Afghan Official Says NATO Airstrike Killed 14 Civilians - New York Times

NATO said it was investigating.

Witnesses said an unknown number of bombs fell around 11 p.m., landing on two family compounds in the Salam Bazaar area of Nawzad district, a small farming community about 50 miles north of Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital.

Five girls, seven boys and two women were killed as they slept, the provincial governor’s office said in a statement. Another six people were wounded.

Grieving friends and relatives drove through the night transporting eight bodies to the provincial hospital in Lashkar Gah, a resident of the village, Haji Janan, said. The other bodies remained buried under the rubble as villagers tried to dig them out, he said.

The governor’s office released photographs of men carrying the dusty, bruised bodies of dead children swaddled in sheets into the hospital.

“We brought the dead bodies to show it to the officials, to show that the dead are innocent civilians, not the Taliban,” Mr. Janan said.

Lt. Tyler Balzer, a spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistant Force, said several bombs were dropped but said he could not provide more specifics — including whether helicopters or other aircraft were used — until the investigation was complete.

“We are aware of the governor’s claims and there were airstrikes in the area,” he said, “And right now we have an assessment team on the ground working with the Afghan government.”

Local officials said the airstrike came in response to an insurgent attack on a nearby Marine base earlier in the night, but that the strike hit the wrong homes.

“The office of the provincial governor strongly condemns this deep sorrow incident,” the office said in an English version of its statement. The statement also requested NATO to stop “air strikes that result in civilian casualties.”

NATO was also investigating an air assault last week in Nuristan province that drove out Taliban fighters after they had overrun part of a district center. The joint assault of NATO soldiers and Afghan commandos called in airstrikes as they came under fire in the district center of Do Ab, killing more than 10 insurgents, NATO said at the time.

But provincial officials say NATO helicopters also killed more than 20 police officers dressed in civilian clothes. Qazi Anayatullah, head of the provincial council, said that as coalition forces arrived, the Taliban fled, leaving their white flags flying over police checkpoints they had overrun. When the officers dressed in civilian clothes re-entered the checkpoints, the flags were still flying, and NATO helicopters bombed them, he said.

“They mistakenly thought they were Taliban because the police were wearing local dress,” Mr. Anayatullah said.

Lt. Balzer said a NATO assessment team had been on the ground several days now. “We’re hoping a clearer picture will come out soon and we’ll be able to release the findings,” he said. But the incident points to the murky nature of the war and the difficulty distinguishing between Taliban fighters and armed officers or civilians dressed in traditional garb.

In February, Afghan investigators accused NATO of killing 65 civilians in airstrikes in eastern Afghanistan in what, if true, would have been one of the worst cases of civilian casualties in the war. But NATO maintained that the people were killed were insurgents, and there were conflicting reports, even among the Afghan investigators, about the number of casualties.

Civilian deaths have been one of the most sensitive issues in the war — and NATO has made efforts to reduce them. According to the United Nations, insurgents caused about 75 percent of all civilian casualties last year, the deadliest year for civilians in the country.

The latest episode came at an emotionally turbulent time. As images of the children killed in the Salam Bazaar attack were broadcast on television Sunday, the nation was still reeling from a suicide attack a day earlier at the governor’s compound in the northern province of Takhar. The attack killed six, including the northern region’s senior police commander, Gen. Daoud Daoud, a revered figure in the region from his days as an anti-Taliban fighter.

His death complicates transition efforts as NATO forces begin transferring security responsibilities to Afghan forces in seven areas of the country this July. One of those areas is Mazar-i-Sharif, where General Daoud was based.

In a statement Sunday, the United States Embassy in Kabul said General Daoud “was in the forefront of his country’s efforts to defeat the insurgents and bring peace and stability to Afghanistan.”

His death could further fuel sentiment among northern leaders opposed to President Hamid Karzai’s fledgling efforts to strike a peace deal with the Taliban.

Sensitive to that concern, the president’s spokesman, Wahid Omar, blamed foreign fighters for planning and carrying out the string of terrorist-style attacks that have jolted the country in recent months, trying to deflect blame from Afghan Taliban, even though the Taliban have claimed credit for most of the attacks.

“No one from Afghanistan carries out such attacks,” he said. “All evidence shows these operations are planned outside Afghanistan and led form outside Afghanistan.”

An employee of The New York Times contributed reporting from Lashkar Gah, Afghanistan.

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With Scattershot Comments, Blagojevich Wagers All - New York Times

Mr. Blagojevich, the twice-elected governor of Illinois, said he was flawed, insecure, vain and narcissistic.

