NBC's Mark Murray and Domenico Montanaro discuss GOP Presidential Candidate Newt Gingrich's recent momentum ahead of the South Carolina primary.?
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BEIJING ? China will be more open about the often secretive workings of the government and ruling Communist Party in the coming year, although strict controls over the Internet would remain in place, a senior propaganda official said Wednesday.
Officials will expand the use of government spokespeople, boost the overseas reach of state media, and further promote the use of microblogs to interact with the public, Wang Chen told reporters.
"In this new year, we will adopt an even more open attitude and even more forceful policies," Wang said.
Chinese government departments have traditionally been tightlipped, a result of authoritarian one-party rule in which officials had little accountability to the public and policies were drafted in high-level meetings without input from ordinary citizens.
However, amid rising incomes and increased demand for transparency and efficiency, departments over the past decade have appointed spokesmen to deal with media and the general public, and released an increasing flow of information.
Wang said news and information about government's day-to-day activities as well as emergency responses would be expanded and systematized. Spokesmen would receive intensified training with an emphasis on obtaining first-hand information rather than simply passing on information from other departments, he said.
Much of that public interaction has been driven by the Internet, and government departments at all levels now have not only websites but also Twitter-like microblogs on which to post breaking news. China has more people online than any other country ? 513 million ? nearly 360 million of whom primarily access the web over their cell phones and almost half of whom use microblogs.
The explosive growth of such services has underscored government efforts to rigorously police the Internet for content promoting fraud, gambling, pornography or content considered politically sensitive information.
China also blocks major social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter out of fear they could be used to spread subversive content, or to organize public demonstrations such as those that spread last spring across the Arab world.
Webmasters, pro-democracy activists, and journalists who have posted sensitive information on the Internet have been harassed, detained, and in some cases imprisoned.
Wang said the government would compel those opening new microblog accounts in Beijing and other major cities to use their real names and other information. The requirement would later be expanded to cover those with existing accounts, he said.
Free speech advocates have called that an attempt to further curtail online discussions. Wang said it was necessary to prevent fraud, identity theft and the spread of rumors or other "harmful information."
"Our only purpose is to ensure the rapid, healthy expansion of the Chinese Internet," he said.
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VIENNA ? A committee reporting to the U.N.'s culture organization struck Vienna's many balls from its list of Austria's noteworthy traditions on Thursday amid an uproar over one of the annual champagne-laced galas that critics say attracts neo-Nazis from across Europe.
The decision by the Austrian UNESCO Commission was welcomed by those who oppose the one often-criticized ball, staged in part by dueling fraternities including far-right alumni who display saber scars on their cheeks as badges of honor. But the committee also outraged supporters who reject labeling that event as a magnet for backers of Nazi ideology.
Martin Graf, a leading member of the rightist Freedom Party, said critics of the WKR-Ball are trying to "publicly pillory and vilify ... all those who do not share their ideologically distorted opinion." Party chief Heinz-Christian Strache called the committee's decision a result of "mobbing from the extreme-left."
Like others worldwide, The Austrian committee is a bridge between the government and the Paris-based U.N. Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization but is not part of it.
The decision is symbolic and has no bearing on whether future balls can be held. But the fact that the committee's decision was due in part to public pressure reflected a path being traveled by Austria, which has moved from a postwar portrayal of being Nazi Germany's first victim to acknowledging that it was Hitler's willing partner. Anti-Semitism remains among some members of the older generation today, but most young Austrians reject Nazi ideology and condemn the part their parents might have played in the Holocaust.
The committee spoke of a "serious mistake" in listing the fraternity WKR-Ball as one of the nearly two dozen balls comprising an aspect of "Intangible Cultural Heritage in Austria." Noting that the inclusion of the many balls was approved by a panel including representatives of five government ministries, the committee said it decided to strike the whole category of Vienna Ball from its register.
"In connection with the WKR-Ball, we can tell you that we have removed the tradition 'Vienna Ball' from our list," said an email to The Associated Press, using the event's German acronym.
While some of the more opulent Vienna balls are criticized as a showcase of the rich, most are devoid of direct political controversy. For centuries, the city's high society has waltzed blissfully through wars, recessions and occasional firebomb-throwing anarchists opposed to the moneyed decadence they think such events represent.
But the fraternity ball started drawing flack as Austrians began to come to grips decades ago with the fact that their country was one of Nazi Germany's most willing allies instead of its first victim through its 1938 annexation by Hitler. Over recent years criticism of the WKR-Ball's staging has grown ? and protests outside its venue, the ornate Hofburg palace, have occasionally turned violent.
