"Listen, there are people that are coming down the pilot ladder of the prow. You go up that pilot ladder, get on that ship and tell me how many people are still on board. And what they need. Is that clear? You need to tell me if there are children, women or people in need of assistance. And tell me the exact number of each of these categories. Is that clear? Listen Schettino, that you saved yourself from the sea, but I am going to... I'm going to make sure you get in trouble. ...I am going to make you pay for this. Go on board."
Captain Gregorio De Falco
Captain De Falco of the Livorno Port Authority demanding the captain of the stricken cruise ship Costa Concordia to return on board where hundreds of passengers were still trapped.
Roy, Utah -- An 18-year-old was charged with possession of a weapon of mass destruction Friday after he and another teenager planned to bomb a Utah high school, authorities said. Dallin Morgan and...
In this police booking photo released by Weber County Sheriff's Dept. showing Dallin Morgan, 18, a high school student who was arrested with another student on Wednesday Jan. 25,2012 on ...
AMMAN - Security forces killed 37 people in Syria on Friday, activists and residents claimed, as the UN Security Council prepared to discuss Damascus later in the day ahead of a possible vote next...
BAGHDAD - In the deadliest attack in nearly two weeks at least 28 people were killed and around 50 injured Friday in a car bomb blast in Zafraniyah district of east Baghdad near a funeral procession...
SEOUL - The United States and South Korea are to hold annual military exercises on the Korean peninsula soon, the first since the recent change of leadership in North Korea.
NEW YORK - Fitch Ratings Friday downgraded the sovereign credit ratings of five euro currency countries - Italy, Spain, Slovenia, Belgium and Cyprus, contending they lack financing flexibility in the...
PARIS - The founder of a French company at the centre of a global health scare over faulty breast implants was Friday charged with "involuntary injury", his lawyers said.
Romney's Religion Could be Factor in US Presidential Race
In U.S. presidential politics, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has a narrow lead over Georgia businessman Herman Cain in the latest CNN-ORC public opinion poll. Most experts consider Romney the frontrunner for the Republican Party's presidential nomination next year. But in recent weeks, Romney has been on the defensive about his religion and the issue came into focus during the latest Republican candidates' debate in Las Vegas. Romney is a member of the Mormon Church, which generally follows Christian precepts, but adheres to its own founder and holy book separate from the Christian Bible.
The intersection of politics and religion in the 2012 race for the White House came into sharp focus because of comments from an evangelical Christian pastor, Robert Jeffress, who supports Texas Governor Rick Perry for president.
Jeffress opposes Mitt Romney because of his membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormon Church.
"In my estimation, Mormonism is a cult," said Jeffress. "And it would give credence to a cult to have a Mormon candidate."
Mormons generally follow Christian precepts, but adhere to their own church founder, Joseph Smith, and a holy book, the Book of Mormon, which is separate from the Christian Bible.
Jeffress says Mormons are moral people, but are not part of mainstream Christianity - a view many Mormons dispute.
The religious issue was raised during the Republican debate in Las Vegas this week, when Rick Perry was asked about Jeffress's comments.
"That individual expressed an opinion," said Perry. "I didn't agree with it, Mitt, and I said so. But the fact is Americans understand faith and what they have lost faith in is the current resident of the White House [President Barack Obama]."
Mitt Romney said that using any kind of religious test for political candidates is wrong.
"That idea that we should choose people based upon their religion for public office is what I find to be most troubling because the founders of this country went to great lengths, and even put it in the Constitution, that we would not choose people to represent us in government based upon their religion," noted Romney.
Public opinion surveys show that most Americans are tolerant of different religious views, unless they are seen as extreme.
That was backed up by a recent sampling of opinion in Los Angeles. However, Romney might be hurt by the reluctance of some Christian voters to support him, says Daniel Cox with the Public Religion Research Institute here in Washington.
"Evangelicals are a vital part of the Republican primary constituency," said Cox. "They are about one in four voters overall and they make up a significant portion of the Republican primary electorate, particularly in places like Iowa and South Carolina and Florida."
But Cox says there is a way for Romney to overcome some of those doubts.
"If Romney can convince voters, particularly Evangelical voters in the Republican primaries, that he shares their political values, there is a good chance that the religious values may not be as important," Cox explained.
If he wins the Republican nomination and defeats President Barack Obama next year, Romney would become the country's first Mormon president.
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