Prone to risk or recklessness is another description he might have used. The former governor has, at almost every turn, bucked all legal conventional wisdom in favor of nonstop politicking.

Beginning shortly after his arrest in 2008 with appearances on every news, talk show and entertainment venue that would have him — prompting  a veteran defense lawyer, Edward Genson, to walk away from the case — and culminating with his decision to testify, he seemed to be taking serious chances, lawyers who have followed the case say.

“I am fascinated by the train wreck that is this trial,” said Lisa Noller, a former federal prosecutor in Chicago who now does criminal defense work. “He has been on the circuit so long he doesn’t realize the inconsistent statements he’s made. He doesn’t realize the admissions he’s made.”

But the prosecutors know them very well, Ms. Noller said, adding that they have studied his every public utterance, whether from the lobby of the federal courthouse, the pages of his book, speeches to college students or his television and newspaper interviews.

“If there’s an inconsistency to be found, they’ll know what it is,” she said. “It wouldn’t surprise me that in his heart of hearts, he doesn’t believe he’s done anything wrong. It’s textbook narcissistic behavior. He winks and nods at the jurors. He says, ‘Hi, I used to be your governor.’ I think he believes he’s got a shot.”

Mr. Blagojevich is charged with 20 counts of corruption that allege he tried to trade official state action for personal gain, including the appointment to fill the Senate seat vacated by President Obama. In August at Mr. Blagojevich’s first trial, a jury found him guilty of one count of lying to federal authorities but could not reach a verdict on the more serious counts.

He has steadfastly maintained his innocence, saying he was merely negotiating his way through the political thicket of state politics, focused only on doing the people’s work.

The issue of pretrial publicity was raised early in the case, when Mr. Blagojevich’s lawyers complained that too many prospective jurors had negative preconceived notions about him.

Judge James B. Zagel of Federal District Court made pointed observations just before the jury was impaneled. “This is an unusual case in all respects,” he said, adding that in most high-profile criminal cases, the accused “sits quietly in prison.”

In this case, however, Mr. Blagojevich engaged in a “consistent pattern of inviting public opinion,” Judge Zagel said. “Much of the dilemma he faces was created by himself.”

Patrick Cotter, a former federal prosecutor turned defense lawyer, had a more colorful analogy. “He’s the Charlie Sheen of criminal defendants,” he said. “He goes out and does what he does. Half the world is amused and half the world is appalled.”

What Mr. Blagojevich is betting on, Mr. Cotter said, is that just one person on the jury will be amused or impressed. No matter how solid the prosecution’s case, if Mr. Blagojevich’s nice-guy polished narrative resonates emotionally with just one juror, the evidence may not matter.

“He’s a politician, and he was a good politician. You have to respect that,” Mr. Cotter said. “Is it a high risk? The fact is, when you decide what is high risk and what is not, you have to ask yourself, ‘Compared to what?’

“To flap your arms and think you’re going to fly is ridiculous. But if you’re falling out of a window anyway, you might as well flap.”

In high-profile cases, some jurors may get lost in the drama swirling around them and start thinking in ways that are inconsistent with the common sense that guides them in the real world, Mr. Cotter said.

Mr. Blagojevich intimated from the witness stand that what he was doing as governor was common in political circles. But Judge Zagel has ruled that prosecutors will be permitted to play a recording of a 2009 interview with Rachel Maddow of MSNBC, in which Mr. Blagojevich said he knew that trading a Senate seat for personal gain would be wrong and criminal.

“This is an admission,” Judge Zagel said of the interview. It shows what “the state of mind was of the defendant, who is a lawyer.”

The prosecution, which concluded its case last week, has to prove that Mr. Blagojevich knowingly and intentionally violated the law.

But the public’s attitude about politicians could create a situation where pretrial publicity might work in his favor, Mr. Cotter said.

“The best thing he has going for him is the unbelievable cynicism about elected officials,” he said. “Millions of citizens presume that all of their politicians are crooked. And because of that, when Rod Blagojevich says it’s just political horse-trading, some people will believe that a certain amount of it is inevitable and there’s something unfair about picking on one politician and not others.”

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Lockheed Offered Help After Cyber Incident, U.S. Government Says - Bloomberg

A Lockheed Martin Corp. F-16 fighter jet flies on the second day of the Farnborough International Airshow in Farnborough, U.K., on Tuesday, July 20, 2010. The Farnborough International Airshow is being held from July 19-25. Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg

U.S. agencies offered assistance to Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT), the world’s largest defense contractor, which suffered what it called a “tenacious” cyber attack on its computer networks on May 21.

