Govt. shutdown decision before high noon
WASHINGTON, April 8 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama said he told House and Senate leaders he expected a final answer Friday morning on whether a government shutdown would be averted.
Obama said his Thursday night meeting with House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., produced movement toward a deal ahead of a midnight Friday deadline.
"But there is still a few issues that are outstanding," he said of the group's third White House meeting in two days. "They're difficult issues. They're important to both sides. And so I'm not yet prepared to express wild optimism. But I think we are further along today than we were (Wednesday)."
He said he hoped the lawmakers' staffs and his own would work out a compromise "that has very meaningful cuts in a wide variety of categories, that helps us move in the direction of living within our means, but preserves our investments in things like education and innovation, research, that are going to be important for our long-term competitiveness."
But he said he wanted to know one way or the other before noon so federal agencies and congressional offices would know whethere they should continue with their shutdown plans.
Some offices already started telling workers Thursday who would be considered essential -- and therefore should go to work -- and who should stay home.
An estimated 800,000 workers may be legally barred from working if the government shuts down.
Nuke utility: No new harm from aftershock
TOKYO, April 8 (UPI) -- A major aftershock in Japan did not further damage the Fukushima Daiichi reactors but did spill radioactive water at another plant, officials said Friday.
Tokyo Electric Power Co. said workers had returned to Fukushima after the 7.1-magnitude aftershock that hit the ravaged northeast Thursday night, CNN reported. The initial reading, later corrected, was 7.4.
The new earthquake was centered in Miyagi prefecture, already the worst hit by the horrific March 11 magnitude-9 earthquake and tsunami.
Radioactive water spilled from pools holding spent fuel rods at the Onagawa power plant in Miyagi, Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency told Kyodo News.
Pools at Onagawa and the Higashidori nuclear station in Aomori prefecture, both operated by Tohoku Electric Power Co., lost their cooling functions for 20 to 80 minutes, but the temperature hardly rose, the agency said.
At Fukushima, workers struggling to avert a meltdown continued pumping nitrogen, an inert gas, into the No. 1 reactor Friday to prevent a hydrogen explosion, while at the same time battling high-level radioactive water flooding the basements of some of the reactors.
The nitrogen injections are intended to displace oxygen in the reactor shell, reducing the "extremely low" chance of another explosion, Tokyo Electric said.
Thursday's 11:32 p.m. shock, the latest in a continuing series of aftershocks that have tormented the region since March 11, also prompted the Japan Meteorological Agency to issue a tsunami warning that was canceled before 1 a.m. Friday. The shock was off Miyagi at a depth of about 25 miles.
NATO won't apologize for attack on rebels
TRIPOLI, Libya, April 8 (UPI) -- NATO said Friday it will not apologize for the deaths of rebels in a friendly fire attack near the Libyan oil port city of Brega.
During a news conference at NATO's operational headquarters in Naples, Italy, Rear Adm. Russell Harding said the alliance wasn't told rebels were using tanks when the attack occurred Thursday, The New York Times reported.
Reports differ on the death toll, ranging from four to 13.
Gen. Abdul Fattah Younes, commander of the rebel army fighting to oust leader Moammar Gadhafi, said a column of tanks deployed by the insurgents for the first time was the target of a "fierce attack."
"It is likely it is NATO by mistake," Younes, said. He said rebels notified NATO in advance that the tanks were headed to the front.
Harding called movement in the area "extremely fluid" at the time of the attack.
"I am not apologizing. The situation on the ground was and remains extremely fluid and until yesterday we did not have information" that the rebels planned to deploy tanks, Harding said.
"Our role is to protect civilians and tanks have been used to threaten civilians" in other parts of Libya, particularly in the western port of Misurata where forces loyal to Gadhafi have used tanks against rebels, he said.
Thursday's incident marked the second time in less than a week that NATO warplanes struck a rebel target. On Saturday, airstrikes killed 13 rebels in the same region.
Gates urges restraint after attack on camp
MOSUL, Iraq, April 8 (UPI) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates urged restraint by the Iraqi government after an apparent attack by security forces on dissidents under U.S. protection.
The Iranian dissidents, the People's Mujahedeen, live in Camp Ashraf in northern Iraq near the Iranian border, said Iraqi security forces fired on camp residents Thursday into Friday, killing more than a dozen people, The New York Times reported.
In e-mails received by UPI, the People's Mujahedeen said 20 people had been killed and 300 injured.
"The Iraqi aggressing forces that started their murderous attack on Ashraf ... have removed the northern fences using a number of bulldozers and have entered the camp," an e-mail signed by the secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran said, accusing Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki of authorizing the attack at the behest of Tehran.
"The oppressive forces are attacking the unarmed residents protesting the attack, using tear gas and water cannons and are throwing grenades at them."
The reports could not be independently confirmed, although U.S. officials expressed confidence in the information they received about the incident.
However, Gates told reporters in Mosul Friday U.S. officials were concerned.
"We're very concerned with reports of deaths and injuries resulting from this morning's clash," Gates said after talking to U.S. troops at Forward Operating Base Marez in Mosul. "I urge the Iraqi government to show restraint and live up to their commitments to treat residents of Ashraf in accordance with Iraqi law and their international obligations."
The camp houses several thousand Iranian dissidents who swore to overthrow the Iranian government.
Gates said no U.S. troops stationed near Camp Ashraf were involved in the clash, but may have offered medical assistance.
Gulf Council mediating Saleh ouster talks
DOHA, Qatar, April 8 (UPI) -- The Gulf Cooperation Council said it wanted to "reach a deal" leading to the ouster of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh but he rejected the idea Friday.
"We will reject any new initiative from any country dealing with Yemen's current crisis, "Saleh said.
About 125 people have been killed since a political uprising began in Yemen in February and anti-government protests were expected again Friday in Sanaa and other cities, The National newspaper reported.
Prior to Saleh's statement of rejection, Qatari Prime Minister Sheik Hamad bin Jasem said: "We hope to reach a deal with the Yemeni president to step down," Qatar news agency Thursday.
Both sides were invited to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to participate in talks to end the crisis. A date for the talks was not disclosed.
Mohammed Qahtan, a spokesman for Yemen's opposition parties, said a Riyadh deal would be Saleh's last chance for a "safe exit," Gulfnews.com reported Friday.
"The plan calls for the stepping down of [Saleh], guarantee him and his family immunity from prosecution and the formation of a national unity government," Qahtan said. He said the opposition was willing to engage in talks in Riyadh.
The GCC is a political and economic union of the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Omar, Qatar and Kuwait.
