World/Nation Briefs August 9, 2013
Yemen official says 12 militants killed by drones
SANAA, Yemen - The U.S. has sharply escalated its drone war in Yemen, with military officials in the Arab country reporting 34 suspected al-Qaida militants killed in less than two weeks, including three strikes on Thursday alone in which a dozen died.
The action against al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, as the Yemen branch is known, comes amid a global terror alert issued by Washington. One Mideast official says the uptick is due to its leaders leaving themselves more vulnerable by moving from their normal hideouts toward areas where they could carry out attacks.
The U.S. and Britain evacuated diplomatic staff from the capital of Sanaa this week after learning of a threatened attack that prompted Washington to close temporarily 19 diplomatic posts in the Middle East and Africa.
Thursday's first reported drone attack hit a car carrying suspected militants in the district of Wadi Ubaidah, about 109 miles east of Sanaa, and killed six, a security official said. Badly burned bodies lay beside their vehicle, according to the official. Five of the dead were Yemenis, while the sixth was believed to be of another Arab nationality, he said.
Muddled U.S. messages on Egypt fuel anger
WASHINGTON - The Obama administration's efforts to promote democracy in Egypt are being complicated by what many Egyptians see as mixed and confusing messages coming from Washington, exacerbating already high anti-American sentiment and threatening broader U.S. goals in the region.
Any administration might find it difficult to safely navigate the intricacies of Egypt's current political tumult, but some U.S. officials concede they have been unable to communicate a coherent policy. Officials also complain that their task has been made more challenging by the delicate line they must toe and by members of Congress who have inserted themselves into the high-wire diplomacy with one of America's most important Arab allies.
Egypt has been a cornerstone of Mideast stability for decades, notably because of its peace deal with Israel and its protection of the vital Suez Canal. The administration has been eager to remain engaged and influential there, but it is straddling a fine line, trying to balance its support for representative government with U.S. national interests.
In Egypt's crisis, the two do not meld well and staying involved has required what some see as a compromise in democratic principles.
Fate of southern Democrats could give GOP Senate
WASHINGTON - Republicans are counting on some Southern comfort to win Senate control next year.
The fate of Democratic incumbents in GOP-trending Arkansas, Louisiana and North Carolina, the ability of the 71-year-old GOP leader to hold his Kentucky seat and the eventual outcome of a Georgia primary will help decide whether Republicans gain the six seats necessary to grab power in the Senate for the final two years of Barack Obama's presidency.
Fifteen months before Election Day, the GOP has a genuine shot at the majority, especially with the midterm elections' traditional low turnout and possible Obama fatigue on the party's side. But both Republicans and Democrats stop short of writing off several Democratic incumbents who would have to lose for the GOP to regain power, and some Republicans worry about holding GOP seats in Kentucky and Georgia.
The transformation of the South from solidly Democratic to nearly all Republican in the half century since the 1964 Civil Rights Act has made the states generally inhospitable to Democratic politicians. And next year's elections will test whether the last remaining Southern Democrats can survive.
Overall numbers and geography favor the GOP - 21 Democratic seats are on state ballots compared with 14 Republican. Seven of the Democratic seats are in states that Obama lost in 2012 to Republican Mitt Romney, some by 15 points or more. Adding to the GOP bullishness: Democratic retirements in three of the seven states - West Virginia, Montana and South Dakota - and a few recruiting disappointments.
Man posts photo of wife's dead body on Facebook
SOUTH MIAMI, Fla. - A South Florida man who authorities say fatally shot his wife - and apparently then posted a photo of her body on Facebook - was charged with first-degree murder Thursday night after turning himself in.
Miami-Dade police said in an arrest affidavit that Derek Medina, 31, said he shot Jennifer Alfonso, 26, at their South Miami home after she said she was "leaving him." When officers responded to the home, they found Alfonso's body, as well as her 10-year-old daughter, who was unharmed.
A post on a Facebook page identified as Medina's said at 11:11 .a.m. Thursday, "Im going to prison or death sentence for killing my wife love you guys miss you guys takecare Facebook people you will see me in the news."
- The Associated Press