Rep. Don Young apologizes for racial slur

By Martyn Herman LONDON, March 28 (Reuters) - Whether by design, necessity, self-interest or because of all three, nurturing youngsters has become fashionable for England's elite with no expense spared in the hunt for the new Wayne Rooney or Steven Gerrard. The length and breadth of the country, scouts from top clubs are hoovering up promising footballers barely old enough to tie their bootlaces in a bid to unearth the 30 million pounds ($45.40 million) treasures of the future. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/alaska-lawmaker-apologizes-racial-slur-121208077.html

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N. Korea vows 'to settle accounts' with U.S.

By David Chance and Phil Stewart

SEOUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - North Korea put its missile units on standby on Friday to attack U.S. military bases in South Korea and the Pacific, after the United States flew two nuclear-capable stealth bombers over the Korean peninsula in a rare show of force.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un signed off on the order at a midnight meeting of top generals and "judged the time has come to settle accounts with the U.S. imperialists in view of the prevailing situation", the official KCNA news agency said.

The North has an arsenal of Soviet-era short-range Scud missiles that can hit South Korea and have been proven, but its longer-range Nodong and Musudan missiles that could in theory hit U.S. Pacific bases are untested.

On Thursday, the United States flew two radar-evading B-2 Spirit bombers on practice runs over South Korea, responding to a series of North Korean threats. They flew from the United States and back in what appeared to be the first exercise of its kind, designed to show America's ability to conduct long-range, precision strikes "quickly and at will", the U.S. military said.

The news of Kim's response was unusually swift.

"He finally signed the plan on technical preparations of strategic rockets of the KPA (Korean People's Army), ordering them to be on standby for fire so that they may strike any time the U.S. mainland, its military bases in the operational theaters in the Pacific, including Hawaii and Guam, and those in South Korea," KCNA said.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported there had been additional troop and vehicle movements at the North's mid- and long-range missile sites, indicating they may be ready to fire.

"Sharply increased movements of vehicles and soldiers have been detected recently at North Korea's mid and long-range missile sites," Yonhap quoted a South Korean military source as saying.

It was impossible to verify the report which did not specify a time frame, although South Korea's Defense Ministry said on Friday that it was watching shorter-range Scud missile sites closes as well as Nodong and Musudan missile batteries.

The North has launched a daily barrage of threats since early this month when the United States and the South, allies in the 1950-53 Korean War, began routine military drills.

The South and the United States have said the drills are purely defensive in nature and that no incident has taken place in the decades they have been conducted in various forms.

The United States also flew B-52 bombers over South Korea earlier this week.

The North has put its military on highest readiness to fight what it says are hostile forces conducting war drills. Its young leader has previously given "final orders" for its military to wage revolutionary war with the South.

ECONOMIC ZONE

Despite the tide of hostile rhetoric from Pyongyang, it has kept open a joint economic zone with the South which generates $2 billion a year in trade, money the impoverished state can ill-afford to lose.

Pyongyang has also canceled an armistice agreement with the United States that ended the Korean War and cut all communications hotlines with U.S. forces, the United Nations and South Korea.

"The North Koreans have to understand that what they're doing is very dangerous," U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told reporters at the Pentagon on Thursday.

"We must make clear that these provocations by the North are taken by us very seriously and we'll respond to that."

The U.S. military said that its B-2 bombers had flown more than 6,500 miles to stage a trial bombing raid from their bases in Missouri as part of the Foal Eagle war drills being held with South Korea.

The bombers dropped inert munitions on the Jik Do Range, in South Korea, and then returned to the continental United States in a single, continuous mission, the military said.

Thursday's drill was the first time B-2s flew round-trip from the mainland United States over South Korea and dropped inert munitions, a Pentagon spokeswoman said.

Victor Cha, a North Korea expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the drill fitted within the context of ramped-up efforts by the Pentagon to deter the North from acting upon any of its threats.

Asked whether he thought the latest moves could further aggravate tensions on the peninsula, Cha, a former White House official, said: "I don't think the situation can get any more aggravated than it already is."

South Korea denied suggestions on Friday that the bomber drills contained an implicit threat of attack on the North.

"There is no entity on the earth who will strike an attack on North Korea or expressed their wishes to do so," a spokesman for the South's Unification Ministry said.

Despite the shrill rhetoric from Pyongyang, few believe North Korea, formally known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, will risk starting a full-out war.

Still, Hagel, who on March 15 announced he was bolstering missile defenses over the growing North Korea threat, said all of the provocations by the North had to be taken seriously.

"Their very provocative actions and belligerent tone, it has ratcheted up the danger and we have to understand that reality," Hagel said, renewing a warning that the U.S. military was ready for "any eventuality" on the peninsula.

