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TUESDAY, JULY 3, 2012 PAGE 5A
U.S. edges toward nuclear arms cuts
B R I E F
Administration must decide on whether to shrink its long-range arsenal. By ROBERT BURNS AP National Security Writer
AP PHOTO
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is edging toward decisions that would further shrink the U.S. nuclear arsenal, possibly to between 1,000 and 1,100 warheads, reflecting new thinking on the
role of nuclear weapons in an age of terror, say current and former officials. The reductions that are under consideration align with President Barack Obama’s vision of trimming the nation’s nuclear arsenal without harming national security in the short term, and in the longer term, eliminating nuclear weapons. The White House has yet to announce any plan for reducing the number of nuclear weapons, beyond commitments
made in the recently completed New Start treaty with Russia, which obliges both countries to reduce their number of deployed long-range nuclear warheads to no more than 1,550 by 2018. As of March 1, Russia had already dropped its total to 1,492 and the U.S. stood at 1,737. Obama has been considering a range of options for additional cuts, including a low-end range that would leave between 300 and 400 warheads. Several current and former offi-
cials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said there appeared to be a consensus building around the more modest reduction to 1,000 to 1,100 deployed strategic warheads. Officials have said in recent days that a decision could be announced this month. But given Republican criticism of any proposed further cuts and the heating up of the presidential election campaign, the White House might put the decisions
on hold until after November. The administration has indicated it would prefer to pursue further reductions as part of a negotiation with Russia, but some have suggested that reductions could be done unilaterally. Any reductions are likely to stir opposition among Republicans in Congress, who believe Obama underestimates the importance of a stable nuclear deterrent, even though the cuts would likely save tens of billions of dollars.
A masterpiece is up for auction
Syrian opposition urged to overcome differences
MEXICO CITY
Uphill fight for president
he apparent victor of Mexico’s presidential race, Enrique Pena Nieto, T struggled Monday with the sticky bonds
of his party’s notorious past, the limitation of his mandate and an opponent who has yet to concede defeat. His long-ruling and now-returned Institutional Revolutionary Party, the PRI, won only about 38 percent of the vote and is unlikely to get a majority Nieto in Congress. In fact, it may lose seats. He faces an old guard in the PRI that still exercises considerable power, an ongoing war against fierce drug cartels and a still sluggish economy. His closest rival, leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who polled a higher-than-expected vote of about 32 percent, has refused to accept the loss, and many of his militant followers are suspicious of the results.
BLOOMFIELD TWP., MICH.
Grandmother to stand trial
A 74-year-old Michigan woman accused of shooting her teenage grandson at their suburban Detroit home will stand trial on murder and firearms charges, a judge ruled Monday after a police officer testified the woman emerged from the home screaming, “I murdered my grandson.” Sandra Layne is accused of repeatedly shooting 17-year-old Jonathan Hoffman on May 18 at the West Bloomfield Township condo that she and her husband shared with the boy. Her attorneys say she acted in self-defense. If convicted, she could face up to life in prison. WASHINGTON
Test for kindergarten set
A new digital tool to test academic and behavioral skills will target students starting in kindergarten. ACT, the organization that developed the ACT college-entrance exam, will start testing the tool in the fall. It will be available to schools starting in 2014.The tool tracks students’ career interests, academic performance and progress toward goals. It’s designed to follow students from kindergarten through high school. Jon Erickson, president of ACT’s education division, said the goal is to identify and address gaps in skills needed for college and the workforce. The assessment combines traditional testing with teacher-led projects to generate an instant, digital score. LOS ANGELES
Anderson Cooper; ‘I’m gay’
Anderson Cooper has made it official: He’s gay. The host of "AC360" and "Anderson" has never publicly confirmed that detail about his private life before, but he’s never denied it, either. Cooper’s sexual orientation has long been an open secret, but it took an Entertainment Weekly cover story about gay celebrities to prompt the newsman to finally come out. Daily Beast blogger Cooper Andrew Sullivan, another openly gay newsman, wrote to Cooper asking for his reaction to the story and published the response on his blog, The Dish, on Monday morning. In the email, Cooper states, "The fact is, I’m gay, always have been, always will be, and I couldn’t be any more happy, comfortable with myself, and proud."
Leader stakes a claim New Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi takes simple, populist stance in public. By MAGGIE MICHAEL Associated Press
AP PHOTO
Members of the Free Syrian Army on a recent patrol in a neighborhood of Damascus, Syria.
