Global Political News – sknlabourparty

WASHINGTON – Elena Kagan was sworn in Saturday as the 112th justice and fourth woman ever to serve on the Supreme Court.

Chief Justice John Roberts administered the oath to Kagan in a brief private ceremony at the court. Kagan, joined by family and friends, pledged to faithfully and impartially uphold the law.

Afterward, she smiled broadly as a crowd of onlookers stood and applauded. “We look forward to serving with you,” Roberts said.

Kagan, a former Harvard Law School dean who most recently was solicitor general, was President Barack Obama’s choice to succeed retired Justice John Paul Stevens. Republicans criticized her as a political liberal, before the Senate confirmed her this past week on a vote of 63-37.

She was sworn in twice Saturday by Roberts — reciting one oath as prescribed by the Constitution during a ceremony in a conference room at the court with only her family present. Kagan then recited a second oath, taken by judges, with her family and friends and reporters present.

Kagan won’t be formally installed as a justice until Oct. 1 in a courtroom ceremony at the start of the court’s new term. But after the oaths taken on Saturday, she will be able to begin assuming her duties as a justice, which include reviewing cases and emergency appeals filed to the Supreme Court.

Kagan, 50, joins Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor on the nine-member court, which often divides 5-4 on high-profile cases such as gun rights, discrimination and campaign finance. The first woman in the court’s history, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, retired in 2005.

Kagan isn’t expected to alter the ideological balance of the court, where Stevens was considered a leader of the liberals.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. military has a plan to attack Iran, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Sunday, although he thinks a military strike is probably a bad idea.

Not long after Adm. Mike Mullen’s aired on a Sunday talk show, the deputy chief of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard was quoted as saying there would be a strong Iranian response should the U.S. take military action against his country.

Mullen, the highest ranking U.S. military officer, often has warned that a strike on Iran would have serious and unpredictable ripple effects around the Middle East. At the same time, Mullen said the risk of Iran’s developing a nuclear weapon is unacceptable, although he would not say which risk he thinks is worse.

“I think the military options have been on the table and remain on the table,” Mullen said on “Meet the Press” on NBC. “It’s one of the options that the president has. Again, I hope we don’t get to that, but it’s an important option and it’s one that’s well understood.”

The official Iranian news agency IRNA quoted Revolutionary Guard deputy chief Yadollah Javani as saying Sunday that security in the Persian Gulf would be jeopardized “if Americans commit the slightest mistake.”

“The Persian Gulf is a strategic region. If the security of this region is endangered, they will suffer losses too and our response will be firm,” Javani said.

Iran repeatedly has threatened to target the heart of Tel Aviv, the second-largest city in Israel, should the U.S. or Israel take military action against it.

The U.S. and Iran are at odds over the goals of Iran’s nuclear program. Iran contends that it’s aimed at peaceful uses of nuclear energy while the U.S. claims Iran is gearing up to create a nuclear weapon.

WASHINGTON – What does President Barack Obama look forward to most when he leaves the Oval Office each day?

The president says that’s an easy question to answer: It’s having dinner with his two daughters.

Obama tells CBS’ “Sunday Morning” show that time with his family is “a prize.” And he says it’s a reminder of why he does what he does as president, to make sure that his daughter’s children live in a strong America.

Malia Obama is 12 and sister Sasha is 9.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

WASHINGTON (AP) — What does President Barack Obama look forward to most when he leaves the Oval Office each day?

The president says that’s an easy question to answer: It’s having dinner with his two daughters.

Obama tells CBS’ “Sunday Morning” show that time with his family is “a prize.” And he says it’s a reminder of why he does what he does as president, to make sure that his daughter’s children live in a strong America.

Malia Obama is 12 and sister Sasha is 9.

WASHINGTON – Former Vice President Dick Cheney is still in the hospital after heart surgery in early July.

Daughter Liz Cheney says her 69-year-old dad is out of intensive care and hopes to return home this week. She tells “Fox News Sunday” that he’s already planning trips for fly fishing and hunting later this year.

Dick Cheney has had five heart attacks since he was 37. In his recent surgery at a northern Virginia hospital, Cheney had a small pump installed to help his heart work.

After the operation, Cheney said in a statement that he was entering a new phase of treatment for what he called “increasing congestive heart failure.”

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Vice President Dick Cheney is still in the hospital after heart surgery in early July.

Daughter Liz Cheney says her 69-year-old dad is out of intensive care and hopes to return home this week. She tells “Fox News Sunday” that he’s already planning trips for fly fishing and hunting later this year.

Dick Cheney has had five heart attacks since he was 37. In his recent surgery at a northern Virginia hospital, Cheney had a small pump installed to help his heart work.

After the operation, Cheney said in a statement that he was entering a new phase of treatment for what he called “increasing congestive heart failure.”

