NPR 2012-03-11

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Throughout the primary campaign, the candidates' plans for the economy have taken center stage. While many Kansas voters say the state of the economy is important, Voter Heather Wint Tauser says she expects many voters will look at the candidates' positions on social issues. Wint Tauser from Lawrence, Kansas says she’s voting for Santorum over Romney. 

 

“I’m assuming they both could do a good job on the fiscal⁶, but the social made a difference.”

 

While Romney and former Georgia Representative Newt Gingrich both chose not to visit Kansas, Santorum and Representative Ron Paul both made trips to the Sunflower State before caucus² there. For NPR News, I'm Jeremy Bernfeld in Lawrence, Kansas.

 

A Republican caucus is also underway in the US Virgin⁷ Islands, and Romney gained all nine delegates in Guam today and won the caucus in the Commonwealth⁸ of the Northern Mariana Islands, picking up another nine delegates. Primaries will be held Tuesday in Alabama and Mississippi.

 

Thousands of Russians rallied again in Moscow today to announce alleged⁹ vote fraud in Sunday's presidential election, as well as a parliamentary vote in December. NPR's Martha Wexler reports their demands include early elections and freedom for political prisoners.

 

Today's event on Moscow's Novy Arbat Street was dedicated¹⁰ to the thousands of Russians who volunteered as poll watchers Sunday. Some of them spoke¹¹ to the crowd about the violations¹² they and their colleagues have witnessed. These included abuse of absentee balloting¹³ and changes in final vote tallies¹⁴ in some districts. One of the monitors, Yuri Adrogova, summed up what she saw with the slogan that was written above her head. “This was no election, and this is no president,” she said, meaning Prime Minister Vladimir Putin who claimed victory with 64% of the vote. Another speaker, the head of an independent monitoring group, said no one really knows the size of Putin's win. Martha Wexler, NPR News, Moscow.

 

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad met today with Kofi Annan, the former UN secretary-general and Arab League envoy¹⁵. The Syrian state news agency reports Assad told him there can be no political solution to end the violence in Syria. What he described as terrorist groups are spreading chaos¹⁶ and instability.

 

Afghan officials say that five top Taliban leaders now being held at the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba may be released to the Gulf¹⁷ state of Qatar. The prisoners had met with a delegation¹⁸ from the Afghanistan and said they would agree to the transfer as long as they are reunited with their families in Qatar. The US has not yet agreed to the deal, but it made as an incentive¹⁹ for the Taliban to take part in peace talks to end the war in Afghanistan. 

 

This is NPR News.

 

Police in Nairobi, Kenya say someone tossed grenades out of a car to [a] major bus terminal in the capital today. At least two people were killed and dozens were wounded. There have been a series of such attacks since October, when Kenya sent troops across the border into Somalia. 

 

Pakistan has named a new chief of military intelligence, one of the most powerful positions in the country. NPR's Jackie Northam reports from Islamabad.

 

The naming of Lieutenant²⁰ General Zaheerul Islam as chief of intelligence was not a surprise. Islam is currently the army commander in the southern city of Karachi and earlier was the head of internal security at the intelligence agency which deals with militants²¹ and counterintelligence. Islam has also spent time at military training programs in the US. Analysts²² here say it's unlikely there will be an immediate²³ shift in policy as Islam takes the helm. It's expected he will be involved in Pakistani efforts to bring the Taliban into peace negotiations²⁴. Islam replaces Lieutenant General Ahmad Shuja Pasha, who oversaw²⁵ the intelligence agency through several scandals, which brough US-Pakistani relations to a new low. Jackie Northam, NPR News, Islamabad.

 

The USS Enterprise sets sail in its final deployment²⁶ tomorrow. During its 50 years in service, the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier has played a prominent role in the Cuban Missile Crisis, helped attack Iran from mining the Arabian Gulf and was the setting for the “Top Gun” movie. The Enterprise will head to the Middle East for a seven-month deployment. Captain William Hamilton said the ship is showing its age these days, saying “it's kind of like when you get older, and it's harder to get out of bed in the morning.”

 

I'm Nora Raum, NPR News in Washington.

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