NPR 2012-02-17

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President Obama is fundraising in California, where he's telling voters his work "is not yet complete." He's expected to draw more than eight million dollars in donations from his three-day trip through the Western US. That's on top of the more than 220 million the incumbent² raised last year for his reelection, surpassing the amount of money raised by his Republican presidential rivals.

 

Campaigning in Michigan today, Mitt³ Romney tried to distinguish himself from Rick Santorum. NPR's Ari Shapiro reports that Romney grew up in Michigan, so a defeat there would be a huge blow to his campaign.

 

At a roundtable with business leaders outside of Detroit, Romney said he's a Washington outsider, and Republicans such as Rick Santorum, who ran Washington during the last decade, betrayed their conservative principles.

 

"Republicans started earmarking like crazy. Republicans spent too much money, way above the rate of inflation. Republicans didn't send programs back to the states. Republicans didn't eliminate programs, we added programs. We were doing exactly what the Democrats⁴ have done."

 

Although Romney did not name Santorum, that's the line of attack his campaign and super PAC have used to try to tear down the former Pennsylvania senator. Santorum has been rising in polls ever since he swept contests in Minnesota, Missouri and Colorado. Ari Shapiro, NPR News, Monroe, Michigan.

 

The Maryland and New Jersey⁵ statehouses today are taking up same-sex marriage bills just days after a similar measure was signed into law in Washington state. Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley, a rising star in the Democratic Party, backs same-sex marriage. New Jersey's Republican Governor Chris Christie, who's been touted⁶ as a possible vice⁷ presidential candidate, is threatening to veto gay marriage legislation.

 

Builders are breaking ground on more housing units in the US underscored by a boost in January. NPR's Annie Baxter tells us construction was especially strong in the volatile⁸ areas of apartments and condos.

 

Housing starts picked up some in January and rose about 4% on an over-the-year basis. Mark Zandi, chief economist⁹ at Moody's Analytics, says the improvements had a lot to do with multi-family housing such as apartments. That area is getting a lift as more people rent instead of own.

 

"Multi-family construction is important, and it should create jobs. In fact, the number of people working in the construction trades is now rising."

 

Zandi says an increase in builder confidence suggests that single-family home construction could also get a boost by the end of the year. But the sector's still significantly depressed¹⁰, compared to its boom years. Annie Baxter, NPR News.

 

Dow's up 121.

 

This is NPR.

 

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon accuses the Syrian regime of committing "almost certain" crimes against humanity in his words by failing to stop its crackdown on dissent¹¹.

 

"I call again on the Syrian government to comply with international law, international humanitarian¹² law, and immediately end the shelling and use of force against the civilians¹³."

 

Ban speaking to reporters in Vienna as more reports of violence stream out of Syria. Activists¹⁴ in Daraa and elsewhere reporting raids, arrests and bombardment today. The Syrian government, meanwhile, blames the violence on terrorists.

 

Riot police in the Democratic Republic of Congo have violently broken up a protest march organized by the influential¹⁵ Catholic Church, opposition¹⁶ parties and civil society. NPR's Ofeibea Quist-Arcton reports they’re challenging last year's disputed presidential election results.

 

The planned peaceful protest went ahead in the Congolese capital Kinshasa despite a government ban. Witnesses report panic demonstrators driven into the back of one church by clouds of tear gas fired by riot police. In an incident at another church, armed assailants apparently¹⁷ attacked would-be demonstrators with batons¹⁸ and rocks. Journalists say the police surrounding the church must have given the youth access. Kinshasa's outspoken¹⁹ archdiocese in Africa's most Catholic nation has sharply criticized the outcome of Congo's vote last November, which handed victory to the incumbent president, Joseph Kabila, in elections widely deemed as flawed. Ofeibea Quist-Arcton, NPR News, Dakar.

 

Gains today in US stocks with the Dow up 118 points at last check.

 

This is NPR News.

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