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Thursday, August 25, 2011 – Daily News 3B WORLD BRIEFING Budget deficit slips to $1.28T; red ink continues WASHINGTON (AP) — After months of unre- lieved gloom and discord, Congress and President Barack Obama are start- ing to make a dent in the federal budget deficit. It's projected to shrink slight- ly to $1.28 trillion this year, and bigger savings from this month's debt ceiling deal are forecast over the next decade. No one's celebrating. There will be plenty of red ink for years to come. The nonpartisan Con- gressional Budget Office projected Wednesday that annual budget deficits will be reduced by a total of $3.3 trillion over the next decade, largely because of the deficit reduction package passed by Congress earlier this month. The office also forecast persistently high unemployment, a trou- bling political prospect for President Barack Obama in the crucial months of his campaign to win a second term. Even with the antici- pated big savings, annual budget deficits are expect- ed to total nearly $3.5 tril- lion over the next decade — and much more if Bush-era tax cuts sched- uled to expire at the end of next year are extended. In all, nearly $8.5 trillion would be added to the national debt over the next 10 years if the tax cuts and certain spending programs are kept in place, the budget office report said. The national debt now stands at more than $14.6 trillion. Libya's deadliest weapons not yet corralled WASHINGTON (AP) — No one can be sure who controls the Libyan government's weapons stockpiles, a stew of dead- ly chemicals, raw nuclear material and some 30,000 shoulder-fired rockets that officials fear could fall into terrorists' hands in the chaos of Moammar Gadhafi's downfall or afterward. One immediate worry, U.S. intelligence and mil- itary officials say, is that Gadhafi might use the weapons to make a last stand. But officials also face the troubling prospect that the material, which was left under Gad- hafi's control by a U.S.- backed disarmament pact, could be obtained by al- Qaida or other militants even after a rebel victory is secured. The main stockpile of mustard gas and other chemicals, stored in cor- roding drums, is at a site southeast of Tripoli. Mus- tard gas can cause severe blistering and death. A cache of hundreds of tons of raw uranium yellow- cake is stored at a small nuclear facility east of the capital. Weapons demolition teams hired by the State Department have located and destroyed some of the anti-aircraft rocket sys- tems in rebel-held parts of the country. Is East Coast prepared for powerful quake? WASHINGTON (AP) — There was a crack in the Washington Monu- ment, and capstones were broken at the National Cathedral. In the District of Columbia suburbs, some people stayed in shelters because of struc- Jasper Border Collie [Mix] Male Corning Animal Shelter This pet sponsored by CABERNET APARTMENTS & DUPLEXES 15 Cabernet Ct. Red Bluff 529-0879 ington Monument, crews found a 4-inch crack late Tuesday in the side of the monument's pyramidium — the section at the top of the obelisk where it begins narrowing to a point. The damage was discovered during a visual inspection by helicopter. It cannot be seen from the ground. Gaza militants fire rockets, Israel retaliates JERUSALEM (AP) — Palestinian militants fired rocket barrages that wounded an Israeli baby Wednesday, and Israel retaliated with airstrikes that killed four Gaza fighters, Gaza officials said. The new round of vio- tural concerns at their apartment buildings. A day after the East Coast's strongest earth- quake in 67 years, inspec- tors assessed the damage and found that most prob- lems were minor. But the shaking raised questions about whether this part of the country, with its older architecture and inexperi- ence with seismic activity, is prepared for a truly powerful quake. The 5.8 magnitude quake felt from Georgia north to Canada prompted swift inspections of many structures Wednesday, including bridges and nuclear plants. An accu- rate damage estimate could take weeks, if not longer. And many people will not be covered by insurance. In a small Virginia city near the epicenter, the entire downtown business district was closed. School was canceled for two weeks to give engi- neers time to check out cracks in several build- ings. At the 555-foot Wash- lence began last Thursday when gunmen, apparently from Gaza, crossed the border from Egypt and ambushed cars and buses in southern Israel, killing eight people. That was followed by massive Palestinian rocket attacks and retaliatory Israeli airstrikes. Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Adham Abu Salmia said a member of the Islamic Jihad group was killed Wednesday evening in Israeli airstrikes. The Israeli mil- itary said ''aircraft target- ed a terrorist squad that fired rockets into Israel.'' Israeli aircraft killed another Islamic Jihad fighter before dawn on Wednesday, Hamas secu- rity officials said. The Israeli military said the dead man had smuggled weapons into Gaza and was involved in militant activity in Egypt's Sinai peninsula, near Israel's southern border. Two more were killed and 20 wounded in airstrikes early Thursday, Palestinians said. One tar- geted an Islamic Jihad club. The Israeli military said its aircraft hit a weapons storage facility and smuggling tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border, retaliation for Wednesday's rocket fire. Palestinians fired more than a dozen rockets into Israel Wednesday, send- ing residents in Ashkelon and elsewhere in the south running for cover. A baby was injured by shrapnel from one of the Palestin- ian rockets, Israel's rescue service said. Libyan rebels hunt Gadhafi TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Libyans hunting Moammar Gadhafi offered a $2 million boun- ty on the fallen dictator's head and amnesty for any- one who kills or captures him as rebels battled Wednesday to clear the last pockets of resistance from the capital Tripoli. While some die-hard loyalists kept up the fight to defend Gadhafi, his support was crumbling by the hour. His deputy intel- ligence chief defected, and even his foreign min- ister said his 42-year rule was over. A defiant Gadhafi vowed from hiding to fight on ''until victory or martyrdom,'' in an audio message early Wednes- day. He may have little choice. Asked by the British broadcaster Chan- nel 4 if a negotiated settle- ment or safe passage for Gadhafi from Libya was still possible, Foreign Minister Abdul Ati al- Obeidi said: ''It looks like things have passed this kind of solution.'' Rebel leaders were beginning to set up a new government in the capital. Their interim administra- tion, the National Transi- tional Council, has been based in the eastern city of Benghazi, which fell under rebel control short- ly after the outbreak of widespread protests in February. ''Members of the council are now moving one by one from Beng- hazi to Tripoli,'' said Mansour Seyf al-Nasr, the Libyan opposition's new ambassador to France. Officials ponder Irene evacuations HATTERAS, N.C. (AP) — Hurricane Irene could hit anywhere from North Carolina to New York this weekend, leaving officials in the path of uncertainty to make a delicate decision. Should they tell tourists to leave during one of the last weeks of the multibillion- dollar summer season? Most were in a wait- and-see mode, holding out to get every dime before the storm's path crystalizes. North Carolina's governor told reporters not to scare people away. ''You will never endan- ger your tourists, but you also don't want to over inflate the sense of urgency about the storm. And so let's just hang on,'' North Carolina Gov. Beverly Per- due said Wednesday. At the same time she warned to ''prepare for the worst.'' In the Bahamas, tourists cut their vacations short and caught the last flights out before the airport was closed. Those who remained behind with locals prepared for a rough night of violent winds and a dangerous storm surge that threatened to punish the low-lying chain of islands. Irene has already hit Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, caus- ing landslides and flooding homes. One woman was killed. On the Outer Banks of North Carolina, some tourists heeded evacuation orders for a tiny barrier island as Irene strength- ened to a Category 3 storm, with winds of 120 mph (193 kph). Apple says Steve Jobs resigning SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Steve Jobs, the mind behind the iPhone, iPad and other devices that turned Apple Inc. into one of the world's most powerful companies, resigned as the company's CEO on Wednesday, say- ing he can no longer han- dle the job. The move appears to be the result of an unspec- ified medical condition for which he took an indefinite leave from his post in January. Apple's chief operating officer, Tim Cook, has been named CEO. In a letter addressed to Apple's board and the ''Apple community,'' Jobs said he ''always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple's CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortu- nately, that day has come.'' Jobs' health has long been a concern for Apple investors who see him as an industry oracle who seems to know what con- sumers want long before they do. After his announcement, Apple stock quickly fell 5.4 per- cent in after-hours trad- ing. 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