R&D: Possible Shakeup in America’s National Security Apparatus, South Africa Seventeen Years After Apartheid, and Ron Paul Opens an Exploratory Committee for 2012

Here is your R&D for April 27th:

AP sources: Panetta to Pentagon, Petraeus to CIA from the Associated Press
According to sources within the Obama administration, current CIA Director Leon Panetta will replace Defense Secretary Robert Gates and General David Petraeus will take over at the CIA in a reshuffling of America’s national security apparatus.

Seventeen years after freedom came to South Africa, a status check from the Christian Science Monitor
Yesterday marked the seventeenth anniversary of black South Africans earning the right to vote for the country’s political leadership.  This article examines the challenges that South Africa still faces and how far the country has come since the end of the apartheid era in 1994.

Paul makes move toward 2012 run from the Des Moines Register
Texas Republican Congressman Ron Paul announced the formation of a presidential exploratory committee yesterday.  The move will allow Paul to fundraise and participate in the first GOP presidential primary debate on May 5th.

Q&A: Schengen Agreement from the BBC
This Q&A article from the BBC discusses the Schengen Agreement, which is back in the news after France and Italy want to reform it due to recent waves of immigration from North Africa.

White House seizes on Boehner’s words from the Hill
After Speaker of the House John Boehner said that he would be open to the idea of abolishing subsidies for major oil companies, President Obama called on Congress to pass a proposal “to eliminate unwarranted tax breaks for the oil and gas industry.”