WASHINGTON – First lady Michelle Obama urged Congress to pass legislation that calls for higher nutritional standards for school meals.

In an op-ed essay appearing in Monday’s edition of The Washington Post, Mrs. Obama wrote that the Child Nutrition Bill would require more fruits, vegetables and whole grains and less fat and salt in school lunches and breakfasts. And she said it would help eliminate junk food in vending machines.

“We owe it to the children who aren’t reaching their potential because they’re not getting the nutrition they need during the day,” the first lady wrote.

In encouraging Congress to pass the bill, she wrote that “our prosperity depends on the health and vitality of the next generation.”

The bill was approved by the House Education and Labor Committee last month, and a Senate committee has approved similar legislation.

Congressional passage would be just the first step. Many of the most difficult decisions, including what kinds of foods will be sold and what ingredients may be limited, will be left up to the Agriculture Department.

The legislation would also expand the number of low-income children eligible for free or reduced-cost meals, a step Democrats say would help President Barack Obama reach his goal of ending childhood hunger by 2015.

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama says he agrees that more control must be exerted over illegal immigration, but he won’t accept “a patchwork of 50 different states” acting on their own.

Obama tells CBS he believes immigration control advocates “are absolutely correct.” But he also says “what we can’t do is demagogue the issue.” The president tells anchor Harry Smith he wants to “work with Arizona,” while insisting that national immigration policy cannot be left to “anybody who wants to make a name for themselves.”

Arizona has appealed a federal judge’s ruling striking down key provisions of its law reining in illegal immigration. A federal appeals court has decided not to immediately get into the case, leaving the state to consider other steps it might take in the meantime.

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama will set a course Monday for the nation’s changing mission in Iraq as the military prepares to end its combat operations there.

In a speech at the national convention of the Disabled American Veterans in Atlanta, Obama was to address the progress being made to meet his deadline of drawing down all combat troops by the end of the month. A transitional force of 50,000 troops will remain to train Iraqi security forces, conduct counterterrorism operations and provide security for ongoing U.S. civilian efforts.

“Make no mistake: Our commitment in Iraq is changing, from a military effort led by our troops to a civilian effort led by our diplomats,” Obama said in excerpts released ahead of the speech.

Obama has said all U.S. troops will be gone from Iraq by the end of next year.

At the same time Obama has drawn down forces in Iraq, he has increased the U.S. commitment in Afghanistan, ordering a surge of 30,000 additional troops. But with casualties on the rise, there are fresh concerns about the 9-year mission in Afghanistan, as well as Obama’s plan to begin withdrawing troops in July 2011, a timetable that critics say will embolden the Taliban and other extremist groups in the region.

Facing a potential loss of public and congressional support for the Afghanistan war, the White House is painting the U.S. mission there as humble and achievable: keeping the region from being a haven for terrorists.

“What we’re looking to do is difficult, very difficult, but it’s a fairly modest goal,” Obama told the CBS “Sunday Morning” show.

Despite the surge in Afghanistan, there are fewer U.S. troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan now than there were when Obama took office last year. Come September, when the Iraq drawdown is complete, the White House says there will 146,000 troops on the ground, down from 177,000 in January 2009.

During his remarks Monday, Obama is expected to speak about the government’s efforts to support those troops, as well as veterans of other wars.

“While our country has sometimes been divided, they have fought together as one,” Obama said in the excerpts. “While other individuals and institutions have shirked responsibility, they have welcomed it.”

After the speech, Obama was scheduled to attend a fundraising lunch for the Democratic National Committee, his latest stop in a summer fundraising sprint that also includes events in Chicago later this week.

But Georgia’s most prominent Democrat, former Gov. Roy Barnes, won’t be joining Obama at either of his stops Monday. Barnes, who is running to get his old job back, had previously scheduled events in southern Georgia, his campaign said.

Distancing himself from the president could be politically smart for Barnes. Georgia is a Republican stronghold that John McCain carried in 2008. A poll conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc. in July had Obama with a 37 percent approval rating in the state. Fifty percent of those surveyed disapproved of Obama’s performance.

BEIJING (AFP) – China said Friday it opposed tough new sanctions imposed by the European Union on Iran over its contested nuclear programme, again calling for more talks to resolve the standoff.

“China disapproves of the unilateral sanctions put in place by the EU against Iran,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said in a statement.

“We hope the relevant parties will adhere to diplomatic means on the issue, and properly resolve the issue through talks and negotiation,” she said.

The spokeswoman welcomed Iran’s announcement that it was ready for immediate talks with the United States, Russia and France over an exchange of nuclear fuel, saying she hoped talks would begin “as soon as possible”.

