Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/29160
8A – Daily News – Wednesday, April 13, 2011 WORLD BRIEFING US holds firm to limited role in NATO mission WASHINGTON (AP) — Despite rebel setbacks and an increasingly public rift with NATO allies, the U.S. will stick to its plan to remain in the back seat of the Libya air campaign, the Obama administration insisted Tuesday after three weeks of air missions that have failed to turn the tide against Moammar Gad- hafi. France’s defense minister declared that without full Ameri- can participation, the West proba- bly would not be able to stop attacks by Gadhafi loyalists on besieged rebel cities. U.S. officials said they were comfortable with their role and had no plans to step up involve- ment, even as British and French officials said Washington’s mili- tary might was needed to ensure the mission’s success. The Ameri- cans said NATO could carry out the operation without a resump- tion of the heavy U.S. efforts that kicked it off last month. ‘‘The president and this admin- istration believes that NATO, and the coalition of which we remain a partner, is capable of fulfilling that mission of enforcing the no-fly zone, enforcing the arms embargo and providing civilian protection,’’ White House spokesman Jay Car- ney told reporters. ‘‘The U.S. has not abandoned this operation by any means,’’ State Department spokesman Mark Toner said. ‘‘We still are offering support where we can. I don’t think it’s correct to say that there’s somehow discord in the alliance.’’ Obama prevents cuts to favorites like Pell grants, Head Start WASHINGTON (AP) — The historic $38 billion in budget cuts resulting from at-times hostile bar- gaining between Congress and the Obama White House were accomplished in large part by pruning money left over from pre- vious years, using accounting sleight of hand and going after programs President Barack Obama had targeted anyway. Such moves permitted Obama to save favorite programs — Pell grants for college students, health research and ‘‘Race to the Top’’ aid for public schools, among oth- ers — from Republican knives, according to new details of the legislation released Tuesday morning. And big holes in foreign aid and Environmental Protection Agency accounts were patched in large part. Republicans also gave up politically treacherous cuts to the Agriculture Department’s food inspection program. The details of the agreement reached late Friday night just ahead of a deadline for a partial government shutdown reveal a lot of one-time savings and cuts that officially ‘‘score’’ as cuts to pay for spending elsewhere, but often have little to no actual impact on the deficit. As a result of that sleight of hand, Obama was able to reverse many of the cuts passed by House Republicans in February when the chamber approved a bill slashing this year’s budget by more than $60 billion. In doing so, the White House protected favorites like the Head Start early learning pro- gram, while maintaining the max- imum Pell grant of $5,550 and funding for Obama’s ‘‘Race to the Top’’ initiative that provides grants to better-performing schools. Food aid to the poor was preserved, as were housing subsi- dies. 5 Ivory Coast generals pledge to president ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — Five generals pledged their loy- alty to President Alassane Ouat- tara on Tuesday following the cap- ture of the country’s strongman leader after a four-month standoff, as French and Ivorian forces worked to eliminate the last pock- ets of resistance. Ouattara’s spokesman Patrick Achi confirmed that the generals who had been fighting on Laurent Gbagbo’s side right up until his capture swore allegiance before Ouattara one by one at the Golf Hotel, where he set up his presi- dency after Gbagbo refused to acknowledge losing the Novem- ber presidential election. Doh Ouattara, a member of the security team at the hotel, said Gbagbo, his wife and entourage were in a suite there. He said the lower-level officials traveling with Gbagbo had been sealed inside the bar of the luxury hotel. U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said that ‘‘contrary to earlier information, Laurent Gbagbo remains at the Golf Hotel in Abidjan.’’ He gave no further explanation. Earlier Tuesday, Haq had said that Gbagbo was not at the Golf Hotel anymore and was at an undisclosed location outside Abidjan. It was not clear what led to the confusion. More than 1 million civilians fled their homes and untold num- bers were killed in the more than four-month power struggle between the two rivals. The stand- off threatened to re-ignite a civil war in the world’s largest cocoa producer, once divided in two by violence nearly a decade ago. US citizen detained in North Korea STOCKHOLM (AP) — Swe- den’s Foreign Ministry says an American citizen was arrested in North Korea and that Swedish diplomats are representing the U.S. in the case. Ministry spokesman Teo Zetterman says ‘‘an American cit- izen has been detained in North Korea. That’s all we can say.’’ He told the AP on Tuesday that Sweden is dealing with North Korean authorities on behalf of the U.S. in the case. Zetterman wouldn’t give the name of the American citizen or discuss the circumstances or date of the American’s arrest, referring ques- tions to the U.S. State Department. their unease despite government efforts to play down any notion that the crisis poses immediate health risks. Miyuki Ichisawa closed her coffee shop this week when the government added her communi- ty, Iitate village, and four others to places people should leave to avoid long-term radiation expo- sure. The additions expanded the 12-mile (20-kilometer) zone where people had already been ordered to evacuate soon after the March 11 tsunami swamped the plant. FBI believed key evidence trumped up by Soviets BERLIN (AP) — An FBI Japan equates severity of its nuclear crisis to Chernobyl’s TOKYO (AP) — Japan ranked its nuclear crisis at the highest pos- sible severity on an international scale — the same level as the 1986 Chernobyl disaster — even as it insisted Tuesday that radiation leaks are declining at its tsunami- crippled nuclear plant. The higher rating is an open acknowledgement of what was widely understood already: The nuclear accident at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant is the second-worst in history. It does not signal a worsening of the plant’s status in recent days or any new health dan- gers. Still, people living nearby who have endured a month of spewing radiation and frequent earthquakes said the change in status added to report kept secret for 25 years said the Soviet Union ‘‘quite likely fab- ricated’’ evidence central to the prosecution of John Demjanjuk — a revelation that could help the defense as closing arguments resume Wednesday in the retired Ohio auto worker’s Nazi war crimes trial in Germany. The newly declassified FBI field office report, obtained by The Associated Press, casts doubt on the authenticity of a Nazi ID card that is the key piece of evi- dence in allegations that Demjan- juk served as a guard at the Sobi- bor death camp in occupied Poland. Throughout three decades of U.S. hearings, an extradition, a death sentence followed by acquittal in Israel, a deportation and now a trial in Munich, the arguments have relied heavily on the photo ID from an SS training camp that indicates Demjanjuk was sent to Sobibor. Claims that the card and other evidence against Demjanjuk are Soviet forgeries have repeatedly been made by Demjanjuk’s defense attorneys. However, the FBI report provides the first known confirmation that Ameri- can investigators had similar doubts. A local event – part of a national campaign to promote physical activity for American Indians and Alaska Natives 1921 ~ 2011 TICKET OFFICE NOW OPEN FOR BEST SELECTION CALL NOW!!! 15, 16, 17, 2011 APRIL A series of non-competitive walks and runs open to families, individuals of all ages and people of all cultures. Friday, April 15 11:30 AM Registration and Start Red Bluff Vision Center 715 Jackson, St., Red Bluff • Refreshments for all participants • 20% OFF a pair of Sunglasses The goal is simple: Visit us at: www.redbluffroundup.com Visit us on facebook (530) 527-1000 1-800-545-3500 FRIDAY FAMILY 4 PACK $25 Bring in this ad & receive 1 pair of Red Bluff Round-Up Gloves with ticket pruchase. 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