The Department of Homeland Security “is aware of a cyber incident impacting” Lockheed and, together with the Department of Defense, has offered help in “determining the extent of the incident, performing analysis of available data in order to provide recommendations to mitigate further risk,” Chris Ortman, a spokesman for the agency, said in an e-mail yesterday.

The impact on the military “is minimal and we don’t expect any adverse effect,” Lieutenant Colonel April Cunningham, a spokeswoman, said in an e-mail.

Lockheed, based in Bethesda, Maryland, said it detected a “significant and tenacious attack” on its computer networks on May 21. It was found “almost immediately” and no employee, program or customer data was lost, the company said in a statement.

Lockheed uses a mobile security system produced by EMC Corp.’s RSA unit. RSA bolstered security for clients, including Lockheed, after a network breach in March resulted in the theft of RSA data, a person familiar with the process said yesterday.

The remediation involves replacing the SecurID tokens issued by RSA that often expire in three years, said the person, who wasn’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly. The company’s defense-contractor clients, which make missiles, aircraft and other weapons, also include Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC) and Raytheon Co. (RTN) Dave Farmer, a spokesman for EMC, declined to comment.

EMC, based in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, reported that the cyber attack in March resulted in information being taken from its systems, including data related to RSA’s SecurID authentication products.

Users who need access their employer’s secure network from remote locations may use a SecurID type device, a memory stick- like unit that generates random numbers that must be used in combination with a personal identification number to gain entry.

“If intruders get the key, the seed that enables one-time passwords to be generated,” then they may have the capability to break into networks that depend on such systems to authenticate users, Alan Paller, director of research at the SANS Institute, a computer security training institution in Bethesda, Maryland, said in an interview. Paller said he couldn’t say if Lockheed’s networks were breached.

Randy Belote, a spokesman for Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman and Jon Kasle, a spokesman for Raytheon of Waltham, Massachusetts, declined to comment.

To contact the reporter on this story: Gopal Ratnam in Washington at gratnam1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Mark Silva at Msilva34@bloomberg.net; Paul Tighe at ptighe@bloomberg.net

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NH House voting on requiring photo ID to vote - Boston Globe

CONCORD, N.H.—Voters would have to produce government-issued photo identification to vote in New Hampshire beginning in November 2012 under a Republican-backed bill coming up for a vote in the House.

The House votes Wednesday on a bill that would require voters without proper photo identification to cast a provisional ballot and gives them three days to produce a valid photo ID. It also calls for the state to issue voters a photo ID card for free.

The bill also would allow voters to get a waiver of the photo ID requirement from the secretary of state.

The Senate's version of the bill allowed election officials to take a person's picture for their file. It also recognizes photo IDs issued by licensed schools and some businesses and institutions.

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IMF must choose its chiefs on merit - Sydney Morning Herald

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Missouri officials say tornado killed at least 89 - Forbes

JOPLIN, Mo. -- A massive tornado that tore a 6-mile path across southwestern Missouri killed at least 89 people as it slammed into the city of Joplin, ripping into a hospital, crushing cars like soda cans and leaving a forest of splintered tree trunks behind where entire neighborhoods once stood.

Authorities warned that the death toll could climb as search and rescuers continued their work. Their task was made more miserable Monday morning as a thunderstorm with strong, gusty winds and heavy rain pelted part of the city with quarter-size hail.

City manager Mark Rohr announced the number of known dead at a pre-dawn news conference outside the wreckage of a hospital that took a direct hit from Sunday's storm. Rohr said the twister cut a path nearly 6 miles long and more than a half-mile wide through the center of town, adding that tornado sirens gave residents about a 20-minute warning before the tornado touched down on the city's west side.

Much of the city's south side was leveled, with churches, schools, businesses and homes reduced to ruins. Fire chief Mitch Randles estimated 25 percent to 30 percent of the city was damaged, and said his own home was among the buildings destroyed as the twister swept through this city of about 50,000 people some 160 miles south of Kansas City.

An unknown number of people were injured in the storm, and officials said patients were scattered to any nearby hospitals that could take them.

Authorities conducted a door-to-door search of the damaged area Monday morning, moving gingerly around downed power lines, jagged debris and a series of gas leaks that caused fires around the city overnight.

Early Monday, Gov. Jay Nixon said fires from gas leaks still burned across the city.

"It's a very, very precarious situation," Nixon told CNN. "It's going to be a stark view as people see dawn rise in Joplin, Missouri."

Residents said the damage was breathtaking in scope.

"You see pictures of World War II, the devastation and all that with the bombing. That's really what it looked like," said Kerry Sachetta, the principal of a flattened Joplin High School. "I couldn't even make out the side of the building. It was total devastation in my view. I just couldn't believe what I saw."

