Geithner: Obama won't ask me to stay in a 2nd term (AP)

WASHINGTON – Timothy Geithner said Wednesday that he doesn't expect to serve a second term as Treasury secretary. He said he doesn't think President Barack Obama would ask him to remain if Obama won re-election.

"He's not going to ask me to stay on, I'm pretty confident," Geithner said in a Bloomberg Television interview. "I'm also confident he's going to have the privilege of having another Treasury secretary."

Geithner is the only remaining top official on Obama's original economics team. He had considered leaving in August after the congressional battle over raising the debt limit was resolved.

Obama asked him to reconsider and remain in the Cabinet, and Geithner did. But the incident heightened expectations that Geithner would serve only through the 2012 election.

Geithner, who helped lead the administration's response to the 2008 financial crisis, has been a frequent target of criticism in his three years at Treasury. Many accused him of siding too closely with Wall Street in the government bailout of the financial system.

As the administration's highest-profile economic figure, Geithner been a lightning rod for criticism of its economic stewardship. Critics contend that government spending under Obama failed to keep unemployment from rising and gave the country record budget deficits.

But Geithner also received praise for his leadership in getting a sweeping financial overhaul through Congress and in the efforts he made to stabilize the financial system

Geithner's supporters also argue that the Treasury secretary provided Obama with sound advice on how to restructure the financial system. They note, too, that he successfully managed the government's $700 billion financial bailout to limit taxpayers' losses.

In the interview Wednesday, Geithner offered no hints of what he might do after leaving the administration.

"I'm very fortunate," he said. "I work with tremendously talented people, and this is one of the most important times in modern history to be in the world of economic policy and finance. And I work for a great president, who I believe in."

It isn't unusual for Cabinet secretaries to leave after just one term of a two-term presidency. George W. Bush and Bill Clinton both had three Treasury secretaries during their two terms in office.

The only Treasury secretary in recent history to serve more than four years was Nicholas Brady who served as Ronald Reagan's third Treasury secretary. Brady then stayed to serve for all four years of the George H.W. Bush administration.

Arizona Gov. Brewer gets book critique from Obama (AP)

MESA, Ariz. – Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer came to greet President Barack Obama upon his arrival outside Phoenix Wednesday. What she got was a critique. Of her book.

The two leaders could be seen engaged in an intense conversation at the base of Air Force One's steps. Both could be seen smiling, but speaking at the same time.

Asked moments later what the conversation was about, Brewer, a Republican, said: "He was a little disturbed about my book."

Brewer recently published a book, "Scorpions for Breakfast," something of a memoir of her years growing up and defends her signing of Arizona's controversial law cracking down on illegal immigrants, which Obama opposes.

Obama was objecting to Brewer's description of a meeting he and Brewer had at the White House, where she described Obama as lecturing her. In an interview in November Brewer described two tense meetings. The first took place before his commencement address at Arizona State University. "He did blow me off at ASU," she said in the television interview in November.

She also described meeting the president at the White House in 2010 to talk about immigration. "I felt a little bit like I was being lectured to, and I was a little kid in a classroom, if you will, and he was this wise professor and I was this little kid, and this little kid knows what the problem is and I felt minimized to say the least."

On the tarmac Wednesday, Brewer handed Obama an envelope with a handwritten invitation to return to Arizona to meet her for lunch and to join her for a visit to the border.

"I said to him, you know, I have always respected the office of the president and that the book is what the book is," she told reporters Wednesday. She said Obama complained that she described him as not treating her cordially.

"I said that I was sorry that he felt that way. Anyway, we're glad he's here, and we'll regroup."

A White House official said Brewer handed Obama a letter and said she was inviting him to meet with her. The official said Obama told her he would be glad to meet with her again. The official said Obama did note that after their last meeting, which the official described as a cordial discussion in the Oval Office, the governor inaccurately described the meeting in her book. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to describe a private conversation between the president and the governor.

Obama and GOP candidates offer a campaign preview (AP)

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – On a day that combined two campaigns into one, President Barack Obama on Wednesday challenged Republicans to raise taxes on the rich as GOP rivals Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich swiped at him on the economy and criticized each other over immigration.

With a week to go before the Jan. 31 Florida Republican presidential primary, the polls suggested a tight race, although Romney and his allies seized a staggering advantage in the television ad wars. They have reported spending $14 million combined on commercials, many of them critical of Gingrich, and a total at least seven times bigger that the investment made by the former House speaker and an organization supporting him.

Obama's political timeline was a different one, Election Day on Nov. 6. In a campaign-style appearance in Iowa, he demanded Congress approve a tax increase for anyone like Romney whose income exceeds $1 million a year.

"If you make more than a million dollars a year, you should pay a tax rate of at least 30 percent. If, on the other hand, you make less than $250,000, which includes 98 percent of you, your taxes shouldn't go up," he said after touring a manufacturing plant in Cedar Rapids and in a state that he won in 2008 that was expected to be a battleground in the fall.

"This is not class warfare," he said. "That's common sense."

As Obama surely knew, it was an offer Gingrich, Romney and the anti-tax Republicans in Congress are likely to find easy to refuse.

Referring to Obama's call in the speech for Congress to end tax breaks that encourage companies to ship jobs overseas, Romney said he didn't know of any.

Instead, he said the president presides over "the most anti-business, anti-investment, anti-job creator administration I've ever seen, and so, what I'll do — I'll get America to work again. I spent 25 years in business."

Gingrich was far harsher at an appearance in Miami.

"If he actually meant what he said it would be a disaster of the first order," Gingrich said of the president's call for higher taxes on millionaires.

The former House speaker said the president's proposal would double the capital gains tax and "lead to a dramatic decline in the stock market, which would affect every pension fund in the United States."

"It would affect every person who has a 401(k). It would attack the creation of jobs and drive capital outside of the United States. It would force people to invest overseas. It would be the most anti-jobs single step he could take," he said.

Under current law, investment income is taxed as the rate of 15 percent, a fact that has come to the fore of the campaign in recent days with the release of Romney's income tax return.

Wages, by contrast, are taxed at rates that can exceed 30 percent.

Electability is the top concern for GOP primary voters, according to polls taken in the early primary and caucus states, so both Republicans were eager to paint a contrast with the president.

But Romney and Gingrich also focused on the Florida primary now seven days distant.

Romney has long led in the state's polls, but Gingrich's upset victory last Saturday in the first-in-the-South primary in South Carolina revitalized his candidacy and raised questions about the former Massachusetts governor's staying power.

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum is also on the ballot, as is Texas Rep. Ron Paul.

But Santorum has been sinking in the polls as Gingrich rises, and Paul has indicated he intends to bypass the state to concentrate on caucuses to be held elsewhere.

That gives Florida the feel of a two-man race, and Romney and Gingrich are treating it that way. The two men sparred heatedly Monday night in a debate that virtually relegated Santorum and Paul to supporting roles.

A second debate is set for Thursday in Jacksonville. And if their separate appearances during the day on the Spanish-language television network Univision is a guide, it will be as feisty as the first.

Gingrich referred acidly to Romney describing a policy of "self-deportation" as a way of having illegal immigrants leave the country without a massive roundup.

"You have to live in a world of Swiss bank accounts and Cayman Island accounts and automatically $20 million income for no work to have some fantasy this far from reality," he said, referring to some of the details disclosed this week when the former Massachusetts governor released his tax returns.

"For Romney to believe that somebody's grandmother is going to be so cut off that she is going to self-deport, I mean, this is an Obama-level fantasy."

Romney's campaign swiftly produced evidence that aides to Gingrich had used the term "self-deport" approvingly, and the former governor attacked.

"I recognize that it's very tempting to come out to an audience like this and pander to the audience," Romney said. "I think that was a mistake on his (Gingrich's) part."

Gingrich also ran into trouble over a radio ad his campaign was airing that called Romney "anti-immigrant." Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who is neutral in the presidential race, criticized the commercial, and Romney said the term "anti-immigrant" was an epithet.

Gingrich made a stop in Cocoa, center of the state's now-withered space industry, and he cheered his audience by envisioning construction of the first permanent base on the moon. He also promised a "robust industry" of "commercial near-earth activities" to include science, tourism and manufacturing.

He said he hopes to stimulate investment by having the government offer prizes to private companies, but he did not elaborate. For Obama, Iowa was the first of five stops in three days following a State of the Union speech in which he stressed the theme of income equality that is expected to be one of the cornerstones of his re-election campaign. He also wove in proposals to help restore the U.S. manufacturing base that has withered in the course of the recession that began in 2008.

"Our economy is getting stronger, and we've come too far to turn back now," he told workers and guests at a conveyor manufacturing plant in Cedar Rapids. Speaking of Republicans, he said, "Their philosophy is simple: We're better off when everyone is left to fend for themselves and play by their own rules."

It's a message that may be received differently depending on the local economy.

Iowa's unemployment was most recently measured at 5.6 percent, well below the national average. In Arizona, which has its primary in four weeks, joblessness is 8.7 percent, while Nevada's at 12.6, the highest in the country. Its caucuses are Feb. 4.

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Associated Press writers Brian Bakst, Kasie Hunt and Steve Peoples in Florida contributed to this report.

Amid tears, Giffords bids her farewell to Congress (AP)

WASHINGTON – The applause rolled through the big chamber, growing ever louder as hundreds of Republicans and Democrats suddenly realized Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was back in the House.

But this time she had come to say goodbye.

Fellow lawmakers gave her a fitting send-off: cheers, hugs, a cascade of tributes and plenty of tears in a rare moment of political unity.

A year since that fateful Saturday morning when Giffords was severely wounded during a shooting rampage in her home district, the Arizona congresswoman resigned on Wednesday with a plea for civility — and a hint that she'll be back on the national stage. For now, the 41-year-old said, her movements and speech still halting, she needs to focus on her recovery.

For all the kind words showered on her, Giffords reflected in her resignation letter about a level of respect that seems like an aberration these days in a bitterly divided Washington.

In her five years in Congress, she said, "Always I fought for what I thought was right. But never did I question the character of those with whom I disagreed. Never did I let pass an opportunity to join hands with someone just because he or she held different ideals."

Said Republican Rep. Ted Poe of Texas in the first of many tributes: "Gabby is the spirit of bipartisanship that we should all learn from."

