Syrian rebels press U.S., allies to send weapons
BEIRUT – With President Barack Obama weighing the issue, increasingly desperate Syrian rebels are pressing the U.S. and its allies to send weapons to even their odds now that Lebanon’s powerful Hezbollah guerrillas are fighting alongside the regime.
The U.S. and its allies so far have refused to send lethal aid to the rebels in part because of fears that the arms could fall into the hands of Sunni extremist groups that have joined the fight against President Bashar Assad.
Moderate opposition leaders have stepped up efforts to turn that argument around, saying Western inaction will deal a blow to their leadership and let al-Qaida-linked militants take the forefront in the rebellion or hand victory to Iran and Hezbollah, a Shiite militant group. They’re hoping the newly visible role of Hezbollah and the fall of the strategic town of Qusair to regime forces will spur the U.S. and other countries to send weapons.
2 window washers rescued from skyscraper
NEW YORK – Two window washers left dangling from a collapsed scaffold near the top of a New York City skyscraper have been rescued.
The men were stuck Wednesday afternoon at the 600-foot Hearst building in midtown Manhattan.
Fire department officials say workers cut open windows on the 44th floor and pulled the men inside to safety. The window washers and a firefighter moved slowly from the scaffolding to the opening.
The metal scaffold appeared to have buckled in the middle, into an elongated V shape. The men were on either side, communicating with firefighters on the roof of the 46-story building for about an hour and a half before they were rescued.
Strike over EU plan disrupts European flights
PARIS – A strike by air- traffic controllers forced cancellations of more than 60 percent of flights around France and disrupted travel elsewhere in Europe on Wednesday, as workers protested a plan to simplify the continent’s patchwork airspace.
More than 2,000 flights were canceled in France as more workers joined the second day of the strike, according to the civil aviation authority. The walkout started Tuesday and is scheduled to end today.
The biggest walkout was in France, but it had a ripple effect on other European countries.
Turkish government open to talks to end protests
ISTANBUL – Turkey’s government on Wednesday offered a first concrete gesture aimed at ending nearly two weeks of street protests, proposing a referendum about a development project in Istanbul that triggered demonstrations that have become the biggest challenge to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s 10-year tenure.
Protesters expressed doubts about the offer, however, and continued to converge in Taksim Square’s Gezi Park, epicenter of the anti-government protests that began in Istanbul 13 days ago and spread across the country.
The referendum proposal came after Erdogan, who had been defiant and uncompromising in recent days, met with a group of 11 activists.
Committee rejects change to justice system
WASHINGTON – Siding with the Pentagon’s top brass, the Senate Armed Services Committee approved legislation Wednesday to keep commanders involved in deciding whether to prosecute sexual assault cases, rejecting an aggressive plan to stem sex-related crimes in the armed forces by overhauling the military justice system.
By a vote of 17-9, the committee passed a bill crafted by its chairman, Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., designed to increase pressure on senior commanders to prosecute sexual assault cases by requiring a top-level review if they fail to do so. Levin’s proposal also makes it a crime to retaliate against victims who report a sexual assault and calls on the Pentagon to relieve commanders who fail to create a climate receptive for victims.
The committee rebuffed a proposal in a bill by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., to remove commanders from the process of deciding whether serious crimes, including sexual misconduct cases, go to trial. That judgment would have rested instead with seasoned trial lawyers who have prosecutorial experience and hold the rank of colonel or higher.
Storms pelt Midwest with rain, wind, hail
CHICAGO – An unusually massive line of storms packing hail, lightning and tree-toppling winds was rolling through the Midwest on Wednesday and could affect more than one in five Americans from Iowa to Maryland.
Meteorologists were even warning about the possibility of a weather event called a derecho, which is a storm of strong straight-line winds spanning at least 240 miles. The storms are also likely to generate tornadoes and cause power outages that will be followed by oppressive heat, said Russell Schneider, director of the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla.
Southern Baptists oppose gay Scout rule
HOUSTON – The Southern Baptist Convention approved a resolution Wednesday expressing its opposition to the Boy Scouts of America’s new policy allowing gay Scouts, though it doesn’t explicitly call for churches to drop all ties with the organization.
While some action against the Scouts was widely anticipated, given the denomination’s very public opposition to the change, the resolution takes a softer tone than many had expected.
It also calls on the Boy Scouts to remove executive and board leaders who tried to allow gays as members and leaders without consulting the many religious groups that sponsor troops. It passed overwhelmingly, but not unanimously, by the nation’s largest Protestant denomination at its annual meeting in Houston.
Associated Press