The Joplin twister was one of 68 reported tornadoes across seven Midwest states over the weekend, stretching from Oklahoma to Wisconsin, according to the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center. One person was killed in Minneapolis. But the devastation in Missouri was the worst, eerily reminiscent of the tornadoes that killed more than 300 people across the South last month.

Sunday's storm in Joplin hit a hospital packed with patients and a commercial area including a Home Depot ( HD - news - people ) construction store, numerous smaller businesses and restaurants and a grocery store. Jasper County emergency management director Keith Stammer said an estimated 2,000 buildings were damaged.

Among the worst-hit locations in Joplin was St. John's Regional Medical Center. The staff had just a few moments' notice to hustle patients into hallways before the storm struck the nine-story building, blowing out hundreds of windows and leaving the facility useless.

In the parking lot, a helicopter lay crushed on its side, its rotors torn apart and windows smashed. Nearby, a pile of cars lay crumpled into a single mass of twisted metal. Matt Sheffer dodged downed power lines, trees and closed streets to make it to his dental office across from the hospital. Rubble littered a flattened lot where a pharmacy, gas station and some doctors' offices once stood.

"My office is totally gone. Probably for two to three blocks, it's just leveled," he said. "The building that my office was in was not flimsy. It was 30 years old and two layers of brick. It was very sturdy and well built."

St. John's patients were evacuated to other hospitals in the region, said Cora Scott, a spokeswoman for the medical center's sister hospital in Springfield.

Early Monday morning, floodlights from a temporary triage facility lit what remained of the hospital that once held as many 367 patients. Police officers could be seen combing the surrounding area for bodies.

Miranda Lewis, a spokeswoman for St. John's, was at home when the tornado sirens began going off. Early Monday, she had no details on any deaths or injuries suffered at the hospital in the tornado strike, although she had seen the damaged building.

"It's like what you see someplace else, honestly," Lewis said. "That's a terrible way to say it, but you don't recognize what's across the street.

"I had seen it on television, but until you're standing right here and see the devastation, you can't believe it."

Michael Spencer, a national Red Cross spokesman who also assisted in the aftermath of a tornado that devastated nearby Pierce City in 2003, was also stunned.

"I've been to about 75 disasters, and I've never seen anything quite like this before," Spencer said. "You don't typically see metal structures and metal frames torn apart, and that's what you see here."

Triage centers and shelters set up around the city quickly filled to capacity. At Memorial Hall, a downtown entertainment venue, nurses and other emergency workers from across the region were treating critically injured patients.

At another makeshift unit at a Lowe's ( LOW - news - people ) home improvement store, wooden planks served as beds. Outside, ambulances and fire trucks waited for calls. During one stretch after midnight Monday, emergency vehicles were scrambling nearly every two minutes.

Winds from the storm carried debris up to 60 miles away, with medical records, X-rays, insulation and other items falling to the ground in Greene County, said Larry Woods, assistant director of the Springfield-Greene County Office of Emergency Management.

Travel through and around Joplin was difficult, with Interstate 44 shut down and streets clogged with emergency vehicles and the wreckage of buildings.

Emergency management officials rushed heavy equipment to Joplin to help lift debris and clear the way for search and recovery operations. Nixon declared a state of emergency, and President Barack Obama said the Federal Emergency Management Agency was working with state and local agencies.

Jeff Lehr, a reporter for the Joplin Globe, said he was upstairs in his home when the storm hit but was able to make his way to a basement closet.

"There was a loud huffing noise, my windows started popping. I had to get downstairs, glass was flying. I opened a closet and pulled myself into it," he told The Associated Press. "Then you could hear everything go. It tore the roof off my house, everybody's house. I came outside and there was nothing left."

An aching helplessness settled over residents, many of whom could only wander the wreckage bereft and wondering about the fate of loved ones.

Justin Gibson, 30, huddled with three relatives outside the tangled debris field of what remained of a Home Depot. He pointed to a black pickup that had been tossed into the store's ruins and said it belonged to his roommate's brother. "He was last seen here with his two little girls," ages 4 and 5, Gibson said.

"We've been trying to get ahold of him since the tornado happened," Gibson said, adding his own house had been leveled.

"It's just gone. Everything in that neighborhood is gone. The high school, the churches, the grocery store. I can't get ahold of my ex-wife to see how my kids are," he said, referring to his three children, ranging in age from 4 months to 5 years.

"I don't know the extent of this yet," Gibson said, "but I know I'll have friends and family dead."