Bowing to the pressure, the Hofburg announced late last year that the ball will have to move elsewhere as of 2013. Tensions this year were exacerbated by its date ? Friday, Jan. 27, will be the 67th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the most notorious of the Nazi death camps.
Organizers said that was coincidence, with the event always held on the last Friday of January. But opponents were incensed.
Ariel Muzicant, head of Vienna's Jewish community, spoke of "a mockery" of the Holocaust, asking sarcastically: "Are they kind of celebrating the 2 million dead in Auschwitz, or what? Are they dancing, kind of, on 6 million Jews, or what are they thinking of?"
The issue made it to the floor of parliament Thursday, with members of the opposition Green party demanding that the ball be observed by government intelligence agencies and saying past attendees included prominent members of the extreme right and neo-Nazis.
Defense Minister Norbert Darabos described the WKR-Ball as an event "where year after year, internationally known right extremists pass the door handle to each other" ? and forbade members of the military to wear their uniforms if attending.
Defending the ball ? and its place among others on the UNESCO Committee list ? is the Freedom Party, which has coupled populism to lurking Islamophobia and latent anti-Semitism to become Austria's second strongest political force.
Party official Heidemarie Unterreiner urged the committee "not to be impressed by the excited politically motivated babble of some groups which use the media megaphone to create a completely false impression of one of the most significant society events of Austria."
___
George Jahn can be reached at http://twitter.com/georgejahn
__
AP video reporter Philipp Jenne contributed.
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From left, Texas Governor Rick Perry, former Senator Rick Santorum, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Representative Ron Paul participate in a debate at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center in South Carolina on Jan. 16, 2012
?5 minutes. Fox News host Bill O?Reilly sets the scene for the 16th GOP debate: ?All Mitt Romney has to do tonight is not fall down or throw up.? Papa bear. A national treasure.
0 minutes. Big crowd. Curdling screams in Myrtle Beach. You think this is a vacation town? Think again. This is the ultimate political fighting championship, a no-holds-barred blood sport. Little bear Bret Baier announces that Fox News has done away with the time-is-up sound. That?s how crazy it is going to be. ?The doorbell didn?t work for dog owners,? he explains. The Google Chat chime didn?t work for anyone born after Watergate. ?But warning,? Baier adds. ?We do reserve the right to bring back the bell if we have to.? Sure you do.
3 minutes. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich gets us going by deflecting a question about how he went from promising to ?repudiate every effort of the news media to get Republicans to fight each other to protect Barack Obama? to parroting the Obama campaign?s line of attack against Romney. He answers honestly, saying he had two choices after his drubbing in Iowa at the hands of attack ads from Romney allies: ?You either have to unilaterally disarm and leave the race, or you have to at least bring up your competitor?s record.? Then he attacks Romney?s job-creation record in Massachusetts.
(PHOTOS: Political Pictures of the Week)
5 minutes. Baier has two more follow-ups for Gingrich, both about his Romney attacks. This is called throwing meat to the lions. The crowd is restless. Someone must bleed. But Gingrich is gentle. ?I raise questions that I think are legitimate questions,? he says.
7 minutes. The former Massachusetts governor defends himself. Nothing special. ?My record is out there, proud of it, and I think if team want to have someone who understand how the economy works, having worked in the real economy, that I?m the guy that can best post up against Barack Obama,? Romney says.
9 minutes. Now it?s Texas Governor Rick Perry?s turn. He is asked about his comment that Romney practiced ?vulture capitalism.? Perry gets specific about one of the steel companies Romney invested in. ?I visited Georgetown, South Carolina. It was one of those towns where there was a steel mill that Bain [Capital] swept in, they picked that company over and a lot of people lost jobs there,? Perry says. Then he pivots. ?And Mitt, we need for you to release your income tax so the people of this country can see how you made your money,? he says, meaning income tax returns. The crowd roars like a jet engine. As if Ceasar just tossed swords to the gladiators.
11 minutes. Romney diffuses the roar. Talks about the steel business. Says he wants to ?get the private sector working again.? Ignores the stuff about his tax returns, which will almost certainly show that he pays little taxes because most of his income comes from investments.
12 minutes. Another question for Romney, about American Pad and Paper, a company that Romney?s firm took over, loaded up with debt and made money from before it failed. Romney says bankruptcy sucks, free enterprise is good, and America is not Europe. He also says, ?We?ve got a President in office three years, and he does not have a jobs plan yet. I?ve got one out there already, and I?m not even President yet.? A stunning bit of misinformation. Obama?s most recent jobs plan is called the American Jobs Act. Kind of hard to miss.
