World/Nation Briefs July 2, 2011
<p>Storm clouds swirl above Wrigley Field before an interleague baseball game between the Chicago Cubs and the Chicago White Sox. For the record, the game was not interrupted by rain and the White Sox won, 6-4. to improve to 3-1 against their crosstown rivals this year.</p>
Gadhafi threatens Europe over NATO attacks
TRIPOLI, Libya - A defiant Moammar Gadhafi threatened Friday to carry out attacks in Europe against "homes, offices, families," unless NATO halts its campaign of airstrikes against his regime in Libya.
The Libyan leader, sought by the International Criminal Court for a brutal crackdown on anti-government protesters, delivered the warning in a telephone message played to thousands of supporters gathered in the main square of the capital Tripoli.
It was one of the largest pro-government rallies in recent months, signaling that Gadhafi can still muster significant support. A green cloth, several hundred meters long and held aloft by supporters, snaked above the crowd filling Tripoli's Green Square. Green is Libya's national color.
A series of powerful explosions later rattled the heart of the capital, apparently new NATO airstrikes, as Gadhafi supporters cheered, honked horns and fired into the air in the street. Black smoke could be seen rising from the area near Gadhafi's Bab al-Aziziya compound.
Judge ends house arrest for ex-IMF chief
NEW YORK - Smiling faintly as he walked out of court, former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn was released from house arrest Friday after prosecutors acknowledged serious questions about the credibility of the hotel maid who accused him of sexual assault.
The charges against him stand - for now, at least. But weeks after saying it had a strong case that was only getting stronger, the district attorney's office was on the defensive. So was the housekeeper's lawyer, who continued to insist that Strauss-Kahn had violently abused the woman.
An attorney for Strauss-Kahn, meanwhile, called the turn of events "a great relief." The case underscores "how easy it is for people to be charged with serious crimes and for there to be a rush to judgment," William W. Taylor said.
Strauss-Kahn, 62, had been confined for weeks to a luxury New York City townhouse on $6 million bail after his arrest on attempted rape charges that forced his resignation as head of the International Monetary Fund and appeared to destroy any hope he had of running for president of France next year.
Obama renews fight over tax increases
WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama is renewing an old fight with the business community by insisting that $400 billion in tax increases be part of a deficit-reduction package. His proposals have languished on Capitol Hill, repeatedly blocked by Republicans, often with help from Democrats.
Some would raise big money. Limiting tax deductions for high-income families and small business owners could raise more than $200 billion over the next decade. Others are more symbolic, such as scaling back a tax break for companies that buy corporate jets.
The corporate jet proposal would raise $3 billion over the next decade, according to GOP congressional aides. That's a relatively small sum in the big scheme of Washington budgets, but Obama and Democrats call attention to it repeatedly in their effort to portray Republicans as defenders of corporate fat cats.
No matter how Democrats characterize their proposals as revenue raisers or plugging tax loopholes, GOP leaders oppose them all, arguing that raising taxes in a bad economy would only make matters worse.
Aug. 2 deadline unlikely for debt-ceiling cuts
WASHINGTON - It may be even more difficult than it appears for Congress to reach a broad deal to raise America's borrowing limit and slash spending by Aug. 2. Maybe all but impossible.
Even if quarreling lawmakers can somehow agree this month, it is doubtful that Congress can write it up in binding fashion and pass it by one month from today. That's when, the Treasury Department declared anew on Friday, the government will start running short of money to pay the nation's bills.
Congress could end up having to vote at least twice on the political poisonous issue of raising the debt ceiling, now $14.3 trillion, to avoid a first-ever government default. The first vote would be on an interim raise, possibly in the tens or even hundreds of billions of dollars, to give Congress time to wrap up a grand bargain allowing the government to go trillions of dollars deeper into debt in exchange for spending cuts and possibly higher taxes totaling an equal amount.
Global gazers can't get enough royalty
Friday was a royal watcher's bonanza, with wedding vows, an official visit - and poignant reminders of princesses past.
Monaco's Prince Albert II took the plunge with Olympic swimmer Charlene Wittstock of South Africa, marrying her in a civil ceremony ahead of a religious service Saturday. His father, Prince Rainier III, wed Hollywood actress Grace Kelly in the tiny country 55 years ago.
British royal newlyweds Prince William and Kate - the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge - won raucous cheers from an estimated 300,000 people while touring Ottawa on Canada's national holiday. It was their first official visit abroad after their widely watched wedding in April.
- The Associated Press