A tornado that hit north Minneapolis killed one person and injured 29. Authorities imposed an overnight curfew over a 4-square-mile area, including some of the city's poorest neighborhoods, to prevent looting and keep streets clear for emergency crews. Mayor R.T. Rybak said one liquor store was looted right after the tornado hit late Sunday and a few burglaries took place overnight.

In Wisconsin, the mayor of La Crosse declared a state of emergency Sunday after a powerful storm tore roofs from homes and littered streets and lawns with downed trees and debris.

Additional storms were predicted across the southern Plains through Thursday morning.

An advisory from the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., said warm weather Monday could fuel instability in advance of another weather system. A few tornadoes, some strong, could occur - starting in Oklahoma and southern Kansas in the afternoon and in North Texas in the late afternoon.

Associated Press writers Jim Salter in Joplin; Heather Hollingsworth, Dana Fields, Chris Clark and Bill Draper in Kansas City, Mo.; Todd Richmond in La Crosse, Wis.; Chris Williams and Jeff Baenen in Minneapolis; and Kristi Eaton in Oklahoma City, contributed to this report.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Taliban's Mullah Omar reported dead - Sydney Morning Herald

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Pakistani commandos retake Karachi naval base - The Guardian

Pakistan troops fight gunbattle with insurgents at naval base. Link to this video

Pakistani commandos have regained control of a naval airbase from Taliban militants who attacked then occupied the high-security facility for 18 hours .

The attackers – who may have numbered no more than six – destroyed at least two US-supplied surveillance planes and killed 12 security officers in an assault that began late on Sunday night. At least four of the attackers were killed.

The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the assault in Karachi. The group said it was revenge for the 2 May American raid that killed Osama bin Laden and that insurgents were under orders to fight until the death.

"They do not want to come out alive, they have gone there to embrace martyrdom," said a spokesman, Ehsanullah Ehsan.

Between four to six heavily armed insurgents stormed the Mehran naval base under cover of darkness, using ladders to get into the facility, said the interior minister, Rehman Malik.

Once inside, they scattered around the compound, setting off explosions and hiding in the sprawling facility.

During the day on Monday, the militants were holed up in an office building in a gunbattle with commandos, said a navy spokesman Irfan ul-Haq said. Navy helicopters flew over the base, and snipers were seen on a runway control tower.

By the afternoon, Haq said the militants had been defeated. Commandos leaving the complex flashed victory signs to reporters.

At least 11 navy personnel and one paramilitary ranger were killed, while a further 14 members of the security forces were wounded, said Haq.

Malik said four militants were killed, but that two possibly escaped, adding that he saw some of the bodies of the attackers. He said the were dressed in black and looked "like the Star Wars characters".

Six Americans and 11 Chinese nationals were on the base at the time of the attack, but escaped unharmed, he said.

The insurgents' ability to penetrate the facility rattled a military establishment already embarrassed by the unilateral American raid on Bin Laden, and raised the possibility they had inside help.

It will also likely lead to more questions over the safety of Pakistan's nuclear weapons. In 2009, Islamist terrorists stormed army headquarters close to the capital, Islamabad, holding hostages for 22 hours. But unlike the attack in Karachi, the attackers failed to penetrate the complex further.

This is the third major attack the group has claimed since the Bin Laden killing. The others were a car bombing that slightly injured American consulate workers in the north-west city of Peshawar and a twin-suicide attack that killed around 90 Pakistani paramilitary police recruits.

The Pakistani prime minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani, condemned the latest attack, saying such a "cowardly act of terror could not deter the commitment of the government and people of Pakistan to fight terrorism".

At least two US-made P-3C Orions maritime surveillance planes were destroyed, he said. The US navy puts the cost of the aircraft at $36m (?22m) each.

A US embassy spokesman, Alberto Rodriguez, confirmed that six American contractors were on the Mehran base during the time of the attack, but said all were safe.

He said the Americans, while working as contractors to help support the P-3C aircraft, did not report to the US embassy or consulate. Four of them were part of a Lockheed Martin contract engineering and technical support team, he added.

It was not immediately clear what the Chinese were doing at the base, but Pakistan has purchased Chinese military equipment over the years.

Also on Monday, Pakistani intelligence officials, speaking anonymously, said a pair of suspected US missiles hit a vehicle and killed four people near the Afghan border.

The strike in the Machi Khel area in the tribal region of North Waziristan.

