DC eyes Watchmen, plans prequels to 1986 series

In this image released by DC Entertainment, the cover of "Watchmen," a graphic novel, is shown. DC Entertainment is launching seven miniseries this summer that will focus on the characters made famous by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons in their 1986-987 12-issue maxi-series "Watchmen," which has gone on to become one of DC's best-selling graphic novels. (AP Photo/DC Entertainment)

In this image released by DC Entertainment, the cover of "Watchmen," a graphic novel, is shown. DC Entertainment is launching seven miniseries this summer that will focus on the characters made famous by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons in their 1986-987 12-issue maxi-series "Watchmen," which has gone on to become one of DC's best-selling graphic novels. (AP Photo/DC Entertainment)

(AP) ? More than a quarter of a century after "Watchmen" intrigued readers with tales of less-than-heroic and all-too-human ? save for Dr. Manhattan ? crime-fighting vigilantes, DC Entertainment is revisiting them in a series of original prequels this summer.

The publisher of DC Comics said Wednesday that it will launch seven interlocking and inter-connected miniseries ? each focusing on a specific character ? as it revisits the world first and last seen in the 1986-1987 12-issue series written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons, which has remained a staple of critics and consumers and a near-constant best-selling graphic novel.

The seven titles will carry the "Before Watchmen" banner, DC said.

"It's our responsibility as publishers to find new ways to keep all of our characters relevant," DC Entertainment co-publishers Dan DiDio and Jim Lee said in a statement. "After 25 years, the Watchmen are classic characters whose time has come for new stories to be told. We sought out the best writers and artists in the industry to build on the complex mythology of the original."

Moore is not participating, but Gibbons noted that their original series was "the complete story that Alan Moore and I wanted to tell. However, I appreciate DC's reasons for this initiative and the wish of the artists and writers involved to pay tribute to our work."

In that vein, the publisher said that the writers and artists bringing the miniseries about Rorschach, Dr. Manhattan, Nite Owl, Ozymandias, Silk Spectre, Comedian and the Minutemen include writers Len Wein, who edited the original series; Darwyn Cooke; Brian Azzarello and J. Michael Straczynski. Artists include Amanda Conner, Andy and Joe Kubert, Adam Hughes, Jae Lee, J.G. Jones, Lee Bermejo and Cooke.

Wein, who is writing "Ozymandias," is also penning a two-page backup feature in each of the series dubbed "The Curse of the Crimson Corsair," which is illustrated by John Higgins, who did the colors on the original "Watchmen" series.

"'The Curse of the Crimson Corsair' was actually my idea when we first started talking about doing these new stories," Wein said. "Since, in the world of the Watchmen, DC stopped doing superhero comics early on and started a line of pirate comics instead, I thought it might be fun to see what one of the other books in the line looked like."

That's akin to the similar pirate comic that played out in the pages of "Watchmen" that Moore wrote called "Tales of the Black Freighter,'" Wein said. "'Crimson Corsair' introduces a new character to follow from the beginning of his adventure to its grisly end. I must say I'm having a lot of fun getting creeped out by what I'm writing here."

Higgins said he and Wein have kept the sense of foreboding and darkness that permeated the "Black Freighter" story.

"What we are trying to achieve with the Crimson Corsair pages within the regular new series is to create a graphic 'buffer' and to use the darkness of the Crimson Corsair stories as a literary counterpoint to the regular book," he said.

Looking ahead, Higgins said that even though the Watchmen has become a touchstone for comics and graphic novels, the new series can expand on its mythology.

"The challenge is to make the stories modern and relevant to 2012 and to show what can be done with respect and consideration for the source material that has inspired so many people over the years. By adding to the mythos and not to detract from it," he said. "'The Watchmen' had such an influence on graphic storytelling since it first appeared and is a timeless classic. If we can create a new set of stories that can be enjoyed 25 years on, that would be an achievement and a reward in itself."

___

Follow Matt Moore at www.twitter.com/mattmooreap.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2012-02-01-Watchmen%20Rewound/id-b1e803c753114a5a8923cd83eaf1fe82

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DNA test that identifies Down syndrome in pregnancy can also detect trisomy 18 and trisomy 13

ScienceDaily (Feb. 2, 2012) ? A newly available DNA-based prenatal blood test that can identify a pregnancy with Down syndrome can also identify two additional chromosome abnormalities: trisomy 18 (Edwards syndrome) and trisomy 13 (Patau syndrome).The test for all three defects can be offered as early as 10 weeks of pregnancy to women who have been identified as being at high risk for these abnormalities.

