosser says no point in launching risky QE3 Factbox: Republican Party convention speaker Marco Rubio Ivory Coast using attacks as pretext for crackdown: opposition FDA approves Ironwood constipation drug U.N. says Syria buffer zone plans raises serious questions Prosecutors seek death for U.S. soldiers accused of militia-linked murders Consumer spending posts biggest rise in five months Tapping SPR an option, no announcement to make: White House Georgia says armed raid was in "enemy's" interests Romney tells voters to move on from Obama disappointment Thu,30 Aug 2012 06:50 PM PDT Reuters - TAMPA, Florida (Reuters) - Mitt Romney will urge voters to leave behind their disappointment in President Barack Obama and help him restore the promise of America, in a high-stakes convention speech on Thursday in front of the nation. Taking center stage to accept the Republican presidential nomination, Romney will pledge to rebuild the U.S. economy and create millions of jobs after Obama's 2008 election promises "gave way to disappointment and division. ... Full Story Top Chicago teachers vote to strike on September 10 if no deal Thu,30 Aug 2012 06:48 PM PDT Reuters - CHICAGO (Reuters) - The Chicago Teachers Union voted on Thursday to allow its first strike in 25 years starting on September 10 in the nation's third-largest school district if negotiators cannot reach a contract with city officials. The strike would start during the second week of classes for most of the system's more than 400,000 students. The last Chicago teachers' strike lasted four weeks in 1987. ... Full Story Top Exclusive: Pentagon threatens legal action over bin Laden book Thu,30 Aug 2012 06:41 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon warned on Thursday that it was considering legal action against a former U.S. Navy SEAL for material breach of non-disclosure agreements with his first-hand account of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden. In a letter obtained by Reuters, and subsequently released by the Pentagon, the Pentagon's top attorney also warned that it was also considering legal options against anyone "acting in concert" with the author. ... Full Story Top Mexico electoral judges reject challenge to Pena Nieto vote win Thu,30 Aug 2012 06:31 PM PDT Reuters - MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A majority of Mexico's electoral tribunal judges on Thursday rejected a bid by leftist leader Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to overturn Enrique Pena Nieto's victory in the July 1 presidential election, which has left the country in political limbo. Lopez Obrador, who was the runner-up, accused Pena Nieto and his Institutional Revolutionary Party of buying votes and money laundering to secure victory. ... Full Story Top Colorado shooting suspect may have called university before rampage Thu,30 Aug 2012 05:20 PM PDT Reuters - CENTENNIAL, Colo. (Reuters) - Accused Colorado gunman James Holmes may have phoned a University of Colorado operator just nine minutes before the shooting at a midnight screening of "The Dark Knight Rises" that killed 12 people, a defense attorney said on Thursday. Holmes' attorney, Tamara Brady, raised the possibility of such a call during a pretrial hearing in the case while questioning Dr. Lynne Fenton, a University of Colorado psychiatrist who had treated Holmes before the July movie house massacre. ... Full Story Top U.N. all talk on Syria aid as West mulls military action Thu,30 Aug 2012 05:10 PM PDT Reuters - UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A U.N. Security Council meeting on Syria's aid crisis achieved nothing new on Thursday except to highlight global paralysis on the 17-month conflict as western powers warned that military action to secure civilian safe zones was still an option. While the Security Council impasse between western nations and Russia and China means a resolution to approve such a move appears impossible, countries could act outside the authority of the world body and intervene, as happened in Kosovo in 1999. ... Full Story Top World Bank chief heads to Africa in first overseas visit Thu,30 Aug 2012 05:01 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New World Bank President Jim Yong Kim heads to the Ivory Coast and South Africa next week on his first trip to Africa since taking the reins of the global development lender two months ago. The visit comes at a time when African economies are among the fastest growing in the world although their development is constrained by shortages of roads, ports, power supply, water and sanitation. Despite high rates of growth, rising youth unemployment and inequality are a growing concern. ... Full Story Top Federal court blocks Texas voter ID law Thu,30 Aug 2012 04:59 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal court on Thursday blocked a Texas law that would require voters to show photo identification before casting ballots, saying the measure would likely curtail the ability of minorities to vote in the November 6 presidential election. Evidence showed the law did the most harm to African Americans