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AP Political NewsBrief at 2:19 p.m. EDT(Associated Press Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Obama kicks off Twitter town with a tweetWASHINGTON (AP) _ President Barack Obama is kicking off his first Twitter town hall with _ what else? _ a tweet. Obama sent the tweet from a laptop set up on a podium in the East Room of the White House. He typed this message: "In order to reduce the deficit, what costs would you cut and what investments would you keep?" Clemens perjury trial starts with jury selectionWASHINGTON (AP) _ The perjury trial of pitching great Roger Clemens began Wednesday with word that Hall of Famer Wade Boggs and former All-Star pitcher David Cone could be called to testify in their former teammate's defense. Boggs and Cone are among 10 former ballplayers or people associated with the game whom Clemens' attorneys said could be either called as witnesses or mentioned as part of their defense against charges he lied to Congress about the use of performance-enhancing drugs. Prosecutors listed nearly 100 people who could be part of their case either by mention or on the witness stand, including players Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Jose Canseco, Jason Giambi, Jason Grimsley, Jorge Posada, David Segui, Andy Pettitte, Chuck Knoblauch and Mike Stanton. Study: Long commutes could fatigue airline pilotsWASHINGTON (AP) _ One in five airline pilots lives at least 750 miles from work, according to a study by scientific advisers to the government, raising concerns that long commutes to airports could lead to fatigue in the cockpit. The calculations were based on home addresses of more than 25,000 pilots. Six percent of pilots listed a primary residence at least 1,500 miles from the airline base where they begin flights, according to a National Research Council report released Wednesday. Obama to send condolence letters on troop suicidesWASHINGTON (AP) _ President Barack Obama said Wednesday that he's decided to reverse a long-standing policy of not sending condolence letters to the families of service members who commit suicide while in a combat zone. Mental health and troop advocacy groups welcomed the change as a step in the right direction, but said those who die outside the war zones also should be recognized and more should be done to combat suicides among service members. GOP leader criticizes handling of Somali suspectWASHINGTON (AP) _ The Senate Republican leader on Wednesday accused the Obama administration of undermining U.S. national security by bringing a Somali man facing terrorism charges to New York for trial. In a speech on the Senate floor, Sen. Mitch McConnell assailed the administration's decision, arguing that the Somali citizen _ Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame _ belongs at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where he could be tried by a military tribunal. US: Terrorists look to implant bombs in humansWASHINGTON (AP) _ The U.S. government has warned domestic and international airlines that some terrorists are considering surgically implanting explosives into humans to carry out attacks, The Associated Press has learned. There is no intelligence pointing to a specific plot, but the U.S. shared its concerns last week with executives at domestic and international carriers. Romney raises $18M for presidential campaignWASHINGTON (AP) _ Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney raised more than $18 million in the past three months and his campaign has $12.6 million in the bank. Romney released his fundraising totals Wednesday, and they show him well ahead of his rivals. House GOP signals flexibility in deficit talksWASHINGTON (AP) _ A top House Republican Wednesday signaled new flexibility on White House demands to close wasteful or ineffective tax loopholes as a way to bridge differences with President Barack Obama and Capitol Hill Democrats in talks on a plan to reduce the deficit and pave the way to increase the government's borrowing authority. "If the president wants to talk loopholes, we'll be glad to talk loopholes," said House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va. Cantor added that any revenues raised from closing such loopholes "should be coupled with offsetting tax cuts somewhere else." GOP pushes back on effort to limit kids' food adsWASHINGTON (AP) _ House Republicans are siding with food companies resisting the Obama administration's efforts to pressure them to stop advertising junk food for children. Some food companies say the government is going too far with guidelines proposed earlier this year by several government agencies. The voluntary guidelines would attempt to shield children from ads for sugary and fatty foods _ think colorful characters on cereal boxes _ on television, in stores and on the Internet. Companies would be urged to market foods to children ages 2 through 17 only if they contain specific healthy ingredients and are low in fats, sugars and sodium. Analysis blames NKorea for cyberattack on SKoreaWASHINGTON (AP) _ North Korea or its sympathizers were likely responsible for the cyberattack against South Korean government and banking websites earlier this year, according to a new analysis that said it also appears to have been linked to the 2009 massive computer-based attack that brought down U.S. government Internet sites. A study by computer security software maker McAfee Inc. concludes that the attack that targeted more than two dozen sites in South Korea was a type of reconnaissance mission to see how quickly South Korea's government detected the problem and recovered from it. The McAfee report, expected to be released Tuesday, said clues in the code suggest that the attack was probably engineered by North Korea or its sympathizers. (c) 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |