World / Nation briefs February 2, 2012
Romney heads west with lead; panned for remark
WASHINGTON - The Republican presidential campaign rolled westward Wednesday, with Mitt Romney riding high after his Florida primary victory. But a verbal gaffe by the frontrunner quickly drew criticism.
Already the television ads were showing up in states that vote next, caucuses in Nevada on Saturday, in Minnesota and Colorado next Tuesday and in Maine the following weekend.
He is favored in Nevada, where there are 28 Republican National Convention delegates at stake. And, alone among the contenders, appears to have the money to compete aggressively in all the other states as well.
However, Romney ended up inviting criticism Wednesday when he said he's "not concerned about the very poor" because they have an "ample safety net."
Democrats and Republicans alike - including opponent Newt Gingrich - pounced and the GOP front-runner quickly sought to explain his remarks.
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no," Romney told reporters on his campaign plane when asked about the comments. "No, no, no. You've got to take the whole sentence, all right, it's mostly the same." He said his remark was consistent with his theme throughout the race, adding: "My energy is going to be devoted to helping middle-income people."
Despite that explanation, Romney's comments quickly became an immediate distraction from his message that he's more conservative than Gingrich and from the double-digit thumping the former House speaker sustained in Florida.
Egyptian soccer fans rush field, leaving 74 dead
CAIRO - At least 74 people were killed and hundreds injured after soccer fans rushed the field in the seaside city of Port Said Wednesday following an upset victory by the home team over Egypt's top club, setting off clashes and a stampede as riot police largely failed to intervene.
It was a bloody reminder of the deteriorating security in the Arab world's most populous country as instability continues nearly a year after former President Hosni Mubarak was swept out of power in a popular uprising.
The melee - which followed an Egyptian league match between Al-Masry, the home team in the Mediterranean city, and Al-Ahly, based in Cairo and one of Egypt's most popular teams - was the worst case of soccer violence in Egypt and the deadliest worldwide since 1996. One player said it was "like a war."
Combat role in Afghanistan set to end next year
BRUSSELS - Defense Secretary Leon Panetta laid out the administration's most explicit portrayal of the U.S. drawdown in Afghanistan, saying Wednesday that U.S. and other international forces in Afghanistan expect to end their combat role in 2013 and continue a training and advisory role with Afghan forces through 2014.
Panetta's remarks to reporters traveling with him to a NATO defense ministers meeting in Brussels showed how the foreign military role in Afghanistan is expected to evolve from the current high-intensity fight against the Taliban to a support role with Afghans fully in the lead. The timeline fits neatly into the U.S. political calendar, enabling President Barack Obama to declare on the campaign trail this year that in addition to bringing all U.S. troops home from Iraq and beginning a troop drawdown in Afghanistan, he also has a target period for ending the U.S. combat role there.
It also serves to possibly bridge an apparent gap between France and the rest of the NATO partners of the U.S. on defining the end game in Afghanistan.
All NATO members in November 2010 endorsed a plan to keep forces in Afghanistan until the end of 2014. But France this week appeared to throw that plan into doubt when President Nicolas Sarkozy proposed, with Afghan President Hamid Karzai at his side and seemingly in agreement, that NATO end its mission in 2013 - one year earlier than planned.
Obama seeks more help for homeowners
FALLS CHURCH, Va. - Conceding his earlier housing programs have fallen short, President Barack Obama on Wednesday proposed a vast expansion of government assistance to homeowners, aiming to make lower lending rates a possibility for millions of borrowers who have not been able to get out from under burdensome mortgages.
The president's proposal is laden with election-year politics and faces a difficult path in Congress. Obama wants to pay for the estimated $5 billion to $10 billion cost with a fee on the nation's largest banks, a proposal that has failed to win support even when Democrats controlled both the House and Senate.
In addition, its potential impact could be limited by the fact that it would not apply to borrowers who are behind on their home loan payments, those most threatened by foreclosure.
The housing issue, while national in scope, particularly resonates in election battlegrounds such as Nevada and Florida that have faced record foreclosures.
- The Associated Press