When the Congress couldn't agree within itself and with the president on how and whether to raise the debt ceiling, they created this new sort of procedure that allows the president to raise the debt ceiling on his own, and the Republicans or anyone else in Congress can disapprove of that action without it actually forcing a standoff in the budget.

 

That's NPR's Andrea Seabrook.

 

Well, the presidential candidates are busy campaigning in South Carolina ahead of that state's primary on Saturday. Since 1980, the winner of the GOP primary in that state has gone on to win the Republican nomination. As NPR's Tamara Keith reports, one of the contenders Newt Gingrich is asking voters to help him win South Carolina.

 

In a way, Gingrich's pitch sounds like a last stand. If he doesn't win South Carolina, he says former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney will lock up the nomination, though Gingrich argues that could hand President Obama another four years. But Gingrich says if he does win on Saturday, he will be the nominee.

 

"And we will beat Obama virtually everywhere in this country. There will be no safe state, and it will be a very different election than anybody expects."

 

Romney and the other candidates vying for votes don't necessarily agree with this analysis. Tamara Keith, NPR News, Columbia, South Carolina.

 

Hungary confirms one of its citizens was among at least 11 people killed on the shipwrecked Costa Concordia Friday. The victim, a 38-year-old violinist, was the first among the dead to be identified.

 

In Pakistan, a political crisis reaches another juncture tomorrow when the prime minister appears before the Supreme Court. NPR's Julie McCarthy reports from Islamabad that the courtroom drama could help determine the fate of the country's increasingly embattled government.

 

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani appears before a seven-member bench to explain why he shouldn't be held in contempt of court. Pakistan's increasingly assertive Supreme Court is furious at Gilani's government for its refusal to implement an earlier verdict that ordered the reopening of a money laundering case implicating President Asif Ali Zardari. But the lead attorney for the prime minister suggested a way out of the impasse that could defuse tensions. He said there was no harm in asking the Swiss authorities who first brought the money laundering case against Zardari to revive it, because, he says, he has complete immunity as long as he's president. Julie McCarthy, NPR News, Islamabad.

 

This is NPR News.

 

The National Weather Service has scaled back the snow totals expected from a massive winter storm bearing down on the Pacific Northwest. But forecasters still expect significant snowfall to hit the western part of Washington state and Oregon. From member station KUOW in Seattle, Patricia Murphy has details.

 

About 30,000 customers are without power in and around Portland, Oregon this morning. The storm moved in last night and is expected to dump up to two feet of snow in the mountains, about six inches in the city of Seattle. Skiers may be sad, but air travelers be warned, says Sea-Tac airport spokesman Perry Cooper.

 

"The airlines have had proactive cancellations at this point, so our recommendations to the passengers and travelers are to check with their airline to see whether or not your specific flight has been affected."

 

Several downtown Seattle hotels are full, as are many around the airport. Elsewhere, shoppers stocked up on groceries. The last snowstorm like this knocked out power here for a week. For NPR News, I'm Patricia Murphy in Seattle.

 

As of this morning, about 30,000 Oregon households in the Portland metro area had no electricity, following again a winter storm overnight. Those mostly affected were mainly in Gresham, Oregon City and western Portland.

 

California Governor Jerry Brown is asking voters to decide between higher taxes and deeper cuts in critical government functions including public education. In his State of the State address, the Democratic proposes a temporary tax hike to the wealthy in California sales tax to help reduce budget deficits. He's been trying to gather support for a November ballot initiative on taxes.

 

At last check, Dow was up more than 60 points.