Calling for unity By AYA BATRAWY Associated Press
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AIRO — The head of the Arab League urged Syria’s exiled opposition to unite Monday, saying they must not squander the opportunity to overcome their differences as Western efforts to force President Bashar Assad from power all but collapse. The stakes are high for calming the crisis, which NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Monday called “one of the gravest security challenges the world faces today.” But more than one year into the Syrian revolt, the opposition is still hobbled by the infighting and fractiousness that have prevented the movement from gaining the kind of political traction it needs to present a credible alternative to Assad. “There is an opportunity before the conference of Syrian opposition today that must be seized, and I say and repeat that this opportunity must not be
“There is an opportunity before the conference of Syrian opposition today that must be seized … .”
Nabil Elaraby Arab League chief
wasted under any circumstance,” Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby told nearly 250 members of the Syrian opposition in Cairo. “The sacrifices of the Syrian people are bigger than us and more valuable than any narrow differences or factional disputes,” he said. Nasser Al-Kidwa, deputy to U.N. special envoy Kofi Annan, said at the meeting’s opening that unity of purpose and vision was “not an option, but a necessity if the opposition wants to bolster its popular support and trust and increase international support.” The divisions are tied to issues at
the heart of the revolution: Whether to seek dialogue with the regime and what ideology should guide a post-Assad Syria. Unlike Libya’s National Transitional Council, which brought together most factions fighting Gadhafi’s regime and was quickly recognized by much of the international community, Syria’s opposition has no leadership on the ground. Regime opponents inside and outside Syria are a diverse group, representing the country’s ideological, sectarian and generational divide. They include dissidents who spent years in prison, tech-savvy activists in their 20s, former Marxists and Islamists. Communication between those abroad and those in the country is extremely difficult. Political activists in Syria are routinely rounded up and imprisoned. Many are in hiding, communicating only through Skype using fake names, and the country is largely sealed off to exiled dissidents and foreign journalists.
CAIRO — Standing before tens of thousands of adoring supporters in Tahrir Square, President Mohammed Morsi opened his jacket in a show of bravado to prove he was not wearing a bulletproof vest. The message was clear: He has nothing to fear because he sees himself as the legitimate representative of Egypt’s uprising. In the week since he was named president, Morsi has portrayed himself as a simple man, uninterested in the trappings of power and refusing to take up residence in the presidential palace After eking out a narrow victory in last month’s runoff, Morsi has claimed the mantle of the revolution that ousted Hosni Mubarak last year. But his Muslim Brotherhood did not join the uprising until it had gained irreversible momentum. And its critics say the Islamic fundamentalist group has hijacked the movement that was led by secular and liberal youths. Morsi’s moves are an attempt to make up for the way he came to power, narrowly defeating Mubarak’s last prime minister in a runoff that had just a 51 percent turnout, said Karima Kamal, a minority Christian activist and writer. “He knows that he did not come to power because voters liked him. But the general impression in the street now is that he is a kind and simple man who came from a simple family. This is reassuring to many people,” she said. A U.S.-trained engineer, Morsi, 61, has none of the grandeur or name recognition of his predecessors.
1 dead in crash of plane aiding fire fight Rest of the fleet of Air Force C-130 planes used to fight wildfires have been grounded. The Associated Press
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — A military cargo plane from North Carolina has crashed while fighting a wildfire in the Black Hills of South Dakota, killing at least one of the six crew members aboard and forcing officials to ground the fleet. There was no official word on death or injuries, but the family of Lt. Col. Paul Mikeal of Moores-
ville, N.C., confirmed they were notified early Monday that he had died in the C-130 crash Sunday evening. The 42-year-old married father of two was a veteran pilot who had served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Six crew members were aboard the C-130 from the North Carolina Air National Guard in Charlotte, N.C., said Lt. Col. Robert Carver. The plane crashed after dropping fire retardant. “Obviously there were casualties,” Carver said. “We are also thankful there were survivors.” Carver declined to give the numbers of those who died or sur-
vived, but confirmed there were some crew members being treated for serious injuries at a hospital in Rapid City, S.D. Seven other firefighting C-130s are being held on the ground because of the crash, which comes as states in the West are grappling with one of the busiest and most destructive wildfire seasons ever. All eight C-130s had been dispatched to Peterson last week to fight Colorado wildfires, including the 28-square-mile Waldo Canyon Fire. That fire killed two AP PHOTO people and destroyed nearly 350 Melissa Mgana kisses her young daughter Sofia, 5, as houses. The fire was 55 percent she surveys what is left of their home Sunday in a subdivision of Colorado Springs, Colo. contained.
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A Rembrandt masterpiece titled ’A bust of a Man in a Gorget and Cap’ was to be offered at a London auction for the first time in almost 40 years. It was estimated the work would fetch between $12.50 million to $18.80 million. The art work was to be part of the Old Master and British Paintings Evening Sale today.