On Thursday afternoon former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney pulled out of the Republican Presidential race. After an overwhelming loss on Super Tuesday, Romney decided to withdraw as a means to unite the Republican Party, presumably behind Senator John McCain. Romney emphasized the war in Iraq and terrorism as key issues the candidate should address.
Two Senegalese men were released from jail after pictures of their marriage ceremony were published in a popular magazine. The publisher of the magazine had his life threatened as a result, and five people were taken into policy custody. Homosexuality is illegal in Senegal, where the majority of the population is Muslim.
In order to revitalize the mainly poor and immigrant Parisian suburbs, French President Nicolas Sarkozy will introduce a plan to create more jobs and better education. His new measures will be directed towards the country’s youth who have been responsible for rioting over the last several years. Sarkozy previously alienated him from suburban residents by saying they should be “cleaned with a power hose.”
Raymond Jacobs, the last Iwo Jima flag veteran, died last week at the age 82. Iwo Jima was captured at the end of World War II when 100,000 U.S. troops attacked 22,000 Japanese soldiers. The battled was widely celebrated with a famous photograph of the scene. Although it’s unclear if Jacobs was in the photo, he maintains that he was on the mountain at the time.
The cause of death of Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto is no longer clear. Bhutto died during a suicide bombing in Rawalpindi Dec. 27, while leaving a political rally. A team of Scotland Yard forensic experts, which President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf asked to assist Pakistani investigators, has concluded that Bhutto hit her head in the force of the blast, killing her. Original investigations had claimed that she was killed by a gunshot to the neck by the suicide bomber.
Unusually strong tornadoes blew across Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee on Tuesday, injuring scores of Southern residents and currently tolling 55 deaths. Winds exceeded 150 miles per hour during the afternoon and evening storm. President Bush is visiting Tennessee today.
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