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SALT LAKE CITY — Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had a near miss with a swarm of bees Monday as she boarded a plane to leave Malawi.
Clinton was preparing to depart from Kamuzu International Airport when a swarm of bees descended on the scene, sending those in the area scrambling for cover.
"There was a slight panic as the bees winged across the airport," a witness told the Nyasa Times, out of Malawi. "People could be seen running away to keep cover as the Secretary of State swiftly boarded her plane to avoid any stings."
Clinton made it to her plane safely. The secretary was the first high-ranking U.S. official to visit the country since former Vice President Dan Quayle visited in 1991.
Cruz, on Martians
Texas Republican Senate nominee Ted Cruz is emphasizing his ability to work with others.
"I am perfectly happy to compromise and work with anybody: Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians — I'll work with Martians," Cruz said on "Fox News Sunday." "If — and the if is critical — they're willing to cut spending and reduce the debt."
Cruz, a tea party favorite, credits the voter frustration that began sweeping tea party candidates into office in 2010 with his winning the Republican nomination Tuesday over Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst.
"Our country is at a crisis point right now," Cruz said. "The American people are looking for new leaders who will step up and stop spending money we don't have."
Other political news:
- Young voters are finding themselves in the middle of a debate over state voter ID laws, the Associated Press reports. Some states have moved to block student ID's from being used as voter identification, leaving critics worried that a block of the youth vote will not make it to the polls come election time.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., continues to criticize Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney for failing to release more tax returns. Reid recently won the support of Workers Voice, the super PAC of the AFL-CIO, the Huffington Post reports.
Romney on Friday challenged Reid on CNN to name the senator's sources who claim Romney has paid no taxes in the past.
- Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Sunday on CNN that politicians should lose their jobs if they can't reach an agreement over defense spending.
"We do dumb things in Congress; this sequestering idea was the dumbest thing," he said, referring to a requirement that spending for some federal government programs be slashed starting in 2013 once a Congressional supercommittee failed to compromise on $1 trillion in deficit reductions last fall.
The Republican National Committee called attention Monday to a $100,000 speaking fee with ties to Iran accepted by Pres. Barack Obama's 2008 campaign manager and senior White House aide David Plouffe. A subsidiary of MTN Group, a South African telecommunications company, paid Plouffe for speeches made in Nigeria a month before he joined the White House staff, the Washington Post reports.
The Obama campaign responded Monday to the Post article, saying Romney, too, has ties to Iran. "Mitt Romney is the same candidate who failed to keep his promise to get rid of any investments in companies that do business with Iran — his trust remained invested in these companies for years after his pledge to divest," said Obama campaign press secretary Ben LaBolt. Romney has invested in Turkcell, a company with business interests in Iran.- Pres. Obama and the Democratic National Committee raised $75 million in July, the Associated Press reports. Romney and the Republican National Committee raised $101 million in July, by comparison, out-raising Obama for the third straight month.
