Political News from Yahoo

Illinois becomes fourth state to allow driver's licenses for undocumented

(Reuters) - Illinois Governor Pat Quinn on Sunday signed a law allowing undocumented immigrants to apply for driver's licenses, in a move he said would improve road safety. Undocumented immigrants can also obtain driver's licenses in New Mexico and Washington state, while Utah allows driving permits. "Despite the stalemate on immigration reform in Washington D.C., Illinois is moving forward," Quinn said in a statement. "This common sense law will help everybody, regardless of their background, learn the rules of the road, pass a driving test and get insurance. ...

Venezuela transfers inmates from prison after riot kills 58

URIBANA, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuelan authorities transferred inmates out of a prison on Sunday following a bloody riot two days earlier that killed 58 people and again highlighted chaos in the country's jails. It was the fourth high-profile incident in 18 months in a penal system that has experienced repeated fatal clashes and shootouts. Venezuela's prisons house three times the number of inmates they were designed to hold. ...


American pastor sentenced to 8 years in Iran

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — An American pastor who has been jailed in Iran since September has been sentenced to eight years in prison, the U.S. State Department said Sunday.

Obama lauds Clinton as she prepares to leave

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama lauded Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton as one of his closest advisers and said their shared vision for America's role in the world persuaded his one-time rival — and potential successor — to be his top diplomat while he dealt with the shattered economy at home.


Japan forecasts real GDP growth of 2.5 percent in year from April

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's economy will likely grow 2.5 percent in the fiscal year starting in April, the government said on Monday, as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ambitious fiscal and monetary policies boost domestic demand and a rebounding overseas economy helps exports. The Cabinet Office's economic forecast, issued annually and revised every summer, will serve as a basis for the compilation of the government's budget, a draft of which is likely to be approved by the cabinet this week. ...


Clinton coy about political future in joint interview with Obama

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Outgoing U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sidestepped questions about whether she would run for president in 2016 in a CBS television interview done jointly with President Barack Obama, her rival in the 2008 race. Clinton, 65, denied there were any political tea leaves to read in the unusual joint interview for the CBS show "60 Minutes," and acknowledged that she still has "some lingering effects" from a recent concussion and blood clot that she said doctors expect to disappear over time. ...


Violence flares at Dominican opposition party office, eight injured

SANTO DOMINGO (Reuters) - At least eight people were injured, mostly by gunfire, during a dispute between rival factions competing for control of the Dominican Republic's leading opposition party, officials said on Sunday. The incident occurred at the headquarters of the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD) in the capital, Santo Domingo, in the wake of a party decision to expel former President Hipolito Mejia and three other senior members from its ranks. Police intervened after a confrontation between Mejia supporters and security guards at the offices, according to witnesses and authorities. ...

Russia set to start posthumous trial of whistleblower Magnitsky

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia prepared to put whistleblowing lawyer Sergei Magnitsky on trial more than three years after his death, with a preliminary hearing set for Monday in a move relatives and rights groups called politically motivated and a travesty of justice. Magnitsky's death in a Moscow jail has harmed Russia's image abroad and badly strained relations with the United States. His mother and her lawyer said they refused to participate. "I think it is inhuman to try a dead man," Magnitsky's mother Natalya told Reuters by telephone. ...


Pages