WASHINGTON (AP) — In his blueprint for a stronger Navy, the sea service's new top boss, Adm. John M. Richardson, is blunt about what he thinks matters most: nuclear punch.
Battling terrorists is today's problem, but in looking toward a farther horizon, Richardson wants a Navy built to counter unpredictable future threats from other countries such as North Korea, which on Wednesday announced its first hydrogen bomb test. No. 1 on Richardson's list is a new fleet of nuclear-armed submarines, known as "boomers," that prowl the oceans as the quiet centerpiece of the nation's nuclear force. The Navyplans to replace the current fleet of 14 Ohio-class boomers, which began service as early as 1981, with 12 next-generation subs.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — After a year when a church massacre and catastrophic flooding put her in the spotlight, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley will get further national exposure when she gives the Republican response to the State of the Union address.
But she's not new to the national stage. In 2012, she spoke at the Republican National Convention and campaigned for past GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney. She also promoted her 2012 memoir with a national book tour.