and Hispanics, who are more likely to live in poverty, Circuit Judge David Tatel wrote for a three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court in Washington. Those without the underlying documents to obtain ID would have to purchase them, discouraging poor voters, he wrote. ... Full Story Top Scores arrested in new Maldives protest against Nasheed ruling Thu,30 Aug 2012 04:55 PM PDT Reuters - MALE (Reuters) - Maldives police arrested at least 12 people in the early hours of Friday to break up a protest by supporters of former president Mohamed Nasheed against a report that said he had been replaced legitimately. Hundreds of angry supporters of Nasheed had blocked a main road in the capital Male for three hours before the arrests forced them to disperse. On Thursday, around 50 protesters had been detained. After his removal on February 7, Nasheed, in power since 2008, said he had been forced to resign at gunpoint by mutinying police and soldiers. ... Full Story Top No charges for deaths of terrorism suspects: Justice Department Thu,30 Aug 2012 04:53 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An investigation launched in 2008 into the CIA's program of detaining and interrogating captured militants was closed on Thursday with no criminal charges, the Justice Department said. The interrogators used techniques like "waterboarding," or simulated drowning, which President Barack Obama and human rights advocates say is torture. ... Full Story Top New judge named in case against Trayvon Martin shooter Thu,30 Aug 2012 04:12 PM PDT Reuters - (Reuters) - A new judge has been assigned to hear the murder case against former Florida neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, who shot and killed black teenager Trayvon Martin in February. Debra Nelson is the third judge to be assigned to the case since Zimmerman's April arrest on one count of second-degree murder in the death of the 17-year-old Martin. On Wednesday, a three-judge appellate panel ordered the case's previous judge, Kenneth Lester, to step aside. ... Full Story Top Ecuadorean journalist granted asylum in Miami Thu,30 Aug 2012 04:06 PM PDT Reuters - MIAMI (Reuters) - A newspaper columnist who fled Ecuador after he was sentenced to jail and ordered to pay millions of dollars in a libel case pushed by President Rafael Correa has been granted asylum in the United States, his lawyer said on Thursday. Emilio Palacio, a columnist at El Universo, one of Ecuador's leading newspapers, has been living in Miami since last year. He applied for asylum claiming he was a victim of political persecution. "It's been a long road for him and his family," said Palacio's lawyer, Sandra Grossman. ... Full Story Top Cuba reports mixed results of labor reform Thu,30 Aug 2012 03:53 PM PDT Reuters - HAVANA (Reuters) - Communist-run Cuba's five-year plan to cut more than a million state jobs, create a strong "non-state sector" and improve wages has made only limited progress, according to a government report released this week. Authorities announced the shift of state workers to private and leased small businesses and farming in late 2009 as the core of a broader reform of the state-dominated economy that employed 90 percent of the workforce. ... Full Story Top Voices from the right: Best quotes from the Republican convention Thu,30 Aug 2012 03:48 PM PDT Reuters - TAMPA, Florida (Reuters) - "College graduates should not have to live out their 20s in their childhood bedrooms, staring up at fading Obama posters and wondering when they can move out and get going with life. ... If you're feeling left out or passed by, you have not failed, your leaders have failed you." - Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan "We're a full generation apart, Governor Romney and I. And, in some ways, we're a little different. There are the songs on his iPod which I've heard on the campaign bus and on many hotel elevators. ... Full Story Top Austal's first high-speed ship completes U.S. Navy acceptance trials Thu,30 Aug 2012 03:43 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Navy's first Joint High Speed Vessel, a catamaran transport ship built by Australia's Austal, has passed a comprehensive set of Navy performance and equipment tests, the U.S. unit of the company said on Thursday. Austal said completion of the Navy acceptance trials marked the last significant milestone for the ship, USNS Spearhead. The company did not say when it would be delivered to the Navy. The second ship in the new class is due to be christened on September 15 at Austal's facility in Mobile, Alabama, where two other ships are under construction. ... Full Story Top Advance excerpts of Romney's convention speech Thu,30 Aug 2012 03:41 PM PDT Reuters - TAMPA, Florida (Reuters) - The following is a selection of advance excerpts of Mitt Romney's speech on Thursday to the Republican National Convention accepting his party's nomination to face President Barack Obama in the November 6 election: * Four years ago, I know that many Americans felt a fresh excitement about the possibilities of a new president. ... I