• 1

  2 hours ago

  Romney, Santorum Tied in Michigan: NBC Poll

  
  A new NBC News/Marist poll shows Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum in a statistical dead heat in Michigan, home of next Tuesday's crucial GOP presidential primary. In the Great Lakes State, where Romney spent his childhood, the former Massachusetts governor is backed by 37 percent of likely GOP voters. That is just two percentage points ahead of Santorum, who has been surging in the polls since his dramatic wins in Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri earlier this month. A loss to Santorum in Michigan could put Romney's campaign into a tailspin, according to many political pundits. Meanwhile, according to a separate NBC News/Marist poll, Romney has a wide lead over Santorum in Arizona, which holds its primary the same day. MSNBC's First Read team reports that Romney is also leading Santorum in Arizona's early voting. Get More at MSNBC
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  3 hours ago

  US, French Journalists Killed in Syria

  

  AP
  U.S. journalist Marie Colvin and French photographer Remi Ochlik were killed Wednesday in Homs, Syria, currently under siege by President Bashar al-Assad's regime. According to one witness, shells hit the house where the pair was staying, and a rocket struck and killed them when they tried to escape. Activists said that British photographer Paul Conroy was wounded in the attack. There were unconfirmed reports another American woman journalist wounded as well. NBC News' Richard Engel tweeted that Colvin, a veteran correspondent for the Sunday Times, was "one of the greats." She was recognized by the eye patch she wore after after being hit by shrapnel in Sri Lanka in 2001. The restive city of Homs has in recent days faced a full-on attack by Assad's regime. Get More at MSNBC
• 3

  4 hours ago

  Rising Poll Numbers Are Sweet Music to Obama

  

  Getty Images
  President Barack Obama’s rising poll numbers and a surging stock market has given him something to sing about. The commander-in-chief tops 50 percent support against each of his GOP presidential rivals in head-to-head matchups, according to a new Associated Press-Gfk poll. On Wednesday, the Dow hit the psychologically significant 13,000 mark for the first time since May 2008. Hours later a beaming president was persuaded to join in on a blues jam with B.B. King and Mick Jagger at the White House. It was a reprise of his singing performance of Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together” last month at New York’s Apollo Theater. Check out the president showing off his pipes on “Sweet Home Chicago” by clicking below. "Singer in chief, for sure," noted the Obama campaign's Tumblr account, Politico reported. Get More at MSNBC
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  54 minutes ago

  49 Killed, 340 Injured in Argentina Train Station Wreck

  

  AP
  At least 49 morning commuters were killed and another 340 were injured Wednesday when a packed train slammed into a barrier at the end of a station platform in Buenos Aires, Argentina’s transportation secretary said. The incident is Argentina's worst train accident in decades, Reuters reports. The death toll—which includes one child—is Argentina's highest from a train accident since the 1970 Benavidez rail disaster, which killed 200. "There are people still trapped,” J.P. Schiavi told reporters. Witnesses told local media that the train did not appear to break as it approached Once station, CNN reported. Get More at MSNBC
• 5

  2 hours ago

  GOP Candidates to Face Off in Tonight's Arizona Debate

  

  AP
  The four remaining GOP presidential candidates—Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich—are slated to face off in the twentieth debate of the nomination season in Mesa, Arizona Wednesday evening, just six days before primaries there and in Michigan. Political pundits anticipate that Romney and Santorum, who are currently polling at a statistical dead heat in Michigan, will use tonight's debate as an opportunity to ramp up attacks on each other and highlight their retooled campaign messages. The First Read team wonders if Newt Gingrich, after several weeks of relative silence on the campaign trail, will reassert his candidacy. Finally, tonight's debate—which begins at 8:00 p.m. ET—may present further evidence of the emerging "bro-mance" between Romney and Paul, who enjoy a documented personal friendship and have largely avoided attacking each other throughout the election season thus far. Get More at MSNBC
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  36 minutes ago

  Eight More Bodies Discovered in Italian Cruise Ship Wreck

  

  ASSOCIATED PRESS
  More than one month after the Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia capsized off the Tuscan coast, salvage divers found four more bodies Wednesday in the submerged section of the wrecked vessel, including the bodies of an adult woman and a 5-year-old girl. However, NBC News reports that rescuers will have a tough time bringing the bodies to shore due to the difficult-to-reach location of the bodies and inhospitable sea conditions. At this time, the victims' identity or nationality has not been reported, according to Reuters. Since the January 13 shipwreck, 25 people have been confirmed dead, with 11 other passengers still missing. Get More at MSNBC
• 7

  5 hours ago

  U.S. Embassy in Kabul on Lockdown

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• 8

  6 hours ago

  WH Offers to Cut Corporate Tax to 28 Percent

  

  AP
  President Obama intends to unveil a new corporate tax plan to Congress that would slash the top corporate tax rate to 28 percent from 35 percent by eliminating a series of loopholes and subsidies, a senior White House official told The New York Times. A big part of the reported plan involves cracking down on multinational companies' relocation of profits or production overseas by instituting a minimum tax on foreign earnings. The announcement, to be made Wednesday by the Treasury secretary, comes as GOP primary frontrunner Mitt Romney prepares to unveil his own tax plan on Friday. Republicans say the tax code discourages companies from doing business in the U.S. and have turned the issue into a rallying cry this election season. Get More at MSNBC
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  5 minutes ago

    I'm tired of Rick Santorum pretending he's some kind of DC outsider   — Donald Trump Speaking on behalf of Mitt Romney for a Michigan "robo-call"
• 10

  Feb 22, 05:59AM

  First US Victim Hurt by Cross-Border Mexico Gunfire

  

  Getty Images
  A Mexican woman living in El Paso, Texas, became the first victim of cross-border gunfire from Mexican violence Tuesday when she was struck by bullets shot by an assault rifle in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. The 48-year-old woman was hit in the leg while shopping and pushing a stroller on a busy downtown street, and she was rushed to a local hospital for a non-life-threatening injury. The stray bullet came from a gunfight between carjackers and Juarez police, according to U.S. authorities. Bullets have whizzed across the border into El Paso before but until now had never struck anybody. Ciudad Juarez has grappled with skyrocketing crime ever since Mexican President Felipe Calderon began his crackdown on drug cartels in 2006. Get More at MSNBC
• 11

  3 hours ago

  Feds: Activist Wanted Hit Man to Kill Random Fur-Wearer

  

  AP
  An animal-rights activist in Ohio has been charged with soliciting a hit man on Facebook to murder a random fur-wearer, MSNBC reported. Meredith Lowell, 27, told an FBI employee posing as a possible hit man that she would pay $730 in jewelry or cash for the killing of a victim at least 12 years or older near a playground in her Cleveland Heights hometown, according to an FBI affidavit. “If you do not want to risk the possibility of getting caught with a gun before the job, bring a sharp knife that is (at least) 4 inches long, it should be sharp enough to stab someone and/or slit their throat to kill them. I want the person to be dead in less than 2 minutes," she allegedly wrote in an email. Get More at MSNBC
• 12

  5 hours ago

  Cramer: Market Will End Year Higher

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  Get More at MSNBC