News Headlines
2 Navy pilots eject from jet and send fighter careening into apartments, destroying buildings
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) — Two Navy pilots ejected from a fighter jet Friday, sending their unmanned plane careening into a Virginia Beach apartment complex and engulfing several buildings in flames.
The plane had dumped loads of fuel before crashing, though it wasn’t clear if that was because of a malfunction or an intentional maneuver by the pilots, said Capt. Mark Weisgerber with U.S. Fleet Forces Command.
Seven people were injured, including both pilots, though all were expected to survive. Authorities were still combing through the wreckage of some 40 apartment units, and they said some residents of the complex still had not been accounted for.
The pilots were a student and instructor, Weisgerber said.
Bruce Nedelka, the Virginia Beach EMS division chief, said that witnesses saw fuel being dumped from the jet before it went down, and that fuel was found on buildings and vehicles in the area.
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US job market takes a break after best hiring binge since Great Recession; jobless rate falls
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. job market took a breather in March after its best hiring stretch since the Great Recession.
Employers added 120,000 jobs last month — half the December-February pace and well short of the 210,000 economists were expecting. The unemployment rate fell from 8.3 percent in February to 8.2 percent, the lowest since January 2009, but that was largely because many Americans stopped looking for work.
Still, few economists expect hiring to fizzle in spring and summer, as it did the past two years. And they blamed seasonal factors for much of Friday’s disappointing report from the Labor Department.
“We don’t think this is the start of another spring dip in labor market conditions,” said Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist with Capital Economics.
The report was also closely watched in political circles. If employers retreat on hiring, consumers could lose confidence in the economy and potentially dim President Barack Obama’s re-election hopes.
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Mali attracts Islamist fighters, al-Qaida, in void left by coup, rebellion
NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — Al-Qaida militants and other Islamist fighters are descending on northern Mali in the chaotic aftermath of a military coup, creating a potential haven for terrorists in a part of the Sahara bristling with heavy weapons looted from Libya.
Tuareg rebels declared an independent state in the region on Friday amid a power vacuum in the north created by the president’s March 21 ouster. The rapidly unfolding events are turning the area, which the Tuaregs now call the Azawad nation, into a magnet for jihadists, much like Afghanistan was when the Taliban took power 15 years ago.
Witnesses in northern Mali and those who have fled to neighboring Niger say they have seen fighters from Algeria, Mauritania and Nigeria in the past week.
In the late 1990s, terrorism training camps were set up in Afghanistan, where al-Qaida was able to operate openly and plot attacks largely unhindered. Now experts warn that Mali, a vast and impoverished Saharan nation in northwest Africa, could play a similar role.
Witnesses in the northern city of Gao, which fell to rebels on March 31, said fighters include people speaking a Mauritanian dialect of Arabic and English. The English-speakers are Nigerians who are believed to belong to the radical Islamist sect Boko Haram, which bombed the U.N. headquarters in Nigeria’s capital last year, killing 25 people.
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Syrian refugees describe mass graves, massacres after fleeing violence ahead of truce
REYHANLI, Turkey (AP) — After days of relentless shelling and sniper attacks, thousands of Syrian refugees streamed across the border into Turkey with horrific accounts Friday of mass graves, massacres and burned-out homes.
The latest reports of escalating violence fueled accusations that President Bashar Assad is rushing to stamp out as much of the year-old uprising as he can before a U.N.-brokered cease-fire next week.
The trigger for the new waves of refugees was an offensive in Idlib province, which borders Turkey and has become increasingly rebellious against the Assad regime.
Activists reported about 100 dead in the villages of Taftanaz and Killi in recent days.
A photograph provided to The Associated Press by a Syrian activist showed at least a dozen corpses wrapped in blankets in what appeared to be a mass grave in Taftanaz. The AP could not verify the authenticity of the photograph, but witnesses also described a mass grave.
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Bosnia’s capital remembers dead with 11,541 empty chairs 20 years after war started
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — Bosnians walked silently and sobbed on Sarajevo’s main street, leaving flowers and gifts on 11,541 red chairs arranged in seemingly endless rows — the number represents the men, women and children killed in a siege that ended up being the longest of a city in modern history.
Sarajevo marked the 20th anniversary of the start of the Bosnian war Friday. Exhibitions, concerts and performances were held, but the impact of the empty chairs reduced many to tears.
“It’s as if the whole tragedy materialized, became visible,” said Asja Rasavac, who covered her face with an umbrella, embarrassed for not being able to control the tears. “One cannot even describe the feeling. It’s not hatred. It’s not anger. It’s just endless sadness.”