16 minutes. Still not quite the full combat that the crowd wants to see. Maybe Texas Representative Ron Paul can help. He is asked if he should stop attacking other candidates. ?There was one ad that we used against Senator [Rick] Santorum, and I was only ? I only had one problem, is I couldn?t get all the things in I wanted to say in one minute,? he answers. The crowd likes.
17 minutes. Santorum defends himself with lots of details about the right to work, No Child Left Behind and other things he has voted for that conservatives don?t like. Then he gets outraged about a spot run by Romney?s super PAC that says Santorum wanted to allow felons to vote. Santorum directly asks Romney if felons should be allowed to vote after they have served their time. The back and forth finally starts. Romney starts to answer by dodging, but Santorum cuts him off, demanding an answer to his question. ?We have plenty of time. I?ll get there. I?ll do it in the order I want to do,? Romney says. The upshot: Romney is against violent criminals ever getting the vote, he distances himself from the super PAC (even though he has spoken at its fundraisers), and Santorum, who once endorsed Romney to be President, does not like Romney.
22 minutes. Perry jumps in to repeat a line he always seems to be repeating. ?Washington, D.C., needs to leave the states alone,? he says. But he can?t leave it there, so he adds, ?And let the states decide these issues and don?t do it from Washington, D.C. That?s what needs to happen.? Emphatically.
23 minutes. The candidates have been talking over their time, so Baier says, ?We may have to rethink that whole bell thing.? As they say on the tweets, #notarealthreat. First commercial break.
26 minutes. We?re back for the obligatory chain of clich?s delivered by the state GOP chair, because this is how Fox News rolls ? ads within the infomercial. Back in the Myrtle Beach thunder dome, the moderators try to stick it to Romney one more time, pointing out that recently retired candidate Jon Huntsman called him ?a perfectly lubricated weather vane.? Romney smoothly recites stuff he has said before: ?I believe in free enterprise, I believe in freedom, I believe in liberty, I believe in an opportunity society.? Believe in America.
30 minutes. Perry is asked about the Justice Department effort to undo South Carolina?s strict voter-identification law. But the question has clear racial overtones: ?Governor Perry, are you suggesting on this Martin Luther King Jr. Day that the federal government has no business scrutinizing the voting laws of states where minorities were once denied the right to vote?? Perry runs with it. ?I?m saying also that South Carolina is at war with this federal government and with this Administration,? he says. To recap: Asked about Jim Crow, Perry embraces the Civil War. South Carolina, you remember, was the first nation to secede in 1860 to defend slavery. Crowd loves it. Mostly for the war. But old racist nostalgia lurks menacingly at the edges.
33 minutes. Discussion of unemployment-benefit policy. Santorum says return the hard decisions to the states. Gingrich says require job training. Then Gingrich keeps the racial undertones going by declaring, ?We think unconditional efforts by the best food-stamp President in American history to maximize dependency is terrible for the future of this country.?
36 minutes. Romney gets a question about the possibility of more bank bailouts if Europe collapses. He says he would not give anyone in government a blank check and that he would force failing firms into bankruptcy. Which just about sums up the basic idea behind Dodd-Frank, the Obama-backed financial-reform law that Romney opposes.
39 minutes. Paul is asked about military spending cuts and the impact on a military state like South Carolina. Paul says he would close foreign bases and build up domestic ones.
42 minutes. Each of the candidates must name their ideal income tax rate. Perry says a 20% flat tax. Santorum says 10% and 28%. Romney says 25%. Gingrich says 15%. Paul says 0%. ?What?s so bad about that?? he asks. Paul wins.
43 minutes. Romney gets a direct question: Will he release his income tax records? His answer is a Harvard Business School case study in equivocation: ?You know, I looked at what has been done in campaigns in the past, with Senator McCain and President George W. Bush and others. They have tended to release tax records in April or tax season. I hadn?t planned on releasing tax records, because the law requires us to release all of our assets, all the things we own. That I have already released. It?s a pretty full disclosure. But, you know, if that?s been the tradition, and I?m not opposed to doing that, time will tell. But I anticipate that most likely I am going to get asked to do that around the April time period, and I?ll keep that open.? Go ahead and try to figure that out. One thing is clear, when Romney says ?you know,? you almost certainly do not.
44 minutes. Romney is asked the same question again. It gets worse. ?I think I?ve heard enough from folks saying, Look, let?s see your tax records,? he says. ?I have nothing in them that suggests there?s any problem, and I?m happy to do so. I sort of feel like we are showing a lot of exposure at this point. And if I become our nominee, and what?s happened in history is, people have released them in about April of the coming year, and that?s probably what I would do.? Probably, if he thinks about deciding to listen to what people say about history and whatnot.
