politics

kabul conference

Militants killed, detained in connection with Kabul Conference raid
Several insurgents were killed and two were detained while troops were looking for a Taliban facilitator who was believed to be in the final stages of planning an attack against an international conference in Kabul, authorities said Tuesday.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is attending the gathering, known as the Kabul Conference. Read more…

hillary clinton

Clinton aims to refine goals of Afghan war
ISLAMABAD — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton started a South Asia tour on Sunday aimed at refining the goals of the nearly 9-year-old war in Afghanistan and pushing neighboring nations to work together in the fight against al-Qaida and Taliban extremists.

Clinton landed in Islamabad where she will underscore the need for Afghan-Pakistani cooperation in winning the war but also announce plans to beef up U.S. development assistance to Pakistan, which is rife with anti-American sentiment.
Read more…

still waiting

Heckenlively still waiting to see if he can challenge Paul Ryan for Congress

Heckenlively registered as a Democrat to run against the Republican congressman, but he was initially short on valid signatures; some who signed his nomination papers did not include the year when they signed their names, he said. He faxed papers to the Government Accountability Board on Friday, and on these papers the circulator verified that the nomination papers were signed this year, but the GAB said it needed to see the actual paper the circulator signed, not just a faxed copy, Heckenlively said. They should receive that on Monday, he said. Read more…

frank lucas

Probe targets lawmakers’ fundraisers
A controversial investigation by the Office of Congressional Ethics into fundraising by eight lawmakers prior to the House vote on financial services reform is continuing, but whether the ethics committee will launch a full-scale probe is still far from clear.

OCE is also running into its own internal deadline for making recommendations on investigations to the ethics committee, further complicating the outlook for both the members being targeted and the ethics watchdog office. Read more…

naacp

NAACP resolution condemns racism in tea party
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The country’s largest civil rights organization has passed a resolution that condemns racism within the tea party movement.

Delegates approved the resolution Tuesday during the annual convention of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in Kansas City. Read more…

japan election

Japan PM ‘suffers election setback’
Japan’s ruling coalition appears to have suffered a major blow in upper house elections, with exit polls suggesting that it is likely to lose its majority.

Public broadcaster NHK predicted that the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ won less than 50 of the contested seats in the upper house election on Sunday, down from 54 before the polls. Read more…

billy hayes

Billy Hayes tells his version of ‘Midnight Express’
Billy Hayes says the film version of ‘Midnight Express’ casts the nation of Turkey in an unjustly bad light.

The Turkish government held Billy Hayes prisoner for five long years and Oliver Stone wrote an Oscar-winning screenplay about Hayes’ hellish ordeal and eventual escape, but the convicted drug smuggler thinks the Eurasian nation took a bad rap from the 1978 film “Midnight Express.”
Read more…

kevin rudd

Australia PM Rudd tipped to lose leadership vote
* Most ruling-party lawmakers favour Deputy PM Gillard-media
* Treasurer Wayne Swan backing Gillard – ABC Radio

Gillard would become Australia’s first woman prime minister if successful at the vote set for 9 a.m. (2300 GMT Wednesday), but she is expected to present more of a change of leadership style than substance, with no major policy reversals anticipated.
Though Gillard is unlikely to scrap major government policies, investors hope she will adopt a more conciliatory stance on the most controversial one, a proposed 40 percent mining tax which has angered miners and rattled
voters Read more…

naoto kan

New Japan PM Kan unveils cabinet as election looms
Japan’s new Prime Minister Naoto Kan has named his cabinet and is due to be formally sworn in by Emperor Akihito.

As expected, he chose his former deputy Yoshihiko Noda to replace him as finance minister, while the foreign and defence ministers remain in office.

Mr Kan was elected prime minister by lawmakers on Friday, two days after the abrupt resignation of Yukio Hatoyama.
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g20

G20 officials see no deal in Busan on bank levy

South Korea—U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne Friday urged the Group of 20 nations to press ahead with completing new capital and liquidity rules soon.

In a statement read out by his spokesman, Mr. Osborne said one of the things he will be pressing for at the G-20 finance ministers and central bankers meeting in South Korea “is that the agreements we’ve reached last year on capital, leverage and liquidity are now concluded.”

“We want to end the uncertainty,” he said.

Mr. Osborne also said that securing growth and tackling deficits were key goals for the summit, which starts late Friday.
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