CNN 2012-03-17

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First up.A full breakdown¹ on Tuesday's Republican presidential contests.The biggest events were primaries in Alabama and Mississippi.Now we say biggest in terms of delegates.Former Senator Rick Santorum,on the right of your screen won in both states,Former Massachusetts won the caucuses² in Hawaiiand American Samoa.Candidates were awarded delegates from those events based on how many votes they got.So,for example,Senator Santorum got the most delegates in Mississippi because he got the most votes there.But he didn't get all of that states' delegates.It takes 1144 delegates to win this year's Republican presidential nomination³.Here's where things stand after Tuesday's contests,governor Romney with 498 delegates,Senator Santorum with 239,former House spearker Newt Gingrich has 139 delegates and US representative Ran Raul has 69.

 

Following up now on a story out of Afghanistan,the American soldier,who allegedly killed 16 Afghan civilians,has been transferred out of Afghanistan.A military official said this decision was based on a legal recommendation.

Yesterday,US defense⁴ secretary,Leon Panetta arrived in Afghanistan for a trip that had been scheduled before the shooting happened.There's been a lot of attention in Afghanistan because of the shooting and the recent incident when US troops accidentally burned copies the Quran.Afghan officials have been outrageous⁵ about this.The Taliban,a military group,the US and coalition⁶ forces are fighting in Afghanistan,have threatened violence against Americans,because of those incidents.Secretary Panetta addressed attention during his visit.

 

 

Each of these incidents is deeply troubling.And we have to learn the lessons from each of those incidents,so that we do everything possible to make sure that they don't happen again but none of these,none of these,is reflective of the overwhelming majority of troops,ISAF troops,Afghan troops,who day-to-day are doing the job of trying to protect this country.

 

 

The conflict in Afghanistan was one of the subjects that President Obama and British Prime Minister,David Cameron,discussed yesterday.The leaders said they are both committed to competing the military mission in Afghanistan and handing over security to Afghan forces by the end of 2014.

 

 

Prime Minister Cameron was at the White House as a part of an official visit,it included a joint⁷ press conference,and a state dinner last night.This wasn't a state visit.State visit is the title,used when heads of state comes to the White House.Prime Minister Cameron is the head of government,not state.The British head of the state is the Queen.

 

 

Today's Shout Out goes out to Ms.Truttman's geography class at Wittenberg Middle School in Wittenberg,Wisconsin.The warning,"Beware the ides of March",comes from what Shakespearean play? Here we go.Is it from Romeo and Juliet,Julius Caesar,Hamlet or Macbeth?You've got three seconds, go.

 

 

That famous warning was given in an end to Julius Caesar.That's your answer and that's your shout out.

 

 

Unfortunately,for Caesar,at least in the play,he didn't pay much attention to that warning that's the reason why the ides of March are so famous or so infamous⁸ today.

 

 

But we are getting a little ahead of ourselves.For starters,ides comes from a word that means to divide.On the old Roman and Julie calenders the middle of the month was called the ides.And it was supposed to coincide with the full moon.So today the 15th is the ides,and it was on the ides of March back in 44 BC when Julie Cesar was assassinated⁹.

 

 

We don't know who's actually warned about it,like he was in Shakespeare's play,but Shakespeare did make the day even more famous,when he included that partic

ular line,now,the ides of March is sometimes used symbolically¹⁰ to mean a specific day of major changes with

s,so beware.

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