World/Nation
IS group claims responsibility for Tunisia attack
TUNIS, Tunisia - The Islamic State group claimed responsibility Thursday for the attack that killed 21 people at a museum. But Tunisian authorities said the two slain gunmen had no clear links to extremists, and analysts said existing militant cells are merely being inspired by the group, rather than establishing its presence across North Africa.
Police announced the arrest of five people described as directly tied to the two gunmen who opened fire Wednesday at the National Bardo Museum. Four others said to be supporters of the cell also were arrested in central Tunisia, not far from where a group claiming allegiance to al-Qaida's North African branch has been active.
Tunisians stepped around trails of blood and broken glass outside the museum to rally in solidarity with the 21 victims - most of them foreign tourists from cruise ships - and with the country's fledgling democracy. Marchers carried signs saying, "No to terrorism," and "Tunisia is bloodied but still standing."
In claiming responsibility for the attack, the Islamic State group issued a statement and audio on jihadi websites applauding the dead gunmen as "knights" for their "blessed invasion of one of the dens of infidels and vice in Muslim Tunisia."
Several well-armed groups in neighboring and chaotic Libya have already pledged their allegiance to Islamic State based in Iraq and Syria, but the attack of such magnitude in Tunisia - the only country to emerge from the Arab Spring uprisings with a functioning democracy - raised concern about the spread of extremism to the rest of North Africa.
House, Senate panels adopt budget plans
WASHINGTON - Republicans in Congress advanced balanced-budget plans bristling with cuts in Medicaid and other benefit programs Thursday, determined to make a down payment on last fall's campaign promise to erase deficits by the end of the decade.
Last-minute maneuvering to match Pentagon spending levels requested by President Barack Obama consumed GOP lawmakers in both the House Budget Committee and the counterpart Senate panel.
Yet the GOP's focus also extended to deficit reduction, repeal of the health care law, an overhaul of the tax code and other budget priorities long advocated by conservatives in control of both houses of Congress for the first time in nearly a decade.
"By demanding Washington live within its means, we are forcing government to be more efficient, effective and accountable," Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., said after gaveling the House's version of the budget through its Budget Committee on a 22-13 party-line vote.
The Senate budget panel, chaired by Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., followed suit a few hours later, on a 12-10 vote that also fell along party lines.
Obama orders steep cuts in feds' emissions
WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama ordered the federal government on Thursday to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by nearly half over the next decade, driving his climate change agenda forward despite percolating challenges from Republican-led states.
By curtailing pollution within the U.S. government, Obama sought to increase political pressure on other nations to deal seriously with climate change. The U.S. and other nations will soon announce how much they're willing to cut their national emissions as part of a global climate treaty to be finalized in December; scientists warn that if those pledges are too lax, the treaty could be too weak to stop the worst effects of global warming.
"We thought it was important for us to lead by example," Obama said at the Energy Department headquarters, where he toured a sprawling installation of solar panels on the building's roof. "These are ambitious goals, but we know they're achievable goals."
Under an executive order signed by Obama, the government must cut its emissions of the heat-trapping gases blamed for global warming by 40 percent, compared to 2008 levels - a move the White House said could save taxpayers up to $18 billion in electricity costs.