World Briefs February 13, 2012
RI player wins $336 million Powerball jackpot
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Lottery officials said someone who played the Powerball in Rhode Island has won the $336.4 million jackpot.
The new multimillionaire has not stepped forward and the lottery has not said where the winning ticket was sold. To win, the player had to match all of Saturday's five numbers, 1-10-37-52-57, and Powerball number 11.
Because of rising sales, the jackpot nearly doubled from $173.5 million on Feb. 1.
Powerball is played in 42 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Man charged in plot to kill Utah governor
SALT LAKE CITY - A Utah man who police say threatened to assassinate Gov. Gary Herbert is now facing multiple felony charges.
Brian Biff Baker was charged Friday in Salt Lake City's 3rd District Court with felony counts of drug and weapons possession, along with a misdemeanor count of threatening elected officials.
Court records show no hearings are set in the case. The 52-year-old Baker is being held in the Salt Lake County jail. Bail is set at $25,007. It was not immediately clear whether Baker had an attorney.
Court papers said Baker was conducting surveillance on the Governor's Mansion in Salt Lake City.
The records also say that on Feb. 2, Baker had sent text messages to a friend stating that he was lying in the bushes and intended to kill the governor. The recipient of the texts reported the messages to police and Baker was arrested the same day, court papers say.
Drillers cut gas production as prices drop
PITTSBURGH - As natural gas prices continue to drop, the recent nationwide boom in drilling is slowing. Drillers don't make money if prices go too low - and drilling wells isn't cheap.
In recent weeks, several companies have announced plans to cut gas production around the nation, but experts say the low prices are also opening up new markets.
When the shale drilling boom was starting in 2008 the average price for a unit of gas was about $8. Two years ago it was down to $5.50, and now it's dropped to about $2.50. Part of the reason is that the shale gas formations became productive more rapidly than expected, as thousands of new wells have been drilled nationwide.
Industry reports note that the national count of active new gas drilling rigs fell to 775 in early February, down from about 1,500 in 2008.
Republicans say budget repeats failed policies
WASHINGTON - The new budget that President Barack Obama is sending to Congress aims to achieve $4 trillion in deficit reduction over the next decade by restraining government spending and raising taxes on the wealthy. To help a weak economy, Obama's proposal today requests increases in transportation, education and other areas.
While administration officials on Sunday defended the plan as a balanced approach, Republicans belittled the effort as a repeat of failed policies that did too little to attack soaring costs in such programs as Medicare and threatened growth by raising taxes.
The debate is almost certain to go all the way to Election Day in November with gridlock keeping Congress from resolving many pressing issues on expiring tax cuts and across-the-board spending cuts until a lame-duck session at year's end.
Al-Qaida leader backs Syrian revolt
BEIRUT - Al-Qaida's leader has called for the ouster of Syria's "pernicious, cancerous regime," raising fears that Islamic extremists will try to exploit an uprising against President Bashar Assad that began with peaceful calls for democratic change but is morphing into a bloody, armed insurgency.
The regime has long blamed terrorists for the 11-month-old revolt, and al-Qaida's endorsement creates new difficulties for the U.S., its Western allies and Arab states trying to figure out a way to help force Assad from power. On Sunday, the 22-nation Arab League called for the U.N. Security Council to create a joint peacekeeping force for Syria, but Damascus rejected it immediately.
In an eight-minute video message released late Saturday, al-Qaida chief Ayman al-Zawahri called on Muslims to support Syrian rebels.
- The Associated Press