Today’s Top World News from The Washington Post

--U.S. trains African soldiers for Somalia mission- The heart of the Obama administration’s strategy for fighting al-Qaeda militants in Somalia can be found next to a cow pasture here, a thousand miles from the front lines. Under the gaze of American instructors, gangly Ugandan recruits are taught to carry rifles, dodge roadside bombs and avoid shooting each other by accident. In one obstacle course dubbed “Little Mogadishu,” the Ugandans learn the basics of urban warfare as they patrol a mock city block of tumble-down buildings and rusty shipping containers designed to resemble the battered and dangerous Somali capital, reports Craig Whitlock.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-trains-african-soldiers-for-somalia-mission/2012/05/13/gIQAJhsPNU_story.html

 

-Mexico’s leading presidential candidate is handsome, popular and still a mystery- In his campaign for president, Mexico’s handsome front-runner Enrique Peña Nieto looks down from towering billboards with a movie star smile. "Tu me conoces," he says. You know me. But the fact is, many don’t. With the July 1 presidential vote just six weeks away, Peña Nieto holds a solid double-digit lead in polls, and yet Mexican voters and U.S. observers confess they do not really know what the candidate stands for. Nor are they sure how he would govern Mexico, a vital trade partner for the United States and ally in the fight against drug cartels, report Nick Miroff and William Booth.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/mexicos-leading-presidential-candidate-is-handsome-popular-and-a-mystery/2012/05/13/gIQAlEyDOU_story.html

 

-Iran, unable to sell oil, stores it on tankers- Increasingly hard-pressed to find buyers for its petroleum, Iran has been routinely switching off satellite tracking systems on its sea-bound oil tankers for more than a month, in what U.S. officials and industry analysts describe as a cat-and-mouse game with Western governments seeking to enforce sanctions on Iranian exports. The unusual tactic was begun in early April and affects a quarter of Iran’s tanker fleet, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), which has been monitoring the practice. The move, a violation of maritime law, is only modestly effective in cloaking 1,000-foot-long tankers as they ply the oceans in search of open ports and willing buyers. But it underscores Iran’s precarious position as it faces ever-tighter Western restrictions against its oil industry, which provides the bulk of export and government revenue, report Joby Warrick and Steve Mufson.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/iran-unable-to-sell-oil-stores-it-on-tankers/2012/05/13/gIQAp0eUNU_story.html

 

OTHER TOP NEWS

-In military-rich battlegrounds, Obama targets new group: veterans- President Obama has wound down America’s war in Iraq, ordered the operation that killed Osama bin Laden and set in motion the end of U.S. combat operations in Afghanistan. He also has focused particular attention on veterans and military families, increasing funds for the Department of Veterans Affairs, implementing the post-Sept. 11 G.I. Bill and launching job programs for returning troops. As he gears up his reelection effort, Obama is trying to use that record, and especially his emphasis on the home front, to win the political support of veterans and military families in a handful of important swing states, reports Amy Gardner.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/in-military-rich-battlegrounds-obama-targets-new-group-veterans/2012/05/13/gIQArMSVNU_story.html

 

-Ryan budget still an issue in congressional races- Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle (R-N.Y.) is exasperated as she concludes her opening remarks and reaches for a piece of paper on the podium. “I don’t know who was handing out this literature,” she says, “but I think we’ve got to talk about this a little bit.” The issue in question is the budget proposal issued by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), and what it does to Medicare in particular. More than a year after the proposal’s initial release, Republican candidates continue to find themselves on the defensive about what the plan will actually do, and Democrats continue to make claims about the dire consequences if it were to become law, reports Ed O’Keefe.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/ryan-budget-still-an-issue-in-congressional-races/2012/05/13/gIQAbQfHNU_story.html

-Senate to call Secret Service director to testify on prostitution scandal- The director of the Secret Service will be called before a Senate committee May 23 to provide details about the investigation into the Colombia prostitution scandal that has resulted in the dismissal of nine employees. Director Mark Sullivan has not spoken publicly on the misconduct that took place last month in Cartagena, Colombia, where a dozen agents were implicated in a night of heavy carousing two days before President Obama arrived for an international summit, reports David Nakamura.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/2chambers/post/senate-to-call-secret-service-director-to-testify-on-prostitution-scandal/2012/05/13/gIQAfPUjMU_blog.html

 

-The Root- Behind the Lower Unemployment Rates-Some of the ways that we measure the economy just don't square with our daily reality. Take the unemployment rate, announced to great fanfare each month. A lot of people think it measures the percentage of Americans who don't have jobs. But that would be too simple. The Bureau of Labor Statistics explains the measurement -- 8.1 percent last month -- this way: "The official concept of unemployment ... includes all jobless persons who are available to take a job and have actively sought work in the past four weeks." There are plenty of unemployed people who haven't looked or applied for a job in the past month. Sure, some are enjoying "funemployment" (see the TV show Girls if you need a definition of that), but a vastly larger number are what are called "discouraged workers," or people who have stopped regularly looking for work because they just aren't finding any, reports Farai Chideya.

http://www.theroot.com/views/good-unemployment-numbers-bad-news?wpisrc=root_lightbox

 

-3 JPMorgan Chase execs may depart as CEO Jamie Dimon acknowledges ‘terrible, egregious mistake’ on trading- The embarrassing losses at megabank JPMorgan Chase reverberated in Washington, Wall Street and on the campaign trail Sunday, with JPMorgan Chase chief executive Jamie Dimon acknowledging that the bank “made a terrible, egregious mistake” by dismissing worrisome signs earlier this year about the bank’s trading strategy. JPMorgan, the largest U.S. bank, was poised on Sunday to accept the resignations of three executives involved in the botched strategy, which has caused losses of at least $2 billion at the bank, according to news accounts, report Zachary A. Goldfarb and Lisa Rein.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/jpmorgan-chase-chief-jamie-dimon-acknowledges-terrible-egregious-mistake/2012/05/13/gIQAWvYvMU_story.html

 

-Thompson stepping down as Yahoo CEO-Yahoo chief executive Scott Thompson, hired from eBay in January to turn around the struggling Web portal, is stepping down after it was discovered that his academic credentials were misrepresented, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Thompson will be replaced on an interim basis by Ross Levinsohn, head of global media at the company, based in Sunnyvale, Calif., said the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the plans have not been made public, reports Brian Womack.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/thompson-stepping-down-as-yahoo-ceo/2012/05/13/gIQACsbONU_story.html

 

-The fracturing of Big Law- As recently as December, Dewey & LeBoeuf had more than 1,000 lawyers in 26 offices around the world, annual revenue close to $800 million, and attorneys who had a hand in some of the biggest headline-making deals of the last decade.  Now the law firm, the product of one of the largest legal industry mergers in history, is rapidly unraveling. Employees have been warned the firm could shut down this week, and remaining partners have been urged to seek other job opportunities, according to several published reports. The Manhattan District Attorney’s office is investigating accusations of wrongdoing by ex-Chairman Steven Davis — allegations his attorney denies. And last week, three of the firm’s four-member office of the chairman decamped to other law firms, as of Friday, the new firms confirmed, reports Catherine Ho.