U.S. & WORLD NEWS DIGEST | ‘War on obesity’ draws criticism

‘War on obesity’ draws criticism

The images are striking: Overweight boys and girls staring somberly from billboards and online videos, real-life embodiments of the blunt messages alongside.

“Chubby kids may not outlive their parents.” Or: “Big bones didn’t make me this way. Big meals did.”

The ads — part of a new “Stop Child Obesity” campaign in Georgia — won some enthusiastic praise for their attention-grabbing tactics. But they also have outraged parents, activists and academics who feel the result is more stigma for an already beleaguered and bullied group of children.

Taliban use child as a suicide bomber

KABUL, Afghanistan

On the first day of its promised spring offensive, the Taliban used a 12-year-old boy as a suicide bomber in an attack Sunday that killed four civilians, President Hamid Karzai said, calling the child’s recruitment inhumane and un-Islamic.

It was one of several attacks across the country that killed seven people, government officials said.

The insurgent movement announced Saturday that it would step up operations against military bases, convoys and Afghan officials.

Bid to end Yemen crisis nears collapse

SANAA, Yemen

A deal to end Yemen’s political crisis neared collapse on Sunday after the country’s embattled president refused to personally sign it, leaving a deadlock that threatens to plunge the impoverished Arab nation and key U.S. ally deeper into disorder and bloodshed.

An unraveling of the deal for Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down after nearly three months of protests against his rule would greatly increase the prospects of more bloodshed in a nation long beset by serious conflict and deep poverty and which is home to al-Qaida’s most active offshoot.

At least 140 people have been killed in the government’s crackdown on the protesters, who have nonetheless grown in number week after week.

Report: No free press in Egypt or Mexico

WASHINGTON

Mexico can no longer be considered to have a free press because of the threats and violence associated with drug trafficking, but an eight-year decline in press freedom around the world appears to have begun leveling off in 2010, an independent advocacy group reported.

In its annual accounting of press freedoms, Freedom House said the Middle East and North Africa showed a dramatic deterioration in 2010. The assessment will be released today.

Among the results: Egypt was downgraded to “not free,” while Libya, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Tunisia continued to rank among the worst countries in the world for media independence and press freedom. Only Saudi Arabia, among those five countries, was not swept early this year by uprisings and appeals for freedom.

Kid Rock accepts award from NAACP

DETROIT

Grammy-nominated artist Kid Rock told nearly 10,000 people at the Detroit NAACP branch’s annual fundraising dinner that his use of the Confederate flag during on-stage performances has nothing to do with how he feels about blacks.

“I love America. I love Detroit, and I love black people,” the musician said Sunday night during the annual Fight for Freedom Fund dinner at Cobo Center.

Kid Rock, whose real name is Robert Ritchie, used the event to diffuse criticism aimed at the Detroit NAACP branch, which honored him with its Great Expectations Award.

Associated Press