(Image Source: Flickr/IowaPolitics)

BY HARUMENDHAH HELMY

ANCHOR MEGAN MURPHY

In U.S. news — less than five days away from the Iowa GOP caucus and presidential hopeful Mitt Romney is leading the latest NBC/Marist poll. MSNBC explains.

“Newt Gingrich is cratering, Rick Santorum is surging, and conservatives are splitting, and Mitt Romney’s the one benefiting. Romney gets the support of 23 percent of likely caucus goers identified based on interest, chance of voting, and past participation, by the way. (:43-:51) The conservative vote no longer coalescing on a single Romney challenger. Tea Party supporters who make up nearly half of caucus goers have completely splintered.”

In world news -- New Year’s Eve is coming a day early for residents of the tiny island nation of Samoa. This, after the country decides to move its time zone to the west of the International Date Line, aligning it with important trade partners, such as New Zealand. Fox News has more.
 

“Tonight at midnight, the nation will jump forward in time to Saturday. They’re doing this to make trade easier with their neighbors who have been operating one day ahead. Samoan government says though the residents scheduled to work Friday will still be paid.”

Still in world news — in a surprise move, Ukraine has moved jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko to a remote prison 300 miles east of the capital, Kiev. euronews has the details.

“In a snub to the European Union, the Ukrainian government has rehoused Tymoshenko before her case can be heard in the European Court of Human Rights. … Tymoshenko has been sentenced to seven years for exceeding her executive powers whilst making a gas deal with Russia in 2009. The conviction is seen as politically-motivated by the US and EU, which has delayed some of its dealings with Ukraine.”

In business news — the incriminating letter that led to the ouster of Mark Hurd as  Hewlett-Packard CEO has been made public. The letter details Hurd’s alleged repeated attempts to solicit sex from a former HP employee. CNBC has more.

“It is very embarrassing. The idea that Mr Hurd had different women in different places, and was moving them around... And the question is of course, does this, does any of the content of the letter, does it help a shareholder lawsuit against Hewlett Packard at this point. Is there some irresponsibility on the company’s part, by allowing this behavior to occur?”
 

In tech news — Internet registrar GoDaddy has officially announced it is opposing the Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA.

This, after an Internet-wide call to boycott the company when it initially supported SOPA. According to PCMag, critics of the act say that it is too far-reaching and could potentially harm sites that do not actually contain infringing content.