Obama urges graduates to blunt special interests by getting involved

By Roberta Rampton

COLUMBUS, Ohio (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Sunday urged college graduates to participate in politics and said that without broad public involvement special interest groups can defeat legislation supported by the majority.

Obama, who said he is "obsessed with this issue" of inspiring citizens to engage with the political system, in a commencement address to Ohio State University was indirectly referring to the recent defeat of a proposal to expand background checks for gun purchases.

The measure enjoyed broad support among Americans but was defeated in the U.S. Senate.

Obama told students they need to vote and run for office and said that giving in to cynicism gives room for lobbyists and "the well-connected" to get their way in Washington.

"That's how a small minority of lawmakers get cover to defeat something the vast majority of their constituents want," he told the crowd of more than 57,000 at Ohio State University, including the 10,000 graduates.

Gun rights groups like the National Rifle Association have lobbied heavily against Obama's gun control proposals made in the wake of the Newtown, Connecticut school shooting.

Obama and his supporters have said that it is up to voters to hold their elected representatives accountable for the vote.

"Class of 2013: you can ultimately break that cycle. Only you can make sure the democracy you inherit is as good as we know it can be. But it requires your dedicated, informed and engaged citizenship," he said.

The president said tragedies of the past year have shown how Americans can come together for the common good.

Obama said Americans have shown how citizens can help communities recover from disaster like Hurricane Sandy last year, the recent Boston Marathon bombings and the December school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.

"In the aftermath of darkest tragedy, we have seen the American spirit at its brightest," Obama said.

"We've seen courage and compassion, a sense of civic duty, and a recognition that we are not a collection of strangers."

Obama's remarks come as polls by the Harvard University Institute of Politics show that the "millennial" crop of students - an age bracket that supported him in his election campaigns - is becoming fed up with politics.

Obama usually delivers a few commencement addresses each spring. The Ohio State University address is his first.

He will also speak at Morehouse College in Atlanta on May 19, and at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland on May 24.

(Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

View the original article here

UN rights body urges more thorough Sri Lanka probe

GENEVA (AP) — For the second time in as many years, the U.N.'s top human rights body approved a U.S.-backed resolution Thursday calling on Sri Lanka to more thoroughly investigate alleged war crimes committed by both sides during the country's quarter-century civil war with the Tamil Tiger rebels.

By a 25-13 vote, the 47-nation U.N. Human Rights Council urged the South Asian nation "to initiate credible and independent actions" to ensure justice and accountability in the aftermath of the conflict, which ended in 2009.

The resolution followed a U.N. report alleging the government may be to blame for thousands of civilian deaths during the military campaign to defeat Tamil Tiger rebels. Like a similar resolution in March 2012, the measure asks Sri Lanka to probe allegations of summary executions, kidnappings and other abuses, but stops short of calling for an international investigation.

Sri Lanka and its allies staunchly opposed the resolution, saying it unduly interfered in the country's domestic affairs and could hinder its reconciliation process.

The head of Sri Lanka's delegation to the council, Cabinet Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe, insisted before the vote that the resolution would set "a dangerous precedent" with its "interventionist" aims and could undermine the Human Rights Council's credibility.

"Today it is Sri Lanka, tomorrow it may be any other country," he told diplomats.

The Sri Lanka government has argued that its own investigation should suffice. A Sri Lankan commission report, released in December 2011, cleared government forces of wrongdoing.

Rights groups and foreign governments have called for an independent probe since government troops crushed the separatist rebels. Backers, such as the United States, the European Union and India, argued that credible probes into alleged crimes are an important step to heal the nation.

""The end of the conflict in Sri Lanka provided a unique opportunity to pursue a lasting political settlement, acceptable to all communities in Sri Lanka, including the Tamils," said India's ambassador, Dilip Sinha. "We urge Sri Lanka to take forward measures to ensure accountability. We expect these measures to be to the satisfaction of the international community."

In the end, the Geneva-based council passed the resolution with 25 countries in favor, 13 against and eight abstentions.

View the original article here

Italian president urges unity as poll pressure grows

By James Mackenzie

ROME (Reuters) - Italy's center-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani said on Sunday he would seek the backing of parliament for his policies on creating jobs and fighting corruption in the absence of enough support to form a government.

Stalemate after a deadlocked election in February and the threat of months of political instability has triggered alarm across Europe and warnings that Italy cannot afford to delay urgently needed reforms to boost its sickly economy.

President Giorgio Napolitano is due to begin consultations with political leaders on Wednesday to see if there is any chance of establishing a government.

Bersani, leader of the center-left Democratic Party (PD), won control of the lower house but fell short in the Senate leaving him dependent on the support of his rivals if he is to form a government.

He said he would tell Napolitano he would not try to reach any set deals in advance but would present a set of proposals to parliament based on attacking corruption and creating jobs.

"The path is very, very narrow. I think I can say that other paths would turn out to be even narrower," he said.

If no understanding that would allow a government to be formed can be reached, Italy faces the prospect of a return to the polls, possibly as soon as June, although Bersani said he hoped that would not be necessary.

Bersani was successful on Saturday in getting his candidates elected as speakers of the lower house and Senate, helped by abstentions and a handful of votes from rebels in the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement.

New senate speaker Pietro Grasso, a top anti-mafia judge who made his name fighting organized crime in Palermo, and lower house speaker Laura Boldrini, a former spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, represent a change from the career politicians who traditionally took such roles.

Even so, the result of the contest for the Senate speaker showed clearly that Bersani would not be able to win a confidence vote in parliament, with Grasso elected with 137 votes, 21 short of a majority in the 315-seat upper house.

"The figures show that Bersani cannot obtain any mandate to form a new government since he quite obviously has no majority in the Senate," Angelino Alfano, secretary of Berlusconi's People of Freedom (PDL) party told RAI 3 state television.

PRESSURE COOKER

With the economy mired in recession and unemployment, especially among the young, at record levels, social tensions exacerbated by the crisis were reflected in the huge vote in February for Beppe Grillo's anti-establishment 5-Star Movement.

At the same time, Italy's 2-trillion-euro public debt remains vulnerable to the kind of bond market volatility which panicked investors and brought the euro zone to the brink of collapse during the financial crisis of 2011.

Saturday's vote was the first piece of parliamentary business since the election and despite the handful of 5-Star Senators who voted for Grasso, it gave little sign that the parties were ready to work together.

Alfano said the only alternative to new elections was an accord between the center-left and the PDL but said his party would demand in exchange to be able to nominate a president of the Republic to replace Napolitano whose mandate ends on May 15.

"We would propose a person of great prestige, absolutely acceptable to the left as well," he said, but declined to name the candidate.

Bersani's attempts to court the 5-Star Movement have been rebuffed by its fiery leader, who rejects any deal and who was angered by the mini rebellion in his party on Saturday, demanding that those who voted for Grasso should "take the consequences".

However the PD leader has been equally quick to reject any deal with Silvio Berlusconi, who is battling trials on charges of tax fraud and paying for sex with a minor as well as a separate investigation into accusations of political bribery.

Bersani said on Sunday that an alliance with the right would be inherently unstable and akin to putting "a flimsy lid on a pressure cooker".

"At this moment, political agreements made in advance would not work. The conditions aren't there," he said.

(Editing by Matthew Tostevin)

View the original article here