Giffords' friend Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., became emotional before reading Giffords' resignation letter in the well of the House. Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., held Giffords' hand. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, cried after Giffords slowly made her way to the podium and handed him the envelope with her resignation letter.

Last January, a gunman opened fire at Giffords' "Congress on Your Corner" event in Tucson, killing six people, including a 9-year-old girl and a federal judge and wounding 13, including Giffords who suffered a gunshot wound to her head. She has spent the past year recovering, showing up in the House just once last August to vote on raising the nation's borrowing authority.

That appearance stirred speculation about her political future and whether she would seek another term or even pursue an open Senate seat.

Giffords put that talk to rest on Sunday, announcing in a Web video that she would resign this week. On Monday, she met with survivors of the shootings in Arizona, , finishing the event that she had started outside a supermarket. On Tuesday night, she received thunderous applause and a hug from President Barack Obama at his State of the Union address.

Colleagues and friends stood with her, Flake by her side. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., had her back.

On Wednesday, Republicans and Democrats turned a morning debate over Giffords' last bill into a forum to praise her work and perseverance.

"We haven't seen the last of Gabby Giffords," said Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas. "I believe ... whatever the future holds for her she has made this a better place."

Around 10 a.m., Giffords entered the chamber through the main door, the same one Obama used the previous night. Wasserman Schultz assisted her as she made her way down the aisle, greeted warmly by colleagues with kisses and hugs. She sat in the front row for a flurry of tributes. In the gallery sat her mother, Gloria, and husband, retired Navy Capt. Mark Kelly, the former astronaut.

"All of us come to the floor today ... to salute her as the brightest star among us, the brightest star Congress has ever seen," said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., said he received a call from Kelly on Sunday informing him of Giffords' plans to resign. He said Giffords' "strength against all odds serves and will continue to serve as a daily inspiration to all of us."

Said Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., "The House of Representative has been made proud by this extraordinary daughter of the House. Gabby, we love you, we have missed you."

Prolonged standing ovations and spontaneous whoops marked the tributes. Giffords briefly waved at Kelly and her mother when their names were mentioned.

Surrounded by colleagues and friends, Giffords stood in the well of the chamber to resign. Wasserman Schultz read her two-page letter to Boehner.

"Everyday, I am working hard," Giffords wrote. "I will recover and will return, and we will work together again, for Arizona and for all Americans."

She purposefully made it to the podium to deliver the letter to Boehner.

Moments later, the House, including Giffords, voted for her final piece of legislation — a bill that would impose tougher penalties on smugglers who use small, low-flying aircraft to avoid radar detection and bring drugs across the Mexican border.

The vote was 408-0. The Senate, which recently passed a version of the bill, is expected to vote Thursday on the measure and send it to Obama for his signature.

Giffords submitted resignation letters to both Boehner and Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer. It falls to Brewer to set a date for a special primary and general election to fill the Arizona seat. That will probably happen in the spring or early summer. In November, voters will choose someone for the full two-year term.

After the tribute, Kelly said his wife realized stepping down was the right thing to do.

"But I'm more optimistic than anybody else about her future. She just needs some more time, whether it's a year or two years or three years, I'm very confident she's going to have a long and effective career as a public servant," he said.

Asked about her daughter's future, Gloria Giffords said, "I kind of think she's transcended Congress. I don't know where she's going to end up."

"She's remembered every boy she's ever kissed, every song she's ever sang, every bill she's ever passed," she said. "So upward and onward."

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Associated Press writers Alan Fram and Jim Abrams contributed to this report.

Pelosi hints, then denies she has Gingrich secrets (AP)

WASHINGTON – Does House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi know some dark secrets about GOP presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich? Twice, she offered tantalizing hints that she does. And then said she doesn't. Gingrich said Wednesday that the House Democratic leader should come out with it or shut up.

The latest back-and-forth in the contest of two former House speakers came in a CNN interview Tuesday night, when host John King suggested to Pelosi that she "could come back here next January or next February with a President Gingrich?"

"Let me just say this. That will never happen," Pelosi said.

When King asked, "Why are you so sure?" Pelosi responded: "There's something I know. The Republicans, if they choose to nominate him, that's their prerogative. I don't even think that's going to happen."

On Wednesday, Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill said: "The `something' leader Pelosi knows is that Newt Gingrich will not be president of the United States. She made that clear last night."

Hammill's statement, however, acknowledged that this wasn't the first time that Pelosi hinted that she knows something about Gingrich that she hasn't revealed.

In December, Pelosi reminded an interviewer that she served on the ethics panel that investigated Gingrich's use of tax-exempt organizations. That case ended with a reprimand by the House and a $300,000 penalty against the then-speaker for misleading the committee and prolonging its investigation.

Pelosi said last month: "One of these days we'll have a conversation about Newt Gingrich. I know a lot about him. I served on the investigative committee that investigated him, four of us locked in a room in an undisclosed location for a year. A thousand pages of his stuff."

Hammill repeated the explanation provided after those comments.

"Leader Pelosi previously made a reference to the extensive amount of information that is in the public record, including the comprehensive committee report with which the public may not be fully aware," the spokesman said.

Gingrich said Wednesday that Pelosi should come out with her information or stop talking.

"Look, I think if she knows something she ought to say it. If she doesn't know something she ought to quit saying it. But this is baloney. I don't think any Republican is going to be threatened by Nancy Pelosi. Frankly, I'd rather have her threaten me than endorse me. So I feel pretty good about it. If she has something, bring it out," he said.

Mitt Romney, Gingrich's chief rival for the GOP presidential nomination, has asked that all records from Gingrich's ethics investigation be released. In January 1997, when the case ended, the committee did make public its final report as well as exhibits — which amounted to a comprehensive account of the committee's findings.

The chairman of the ethics committee during the Gingrich investigation, former Republican Rep. Nancy Johnson, said the committee traditionally does not publicly release investigative documents.

A daring raid, and US, Danish hostages on way home (AP)

MOGADISHU, Somalia – Held captive since last fall, an ailing American woman and a Danish man will soon be safely on their way home after a bold, dark-of-night rescue by U.S. Navy SEALs. The commandos slipped into a Somali encampment, shot and killed nine captors and whisked the hostages to freedom.

The raid's success was welcome news for the hostages and their families, for the military and for President Barack Obama, who was delivering his State of the Union speech and beginning a five-state tour as the mission wrapped up. He did not mention it in his address but dropped a hint upon arriving in the House chamber by telling Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, "Good job tonight."

It was the second splashy SEAL Team 6 success in less than a year, following last May's killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.

The SEALs encountered some degree of resistance from the kidnappers at the encampment, two U.S. officials said, and there was a firefight during an approximately 1- to 1 1/2-hour operation.

One defense official said it was likely that the SEALs killed the kidnappers rather than capture them because they encountered armed resistance or the threat of resistance.

The Pentagon was mostly tight-lipped about details on Wednesday, citing a need to preserve the secrecy that can give SEALs and other special operations forces an edge against the terrorists, criminals and others they are ordered to kill or capture around the world under hazardous and often hostile conditions.

Special operations forces, trained for clandestine, small-team missions, have become a more prominent tool in the military's kit since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The Obama administration is expected to announce on Thursday that it will invest even more heavily in that capability in coming years.

After planning and rehearsal, the Somalia rescue was carried out by SEAL Team 6, officially known as the Naval Special Warfare Development Group, according to two U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a secret mission. The same outfit did the bin Laden mission, the biggest counter-terror success of Obama's presidency. It was not clear whether any team members participated in both operations.

One official said the SEALs parachuted from U.S. Air Force aircraft before moving on foot, apparently undetected, to the outdoor encampment where they found American Jessica Buchanan, 32, and Poul Hagen Thisted, a 60-year-old Dane, who had been kidnapped in Somalia last fall. The raid happened near the town of Adado.

Pentagon press secretary George Little said the captors were heavily armed and had "explosives nearby" when the rescuers arrived on the scene, but he was not more specific. He declined to say whether there was an exchange of gunfire and would not provide any further details about how the rescue was completed beyond saying all of the captors were killed by the Americans.

The American raiders caught the kidnappers as they were sleeping after having chewed the narcotic leaf qat for much of the evening, a pirate who gave his name as Bile Hussein told The Associated Press by phone. Hussein said he was not present at the site but had spoken with other pirates who were, and that they told him nine pirates had been killed in the raid and three were "taken away."

A Pentagon spokesman, Navy Capt. John Kirby, said U.S. officials could not confirm that the kidnappers were engaged in piracy. He referred to them simply as "criminals."

Little said the decision to go ahead with the rescue was prompted in part by rising concern about the medical condition of Buchanan. He said he could not be specific without violating her privacy but did say U.S. officials had reason to believe her condition could be life-threatening. Mary Ann Olsen, an official with the Danish Refugee Council, which employed Buchanan and Thisted in de-mining efforts in Somalia, said Buchanan was "not that ill" but needed medicine.

Danish Foreign Minister Villy Soevndal told Denmark's TV2 channel, "One of the hostages has a disease that was very serious and that had to be solved." Soevndal did not provide any more details.

U.S. officials "within the last week or so" had collected enough information to "connect the dots" that led Obama to authorize the mission on Monday, Little said.

A Western official said the rescuers and the freed hostages flew by helicopter to Camp Lemonnier in the nearby Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the information had not been released publicly. The hostages will remain in Djibouti Wednesday but will be leaving "fairly soon," one U.S. official said. They will then travel to another location for medical screenings and other evaluations before heading home, the official said.

Panetta visited Camp Lemonnier just over a month ago. A key U.S. ally in this region, Djibouti hosts the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa, a U.S.-led group organized under U.S. Africa Command.

In a statement after the rescue, Africa Command said Buchanan and Thisted were being held for an undisclosed ransom. It said the rescue team managed to confirm the hostages' presence in the camp before launching the assault. The mission was directed by Army Gen. Carter Ham, head of Africa Command, from his headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany. Panetta and other members of Obama's national security team monitored the mission from the White House before traveling up Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol for the president's annual message to Congress and the nation.

Obama, Panetta and Ham all praised the skill and courage of the SEALs and expressed gratitude for the safe return of the hostages.

"We should remember that Mrs. Buchanan and Mr. Thisted were working to protect the people of Somalia when they were violently kidnapped," Ham said in a written statement. "It is my hope that all those who work in Somalia for the betterment of the Somali people can be free from the dangers of violent criminals."

