In the news

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Rick Perry, the Republican governor of Texas who also is an Eagle Scout, said at a Scout gathering in Austin that the Boy Scouts of America shouldn’t soften its strict no-gays membership policy and dismissed the idea of bending to the whims of “popular culture.”

Dan Pfeiffer, President Barack Obama’s senior adviser, said on Bloomberg Television’s Political Capital with Al Hunt that “there’s no question that there will be more than 50 votes to confirm” Chuck Hagel as the next defense secretary even after a hearing in which he was assailed by fellow Republicans.

Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Mueller, the Vatican’s head of doctrine, told the German newspaper Die Welt that critics in North America and Europe are conducting a “concerted campaign” to discredit the Catholic Church that is resulting in open attacks against priests and likened the sentiment directed toward the church to that of the persecution of Jews in Europe.

Nouri al-Maliki, the prime minister of Iraq, told the Arab satellite channel Al-Arabiya that a Syrian style revolt “will not happen” in his country, despite mounting street protests by minority Sunnis against his Shiite-led rule.

Clarence Mumford Sr ., 59, a long time Memphis educator accused of leading a 15-year scheme to help teachers in Tennessee, Mississippi and Arkansas cheat on qualification exams, changed his plea to guilty, a week after he rejected a deal from prosecutors, and will be sentenced May 13.

Hilton Cordero Rosario, a former police commissioner for Puerto Rico’s capital, San Juan, has pleaded guilty to one count of child pornography.

Bob Kerrey, a former Democratic senator from Nebraska, has resigned as president emeritus of The New School in New York City, two weeks after joining an experimental higher education venture based in San Francisco.

Antonio Villaraigosa, the mayor of Los Angeles, said in a statement that he’s “flattered and humbled” by speculation that he’s up for a Cabinet position in the Obama administration but he is “firmly committed” to finishing his second term, which ends June 30.

Steve Capus, who presided over years of strong ratings as president of NBC News and expanded digital offerings but was hurt by the downfall of the Today show, announced he was resigning.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 02/03/2013