wish President Obama had succeeded because I want America to succeed. But his promises gave way to disappointment and division. This isn't something we have to accept. Now is the moment when we can do something. ... Full Story Top Spanish court says sick Basque separatist can be freed Thu,30 Aug 2012 03:30 PM PDT Reuters - MADRID (Reuters) - A top Spanish court ruled on Thursday that a Basque ETA separatist jailed for his involvement in several kidnappings and murders could be freed because he has cancer. Jesús María Uribetxeberría Bolinaga last week abandoned a two-week hunger strike that had prompted around a hundred fellow ETA prisoners to refuse food to press for his release. ETA, which wants independence for Basque lands in northern Spain and southern France, laid down its weapons last October after four decades of armed struggle that resulted in more than 800 deaths. ... Full Story Top Surprise guest at Republican convention: Clint Eastwood Thu,30 Aug 2012 03:08 PM PDT Reuters - (Reuters) - "Dirty Harry" star Clint Eastwood will bring a touch of Hollywood glamour to the Republican National Convention on Thursday, jetting in as a surprise last-minute speaker to warm up the crowd for presidential candidate Mitt Romney, according to a Republican official. The Academy Award-winning director and actor endorsed Romney earlier this month, appearing at a fundraiser for him in Idaho. Eastwood, 82, was reluctantly drawn into the 2012 campaign earlier this year when an ad by Chrysler, titled "Halftime in America" and narrated by Eastwood, ran during halftime of the Super Bowl. ... Full Story Top Record farm export sales seen despite drought: USDA Thu,30 Aug 2012 03:06 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Farm exports will set a sales record in the new marketing year due to high commodity prices that will magnify the value of dramatically smaller harvests amid the worst drought in half a century, the government forecast on Friday. At $143.5 billion for the year that opens on Oct 1, it would be the second export sales record in three years. Farm exports were a record $137.4 billion in 2011, but will fall just short of it, at $136.5 billion, this marketing year, said the Agriculture Department. High prices for corn, soybeans and wheat -- the three most widely grown U.S. ... Full Story Top Antitrust group asks for Universal, EMI deal to be stopped Thu,30 Aug 2012 02:55 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An independent antitrust group urged U.S. regulators on Thursday to stop Universal Music Group's plan to buy EMI Music's labels for $1.9 billion because it says the deal would give Universal too much power in the music industry. The independent American Antitrust Institute said the planned purchase raised substantial concerns because it would reduce the number of major music companies to three from four, and would give Universal life-or-death power over digital entrants that rely upon being able to license music. ... Full Story Top Budget poses challenge to Irish government future: minister Thu,30 Aug 2012 02:52 PM PDT Reuters - DUBLIN (Reuters) - The austerity budget Ireland must adopt in December could weaken its coalition government, though it has a "middling to good" chance of survival, a senior minister said on Thursday, raising doubts about the coalition for the first time. Dublin must boost taxes and cut spending to the tune of 3.5 billion euros ($4.37 billion) in the latest of a series of austerity budgets promised under an EU/IMF bailout and Energy Minister Pat Rabbitte said it would be the toughest to vote through. ... Full Story Top A "close call" on more Fed easing Thu,30 Aug 2012 02:40 PM PDT Reuters - (Reuters) - When Federal Reserve policymakers meet next month to decide whether to take action to boost the economy, it will be a "close call," a top Fed official said on Thursday on the eve of a speech by Chairman Ben Bernanke that has global markets on tenterhooks. Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart, a centrist voter on U.S. monetary policy, said further stimulus would have some positive effect on the U.S. economic recovery, but cautioned that the costs of such action are not altogether clear. ... Full Story Top University of Iowa rejected accused Colorado gunman: records Thu,30 Aug 2012 02:29 PM PDT Reuters - DENVER (Reuters) - The University of Iowa denied accused Colorado gunman James Holmes admission into a neuroscience graduate program despite stellar test results, with a key faculty member writing, "do NOT offer admission under any circumstances," documents showed on Thursday. That decision, made in early 2011, stands in stark contrast to decisions by the University of Illinois and the University of Colorado to offer Holmes large scholarships at similar programs at those schools. ... Full Story Top Michigan judge upholds Detroit police wage cut Thu,30 Aug 2012 02:25 PM PDT Reuters - (Reuters) - A Michigan judge on Thursday upheld Detroit's move to impose a pay cut and other measures on its police force, a lawyer for the police union said. Donato Iorio, attorney for the Detroit