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8A – Daily News – Monday, June 14, 2010 WORLD BRIEFING BP begins aggressive response NEW ORLEANS (AP) — BP mounted a more aggressive response to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday as it deployed undersea sen- sors to better measure the ferocious flow of crude while drawing up new plans to meet a govern- ment demand that it speed up the containment effort ahead of President Barack Obama’s visit to the coast. The financial ramifica- tions of the disaster are growing by the day as the White House and states put pressure on BP to set aside billions of dollars to pay spill-related claims in a move that could quickly drain the company’s cash reserves and hasten its path toward possible bankruptcy. BP was also trying to meet a Sunday deadline to respond to a letter from the Coast Guard demand- ing that it intensify the efforts to stop the spill. One of the actions BP took Sunday was to use robotic submarines to position sensors inside the well to gauge how much oil is spilling. Scientists haven’t been able to pin down just how much oil is leaking into the Gulf, although the high-end estimates indi- cated the spill could exceed 100 million gal- lons. The government has stressed that the larger estimates were still pre- liminary and considered a worse-case scenario. The Obama adminis- tration’s point man on the oil spill, Adm. Thad Allen, on Sunday said government officials think the best figures are from a middle-of-the-road estimate, which would put the spill at around 66 million gallons of oil. That is about six times the size of the Exxon Valdez spill. Over 75,000 Uzbeks flee OSH, Kyrgyzstan (AP) — Kyrgyz mobs burned Uzbek homes and cafes and slaughtered Uzbek villagers Sunday in the worst ethnic rioting this Central Asian nation has seen in 20 years. More than 75,000 Uzbeks fled across the border into Uzbekistan, trying to dodge bullets in a frantic dash to safety. Triumphant crowds of Kyrgyz men took control of Osh, the second-largest city in Kyrgyzstan, on Sunday as the few Uzbeks still left barricaded them- selves in their neighbor- hoods. Fires set by rioters raged across the city of 250,000, and food was scarce after widespread looting. Police or military troops were nowhere to be seen. The rioting that begin Thursday night appeared aimed at undermining Kyrgyzstan’s interim gov- ernment, which came to power after former Presi- dent Kurmanbek Bakiyev was ousted in a bloody uprising in April and fled the country. Uzbeks have backed the interim govern- ment, while many Kyrgyz in the south have support the toppled president. The United States, Rus- sia, and the U.N. chief all expressed alarm about the scale of the violence and discussed how to help the refugees. Russia sent in an extra battalion to protect its air base in the northern part of the country. Most of the Uzbek refugees at the border were elderly people, women and children, with the men having remained behind to defend their property. Many arrived with gunshot wounds, the Uzbekistan Emergencies Ministry said, according to Russian media. Gunmen storm Iraq’s central bank BAGHDAD (AP) — Gunmen wearing military uniforms stormed Iraq’s central bank Sunday in an apparent robbery attempt, battling security forces in a three-hour standoff after bombs exploded nearby in a brazen daylight attack that left at least 15 people dead. The assault on Iraq’s top financial institution stoked fears that insurgents are tak- ing advantage of political deadlock after inconclusive March 7 national elections to try to derail security gains. The 325-member parlia- ment was due to convene Monday, but analysts have said agreement on a new government could still be months away. Iraqi military spokesman Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Mous- sawi blamed the attack on gonna call? Who ya To participate in the various events and activities at the Here’s who to call about: Lawn Mower Races: Bob Carrel at 308-2102 Horseshoe Tournament: Steve Joiner at 528-0799 Strong Man Competition: Troy Lalaguna at 528-8656 Talent Contest: Sonja Akers at 736-1702 Teen Miss Competition: Sonja Akers at 736-1702 Vendors Welcome! Local food vendors: 20% on gross sales Commercial vendors: Donation requested For vendor information call Mark Eidman at 527-5920 x13 See you at the Fairgrounds on Independence Day Best Fireworks Display in the North State! Kids’ games – Carnival – Car Show … and much more! Get your Only 300 will be sold …they’re starting to move! could win $10,000 $100 each You Recliner’s Proceeds will go to provide the Fireworks Extravaganza at the Second Annual 4th of July Heritage Celebration at the Tehama District Fairgrounds in Red Bluff, brought to you by The Red Bluff-Tehama County Chamber of Commerce, Tehama District Fair and the Daily News! Buy your Golden Ticket(s) at: RB-TC Chamber of Commerce Red Bluff Yamaha – Antelope Blvd. Buds Jolly Kone – Antelope Blvd. Nu-Way Market – Los Molinos Napa Auto Parts, Corning Save additional $10000 off any recliner over $ 49900 and up Furniture Depot Expires 6/20/2010 235 So. Main St., Red Bluff 527-1657 MON.-THURS. 