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Obama opens European tour with stop in Ireland - Washington Post

Obama opens European tour with stop in Ireland - The Washington PostTWP_Debug.pagedebug && window.console && console.log && console.log('[' + (new Date()-TWP_Debug.initialTime)/1000 + ']' + ' js/head.jpt - start');TWP_Debug.pagedebug && window.console && console.log && console.log('[' + (new Date()-TWP_Debug.initialTime)/1000 + ']' + ' js/head.jpt - after wpost load');TWP_Debug.pagedebug && window.console && console.log && console.log('[' + (new Date()-TWP_Debug.initialTime)/1000 + ']' + ' js/head.jpt - after eidos load');TWP_Debug.pagedebug && window.console && console.log && console.log('[' + (new Date()-TWP_Debug.initialTime)/1000 + ']' + ' js/head.jpt - after ad load'); $(document).ready(function(){TWP_Debug.pagedebug && window.console && console.log && console.log('[' + (new Date()-TWP_Debug.initialTime)/1000 + ']' + ' document.ready fired'); }); $(window).load(function(){TWP_Debug.pagedebug && window.console && console.log && console.log('[' + (new Date()-TWP_Debug.initialTime)/1000 + ']' + ' window.load fired'); });TWP_Debug.pagedebug && window.console && console.log && console.log('[' + (new Date()-TWP_Debug.initialTime)/1000 + ']' + ' js/head.jpt - end');TWP = ( typeof TWP == 'undefined' ) ? {} : TWP ;TWP.Data = ( typeof TWP.Data == 'undefined' ) ? {} : TWP.Data ;TWP.Data.NN = {init: function(){this.pageType="article_story";this.canonicalURL="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/obama-opens-european-tour-with-stop-in-ireland/2011/05/23/AFLpBi9G_story.html";this.shortURL="";this.section="/world";this.destinations="google_news";this.homepage=false;}}TWP.Data.NN.init(); SubscribeMobileConversationsToday's PaperGoing Out GuideJobsCarsReal EstateRentalsClassifiedsHomePoliticsCampaignsCongressCourts &LawThe Fed PageHealth CarePollingWhite HouseWho Runs GovBlogs & ColumnsTop Blogs

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Text SizePrintE-mailReprints By Scott Wilson,

DUBLIN — President Obama arrived in this blustery Irish capital Monday to begin a six-day trip through Europe, where national security matters have overtaken the global economy as the most pressing issue in the transatlantic relationship.

Obama and first lady Michelle Obama emerged from Air Force One onto a wind-swept tarmac, hopping aboard helicopters for a short flight to a ceremonial welcome from President Mary McAleese, who apologized for the stormy weather.

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President Barack Obama opens a European tour with a quick dash through Ireland on Monday. The president and first lady were scheduled to start their trip meeting with Ireland's political leaders. (May 23)

He planted an oak in Phoenix Park, near the sequoia that President John F. Kennedy planted in 1963.

Obama then visited Prime Minister Enda Kenny, whose Irish title is Taoiseach, at Farmleigh, a 78-acre estate on Dublin’s outskirts once owned by the Guinness family.

In brief remarks, Obama emphasized the “blood links” between Ireland and the United States through its large Irish-American community.

Praising Ireland for its contribution to peacekeeping missions, commitment to human rights and work on food security, Obama declared, “Ireland punches above its weight” on the world stage.

Obama’s stop here follows by days the historic visit of Queen Elizabeth II to Ireland — the first by a British monarch since Ireland split from the United Kingdom nearly 90 years ago — and he told Kenny that he is inspired by the republic’s work in securing peace in Northern Ireland.

“To all those who have been working tirelessly to bring about peace in Northern Ireland, to those who have been willing to take those risks, we are grateful to them,” Obama said.

The president’s tone reflected the largely ceremonial nature of his one-day stop here, which will include a visit to the village of Moneygall, population 300, where his maternal great-great-great grandfather was born.

News channels carried his arrival and early appearances live. Souvenirs of the visit are on sale in the city and in Moneygall, one of the few events on his four-nation tour where Obama will spend time with everyday people.

He is scheduled to speak Monday afternoon at the Irish Celebration, a street festival in downtown Dublin.

As a gift, Kenny, the prime minister, presented Obama with a three-volume set of myths and legends of Hawaii, emphasizing that the books were for his daughters Sasha and Malia, who did not make the trip.

“It just confirms if you need someone to do good writing, you hire an Irishman,” Obama said.

Kenny gave the president a hurley, the roughly yard-long paddle used in the ancient Gaelic game of hurling. Brandishing the stick like a baseball bat, Obama said, smiling, “If members of Congress aren’t behaving, give ’em a little paddle, a little hurl.”

