World/Nation Briefs February 18, 2012

Congress renews payroll tax cut, jobless benefits

WASHINGTON - Americans are getting an election-year tax present. Congress voted with rare speed and cooperation Friday to extend a Social Security payroll tax cut for 160 million workers and to renew unemployment benefits for millions more who haven't seen a paycheck in six months.

With lawmakers' ratings in the gutter, the legislation sped through both the House and Senate and was on its way to President Barack Obama, who saluted the quick passage.

Taxpayers have grown accustomed to the 2 percentage point cut in the payroll tax over the past year - around $80 a month for someone earning $50,000 a year - and the reduction now will be continued. So will jobless benefits averaging about $300 a week for the long-term unemployed, though the aid will be cut off sooner than before for many recipients.

Both provisions, which were to expire in less than two weeks, had been extended only two months during a December congressional fight that seared Republicans. They were determined to avoid a repeat in campaign season.

The hard-fought - but ultimately bipartisan - measure contains the core of Obama's jobs agenda and promises to pump more than $100 billion into the economy before Election Day. It hands the president a political victory as well, as Republicans called a tactical retreat in hopes of minimizing the gains for Obama and his Democratic allies on Capitol Hill.

Syrian refugees describe violence escalation

RAMTHA, Jordan - Syrian refugees fleeing to Jordan for their lives described a dramatic escalation in violence and a mounting toll of dead and wounded in the southern city of Daraa and the country's battered central region.

Medical workers in neighboring Jordan prepared blood donations to send to Daraa, the city where the uprising against President Bashar Assad erupted nearly a year ago, as the regime struggled to extinguish major pockets of dissent with intensive shelling.

Activists said at least 26 civilians were killed Friday, many of them in the rebellious central city of Homs, where shells slammed into rebel-held residential areas.

The fighting in Homs, coupled with fresh violence in Daraa, has triggered a new wave of wounded refugees crossing the border into Jordan.

Santorum gains endorsement, attracts scrutiny

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Rick Santorum stole a key endorsement from chief rival Mitt Romney on Friday as polls in Ohio and elsewhere suggest the former Pennsylvania senator has seized the momentum in the rollercoaster Republican presidential contest.

Amid the shift, however, are signs of stress within a disorganized Santorum campaign and intensifying questions about whether he can sustain a rise that has come and gone once before already. Romney's mammoth political machine - coupled with new scrutiny - will give Santorum little margin for error.

He was all smiles at the Ohio State House on Friday afternoon as state Attorney General Mike DeWine formally shifted his allegiance from Romney to Santorum, a decision that comes just 18 days before Ohio and nine other states host critical Super Tuesday contests.

"I just am very, very grateful that he would step forward in his fashion and lead a spark here in the state of Ohio that I think is going to deliver us a great victory on Super Tuesday," Santorum said.

Campaigning in Boise on Friday, Romney told supporters Santorum isn't a fiscal conservative, directly attacking his rival for the first time in more than a week.

"If you want a fiscal conservative, you can't vote for Rick Santorum, because he's not," Romney said at a campaign rally before a fundraiser. "I'm a fiscal conservative."

Terror suspect arrested near U.S. Capitol

WASHINGTON - A 29-year-old Moroccan man who believed he was working with al-Qaida was arrested Friday near the U.S. Capitol as he was planning to detonate what he thought was a suicide vest that undercover operatives gave him, officials said.

Amine El Khalifi of Alexandria, Va., was taken into custody with a gun that didn't work and inert explosives, according to a counterterrorism official. He arrived near the Capitol in a van with the two undercover operatives, and walked toward the building, according to court papers. He was arrested before he left the parking garage.

El Khalifi made a brief appearance on Friday afternoon in federal court in Alexandria, where a judge set a bail hearing for Wednesday. After his arrest, FBI agents raided a red brick rambler home in Arlington, Va. A police car blocked the entrance.

A criminal complaint charges him with knowingly and unlawfully attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction against property that is owned and used by the United States. The charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.

Job review prompted federal agent's gunfire

LONG BEACH, Calif. - It had all the ingredients of workplace violence: a manager, an angry employee, a discussion about job performance and at least one gun.

But in this case, both people were federal agents. And when gunfire erupted in a government office building, a third agent drew his handgun and took out the shooter, helping save the manager's life.

Investigators on Friday were still piecing together the details of Thursday's chaotic scene at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Long Beach.

The confrontation apparently began during a discussion involving Kevin Kozak, the agency's second-in-command for the Los Angeles area, and a lower-ranking supervisor agent named Ezequiel Garcia.

At some point, the discussion escalated, and Garcia pulled out his weapon and fired. Kozak was hit six times, in the upper torso, legs and hands. He was hospitalized in stable condition but was alert and talking.

After Garcia fired, a nearby agent drew his own gun and fatally shot the attacker. The third agent, whose name was being withheld, was placed on administrative leave.

- The Associated Press