Police Officers Association, said Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Kathleen Macdonald's denial of a permanent injunction against the city will be appealed to the Michigan Court of Appeals. ... Full Story Top Canada orders deportation of female U.S. soldier Thu,30 Aug 2012 02:20 PM PDT Reuters - TORONTO (Reuters) - The first female U.S. soldier to seek refuge in Canada rather than return to duty in Iraq is facing deportation, a group that advocates for her said on Thursday. Kimberly Rivera, a 30-year-old private who served three months in Iraq and came to Canada while on leave in 2007, has been ordered out of the country, said Michelle Robidoux, spokeswoman with the War Resisters Support Campaign. "She developed an opposition to what was going on in Iraq based on her experience in Iraq," Robidoux said. ... Full Story Top U.S. guard pleads guilty to trying to pass secrets to China Thu,30 Aug 2012 02:17 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A former security guard at a U.S. consulate in China pleaded guilty on Thursday to trying to pass details on the new building's security systems to a Chinese spy agency, prosecutors said. Bryan Underwood, 32, planned to sell information about the consulate being built in Guangzhou to China's Ministry of State Security for $3 million to $5 million, along with access to the site, the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a statement. Underwood, a former contract civilian guard, pleaded guilty in U.S. ... Full Story Top Insight: Does China's next leader have a soft spot for Tibet? Thu,30 Aug 2012 02:10 PM PDT Reuters - BEIJING/DHARAMSALA (Reuters) - For decades, Beijing has maintained that the Dalai Lama is a separatist, but Tibet's exiled spiritual leader once had a special relationship with the father of Xi Jinping, the man in line to become China's next president. Few people know what Xi, whose ascent to the leadership is likely to be approved at a Communist Party congress later this year, thinks of Tibet or the Dalai Lama. ... Full Story Top Tiny Singapore risks economic gloom without big baby boom Thu,30 Aug 2012 02:02 PM PDT Reuters - SINGAPORE (Reuters) - History suggests Singapore will enjoy a welcome baby boom in this Year of the Dragon, the most auspicious for births in the Chinese zodiac. But after 25 years of state-sponsored matchmaking and fertility-boosting campaigns, the government's attempts to arrest a sliding birth rate are falling flat, with potentially profound consequences for the wealthy Asian city-state. The calls to conception are now urgent and constant to citizens whose fertility ranks last among 222 nations in the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency's World Factbook. ... Full Story Top Factbox: Republican party convention speaker Jeb Bush Thu,30 Aug 2012 01:50 PM PDT Reuters - (Reuters) - Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush will deliver a closely watched speech at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida, on Thursday. Here are a few facts about Bush. * A son of former President George H.W. Bush, Jeb Bush had been regarded as the Bush son likeliest to carry the family brand into the next generation. However, Jeb's brother George W. Bush fulfilled that role earlier, himself becoming the U.S. president in 2000. Jeb Bush became Florida governor in 1998. ... Full Story Top Iran doubles underground nuclear capacity: U.N. agency Thu,30 Aug 2012 01:41 PM PDT Reuters - VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran has doubled the number of uranium enrichment centrifuges it has in an underground bunker, a U.N. report said on Thursday, showing Tehran has continued to expand its nuclear program despite Western pressure and the threat of an Israeli attack. As Israeli politicians increased their talk of air strikes on Iran's nuclear sites in recent months, the Islamic Republic was rapidly increasing the enrichment capacity of its Fordow site, buried deep underground to withstand any such hit. The U.N. ... Full Story Top Romney takes lead over Obama with convention "bounce": Reuters/Ipsos poll Thu,30 Aug 2012 01:37 PM PDT Reuters - TAMPA, Florida (Reuters) - Mitt Romney has moved into a narrow lead over U.S. President Barack Obama in a small bounce for him from the Republican National Convention, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found on Thursday. Romney entered the week four points behind Obama in the first installment of a Reuters/Ipsos rolling poll, with Obama leading 46 percent to 42 percent. But the most recent daily rolling poll gave Romney a two-point lead of 44 percent to 42 percent among likely voters. ... Full Story Top Fed's Plosser says no point in launching risky QE3 Thu,30 Aug 2012 01:33 PM PDT Reuters - (Reuters) - One of the U.S. Federal Reserve's most prominent policy hawks said on Thursday there is no point in launching a third round of asset purchases known as quantitative easing (QE3), in part because it risks future inflation. "My current assessment both of the economy and the effectiveness of QE is that I don't think it really beats the cost-benefit