World/Nation Briefs November 29, 2011
Woman alleges 13-year affair with Cain
WASHINGTON - In an explosive allegation, a Georgia woman said Monday she and Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain had a 13-year extramarital affair that lasted nearly until the former businessman announced his candidacy for the White House several months ago.
"Here we go again. I didn't do anything wrong," Cain said in a pre-emptive denial that lumped a detailed claim of a consensual affair in with earlier allegations of sexual harassment.
But the woman, Ginger White, 46, said in an interview with Fox 5 Atlanta that over the years, Cain bought her airplane tickets so she could join him in cities as far-flung as Palm Springs, Calif., and Atlanta.
"It was fun," White said. "It was something that took me away from my sort of humdrum life at the time. And it was exciting."
Although Cain flatly denied the affair, his lawyer issued a public statement that included no such denial and suggested that the media - and the public - had no business snooping into the details of consensual conduct between adults.
Egyptians vote in first free election since Mubarak
CAIRO - They waited in long lines for hours to vote, despite a new wave of unrest, fears about a sharply divided society and uncertainty over the nation's future.
For the millions of Egyptians who cast ballots Monday, the first parliamentary elections since they ousted Hosni Mubarak nearly 10 months ago were a turning point in history - if for no other reason than they were finally getting a chance to be heard after decades of rigged voting.
The outcome will indicate whether one of America's most important Middle East allies will remain secular or move down a more Islamic path, as have other countries swept up in the Arab Spring.
Frank announces retirement from Congress
NEWTON, Mass. - Democratic Rep. Barney Frank, a gay pioneer in Congress and a Massachusetts liberal whose name as well as fingerprints are on last year's sweeping bill regulating Wall Street, announced plans Monday to retire at the end of his current term, his 16th in Congress.
"There are other things I would like to do with my life," the 71-year-old lawmaker said at a news conference. He added that his retirement plans were hastened by two years by reapportionment, which moved 325,000 new constituents into his district.
Frank's career has traced an arc from early promise to near career-wrecking scandal to legislative triumph, accompanied by a quick-witted intelligence and an often partisan and frequently acerbic speaking style.
In Congress, Frank has fought for years to hold down what he viewed as excessive military spending.
- The Associated Press