Political News from Yahoo
Bomb explodes in southern district of Lebanese capital
BEIRUT (Reuters) - A bomb planted under a car exploded in a southern suburb of Beirut late on Monday, a Lebanese security source said, rocking a Shi'ite Muslim area that is a stronghold of the militant group Hezbollah. The bomb destroyed the car and damaged buildings in the residential area of Hay al-Sellom but there were no casualties, the source said. It was not immediately clear what the target of the bomb was but the car was parked near a office for Shi'ite Hezbollah-aligned Amal political group. ...
France tells nationals to leave northern Nigeria
PARIS (Reuters) - France has asked its citizens to leave northern Nigeria and areas around the capital Abuja after threats due to its military intervention in Mali, a diplomatic source said on Monday. Islamist militants have vowed to target French interests following its two-week-old military offensive in Mali against militants allied to al Qaeda. The diplomatic source said the threat of kidnappings coupled with Nigeria's support for France's action in Mali had raised the risks for French nationals. France has about 2,000 citizens living in Nigeria, of which 335 live in or around Abuja. ...
New Jersey governor vetoes minimum wage hike, suggests options
(Reuters) - New Jersey's Republican Governor Chris Christie on Monday conditionally vetoed legislation that would increase the state's minimum wage to $8.50 per hour from $7.25 and tie it to the consumer price index. Instead, Christie proposed a smaller rate increase to be phased in over three years, without linking future wage hikes to the index. Democratic leaders vowed to send their proposal to voters in November elections. Calling the bill "lopsided," Christie said in his veto letter to the state's Democrat-led legislature that its wage hike would doom small businesses. ...
Analysis: Nightclub fire exposes faults in Brazil's big ambitions
RIO DE JANEIRO/BRASILIA (Reuters) - A nightclub fire that killed 231 people is prompting Brazilians to worry that a culture of haphazard regulation and lax accountability stand in the way of achieving the country's lofty, first-world ambitions. Brazil, Latin America's biggest country, has been praised by economists and investors over the past decade during a boom that made it one of the world's most promising emerging markets. ...
FACT CHECK: The stretched case against Chuck Hagel
Fighting in South Sudan town kills four, thousands flee
JUBA (Reuters) - A gunfight between South Sudanese soldiers and a former rebel commander's guards killed four people in a small eastern town, destroyed buildings there and forced thousands to flee, witnesses and officials said on Monday. Symptomatic of the disorder that has plagued some parts of the south since it split from Sudan after decades of civil war, the fighting on Sunday in Jonglei state's Pibor broke out between soldiers on patrol and bodyguards of James Kuberin. ...
U.S. to criticize Sri Lanka at U.N. rights council
COLOMBO (Reuters) - The United States will deliver a sharp public rebuke to Sri Lanka at the U.N. Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in March for failing to pursue those responsible for abuses as government forces were crushing Tamil rebels in 2009, officials said on Monday. A three-member U.S. delegation is in Colombo on a five-day visit to discuss issues including progress in implementing the recommendations of Sri Lanka's own official investigation into the war, which called for the prosecution of soldiers suspected of killing civilians. ...
Long-delayed Superstorm Sandy aid to get vote in Senate
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate plans to vote on a long-delayed $50.5 billion aid package for victims of Superstorm Sandy on Monday, three months after the storm devastated New Jersey and New York coastlines and destroyed thousands of homes and businesses. The vote, expected after 5:30 p.m. EST (2230 GMT), was postponed last week as Senate leaders wrangled over new rules aimed at limiting procedural roadblocks known as filibusters. ...
Chick-fil-A CEO, Gay Activist Meet
The leader of a national gay-rights group says he’s coming out–as a friend of Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy. “I’ve gotten to know Dan, he’s gotten to know me. He’s shared concerns about young people, about Chick-fil-A being used for certain purposes,” Shane Windmeyer, executive director...
Senator Schumer says hopes for quick immigration bill approval
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic leaders in the U.S. Senate hope to put immigration reform legislation on a fast-track, possibly passing a bill by the middle of this year, Senator Charles Schumer of New York said on Monday. Schumer, speaking to reporters about the outline of a newly unveiled bipartisan reform bill, said he hoped such legislation could clear the Senate by late spring or summer. (Reporting by Rachelle Younglai; Editing by Will Dunham)
Obama honors NBA Champion Miami Heat
ICE's CEO says has fielded calls about selling Euronext
MIAMI BEACH, Florida (Reuters) - IntercontinentalExchange Inc has received inquiries from rivals interested in buying NYSE Euronext's European stock exchanges once ICE completes its planned purchase of the New York-based exchange operator, ICE's chief executive said on Monday. Jeff Sprecher, whose $8.2 billion deal to buy the Big Board parent took markets by surprise in late 2012, said he is not considering any offers. ...
Canada says no date set to sign EU free trade deal
ABUJA (Reuters) - Free trade talks between Canada and the European Union are progressing but there is no end date for an deal that was supposed to have been finished by the end of 2012, Canada's Trade Minister Ed Fast said on Monday. Canada, keen to diversify its exports away from the United States, says a deal with the European Union would increase two-way trade by 20 percent. The talks started in 2009. ...
New York City's schools could lose 2,500 teachers by next year
(Reuters) - New York City's public schools over two years will lose $724 million in state aid and as many as 2,500 teachers through attrition, because of a labor union conflict over a teacher evaluation system, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said on Monday. The schools lost $250 million of that total earlier this month after the city and United Federation of Teachers failed to agree on a way to evaluate teacher performance. ...
Obama Talks Gun Violence With Police Chiefs From Mass-Shooting Towns
President Obama is enlisting the help of police chiefs from communities devastated by mass shootings as he continues a public push for Congress to act on his proposals to curb gun violence. “No group is more important for us to listen to than our law...