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Comments our editors find particularly useful or relevant are displayed in Top Comments, as are comments by users with these badges: . Replies to those posts appear here, as well as posts by staff writers. + SHARE THIS DEBATEPeople who read this also read...Foreign PolicyA Day Under Fire with Anton - By Xavier Mas De Xax?s Witness to War - An FP Slide Show - By Anton HammerlS?, Se Puede - By Guy Hedgecoe TWP_Debug.pagedebug && window.console && console.log && console.log('[' + (new Date()-TWP_Debug.initialTime)/1000 + ']' + ' right_rail_shell.jpt - start'); Network News Hide this

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Most Popular SectionTaliban denies report that Mullah Omar is deadPakistani military quashes Taliban attack on naval baseAutocratic regimes fight Web-savvy opponents with their own toolsBritain better prepared for volcanic ash that may reach UK airspace later this weekThai police arrest suspected leading tiger trafficker year after Bengal tiger caughTop VideosIcelandic volcano eruption closes airportOsama bin Laden compound yielding intelligence windfallHillary Clinton calls for lower food pricesHillary Clinton on U.S.-Middle East relationsQueen Elizabeth in historic visit to IrelandTop GalleriesIceland volcano activity upsets travel, global tradeOsama bin Laden killed in CIA operationEgypt- and Tunisia-inspired uprisings spread through Middle East, North AfricaDemonstrations in Spain protest political parties and economic crisisConflict and chaos in LibyaPost Newsletters & Alerts

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Obama's speech on Middle East was most perfect - Deseret News

Coverage of the General Session of the 59th Legislature, Jan. 24-March 10.

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Volcanic ash cloud from Iceland likely to disrupt air travel in britain - Telegraph.co.uk

According to the latest forecasts from the Met Office a thick cloud is likely to cover much of Scotland by tomorrow morning.

At its densest the cloud is likely to exceed the top threshold set by the aviation industry for aircraft safety.

This could lead to flights being cancelled from Sottish airports throughout the day.

"It depends how thick the cloud is and how big it is," said a spokesman for the Civil Aviation Authority.

"If it is so big that it makes it impossible to get in or out of an airport, then flights will be cancelled. But if we are talking about small thick pockets, then it should be possible to fly around them.

"It won't be until late tonight that we have a real idea what the impact will be and passengers should contact their airlines to keep up to date."

Scotlands major airports – Glasgow, Prestwick, Aberdeen, Inverness and Edinburgh – handle about 50,000 passengers a day.

NATS, the air traffic control organisation, confirmed that it was anticipating disruption at three small airports: Barra, Benbecula and Tiree

With winds blowing from the west, the cloud is expected to drift towards the North Sea by the middle of the week.

However the unsettled weather predicted over the next few days makes forecasting the passage of further volcanic ash difficult.

South westerly winds would mean that Britain would escape further disruption, but if they continue to blow from the north west another cloud could drift across at least part of the country.

"We can’t rule out disruption," said Andrew Haines, the Civil Aviation Authority's chief executive.

"But the new arrangements that have been put in place since last year’s ash cloud mean the aviation sector is better prepared and will help to reduce any disruption in the event that volcanic ash affects UK airspace.”

Last year's eruption of the Eyjafjallaj?kull volcano crippled aviation throughout Europe, with an estimated 100,000 flights cancelled across Europe, hitting the travel plans of around 8 million passengers.

The damage caused by the latest eruption of the Gr?msv?tn volcano, 250 miles from the Icelandic capital, Reykjavik, is not expected to wreak the same havoc.

Not only is the ash of a different consistency and less likely to cause damage to aircraft, but aviation rules have been changed to allow airlines to continue to fly if they believe it is safe to do so.

Most leading airlines are understood to have applied to the Civil Aviation for permission to fly through ash of moderate density, following discussions with engine and aircraft manufacturers.

A BA spokesman said: "At present all our flights are operating normally. We are keeping the situation under observation."

Thomson Airways confirmed it had also put a "safety case" to the CAA to enable its operations to continue.

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Yemen crisis worsens as Saleh loyalists trap US ambassador - Christian Science Monitor

Sanaa, Yemen

Yemen's political crisis took a dramatic turn yesterday when armed loyalists of embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh surrounded an embassy, trapping the American and other ambassadors inside for hours until they apparently were flown out by Yemeni military helicopter.

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The tense episode – a deep affront to Washington and Yemen's Gulf Arab allies – spells the end of a US-backed plan for peaceful transition from Saleh's 32 years in power, and raises grave concerns for what comes next in the bloody uprising.

On Sunday, Saleh again balked at signing the agreement drawn up by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), as armed mobs and tribesmen took to the streets of the capital, Sanaa, and surrounded an embassy where at least five US, European, and Arab envoys were meeting about the crisis, according to witnesses and news reports.

Late Sunday, the GCC announced it was withdrawing the initiative.

