Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/26211
8B – Daily News – Wednesday, March 2, 2011 WORLD BRIEFING Gadhafi’s forces retake some towns near capital TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Moammar Gadhafi’s forces battled poorly armed rebels Tuesday for control of towns near the capital trying to create a buffer zone around his seat of power. The increasingly violent clashes threatened to transform the 15-day pop- ular rebellion in Libya into a drawn-out civil war. Amid the intensified fighting, the international community stepped up moves to isolate the long- time Libyan leader. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he ordered two ships into the Mediterranean, including the amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge, and he is sending 400 Marines to the vessel to replace some troops that left recently for Afghanistan. Military leaders weighing a no-fly zone over Libya said it would be a complex task that would require taking out Gadhafi’s air defenses, and Russia’s top diplomat dismissed the idea as ‘‘superfluous’’ and said world powers should focus on sanctions. Gadhafi’s son, Seif al- Islam, warned Western forces not to take military action against Libya and said the country is pre- pared to defend itself against foreign interven- tion. Wis. gov. proposes deep cuts for schools and government MADISON, Wis. (AP) — After focusing for weeks on his proposal to strip public employees of collective bargaining rights, Gov. Scott Walker on Tuesday presented his full budget proposal — a plan that cuts $1.5 billion in aid to public schools and government but avoids any tax or fee increases, furloughs or widespread layoffs. Walker said the cuts could be paid for in large part by forcing govern- ment employees to pay more for their pension and health care benefits. But his proposal to do that — and to eliminate most collective bargaining — remains in limbo after Senate Democrats fled the state to prevent a vote. ‘‘This is a reform bud- get,’’ Walker said in pre- pared remarks. ‘‘It is about getting Wisconsin working again, and to make that happen, we need a balanced budget that works — and an envi- ronment where the private sector can create 250,000 jobs over the next four years.’’ Walker’s proposals have stirred a national debate over public-sector unions and drawn tens of thousands of protesters to the Capitol for three weeks. The governor released his two-year budget in part to support his argu- ment that public worker concessions are essential to confront a projected $3.6 billion shortfall. ’Bad things’ can happen in medical research ATLANTA (AP) — Experts say that the kind of unethical medical stud- ies that occurred half a century ago could still happen again despite more than 1,000 rules and regulations that should prevent such abuses. Bioethicists and researchers spoke Tues- day before a presidential panel in Washington. The meeting was triggered by the government’s apology last fall for federal doc- tors infecting prisoners and mental patients in Guatemala with syphilis 65 years ago. President Barack Obama ordered his Com- mission for the Study of Bioethical Issues to explore whether such a study could ever happen again. Speakers noted that over the last several decades, as many as 1,000 rules, regulations and guidelines have been enacted worldwide to ensure the ethical conduct 1921 ~ 2011 APRIL 15, 16, 17, 2011 www.redbluffroundup.com Visit us on facebook (530) 527-1000 1-800-545-3500 AMERICA’S ORIGINAL EXTREME SPORT! RODEO Visit us at: NOW OPEN FOR BEST SELECTION CALL NOW!!! TICKET OFFICE of medical research. In the United States, there are rules to protect people in every study done by federal scientists, funded by federal agencies or those testing a product requiring federal approval to be sold. But that oversight is inconsistent — ethical rules can vary among fed- eral agencies. What’s more, if federal funding or review is not involved, an unethical study could be done and no one in authority would ever know about it. Yemen accuses US and Israel of stirring up Arab world SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Yemen’s embattled president on Tuesday accused the U.S., his clos- est ally, of instigating the mounting protests against him, but the gambit failed to slow the momentum for his ouster. Hundreds of thousands rallied in cities across Yemen in the largest anti- government protests of the past month, including a gathering addressed by an influential firebrand cleric whom the U.S. has linked to al-Qaida. ‘‘Go on until you achieve your demands,’’ Sheik Abdul- Majid al-Zindani told tens of thousands of demon- strators in the capital of Sanaa. Some warned that the current political turmoil and possible collapse of President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s regime could give a further opening to Yemen’s offshoot of the global terror network, known as al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula. The Yemen branch, believed to have been involved in the attempted 2009 bombing of an American airliner, is seen as particularly active and threatening to the U.S. Saleh has been a weak but important U.S. ally in the fight against al-Qaida. Yemen gets U..S. military aid and has allowed Amer- ican drone strikes on al- Qaida targets. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton visited Yemen in January and urged Saleh to do more. However, on Tuesday, Saleh seemed to be turn- ing on Washington. In a speech to about 500 stu- dents and lecturers at Sanaa University, he claimed the U.S., along with Israel, is behind the protest movement. SEC charges former Goldman director WASHINGTON (AP) — Depicting moment-to- moment detail, the Securi- ties and Exchange Commis- sion on Tuesday laid out civil fraud charges linking a former Goldman Sachs board member to the biggest hedge fund insider- trading case ever. It’s a portrait of corpo- rate board meetings leading to secret phone calls, to stock-trading orders and finally to huge illicit profits made within hours. The SEC charged Rajat Gupta, who has also served on the boards of Procter & Gamble and the parent company for American Air- lines. Gupta was a guest at President Barack Obama’s first state dinner. But at the height of the financial crisis, Gupta passed along privileged financial information that helped enrich the target of the government’s sweeping probe, the SEC alleges. A pivotal moment came on Sept. 23, 2008. Gupta listened via teleconference as the Goldman Sachs board approved an offer from Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway to invest $5 billion in the bank- ing giant. Army revamping PT tests FORT JACKSON, S.C. (AP) — The Army plans to toughen its fitness tests for the first time in 30 years to make sure all soldiers have the strength, endurance and mobility for battle, adding exercises like running an obstacle course in full com- bat gear and dragging a body’s weight. Officials at Fort Jackson, a major Army training cen- ter, said Tuesday the new regimen would replace twice-a-year testing that focused on push-ups, sit- ups and a two-mile run. Tri- als are starting this month at eight bases and the plan could be adopted Army- wide after reviews later this year. The shift follows other Army efforts to overhaul training, improve diets and help older soldiers keep fit. Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling, the head of Army training, said the fitness test had to be revamped because repeti- tive exercises like sit-ups don’t translate into survival on the battlefield. Unveiling the pilot to reporters, he said the service was also adopting lessons from Iraq and Afghanistan combat veterans who had to learn in the field to carry anywhere from 40 to 70 pounds of weapons and body armor. Governments mull iffy deals NEW YORK (AP) — New York City and New Jersey need a new bridge, but money is tight. So officials are doing some- thing they’ve never done before: They’re getting a private company to build one, then buying it a little at a time. Such public-private partnerships are becom- ing more attractive as cash-strapped govern- ments search for ways to overhaul aging roads and bridges. But they are also fueling a debate over the role of government in pro- viding roads, bridges and other major transportation projects.