World / Nation Briefs March 1, 2012
<p>St. Joseph's Catholic Church is left in ruins after a severe storm hit in the early morning hours on Wednesday, Feb. 29, 2012, in in Ridgway, Ill. Several deaths have been reported in Harrisburg and left the city's medical center scrambling to treat an influx of injured, the hospital's top administrator said. (AP Photo/The Southern Illinoisan, Paul Newton)</p>
<p>Family members and friends try to salvage what they can after a tornado destroyed their neighborhood homes Wednesday, Feb. 29, 2012, in Harrisburg, Ill. The tornado that blasted Harrisburg, killing six, was an EF4, the second-highest rating given to twisters based on damage. Scientists said it was 200 yards wide with winds up to 170 mph. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman)</p>
Twisters rip through Midwest, South, killing 12
HARRISBURG, Ill. - A pre-dawn twister flattened entire blocks of homes in a small Illinois town Wednesday as violent storms ravaged the Midwest and South, killing at least 12 people in three states.
Winds also ripped through the country music mecca of Branson, Mo., damaging some of the city's famous theaters just days before the start of the busy tourist season.
The tornado that blasted Harrisburg in southern Illinois, killing six, was an EF4, the second-highest rating given to twisters based on damage. Scientists said it was 200 yards wide with winds up to 170 mph.
By midday, townspeople in the community of 9,000 were sorting through piles of debris and remembering their dead while the winds still howled around them.
Not long after the storm, Darrell Osman raced to his mother's home, arriving just in time to speak to her before she was taken to a hospital with a head injury, a severe cut to her neck and a broken arm and leg.
N. Korea agrees to suspend some nuclear activities
WASHINGTON - North Korea raised hopes Wednesday for a major easing in nuclear tensions under its youthful new leader, agreeing to suspend uranium enrichment at a major facility and refrain from missile and nuclear tests in exchange for a mountain of critically needed U.S. food aid.
It was only a preliminary step but a necessary one to restart broader six-nation negotiations that would lay down terms for what the North could get in return for abandoning its nuclear weapons program. Pyongyang pulled out of those talks in 2009 and seemingly has viewed the nuclear program as key to the survival of its dynastic, communist regime, now entering its third generation.
The announcement, just over two months after the death of longtime ruler Kim Jong Il, opened a door for the secretive government under his untested youngest son, Kim Jong Un, to improve ties with the United States and win critically needed aid and international acceptance.
Romney, Santorum both claim momentum
WASHINGTON - A victorious Mitt Romney and runner-up Rick Santorum both claimed satisfaction from the close Michigan primary on Wednesday as they swiftly shifted their duel for the Republican presidential nomination to Ohio and the rest of next week's delegate-rich Super Tuesday contests.
Campaigning in Bexley, Ohio, Romney promised "more jobs, less debt and a smaller government" if he wins the nomination and defeats President Barack Obama in the fall. "Interestingly, the people who said that the economy and jobs were their No. 1 issue, they voted for me, overwhelmingly" in the Michigan primary, he said.
Santorum saw the events of the previous 24 hours differently, having won half of the 30 delegates in his rival's home state primary even though he narrowly lost the popular vote. "We had a much better night in Michigan than maybe was first reported," he said, in Tennessee.
While Santorum contended the race to pick an opponent for Democrat Obama was down to two men, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul had other ideas as they set their own priorities for the 10 Super Tuesday contests.
That made Washington's caucuses on Saturday something of a campaign way-station, worth 40 delegates but squeezed in between two big primary nights.
Obama welcomes Iraq war vets to White House
WASHINGTON - With a formal dinner for the few, President Barack Obama on Wednesday paid solemn tribute to the many.
The president who opposed the Iraq war from its outset thanked those who fought its battles by sitting down to a candlelit meal with a small cross section of the million-plus who served there over the past nine years.
Looking out over a sea of dress uniforms sparkling with medals attesting to years of wartime strife, Obama told the gathering: "In a culture that celebrates fame and fortune, yours are not necessarily household names. You are something more: the patriots who served in our name. And after nearly nine years in Iraq, tonight is an opportunity to express our gratitude and to say once more, welcome home."
The faces of war were reflected in the 200 veterans and their guests who gathered in the East Room to dine on aged rib-eye steak, potato croquettes and chocolate crme brulee. They came from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories, and spanned generations, gender and all five branches of the military.
- The Associated Press