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GOP sees chance to attack Obama on rising gas prices
WASHINGTON — Rising gasoline prices, trumpeted in foot-tall numbers on street corners across the country, are causing concern among advisers to President Obama that a budding sense of economic optimism could be undermined just as he heads into the general election. Other political news of note AP Romney's earmarks for Olympics get new attention Mitt Romney oversaw a lobbying campaign that snared tens of millions of dollars in federal earmarks for the Salt Lake Olympics, according to Senate lobbying records. Updated 40 minutes ago 2/19/2012 4:56:22 AM +00:00 NYT: GOP sees chance to hit Obama on gas prices Santorum: Obama believes in 'phony theology' Santorum accuses Romney of...
Obama finally scores coveted win on payroll tax
ANDREW TAYLOR Associated Press= WASHINGTON (AP) — The $143 billion payroll tax cut won by President Barack Obama may be the last significant measure he receives from a deeply divided Congress as Election Day approaches. Obama's coveted renewal of the payroll tax cut for 160 million workers and jobless benefits for millions more caps a five-month campaign-style drive against reluctant GOP lawmakers. Under the bill, workers will continue to receive a 2 percentage point increase in their paychecks, and people out of work for more than six months will keep jobless benefits averaging about $300 a week. Obama says these steps will help support a fragile recovery from the worst economic downturn...
Oil hovers above $102 amid global stocks rally
SINGAPORE — Oil hovered above $102 a barrel Friday in Asia as signs of an improving U.S. economy fueled investor optimism and a global stock market rally. Benchmark crude was up 15 cents to $101.46 per barrel at midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 52 cents to settle at $102.32 per barrel in New York on Thursday. Brent crude was up 29 cents at $120.40 per barrel in London. Crude has jumped from $96 earlier this...
EU urged to let Greece leave euro
Martin Callanan said the next EU summit, scheduled for March 1, should not seek more cures for the Greek economic crisis but should concentrate on preparing for the country to drop out of the eurozone. Meanwhile the European Commission insisted that Brussels and the other member states still wanted Greece to stay in the eurozone, despite delays by Athens in agreeing strict conditions for receiving a second EU-IMF bailout in time to...
Barack Obama tells Xi Jinping China must improve its human rights record
US President Barack Obama told Chinese leader-in-waiting Xi Jinping on Tuesday that Beijing must play by the same trade rules as other major world powers and vowed to keep pressing China to clean up its human rights record. China's Vice President Xi Jinping shakes hands with President Barack Obama Photo: REUTERS/Jason Reed tag --> 7:53AM GMT 15 Feb 2012 Comments In White House talks, Obama sought to reassure Xi that Washington welcomed China's "peaceful rise". But he signalled that frictions would remain, with growing economic and military rivalry between the two countries, and chided China over its opposition to UN action on Syria. The meeting with Obama was the centrepiece of a...
US stocks drop on weak retail sales data for January
US stocks fell overnight as investors considered weaker-than-expected retail sales data and watched for progress in Europe over Greece's debt. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 49 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 12,824 in late New York trade. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index was down 7 points, or 0.5 per cent, to 1344 and the Nasdaq Composite was down 13 points, or 0.5 per...
Deadline nears, Obama wants payroll tax cut action
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is pressuring Congress to extend a payroll tax cut for the rest of the year as another deadline nears for Congress to act or see taxes go up for millions of working people. Lawmakers agreed in December, after much bickering, on a two-month extension, but that runs out at the end of this month. Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday that Congress "needs to stop this middle-class tax hike from happening. Period. No drama. No delay." Obama said the economic recovery must not be jeopardized by a failure to stop payroll taxes from rising, and he urged listeners to add their voices. "I hope you'll pick up the phone, send a tweet, write...
Egypt's angry soccer fans are deep into politics
HAMZA HENDAWI Associated Press= CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's ruling generals have a new enemy: the legions of angry soccer fans who have injected fervor into recent protests demanding the military step down and battled police for days in the streets of Cairo. Known as Ultras and long viewed as hooligans, they have grown increasingly political, starting with last year's uprising, and were pushed over the edge by the deadly riots at a soccer match last week. It's a sign of how the military's rocky handling of the transition is driving more and more Egyptians into activism at a time when many are frustrated with the generals who took over from Hosni Mubarak a year ago, and by growing economic and...
Obama: Europe needs 'absolute commitment' on debt crisis
WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama said on Wednesday Europe must not flinch as its leaders confront a raging debt crisis that he acknowledged could do real harm to the US economic recovery. In an interview with newspaper La Stampa on the eve of a White House meeting with Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti,...
Greek crisis deepens as austerity talks falter
Greek prime minister Lucas Papademos was struggling to maintain international credibility on Tuesday night, after missing a third deadline in a week to deliver an austerity agreement needed to release a €130bn (£108bn) bail-out package for his country and avert a debt default. Greece needs international aid to avoid defaulting on a €14.5bn bond on March 20, but will not receive help without a deal. Photo: EPA tag --> By Louise Armitstead 9:59PM GMT 07 Feb 2012 Comments However, international patience with Greece is fast running out. This situation was exacerbated by the decision to postpone by one day a meeting due to start on Tuesday night, for the country's political...