The Danish Refugee Council confirmed that Buchanan and Thisted were "on their way to be reunited with their families" on Wednesday.

Minutes after Obama completed his State of the Union address he was on the phone with Buchanan's father to tell him his daughter was safe.

"As commander in chief, I could not be prouder of the troops who carried out this mission and the dedicated professionals who supported their efforts," Obama said in a statement released by the White House on Wednesday.

"The United States will not tolerate the abduction of our people and will spare no effort to secure the safety of our citizens and to bring their captors to justice."

The Danish Refugee Council had been trying to work with Somali elders to win the hostages' freedom but had found little success. The head of the council, Andreas Kamm, said he would have preferred to see the two hostages freed peacefully "but we're happy with the outcome. This is a day of joy indeed."

Buchanan lived in neighboring Kenya before Somalia and worked at a school in Nairobi called the Rosslyn Academy from 2007-09, said Rob Beyer, the dean of students. He described the American as quick to laugh and adventurous.

"There have been tears on and around the campus today," Beyer said. "She was well-loved by all her students."

Several hostages are still being held in Somalia, including a British tourist, two Spanish doctors seized from neighboring Kenya and an American journalist kidnapped on Saturday.

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Houreld reported from Nairobi and Burns from Washington. Associated Press writers Kimberly Dozier, Lolita Baldor and Julie Pace in Washington, Jason Straziuso in Nairobi, Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Patrick Walters in Philadelphia contributed to this report.

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Follow Katharine Houreld at http://twitter.com/khoureld and Robert Burns at http://twitter.com/robertburnsAP

Remorseful man admits he caused big Reno blaze (AP)

RENO, Nev. – An "extremely remorseful" elderly man admitted Friday that he accidentally started a brush fire that destroyed 29 homes near Reno when he improperly discarded fireplace ashes at his home south of town, authorities said.

"He came forward on his own accord," Reno Fire Chief Michael Hernandez said about the man. The resulting blaze, fueled by 82 mph wind gusts, burned nearly 3,200 acres and forced the evacuation of up to 10,000 people Thursday.

"He has given statements to our investigators as well as law enforcement officers. He is extremely remorseful," the chief said.

Investigators already had tracked the origin of the fire to a location in East Lake on the north end of the Washoe Valley, where the man lives about 20 miles south of downtown Reno.

Washoe County Sheriff Mike Haley said a formal case file will be forwarded to the district attorney next week for consideration of charges.

"The DA will have to give this case a lot of deliberation," Haley said.

"The fact he came forward and admitted it plays a role. But so does the massive damage and loss of life," he said. "It's a balancing act."

In addition to the potential for facing jail time on arson charges, the man could also be ordered to pay the cost of fighting the fire, which already totals $690,000.

Washoe County Manager Katy Simon said she expects the final bill to run into the millions of dollars.

Gov. Sandoval toured the fire damaged area Friday, describing it as "horrendous, devastating."

"There is nothing left in some of those places except for the chimneys and fireplaces," he said.

The blaze started shortly after noon Thursday and, fueled by the wind, mushroomed to more than 6 square miles before firefighters stopped its surge toward Reno.

The strong, erratic winds caused major challenges for crews evacuating residents, Sierra Front spokesman Mark Regan said. "In a matter of seconds, the wind would shift," he said.

Haley confirmed that the body of June Hargis, 93, was found in the fire's aftermath, but her cause of death has not been established, so it's not known if it was fire related.

Jeannie Watts, the woman's 70-year-old daughter, told KRNV-TV that Hargis' grandson telephoned her to tell her to evacuate but she didn't get out in time.

A break in the weather and calmer winds allowed firefighters to get the upper hand on the blaze Friday.

Hernandez estimated it to be 65 percent contained Friday night. He said 300 firefighters would remain on the scene through the night checking for hot spots along with another 125 support people, including law enforcement officers and the Nevada National Guard.

About 2,000 people remained subject to evacuation, and about 100 households still were without power.

State transportation officials said they expected to reopen all of U.S. Highway 395 between Reno and Carson City by Saturday morning.

The next challenge may be the forecast for rain and snow in the mountains on Saturday, which could cause flooding in burned areas, he said.

Marred in Reno's driest winter in more than 120 years, residents had welcomed the forecast that a storm was due to blow across the Sierra Nevada this week.

Instead, thousands found themselves fleeing their homes Thursday afternoon.

Connie Cryer went to the fire response command post Friday with her 12-year-old granddaughter, Maddie Miramon, to find out if her house had survived the flames.

"We had to know so we could get some sleep," Cryer said, adding her house was spared but a neighbor's wasn't. She had seen wildfires before, but nothing on this scale.

"There was fire in front of me, fire beside me, fire behind me. It was everywhere," she said. "I don't know how more didn't burn up. It was terrible, all the wind and the smoke."

Fire officials said Thursday's fire was "almost a carbon copy" of a blaze that destroyed 30 homes in Reno during similar summer-like conditions in mid-November.

State Forester Pete Anderson said he has not seen such hazardous fire conditions in winter in his 43 years in Nevada. Reno had no precipitation in December. The last time that happened was 1883.

An inch of snow Monday ended the longest recorded dry spell in Reno history, a 56-day stretch that prompted Anderson to issue an unusual warning about wildfire threats.

"We're usually pretty much done with the fire season by the first of November, but this year it's been nonstop," Anderson said.

Kit Bailey, U.S. Forest Service fire chief at nearby Lake Tahoe, said conditions are so dry that even a forecast calling for rain and snow might not take the Reno-Tahoe area out of fire danger.

"The scary thing is a few days of drying after this storm cycle and we could be back into fire season again," he said.

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Associated Press writers Michelle Rindels in Las Vegas and Sandra Chereb in Carson City, Nev., contributed to this report.

After protest, Congress puts off movie piracy bill (AP)

WASHINGTON – Caving to a massive campaign by Internet services and their millions of users, Congress indefinitely postponed legislation Friday to stop online piracy of movies and music costing U.S. companies billions of dollars every year. Critics said the bills would result in censorship and stifle Internet innovation.

The demise, at least for the time being, of the anti-piracy bills was a clear victory for Silicon Valley over Hollywood, which has campaigned for a tougher response to online piracy. The legislation also would cover the counterfeiting of drugs and car parts.

Congress' qualms underscored how Internet users can use their collective might to block those who want to change the system.

The battle over the future of the Internet also played out on a different front Thursday when a loose affiliation of hackers known as "Anonymous" shut down Justice Department websites for several hours and hacked the site of the Motion Picture Association of America after federal officials issued an indictment against Megaupload.com, one of the world's biggest file-sharing sites.

The site of the Hong Kong-based company was shut down, and the founder and three employees were arrested in New Zealand on U.S. accusations that they facilitated millions of illegal downloads of films, music and other content, costing copyright holders at least $500 million in lost revenue. New Zealand police raided homes and businesses linked to the founder, Kim Dotcom, on Friday and seized guns, millions of dollars and nearly $5 million in luxury cars, officials there said.

In the U.S., momentum against the Senate's Protect Intellectual Property Act and the House's Stop Online Piracy Act, known popularly as PIPA and SOPA, grew quickly on Wednesday when the online encyclopedia Wikipedia and other Web giants staged a one-day blackout and Google organized a petition drive that attracted more than 7 million participants.

That day alone, at least six senators who had co-sponsored the Senate legislation reversed their positions. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, in statements at the time and again on Friday, stressed that more consensus-building was needed before the legislation would be ready for a vote.

On Friday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he was postponing a test vote set for Tuesday "in light of recent events." House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas, followed suit, saying consideration of a similar House bill would be postponed "until there is wider agreement on a solution."

With opposition mounting, it was unlikely that Reid would have received the 60 votes needed to advance the legislation to the Senate floor.

The two bills would allow the Justice Department, and copyright holders, to seek court orders against foreign websites accused of copyright infringement. The legislation would bar online advertising networks and payment facilitators such as credit card companies from doing business with an alleged violator. They also would forbid search engines from linking to such sites.

The chief Senate sponsor, Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., cited estimates that copyright piracy costs the American economy more than $50 billion annually and that global sales of counterfeit goods via the Internet reached $135 billion in 2010. He and Smith insist that their bills target only foreign criminals and that there is nothing in them to require websites, Internet service providers, search engines or others to monitor their networks.

That didn't satisfy critics who said the legislation could force Internet companies to pre-screen user comments or videos, burden new and smaller websites with huge litigation costs and impede new investments.

The White House, while not taking a specific stand on the bills, last week said it would "not support any legislation that reduces freedom of expression ... or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet." On Friday, White House spokesman Jay Carney said online piracy is an issue that has to be addressed, "but everybody has to be in on it for it to work and get through Congress."

The scuttling, for now, of PIPA and SOPA frustrates what might have been one of the few opportunities to move significant legislation in an election year where the two parties have little motivation to cooperate.

Until recently "you would have thought this bill was teed up," with backing from key Senate leaders and support from powerful interest groups, said Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., who cosponsored the original bill but quickly dropped his backing on the grounds the bill could undermine innovation and Internet freedom.

Moran said the "uprising" of so many people with similar concerns was a "major turnaround, and in my experience it is something that has happened very rarely."

Moran said PIPA and SOPA now have "such a black eye" that it will be difficult to amend them. Reid, however, said that there had been progress in recent talks among the various stakeholders and "there is no reason that the legitimate issues raised by many about this bill cannot be resolved."

Jeff Chester, executive director for the Center for Digital Democracy, a consumer protection and privacy advocacy group, said Google and Facebook and their supporters "have delivered a powerful blow to the Hollywood lobby." He predicted a compromise that doesn't include what many see as overreaching provisions in the current legislation.

"It's been framed as an Internet freedom issue, but at the end of the day it will be decided on the narrow interests of the old and new media companies," he said. The big questions involve who should or shouldn't pay — or be paid — for Internet content.

Leahy said he respected Reid's decision to postpone the vote but lamented the Senate's unwillingness to debate his bill.

"The day will come when the senators who forced this move will look back and realize they made a knee-jerk reaction to a monumental problem," Leahy said. Criminals in China, Russia and other countries "who do nothing but peddle in counterfeit products and stolen American content are smugly watching how the United States Senate decided" it was not worth taking up the bill, he said.

