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ByFosterKlugandKim Tong-Hyung The Associated Press SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA U.S. Ambassador Mark Lippert was slashed on the face and wrist by a man wield- ing a weapon with a 10-inch blade and screaming that the rival Koreas should be unified, South Korean po- lice said Thursday. Media images showed a stunned-looking Lippert staring at his blood-cov- ered left hand and hold- ing his right hand over a cut on the right side of his face, his pink tie splattered with blood. The U.S. State Depart- ment condemned the at- tack, which happened at a performing arts center in downtown Seoul as the am- bassador was preparing for a lecture, and said Lippert was being treated at a lo- cal hospital and his injuries weren't life threatening. YTN TV reported that the suspect — identified by police as a 55-year-old, sur- named Kim — screamed during the attack, "South and North Korea should be reunified." A police official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the in- vestigation was still hap- pening, said the suspect in 2010 threw a piece of con- crete at the Japanese am- bassador in Seoul. The suspect shouted anti- war slogans after he was de- tained Thursday. Yonhap TV showed men in suits and ties subdu- ing the attacker, who was dressed in a modern ver- sion of the traditional Ko- rean hanbok, and Lippert later being rushed to a po- lice car with a handkerchief pressed to his cheek. The attacker's com- ments on Korean reunifi- cation seem linked to lin- gering, deep divisions in South Korea that stem from the Korean War. The rival Koreas have been di- vided for decades along the world's most heavily armed border. The U.S., which backed South Korea during the 1950-53 Korean War, still stations 28,500 troops in South Korea as a deterrent against North Korea, and some South Koreans see the U.S. pres- ence as a barrier toward a reunified Korea, a view North Korea's propaganda machine regularly pushes in state media. Anti-U.S. protesters have recently been dem- onstrating to voice oppo- sition to annual U.S.-South Korean military exercises that North Korea says are preparation for an invasion. Seoul and Washington say the drills, which will run until the end of April, are defensive and routine. North Korea each year reacts with fury to the drills, which the impover- ished country is forced to respond to with drills of its own. In 2013 it threatened nuclear strikes on Washing- ton and Seoul, and on the first day of this year's drills, Monday, it test-fired short range missiles in a demon- stration of anger. Lippert, 42, became am- bassador last year and has been a regular presence on social media and in speeches and presentations during his time in Seoul. His wife gave birth here and the couple gave their son a Korean middle name. Lip- pert was formerly the U.S. Assistant Secretary of De- fense for Asian affairs and a foreign policy aide to Pres- ident Barack Obama when Obama was a U.S. senator. Obama called Lippert af- ter the attack to express his thoughts and prayers for a speedy recovery, the White House said. "We strongly condemn this act of violence," State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said. She had no other details. SUSPECT DETAINED USambassadortoSouthKorea slashed on face and wrist in attack KIMJU-SUN—YONHAP Injured U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert, center, gets into a car to leave for a hospital in Seoul, South Korea, on Thursday. By Mari Yamaguchi The Associated Press TOKYO Microsoft co- founder and philanthropist Paul Allen and his research team have found the wreck- age of a massive Japanese World War II battleship off the Philippines near where it sank more than 70 years ago, he said Wednesday. The apparent discovery of the Musashi, one of the largest battleships in his- tory, comes as the world marks the 70th anniversary of the war's end. Allen and the team aboard his superyacht M/Y Octopus found the ship on Sunday, more than eight years after their search be- gan, Allen said in a state- ment issued by his public- ity agency, Edelman. Detailed images cap- tured by a high-defini- tion camera mounted on an underwater probe con- firmed the wreckage as that of the Musashi, it said. Al- len said on his website that the video and still images showed a valve wheel with Japanese letters saying "main valve handle" which used to be in a lower engi- neering area, a catapult sys- tem used to launch planes, a large gun turret, and one of the ship's two 15-ton an- chors. He said the team also found the ship's bow. Japanese experts said they were eager to study the images to try to confirm the ship's identity. Kazushige Todaka, head of a private museum spe- cializing in the battleship Yamato, Musashi's sister vessel, said the details in the images matched those of the Musashi, which was the only battleship that sank in the area. "Judging from the lo- cation, it must be the Musashi," Todaka told NHK public television. The Musashi, commis- sioned in 1942, sank in Oc- tober 1944 in the Sibuyan Sea during the Battle of Leyte Gulf, losing about half of its 2,400 crew mem- bers. The ship was repeat- edly hit by torpedoes and bombs dropped by planes from Allied aircraft carri- ers. The naval battle, consid- ered the largest of World War II, crippled the impe- rial fleet, cut off Japanese oil supplies and allowed the U.S. invasion of the Japa- nese-held Philippines. Allen's team found the battleship at a depth of 1 ki- lometer (3,280 feet) in the Sibuyan Sea using the au- tonomous underwater ve- hicle on its third dive after narrowing the search area with detailed undersea top- ographical data and other locator devices, the state- ment said. "The Musashi is truly an engineering marvel and as an engineer at heart, I have a deep appreciation for the technology and effort that went into its construction," Allen said. He said he is fascinated with World War II his- tory after being inspired by his father's service in the U.S. Army, and that he was "honored" to play a part in finding a key ves- sel in naval history, and in honoring the memory of those who served aboard the ship. Allen said he respects the wreckage as a war grave and plans to work with Ja- pan's government to make sure the site is treated prop- erly in line with Japanese traditions. Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshi- hide Suga told reporters that he had no immediate comment. Suikokai, an organiza- tion that supports Japa- nese navy veterans and con- ducts research in maritime defense, said that if the dis- covery is confirmed, a me- morial service could be held at the site. Todaka at the Yamato Museum said the findings, especially during the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, were a "great achievement" that could in- spire many Japanese to re- visit the history of the war, whose memory has faded over the past decades. BATTLE OF LEYTE GULF Microso co-founder says he located WWII warship PAUL ALLEN — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS This image shows what Paul Allen's team believes is the starboard anchor of a Japanese World War II battleship off the coast of the Philippines. By George Jahn and Matthew Lee The Associated Press MONTREUX, SWITZERLAND U.S. officials sought Wednesday to tamp down expectations of a sub- stantial preliminary nu- clear deal with Iran by the March deadline while working to move past the political dust kicked up by Israeli Prime Minis- ter Benjamin Netanyahu's criticism of an emerging agreement's contours. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Wash- ington was well aware of the potential nuclear dan- ger Iran poses to countries in the region and will en- dorse only an agreement that seriously and verifi- ably crimps Tehran's abil- ity to make atomic arms. "We continue to be fo- cused on reaching a good deal, the right deal, that closes off any paths that Iran could have towards fis- sile material for a weapon and that protects the world from the enormous threat that we all know a nuclear- armed Iran would pose," Kerry told reporters at the end of meetings with Ira- nian Foreign Minister Mo- hammad Javad Zarif. The sides hope to have a progress report by late March allowing them to finesse details into a fi- nal pact by June. But a se- nior U.S. official appeared to walk back from the sig- nificance of that first stage, describing it as only "an understanding that's go- ing to have to be filled out with lots of detail" by the June final target date. The official's comments could be an attempt to stretch the interpretation of what should be achieved by March, allowing further negotiations even if noth- ing more is achieved than a vague declaration. They contrast sharply with what the West laid down earlier. Justifying an extension of the talks on Nov. 24, For- eign Secretary Philip Ham- mond of Britain — one of the five powers backing the U.S. at the talks — said he expected "an agreement on substance" by March. West- ern and Iranian negotiators said then they would use the time between March and June only "if neces- sary ... to finalize any pos- sible remaining technical and drafting work." The U.S. official, who demanded anonymity in line with State Depart- ment rules, said President Barack Obama will make a call on whether to con- tinue into June once he sees the March assessment from U.S. negotiators. Playing down the pros- pects of any lasting dam- age to U.S.-Israeli ties caused by Netanyahu's speech to the joint houses of Congress Tuesday, the U.S. official said senior Israeli officials would be briefed by secure phone by top U.S. negotiators on the latest round. MARCH DEADLINE Kerry pushes back on Israeli criticism of Iran nuke talks By Nataliya Vasilyeva The Associated Press DONETSK, UKRAINE A rebel-held city scarred by months of conflict in east- ern Ukraine suffered more tragedy Wednesday when a methane gas explosion in a coal mine killed at least 24 workers and left nine missing. As rescue efforts stretched past sundown, separatist authorities were accused by Ukraine's gov- ernment of failing to do enough to save the lives of the miners. The blast occurred be- fore dawn more than 1,000 meters (3,200 feet) underground at the Zasy- adko mine in the city of Donetsk in the coal-rich Donbass region. Nearly a year of bitter fighting by pro-Moscow rebels and Ukrainian troops in the east has killed more than 6,000 people. Rebel officials said the accident was caused by the ever-present danger of methane gas, rather than artillery fire. There were contradic- tory accounts of the toll of dead and missing by the rival authorities. The rebel government that controls Donetsk was slow to di- vulge information, while a senior official in the capital of Kiev was swift to give a death toll of 32, only to retract it several hours later. The blast occurred as 230 workers were in the mine, and nearly 200 of them were quickly evacu- ated, but uncertainty lin- gered throughout the day about dozens of others. Rebel officials insisted into the afternoon that only one person had died. But a slightly wounded miner who gave his name only as Sergei told The As- sociated Press that he saw five bodies being pulled out. By nightfall, Yuliana Be- dilko, a representative for the rebel-managed rescue services at the site of acci- dent, said another 23 bod- ies had been located below ground, bringing the over- all number of confirmed dead to 24. Under cover of dark- ness, a truck pulled up in the heavy rain to the mine's opening in prepa- ration to take the bodies away. A woman emerging from the mine was heard wailing in grief from a dis- tance. METHANE GAS Coal mine blast kills at least 24 in east Ukraine N EWS D AILY RED BLUFF TEHAMA COUNTY Bestof Tehama Count y 2015 Winners Saturday, March 28, 2015 www.redbluffdailynenews.com Willbeannouncedinaspecialsectionon Digital Edition will stay online through March, 2016 AnIndependentlyownedandoperatedMemberof Coldwell Banker Residential Affiliates. 741 Main Street, Suite #2 Red Bluff, CA 96080 1-800-287-2187 (530) 527-2187 FOR24/7PROPERTYINFOCALL1-888-902-7253 TEHAMA COUNTY REAL ESTATE TEAM • OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK www.redbluffcoldwellbanker.com See All Tehama County Listings at OurknowledgeableandprofessionalstaffofRealtors are here to assist you with all your Real Estate needs. *18Monthsto3YearsforShortSales/4–7YearsforForeclosures. Ifyouwereinvolved in a Foreclosure or Short Sale between 2007 – 2012 YOU MAY QUALIFY FOR HOME OWNERSHIP AGAIN. 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