45 minutes. Romney gets a question about his opposition to the Dream Act, which would give citizenship to upstanding immigrants who were brought to the country illegally as children. ?I think we have to follow the law and insist those who come here illegally ultimately return home, apply and get in line with everyone else,? he says.
47 minutes. Santorum is asked about the high unemployment rate in the black community. He cites a study that says the poor should do three things to avoid poverty. ?Work, graduate from high school and get married before you have children,? he says. Work is probably the key one on the list for avoiding unemployment.
49 minutes. Paul says there is racial disparity in drug arrests and sentencing. ?This is one thing I am quite sure that Martin Luther King would be in agreement with me on,? he adds.
51 minutes. The string of questions about issues for blacks and Latinos continues, with a question to Gingrich about his rhetoric. ?You recently said black Americans should demand jobs, not food stamps. You also said poor kids lack a strong work ethic and proposed having them work as janitors in their schools. Can?t you see that this is viewed, at a minimum, as insulting to all Americans, but particularly to black Americans?? It?s a loaded question, and Gingrich bites its head off. ?No, I don?t see that,? he says. What follows is an epic back and forth between Gingrich, Fox News pundit Juan Williams and the crowd, which is again riled by the scent of blood. Gingrich keeps using lines like ?I know among the politically correct, you?re not supposed to use facts that are uncomfortable.? With the crowd?s help, he vanquishes Williams.
55 minutes. The crowd is screaming so loud with approval for Gingrich that Baier must address the less-frenzied home viewer: ?They can?t hear me, but I?ll talk to you.? The crowd is on its feet. Pretty sure this is the first mid-debate standing ovation in 16 debates. Commercial break to regain order.
62 minutes. We?re back. Time to probe Paul?s foreign policy ideas. Paul gets into an argument with Baier about whether he would pursue terrorist leaders like Osama bin Laden. Paul says he would but that the details are complex and almost certainly inconsequential to the upcoming presidential election.
65 minutes. Gingrich, emboldened by his destruction of Williams and the liberal elite, calls Paul?s ideas ?utterly irrational.? Then he gives the crowd what they came to see. ?We?re in South Carolina. South Carolina in the Revolutionary War had a young 13-year-old named Andrew Jackson. He was sabered by a British officer and wore a scar his whole life. Andrew Jackson had a pretty clear-cut idea about America?s enemies: Kill them.? Damn right. Sabered. Fox News shows a crowd shot. People are pumping their fists in the air. Kill them. Kill them.
67 minutes. Paul talks some more about war mongering. Baier again offers his empty bring-back-the-bell threat. Romney distances himself from his own adviser, who made the reasonable observation that you will have to negotiate with the Taliban to end the war in Afghanistan. But all of this is a letdown. The adrenaline rush is fading. Romney tries to recapture some of it by saying things like ?These people declared war on us. They?ve killed Americans. We go anywhere they are, and we kill them.? But a Romney ?kill? doesn?t have the bite of a Gingrich ?kill.?
72 minutes. Perry sat all this out. But now he gets a curveball, a question about the conservative government in Turkey and whether Turkey deserves to stay in NATO. It?s a leading question, and Perry, trying to look like he knows about this stuff, follows it off a cliff. ?Well, obviously when you have a country that is being ruled by what many would perceive to be Islamic terrorists ?? he begins. This is Turkey he is talking about. The nonterrorist, democratically-elected government of Turkey. It goes downhill from there.
74 minutes. Perry tries to salvage things by suggesting to Baier that Fox News replace the bell with a gong. If only.
76 minutes. Things are getting weird. Romney is asked about a bill Obama signed that included a section the President opposed that allows the military to detain Americans indefinitely. He says he agrees with this section. He is met by huge boos from the crowd.
79 minutes. Baier concedes defeat on the bell thing. ?Take whatever time you want,? he says to Santorum. Santorum does. He agrees with Obama that the new military powers are overreach.
81 minutes. Perry, who a few minutes ago called a nonterrorist U.S. ally a terrorist, tries to reclaim his stature by talking about his flat tax and his desire to cut regulation. Asked what can be done to help the housing market, Perry says, ?We don?t need the federal government in the housing market anymore.? Seeing as the housing market is now substantially propped up by the federal government, this is basically a call for a sharp temporary decline in home prices.
83 minutes. The candidates give their views on entitlement reform. If you have read the other summaries of the other debates, you already know this stuff.
93 minutes. Break time. Last break.