Obama says he deserves re-election, job's not done
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama says he deserves re-election, despite the nation's economic troubles. Obama said in a pre-Super Bowl interview on NBC that his administration is creating more than 250,000 jobs a month, the most since 2005, and a reversal from the 750,000 jobs the economy was losing three years ago. The president said American manufacturing still needs a boost and "We have got to make sure we are pushing American energy, not just oil and gas, but clean energy." Obama also said the country needed to return to "old-fashioned American values," so "everyone gets a fair shake." Three years ago, Obama said if the economy hadn't turned around by this time, his presidency...
Clinton warns aid to Egypt could be halted
MUNICH -- U.S. Secretary of State on Saturday issued a new warning to Egypt that the failure to resolve a bitter dispute over the status of nongovernmental pro-democracy groups may lead to the loss of U.S. aid to the country. Clinton met Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohammed Amr at an international security conference in and repeated that message, which had already been transmitted to officials in . The United States is due to give Egypt $1.3 billion in military assistance and $250 million in economic aid in 2012. "We are very clear that there are problems that arise from this situation that can impact all the rest of our relationship with Egypt," Clinton told reporters. "We do not want that."...
Obama urges Congress to 'keep recovery going'
US President Barack Obama challenged Congress to keep the economic recovery going as new data showed unemployment down to its lowest rate in three years. The unemployment rate dropped to 8.3%, beating analyst forecasts, and was down from 8.5% in...
Iran warns of retaliation over oil sanctions
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Friday Iran would retaliate over Western-backed oil sanctions and any threat of attack, after U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta was cited as saying he feared a possible Israeli strike as early as April. Iranian women walk in front of the pictures of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic (R) and Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during the anniversary ceremony of Iran's Islamic Revolution at the Behesht Zahra cemetery, south of Tehran, February 1, 2012. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi Defence Khamenei's defiant speech to mark the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution was the first...
Obama says his policies are extension of his faith
JULIE PACE Associated Press= WASHINGTON (AP) — Blending politics and religion, President Barack Obama said his Christian faith is a driving force behind his economic policies, from Wall Street reform to his calls for the wealthy to pay higher taxes. Obama's remarks Thursday at the National Prayer Breakfast were his most explicit account of how his personal religious beliefs factor into his decision-making on the nation's pressing problems. The comments came amid election-year criticism from Catholic groups and some Republicans that the president is waging a war on religion following his decision to require church-affiliated institutions to cover free birth control for employees. Speaking to...
David Miliband: Labour needs to rethink 'purpose and policies' to return to power
David Miliband has returned to the political front line with an attack on his brother Ed's Labour Party, saying it needs "restless rethinking" of its purpose and its policies if it is to return to power. Return to the fray: David Miliband attacked 'Reassurance Labour' Photo: EDDIE MULHOLLAND By Matthew Holehouse 5:58PM GMT 01 Feb 2012 In what is likely to be read as a thinly coded assault on the leadership of his brother, Mr Miliband said Labour should reform, rather than simply defend, the "central state", saying it is "likely to become bureaucratic and out of touch". He accused the party of failing to defend its record in government and calls on the leadership to regain economic...
Inclusive Cameron tones down EU rhetoric
David Cameron says a new treaty paving the way for closer fiscal co-operation among EU members will not place obligations on the UK. BBC political correspondent Iain Watson examines his manoeuvrings in Brussels, which have upset some euro-sceptic backbenchers. There was a determination that at this summit, the prime minister could not be portrayed as being isolated. Instead he would be in the...
Occupy protest rekindles debate about flag-burning
TERRY COLLINS Associated Press= OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Many in the crowd outside Oakland City Hall shouted "Burn it! Burn it!" as masked protesters readied to set fire to an American flag. That's when a woman emerged from the scrum, screaming for them to stop, that it would hurt the cause. Moments later, the flames began, and suddenly a movement that seemingly vanished weeks ago was back in the spotlight, this time for an act of protest that has long divided the nation and now the movement itself. The images of the flag-burning went viral in the hours after Saturday's demonstrations on Oakland's streets, with Occupy supporters denouncing the act as unpatriotic and a black mark on the...
Bolivia march revives Tipnis Amazon road dispute
Hundreds of protesters have arrived in Bolivia's main city, La Paz, to demand the government resume the construction of a controversial road through an Amazon reserve. President Evo Morales cancelled the project last year after a similar protest march by indigenous tribes. They said the road would...
Philippines growth rate slows amid global uncertainties
The Philippines economy slowed in 2011 as global economic uncertainties hurt demand and dented the country's export sector. Growth was "a relatively feeble" 3.7% during the year, down from 7.6% in 2010, the National Statistical...