Month: October 2013

Despite reprieve, California fights prison crowding order

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By Sharon Bernstein SACRAMENTO (Reuters) – As a deadline looms for California to comply with a federal court order to reduce crowding in its mammoth and troubled prison system, state officials are scrambling to fight – or at a minimum to delay – its implementation. Failing to find a way to reduce crowding would open Democratic Governor Jerry Brown to charges of contempt of court, and could ultimately force the state by January 27 to release as many as 8,000 inmates before they have completed their sentences. …

In historic step, Japan PM hikes tax; will cushion blow to economy

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Man looks at prices at ticket shop in TokyoBy Tetsushi Kajimoto and Stanley White TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took a step on Tuesday that none of his predecessors had managed in more than 15 years – making a dent in the government's runaway debt. Abe, riding a wave of popularity with economic policies that have begun to stir the world's third-biggest economy out of years of lethargy, said the government will raise the national sales tax to 8 percent in April from 5 percent. But at the same time he softened the blow to the nascent recovery. As the tax increase is set to raise an additional 8 trillion yen ($81. …

For House Republicans, confrontation is safer than compromise

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Chairman of the House Rules Committee, Representative Pete Session (R-TX) and Representative Virginia Foxx (R-NC) sit after a late-night meeting at the U.S. Capitol in WashingtonBy Andy Sullivan WASHINGTON (Reuters) – For most Republicans in the House of Representatives, the only greater peril than shutting down the federal government would have been fighting to keep it open. While a shutdown could hurt the Republican Party's ability to win the Senate next year or take the White House in 2016, that's not the concern of party members in the House, who led the push to pair continued government funding with measures that would delay President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law. …

Pentagon chief says shutdown hurts U.S. credibility with allies

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U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel speaks to the media about the U.S. government shutdown, at his hotel in SeoulBy David Alexander SEOUL (Reuters) – The U.S. government shutdown will undermine American credibility abroad and lead allies to question its commitment to treaty obligations, the U.S. defense chief warned on Tuesday as he prepared to put 400,000 civilian workers on unpaid leave. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, who was visiting South Korea to celebrate the two nations' 60-year-old mutual defense treaty, said Pentagon lawyers were analyzing a new law passed by Congress to see if additional civilian workers could be spared unpaid leave. …

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