Though ruling party officials described the crowds outside the embassies as peaceful demonstrators, Saleh's government is widely seen as responsible for allowing the standoff.

"What we've seen today is something that Saleh is doing something he has done again and again ... creating a crisis and then 'swooping in' to solve it," said Gregory Johnsen, a Cairo-based Yemen expert with Princeton University. "Hopefully, the deeply flawed, very problematic GCC deal can now be put to rest."

'We can't leave the embassy'

Saleh supporters massed outside the Emirati embassy, blocking two main entrances and at one point attacking a convoy bringing the GCC's top mediator, Abdullatif bin Rashid al-Zayani, to the compound, news agencies reported. Mobs surrounded other foreign embassies; the Chinese ambassador's convoy also came under attack, according to news reports.

"Everybody is worried. We can't leave the embassy," an unnamed Saudi diplomat told the Associated Press before the apparent helicopter rescue.

After nightfall, according to news reports, Yemeni military helicopters landed and whisked the diplomats to the presidential palace. Some officials said helicopters landed in the compound, but vehicle convoys ferried out the diplomats.

At the palace, top officials from Yemen's ruling party signed the accord. Saleh was expected to sign but did not. On state television, he later said he refused an agreement signed "behind closed doors" and demanded that opposition leaders be present.

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Mass. Sen. Brown opposes Ryan Medicare overhaul - San Francisco Chronicle

Article:Mass. Sen. Brown opposes Ryan Medicare overhaul:/n/a/2011/05/23/national/a073412D23.DTL

(05-23) 07:39 PDT BOSTON (AP) --

Republican Sen. Scott Brown said Monday he will vote against the House Republican budget because he cannot support U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan's proposal to transform Medicare into a voucher system.

"While I applaud Ryan for getting the conversation started, I cannot support his specific plan — and therefore will vote "no" on his budget," Brown wrote in an op-ed in Politico.

The Massachusetts senator said in a statement last week that he supported the overall direction that Ryan's budget took toward reducing spending, but at the time declined to say whether he supported the Medicare overhaul or if he would vote for the budget. That statement came four days after Brown told a luncheon crowd in Georgetown, Mass., that he would vote for the spending plan.

The GOP plan passed by the House would cut government deficits by $6.2 trillion over the next decade. One of its most contentious provisions calls for eventually transforming Medicare into a voucher-like system in which private insurance plans, not the government, pay medical bills.

Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican, chairs the House Budget Committee.

In Monday's op-ed, Brown listed several objections to the Medicare proposal.

He said he was concerned that as health care expenses continue to grows, the cost of private insurance plans will rise faster than government premium support, forcing the elderly to pay even higher deductibles and co-pays.

"Protecting those who have been counting on the current system their entire adult lives should be the key principle of reform," Brown wrote.

Medicare has already been cut to help pay for President Barack Obama's health care plan, he said.

Congress should instead cut waste and fraud and make other improvements to the traditional Medicare system, Brown said. He also said savings could be found by increasing congressional oversight of Medicare reimbursements and through medical liability reform that would cut down on frivolous malpractice lawsuits.

"We can work inside of Medicare to make it more solvent," Brown wrote.

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Election 101: Tim Pawlenty as 'everyman's' candidate? Ten points about who he is. - Christian Science Monitor

Election 101: Tim Pawlenty as 'everyman's' candidate? Ten points about who he is. - Who is he, anyway? - CSMonitor.com Skip to: Content
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Previous|NextElection 101: Tim Pawlenty as 'everyman's' candidate? Ten points about who he is.

Tim Pawlenty wants a White House ending to his rags-to-riches rise. The former governor declared his candidacy for president May 22 in a video released on his website. The grandson of German immigrants and the first in his family to attend college, Pawlenty is hoping his foes’ flaws are his ticket to victory.

- Husna Haq, Correspondent

EnlargeGovernor Tim Pawlenty, a Republican from Minnesota, speaks to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) during their annual meeting in Washington, on February 19, 2010.(Joshua Roberts/Reuters)

1.Who is he, anyway?

Pawlenty is the star of a classic up-by-the-bootstraps story. The grandson of German immigrants and the son of a milk truck driver father and a stay-at-home mom who died when he was 16, Pawlenty is one of five children raised in a working-class St. Paul neighborhood and the first in his family to attend college. After a difficult chemistry class rerouted his dream of becoming a dentist, Pawlenty became a lawyer, dabbled in business, and entered local and state politics. As Minnesota governor he balanced the state’s $4.3 billion deficit without raising taxes and was on the short list to become John McCain’s running mate in 2008.

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The former governor declared his candidacy for president May 22, and is hoping his foes’ flaws are his ticket to victory.

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