UK political crisis

UK political crisis

LONDON

Fuel pumps are running dry. Tempers are running high. And Britain’s Conservative-led government is facing what many argue is a crisis of its own making.

The government’s advice to stock up ahead of a threatened strike by British fuel-tanker drivers has prompted a wave of panic-buying across the country, with drivers clogging service stations and — in some cases — draining them of all their gasoline. On Friday, firefighters in the northern England city of York said that a 46-year-old woman badly burned herself while handling gasoline in her kitchen, increasing pressure on officials who’d recommended that Britons set a bit of fuel aside just in case.

Sanctions on Iran

WASHINGTON

President Barack Obama said Friday he was plowing ahead with potential sanctions against countries that keep buying oil from Iran, including allies of the United States, in a deepening campaign to starve Iran of money for its disputed nuclear program. The world oil market is tight but deep enough to keep the squeeze on Iran, Obama ruled.

Etch A Sketch ads

NEW YORK

The 104-year old company that makes Etch A Sketch is launching new political-themed ads, after the toy made headlines when an aide for presidential hopeful Mitt Romney compared it with Romney’s fall election strategy.

Rivals said the comparison with a toy that’s fun because of the way it erases implied that Romney would do the same — and flip-flop on issues once the general election campaign starts. The toy instantly became a buzzword.

Associated Press