North Korea conducted a third nuclear weapons test in February in breach of U.N. sanctions and despite warnings from China, its one major diplomatic ally.

(Additional reporting by David Alexander in Washington; Editing by Warren Strobel, Paul Simao and Raju Gopalakrishnan)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/north-korea-readies-rockets-u-flies-stealth-bombers-020309202.html

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Iran, North Korea, Syria cause trouble for U.N. arms treaty

By Louis Charbonneau

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Iran, Syria and North Korea on Friday objected to the adoption of the first international treaty to regulate the $70 billion global conventional arms trade, complaining that it fails to ban weapons sales to rebel groups.

Peter Woolcott of Australia, the president of the U.N. Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty, adjourned the final session of the 10-day meeting to hold last-minute consultations with the dissenting delegates in an attempt to persuade them to join the consensus needed to approve the draft treaty.

U.N. diplomats said there was still a chance Woolcott could salvage the process and secure the required unanimity to adopt the treaty on Thursday. If the conference fails to adopt it, it can be put to a vote in the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday.

Syria and North Korea voiced serious concerns about the draft treaty, though they did not formally block its adoption. Iran was the only one of the 193 U.N. members to formally block approval of the draft, diplomats at the conference said.

Earlier, Woolcott told the conference that North Korea and Iran had formally blocked adoption, but diplomats said he later revised his statement, saying it was only the Iranians.

United Nations member states began meeting last week in a final push to end years of discussions and hammer out a binding international treaty to end the lack of regulation over cross-border conventional arms sales.

Arms control activists and human rights groups say a treaty is needed to halt the uncontrolled flow of arms and ammunition that they say fuels wars, atrocities and rights abuses.

Delegates to the treaty-drafting conference said on Wednesday they were close to a deal to approve the treaty, but cautioned that Iran and other countries might attempt to block it.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told Iran's Press TV that Tehran supports the arms trade treaty. But Iranian U.N. Ambassador Mohammad Khazaee told the conference that he could not accept the treaty in its current form.

"The achievement of such a treaty has been rendered out of reach due to many legal flaws and loopholes," he said. "It is a matter of deep regret that genuine efforts of many countries for a robust, balanced and non-discriminatory treaty were ignored."

One of those flaws was its failure to ban sales of weapons to groups that commit "acts of aggression," ostensibly referring to rebel groups, he said. The current draft does not ban transfers to armed groups but says all arms transfers should be subjected to rigorous risk and human rights assessments first.

Syrian Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari echoed the Iranian objections, saying he also objected to the fact that it does not prohibit weapons transfers to rebel groups.

"Therefore it can't be accepted by my country," he said.

A North Korean delegate voiced similar complaints, suggesting it was a discriminatory treaty.

Iran, which is under a U.N. arms embargo over its nuclear program, is eager to ensure its arms imports and exports are not curtailed, diplomats said. Syria is in a two-year-old civil war and hopes Russian and Iranian arms keep flowing in, they added.

The United States and other major arms producers like Russia and China - all three of which had prevented its adoption last July - along with Germany, France and Britain appear to support the draft treaty, U.N. diplomats said.

The point of an arms trade treaty is to set standards for all cross-border transfers of conventional weapons. It would also create binding requirements for nations to review all cross-border arms contracts to ensure arms will not be used in human rights abuses, terrorism or violations of humanitarian law.

(Reporting by Louis Charbonneau; Editing by Will Dunham)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/iran-north-korea-cause-trouble-u-n-arms-214054470.html

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Matt Kenseth holds off Kahne to win in Vegas

LAS VEGAS (AP) ? Matt Kenseth decided not to replace any tires during the final pit stop under caution, and the calculated risk put him in the lead.

Kenseth knows a bit about risk after his offseason move to Joe Gibbs Racing, and this latest gamble paid off with his third victory in Vegas.

Kenseth won on his 41st birthday in just his third start for his new team, barely holding off Kasey Kahne at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for his 25th career victory Sunday.

"I was real nervous all day," Kenseth said. "(Kahne) had the best car. I told (crew chief) Jason (Ratcliff) with about 12 to go that I was sorry we were going to lose. We were just too tight. ... We didn't have the fastest car there, but we had it where we needed it to be."

Kenseth took charge by taking only fuel on the final pit stop during caution while almost everybody else replaced two tires. He took the lead and held onto it, using his veteran savvy ? and a few screamed instructions at his new spotter ? to keep Kahne's impressive Chevrolet behind him to the finish.

The frequently laid-back Kenseth celebrated with uncommon vigor after his JGR Toyota crossed the line. He's still getting comfortable with his new teammates after leaving Roush Fenway Racing in the highest-profile driver move of the offseason, joining Gibbs after 13 seasons with RFR.

