Saudis begin strikes against Houthi rebels

Saudis begin strikes against Houthi rebels

WASHINGTON

Saudi Arabia began airstrikes Wednesday against Houthi rebel positions in Yemen, vowing that the Sunni kingdom will do “anything necessary” to protect its neighbor from Iran-backed Shiite rebels.

The airstrikes campaign was announced at the Saudi embassy in Washington by Ambassador Adel al-Jubeir in a rare news conference. Offensive military action by Saudi Arabia also is a rarity, although Saudi Arabia is a partner in the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State group in Syria.

House passes budget to erase deficits

WASHINGTON

Normally quarrelsome House Republicans came together Wednesday night and passed a boldly conservative budget that relies on nearly $5 trillion in cuts to eliminate deficits over the next decade, calls for repealing the health care law and envisions transformations of the tax code and Medicare.

Final passage, 228-199, came shortly after Republicans bumped up recommended defense spending to levels proposed by President Barack Obama.

Much of the budget’s savings would come from Medicaid, food stamps and welfare, programs that aid the low-income, although details were sketchy.

Official: Boko Haram using human shields

ABUJA, Nigeria

Boko Haram is using an unknown number of civilians as human shields as its fighters flee an offensive by multinational forces, a top Nigerian official said Wednesday.

Mike Omeri, the director general of the National Orientation Agency would not say how many people are being used.

“Some say 500, some 400, some say 300,” but Omeri said he was awaiting reports from authorities on the ground around Damasak, a trading town near the border with Niger that was recaptured March 16. Omeri stressed this was not a new incident and that the authorities are investigating.

Knox defense says conviction is error

ROME

Amanda Knox’s defense lawyer urged Italy’s highest court Wednesday to overturn the American’s conviction in the 2007 murder of her British roommate, calling it a “grave judicial error.”

Knox faces 28 1/2 years in an Italian jail for the 2007 murder of 21-year-old Meredith Kercher in an apartment they shared in the university town of Perugia, after being convicted by a Florence appeals court last year along with her former Italian boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito.

Sollecito’s defense will make its case Friday, when the case resumes before the Court of Cassation.

Man gets $7M lottery ticket in get-well card

NEW CITY, N.Y.

A Pennsylvania man recovering from surgery has won $7 million off a lottery ticket tucked into his get-well card. Joseph Amorese of Easton got the ticket from his father, who lives in the hamlet of Congers in Rockland County, N.Y.

Amorese had just undergone hernia surgery. A few scratches later on the “$7 million Golden Ticket,” and he was feeling great. He sent a photo of the ticket to his dad, who agreed that it was a winner.

Tornadoes hit, kill 1

TULSA, OKLA.

The slow start to the nation’s tornado season came to a violent end Wednesday, when tornadoes raked Tulsa during its evening rush hour, killing one person and injuring others.

Tulsa County Sheriff’s Capt. Billy McKelvey said one person was killed in a mobile-home park near Sand Springs that was nearly destroyed Wednesday amid severe weather.

Associated Press