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Tuesday, May 8, 2012 – Daily News WORLD BRIEFING bomb plot WASHINGTON (AP) — The CIA thwarted an ambitious plot by al- Qaida's affiliate in Yemen to destroy a U.S.-bound airliner using a bomb with a sophisticated new design around the one- year anniversary of the killing of Osama bin Laden, The Associated Press has learned. The plot involved an upgrade of the underwear bomb that failed to deto- nate aboard a jetliner over Detroit on Christmas 2009. This new bomb was also designed to be used in a passenger's under- wear, but this time al- Qaida developed a more refined detonation sys- tem, U.S. officials said. The FBI is examining the latest bomb to see whether it could have passed through airport security and brought down an airplane, offi- cials said. They said the device did not contain metal, meaning it proba- bly could have passed through an airport metal detector. But it was not clear whether new body scanners used in many airports would have detected it. CIA foils a new al-Qaida underwear There were no immedi- ate plans to change secu- rity procedures at U.S. airports. The would-be suicide bomber, based in Yemen, had not yet picked a target or bought a plane ticket when the CIA stepped in and seized the bomb, offi- cials said. It's not imme- diately clear what hap- pened to the alleged bomber. fresh scrutiny WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama's election-year vagueness on gay mar- riage is coming under fresh scrutiny. Obama's vague gay marriage stance faces riage as well. Obama aides worked to manage any political fallout. They said the back-to-back remarks by two top administration officials represented per- sonal viewpoints and were not part of a coordi- nated effort to lay ground- work for a shift in the president's position. Obama aides also tried to use the latest flare-up in the gay-marriage debate to shine a light on GOP rival Mitt Romney's his- tory of equivocating on some gay-rights issues, an attempt to turn a potential political problem into an opportunity. over the coming decade. The panel approved them on a party-line 21-9 vote; the full House is scheduled to vote on the measure on Thursday. dence of foul play in the death of a soldier in Afghanistan who died during a Skype video chat with his wife. The proposed reduc- tions in the bill are but a fraction of those called for in the broader, nonbinding budget plan that passed the House in March. They are aimed less at taming tril- lion dollar-plus deficits than preventing the Penta- gon from absorbing a 10 percent, $55 billion auto- matic budget cut in Janu- ary because last year's deficit ''supercommittee'' couldn't reach a deal. Obama, who supports most gay rights, has stopped short of backing gay marriage. Without clarification, he's said for the past year and a half that his personal views on the matter are ''evolv- ing.'' firm on Monday to that position, which polls show puts the president increasingly at odds with his party and the majority of Americans on gay mar- riage. But with Biden and Duncan's comments rein- vigorating the debate, Obama is likely to face renewed pressure to clari- fy his views ahead of the November election. The White House held House GOP plan cuts social fatter WASHINGTON (AP) — The obesity epidemic may be slowing, but don't take in those pants yet. Today, just over a third of U.S. adults are obese. By 2030, 42 percent will be, says a forecast released Monday. That's not nearly as Americans still getting Capt. Bruce Kevin Clark collapsed while speaking to his wife on May 1 from his base in Tarin Kot, Afghanistan, southwest of Kabul. His wife, Susan Orellana- Clark, has suggested that Clark was shot, citing a hole visible in the closet behind him that she believed was a bullet hole. Investigators said an initial probe showed no trauma to the body except that Clark broke his nose when he fell forward. Orellana-Clark said he didn't seem alarmed before he collapsed. Christopher Grey, a Education Secretary Arne Duncan broke ranks with the White House on Monday, stating his unequivocal support for same-sex marriage one day after Vice President Joe Biden suggested that he supported gay mar- — Moving to protect the military from a crippling wave of budget cuts next year, a key House commit- tee voted Monday to cut instead food aid, health care and social services like Meals on Wheels. The measure would require federal employees to contribute more to their pensions, saving taxpayers more than $80 billion over the coming decade, while illegal immigrants would be denied tax refunds from the $1,000 per-child tax credit. There's no compan- ion legislation moving in the Democratic-controlled Senate, and the proposal doesn't stand a chance of making it to President Barack Obama's desk for signature. But the vote was a sym- bolic swipe at Obama in an election year focused on the economy. The cuts approved by the Republican-controlled Budget Committee total more than $300 billion programs WASHINGTON (AP) many as experts