Romney steps up criticism of Gingrich

Romney steps up criticism of Gingrich

IOWA CITY, Iowa

His attacks growing ever more personal, Mitt Romney on Wednesday questioned chief rival Newt Gingrich’s temperament, spending habits and allegiance to both the GOP and the middle class while hecklers confronted Gingrich in the lead-off caucus state. During a series of interviews while fundraising in New York, Romney told one media outlet that “zany is not what we need in a president” and another that Gingrich had “an extraordinary lack of understanding of how the economy works.” To yet another, Romney mocked Gingrich’s past accounts at a tony jeweler, saying: “He’s a wealthy man — a very wealthy man. If you have a half-a-million-dollar purchase from Tiffany’s, you’re not a middle-class American.”

Lawyer seeks rehab for Blagojevich

CHICAGO

Rod Blagojevich’s attorneys have asked to have him placed in a drug-abuse program when he starts his 14-year prison sentence for corruption, though they aren’t saying if the former Illinois governor has a problem or if it’s a legal move. Judge James Zagel agreed Tuesday to recommend Blagojevich for the program. Neither Zagel nor Blagojevich’s attorneys detailed why he would be eligible. Blagojevich and his legal team have not publicly identified any problems with drug abuse during the three years since his arrest in December 2008.

Panetta stresses ties to Afghanistan

KABUL

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Wednesday the U.S. will continue to conduct intelligence operations from Afghanistan like the recent mission that led to the loss of a drone over Iran, and he gave an upbeat assessment of the unpopular war.

Standing with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Panetta provided a cryptic response to questions about the lost drone, which has exposed details of the little-known U.S. intelligence and surveillance efforts aimed at Iran.

But the Pentagon chief and former CIA head left little doubt that the U.S. finds Afghanistan a useful place from which to spy on its neighbor and intends to keep at it. The operations benefit both the U.S. and Afghanistan, Panetta said.

Survey: 1 in 4 women attacked by partner

ATLANTA

It’s a startling number: 1 in 4 women surveyed by the government say they were violently attacked by their husbands or boyfriends.

Experts in domestic violence don’t find it too surprising, although some aspects of the survey may have led to higher numbers than are sometimes reported.

Even so, a government official who oversaw the research called the results “astounding.”

“It’s the first time we’ve had this kind of estimate” on the prevalence of intimate-partner violence, said Linda Degutis of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The survey, released by the CDC Wednesday, marks the beginning of a new annual project to look at how many women say they’ve been abused.

Violence kills 25 across Syria

BEIRUT

Violence across Syria killed at least 25 people Wednesday, including eight soldiers who were gunned down by army defectors in a retaliatory ambush after government troops destroyed a civilian car, activists said.

It was the second day in a row in which an attack by President Bashar Assad’s forces on civilians appears to have brought a quick and deadly act of revenge by anti-regime fighters. The ambush was the latest sign that the once-peaceful protest movement is growing into an insurgency.

Associated Press