Sunday, March 25, 2012
Obama: Block nuke terrorism globally
seoul, south korea
President Barack Obama is opening his pitch for faster work to lock down nuclear material that could be used by terrorists with an up-close look at the nuclear front lines along the heavily militarized border with volatile North Korea.
Obama arrived in Seoul this morning for three days of diplomacy. In the midst of an election year focused on economic concerns at home, Obama has designed a rare Asia visit that features time in just one country. He’ll use much of the time to keep pressure on North Korea to back off a planned rocket launch and return to disarmament talks.
Aide: Cheney had a heart transplant
washington
Former Vice President Dick Cheney, a 71-year-old with a long history of cardio-vascular problems, had a heart transplant Saturday and is recovering at a Virginia hospital. Not even Cheney knows the donor’s identity.
An aide to Cheney disclosed the surgery after it was over, saying that the ex-vice president, who suffered five heart attacks over the years, had been waiting for a transplant for more than 20 months.
8 killed in house fire
charleston, w.va.
Alisha Carter-Camp had a new job, a wedding to plan and a 26th birthday to celebrate with a family cookout and toasts to the birthday girl in a yard full of children. By the end of the night, she was among eight dead, including six children, in one of the city’s deadliest house fires in decades.
The blaze tore through the two-story home while the family slept early Saturday, hours after the last guest left Carter-Camp’s party, authorities said. The dead children ranged from 18 months to 8. A seventh child, a 7-year-old boy, was hospitalized on life support.
The cause was under investigation, although arson wasn’t suspected, Charleston Mayor Danny Jones said.
Did Afghan killings occur in 2 attacks?
washington
U.S. investigators believe the U.S. soldier accused of killing 17 Afghan civilians split the slaughter into two episodes, returning to his base after the first attack and later slipping away to kill again, two American officials said Saturday.
This scenario seems to support the U.S. government’s assertion — contested by some Afghans — that the killings were done by one person, since they would have been perpetrated over a longer period of time than assumed when Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales was detained March 11 outside his base in southern Afghanistan.
But it also raises new questions about how Bales, who was formally charged Friday with 17 counts of premeditated murder and other crimes, could have carried out the nighttime attacks without drawing attention from any Americans on the Kandahar province base.
Pope reaches out to Mexico’s children
guanajuato, mexico
Pope Benedict XVI worked to build the future of Mexico’s church by reaching out to children Saturday as tens of thousands of teenagers streamed into a vast, shade-starved park to camp out overnight ahead of a gigantic papal Mass.
Benedict has taken up Pope John Paul II’s drive to reach out to young Roman Catholics, following in his footsteps by rallying millions of young faithful to join him for World Youth Days, the Catholic youth festivals held once every three years.
His only public remarks Saturday were planned for a meeting with about 4,000 children in Peace Plaza in the city of Guanajuato.
Associated Press