These are the results of an international, multicenter study published online February 2 in the journal Genetics in Medicine. The study, the largest and most comprehensive done to date, adds to the documented capability (study published in Genetics in Medicine in October 2011) of the tests by examining results in 62 pregnancies with trisomy 18 and 12 pregnancies with trisomy 13.Together with the Down syndrome pregnancies reported earlier, 286 trisomic pregnancies and 1,702 normal pregnancies are included in the report.

The research was led by Glenn Palomaki, PhD, and Jacob Canick, PhD, of the Division of Medical Screening and Special Testing in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island and The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, and included scientists at Sequenom Inc. and Sequenom Center for Molecular Medicine, San Diego, CA, and an independent academic laboratory at the University of California at Los Angeles.

The test identified 100% (59/59) of the trisomy 18 and 91.7% (11/12) of the trisomy 13 pregnancies.The associated false positive rates were 0.28 and 0.97%, respectively.Overall, testing failed to provide a clinical interpretation in 17 women (0.9%); three of these women had a trisomy 18 pregnancy.By slightly raising the definition of a positive test for chromosome 18 and 13, the detection rate remained constant, but the false positive rate could be as low as 0.1%.These findings, along with the detailed information learned from testing such a large number of samples, demonstrate that the new test will be highly effective when offered to women considering invasive testing.

"Our previous work demonstrated the ability to identify Down syndrome, the most common trisomy.These new data extend the finding to the next two most common trisomies and will allow for wider use of such testing with the ability to identify all three common trisomies," said Dr. Palomaki."The new DNA test can now also be offered to women identified as being as high risk for trisomy 18 or trisomy 13, as well those at high risk for Down syndrome."

"This highly sensitive and specific DNA test has the potential to impact on couples' decision-making," says Dr. Canick."A woman whose pregnancy was identified as high risk who earlier would have chosen not to have invasive diagnostic testing, might now consider the DNA test as a safe way to obtain further information, before making a final decision."The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated in 1995 that about one in every 200 invasive diagnostic procedures will cause a pregnancy miscarriage.

Trisomy 18, also called Edwards syndrome, is a serious disorder with up to 70% of first trimester affected fetuses being spontaneously lost during pregnancies.Among those born alive, half die within a week with only 5% surviving the first year.All have serious medical and developmental problems.About 1,330 infants with trisomy 18 would be born in the US each year in the absence of prenatal diagnosis.Trisomy 13, also called Patau syndrome, is less common but equally serious.About 600 infants with trisomy 13 would be born in the US each year in the absence of prenatal diagnosis.Like Down syndrome, trisomy 18 and trisomy 13 are more common as maternal age increases.For comparison, about 7,730 Down syndrome cases would be born each year in the absence of prenatal diagnosis.Current prenatal screening tests for trisomy 18 and trisomy 13 rely on both biochemical and ultrasound markers.

This industry-sponsored project, awarded to Drs. Palomaki and Canick and Women & Infants Hospital in 2008, enrolled 4,500 women at 27 prenatal diagnostic centers throughout the world.Women & Infants also served as one of the enrollment centers under the direction of maternal-fetal medicine specialist and director of Perinatal Genetics, Barbara O'Brien, MD.

"It is clinically more relevant that all three trisomies can be detected by this test," said Dr. O'Brien."Having access to such a comprehensive, DNA-based test that can be done early in pregnancy will give us more information so that we can better guide which patients should consider diagnostic testing."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Women & Infants Hospital.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.


Journal Reference:

  1. Glenn E. Palomaki, Cosmin Deciu, Edward M. Kloza, Geralyn M. Lambert-Messerlian, James E. Haddow, Louis M. Neveux, Mathias Ehrich, Dirk van den Boom, Allan T. Bombard, Wayne W. Grody, Stanley F. Nelson, Jacob A. Canick. DNA sequencing of maternal plasma reliably identifies trisomy 18 and trisomy 13 as well as Down syndrome: an international collaborative study. Genetics in Medicine, 2012; DOI: 10.1038/gim.2011.73

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120202151723.htm

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Dems to Obama: Bring on 'Do-Nothing Congress' hit (AP)

CAMBRIDGE, Md. ? House Democratic leaders said Thursday they welcome a campaign by President Barack Obama against a "do-nothing Congress" even though they're part of it.

"It's not only okay for the president to run against the Do-Nothing Congress. I encourage it," Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told reporters as House Democrats held their annual three-day retreat on Maryland's Eastern Shore.