In the House, Smith said he had "heard from the critics" and resolved that it was "clear that we need to revisit the approach on how best to address the problem of foreign thieves that steal and sell American inventions and products." Smith had planned on holding further committee votes on his bill next month.

The bill's opponents were relieved it was put on hold.

Markham Erickson, executive director of NetCoalition, commended Congress for "recognizing the serious collateral damage this bill could inflict on the Internet."

The group represents Internet and technology companies including Google, Yahoo and Amazon.com. Erickson said they would work with Congress "to address the problem of piracy without compromising innovation and free expression."

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., who has joined Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Moran in proposing an alternative anti-piracy bill, credited opponents with forcing lawmakers "to back away from an effort to ram through controversial legislation."

But the CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America, former Connecticut Democratic Sen. Chris Dodd, warned, "As a consequence of failing to act, there will continue to be a safe haven for foreign thieves." The MPAA, which represents such companies as Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., is a leading advocate for the anti-piracy legislation.

6 killed in Afghanistan were Hawaii-based Marines (AP)

HONOLULU – All six Marines killed in the crash of a U.S. helicopter in Afghanistan were based in Hawaii, a Hawaii congresswoman said Friday.

The CH-53D helicopter crashed Thursday in Afghanistan's southern province of Helmand.

U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said Friday she's saddened to hear of the deaths. Her spokeswoman, Ashley Nagaoka Boylan, said the congresswoman was notified Thursday evening that all six Marines were Hawaii-based.

"All who have called Hawaii home are part of our island ohana, and every loss like this touches us deeply," Hanabusa said in a statement, using the Hawaiian word for family.

The military hasn't identified those killed. But John Riddick, of Mount Pleasant, Iowa, said his son was among them.

Master Sgt. Travis Riddick, 40, grew up in Iowa and joined the Marines after graduating from Centerville High School in 1990. John Riddick said his son served three tours in Iraq and two in Afghanistan. This was to be his last tour.

The Vietnam War-era CH-53D is the same model as a helicopter that crashed and killed a Marine in a bay off Hawaii on March 29. An investigation later revealed mechanical failure caused that accident.

Thursday's crash was the deadliest in Afghanistan since August, when 30 American troops died after a Chinook helicopter was apparently shot down in Wardak province in the center of the country.

The cause of the latest crash is still being investigated, but a statement issued by the NATO international military coalition said there was no enemy activity in the area when it happened.

German Brig. Gen. Carsten Jacobson, a spokesman for the NATO coalition in Kabul, said officials were looking at a "technical fault" as the possible culprit.

"The helicopter is one of the safest forms of transport," Jacobson said. He said not only does it protect troops the danger of roadside bombs on the ground, but it is well-tested, well-proven way to travel.

"The loss of the six U.S. Marines in yesterday's helicopter crash in Afghanistan comes as tragic news for our island community and our nation," U.S. Rep. Mazie K. Hirono, of Hawaii, said in a statement. "We owe them and all of our brave servicemen and women a debt of gratitude for their dedication to our country."

In 2005, the same base lost 27 Marines when a CH-53E Super Stallion deployed to Iraq crashed during a desert sandstorm. Altogether, 30 Marines and a Navy medic were killed in that crash.

CH-53D Sea Stallion helicopters were first used in the 1960s, and the Marine Corps flew them in the Vietnam War.

All Sea Stallions still used operationally are stationed at Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe Bay. The military plans to replace them with the MV-22 Osprey.

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AP National Security Writer Robert Burns in Washington contributed to this report.

US considering closing embassy in Syria (AP)

WASHINGTON – The State Department said Friday it "may have no choice" but to close the U.S. embassy in Damascus and remove all US personnel from the country wracked by a 10-month revolt against the regime of President Bashar Assad unless Assad's government takes extra steps to protect the mission.

The department issued a statement late Friday noting that the Obama administration has "serious concerns about the deteriorating security situation in Damascus, including the recent spate of car bombs and about the safety and security of embassy personnel."

The uprising against Assad has killed an estimated 5,400 people since March. Although the revolt began with mostly peaceful protests, an increasingly strong armed element has developed, and many people are now fighting the regime.

The department said the administration has asked Syria to take additional security measures to protect the U.S embassy and that the Syrian government "is considering that request."

But it also said it warned Assad's government that "unless concrete steps are taken in the coming days we may have no choice but to close the mission."

The U.S. removed its ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford, from Damascus in October over security concerns. He returned to Syria in December.

The administration argued at the time that Ford's presence in Syria was important for advancing U.S. policy goals by meeting with opposition figures and serving as a witness to the ongoing violence.

The Obama administration has long called for Assad to step down, and officials say his regime's demise is inevitable.

U.S. officials say Syria has become increasingly isolated, with Iran as one of its last remaining allies, and point to recent defections by some military and government leaders as a sign that Assad's grip on power is unraveling. The 10-month uprising against Assad has turned increasingly militarized and chaotic as more frustrated regime opponents and army defectors arm themselves and fight back against government forces.

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Associated Press writer Julie Pace contributed to this report.

Suddenly 'neck and neck' — Romney, Gingrich in SC (AP)

CHARLESTON, S.C. – On the eve of a Southern showdown, Mitt Romney conceded Friday he's in a tight race with Newt Gingrich for Saturday's South Carolina primary in a Republican campaign suddenly turned turbulent.

It's "neck and neck," Romney declared, then said later in the day he expects he will win some states while Gingrich takes others in the primaries and caucuses ahead.

Former Sen. Rick Santorum, swiped at both men in hopes of springing a South Carolina surprise.

But several days after forecasting a Romney victory in his state, Sen. Jim DeMint said the campaign's first Southern primary was now a two-man race between the former Massachusetts governor, who has struggled in recent days with questions about his personal wealth and taxes, and Gingrich, the former House speaker who has been surging in polls after a pair of well-received debate performances.

The stakes were high as Republicans sought a challenger to Democratic President Barack Obama. Television advertising by the candidates and their supporters exceeded $10 million here, much of it spent in the past two weeks, and mailboxes were stuffed with campaign flyers.

In a bit of home-state boosterism, DeMint said the primary winner was "likely to be the next president of the United States."

Indeed, the winner of the state's primary has gone on to capture the Republican nomination each year since 1980.

A victory by Romney would place him in a commanding position heading into the Florida primary on Jan. 31. He and an organization supporting him are already airing television ads in that state, which is one of the country's costliest in which to campaign.

If the former Massachusetts governor stumbles in South Carolina — as senior aides conceded he might — it could portend a long, drawn-out battle for the nomination stretching well into spring and further expose rifts inside the party between those who want a candidate who can defeat Obama more than anything else, and those whose strong preference is for a solid conservative.

Romney sounded anything but confident as he told reporters that in South Carolina, "I realize that I had a lot of ground to make up and Speaker Gingrich is from a neighboring state, well known, popular ... and frankly to be in a neck-and-neck race at this last moment is kind of exciting."

Left unspoken was that he swept into South Carolina 10 days ago on the strength of a strong victory in the New Hampshire primary and maintained a double-digit lead in the South Carolina polls for much of the week.

Campaigning in Gilbert, S.C., on Friday, Romney demanded that Gingrich release hundreds of supporting documents relating to an ethics committee investigation into his activities while he was speaker of the House in the mid-1990s.

""Of course he should," he told reporters. Referring to the House Democratic leader, he said, "Nancy Pelosi has the full record of that ethics investigation. You know it's going to get out ahead of the general election."

That was an attempt to turn the tables on Gingrich, who has demanded Romney release his income tax returns before the weekend primary so Republicans can know in advance if they contain anything that could compromise the party's chances against Obama this fall.

Gingrich's campaign brushed off Romney's demand, calling it a "panic attack" brought on by sinking poll numbers.

"Don't you love these guys?" the former speaker said in Orangeburg. "He doesn't release anything. He doesn't answer anything and he's even confused about whether he will ever release anything. And then they decide to pick a fight over releasing stuff?"

In January 1997, Gingrich became the first speaker ever reprimanded and fined for ethics violations, slapped with a $300,000 penalty. He said he'd failed to follow legal advice concerning the use of tax-exempt contributions to advance potentially partisan goals, but he was also cleared of numerous other allegations.

At the same time he fended off a demand on one front Friday, Gingrich was less than eager to face further questions made by his second wife, Marianne, who said in an ABC interview broadcast Thursday night that he had once sought an open marriage so he could keep the mistress who later became his current wife.

He denies the ex-wife's account.

On his final lap through the state, Santorum campaigned as the Goldilocks candidate — just right for the state's conservative voters.

"One candidate is too radioactive, a little too hot," he said, referring to Gingrich. "And we have another candidate who is just too darn cold, who doesn't have bold plans," he added, speaking of Romney.

His campaign also announced endorsements from conservative leaders in the upcounty portion of the state around Greenville, where the heaviest concentration of evangelical voters lives.

Santorum, a former Pennsylvania senator, dismissed Texas Rep. Ron Paul, the fourth contender in the race. "There are four, three of whom have a chance to win the nomination," he said, including himself.

Paul, who finished third in the Iowa caucuses and second in the New Hampshire primary, has had a limited presence in South Carolina.

But he flew to six cities on a burst of campaigning on the race's final day, and drew applause for having returned to Washington, D.C., earlier in the week to vote against Obama's requested increase in the debt limit.

"When you hear the word principle, you think of Ron Paul. He's the embodiment of that," said Derek Smith, a 26-year-old engineer for the Navy in Charleston. "If he were to run as a third-party candidate, I would vote for him unconditionally."

Paul has said he has no intention of doing that.

Interviewed on C-SPAN, Santorum said the race "has just transformed itself in the last 24 hours." It was hard for any of the campaigns to argue with that.

In a bewildering series of events on Thursday, Romney was stripped of his victory in the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses by state party officials, who said a recount showed Santorum ahead by 34 votes.

Then came an unexpected withdrawal by Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who endorsed Gingrich. But Gingrich was suddenly caught in a controversy caused by his ex-wife's accusations.

At a two-hour debate that capped the day, Gingrich drew applause when he strongly attacked ABC and the "liberal news media" in general for injecting the issue into the final days of the South Carolina campaign.

By contrast, Romney faced a round of boos from the audience when he stuck by earlier statements that he would wait until April to release his tax returns.

Romney has stumbled several times in recent days, including once when he said he paid an effective tax rate of about 15 percent. That's half what many middle-income Americans pay, but it's what the law stipulates because his income derives from investments, which are taxed at a lower rate than wages.