97 minutes. Romney is asked why he sucks on guns. He explains that he doesn?t suck quite so badly. Then he says he hunted moose recently, or elk. It sounds like this: ?I?m not going to describe all of my great exploits. But I went moose hunting, actually ? not moose hunting, I?m sorry, elk hunting with friends in Montana.? I?ve been pheasant hunting. I?m not the great hunter that some on this stage, probably Rick Perry, my guess is you are a serious hunter. I?m not a serious hunter.? This is, it must be said, much better than the tax-return answer.
103 minutes. More talk of the evils of super PACs, since a pro-Romney group is running a spot claiming that Gingrich favored China?s pro-abortion policies, which he did not. More back and forth over whether Gingrich and Romney could order their supporting PACs to stop using misleading ads, which they probably could. ?I have complained about with Governor Romney?s super PAC, over which he apparently has no influence, which makes you wonder how much influence he?d have if he were President,? says Gingrich. Old ground. Finally, Romney breaks down and declares that he wishes the wealthy people giving to his super PAC just gave to him. ?I haven?t spoken to any of the people involved in my super PAC in months, and this is outrageous,? Romney says. By this he appears to mean that it is outrageous he does not have direct control of money that clearly was donated by people who want to donate to him.
(MORE: What Ad Spending Says About Each GOP Candidate ? and Their Success)
108 minutes. There is apparently extra time, because Perry gets a question about the border fence and Gingrich gets a question about No Child Left Behind. No news.
111 minutes. We are done. The crowd has not yet formed into a mob. No actual blood has been spilled. A success, considering. See you Thursday night. We?ll do it all again. Don?t dwell on why.
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LONDON (Reuters) ? British Prime Minister David Cameron offered on Sunday to hold talks with Scottish leader Alex Salmond to thrash out their differences over arrangements for a referendum on Scottish independence that could lead to a breakup of the United Kingdom.
His offer followed a day of manoeuvring between the government and Salmond's devolved Scottish administration as both sides competed for the high ground in an increasingly acrimonious debate over the future of the 300-year-old union between Scotland and England.
Salmond said this week he wanted to hold a referendum in late 2014 on breaking away from the rest of Britain, while Cameron has said it should be held sooner rather than later to dispel uncertainty he says is damaging the Scottish economy.
Cameron and all the main British parties want to keep the United Kingdom intact while Salmond's Scottish National Party (SNP) campaigns for Scottish independence.
"The prime minister has made it clear he is happy to meet Alex Salmond and arrangements for that will be made in the coming days," a spokeswoman for Cameron said, saying no date had been set for the meeting.
Two opinion polls published on Sunday showed support for Scottish independence is stronger among English voters than it is among Scots.
The polls may reflect a view in some parts of Britain that Scotland gains financially from the current UK set-up, which gives its devolved parliament power over issues like health and education, funded by a grant from British government coffers.
The SNP says that view does not take account of North Sea oil revenues, which flow to the Treasury in London. An independent Scotland could lay claim to a large part of those revenues.
Both polls found Scottish opponents of independence leading supporters, although their lead in one poll was slim.
The SNP won a majority in Scottish elections last year, putting Salmond in a strong position to push for a referendum.
The British government intervened last week, saying the Scottish government could not legally hold a referendum but offered to allow one under certain conditions.
DISPUTE
London supports a referendum with a straight yes or no question on independence while Salmond is open to having a second question on the ballot, offering Scottish voters a greater degree of devolution from London.
Salmond objects to interference in Scottish affairs by a British government led by Conservatives, who are unpopular north of the border.
Michael Moore, the British minister responsible for Scotland, earlier proposed a meeting with Salmond this Thursday to thrash out details of how the referendum should be held.
The SNP reacted coolly, saying Salmond wanted talks with Cameron. While agreeing to talks, Cameron believed Salmond should also meet Moore on Thursday, Cameron's spokeswoman said.
A poll by ICM Research published in the Sunday Telegraph found 43 percent of voters in England approved of Scotland becoming independent while 32 percent disapproved.
That contrasted with the poll's finding in Scotland, where 40 percent approved and 43 percent disapproved, it said.
ICM polled 1,734 adults in England and 501 adults in Scotland last week.
A second poll, by Survation for the Mail on Sunday, found 26 percent of Scottish voters believed Scotland should quit the United Kingdom with 46 percent opposed and 28 percent undecided.
Among English and Welsh voters, 29 percent backed Scottish independence with 40 percent opposed and 31 percent undecided.
Survation interviewed 1,001 people in Scotland and 1,019 in England and Wales last week.
(Reporting by Adrian Croft; Editing by Ben Harding)
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