Housing chief becomes Egypt prime minister
CAIRO – Egypt’s interim president chose the outgoing housing minister, a construction magnate from the era of ousted autocrat Hosni Mubarak, as his new prime minister on Tuesday, some two months ahead of key presidential elections.
The switch from veteran economist Hazem el-Beblawi to Ibrahim Mehlib, who successfully led Egypt’s biggest construction company for a decade, appeared orchestrated to give Field Marshal Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, the country’s military chief, a window for a quieter street after a spike in labor strikes with the potential of triggering wider unrest.
El-Sissi overthrew Islamist President Mohammed Morsi in July and backed el-Beblawi’s government through tumultuous times, including a heavy crackdown on Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood.
Mexico plans to keep Guzman for now
MEXICO CITY – Mexico made clear Tuesday it is determined to keep Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman in its highest-security prison for the foreseeable future, putting off U.S. extradition in a move that could bolster President Enrique Pena Nieto’s nationalist credentials but also shine a spotlight on the country’s woeful judicial system.
Authorities here say they want to be the first to interrogate Guzman and use the information to dismantle his Sinaloa cartel, a multibillion-dollar enterprise that dominates drug trafficking in much of Mexico and stretches into 54 countries.
Two federal judges ruled Tuesday that Guzman will have to stand trial on separate drug-trafficking and organized-crime charges in Mexico.
Obama seeks help meeting insurance goal
WASHINGTON –Making a pitch for a final rush of health care enrollees, President Barack Obama says about 4 million people have signed up for health insurance through federal or state marketplaces set up under his health-care law.
Obama urged some of his most vocal supporters Tuesday to help sign up as many people as possible for coverage by the end of March.
“What you need to do is continue what you’re doing and reach out with your teams in your respective cities, states, towns, counties because right now we only have a few weeks left,” he told an organizing summit for Organizing for Action. “March 31st, that’s the last call.”
U.S. begins planning Afghanistan withdrawal
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama has ordered the Pentagon to plan for a full American withdrawal from Afghanistan by the end of this year should the Afghan government refuse to sign a security agreement with the U.S, the White House said Tuesday.
However, in a call with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Obama also said the U.S. could still keep a limited troop presence in Afghanistan after 2014 if the agreement is ultimately signed. He acknowledged Karzai was unlikely to sign the bilateral security agreement himself, leaving the fate of the continued U.S. troop presence in Afghanistan to the winner of the country’s April elections.
“We will leave open the possibility of concluding a BSA with Afghanistan later this year,” the White House said in a summary of the call between the two leaders. However, the White House added that “the longer we go without a BSA, the more likely it will be that any post-2014 U.S. mission will be smaller in scale and ambition.”
Associated Press