Democrats contend that such a re-election strategy would highlight Republican efforts to block Obama's agenda while calling attention to Senate rules that require 60 votes to move legislation. But Democrats hold 191 seats in the House and control the Senate, and voters in November could send both congressional Republicans and Democrats packing in a pox on both parties. Recent polls show record low approval ratings for Congress, with numbers dipping into the low teens.

"Eighty-five, eighty-six percent of people are upset with Congress. I'm with them," said Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the No. 2 Democrat in the House. "We had a president put a jobs bill on the agenda in September. We're now 120-plus days later and the Republicans refuse to put it on the table so we can consider it. And in the U.S. Senate, it's dysfunctional."

Just days after Obama's State of the Union address, Democrats gathered for the session talked of unity and enthusiasm even though they face a stiff challenge in November in trying to upend Republicans and reclaim the House. Recent economic indicators suggest a fiscal rebound and a Wall Street Journal-NBC poll showed more voters say the country is on the right track and approve of Obama's handling of the economy. The Republican presidential race also looked like it would stretch out for weeks after Newt Gingrich's win in South Carolina.

For the election-year showdown, the committee to help get House Democrats elected said Thursday they had raised more than $61 million last year and had $11.6 million cash on hand, wiping out a lingering debt. By comparison, the House Republicans said they have $15 million in their accounts as they look to keep their majority.

"The mood of the caucus is upbeat," said Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md.

Vice President Joe Biden and Obama were scheduled to address the gathering on Friday.

Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., said he would be "pleased to have the president highlight" Congress' work production.

"The better off we'll be in getting the American people to understand exactly why it is his agenda is stymied time and time again," he said, recalling the Senate filibusters of the 1960s that blocked landmark civil rights legislation.

"We Democrats were doing it then," Hoyer said. Clyburn quipped that those Southern Democrats are Republicans now.

The GOP responded that the president could go ahead and run against Congress. No matter what, the voters will be casting their ballots based on his tenure.

"The American people are asking, `Where are the jobs?' and the president's policies have made our economy worse, not better," said Kevin Smith, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. "The president can blame anyone he wants, but it won't change the fact that this year will be a referendum on his economic record."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/uscongress/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120126/ap_on_go_co/us_democrats_do_nothing_congress

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Dow approaches highest level since 2008 crisis (AP)

The Dow Jones industrial average was trading near its highest close since the 2008 financial crisis Thursday afternoon after solid news on factory orders and strong earnings from U.S. manufacturers highlighted the economy's growing momentum.

Broader market indexes edged lower, though they are also sharply higher this year. Traders appear less afraid of spillover damage from the European debt crisis, and data on jobs and manufacturing have been consistently strong.

"With global risk off center stage and attention going back to the fundamentals, this market was ready to explode, which is exactly what it is doing," said Doug Cote, chief market strategist with ING Investment Management.

Before the market opened, the government reported that unemployment claims rose only modestly last week after a steep decline the week before. The long-term trend still indicates an improving job market.

Orders to factories for long-lasting manufactured goods increased in December for the second straight month, and a key measure of business investment rose solidly.

That strong demand was apparent in quarterly earnings reports from U.S. manufacturers. 3M stock rose 1.1 percent after its fourth-quarter profit beat Wall Street's estimates.

Caterpillar, the world's biggest heavy equipment maker, soared 3 percent, the most of the 30 companies in the Dow, after beating analysts' estimates last quarter. The company expects to do the same this year as global demand remains high.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 14 points, or 0.1 percent, at 12,771 shortly after noon. 3M and Caterpillar led the gains.

The Dow is within reach of its post-financial crisis high of 12,810, reached in April 2011. The last time it closed higher than that was on May 20, 2008, when it settled at 12,826. The Dow's post-crisis high during the trading day was 12,928, reached in May 2011.

The Dow is up nearly 5 percent so far this year. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq have gained even more.

The Dow would need to rise another 11 percent to get to its record high close of 14,164, reached on Oct. 9, 2007.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell three points to 1,322. It was dragged lower by volatile financial companies and telecommunications firms. The Nasdaq composite index shed seven points to 2,811.

AT&T fell 2 percent, by far the most of the 30 companies in the Dow, after its earnings missed Wall Street's forecasts. The company remains heavily dependent on the Apple iPhone, which it pays to subsidize, but recently lost its exclusive rights to sell the phone in the U.S.

Stocks had their highest close in eight months Wednesday after the Federal Reserve said it plans to keep interest rates extremely low until late 2014 to encourage lending and investment and support the economic recovery.

