World/Nation Briefs June 2, 2011

Republicans press Obama on spending cuts, Medicare

WASHINGTON - Face to face at the White House, GOP leaders complained to President Barack Obama on Wednesday that he had not produced a detailed plan of spending cuts and accused him of playing politics over Medicare as the nation careens toward a debt crisis.

The White House said Obama has in fact led on the issue and made clear that he has no intention of dropping what Democrats believe is a winning political issue: accusing the GOP of trying to destroy the popular health care program for seniors.

"He doesn't believe that we need to end Medicare as we know it," said press secretary Jay Carney.

Republicans said their plan would save Medicare, not end it, and they in turn accused Obama of failing to present any proposals to preserve Medicare or drive down deficits at all.

Dozens killed in Yemen street battles

SANAA, Yemen - Street battles between Yemeni government forces and armed tribesmen killed dozens of people Wednesday in this country teetering on the brink of civil war, forcing residents to cower in basements or brave gunfire to fetch bread and water.

Nearly four months of mass protests calling for President Ali Abdullah Saleh's ouster have exacerbated already dire poverty, shuttering businesses and forcing up prices of essential goods. It's a trend that does not bode well for long-term stability in this gun-ridden corner of the Arabian Peninsula, home to an active al-Qaida branch and other armed Islamist groups.

Yemen's mainly peaceful protests gave way to fighting last week between Saleh's security forces and fighters loyal to the head of Yemen's most powerful tribal coalition, Sheik Sadeq al-Ahmar. That was the tipping point that pushed the anti-government uprising toward civil war.

European foodcontaminationmystery deepens

BERLIN - The number of people hit by a massive European outbreak of foodborne bacterial infections is one third higher than previously known and a stunningly high number of patients suffer from a potentially deadly complication than can shut down their kidneys, officials said Wednesday.

The death toll rose to 17, with German authorities reporting that an 84-year-old woman with the complication had died on Sunday.

Medical authorities appeared no closer to discovering either the source of the infection or the mystery at the heart of the outbreak: why the unusual strain of the E. coli bacteria appears to be causing so many cases of hemolytic uremic syndrome, which attacks the kidneys and can cause seizures, strokes and comas.

"This particular strain we're dealing with now seems to be unique," said Dr. Hilde Kruse, program manager for food safety at WHO Europe:

Germany's national health agency said 1,534 people in the country had been infected by EHEC, a particularly deadly strain of the common bacteria found in the digestive systems of cows, humans and other mammals.

IRS grappling with soaring taxpayer identity theft

WASHINGTON - Imagine filing your tax return and learning that someone else got your refund. With your name and Social Security number, no less.

The IRS is grappling with a nearly five-fold increase in taxpayer identity theft between 2008 and 2010, a Government Accountability Office official plans to tell a House hearing Thursday. There were 248,357 incidents in 2010, compared to 51,702 in 2008.

The GAO findings, obtained by The Associated Press, don't begin to describe the pain for a first-time victim, who must wait for a refund while the IRS sorts out which return is real and which is a fraud.

Many identity thieves don't get prosecuted, according James White, director of strategic issues for the GAO..

Images of dead kids fan Syria's protests

BEIRUT - The images grow no less shocking with time - a gaping wound on a tiny skull, the hair matted with blood; a gunshot that pierced the skin of a small torso and went straight toward the kidney; and finally, the broken neck and severed penis of a 13-year-old boy, his mangled body contorted on a plastic sheet.

The images of children killed in a government crackdown on protests are circulating widely among Syrians on YouTube and Al-Jazeera, Facebook and opposition websites. And they are stoking even more fury against a regime the opposition says has lost all legitimacy.

Syria's government tried to blunt the anger with promises Wednesday to investigate the killing of 13-year-old Hamza al-Khatib , who tortured and mutilated body turned him into a symbol of the Syrian uprising.

But protesters deride that and other government concessions, including an amnesty that freed political prisoners on Wednesday and a committee to prepare for national dialogue, as nothing more than a ploy to buy time for President Basher Assad. They say at least 25 children are among more than 1,000 dead, with government crackdowns that increase the toll almost daily.

Congressman denies sending lewd photo

WASHINGTON - Anthony Weiner's attempt to end the media storm surrounding a lewd photo sent from his Twitter account is only stirring up the situation as he flatly denies he sent the photo, but he can't say for sure that the shot of a man in underpants isn't him.

Weiner spoke to reporters Wednesday in the Capitol. One day after refusing to answer reporters' questions about the incident, he did a series of interviews in hopes of quelling the controversy over the case and insisted he was the victim of a prank.

He said: "We know for sure I didn't send this photograph."

- The Associated Press