World/Nation Briefs March 25, 2013
Rebels overthrow Central African Republic leader
BANGUI, Central African Republic - Rebels overthrew Central African Republic's president of a decade on Sunday, seizing the presidential palace and declaring that the desperately poor country has "opened a new page in its history." The country's president fled the capital, while extra French troops moved to secure the airport, officials said.
The rebels' invasion of the capital came just two months after they had signed a peace agreement that would have let President Francois Bozize serve until 2016. That deal unraveled in recent days, prompting the insurgents' advance into Bangui and Bozize's departure to a still unpublicized location.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the unconstitutional seizure of power and called for the swift restoration of constitutional order, U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said.
Cyprus secures international bailout
BRUSSELS - Cyprus secured a 10 billion euro ($13 billion) package of rescue loans in tense, last-ditch negotiations early Monday, saving the country from a banking system collapse and bankruptcy.
"We've put an end to the uncertainty that has affected Cyprus and the euro area over the past week," said Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who chairs the meetings of the 17-nation eurozone's finance ministers.
In return for the bailout, Cyprus must drastically shrink its outsized banking sector, cut its budget, implement structural reforms and privatize state assets, he said.
The cash-strapped Mediterranean island nation has been shut out of international markets for almost two years.
Kerry tells Iraq it shouldn't allow Iranian overflights
BAGHDAD - Just days after the 10th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry confronted Baghdad for continuing to grant Iran access to its airspace and said Iraq's behavior was raising questions about its reliability as a partner.
Speaking to reporters during a previously unannounced trip to Baghdad, Kerry said that he and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki had engaged in "a very spirited discussion" on the Iranian flights, which U.S. officials believe are ferrying weapons and fighters intended for the embattled Syrian government.
Kerry said the plane shipments - along with material being trucked across Iraqi territory from Iran to Syria - were helping President Bashar Assad's regime cling to power by increasing their ability to strike at Syrian rebels and opposition figures demanding Assad's ouster.
NY's Bloomberg, NRA chief spar on gun control
WASHINGTON - Two of the loudest voices in the gun debate say it's up to voters now to make their position known to Congress.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and National Rifle Associate Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre claim their opposing views on guns have the support of the overwhelming number of Americans. They are looking at the next two weeks as critical to the debate, when lawmakers head home to hear from constituents ahead of next month's anticipated Senate vote on gun control.
Bloomberg, a former Republican-turned-independent, has just sunk $12 million for Mayors Against Illegal Guns to run television ads and phone banks in 13 states urging voters to tell their senators to pass legislation requiring universal background checks for gun buyers.
"We demanded a plan and then we demanded a vote. We've got the plan, we're going to get the vote. And now it's incumbent on us to make our voices heard," said Bloomberg.
Syrian opposition plunges into disarray
BEIRUT - Syria's opposition plunged into disarray Sunday as its president quit and its military chief refused to recognize the newly elected prime minister of an interim government for rebel-held areas.
The moves reflected deep splits in the body the U.S. and its allies hope will emerge as the united face of the opposition and advance the fight to topple President Bashar Assad's regime.
The missteps of the opposition's mostly exile political leadership drew little notice inside Syria, where rebel fighters dismissed it as ineffective and pushed ahead with their offensive to gain ground near the country's southern border with Jordan. Nearby, the Israeli military in the Golan Heights responded to fire by shooting back at targets inside Syria.
Anonymous tip led to arrests in baby killing
BRUNSWICK, Ga. - Police in Georgia say an anonymous tip helped them make arrests in the shooting death of baby who was killed in a stroller.
The Brunswick Police Department said Sunday that they got a tip that someone was crouched in the back seat of a vehicle as it drove away from the shooting on Thursday. The Glynn County detective's division spent hours following up on the tip and eventually arrested a 14-year-old suspect. The boy's statements led them to take 17-year-old De'Marquise Elkins into custody.
Elkins is charged with murder in the death of 13-month-old Antonio Santiago. The baby's mother, Sherry West, said she was walking home when Elkins and a younger boy approached and asked her for money.
Elkins' family says he did not shoot the baby.
1 winning ticket for Saturday's $338M Powerball
TRENTON, N.J. - When Teddy Jackson heard Sunday morning that the lone winning ticket for a $338.3 million Powerball drawing was sold in New Jersey, the Toms River resident combed through his 40 tickets and hoped for the best.
About 20 minutes later, after checking each ticket at least a couple times, Jackson realized he would have to go work on Monday.
"There were a few where I had one or two numbers, but that was it," the 45-year-old electrician said Sunday. "Now, I have to watch someone else get my money, buy the powerboat I would have gotten .... it was fun to dream about those things for a few minutes while I checked everything."
Details on where and when the winning ticket was purchased and other related information were not disclosed Sunday by New Jersey Lottery officials, who also would not say if anyone claiming to hold the ticket had contacted them as of Sunday afternoon.
They said information on the ticket would be released at a news conference on Monday morning at the lottery's headquarters in Lawrenceville.
- Associated Press