The announcement lifted investments across many markets and continents. Bond prices rose in the U.S. and Europe. So did commodities, the euro, emerging market currencies and European stocks.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 1.95 percent from 1.99 percent late Wednesday. The prospect of more bond-buying by the Fed helped make Treasurys more attractive. A bond's yield falls as demand for it increases.

A strong bond auction by Italy also brightened Europe's outlook, signaling to investors that lenders believe Italy will not be dragged into the debt crisis. And Greece resumed talks with its lenders over writing off some of its crushing debt.

Benchmark indexes in France, England, Germany and Italy closed up 1 to 2 percent.

Among the other U.S. companies making big moves after reporting quarterly earnings:

? Time Warner Cable Inc. rose 7 percent after the company reported earnings that were far above analysts' estimates. The national cable TV provider also raised its dividend 17 percent to 56 cents per share and announced plans to buy back more of its own stock.

? United Continental Holdings, the parent company of United and Continental airlines, surged 7.4 percent. The company's fourth-quarter loss narrowed, its adjusted earnings were more than double what analysts had expected and the cost of integrating the two companies fell.

? Netflix soared 21.5 percent, the most of any stock in the S&P 500, after the video streaming and DVD-by-mail company reported a huge gain in customers and a bigger fourth-quarter profit than analysts had expected.

? Colgate-Palmolive rose 1.3 percent after saying it will raise prices in the U.S. for the first time in years to cover higher costs for materials. The company's profit declined last quarter, but core sales in emerging markets were much stronger.

___

Follow Daniel Wagner at http://www.twitter.com/wagnerreports.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/earnings/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120126/ap_on_bi_st_ma_re/us_wall_street

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Rollin' Justin learns to throw like a robot

Our pal Rollin' Justin proved the old adage about teaching old robots new robo tricks wrong back in April, when he learned to catch balls by tracking moving objects, calculating their flight paths and then snapping shut his cold metal claws at the moment of impact. Now he's besting himself, thanks to a handful of improvements imparted upon him by way of his fleshy masters at the German Aerospace Agency. Among the upgrades are are an improvement to old Justin's dynamic performance -- he's now 1.5 times faster in his arms, thanks to new gear ratios, helping to make his game of robo catch two-sided, with the ability to actually throw. He's also adopted the more flattering moniker Agile Justin. Video evidence of his new-found skills after the jump.

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GOP Candidates Debate Veteran Aid (ContributorNetwork)

American veterans have the daunting task of overcoming the physical and psychological traumas of war and integrating into a society with an ailing economy and unwelcoming job market. In fact, according to CNN's John King, a startling 22 percent of post-9/11 veterans aged 18 to 24 are currently unemployed.

The candidates seeking the Republican presidential nomination were asked during the South Carolina GOP debate what they would do to facilitate veterans' transition back home.

Here is what they said, according to a debate transcript provided by the Chicago Sun-Times:

* Ron Paul: "We can create a healthy economic environment if we did the right things. But where the veterans really deserve help, both as a physician and as a congressman, is the people who've come back and aren't doing well health-wise. They need a lot more help. We have an epidemic now of suicide of our military coming back. So they need a lot of medical help, and I think they come up shortchanged. They came up shortchanged after Vietnam War, Persian Gulf War and even now. They don't get care from the Veterans Administration."

* Rick Santorum: "I grew up on VA grounds ? and I saw the impact of the Vietnam War on those veterans who came back. And they came back very damaged, not just with physical wounds but a lot of psychological wounds. And that's a very big part of the high unemployment rate that we're dealing with. And we need to be much, much more aggressive. We have a president of the United States who said he is going to cut veterans' benefits, cut our military, at a time when these folks are four, five, six, seven tours, coming back, in and out of jobs, sacrificing everything for this country, and the president of the United States can't cut one penny out of the social welfare system and he wants to cut a trillion dollars out of our military and hit our veterans. That's disgusting."

* Mitt Romney: "In our state we found a way to help our veterans by saying, look, if you're going to come back, particularly if you're in the National Guard, we'll pay for your education, college degree, both the fees and tuition -- we'd give you a full ride. And we also had a plan that said, if you come back and you've been out of work for a year or more, we're going to put a bonus on your back, which, if anyone hires you, that bonus goes to them to pay for your training. So we can encourage that to occur. But let's do it at the state level. Let's not have the federal government continue to extend its tentacles into everything that goes on in this country."

