WASHINGTON (AP) — Jon Huntsman will withdraw Monday from the race for the Republican presidential nomination, his campaign manager told The Associated Press on Sunday. Campaign manager Matt David said Huntsman will announce his withdrawal at an event in Myrtle Beach, S.C. Huntsman will endorse Mitt Romney, whom he believes is the best candidate to beat President Barack Obama in November, campaign officials said. The former Utah governor placed third in last week’s New Hampshire primary despite devoting most of... Read more

Captain of stricken cruise ship under scrutiny as 6th body recovered; 16 missing ROME (AP) — Rescuers raced against time and increasingly turbulent waters Monday in search of survivors from the capsized Costa Concordia cruise ship off the Tuscan coast, while prosecutors focused on the captain, who is accused of abandoning the ship well before passengers were safely evacuated. A sixth body was discovered in the overturned vessel as the rescue mission entered its third day; 16 passengers and crew... Read more

CAIRO (AP) — Top parties in Egypt’s incoming parliament are picking an Islamist as speaker for the first time. The Muslim Brotherhood, the big winner in the first election since the ousting of President Hosni Mubarak last February, said Monday it has joined several other parties in backing Saad el-Katatni. He’s the secretary-general of the Brotherhood’s own party. The main function of the new parliament is to pick a 100-person commission to draw up a new constitution for Egypt. The... Read more

CAIRO (AP) — An international human rights group is urging Egypt’s newly elected parliament to reform laws that it says are used as “tools of repression.” Human Rights Watch says in a lengthy report released Monday that existing Egyptian laws that restrict freedoms should be changed to become an “instrument that protects Egyptians’ rights rather than represses them.” The New York-based group says the current laws have been used to curb free expression, limit association and assembly, and shield an... Read more

CAIRO (AP) — Reform leader Mohammed ElBaradei’s surprise pullout from the presidential race has laid bare the messiness of Egypt’s transition to democracy with less than six months left for the ruling generals to hand over power. In less than two weeks on Jan. 25, Egyptians will mark a year since the start of the popular uprising that forced Hosni Mubarak out of office. But there is no longer much talk about the revolution’s lofty goals of bringing democracy, freedom... Read more

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs may be serving a life-plus-20-year sentence in a Texas prison, but his grip on most of his 10,000 followers doesn’t appear to be lessening and some former insiders say he’s imposing even more rigid requirements that are roiling the church and splitting its members. The edicts from Jeffs, head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, form the basis for what he’s called the “Holy United... Read more

GREER, S.C. (AP) — The prospect of a Mormon president appears to be less alien to South Carolina Republicans who are giving Mitt Romney a second look after his failed 2008 run. Still, worries about his faith persist in a state where one pastor jokes there are “more Baptists than people.” Voters preparing for the Jan. 21 primary are weighing whether Romney’s religion should matter so much when they can’t pay their bills and a Democrat many distrust occupies the... Read more

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A splintered conservative vote in South Carolina could pave the way for Mitt Romney to win this week’s pivotal primary, some rivals said Sunday, acknowledging an outcome that prominent state lawmakers suggested could end the nomination fight. “I think the only way that a Massachusetts moderate can get through South Carolina is if the vote is split,” said Newt Gingrich, portraying himself as the lone conservative with a “realistic chance” of beating Romney in the first-in-the... Read more

MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) — Bahrain’s king promised Sunday that the strife-wracked Gulf nation will move ahead with political reforms that widen the powers of the elected parliament to oversee governments selected by the ruling monarchy. The reforms are part of recommendations that emerged last year from talks between various political and civil groups on easing tensions in the Sunni-ruled kingdom, which has faced more than 11 months of protests by the island’s Shiite majority. More than 35 people have died... Read more

MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) — Bahrain’s king says the strife-wracked Gulf nation will move ahead with political reforms that widen the powers of the elected parliament in overseeing governments selected by the ruling monarchy. The reforms are part of recommendations that emerged last year from talks between various political and civil groups on easing tensions in the Sunni-ruled kingdom, which has faced more than 11 months of protests by the Shiite majority demanding greater rights. King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa... Read more