Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/27689
4B – Daily News – Wednesday, March 23, 2011 WORLD BRIEFING Snipers, shells, tanks terrorize key Libyan city TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Moammar Gadhafi’s snipers and tanks are terrorizing civilians in the coastal city of Misrata, a resi- dent said, and the U.S. military warned Tuesday it was ‘‘consider- ing all options’’ in response to dire conditions there that have left peo- ple cowering in darkened homes and scrounging for food and rain- water. Heavy anti-aircraft fire and loud explosions sounded in Tripoli after nightfall, possibly a new attack in the international air campaign that so far has focused on military targets. But conditions have deteriorated sharply in Mis- rata, the last major city in western Libya held by the rebel force try- ing to end Gadhafi’s four-decade rule. Residents of the city 125 miles (200 kilometers) southeast of Tripoli, say shelling and sniper attacks are unrelenting. A doctor said tanks opened fire on a peace- ful protest on Monday. ‘‘The number of dead are too many for our hospital to handle,’’ said the doctor, speaking on con- dition of anonymity for fear of reprisals if the city falls to Gad- hafi’s troops. As for food, he said, ‘‘We share what we find and if we don’t find anything, which hap- pens, we don’t know what to do.’’ Neither the rebels nor Gad- hafi’s forces are strong enough to hold Misrata or Ajdabiya, a key city in the east that is also a daily battleground. But the airstrikes and missiles that are the weapons of choice for international forces may be of limited use. ‘‘When there’s fighting in urban areas and combatants are mixing and mingling with civil- ians, the options are vastly reduced,’’ said Fred Abrahams, a special adviser at Human Rights Watch. ‘‘I can imagine the pres- sures and desires to protect civil- ians in Misrata and Ajdabiya are bumping up against the concerns about causing harms to the civil- ians you seek to protect.’’ Obama says US efforts in Libya have saved lives WASHINGTON (AP) — Despite squabbling among allies involved in the air assault in Libya, President Barack Obama said Tuesday he is confident the U.S. can hand over control of the operation to other nations in a matter of days. The president, speaking in El Salvador, said the attack autho- rized by the United Nations late last week has already saved the lives of Libyans who would other- wise have been targeted by forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi. Responding to a question at a news conference on the final stop of a Latin American trip, the pres- ident also suggested the adminis- tration would not need to request funding from Congress for the air operations but would pay for them out of money already approved. Obama spoke as administra- tion officials briefed lawmakers in Washington about the military operation to date, and as the White House disclosed he would return home a few hours ahead of sched- ule on Wednesday. Obama said he had spoken ear- lier with British Prime Minister David Cameron and French Presi- dent Nicolas Sarkozy in hopes of quickly resolving a dispute over the transition of the military mis- sion designed to create a no-fly zone over Libya to shield the civil- ian population. Utility: Power lines hooked up, fuel pool cools in progress FUKUSHIMA, Japan (AP) — Workers at a leaking nuclear plant hooked up power lines to all six of the crippled complex’s reactor units Tuesday, but other repercussions from the massive earthquake and tsunami were still rippling across the nation as eco- nomic losses mounted at three of Japan’s flagship companies. The progress on the electrical lines at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant was a wel- come and significant advance after days of setbacks. With the power lines connected, officials hope to start up the overheated plant’s crucial cooling system that was knocked out during the March 11 tsunami and earth- quake that devastated Japan’s northeast coast. Tokyo Electric Power Co. warned that workers still need to check all equipment for damage first before switching the cooling system on to all the reactor units — a process that could take days or even weeks. Late Tuesday night, Tokyo Electric said lights went on in the central control room of Unit 3, but that doesn’t mean power had been restored to the cooling sys- tem. Officials will wait until sometime Wednesday to try to power up the water pumps to the unit. Emergency crews also dumped 18 tons of seawater into a nearly boiling storage pool holding spent nuclear fuel, cool- ing it to 105 degrees Fahrenheit (50 degrees Celsius), Japan’s nuclear safety agency said. Steam, possibly carrying radioac- tive elements, had been rising for two days from the reactor build- ing, and the move lessens the chances that more radiation will seep into the air. The busiest local information website in Tehama County! • 338,883 monthly page views St. Elizabeth Community Hospital A member of CHW 2550 Sister Mary Columba Dr., Red Bluff (530) 529-8000 http://www.redbluff.mercy.org • 49,162 unique visitors PHYSICAL 2490 S. 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