* Newt Gingrich: "The U.S. government did two dramatic things after World War II. They created a GI Bill which enabled literally millions of returning veterans to go to college for the very first time. ? So there was an enormous expansion of opportunity that enabled them to integrate into a new, emerging society. The second thing they did is, they dramatically cut taxes, and the economy took off and grew dramatically, and it absorbed the workforce."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20120121/pl_ac/10864389_gop_candidates_debate_veteran_aid

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Suddenly 'neck and neck' ? Romney, Gingrich in SC (AP)

CHARLESTON, S.C. ? On the eve of a Southern showdown, Mitt Romney conceded Friday he's in a tight race with Newt Gingrich for Saturday's South Carolina primary in a Republican campaign suddenly turned turbulent.

It's "neck and neck," Romney declared, while a third presidential contender, former Sen. Rick Santorum, swiped at both men in hopes of springing yet another campaign surprise.

Several days after forecasting a Romney victory in his state, Sen. Jim DeMint said the campaign's first Southern primary was now a two-man race between the former Massachusetts governor, who has struggled in recent days with questions about his personal wealth and taxes, and Gingrich, the former House speaker who has been surging in polls after a pair of well-received debate performances.

The stakes were high as Republicans sought a challenger to Democratic President Barack Obama. Television advertising by the candidates and their supporters exceeded $10 million here, much of it spent in the past two weeks, and mailboxes were stuffed with campaign flyers.

In a bit of home-state boosterism, DeMint said the primary winner was "likely to be the next president of the United States."

Indeed, the winner of the state's primary has gone on to capture the Republican nomination each year since 1980.

A victory by Romney would place him in a commanding position heading into the Florida primary on Jan. 31. He and an organization supporting him are already airing television ads in that state, which is one of the country's costliest in which to campaign.

If the former Massachusetts governor stumbles in South Carolina, it could portend a long, drawn-out battle for the nomination stretching well into spring and further expose rifts inside the party between those who want a candidate who can defeat Obama more than anything else, and those whose strong preference is for a solid conservative.

Romney sounded anything but confident as he told reporters that in South Carolina, "I realize that I had a lot of ground to make up and Speaker Gingrich is from a neighboring state, well known, popular ... and frankly to be in a neck-and-neck race at this last moment is kind of exciting."

Left unspoken was that he swept into South Carolina 10 days ago on the strength of a strong victory in the New Hampshire primary and maintained a double-digit lead in the South Carolina polls for much of the week.

Campaigning in Gilbert, S.C., on Friday, Romney demanded that Gingrich release hundreds of supporting documents relating to an ethics committee investigation into his activities while he was speaker of the House in the mid-1990s.

""Of course he should," he told reporters. Referring to the House Democratic leader, he said, "Nancy Pelosi has the full record of that ethics investigation. You know it's going to get out ahead of the general election."

That was an attempt to turn the tables on Gingrich, who has demanded Romney release his income tax returns before the weekend primary so Republicans can know in advance if they contain anything that could compromise the party's chances against Obama this fall.

Gingrich's campaign brushed off Romney's demand, calling it a "panic attack" brought on by sinking poll numbers.

"Don't you love these guys?" the former speaker said in Orangeburg. "He doesn't release anything. He doesn't answer anything and he's even confused about whether he will ever release anything. And then they decide to pick a fight over releasing stuff?"

In January 1997, Gingrich became the first speaker ever reprimanded and fined for ethics violations, slapped with a $300,000 penalty. He said he'd failed to follow legal advice concerning the use of tax-exempt contributions to advance potentially partisan goals, but he was also cleared of numerous other allegations.

At the same time he fended off a demand on one front Friday, Gingrich was less than eager to face further questions made by his second wife, Marianne, who said in an ABC interview broadcast Thursday night that he had once sought an open marriage so he could keep the mistress who later became his current wife.

He denies the ex-wife's account.

On his final lap through the state, Santorum campaigned as the Goldilocks candidate ? just right for the state's conservative voters.

"One candidate is too radioactive, a little too hot," he said, referring to Gingrich. "And we have another candidate who is just too darn cold, who doesn't have bold plans," he added, speaking of Romney.

His campaign also announced endorsements from conservative leaders in the upcounty portion of the state around Greenville, where the heaviest concentration of evangelical voters lives.

Santorum, a former Pennsylvania senator, dismissed Texas Rep. Ron Paul, the fourth contender in the race. "There are four, three of whom have a chance to win the nomination," he said, including himself.

Paul, who finished third in the Iowa caucuses and second in the New Hampshire primary, has had a limited presence in South Carolina.