had pre- dicted before the once- rapid rises in obesity rates began leveling off. But the new forecast suggests even small continuing increases will add up. ''We still have a very serious problem,'' said obesity specialist Dr. William Dietz of the Cen- ters for Disease Control and Prevention. Worse, the already obese are getting fatter. Severe obesity will dou- ble by 2030, when 11 per- cent of adults will be nearly 100 pounds over- weight, or more, conclud- ed the research led by Duke University. Skype chat WASHINGTON (AP) — Army investigators said Monday they found no bullet wound or evi- No bullet wound in soldier who died during spokesman for the Army Criminal Investigation Command, said Monday that the investigation is still under way. ''But the important thing is that there was no bullet wound, no trauma,'' except that Clark's nose was possibly broken when he fell on his desk, Grey said in a telephone interview. Christianity CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan Pres- ident Hugo Chavez has spent much of his career praising the socialist ideas of famed atheists such as Karl Marx and Fidel Cas- tro. Now in the thick of a prolonged battle against cancer, however, the left- ist leader is drawing inspi- ration from a spiritual leader: Jesus Christ. Chavez has been pray- Venezuelan leader turns to farewell to aides and sup- porters in Caracas on April 30 before leaving for what he said would be his final round of cancer treatment in Cuba. ''I'm sure our Christ will do it again, continu- ing making the miracle,'' Chavez said as he raised his cross to his lips and kissed it, prompting applause from an audi- ence of aides. If Chavez survives can- cer, political analysts say his increasing religiosity could pay election-year dividends in a country where Catholicism remains influential. Voters across Europe austerity PARIS (AP) — The day after Francois Hol- lande rode to power in France on a slogan of ''change now'' the con- versation in Europe is already different: Austeri- ty has become a dirty word. punish the promoters of In Greece, political parties who reject the extreme belt-tightening required by international bailouts were the big win- ners in parliamentary elections. German voters in a northern state ousted the coalition led by Chan- cellor Angela Merkel's conservative party, which has pressed the case for austerity. ing for divine intervention during increasingly infre- quent appearances on television, holding up a crucifix while vowing to overcome his illness. He says living with cancer has made him ''more Christian,'' talk that has spurred speculation that cancer might cut short his bid for re-election in October. Chavez's voice cracked with emotion as he bade And France, of course, elected Hollande, its first Socialist president in more than a decade and one who has promised more government spend- ing to stimulate the econ- omy. ''Austerity can no longer be inevitable!'' he shouted in his first speech after Nicolas Sarkozy conceded Sunday night. The question remains whether Germany — which is Europe's eco- nomic powerhouse dri- ving the austerity agenda — will allow at least some countries in the eurozone to spend more 3B freely in the face of a recession that is spreading across the continent. Rising uncertainty over how Europe's handling of the debt crisis may change in the weeks and months ahead has made investors nervous. Stock markets were volatile on Monday, falling sharply in the morning and recov- ering in some countries by the close. Troopers in manhunt for missing suspect GUNTOWN, Miss. (AP) — State troopers stopped vehicles at road- blocks Monday and offi- cers searched the yard of a home in northern Mis- sissippi, seeking to unravel the mysterious disappearance of a Ten- nessee mother and her three daughters and find the family friend accused of abducting them. mom, girls, Mississippi state troopers who were stop- ping vehicles and searching their trunks along State Route 30 near Guntown said they were conducting a man- hunt for 35-year-old Adam Mayes. He's being sought in the April 27 disappearance of Jo Ann Bain and her daugh- ters: 14-year-old Adri- enne, 12-year-old Alexandria and 8-year- old Kyliyah. Officers also searched the yard of a home near Guntown that's been linked to Mayes. Authorities are inves- tigating whether the dis- appearance of the moth- er and daughters is relat- ed to two bodies found late last week outside Guntown at the house police have connected to Mayes. The effort to identify the bodies con- tinued Monday. Mayes was last seen a week ago in Guntown, about 80 miles south of the Bain family's home in Whitesville, Tenn. DONATE YOUR VACATION newspaper dollars to the Newspaper In Education Program Support our classrooms, keep kids reading. HELP OUR CHILDREN DAILYNEWS For more details call Circulation Department (530) 527-2151 RED BLUFF TEHAMACOUNTY T H E V O I C E O F T E H A M A C O U N T Y S I N C E 1 8 8 5 PHONE: (530) 527-2151 FAX: (530) 527-5774 545 Diamond Avenue • P.O. Box 220 • Red Bluff, CA 96080