World / Nation briefs

Millions face food crisis in Africa

DADAAB, Kenya - Seven-month-old Mihag Gedi Farah is the frail face of famine in the Horn of Africa. He stares out wide-eyed almost in alarm, his skin pulled taut over his ribs and twig-like arms. At only 7 pounds, he weighs as much as a newborn but has the weathered look of an elderly man.

Mihag is just one of 800,000 children who officials warn could die across the region. Aid workers are rushing to bring help to dangerous and previously unreached regions of drought-ravaged Somalia.

Famine victims like Mihag bring new urgency to their efforts, raising concerns about how many hungry children still remain in Somalia, far away from the feeding tubes and doctors in the field hospital at this Kenyan refugee camp.

The United Nations estimates that more 11 million people in East Africa are affected by the drought, with 3.7 million in Somalia among the worst-hit because of the ongoing civil war in the country.

Somalia's prolonged drought became a famine in part because neither the Somali government nor many aid agencies can fully operate in areas controlled by al-Qaida-linked militants, and the U.N. is set to declare all of southern Somalia a famine zone as of Aug. 1.

Aid organizations including the U.N. World Food Program have not been able to access areas under the control of the al-Shabab militants, who have killed humanitarian workers and banned the WFP.

Norway police delay called 'unforgivable'

OSLO, Norway - When Anders Behring Breivik launched his assault on the youth campers of Utoya Island, he expected Norway's special forces to swoop down and stop him at any minute.

Instead, Delta Force police officers made the 25-mile journey by car - they have no helicopter - then had to be rescued by a civilian craft when their boat broke down as it tried to navigate a one-minute hop to the island.

It took police more than 90 minutes to reach the gunman, who by then had mortally wounded 68 people. Breivik immediately dropped his guns and surrendered, having exceeded his wildest murderous expectations.

As Oslo's police force sounds an increasingly defensive note, international experts said Tuesday that Norway's government and security forces must learn stark lessons from a massacre made worse by a lackadaisical approach to planning for terror.

Democrat Wu to resign in wake of sex allegations

WASHINGTON - Democratic Rep. David Wu of Oregon announced Tuesday that he will resign amid the political fallout from an 18-year-old woman's allegations of an unwanted sexual encounter with him.

Wu had already said that he would not seek re-election, but he had come under increasing pressure to step down. Shortly after the allegations broke, Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi requested a House Ethics Committee investigation of his conduct.

"The well-being of my children must come before anything else," Wu said in a statement. "With great sadness, I therefore intend to resign effective upon the resolution of the debt-ceiling crisis. This is the right decision for my family, the institution of the House and my colleagues."

Wu is the second House Democrat in the last six weeks to be forced to resign following allegations of sexual misconduct. Rep. Anthony Weiner of New York resigned after sending lewd photos of himself through Twitter. Wu faced allegations in his 2004 campaign that he had sexually assaulted a former girlfriend when they were students at Stanford University in the 1970s

Oil helps Texas far outpace jobs in other states

SAN ANTONIO - In Vernon, Calif., billboards and radio ads bought by the city in suburban Los Angeles portray Texas Gov. Rick Perry as some kind of unstoppable, job-lassoing marauder - an image Perry himself would no doubt embrace if he decided to run for president.

"This just in," begin the radio spots, which started airing in June, "Texas Gov. Rick Perry is urging Vernon's 1,800 employers to move their 55,000-plus jobs from California to Texas." Beneath the voiceover, an emergency siren wails.

When it comes to attracting jobs, are Perry and Texas really such a force to be reckoned with? That question is stirring discussion around the country these days, especially in political circles, as Texas markets itself as a job mecca and as Perry ponders whether to run for president in an election that will be focused on jobs and the economy. During a decade that included a national recession, Texas added a million jobs, more than almost every other state combined.

Authoritiesidentify mystery Utah inmate

SALT LAKE CITY - A mystery man believed to be in his 70s who has been locked up in a Utah jail for more than three weeks, refusing to provide his name, was identified Tuesday as a missing New Mexico man, authorities said.

The graying, disheveled man with blue eyes and a scruffy face was booked into the Utah County Jail as "John Doe" on July 1 after being arrested for trespassing in the Provo Police Department parking garage, about 45 miles south of Salt Lake City.

Since then, investigators have been publicizing his mug shot and reaching out to the media and public to figure out who he is. About 100 tips had led nowhere. Authorities even considered the man might have been a missing district attorney from Pennsylvania, but later ruled that out.

- The Associated Press