NPR 2012-01-10

 Republican presidential hopefuls in New Hampshire are spending the last day before that state’s primary sparring with each other.  Newt Gingrich says he has to take back a pledge to run a positive campaign to protect himself from rivals’ attacks. Mitt 1 Romney’s backers spend millions of dollars on negative ads in the Iowa caucuses 2 last week. Gingrich now has another target. The former House speaker is stepping up his criticism of former Senator Rich Santorum. NPR’s Mara Liasson says this signals a shift in tactics for Gingrich. 

 
He has seen Santorum’s surge in Iowa not translate to New Hampshire. I think Gingrich has made the calculation that he is the better candidate to become the conservative alternative to Romney, that he can do better in southern states like South Carolina, Florida, Georgia and he has no intention of running a kind of Kamikaze mission to just bring Mitt Romney down at the expense of Gingrich’s own campaign.  
 
NPR’s Mara Liasson reporting from Manchester, New Hampshire.
 
The leaders of the eurozone’s two largest economies called boosting economic growth across Europe a top priority. NPR’s Eleanor Beardsley reports that the heads of France and Germany are meeting in Berlin today to finalize 3 details of a new treaty that will enforce tough new fiscal 4 rules. 
 
French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor 5 Angela Merkel said they would also consider speeding up payments into the eurozone’s permanent rescue fund in an effort to bolster 6 market confidence. The two leaders also urged Greece to come to an agreement with its creditors 7 in order to receive a second tranche of bailout money and they spoke 8 of the morality of a tax on financial transactions. "We are where we are today because of the scandalous and inadmissible actions of the financial world," said Sarkozy. "And it’s only normal that they contribute to putting things right again." Eleanor Beardsley, NPR News, Paris.
 
The White House is denying accusations 9 by Iranians that an American man sentenced to death is a spy. State Department Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland says Amir Hekmati is innocent. She says the US is working with Swiss diplomats 10 in Tehran to help.
 
“If it is true, that he has been so sentenced, we would condemn 11 this verdict in the strongest terms and we are working with all of our partners to convey that condemnation 12 to the Iranian government.”
 
His family says he was visiting relatives in Iran for the first time. Hekmati is a former marine 13, but Nuland says he never worked for the CIA. 
 
Federal officials have arrested a 25-year-old man in Florida after allegedly plotting an attack on businesses and offices in the Tampa area. Police say Sami Osmakac was arrested after trying to buy weapons and firearms from undercover officers. He’s a nationalized US citizen born in Yugoslavia. 
 
On Wall Street at this hour, the Dow is up 31 points at 12, 392; the Nasdaq is up five points at 2,679; the S&P500 is up three. 
 
This is NPR News. 
 
The Supreme 14 Court has upheld a ban on foreign contributions to American political campaigns—a ban bars contributions from all foreigners except immigrants who live in the United States permanently 15. A lawyer in D.C. wanted the justices to allow greater political participation 16 by corporations and labor 17 unions.  
 
Nigeria, Africa’s top crude oil exporter, is in the grip of a nationwide strike sparked by a massive increase in the price of gasoline. NPR’s Ofeibea Quist-Arcton says the president is now under pressure to reverse his decision to end fuel subsidies 18. 
 
Nigeria’s capital Abuja and the commercial capital Lagos come to a virtual standstill with similar reports of thousands of people joining the demonstrations 19 in other parts of the country. “Enough is enough”, read several banners. Another says “soon the only thing left for poor people to eat will be rich people”. And Occupy Nigeria movement has emerged as Labor leaders warn “no retreat, no surrender”. Pressure is mounting on President Goodluck Jonathan to back down on scrapping 20 fuel subsidies, but the government appears to be unwavering. Supporters say the subsidies make no financial sense for Nigeria. Ofeibea Quist-Arcton, NPR News, Ankara. 
 
Two people are dead, several others were wounded when a roadside bomb went off south of Baghdad today. Police say the targets were Shia pilgrims walking to the holy city of Karbala. Sunni insurgents 21 are believed to be behind these attacks. 
 
Basketball players are back in the White House today. This time it’s the Dallas Mavericks—2011 NBA World champs. They staged a season-ending charge to beat Lebron James at Miami Heat and claimed their first title. 
 
I’m Jeanine Herbst, NPR News in Washington.