test right now," Philadelphia Federal Reserve President Charles Plosser said on CNBC. (Reporting by Jonathan Spicer) Full Story Top Factbox: Republican Party convention speaker Marco Rubio Thu,30 Aug 2012 01:31 PM PDT Reuters - (Reuters) - Florida Senator Marco Rubio will make a speech to introduce Mitt Romney at the Republican National Convention in Tampa on Thursday. Here are a few facts about Rubio. * Vetted as a possible vice presidential running mate, Rubio was beaten out by Paul Ryan, the Wisconsin congressman, but he won friends in the Romney camp last weekend by offering his speaking slot to Romney's wife, Ann, so she could appear on prime-time TV. The convention organizers turned down his offer. ... Full Story Top Ivory Coast using attacks as pretext for crackdown: opposition Thu,30 Aug 2012 01:09 PM PDT Reuters - ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Ivory Coast's main opposition party on Thursday accused the government of a campaign of repression against supporters of former president Laurent Gbagbo, using attacks on soldiers and police as a pretext. Around 20 people, most of them soldiers, have been killed in the raids, which have revived the specter of unrest in the world's top cocoa grower, still deeply divided a year after a brief civil war that claimed more than 3,000 lives. ... Full Story Top FDA approves Ironwood constipation drug Thu,30 Aug 2012 12:55 PM PDT Reuters - (Reuters) - The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Inc's drug to treat chronic constipation and irritable bowel syndrome with constipation for use in adults. The drug, linaclotide, will be sold under the brand name Linzess and carry a boxed warning that it should not be used in patients 16 or younger, the agency said. An estimated 63 million people suffer from chronic constipation, according to the National Institutes of Health. Additionally, an estimated 15. ... Full Story Top U.N. says Syria buffer zone plans raises serious questions Thu,30 Aug 2012 12:33 PM PDT Reuters - UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations said on Thursday proposals to set up secure safe zones in Syria to help end the 17-month conflict raised "serious questions" and would need to be studied carefully. Ahead of a meeting on the humanitarian situation in Syria, France and Britain warned Syria's President Bashar al-Assad that military action to secure buffer zones for civilians inside the country was an option. "Such proposals raise serious questions and require careful and critical consideration," Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson said at the start of the ministerial meeting. ... Full Story Top Prosecutors seek death for U.S. soldiers accused of militia-linked murders Thu,30 Aug 2012 12:22 PM PDT Reuters - ATLANTA (Reuters) - Georgia prosecutors said on Thursday they would seek the death penalty against three soldiers accused of being part of an anarchist militia that killed a former soldier and his girlfriend to keep their anti-government plot secret. U.S. Army privates Isaac Aguigui and Christopher Salmon and Sergeant Anthony Peden all face first-degree murder charges in a civilian court for the December 5, 2011, deaths of Michael Roark, 19, and his girlfriend, 17-year-old Tiffany York. ... Full Story Top Consumer spending posts biggest rise in five months Thu,30 Aug 2012 12:13 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. consumer spending got off to a fairly firm start in the third quarter, rising by the most in five months and offering hope economic growth would pick up this quarter. Other data on Thursday showed the number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits held steady last week. The reports were consistent with only moderate economic and job growth, and they kept alive the prospect of additional monetary stimulus from the Federal Reserve. ... Full Story Top Tapping SPR an option, no announcement to make: White House Thu,30 Aug 2012 12:04 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House repeated on Thursday that releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in response to lofty energy prices remains an option but that it had no announcements to make on the topic. "That remains the case but I have no announcements to make about that specific option or any other option," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters. The White House is monitoring the impact of oil prices on the U.S. economy and the global economy, he said. "We ... are studying our options," Carney said. ... Full Story Top Georgia says armed raid was in "enemy's" interests Thu,30 Aug 2012 11:47 AM PDT Reuters - TBILISI (Reuters) - Georgian officials said on Thursday gunmen who took hostages on its territory were Russian nationals and suggested they acted in the interests of the "enemy", while stopping short of blaming Moscow for the raid. Georgian forces shot dead 11 gunmen and three of its soldiers were killed in an operation on August 29 to free hostages near the frontier with Russia's Dagestan region. ... Full Story Top

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