9:00-6:00 • FRI. 9:00-6:00 • SAT. 9:00-5:00 • SUN. 11:00-5:00 security, raising fears among the estimated half-million people liv- ing in and around the city that military action will lead to more blood- shed. Karzai worked to allay those fears, saying the operation would not resemble a heavy mili- tary offensive replete with tanks and airstrikes that could endanger civilians. ‘‘The cleaning-up operation will start first inside Kandahar city and then we will go to the districts,’’ Karzai al-Qaida in Iraq but said no money had been stolen from the bank, which holds gold deposits as well as U.S. and Iraqi currency. The violence began with the bombings — which sent plumes of smoke over the city skyline — although there were conflicting reports about the number and nature of the blasts. Some Iraqi police and hos- pital officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t autho- rized to release the informa- tion, put the casualty toll as high as 26 dead and more than 60 wounded. State police: Death toll from Ark. floods at 19 LANGLEY, Ark. (AP) — State police say the death toll from a flash flood that tore through an Arkansas campground has reached 19 and searchers are looking for just one more missing person. State Police Capt. Mike Fletcher says one more body was recovered at midday Sunday. He says searchers are looking for one more per- son who went missing after the pre-dawn Friday flood swept through the Albert Pike Recreation Area. Fletcher did not dis- close the latest victim’s identity. Sixteen of the 19 people confirmed killed in the flood have been publicly identified. Arab League chief tours Gaza, meets with Hamas GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — The Arab world’s top diplomat declared support Sunday for the people of blockad- ed Gaza in his first visit to the Palestinian territory since Hamas violently seized control of it three years ago. The visit was latest sign that Israel’s deadly raid on a flotilla trying to break the blockade of Gaza has eased the diplo- matic isolation of the Islamic militant group. Israel, meanwhile, appeared to grow more isolated in the fallout over the May 31 raid as Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak abruptly canceled plans Sunday to visit Paris. Barak’s office said he canceled his trip while Israel forms a committee to investigate the raid. The statement denied that the decision was connect- ed to attempts by pro- Palestinian groups to seek his arrest. Israel said late Sunday it was setting up an inquiry headed by a judge, to be joined by two high-ranking foreign observers. Spy agency still supports Taliban ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s main spy agency continues to arm and train the Taliban and is even represented on the group’s leader- ship council despite U.S. pressure to sever ties and billions in aid to combat the militants, said a research report released Sunday. The findings could heighten tension between the two coun- tries and raise further questions about U.S. success in Afghanistan since Pakistani coopera- tion is seen as key to defeating the Taliban, which seized power in Kabul in the 1990s with Islamabad’s support. U.S. officials have suggested in the past that current or former Feed the Children FOODS DRIVE Collection at participating Downtown Merchants. This is to replace meals local Breakfast and Lunch families in need lost when school let out for the summer. Info 528-8000 Jesse members of Pakistan’s powerful Inter-Services Intelligence agency, or ISI, have maintained links to the Taliban despite the govern- ment’s decision to denounce the group in 2001 under U.S. pres- sure. But the report issued Sunday by the London School of Economics offered one of the strongest cases that assistance to the group is official ISI policy, and even extends to the highest levels of the Pakistani government. ‘‘Pakistan’s apparent involvement in a dou- ble-game of this scale could have major geopolitical implica- tions and could even provoke U.S. counter- measures,’’ said the report, which was based on interviews with Tal- iban commanders, for- mer Taliban officials, Western diplomats and many others. Karzai to ramp up security in Kandahar KAND AHAR, Afghanistan (AP) — President Hamid Karzai gave the green light to a major security crack- down in the Taliban birthplace of Kandahar on Sunday, assuring res- idents the operation was aimed at battling cor- ruption and bad govern- ment as much as insur- gents. Hundreds of tribal and religious leaders, sitting cross-legged in a steamy conference hall, publicly endorsed the plan, although Afghan officials acknowledged skepticism remains over the high-stakes opera- tion, seen as a possible turning point in the nearly nine-year-old war. Afghan and interna- tional forces already have started to ramp up LOSE WEIGHT Nutrition & Energy Digestive Cleansing Weight Control POUNDS INCHES& Healthy, real results! LOSE 30-day product, return refund guarantee. Ask for. 888-564-2079 herbal-nutrition.net/ starhomebusiness starhomebusiness@att.net said, urging those in the audience to put aside fears of retaliation and join him in retaking control of the city from insurgents, criminals and wealthy power-bro- kers. ‘‘We need your coop- eration with this opera- tion,’’ he said. ‘‘I don’t accept any excuse for not cooperating. We want this operation to be successful.’’ Van der Sloot said intruder killed woman LIMA, Peru (AP) — Joran van der Sloot told police in Chile that it was an unidentified robber who beat a young woman to death in his hotel room, a killing for which the Dutchman has been charged with murder in Peru. Peruvian police say Van der Sloot, long sus- pected in the 2005 disap- pearance of U.S. teen Natalee Holloway, has confessed to killing 21- year-old business student Stephany Flores on May 30 after they met playing poker. But according to a Chilean police report obtained by The Associat- ed Press through Peruvian authorities late Saturday, Van der Sloot gave a dif- ferent account of events while in custody in neigh- boring Chile, where he was captured after the killing and quickly extra- dited. In the version offered to Chilean investigators, Van der Sloot said he and Flores were surprised in the early morning by two robbers in an apparent assault. ‘‘A man came out of the bathroom blocking the access door with a knife in his hand. On the bed was another man with a gun,’’ the Spanish-lan- guage report quotes him as saying. ‘‘The man with the knife said to be quiet, but Stephany began talk- ing in a loud voice and he hit her in the face, making her nose bleed.’’ Health, Life, Auto, Home, Commercial, Professional Liability Free phone quotes 530-824-9900 Monday-Friday 9-5 1610 Solano St. #B Corning Lic.#0C37035 COUPON COUPON Golden Ticket SAMPLE! FREE