Gingrich posted his own tax returns online during the Thursday debate, reporting he paid 31.5 percent of his income to the IRS.

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Associated Press writers Charles Babington, Kasie Hunt, Thomas Beaumont, Philip Elliott, Beth Fouhy and Shannon McCaffrey contributed to this report.

Union threatens oil production closed in Nigeria (AP)

LAGOS, Nigeria - a major Union threatened Thursday stop the heart beating the economy of Nigeria - crude oil production - in a strike in the country and protests access Africa's most populous nation.

Oil prices rose on the news. Nigeria is the fifth largest exporter of oil to the United States, and a decision would force us refineries in replacement of 630,000 barrels per day of crude oil.

The ability of the Union to apply a closure Sunday, through the marshes of the Delta in southern Nigeria, which remains massive fields of offshore oil in question. But the threatened strike caused nervousness in global markets of oil as a concern in the world of traders for delivery.

Nigeria has a strike paralysed were which began Monday after the President Goodluck Jonathan abandoned Government grants, maintained at a low price of gasoline. The nights pump price has more than doubled to $1.70 per gallon (45 cents per litre), at least $ 3.50 per gallon (94 cents per litre). The cost of food and transportation has doubled in a country where most people less $ 2 per daily life.

Little lose the anger over one benefits from average Nigerians see a country rich in oil, as well as corruption, anger caused events to this nation of 160 million people and violence that killed at least 10 people.

Oil and the association of executives of natural gas from Nigeria, representing approximately 20,000 workers, said he would be forced to close production of oil and gas, "the option apply amer" all if the Government refuses to reinstate gasoline subsidies.

Babatunde Ogun, President of the Union said if the fields are shut down, he was six months to a year to run effectively.

"We believe that when at a standstill, the Government give in to will," Ogun told journalists in Lagos. Essence of $ dominates the economy of Nigeria and the majority of the revenues of the Government.

Ogun also said that a closing power grid, disable the natural gas of the nation, already in ruins.

Thursday night without notice the end of the negotiations between labour and the Government. Officials have said that they would resume Saturday.

Petroleum in Nigeria were not for the moment, felt the impact of the national strike. Many of the operations are automated, both for efficiency so that people working in the maze of creeks, Niger delta, where the bands criminal and militant workers for the removal of the high-dollar target.

Foreign companies conduct large offshore fields, far from the chaos of growth and demonstrations across the country. Deliveries of offshore platforms go immediately to the market.

But if something goes kaput if the pressure in the well vary or countless other problems occur, it would be an automatic system to stop someone there work again in the production.

Pressed on how the threatened closure could have automated parts of the industry, offer no answer Ogun.

The most of the oil companies, including the dominant Royal Dutch Shell PLC, said that they monitor the situation.

Kenneth Arnold, an independent consultant to oil and shell former engineer, said "it would be very easy to close" Nigerian oil fields. Replacement workers, causes the fields make bring dangers, he said.

"It does not, to stay there, please", said Arnold. "Killed in Nigeria, people in the oil fields." "There is a part of the action local villains want.".

Other companies with branches in Nigeria are Chevron Corp., Exxon Mobil Corp., ENI SpA Italian and French company Total SA, work in tandem with the State Nigerian National Petroleum Corp..

Levi Ajuonoma, a spokesman for the State oil company, said that he had not adjusted its forecasts of production and shipping on the strike. It takes time for the coffers of the Government of Nigeria, the impact of the loss of income, to feel that oil and gas natural charges in the coming months. To do this, providing at least in the short term, in which the United States would not affected.

However, a future judgment may influence the price of oil on world equity markets - you can increase the price of gasoline to us consumers. World oil prices increased as activists several years attacks against the oil companies and crude oil pipeline began in 2006.

The price of oil has increased on much of the day Thursday concerns about the impact of a Nigerian closure on crude oil of the world of reference increases especially since $ 1.38 to $ 102,25 a barrel in New York. Prices settled later in the day on rumors that Europe, would delay an embargo of Iranian oil the day down to $99,10.

"As oil of crude for the Government of Nigeria sold..." "This is not so much affect,", said Professor of Economics at the University of Ibadan Adeola Adenikinju. "The exercise is the nerve centre of the economy has not affected really was.".

The protests of the growth and attacks by a radical Islamic sect have already before fuel of a popular dissent from the Government after the dispossession of the pressure additional grants. Analysts are warning that that could raise political risks in a country with a history of the military leaders and a young democracy.

"The issue of the grant these strong emotions because he is considered one of the few benefits, Nigerians living in the State of a producing oil induced get,", said Barclays Capital. "If protests continue, or impetus, they are a great challenge for the Government of Jonathan and exhaust the capacity of administration for a sustainable security threat already potentially.".

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Writer of energy AP Chris Kahn in New York contributed to this report.

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Jon Gambrell can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP.

Gingrich pulls back on Romney attacks in SC (AP)

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Under pressure from some in his own party, Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich pulled back his public attacks on front-runner Mitt Romney — at least for now.

Gingrich stuck to a largely subdued stump speech during two events Thursday in South Carolina's capital, focusing instead on his plans for saving Social Security, creating jobs and boosting domestic energy production.

The often-combative Gingrich made no references to Romney, nor did he repeat his criticism of the former Massachusetts governor's record as a venture capitalist. A pro-Gingrich political action committee also has railed against Romney's tenure at the helm of Bain Capital with the release this week of a 28-minute film assailing Romney for "reaping massive rewards" as head of the private equity firm.

That line of attack has some Republicans worried that Gingrich is trying to save his faltering campaign at the party's expense. Gingrich is grasping for a campaign lifeline in South Carolina, which holds its primary Jan. 21, after a pair of disappointing fourth-place finishes in the contests in Iowa and New Hampshire.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce entered the debate Thursday, saying it was "foolish" for Republicans to bash Romney for his work as a venture capitalist. A top South Carolina support of GOP contender Rick Perry, who had taken to calling Romney a "vulture capitalist," said Thursday he was joining Romney's camp out of irritation over Perry's attacks.

Gingrich acknowledged drawing the ire of some conservatives. But he insisted their anger was over his calls for auditing the federal bailout of the financial industry to see who got the money and why.

"When you have crony-capitalism and politicians taking care of their friends that's not free-enterprise. That's back-door socialism," Gingrich said during remarks to older voters at a senior citizen's expo.

During a morning TV interview, Gingrich said his questions about Romney were "not the centerpiece" of his campaign in South Carolina. Still, he said it was important to question Romney's record because the former Massachusetts governor has based his campaign on the argument that he has the necessary business experience to restore the economy.

The former House speaker predicted that a win in the first-in-the-South primary would pave a path to the presidency.

"If I win South Carolina, I think I will become the Republican nominee," he said.

Last month, Gingrich made a similarly bold declaration about winning the nomination. At the time he was ahead in the polls and Romney's allies had not yet blooded Gingrich with a barrage of negative attack ads in Iowa.

South Carolina has a decades-long streak of voting for the eventual GOP nominee.

From South Carolina, Gingrich was headed to Florida to raise money and open a campaign headquarters.

SPIN METER: Obama's pose: Disinterest in politics (AP)

WASHINGTON – To hear the White House tell it, President Barack Obama has scant interest in politics as Republicans battle each other for the right to challenge him. But in reality, Obama is increasingly involved in his re-election, staying in regular contact with his campaign staff, raising money and evaluating Republican debate performances.

Throughout the White House, Obama's aides are knee-deep in the re-election business. There are daily conference calls between top aides in the White House and campaign staff at the Chicago re-election headquarters and close consultation on message and travel.

His pose of indifference allows Obama to try to position himself above the sometimes-ugly fray of the campaign, leaving the political back-and-forth to others as he focuses instead on the loftier work of governing. But as with any incumbent president seeking re-election, political concerns weigh heavily as the election approaches. It's just smarter politics, for now, to pretend otherwise.

"Presidents like to act like they're not paying attention to every little detail of every little thing, when I suspect they all do," said Ari Fleischer, press secretary under President George W. Bush. "The job requires you to act like you're above all the less important stuff of the world — especially if the less important stuff is the guy who wants to take your job."

White House press secretary Jay Carney said the president spends only about 5 percent of his time on the campaign, and there will be plenty of opportunity to get more involved once the election is closer. "Because he does not need to now, he is not engaging particularly aggressively in his re-election campaign. It's only January," Carney said this week.

But the president's schedule and sometimes even his own words paint another picture: of a White House increasingly driven by politics.

On Wednesday, a day after GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney solidified his front-runner status with a win in the New Hampshire primary, Obama hosted a White House event on job creation — a way of countering Republicans' attacks on the president's economic stewardship. Similar White House counter-programming was on display last week, a day after the Iowa caucuses, when Obama announced he was going around congressional Republicans to appoint a new consumer protection chief.

And take travel, a good barometer of priorities because it requires that most precious commodity: the president's time. Of a half-dozen domestic day trips Obama made in November, December and so far in January, five were to politically important states both parties will be contesting this fall — North Carolina, Ohio, New Hampshire and, twice, Pennsylvania.

Obama also visited his hometown of Chicago Wednesday, but in reliably Democratic Illinois he didn't bother with any official presidential events; he just dropped by his campaign headquarters and hit a few fundraisers before coming back to Washington.

Carney downplays politics as the motivation behind Obama's travel. "Every president ought to be able to travel everywhere in the country. It's part of his responsibility," the presidential spokesman said ahead of one Pennsylvania trip.

But Chris Lehane, an aide in Bill Clinton's White House, said the president's travel schedule reflects campaign imperatives.

"The White House scheduling office is going to know that there are certain targeted states, and in those states targeted markets, and in those markets targeted districts you're going to want to spend time in," Lehane said.

The president is also turning to his wife, the popular first lady, to make his case. Michelle Obama touted her husband's accomplishments at events in Virginia on Wednesday, telling a crowd in Richmond, "We are blessed to have him."

The message Obama delivers while at home or on the road is discussed among campaign staff and White House officials on daily conference calls involving White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer, senior adviser David Plouffe and campaign officials in Chicago, according to a senior administration official. Campaign manager Jim Messina and senior adviser David Axelrod also travel from Chicago to meet with Obama at the White House fairly regularly, the official said, speaking anonymously to discuss private deliberations.