"I'm not a huge goal person, but my goal was to win, and to win early," Kenseth said. "Nobody has put any pressure on me except for myself, but I also know that Coach hired me to come in there, climb in that car and win races. You certainly want to do that, and you don't want to disappoint people. I'm glad we got a win, but it's still only Week 3. I feel like this is the beginning."

Pole-sitter Brad Keselowski finished third, with Kenseth's teammate, Kyle Busch, in fourth and Carl Edwards fifth. Jimmie Johnson, the overall points leader, was sixth and Dale Earnhardt Jr. seventh.

Defending Vegas champion Tony Stewart finished 11th, while Gibbs driver Denny Hamlin was 15th after an eventful week featuring a $25,000 fine from NASCAR for criticizing the new Gen-6 race car.

The win was the 50th for Toyota in Sprint Cup Series competition. Kenseth is just the third NASCAR driver to win on his birthday, joining Cale Yarborough ? who did it twice ? and Busch.

"I showed them a fake ID when they hired me," Kenseth said with a laugh. "Told them I was 28, going to be 29 this year."

Kenseth has won at least one race in 11 of his 14 full seasons in the Sprint Cup series, but the first 13 were all in Fords with Roush Fenway, the team that gave him his break in NASCAR and fostered his development into a likely Hall of Famer. Kenseth's decision to leave for a seat on Gibbs' team was an open secret for much of last season, although the veteran star never really explained his move.

"I had a lot of confidence after our first meeting and decided to go do this, and just had a great feeling about it, and still do," Kenseth said.

Gibbs had his own worries before the race after a rough start to the season for Toyota. Kenseth and Busch both had serious engine trouble at Daytona two weeks ago.

"Lots of times, a victory, the thrill of it, depends on kind of what happens leading up to it," Gibbs said. "We've had a tough couple of weeks, as everybody knows. ... In tough times, everybody bands together around our place. We started fighting, and we worked our way out of some tough things."

The 400-mile race was the first real test for NASCAR's new Gen-6 car on the intermediate tracks they're built to race. Although Hamlin commanded the week's headlines with his pessimism amplified by the NASCAR fine, most drivers were curious how the Gen-6 would work in its ideal 1.5-mile environment.

Any drivers who still think it's too tough to pass in the new car must not have been watching Busch, who made two lengthy charges up to early leads, doing it both before and after a pit-row speeding penalty dropped him back to 18th.

"I just hate it for my team," said Busch, a Las Vegas native and graduate of nearby Durango High School. "We had by far the best car in practice. I don't know where that went. Today was a different day. The worst Gibbs car ended up winning the race. It's funny how this game works."

Busch, who finished second in Saturday's Nationwide Series race, charged through the field with impressive ease and took the lead out of a restart with a daredevil move on the apron with 102 laps to go. He went three wide and got underneath Kahne while kicking up dust well below the white line.

Kahne set the qualifying speed record on the Vegas track last year, but rain wiped out qualifying this week. He reclaimed the lead and held it until Kenseth nosed ahead out of another restart with 36 laps left when Kahne had trouble getting out of pit row, nearly hitting Stewart.

"I had an unbelievable car throughout the whole race," Kahne said. "We just came out, I think, sixth (out of the pit). Tough to say we would have got by him anyway.

"I had a great day. I drove so hard every single lap today, and that's just the new Gen-6 car. It was a lot of fun. I love it."

The Gen-6 is still a work in progress, however. Several drivers reported various problems with their cars early on, with Clint Bowyer and Stewart both dropping far back in the opening laps. After three days of chilly weather in the desert, warmer temperatures Sunday changed the track's feel, and teams struggled to adjust to the slickness.

Danica Patrick, the pole winner two weeks ago at Daytona, struggled with her car from the start, going two laps down by the 60th lap and later getting penalized for a tire violation. She finished 33rd.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/matt-kenseth-holds-off-kahne-win-vegas-222210587--spt.html

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Bin Laden son-in-law caught in Jordan

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Osama bin Laden's spokesman and son-in-law has been captured by the United States, officials said Thursday, in what a senior congressman called a "very significant victory" in the ongoing fight against al-Qaida.

Abu Ghaith's extradition to the United States is imminent, and he is expected to be prosecuted in federal court in New York, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.

Rep. Peter King, the former chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, credited the CIA and FBI with catching al-Qaida propagandist Sulaiman Abu Ghaith in Jordan within the last week. He said the capture was confirmed to him by U.S. law enforcement officials.

