| | January 13, 2012 | | HE’S BACK! Herman Cain may not be participating in the South Carolina primary, but he’s not licking his wounds. Leslie Bennetts talks to the maverick about sex and politics, his bus tour—and his plan to endorse. AMNESTY Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced Friday that the U.S. will send an ambassador to Burma, the first step in normalizing a diplomatic relationship. Almost all of Burma’s most prominent political dissidents have been set free, as the thawing government released 651 prisoners Friday in another move toward democracy. Those freed include leaders of the 1988 student protest movement, Army dissidents jailed in 2004, and monks arrested in 2007 demonstrations. Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said the move was a “positive sign.” SHRINK Who are you calling fiscally irresponsible, Ron Paul and Rick Perry? President Barack Obama is seeking the power to merge agencies in a bid to shrink the federal government in a sweeping move. Obama will ask Congress to give him authority to consolidate six trade and commerce agencies that have overlapping programs, cutting up to 2,000 jobs and saving $3 billion over 10 years. He’ll call for a vote by Congress within 90 days. SENTENCE A Peruvian court has sentenced Joran van der Sloot to 28 years in prison for murder. Van der Sloot, 24, pled guilty on Wednesday to murdering Stephany Flores, a 21-year-old Peruvian woman he met at a Lima casino and subsequently strangled in her hotel room. The murder occurred in 2010—exactly five years after 18-year-old Natalee Holloway went missing in Aruba after spending time with van der Sloot. Holloway was declared legally dead on Thursday. Counterattack Mitt Romney is sick of getting slammed for his time as CEO of Bain Capital and is fighting back against attacks in his latest South Carolina ad. The presidential hopeful insists he is a “conservative businessman” and that during his tenure at the private-equity firm he rebuilt several struggling companies and created thousands of jobs. In addition to defending himself, Romney hits back at his rivals who’ve been particularly harsh—namely, Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry—quoting The Wall Street Journal, which said Romney’s opponents were embarrassing themselves with their incessant digs. | |
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