World Briefs May 26, 2011

Life sentence for Smart kidnapper

SALT LAKE CITY - Nearly nine years after she was abducted at knifepoint from her bed, Elizabeth Smart watched Wednesday as a federal judge ordered a street preacher to spend the rest of his life in prison for kidnapping and raping her while holding her captive for months.

The sentencing of Brian David Mitchell closed a major legal chapter in the heartbreaking ordeal that stalled for years after Mitchell was declared mentally ill and unfit to stand trial in state court.

"I know that you know what you did is wrong," Smart said to Mitchell, who sang quietly in the courtroom. "You took away nine months of my life that can never be returned."

Smart was 14 when she was snatched from the bedroom of her family home in Salt Lake City. Wednesday was the first time she faced her kidnapper in court; he was removed from the trial for singing hymns when she testified.

Obama, Cameron unite on NATO Gadhafi assault

LONDON - Firmly united against Moammar Gadhafi, President Barack Obama and Prime Minister David Cameron promised a relentless and punishing pummeling of his forces in Libya on Wednesday but also pleaded for patience for an effort with no clear end in sight. Obama ruled out a deadline for ending NATO's military assault, saying only it would be over "in a timely fashion."

The Libyan crisis and the broader Arab uprisings across North Africa and the Middle East will be major topics as Obama, Cameron and leaders of other wealthy nations head to the Group of Eight gathering in Deauville, France, for talks that begin today. The world's top economies are scrambling to figure out how to help countries with democratic transitions without being seen as heavy-handed.

The NATO mission, is intended to save lives but not to create a regime change, Cameron noted.

- The Associated Press