World/Nation Briefs March 16, 2012

Soldier accused in killings saw friend get injured

SEATTLE - The U.S. soldier accused of slaughtering 16 Afghan villagers last weekend saw his friend's leg blown off the day before the rampage, his lawyer said Thursday.

Seattle attorney John Henry Browne told The Associated Press that according to his client's family, the suspect was standing next to another U.S. soldier when that soldier was gravely injured.

"We have been informed that at this small base that he was at, somebody was gravely injured the day before the alleged incident - gravely injured, and that affected all of the soldiers," he said.

Taliban nixes U.S. talks, Karzai demands pull out

KABUL, Afghanistan - The American campaign in Afghanistan has suffered a double blow: The Taliban broke off talks with the U.S., and President Hamid Karzai said NATO should pull out of rural areas and speed up the transfer of security responsibilities to Afghan forces nationwide in the wake of the killing of 16 civilians.

Thursday's moves represent new setbacks to America's strategy for ending the 10-year-old war at a time when support for the conflict is plummeting. Part of the U.S. exit strategy is to transfer authority gradually to Afghan forces. Another tack is to pull the Taliban into political discussions with the Afghan government, though it's unclear that there has been any progress since January.

Signs of financial stress emerge for Mitt Romney

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - The long and increasingly messy Republican presidential contest is starting to hit Mitt Romney where it hurts most: his wallet.

New signs of financial stress are emerging in Romney's campaign, which has built a wide lead in delegates thanks in part to the might of his bank account and multistate operation. As rival Rick Santorum's surprising strength keeps extending the nomination battle, Romney has scaled back expenses, trimmed field staff in some cases and begun to count more on free media coverage to reach voters. And he's still relying on an allied super political action committee to supplement his spending on expensive TV ads.

This week, the former Massachusetts governor was forced to spend two days privately courting donors in the New York area, even as his Republican rivals were wooing voters ahead of pivotal elections in places like Illinois, where he hasn't been in four months, and as President Barack Obama was stockpiling cash for the fall general election fight.

Women may have to tell reason for birth control use

PHOENIX - Women in Arizona trying to get reimbursed for birth control drugs through their employer-provided health plan could be required to prove that they are taking it for a medical reason such as acne, rather than to prevent pregnancy.

A bill nearing passage in the Republican-led Legislature allows all employers, not just religious institutions, to opt out of providing contraceptive coverage when doing so would violate their religious or moral beliefs.

When a female worker uses birth control pills, which can be used to treat a number of medical conditions, the bill would allow an employer who opted out to require her to reveal what she was taking it for in order to get reimbursed.

The bill thrusts the state into a raging national debate about religious freedom and birth control, sparked after the Obama administration required that employers must provide contraception coverage under the federal health care overhaul.

U.S. expected to get break from spring flooding

WASHINGTON - At least it's a dry heat.

The federal government's spring weather forecast offers no respite from warmer weather, but the country should get a break from the spring flooding that's hit the last four years.

The National Weather Service's outlook for spring, which arrived early with 577 warm temperature records broken Wednesday, predicts mostly warmer and drier-than-normal weather, except in the Northwest. The current summer-like weather - with some temperatures as much as 35 degrees above normal - is expected to stick around through next week.

- Associated Press