Federal law broadly bars federal officials from using government resources on campaign work, aiming to separate campaign functions such as fundraising from the official government apparatus. But the president and his senior staff are largely exempt and permitted to conduct political functions from within the White House and use government phones and computers to do so as long as the cost to taxpayers is minimal. So there's nothing stopping Pfeiffer and Plouffe from consulting regularly with their counterparts in Chicago.

Former Obama press secretary Robert Gibbs, who still speaks with the White House and the campaign, said Obama spends little time paying attention to the Republicans vying for his job, partly because there's no need for him to. "The message that you're hearing in Iowa or New Hampshire is a carbon copy of what you're hearing on Capitol Hill," Gibbs said, so Obama can get his fill of GOP rhetoric listening to House Republicans.

It's a linkage Obama's begun making himself, telling supporters at a Chicago fundraiser Wednesday that the Republicans running against him are no different from the unpopular GOP lawmakers on Capitol Hill. That comes after Obama's spent months honing attacks against the congressional GOP while campaigning for his economic agenda — attacks he's now starting to turn against his potential presidential opponents as well, in an example of how the business of governing can be hard to distinguish from the business of politics.

Obama's also made clear that he is paying attention to the Republicans, at least sometimes, taking swipes at the rhetoric coming from the GOP candidates at their debates. At a fundraiser Monday, he told his audience that the consequences of the coming election are profound, adding, "Don't take my word for it, watch some of these debates that have been going on up in New Hampshire." As usual, Obama avoided mentioning his opponents by name.

"You never want your opponent to think you're paying attention to them, right?" said Karen Finney, who worked in the Clinton White House. "It's a little bit like when you like somebody, but you don't want them to know that you like them. So you ignore them."

APNewsBreak: UN visit to Tehran set for Jan 28 (AP)

VIENNA – A senior U.N. nuclear agency team will visit Tehran on Jan. 28 with Iran saying it is ready after years of refusal to discuss allegations that it was involved in secret nuclear weapons work, diplomats said Thursday.

Diplomats have previously said that International Atomic Energy Agency officials were discussing such a trip with their Iranian counterparts. But before the diplomats' comments Thursday, no date — or indication that Iran was ready to talk about the allegations — had been mentioned.

Any follow-through on the part of Iran on its reported pledge to discuss nuclear arms suspicions would be significant.

For more than three years, Tehran has blocked IAEA attempts to follow up on U.S. and other intelligence alleging covert Iranian work on nuclear arms, dismissing the charges as baseless and insisting all its nuclear activities were peaceful and under IAEA purview.

Faced with Iranian stonewalling, the IAEA summarized its body of information in November, in a 13-page document drawing on 1,000 pages of intelligence. It stated then for the first time that some of the alleged experiments can have no other purpose than developing nuclear weapons.

Iran continues to deny the charges and no change in its position is expected during the Tehran talks with IAEA officials. But even a decision to enter a discussion over the allegations would be a major departure from outright refusal to talk about them — and create hopes of future progress in the investigation.

Two diplomats told The Associated Press that Iranian officials had suggested they were ready to talk about the issue during recent meetings with officials of the Vienna-based IAEA. They asked for anonymity because their information was confidential.

Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran's chief IAEA delegate, declined to be drawn on what would be discussed in Tehran, indicating in comments to The AP that it was too early to go public with details.

The composition of the IAEA team, as described by one of the diplomats, also reflects the significance the U.N. nuclear monitoring agency attaches to the visit, which is expected to conclude in the first few days of February.

Normally such trips are made by Deputy Director General Herman Nackaerts, in charge of the Iran nuclear file, and more junior officials of his department. But the diplomat said that this time Nackaerts will be accompanied by Assistant Director General Rafael Grossi, the right-hand to IAEA chief Yukiya Amano, and Peri Lynne Johnson, the agency's senior legal official.

Johnson is the only American among the three. While IAEA officials are formally neutral, her citizenship is of potential significance considering the high tension-level between Washington and Tehran.

Beyond the dispute over Iran's nuclear intentions, U.S.-Iranian relations have been further burdened by an Iranian announcement that a joint U.S.-Iranian national will be executed after being found guilty of spying — a charge both he and Washington denies.

Iran, in turn, sees possible U.S. complicity in a series of assassinations of its nuclear experts — the latest Wednesday, when scientist Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan was killed by a bomb attached to his car by a passing bicyclist.

In a letter to the U.N. secretary-general on Thursday, Iran's U.N. Ambassador Mohammad Khazaee called on the U.N. to condemn the killing and two earlier attacks that left two nuclear scientists dead and another seriously injured.

"There is firm evidence that certain foreign quarters are behind such assassinations. As has been claimed by these circles, such terrorist acts have been carried out as part of the efforts to disrupt Iran's peaceful nuclear program, under the false assumption that diplomacy alone would not be enough for that purpose," the letter read in part.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton denied any U.S. role in the slaying and the U.S administration condemned the attacks. Israeli officials, in contrast, have hinted at covert campaigns against Iran without directly admitting involvement.

Beyond urging Iranian cooperation with the IAEA probe of the alleged weapons work, the U.S. and its allies are pressuring Iran to halt uranium enrichment, a key element of the nuclear program that dozens of nations suspect is aimed at producing atomic weapons. Uranium enriched to low levels can be used as nuclear fuel, but at higher levels it can be used as material for a nuclear warhead.

Iran denies it is trying to make nuclear weapons, saying its program is for peaceful purposes only and is geared toward generating electricity.

Those claims were called into question on Monday when the IAEA confirmed Iran had begun increasing its production of uranium enriched to 20 percent. That's a significantly higher concentration than the nation's main stockpile — and can be turned into weapons-grade material more quickly than the lower enriched uranium.

Olli Heinonen, Nackaert's predecessor, noted that "if Iran decides to produce weapons-grade uranium from 20 percent enriched uranium, it has already technically undertaken 90 percent of the enrichment effort required."

"This does not automatically mean Iran will be able to build a nuclear weapon in one month — building an atomic bomb is a complex endeavor that requires precision engineering capabilities that Iran may lack," wrote Heinonen, in a commentary for Foreign Policy magazine. "But it does mean that the country would be able to 'break out' of its international obligations very quickly should it decide to do so."

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Michael Astor contributed to this report from the United Nations.

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George Jahn can be reached at http://twitter.com/georgejahn

Republicans rally around Romney after hits on Bain (AP)

GREER, S.C. – An array of Republicans and conservatives — including some of Mitt Romney's sharpest critics — rushed to the GOP presidential front-runner's defense Thursday to counter efforts to paint the former venture capitalist as a job-killer. Under fire, Romney rivals Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry backed off from directly attacking Romney's tenure at the helm of Bain Capital.

"We're disappointed" with the line of criticism, said Thomas Donohue, the head of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The business group doesn't endorse in presidential campaigns, but Donohue said: "We think Romney has had a pretty good track record. Perfect? Hell no, but damn good."

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who ran against Romney four years ago, wrote in an online letter: "It's surprising to see so many Republicans embrace that left-wing argument against capitalism." And another 2008 foe, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, told Fox News Channel: "I'm shocked at what they are doing. I'm going to say it's ignorant. Dumb. It's building something we should be fighting — ignorance of the American economic system."

Romney's new defenders — many of whom have long histories of disagreeing with the former Massachusetts governor — argued that the attacks on his business record undermined the GOP's identity and weakened the party's chief argument against Democratic President Barack Obama, that federal intrusion has stymied the economy's recovery.

And while the latest comments were more a rejection of attacks on Romney's record at Bain than an endorsement of Romney as a candidate, they signaled a warming toward Romney by a cross-section of the GOP as his party struggles to settle on a more conservative alternative. They also signaled that attempts by Gingrich, a former House speaker, and Perry, the Texas governor, to cast Romney as a cold-blooded predator in the business world appeared to be backfiring badly — and playing right into the Romney campaign's hands.

A prominent fundraiser in South Carolina — Barry Wynn — shifted his support from Perry to Romney in light of those attacks, which he said had crossed the line in a political party that values free-market capitalism.

"I've been fighting for this cause most of my life," Wynn said. "It's like fingernails on the chalkboard. It just kind of irritated you to hear those kind of attacks."

The controversy over Romney's Bain tenure began last weekend when Gingrich, seeking a rebound for his candidacy if not revenge for attack ads that crippled his campaign in Iowa, sought to undercut the central rationale of his chief rival's candidacy — that Romney's business background made him the strongest Republican to take on Obama.

Perry, whose campaign also is in trouble, joined in.

Both are accusing Romney of being a fat-cat venture capitalist during his days running Bain, laying off workers as he restructured companies and filled his own pockets.

But the criticism of both Gingrich and Perry has been swift, with opponents Rick Santorum and Ron Paul refusing to attack Romney's time at Bain, and others fearful about bloodying the Republican most likely to become the party's nominee.

"If you believe what the Obama administration is doing is a direct assault on the private sector and as Republicans we believe that's the wrong approach, you can't turn around and say what is going on in the private sector is wrong," said Jim Dyke, a GOP strategist in South Carolina who is uncommitted to a candidate in the Jan. 21 primary.

The backlash against Gingrich and Perry snowballed Thursday when the U.S. Chamber, one of the nation's most prominent pro-business lobbying groups, weighed in.

Earlier in the week, conservative radio commentator Rush Limbaugh, often a Romney critic, called Gingrich's comments "out of bounds for those who value the free market." Club for Growth President Chris Chocola labeled the attacks "disgusting." And South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, who endorsed Romney in 2008 but is unaligned this year, suggested that Romney critics don't understand "the principles of our party."

"To have a few Republicans in this race beginning to talk about how bad it is to fire people...it really gives the Democrats a lot of fodder," DeMint, arguably South Carolina's most popular Republican, told conservative radio host Laura Ingraham.

Although presidential contender Jon Huntsman had criticized Romney for a comment he made about firing people, Huntsman said on Wednesday: "If you have creative destruction in capitalism, which has always been part of capitalism, it becomes a little disingenuous to take on Bain Capital."

Gingrich and Perry seem to have gotten the message — to a point.

While Gingrich said "I'm not going to back down" during a campaign stop in Columbia on Thursday, he made no mention of Romney nor did he repeat his criticism of Romney's record as a venture capitalist.

