Obama to consult Pakistan before pursuing terrorists

Obama to consult Pakistan before pursuing terrorists

WASHINGTON — As he carries out a retooled strategy in Afghanistan, President Barack Obama says he will consult with Pakistan’s leaders before pursuing terrorist hideouts in that country.

Obama said U.S. ally Pakistan needs to be more accountable, but ruled out deploying U.S. troops there. “Our plan does not change the recognition of Pakistan as a sovereign government,” the president told CBS’ “Face the Nation” in an interview broadcast Sunday.

The president made clear that his new strategy for the long war is “not going to be an open-ended commitment of infinite resources” from the United States.

Detroit newspapers cut delivery to 3 days a week

DETROIT — Missing from the doorsteps and driveways of many Michigan homes this morning: newspapers.

In a bold but risky move aimed at ensuring their survival in the digital age, The Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press are reducing home delivery to the three days a week most popular with advertisers — Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays. Slimmed-down newspapers, sold at regular prices, will be available in news racks and convenience stores the other four days.

More than 80 newspapers in the country, in smaller markets, have dropped at least one publication day since last year. The Christian Science Monitor printed its final daily edition last week. Other newspapers are on the verge of similar reductions in frequency. A few have gone online-only.

‘Les Folies Bergere’ closes after 49 years

LAS VEGAS — The topless revue “Les Folies Bergere” has hung up its feathers after 49 years at the Tropicana hotel-casino.

Many performers who had taken part in the show’s 29,000 runs since Christmas 1959 crowded the set after its final curtain Saturday.

The closing leaves Bally’s “Jubilee!” as the last full-scale showgirl revue left on the Las Vegas Strip.

“Folies” came from Paris in 1959 and opened under then-Tropicana entertainment director Lou Walters, the father of newswoman Barbara Walters.

Islamists win municipal elections but not capital

ISTANBUL, Turkey — Turkey’s Islamist-leaning ruling party easily won municipal elections across most of the country Sunday but appeared close to losing in Istanbul, the capital and most cosmopolitan city.

The vote, a week before a planned visit by President Barack Obama, highlighted the ongoing struggle between secular-minded Turks and their more devout compatriots.

Turkey is overwhelmingly Muslim but since its founding has observed a strict separation of mosque and state. A NATO ally, it is regarded as a bridge between the West and the rest of the Muslim world.

National elections are not due to take place again for another three years, and midterm votes are an important barometer of public sentiment. Analysts said the results suggested that secularists, while lagging overall, were gaining ground.

Iraqis disarm Sunni group

BAGHDAD — U.S.-backed Iraqi forces swept through a central Baghdad slum Sunday, disarming Sunnis from a government-allied paramilitary group to quell a two-day uprising launched to protest the arrest of their leader.

At least four people were killed and 21 wounded in the two days of fighting between government troops and the Awakening Council in Fadhil, a ramshackle warren of narrow, fetid streets on the east side of the Tigris River where al-Qaida once held sway.

Members of the Fadhil council said Sunday they decided to give up the fight and hand over their weapons to spare the neighborhood, whose bullet-pocked buildings bore witness to intense combat there two years ago.

Londoners plan to protest

LONDON — It won’t be a love fest when Barack Obama sits down with other world leaders for talks on the world economic crisis at his European debut as president of the U.S. this week, and meanwhile, on the streets of London, throngs of protesters are planning to vent their outrage at bankers, government bailouts and fat bonuses paid to top financial executives.

The continuing economic crisis has raised the stakes for Obama, as for every other leader of the so-called G-20 nations, whom he’ll meet at a summit Wednesday night and Thursday, after a state visit to Britain.

Effects of the downturn are rippling around the world.

Combined dispatches