Hundreds of the chairs were small, representing the slain children. On some, passers-by left teddy bears, little plastic cars, other toys or candy.
“The amount of the chairs really hit me, especially the little ones,” said Ana Macanovic, who placed white roses on seven chairs — each for a member of her family killed by mortar shells during the siege.
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Calif. college where students were pepper-sprayed votes to delay disputed 2-tiered fee scale
SANTA MONICA, Calif. (AP) — The board of trustees at Santa Monica College voted Friday to postpone a two-tiered fee scale that brought angry campus protests where students were pepper-sprayed.
The board decided at an emergency meeting to wait on a plan to deal with budget cuts by offering high-demand core courses at about four times the regular price.
On the 6-0 vote, the board followed the recommendation of college President Chui Tsang, who circulated a memo before the meeting urging that the plan be put on hold at least for summer classes to allow more time for community input.
His request to the board also hinted at the college funding woes that prompted the fee plan.
“I must warn that this postponement in no way addresses the state funding crisis and the lack of seats for our students to progress in a timely way,” said the resolution obtained by The Associated Press.
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Plus or minus? Jobs report leaves Obama, Romney campaigns unsure where vital issue is headed
WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation’s steady-but-modest job growth presents political challenges for both of November’s all-but-certain presidential rivals.
Republican Mitt Romney needs an ailing economy to fully exploit his image as a “Mr. Fix-It” who can restore the nation’s financial health, as he turned around the troubled 2002 Winter Olympics. President Barack Obama needs job-creation momentum to persuade voters that things are moving in the right direction, even if millions of people remain unemployed.
Friday’s neither-hot-nor-cold jobs report leaves both campaigns unsure of whether they can sell their narratives. Employers added 120,000 jobs last month, about half the December-February pace and well short of the 210,000 economists were expecting. Still, the unemployment rate declined from 8.3 percent in February to 8.2 percent, the lowest since about the time Obama took office.
GOP leaders were quick to note that the rate dropped largely because many Americans stopped looking for work and were not counted in the government survey.
The U.S. jobs picture was bleaker when Romney began his second presidential bid a year ago, emphasizing his experience in running the Olympic games and reorganizing companies while at Bain Capital. He said jobs grew during his four years as Massachusetts governor, but critics note that other states had more robust growth.
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AP Photos: Christians around the world observe Good Friday with reenactments, solemn prayers
Around the world, Christians commemorated Good Friday with solemn observances, both large and small. In Jerusalem, a procession wound through the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, traditionally believed to be the burial site of Jesus. Volunteers dressed as Roman centurions drove nails through the palms of Catholic devotees in the Philippines, in a reenactment of the crucifixion of Christ. Hundreds of processions took place in Spain during Easter Week, including one in Valencia where worshippers flocked to the icon of the Santisimo Cristo de Salvador Friday to pray for those who died in the sea.
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Matt Lauer tells viewers he’s staying at ‘Today,’ signs new long-term deal with top-rated show
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Matt Lauer is sticking with NBC’s “Today,” ending speculation that the top-rated show might have to face ABC’s rising “Good Morning America” without him.
Lauer has signed a long-term contract to remain as co-host of the No. 1 morning show, a long-anticipated deal that NBC announced Thursday night but Lauer made public on “Today” Friday morning.
“This is my family,” he said on the air as the “Today” crew and co-anchors burst into applause.
“Truth be told,” he joked, “I was developing an idea for a new show, where viewers could tune in every morning and see someone they know lose a little more of his hair every single day right in front of their eyes. But then I thought, I could just stay here and do that.”
Although “Today” is on a historic winning streak in the ratings, “Good Morning America” has been gaining ground.
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Partying like it’s 1992: Couples turns back clock, shares lead at Masters
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Before there was Tiger, Rory, Sergio or Phil, a smooth-swinging guy named Freddie used to make ’em go crazy at the Masters.
He can still make it interesting.
Freddie Couples turned back the clock Friday — back to 1992 perhaps — during a seven-birdie second round that even brought a fist pump from the California-cool 52-year-old and put him in a tie for the lead with Jason Dufner at Augusta National.
“Can I win?” Couples said, repeating the question that so many are asking now. “Yeah, I believe I can, yes.”
He shot 5-under 67, the same score he posted 20 years ago during the second round of what turned out to be one of the most crowd-pleasing wins in the history of the tournament. Were it not for the gray hair beneath his cap, this might have been confused for a replay of that ’92 win instead of the second round in 2012.
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