Instead, Gingrich tried to shift blame, saying that it was his calls to audit the 2008 federal banking bailout that had "rattled a number of so-called conservatives."

"When you have crony capitalism and politicians taking care of their friends, that's not free enterprise, that's back-door socialism," said Gingrich, who is airing a TV ad describing Romney's economic plans as timid.

An outside group supporting Gingrich — called Winning Our Future — pressed ahead with plans to launch an advertising attack on Romney's time at Bain, complete with a bruising ad and longer-form video in South Carolina assailing Romney as a vicious corporate raider.

Perry, who had likened companies like Bain to vultures, avoided attacking Romney for his role at Bain during two stops in South Carolina on Thursday.

Yet, he jabbed at the issue indirectly during an interview with Fox News.

"The idea that you've got private equity companies that come in and take companies apart so they can make profits and have people lose their jobs, that's not what the Republican Party's about," Perry said.

During a walk between shops in Summerville, S.C., voter Barbara Schimp pulled Perry aside and told him to "lay off" the Bain attack. She told Perry, whom she supports, that he sounds anti-business.

"Roger that," Perry responded with a wink.

Romney, for his part, has tried in recent days to explain the private equity business. He told reporters in Greer as the day began that in the private sector some businesses grow and thrive while others have to be cut back in order to survive and become stronger.

"Sometimes you're successful at that and sometimes you're not," Romney said.

Meanwhile, his team was working behind the scenes to blunt the force of the criticism, distributing talking points to surrogates warning against attacking the free-market economy.

On Wednesday night, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley chided Gingrich and Perry indirectly while introducing Romney, whom she has endorsed, during a campaign event in Columbia.

"We have a real problem when we have Republicans talking like dang Democrats against the free market," Haley said. "We believe in free markets."

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Associated Press writers Julie Pace and Brian Bakst in South Carolina, and Jim Kuhnhenn in Washington contributed to this report.

Panetta assures Afghans of full probe into video (AP)

WASHINGTON – Pentagon leaders scrambled Thursday to contain damage from an Internet video purporting to show four Marines urinating on Taliban corpses — an act that appears to violate international laws of warfare and further strains U.S.-Afghan relations.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta called Afghan President Hamid Karzai to offer assurances of a full investigation and the top Marine general promised an internal probe as well as a criminal one. Investigators moved quickly to identify and interview at least two of the four Marines. They were members of a battalion that fought for seven months in former Taliban strongholds in southern Afghanistan.

Their unit, the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines, returned from Helmand province to its home base at Camp Lejeune, N.C., last September. Marine officials said that a battalion officer confirmed to investigators on Thursday, based on his examination of the video, that the four men depicted urinating had been members of the battalion. Two have since moved on to other units.

As the video spread across the Internet in postings and re-postings, U.S. officials joined with Afghans in calling it shocking, deplorable, inhumane and a breach of military standards of conduct. It shows men in Marine combat gear standing in a semicircle urinating on the bodies of three men in standard Afghan clothing, one whose chest was covered in blood.

It's not certain whether the dead were Taliban fighters, civilians or someone else.

The incident will likely further hurt ties with Karzai's government and complicate negotiations over a strategic partnership arrangement meant to govern the presence of U.S. troops and advisers in Afghanistan after most international combat troops withdraw by the end of 2014.

It also comes at a delicate time in relations among the United States, Afghanistan's elected government and the Taliban insurgency fighting for both territorial control and cultural and religious preeminence in Afghanistan. The U.S. is trying to foster peace talks between the Karzai government and the Pakistan-based Taliban high command, and has made unprecedented offers to build trust with the insurgents, including the planned opening of a Taliban political office to oversee talks.

Anti-American sentiment is already on the rise in Afghanistan, especially among Afghans who have not seen improvements to their daily lives despite billions of dollars in international aid. They also have deplored the accidental killing of civilians during NATO airstrikes and argue that foreign troops have culturally offended the Afghan people, mostly when it comes to activities involving women and the Quran, the Muslim holy book.

Pentagon officials said the criminal investigation would likely look into whether the Marines violated laws of war, which include prohibitions against photographing or mishandling bodies and detainees. It also appeared to violate the U.S. Uniform Code of Military Justice, which governs conduct. Thus, some or all of the four Marines could face a military court-martial or other disciplinary action.

Karzai called the video "completely inhumane." The Afghan Defense Ministry called it "shocking." And the Taliban issued a statement accusing U.S. forces of committing numerous "indignities" against the Afghan people.

U.S. officials said a military criminal investigation was being led by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the law enforcement arm of the Navy. The Marines will do their own internal investigation.

Panetta said the actions depicted in the brief video were inexcusable.

"I have seen the footage, and I find the behavior depicted in it utterly deplorable. I condemn it in the strongest possible terms," Panetta's statement said. "Those found to have engaged in such conduct will be held accountable to the fullest extent."

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, said he was deeply disturbed by the video and worried that it would erode the reputation of the entire military, not just the Marine Corps.

A veterans group, the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, noted the video was the act of a small number of Marines and said it did not reflect the behavior of the millions who have served honorably.

"Our troops and veterans are already facing enormous challenges and stereotypes both overseas and at home, and we encourage the public and media worldwide to refrain from rushing to stereotypes," the group said in a statement.

Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, the top civilian executive of the Marines and Navy, said it was "appalling and outrageously offensive," and Marine Commandant James Amos called it "wholly inconsistent with the high standards of conduct and warrior ethos" demanded in the Corps.

White House press secretary Jay Carney said President Barack Obama was aware of the story but may not have seen the video.

Asked how the development might affect U.S.-Afghan-Taliban peace efforts, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton did not directly reply.

"The United States remains strongly committed to helping build a secure, peaceful, prosperous, democratic future for the people of Afghanistan," she said. "And we will continue to support efforts that will be Afghan-led and Afghan-owned to pursue the possibility of reconciliation and peace."

On the streets of Afghanistan, the reaction was cool.

"If these actions continue, people will not like them (the Americans) anymore and there will be uprising against them," Mohammad Qayum, said while watching a television news story about the video that was airing in a local restaurant in Kabul.

Ahmad Naweed, a shopkeeper in Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taliban insurgency, said, "On the one hand, the Americans present themselves as friends of Afghanistan and ... they also try to have peace talks with the Taliban. So we don't know what kind of political game they are playing in Afghanistan."

This kind of embarrassment dispersed over the Internet is not new for the Pentagon.

Over the years of combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, officials periodically have been stunned by the troops' penchant for taking photos or videos of themselves in acts ranging from criminal to simply stupid.

Outrage spread instantly across the globe in 2004 over the release of photos taken by a group of U.S. military police abusing prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. The troops were grinning and posing beside naked detainees stacked in a pyramid, held on a leash and so on.

In 2008, a Marine was kicked out of the service after being videotaped throwing a puppy off a cliff while on patrol in Iraq and joking about it as the animal yelped.

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Associated Press writers Slobodan Lekic and Deb Riechmann in Kabul, Afghanistan, and Anne Gearan in Washington contributed to this report.

Robert Burns can be reached on Twitter at http://twitter.com/robertburnsAP

Marines probe video depicting urination on corpses (AP)

WASHINGTON – The Marine Corps said Wednesday it is investigating a video depicting what appears to be four Marines urinating on the corpses of Taliban fighters.

In a statement, the Marine Corps said it has not verified the origin or authenticity of the YouTube video. But it also said the actions portrayed are not consistent with Marine values.

If verified the video could create a strong backlash in the Muslim world and beyond for the disrespectful actions it portrays.

The case is being referred to the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the Navy's worldwide law enforcement organization, said NCIS spokesman Ed Buice.

The Council on Islamic-American Relations, a prominent Muslim civil rights and advocacy group based in Washington, quickly condemned the video.

"We condemn this apparent desecration of the dead as a violation of our nation's military regulations and of international laws of war prohibiting such disgusting and immoral actions," the group wrote in a letter faxed to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.

"If verified as authentic, the video shows behavior that is totally unbecoming of American military personnel and that could ultimately endanger other soldiers and civilians," the letter said.

Marine Corps headquarters at the Pentagon said, "The actions portrayed are not consistent with our core values and are not indicative of the character of the Marines in our Corps. This matter will be fully investigated."

A Marine Corps spokesman, Lt. Col. Stewart Upton, added, "Allegations of Marines not doing the right thing in regard to dead Taliban insurgents are very serious and, if proven, represent a failure to adhere to the high standards expected of American military personnel."

A Pentagon spokesman, Navy Capt. John Kirby, said the video is deeply troubling.

"Whoever it is, and whatever the circumstances — which we know is under investigation — it is egregious behavior," Kirby said.

It is unclear who shot the video and who posted it online.

Conflict between rich, poor strongest in 24 years (AP)

WASHINGTON – Tensions between the rich and poor are increasing and at their most intense level in nearly a quarter-century, a new survey shows. Americans now see more social conflict over wealth inequality than over the hot-button topics of immigration, race relations and age.

The survey released Wednesday by the Pew Research Center highlights U.S. perceptions of the economic divide, an issue that has moved to the forefront in the 2012 presidential campaign amid stubbornly high unemployment, increasing poverty and protests by the Occupy movement.

The findings come as voters in New Hampshire's primary Tuesday night made clear that the economy was the issue that mattered most to them. In the end, they chose Mitt Romney by a large margin, even as Republican rivals already gearing up for more competitive contests in South Carolina and elsewhere had stepped up populist attacks on him as a heartless corporate raider who slashed jobs.

President Barack Obama has been promoting a campaign message of middle-class opportunity, calling for higher taxes on the very rich and successfully pushing a two-month extension of a payroll tax cut.

The Pew survey shows that younger adults, Democrats and African-Americans remained the most likely as in previous years to cite the existence of strong disagreements between rich and poor. But in the last two years, three important swing groups — whites, middle-income Americans and political independents — registered some of the biggest increases in those who now also hold this view.

As a result, majorities of each political party and ideology all agree that serious disputes exist between Americans at the top and bottom of the economic ladder.

Still, while overall U.S. awareness of class conflict has grown significantly in recent years, public attitudes toward wealthy Americans remain largely unchanged.

For instance, about 46 percent of Americans hold a disapproving view that rich people are wealthy because they were fortunate enough to be born into money or have the right connections. But almost as many people — 43 percent — say wealthy people are rich "mainly because of their own hard work, ambition or education."

