World / Nation briefs January 29, 2012

Gingrich says he's in 'til GOP convention

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - On the weekend before the pivotal Florida primary, Newt Gingrich vowed Saturday to stay in the race for the Republican presidential nomination until the national convention this summer even if he loses Tuesday's vote. Front-runner Mitt Romney poured on the criticism of his rival in television ads airing across the state.

Gingrich's pledge, in a race defined by unpredictability, raised the prospect of an extended struggle inside the party as Republicans work to defeat President Barack Obama in the fall. "You just had two national polls that show me ahead," he said. "Why don't you ask Gov. Romney what he will do if he loses" in Florida.

The former Massachusetts governor countered a few hours later while in Panama City. "I think we are going to win here, I sure hope so," he said.

As the two rivals made their appeals to Hispanic, Jewish and tea party voters, veterans of the armed forces and others, all known indicators pointed to a good day for Romney in the primary.

Passenger jet diverted to Boise when engine fails

BOISE - Boise Airport officials said an American Airlines passenger jet traveling from Dallas to Seattle carrying 141 passengers and crew landed in Boise on Saturday after the pilot reported an engine failure.

The MD-80 landed safely at the Idaho airport.

Officials said passengers are being rebooked on other airlines to get them to Seattle.

Officials said American Airlines is sending a crew to fix the aircraft in Boise.

Police use tear gas on Occupy protesters

OAKLAND, Calif. - Oakland police used tear gas and "flash" grenades Saturday to break up an estimated 2,000 Occupy protesters after some demonstrators started throwing objects at officers and tearing down fencing. There were at least 10 arrests and no reports of serious injuries.

Officer Jeff Thomason said police started making arrests when some in the crowd started throwing objects at them. Police declared an unlawful assembly after marchers tore down perimeter fences at the vacant Henry Kaiser Convention Center.

Oakland officials said about 250 people were in the group when the protest started on the city's streets around noon, with demonstrators threatening to take over the vacant center. The crowd had grown to about 2,000 hours later.

The group was being monitored by dozens of Oakland police officers, as well as officers from nearby police agencies. Police began firing tear gas and flash bang grenades as things began to get out of hand.

Students find man stuck for days in mud

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - A man who told authorities he was stuck in the mud at the Rio Grande river in New Mexico for three days has been rescued after a group of high school students on a field trip heard him yelling for help.

The students and their biology teacher heard the man yelling from a marshy wetlands area Saturday morning.

It took swift-water and technical rescue teams about two hours to pull the unidentified man to safety. His name and condition were not released.

The man told the students he'd spent three days stuck in the mud of the old river bend about two miles north of Interstate 40 in Albuquerque.

It wasn't immediately clear how he became stuck, and calls seeking additional information from the fire department weren't immediately returned.

British police arrest 5 in tabloid bribery probe

LONDON - British police searched the offices of Rupert Murdoch's British newspapers Saturday after arresting a police officer and four current and former staff of his tabloid The Sun as part of an investigation into police bribery by journalists.

The arrests spread the scandal over tabloid wrongdoing - which has already shut down one paper, the News of the World - to a second Murdoch newspaper.

London's Metropolitan Police said two men aged 48 and one aged 56 were arrested on suspicion of corruption early in the morning at homes in and around London. A 42-year-old man was detained later at a London police station.

Murdoch's News Corp. confirmed that all four were current or former Sun employees. The BBC and other British media identified them as former managing editor Graham Dudman, former deputy editor Fergus Shanahan, current head of news Chris Pharo and crime editor Mike Sullivan.

A fifth man, a 29-year-old police officer, was arrested at the London station where he works.

Private investors near debt deal

ATHENS, Greece - A disorderly and potentially devastating Greek debt default is looking much less likely.

Greece and investors who have bought its bonds have reached a tentative deal to significantly reduce the country's debt and pave the way for it to receive a much-needed $130 billion bailout.

Negotiators for the investors announced the tentative agreement Saturday and said it could become final next week. If the agreement works as planned, it will help Greece remain solvent and help Europe avoid a blow to its already weak financial system, even though banks and other bond investors will have to accept multibillion-dollar losses. Still, it doesn't resolve the weakening economic conditions Greece and other European nations face as they rapidly rein in spending in order to get their debts under control.

Under the agreement, the $206 billion worth of Greek bonds that investors own would be exchanged for new bonds worth 60 percent less.

- The Associated Press