World/Nation Briefs August 22, 2012
Missouri's Akin will carry on with campaign
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - Rep. Todd Akin defied the nation's top Republicans Tuesday and forged ahead with his besieged Senate bid, declaring the party was overreacting to his comments that women's bodies can prevent pregnancies in cases of "legitimate rape" and by insisting he abandon his campaign.
Akin pledged to carry on with his quest to unseat Democrat Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri. But his bid faced tall obstacles: a lack of money, a lack of party support and no assurance that his apologies would be enough to heal a self-inflicted political wound.
"I misspoke one word in one sentence on one day, and all of a sudden, overnight, everybody decides, 'Well, Akin can't possibly win,'" he said on a national radio show hosted by former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. "Well, I don't agree with that."
Akin predicted he would bounce back from the political crisis threatening his campaign, including a call from presumptive presidential nominee Mitt Romney to leave the race, and capture a seat that is pivotal to Republican hopes of regaining control of the Senate.
Obama: Romney offers no help forhigher education
RENO, Nev. - President Barack Obama accused rival Mitt Romney of being oblivious to the burdens of paying for college on Tuesday, telling young voters in battleground Ohio that his opponent's education policies amount to nothing more than encouraging them to tap their parents for money or "shop around" for the best deal.
"This is his plan. That's his answer to a young person hoping to go to college - shop around and borrow more money from your parents if you have to. Not only is that not a good answer, it's not even an answer," Obama said at Truckee Meadows Community College in Reno.
Turning to young voters, a key part of his 2008 coalition, the president sought to draw a bright line with Romney on education policy in his latest attempt to meld Romney with the House Republican budget blueprint offered Rep. Paul Ryan, Romney's running mate.
Obama and Romney remain locked in a tight presidential campaign a week before the former Massachusetts governor formally claims his party's nomination at the GOP convention in Tampa, Fla.
Rocket attack damages top U.S. general's plane
KABUL, Afghanistan - An insurgent rocket attack damaged the plane of the top U.S. general as it sat parked at a coalition base in Afghanistan on Tuesday, dealing another blow to the image of progress in building a stable country as foreign forces work to wind down the 10-year-old war.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the two rockets that landed near the C-17 transport plane that U.S. Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, flew into Bagram Air Field north of Kabul on a day earlier. The claim was an attempt by the insurgents to score more propaganda points in what has been a deadly few weeks for the international coalition in Afghanistan.
Jamie Graybeal, a spokesman for the U.S. military and the international coalition, said Dempsey was in his staff quarters when the two rockets landed and was unhurt in the attack. But the damage to the plane forced Dempsey to use another aircraft for his flight from Bagram to Iraq on Tuesday.
Tweets describe final moments for before derailment
ELLICOTT CITY, Md. - They were seemingly ordinary tweets from two friends hanging out on a railroad bridge in their hometown, enjoying one last summer night together before heading back to college.
"Drinking on top of the Ellicott City sign," read one. "Looking down on old ec," read another. Accompanying photos showed their view from the bridge and their bare feet, one with painted blue toenails, dangling over the edge.
Minutes after the messages were shared on the social media site Twitter, a Baltimore-bound CSX freight train loaded with coal barreled down the tracks and derailed, killing the 19-year-old women and toppling railcars and coal onto the streets below of this historic Maryland community.
Investigators were still trying to figure out what caused the derailment. Witnesses heard squealing brakes and a thunderous crash around midnight Monday.
It wasn't clear whether the women's presence on the tracks had anything to do with the derailment. They were sitting on the edge of the bridge over Ellicott City's main street as the train passed a few feet behind them, Howard County police said, and their bodies were found buried under coal.
Taylor Swift to perform at VMAs
NEW YORK - Six-time Grammy winner Taylor Swift will perform at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards next month. But she won't be the only gold winner in the room.
The U.S. Women's Gymnastics team will be presenters at the Sept. 6 show. Gabby Douglas, McKayla Maroney, Alexandra Raisman, Kyla Ross and Jordyn Wieber won the women's team gold medal at the Olympics this month and have been on a whirlwind tour ever since that included the couches of Jay Leno and David Letterman.
- The Associated Press