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March 13, 2012 | | PRIMARY NIGHT Mississippi and Alabama go to the polls tonight, and Mitt Romney has managed to stay competitive in Newt Gingrich’s backyard. If Gingrich can’t win the Deep South, his fate might be sealed, writes Howard Kurtz. CONSEQUENCES The Taliban opened fire on a group of Afghan officials—including President Hamid Karzai’s brother—on Tuesday at the site where a U.S. solider killed 16 civilians over the weekend. At least one Afghan soldier was reportedly killed in Tuesday’s attack and another two were injured in the gun battle, which occurred just after a memorial at a mosque for the victims of the massacre by a U.S. soldier. In eastern Afghanistan, students staged the first significant protest in response to the killings, where they burned an effigy of President Obama and chanted “Death to America” in Jalalabad. Meanwhile, Obama said he will be directing an inquiry into the killings allegedly by a U.S. soldier, and said they will “follow the facts” and that anyone found responsible will be prosecuted. Obama called the situation tragic, but said it would not change the timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops in Afghanistan. HACKED Rupert Murdoch’s former deputy Rebekah Brooks is back in custody—this time over suspicions of obstruction of justice. Mike Giglio on why her husband was arrested, too. EQUAL RIGHTS A female Ohio legislator introduced a bill Monday that would require men to have medical tests and visit a sex therapist before getting a prescription for Viagra and other erectile dysfunction drugs. Ohio state Sen. Nina Turner said that if lawmakers want to put limits on women’s reproductive health, men’s reproductive health should also be examined. Turner is especially critical of a bill recently introduced in the Ohio statehouse that is popularly referred to as the “Heartbeat bill,” which prohibits abortion until a Heartbeat is detected. Supporters of the heartbeat bill insist the two cannot be compared, since it is an anti-abortion bill and they claim it is not about women’s reproductive health. Turner’s bill is part of a national trend to bring legislation forward about men’s reproductive health. Showdown Hey China, could the rest of us have some of those rare earth minerals? That’s the crux of a trade case filed by the U.S., EU, and Japan today, President Obama has announced. China has gradually been increasing export restrictions on the minerals, which are used in high-tech and “green” businesses, and the U.S. has cried foul. An American trade representative said in a statement, "Because China is a top global producer for these key inputs, its harmful policies artificially increase prices for the inputs outside of China while lowering prices in China.” But a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs fought back, saying, "China has worked out its own policy on managing rare earths, which is in line with WTO regulations.” China must respond to the case within 10 days and hold talks with the parties within two months. | | 
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