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NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY OF DIRY KARSAN
MONDAY, APRIL 27, 2009
Chance Dibben/XANSAN
A storm is brewing
Associated Press
Turbulent storm clouds rotate over the Campanile during Saturday's thunderstorm. Storms are forecasted for today and throughout the rest of the week.
BY BRIAN MURPHY
Iraqi leader condemns deadly U.S. raid on city
BAGHDAD — Iraq's prime minister denounced a deadly U.S. raid on Sunday as a "crime" that violated the security pact with Washington and demanded American commanders hand over those responsible to face possible trial in Iraqi courts.
U. S. forces plan to move out of most Iraqi cities by the end of June in the first phase of a promised withdrawal from the country by the end of 2011.
A statement from Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki — in his role as commander general of Iraqi forces — called the raid a "violation of the security pact."
The U.S. military, however, strongly denied that it overstepped its bounds and said it notified Iraqi authorities in advance — in accordance with the rules that took effect this year governing U.S. battlefield conduct.
The pre dawn raid in the southern Shiite city of Kut ended with at least one woman dead after being caught in gunfire and six suspects arrested for alleged links to Shiite militia factions.
Elsewhere in Iraq, gunmen stormed two Christian homes in separate attacks in the ethnically diverse city of Kirkuk, killing at least two Chaldean Christians and one Assyrian, said police Brig. Burham Taib.
ment to The Associated Press.
ous test of the security pact so far and could bring new strains during a critical transition period.
But efforts were quickly launched in an attempt to tone down the dispute.
The six detainees were released, said Major Gen. Read Shakir Jawdat, head of the provincial police that includes Kut. At the same news conference, U.S. Col. Richard France offered condolences to the family of the woman killed.
The fallout marks the most seri-
He asked the U.S. military "to release the detainees and hand over those responsible for this crime to the courts," according to an Iraqi security official who read the state-
The northern city is a fault line between the majority Kurds and Arabs, but also includes ethnic Turks and various Christian groups. A U.N. report given to Iraqi leaders last week recommends giving Kirkuk a "special status" with oversight by both the Kurd region and the central government in Baghdad.
NATIONAL Storms, tornados hit Midwest over weekend
DES MOINES, Iowa — Strong thunderstorms packing possible tornadoes battered parts of the Midwest on Sunday for a second straight day, damaging at least half a dozen buildings and a campground in Iowa and two Oklahoma homes.
Tornadoes were reported in eastern Iowa, western Oklahoma and south-central Kansas, but there were no immediate reports of serious injuries.
In Kansas, a possible tornado touched down in the Lake Afton area southwest of Wichita. Two people were injured when the camper they were in was flipped by the storm, said Sgt. Oscar Thomasson of the Sedgwick County Sheriff's Department.
Numerous roads and bridges were closed because of heavy rainfall that accompanied the storms on back-to-back days.
Strong to severe thunderstorms moved across the southern two-thirds of the state throughout the afternoon, with some areas seeing nickel-to-quarter-sized hail.
ECONOMY Chrysler one step closer to avoiding liquidation
DETROIT — Chrysler LLC cleared another major obstacle to its survival Sunday when it reached a tentative deal for concessions with the United Auto Workers union.
The troubled automaker is just days from a Thursday U.S. government deadline to gain concessions from its unions and debtholders and form an alliance with Italy's Fiat Group SpA or face almost certain liquidation.
The UAW announced the deal in a news release Sunday night, calling the concessions painful but saying the deal took advantage of the Obama administration giving Chrysler and its workers a second chance.
The administration in February rejected Chrysler's restructuring plan and said it could not stand on its own.
Associated Press