European foreign ministers on Monday formally adopted measures targeting Iran’s oil and gas industries, going beyond a fourth set of UN sanctions imposed last month over its refusal to freeze uranium enrichment.

Canada then followed suit.

The EU measures include a ban on the sale of equipment, technology and services to Iran’s energy sector, hitting activities in refining, liquefied natural gas, exploration and production, diplomats said.

New investments in the energy sector are also banned.

The moves, which follow similar sanctions imposed by the United States, are aimed at reviving moribund talks between Iran and six world powers — Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States.

The United States hailed the EU sanctions, saying the steps “underscore the international community’s deepening concerns about Iran’s nuclear programme” — which the West and Israel say is a covert weapons programme.

But Iran’s foreign ministry said the sanctions were not “an effective tool” and would only serve to “complicate” its showdown with the West.

Russia’s foreign ministry on Tuesday called the new EU sanctions “unacceptable”.

“We have already said many times that we consider unacceptable the practice of unilateral or collective sanctions measures against Iran that go beyond the Security Council sanctions regime in action in the country,” it said.

China has emerged as Iran’s closest trading partner and has major energy interests in the Islamic republic.

But it did back the new UN measures, which expand an arms embargo and bar Iran from sensitive activities such as uranium mining.

The United States said Thursday that it would dispatch two top envoys to China in August to lobby for Beijing’s support for tougher sanctions against Iran.

LONDON – A diplomatic spat with implications for international counterterrorism escalated Saturday after Pakistan’s spy chief canceled a visit to London following comments by the British leader suggesting Pakistan exports terrorism.

Pakistan confirmed President Asif Ali Zardari will come to Britain for a planned trip next week, but relations between the two countries have been strained by Prime Minister David Cameron’s blunt remarks during a visit to Pakistan’s nuclear rival, India. Cameron, who took office in May, said Pakistan must not be allowed to “promote the export of terror whether to India, whether to Afghanistan or to anywhere else in the world.”

Cameron later conceded that Pakistan had made moves against terror organizations, but said “it still needs to take further steps.”

The remarks outraged Pakistani officials. Wajid Shamsul Hasan, Pakistan’s ambassador to Britain, called the comments “an immature reaction from an immature politician.”

A senior Pakistani intelligence official confirmed that Saturday Inter-Services Intelligence chief Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shujaa Pasha had called off a trip planned for next week, when he had been due to discuss security cooperation with British intelligence bosses. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with his agency’s policy.

On Saturday about a dozen protesters from the Islamist group Shababe Milli burned an effigy of Cameron in the city of Karachi.

The demonstrators chanted “Down with Cameron!” and “God is great!” outside the Karachi Press Club. “Cameron-the loose mouth,” a placard read.

Pakistan insists that it has done more than any other country to combat terrorism, sending the army to fight Taliban and al-Qaida-linked militants within its borders and cooperating closely with Western intelligence agencies.

But its spy agency has long been accused of secretly aiding Afghanistan’s Taliban and other Islamic militants.

Pakistan’s military-run spy agency operates largely beyond civilian control. But the official said the decision to scrap the spy delegation’s visit was backed by the Pakistani government.

Britain’s Foreign Office declined to comment on Pasha’s canceled trip, saying it did not discuss intelligence matters.

Pakistani Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira confirmed Zardari would travel Tuesday to visit Britain. Zardari is due to stay with Cameron at his country retreat, Chequers.

“We think this will be a fruitful visit,” Kaira told reporters in London, adding that Cameron’s comments would be on the agenda.

Shahbaz Sharif, chief minister of Pakistan’s Punjab province and a leading opposition politician, had called on Zardari to cancel the trip, saying the money saved should go to help victims of devastating floods.

“This money should instead be spent on the flood-affected areas,” he said.

More than 800 people have died in flooding in Pakistan in the past week. The country has been extremely hard hit by monsoon rains this year.

Former British Foreign Secretary David Miliband accused Cameron of alienating an important ally.

“Britain needs good relations with Pakistan, and Pakistan good relations with Britain,” said Miliband, foreign-affairs spokesman for the opposition Labour Party.

“The prime minister’s comments this week told only part of the story and that has enraged people in Pakistan. It is vital he shows that he understands the need not just for Pakistan to tackle terrorism but that he will support them in doing so and understand the losses they have suffered,” Miliband said.

Britain and the United States regard Pakistan as a key nation in the fight against terrorism. Britain’s former prime minister, Gordon Brown, said that 75 percent of terror plots under investigation in Britain were linked to Pakistan.

Britain is home to about 1 million people of Pakistani origin.

Pakistani officials say their spies have worked closely with British counterparts to investigate the 2005 London suicide bombings and to thwart several planned attacks, including a 2006 plot to blow up trans-Atlantic airliners.