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8A – Daily News – Monday, April 4, 2011 WORLD BRIEFING Engineers wait to see if mix will stop nuke leak TOKYO (AP) — Engi- neers pinned their hopes on chemicals, sawdust and shredded newspaper to stop highly radioactive water pouring into the ocean from Japan’s tsuna- mi-ravaged nuclear plant Sunday as officials said it will take several months to bring the crisis under control, the first time they have provided a timetable. Concrete already failed to stop the tainted water spewing from a crack in a maintenance pit, and the new mixture did not appear to be working either, but engineers said they were not abandoning it. The Fukushima Da- ichi plant has been leak- ing radioactivity since the March 11 tsunami carved a path of destruction along Japan’s northeast- ern coast, killing as many as 25,000 people and knocking out key cooling systems that kept it from overheating. People living within 12 miles (20 kilo- meters) of the plant have been forced to abandon their homes. The government said Sunday it will be several months before the radia- tion stops and permanent cooling systems are restored. Even after that happens, there will be years of work ahead to clean up the area around the complex and figure out what to do with it. ‘‘It would take a few months until we finally get things under control and have a better idea about the future,’’ said Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency the last few days’’ were the reason the alliance made the request. She would not elaborate. ‘‘This is a short-term extension which expires on Monday,’’ she said. Southwest jet had existing damage YUMA, Ariz. (AP) — Southwest Airlines mechanics were working Sunday to cut out a section of ruptured fuselage from a Boeing 737-300 that was forced to make an emer- gency landing at a south- western Arizona military base. The tear along a riveted spokesman Hidehiko Nishiyama. ‘‘We’ll face a crucial turning point with- in the next few months, but that is not the end.’’ US and allies need to know more about rebels WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. agreed to NATO’s request for a 48- hour extension of Ameri- can participation in coali- tion airstrikes against tar- gets in Libya and U.S. lawmakers cautioned Sunday the allies need to know more about the rebels fighting Moammar Gadhafi’s forces before providing them with weapons. Two weeks into the assault on Gadhafi, Republican lawmakers expressed concern that a stalemate could leave him in control of portions of Libya and with access to stockpiles of chemical weapons. The U.S. is shifting the combat role to Britain, France and other NATO allies, but American air power is still in demand. Air Force AC-130 gun- ships and A-10 Thunder- bolts and Marine Corps AV-8B Harriers will con- tinue to attack Gadhafi’s troops and other sites through Monday evening. These aircraft are among the most precise in the American arsenal. After Saturday, no U.S. combat aircraft were to fly strike missions over Libya unless NATO offi- cials specifically asked and authorities in Wash- ington gave their approval. NATO assumed full control last week from the U.S.-led interna- tional force for all aspects of the operation in Libya as authorized by U.N. res- olutions that include an arms embargo, enforcing the no-fly zone, and pro- tecting civilians from Gadhafi’s forces. In an emailed state- ment, NATO spokes- woman Oana Lungescu said Sunday that ‘‘poor weather conditions over ‘‘lap joint’’ shows evidence of extensive cracking that hadn’t been discovered dur- ing routine maintenance before Friday’s harrowing flight — and probably wouldn’t have been unless mechanics had specifically looked for it, officials said. National Transportation Safety Board investigators were overseeing the removal of the top section of the jetliner’s roof around the 5-foot long tear and will send the structure to Wash- ington, D.C., for analysis. Meanwhile, Southwest said it had cancelled about 300 flights for the second day in a row Sunday as it inspected 79 similar planes in its fleet that it has ground- ed. The NTSB said it had not been notified of similar problems cropping up dur- ing those inspections. Southwest has not said if it has found other problems. No one was seriously injured Friday as the aircraft carrying 118 people rapidly lost cabin pressure and made a controlled descent from 34,400 feet, landing safely at the airport in Yuma, 150 miles southwest of Phoenix. Quran protests spread to Afghan east JA LALAB AD, Afghanistan (AP) — Demonstrators battled police in southern Afghanistan’s main city on Sunday and took to the streets in the turbulent east for the first time as Western pleas failed to halt a third day of rage over a Florida pastor’s burning of the Quran. An officer was shot dead in a second day of clashes in the city of Kandahar, said provincial health director Qayum Pokhla. Two offi- cers and 18 civilians were wounded, he said. In Jalalabad, the largest city in the east, hundreds of people blocked the main highway for three hours, shouting for U.S. troops to leave, burning an effigy of President Barack Obama and stomping on a drawing of a U.S. flag. More than 1,000 people set tires ablaze to block another highway in eastern Parwan province for about an hour, said provin- cial police chief Sher Ahmad Maladani. The violence was set off by anger over the March 20 burning of the Quran by a Florida church — the same church whose pastor had threatened to do so last year on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, triggering worldwide outrage. The protests, which began Friday, also appear to be fueled more broadly by the resentment that has been building for years in Afghanistan over the opera- tions of Western military forces, blamed for killing and mistreating civilians, and international contrac- tors, seen by many as enriching themselves and fueling corruption at the expense of ordinary Afghans. Tense residents await Ivory Coast battle ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — Residents barricad- ed themselves inside their homes Sunday, blanketing windows and pushing furni- ture against doors as this country on Africa’s western coast tensely awaited the final battle between the two men who claim the presi- dency. Fighters backing the internationally recognized president, Alassane Ouat- tara, amassed at a tollbooth on the city’s northern edge, preparing for the final assault. Their leader was declared the winner of last November’s election, but Ouattara has not been able to assume office because outgoing president Laurent Gbagbo is refusing to yield power. Water has been cut off to much of Abidjan, and on the empty streets, a handful of women with basins could be seen hurriedly crossing the waterfront highway to reach the lagoon. Men ven- tured out with plastic bags to scoop up water, holding the bags high in the air to signal to soldiers in firing positions that they were not armed. Only about 20 miles sep- arates the thousands of pro- Ouattara foot soldiers readying for battle from the lagoonside district where the presidential palace and mansion are located. Woman who accused Duke players of rape stabbed boyfriend DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Authorities say the woman who falsely claimed she was raped by Duke lacrosse players has been accused of stabbing her boyfriend in the chest at a North Carolina home. Durham police say 32- year-old Crystal Mangum was arrested Sunday morn- ing several hours after the stabbing that seriously injured her 46-year-old boyfriend. Investigators said the two were arguing but didn’t release any other details. Mangum is charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill. She is being held without bond, and jail officials did not know If she had an attorney. Mangum was convicted in December of several mis- demeanor charges, includ- ing child abuse, in a fire that nearly destroyed her home. 1 man killed, 1 injured in falling out of bus toilet In addition to 16,000 copies in print: Digital, interactive online Edition, resident on www.redbluffdailynews.com. 80,000 visits per month. Visitors click through from ads directly to advertisers’ websites. window SHIRLEY, Mass. (AP) — One man was killed and another injured when the two fell out of a bath- room window of a tour bus in Massachusetts that was coming from a brew- ery in New Hampshire, Massachusetts State Police said Sunday. Police said Thomas Johnson, 31, of Gardner was killed when he fell Saturday night onto Route 2 in Shirley. Seth Davis, 34, of Winchendon was in fair condition at a Worcester hospital, a nursing supervisor said Sunday. Investigators were try- ing to determine what Johnson and Davis were doing that may have led them to falling out the window, state police Sgt. Matthew Murray said. Police believe alcohol was a factor. ‘‘One of the avenues is whether it was some form of horseplay or a more aggressive interaction,’’ he said. WE STAND BEHIND YOUR RETURN. 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