But he flew to six cities on a burst of campaigning on the race's final day, and drew applause for having returned to Washington, D.C., earlier in the week to vote against Obama's requested increase in the debt limit.

"When you hear the word principle, you think of Ron Paul. He's the embodiment of that," said Derek Smith, a 26-year-old engineer for the Navy in Charleston. "If he were to run as a third-party candidate, I would vote for him unconditionally."

Paul has said he has no intention of doing that.

Interviewed on C-SPAN, Santorum said the race "has just transformed itself in the last 24 hours." It was hard for any of the campaigns to argue with that.

In a bewildering series of events on Thursday, Romney was stripped of his victory in the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses by state party officials, who said a recount showed Santorum ahead by 34 votes.

Then came an unexpected withdrawal by Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who endorsed Gingrich. But Gingrich was suddenly caught in a controversy caused by his ex-wife's accusations.

At a two-hour debate that capped the day, Gingrich drew applause when he strongly attacked ABC and the "liberal news media" in general for injecting the issue into the final days of the South Carolina campaign.

By contrast, Romney faced a round of boos from the audience when he stuck by earlier statements that he would wait until April to release his tax returns.

Romney has stumbled several times in recent days, including once when he said he paid an effective tax rate of about 15 percent. That's half what many middle-income Americans pay, but it's what the law stipulates because his income derives from investments, which are taxed at a lower rate than wages.

Gingrich posted his own tax returns online during the Thursday debate, reporting he paid 31.5 percent of his income to the IRS.

___

Associated Press writers Charles Babington, Kasie Hunt, Thomas Beaumont, Philip Elliott, Beth Fouhy and Shannon McCaffrey contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120120/ap_on_el_pr/us_gop_campaign

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Afghan Taliban say recruited soldier who killed French troops (Reuters)

KABUL (Reuters) ? The Afghan Taliban said on Saturday they had recruited an Afghan soldier who shot dead four French soldiers a day earlier, raising fears the militant group had managed to deepen its infiltration of the country's struggling security forces.

The killings prompted France to threaten an early pullout from the NATO-led war.

The claim of responsibility raises serious concerns about handing control of security over to the Afghan army and police, which NATO-led forces are currently in the process of doing before all foreign combat troops leave by the end of 2014.

"The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has recruited people in important positions," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location, using another name the Islamist group call themselves.

"Some of them have already accomplished their missions."

The four French soldiers died on the spot, he said.

The killings in Kapisa province were the latest in a string of such attacks in which Afghan troops turn on their Western allies and mentors. While NATO has blamed Taliban infiltration in the past, it has also said stress, indiscipline and divided loyalties within the hastily trained ranks played a role.

Such attacks are especially damaging as the Afghan National Army tries to win public trust before foreign troops leave.

The Taliban claim coincided with a visit to Kabul by the U.S. Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Marc Grossman. He is expected to meet President Hamid Karzai and other senior Afghan officials.

Despite the presence of more than 100,000 foreign troops, violence across Afghanistan remains at its worst levels since the Taliban were toppled by U.S.-backed Afghan forces in late 2001, according to the United Nations.

In April last year, an Afghan Air Force pilot opened fire at the military wing of Kabul's main airport, killing eight U.S. troops and an American contractor.

An Afghan border policeman shot dead six U.S. soldiers during a training mission in Nangarhar province in 2010.

U.S. and NATO officials usually describe such attacks as isolated incidents.

Afzal Aman, head of operations for the Afghan National Army, said he could not confirm if the Taliban had infiltrated the army in this instance. But he suggested that such recruitment could represent a bigger threat than previously thought.

"Usually in the past, whenever something like this happened, it came about after Afghan and foreign soldiers had an argument over something related to Afghan affairs," he told Reuters.

Friday's attack also comes weeks after an offer from the Taliban to open a political office in Qatar as a prelude to possible peace talks with the United States and other nations.

After the shooting -- which took the French death toll to 82 since the war began in 2001 -- President Nicolas Sarkozy ordered all French military operations on the ground to be suspended and Defense Minister Gerard Longuet jetted into Kabul Saturday.

A regional Taliban commander added that incidents such as a video showing U.S. Marines urinating on corpses were boosting support for the group among Afghans and threatened more attacks.

"Our missions have become easier because of incidents like the video," he said.

(Additional reporting by Jibran Ahmad in PESHAWAR; Editing by Michael Georgy)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120121/wl_nm/us_afghanistan_french_taliban

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