NPR 2012-01-30

 The two leading contenders for the Republican presidential nomination 1, Mitt 2 Romney and Newt Gingrich, are both campaigning in Florida today, two days before the primary. NPR's Greg Allen reports from Fort Myers both campaigns have unveiled some new attacks.

 
Tough new attack ads from both campaigns have caused some collateral 3 damage. NBC News complained after the Romney campaign produced an ad that relies almost entirely 4 on an excerpt 5 of the Nightly News broadcast from 1997, when Gingrich was reprimanded by the House for ethics 6 violations 7. Yesterday, Romney picked up the attack in Panama City.
 
"You know, I'm running against Speaker Gingrich, for instance, he's a very nice fellow, and he's an historian, but that doesn't give him the right to rewrite history."
 
Former presidential candidate and conservative talk show host Mike Huckabee complained about a Gingrich ad that attacks Romney. It uses an excerpt of a campaign ad from 2008, in which Huckabee says of Romney, "If a man's dishonest to get a job, he'll be dishonest on the job." Greg Allen, NPR News, Fort Myers, Florida.
 
The campaign of former Senator Rick Santorum says his three-year-old daughter is in a Philadelphia hospital, so he's canceling his campaign appearances today. She suffers from a genetic 8 condition that typically is fatal.
 
The Senate is to vote tomorrow on a plan that would clear the way to consider legislation later this week on congressional ethics. The proposed law would impose tougher penalties on lawmakers who use non-public information for their private benefit. Insider trading already is prohibited, but critics say members of Congress are not closely scrutinized 9 for information they may receive before it becomes public knowledge.
 
The Greek prime minister said today that he has the backing of all parties in his coalition 10 government to push on with financial reforms. Joanna Kakissis reports.
 
European leaders are despairing over the slow pace of financial reforms in Greece. Papademos is a former central banker who was appointed last November to speed up implementation 11 of austerity measures and secure a second bailout. He's also on the verge 12 of sealing a bond swap 13 deal that would cut Greek debt by at least 50%. Greece has approved painful austerity measures in exchange for billions in international bailout loans. Without the money, it would default and could be forced to drop the euro. Papademos says Greece can only stay sovereigned if it's united. The politicians are also gearing up for spring elections in a country that deeply resents austerity. For NPR News, I'm Joanna Kakissis in Athens.
 
United Nations inspectors 14 are in Iran on a three-day visit to look into allegations Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons. They’re expected to visit an underground site about 80 miles south of Tehran, where Iran says it has begun uranium enrichment. They'll also seek permission to talk to scientists suspected of working on a weapons program. Iran claims it's developing material only for energy and medical research.
 
This is NPR News from Washington.
 
Critics of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin staged a demonstration 15 on wheels today. They drove hundreds of cars decorated with white ribbons around central Moscow. White has become the protest color since the demonstrations 16 began last month after parliamentary elections. Putin's party won, but the opposition 17 claims there was widespread fraud and they want new elections. Putin is running for president, the job he held from 2000 to 2008. That election is scheduled for March 4th. He’s expected to win, which would extend his rule for at least six more years.
 
The debt crisis will be giving European Union leaders headaches even before they make it to their summit in Brussels if they do. Teri Schultz explains why tomorrow's gathering 18 is going to be messier than ever, and that's just the logistics.
 
Brussels will be paralyzed Monday by a general strike of both public and private sector 19 workers protesting their government's austerity measures. The massive action will shut down all public transportation and severely 20 disrupt air travel into and out of the Belgian capital. That means heads of state arriving by plane may be redirected to a military airport and then taken downtown by motorcade. The Belgian government host won't reveal exactly what its plans are because of threats that motorways 21 will be blocked by unions. He’ll also remind the government it's not allowed to thwart 22 strike activities. Those EU leaders who make it to the meeting may not have their usual fine dining to look forward to, all ruminating 23 on how to save the eurozone. Even catering 24 services are expected to stay off the job. For NPR News, I'm Teri Schultz in Brussels.
 
In men's tennis, Novak Djokovic won the Australian Open today. He beat Rafael Nadal 5-7, 6-4, [口误]6-2, 6-7, 7-5. It took five hours and 53 minutes.