That suggests some people who see more conflict between the classes may believe that anger toward the rich is misdirected.

A recent Gallup survey also found that fewer than half of Americans said reducing the gap between rich and poor is "extremely" or "very important," compared with more than 8 in 10 who said policies to build economic growth should be a high priority for government.

"These changes in attitudes over a relatively short period of time may reflect the income and wealth inequality message conveyed by Occupy Wall Street protesters across the country in late 2011 that led to a spike in media attention," said Pew survey analyst Richard Morin. "But the changes also may reflect a growing public awareness of underlying shifts in the distribution of wealth in American society."

In recent weeks, a slew of recent census data have illustrated a widening divide, including the share of overall U.S. wealth held by the top 10 percent of the population that increased from 49 percent in 2005 to 56 percent in 2009. A separate census measure also found that a record number of Americans — nearly 1 in 2 — have fallen into poverty or make earnings that typically classify them as low income.

"As the presidential campaign begins in earnest, it is reasonable to expect that these issues will be a part of the political dialogue," Morin said.

About 3 in 10 Americans polled said there are "very strong" conflicts between the rich and poor, according to the independent research group. That is double the share who believed so in July 2009 and the largest proportion reporting that view in the 24 years the question has been asked in surveys.

In all, about 66 percent of those polled now say there are "very strong" or "strong" conflicts between the top and bottom income groups.

In contrast, a slightly smaller share of Americans — 62 percent — said there were "very strong" or "strong" conflicts between immigrants and native-born Americans. Even smaller shares of people saw such levels of conflict between blacks and whites (38 percent) and between young and old (34 percent).

That is a change from 2009, when immigration topped the survey list as causing the strongest levels of social conflict. At that time, about 55 percent reported "very strong" or "strong" conflict between immigrants and native-born Americans, compared to 47 percent who saw such conflict between the rich and poor.

Other findings:

_Perceptions of class conflict grew for Americans of all income groups since 2009. The share increased by 17 percentage points, to 64 percent, among those earning less than $20,000; it rose 18 points, to 67 percent, among those making $75,000 or more. The increase was largest among middle-income Americans earning between $40,000 and $75,000 — rising 24 points to 71 percent.

_Since 2009, the share of whites who see serious class conflicts between rich and poor grew by 22 percentage points to 65 percent. That is roughly triple the increase among blacks and Hispanics. About 74 percent of blacks and 61 percent of Hispanics saw serious conflicts.

_About 73 percent of self-described Democrats said there were serious class conflicts, an 18 percentage point increase from 2009. The increase among Republicans was nearly as large, rising 17 points to 55 percent. The biggest increase was among political independents, jumping 23 points to 68 percent.

Pew based its findings on interviews with 2,048 adults by cell phone or landline from Dec. 6-19, 2011. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points for all respondents, higher for subgroups.

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AP Deputy Polling Director Jennifer Agiesta contributed to this report.

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Online:

Pew Social & Demographic Trends: http://pewsocialtrends.org/

Blast kills Iran nuclear expert amid `covert war' (AP)

TEHRAN, Iran – It seemed a clockwork killing: Motorcycle riders flashed by and attached a magnetic bomb onto a car carrying a nuclear scientist working at Iran's main uranium enrichment facility. By the time the blast tore apart the silver Peugeot, the bike was blocks away, weaving through Tehran traffic after what Iran calls the latest strike in an escalating covert war.

The attack — which instantly killed the scientist and fatally wounded his driver on Wednesday — was at least the fourth targeted hit against a member of Iran's nuclear brain trust in two years. Tehran quickly blamed Israeli-linked agents backed by the U.S. and Britain.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton denied any U.S. role in the slaying, and the Obama administration condemned the attack. However, provocative hints from Jerusalem reinforced the perception of an organized and clandestine campaign to set back Iran's nuclear ambitions.

The day before the attack, Israeli military chief Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz was quoted as telling a parliamentary panel that 2012 would be a "critical year" for Iran — in part because of "things that happen to it unnaturally."

The blast killed Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, a chemistry expert and a director of the Natanz uranium enrichment facility, the centerpiece of Iran's expanding program to make nuclear fuel. Roshan, 32, had planned to attend a memorial later Wednesday for another nuclear researcher who was killed in a similar pinpoint blast two years ago, Iranian media said.

"A heinous act," said Iran's Atomic Energy Organization of Wednesday's bombing.

It added a tone of defiance. "We will continue our (nuclear) path without any doubt ... Our path is irreversible," said the statement carried on state television.

The state news agency IRNA said Roshan had "organizational links" to Iran's nuclear agency, which suggests a direct role in key aspects of the program. Another news agency, the semiofficial Mehr, said Roshan had been interviewed by inspectors from the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency — which Iran has accused of placing its scientists in peril by including their names in public reports.

Natanz, in central Iran, is the country's main enrichment site. Officials said this week they were expanding some operations to an underground site south of Tehran with more advanced equipment.

The U.S. and its allies are pressuring Iran to halt uranium enrichment, a key element of the nuclear program that the West suspects is aimed at producing atomic weapons. Uranium enriched to low levels can be used as nuclear fuel, but at higher levels it can be used as material for a nuclear warhead.

Iran denies it is trying to make nuclear weapons, saying its program is for peaceful purposes only and is geared toward generating electricity and producing medical radioisotopes to treat cancer patients.

The years of virtual stalemate between Iran and the West appear to be shifting into a new period of heightened pressures and tensions.

Russia strongly warned the West on Wednesday against any attack on Iran, saying it would upset global security.

Military action would be a "grave mistake, a flagrant error" with far-reaching consequences for regional and global stability, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told the ITAR-Tass news agency. "It could shake the foundations of the international system."

Tehran has accused Israel's Mossad, the CIA and Britain's spy agency of engaging in an underground "terrorism" campaign against nuclear-related targets, including at least three other slayings since early 2010 and the release of a malicious computer virus known at Stuxnet in 2010 that disrupted controls of some centrifuges — a component in nuclear fuel production. All three countries have denied the Iranian accusations.

Speaking in Washington, Clinton strongly denied any U.S. role in the latest attack.

"I want to categorically deny any United States involvement in any kind of act of violence inside Iran," she said. "We believe there has to be an understanding between Iran, its neighbors and the international community that finds a way forward for it to end its provocative behavior, end its search for nuclear weapons and rejoin the international community and be a productive member of it."

Israeli officials, however, hinted at covert campaigns against Iran without directly admitting involvement.

"Many bad things have been happening to Iran in the recent period," said Mickey Segal, a former director of the Israeli military's Iranian intelligence department. "Iran is in a situation where pressure on it is mounting, and the latest assassination joins the pressure that the Iranian regime is facing."

Iranian authorities pointed the finger at arch-foe Israel.

First Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi said Israeli agents were behind the assassination, but cannot "prevent progress" in what Iran claims are peaceful nuclear efforts.

Roshan was inside the Peugeot 405 together with two others when the bomb exploded near Gol Nabi Street in north Tehran, Fars reported. It said Roshan's driver later died at a hospital from wounds sustained in the attack. An 85-year old passer-by was reportedly wounded in the blast.

Fars described the explosion as a "terrorist attack" targeting Roshan, a graduate of the prestigious Sharif University of Technology in Tehran. Police draped the bomb-ravaged car with a blue tarp and hosed blood from the pavement. Some bits of the vehicle were hurled into the bare branches of trees.

Roshan was a chemistry expert who was involved in building polymeric layers for gas separation, which is the use of various membranes to isolate gases. He was also deputy director of commercial affairs for the Natanz uranium enrichment plant in central Iran. According to conservative news website mashreghnews.ir, Roshan was in charge of purchasing and supplying equipment for the facility.

Natanz remains the mainstay of Iran's uranium labs. But Iran said this week it was expanding some operations to a bunker-like site south of Tehran protected under 300 feet (90 meters) of rock. The existence of the Fordo facility has been known for more than two years, but some Western officials fear the move could be another step toward developing nuclear arms.

The conservative news website, alef.ir, posted several papers to which Roshan contributed. It said his specialty, polymeric layers, has uses in uranium enrichment by having uranium gas pass through filtering membranes.

Since December, Iran has held or announced a series of war games that included threats to close the Gulf's vital Strait of Hormuz — the passageway for about one-sixth of the world's oil — in retaliation for stronger U.S.-led sanctions.

"Assassinations, military threats and political pressures ... The enemy insists on the tactic of creating fear to stop Iran's peaceful nuclear activities," Fars quoted lawmaker Javad Jahangirzadeh as saying in reaction to the blast.

A similar bomb explosion on Jan. 12, 2010 killed Tehran University professor Masoud Ali Mohammadi, a senior physics professor. He died when a bomb-rigged motorcycle exploded near his car as he was about to leave for work.

In November 2010, a pair of back-to-back bomb attacks in different parts of the capital killed another nuclear scientist and wounded one more.

The slain scientist, Majid Shahriari, was a member of the nuclear engineering faculty at Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran and cooperated with the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran. The wounded scientist, Fereidoun Abbasi, was almost immediately appointed head of Iran's atomic agency.

Shahriari's expertise — neutron transport — lies at the heart of nuclear chain reactions in reactors and bombs. And Abbasi, now Iran's nuclear chief, has been described as a laser expert and one of the few top Iranian specialists in nuclear isotope separation.

In July 2011, motorcycle-riding gunmen killed Darioush Rezaeinejad, an electronics student. Other reports identified him as a scientist involved in suspected Iranian attempts to make nuclear weapons.

Rezaeinejad allegedly participated in developing high-voltage switches, a key component in setting off the explosions needed to trigger a nuclear warhead.

"Instead of actually fighting a conventional war, Western powers and their allies appear to be relying on covert war tactics to try to delay and degrade Iran's nuclear advancement," said Theodore Karasik, a security expert at the Dubai-based Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis.

Meir Javedanfar, an Iranian-born analyst based in Israel, said Iran's leadership is being pushed toward a decision on whether to "retaliate or compromise" as sanctions squeeze the economy and undercut the value of the Iranian rial.

"From the international consensus that we can see against Iran, even if (Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei) does retaliate, it's not very likely that the pressure — sanctions and isolation — would ease," he said. "He's in a tight spot."

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Murphy reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press writer Amy Teibel in Jerusalem contributed to this report.