A Jordanian security official confirmed that al-Ghaith was handed over last week to U.S. law enforcement officials under both nations' extradition treaty. He declined to disclose other details and spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

"Definitely, one by one, we are getting the top echelons of al-Qaida," said King, R-N.Y. "I give the (Obama) administration credit for this: it's steady and it's unrelenting and it's very successful."

Abu Ghaith became an international name in late 2001 when he appeared on pan-Arab satellite television urging Muslims everywhere to fight the United States and warning of more attacks similar to those of Sept. 11. In one video, he was sitting with bin Laden in front of a rock face in Afghanistan. A teacher and mosque preacher in Kuwait, he was stripped of his Kuwaiti citizenship after 9/11.

He is identified as a major al-Qaida core official by the New America Foundation think tank in Washington. King said Abu Ghaith was involved in the planning in the 9/11 attacks against the World Trade Center and Pentagon.

The Turkish newspaper Hurriyet reported that Abu Ghaith was passing through Jordan, on his way to Kuwait, shortly after leaving Turkey.

The newspaper said that Abu Ghaith was taken into custody more than a month ago at a luxury hotel in in Ankara, the Turkish capital. But Turkish officials decided he had not committed any crime in Turkey, and released him, the newspaper reported.

In Ankara, Turkish officials refused to confirm Abu Ghaith's deportation or his capture in Jordan to The Associated Press. In Amman, the Jordanian capital, a security official said he had no information on the CIA arrest in Jordan.

U.S. intelligence officials in Washington and New York refused to comment on the case.

___

Associated Press writer Tom Hayes in New York and Jamal Halaby in Amman, Jordan, contributed to this report.

___

Follow Lara Jakes on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/larajakesAP

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-official-bin-laden-spokesman-caught-jordan-153446737.html

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Saturday signs contract to retire with Colts

Jeff Saturday, right, listens to Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay during a news conference before signing a one-day contract in order to retire as a Colts player, Thursday, March 7, 2013, in Indianapolis. Saturday spent 13 seasons in Indianapolis before signing with Green Bay last year. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)

Jeff Saturday, right, listens to Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay during a news conference before signing a one-day contract in order to retire as a Colts player, Thursday, March 7, 2013, in Indianapolis. Saturday spent 13 seasons in Indianapolis before signing with Green Bay last year. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)

Jeff Saturday, right, accepts a jersey from Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay during a news conference before signing a one-day contract in order to retire as a Colts player, Thursday, March 7, 2013, in Indianapolis. Saturday spent 13 seasons in Indianapolis before signing with Green Bay last year. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)

Jeff Saturday, right, gets a hug from Colts owner Jim Irsay at a news conference before signing a one day contract in order to retire as an Indianapolis Colt Thursday, March 7, 2013, in Indianapolis. Saturday spent 13 seasons in Indianapolis before signing with Green Bay last year. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)

Jeff Saturday signs a one day contract in order to retire as an Indianapolis Colt at a news conference Thursday, March 7, 2013, in Indianapolis. Saturday spent 13 seasons in Indianapolis before signing with Green Bay last year. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)

Jeff Saturday speaks at a news conference after signing a one day contract in order to retire as an Indianapolis Colt Thursday, March 7, 2013, in Indianapolis. Saturday spent 13 seasons in Indianapolis before signing with Green Bay last year. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) ? Indianapolis gave Jeff Saturday a chance to fulfill his NFL dream.

On Thursday, he came back to thank the town and the team that embraced his improbable journey from undrafted free agent to NFL star.

Moments after signing his final contract with the Colts, Indy's longtime center and a key figure in forging a settlement to the 2011 NFL lockout officially retired with the team that brought him into the league 14 years ago.

"This does not happen for many players, especially many offensive linemen," Saturday said. "I'm excited to retire as a Colt. I mean, this is my home. This is what we've supported for so many years. I was known, no matter what team I was playing for, as a Colt. So it's good to put that horseshoe on and go out that way."

Colts fans will always remember Saturday for his gritty play and down-to-earth attitude. Nationally, he will forever be known as the voice of reason during the contentious lockout negotiations. Saturday lobbied on behalf of the players he represented and constantly urged both sides to remember that they would be best served by reaching a settlement rather than losing the "golden goose."

After the two sides agreed to a 10-year collective bargaining agreement, Saturday's embrace of Patriots owner Robert Kraft became an endearing image of labor peace. Kraft had just finished speaking about his wife, Myra, who died during the negotiations, when Saturday put aside Indy's bitter rivalry with New England, hugged Kraft and then credited him for "saving football."

On Thursday, Saturday also acknowledged his appreciation for Colts football also played a big role in reaching a compromise.

"This organization is what I hope all the NFL teams strive to be. In every negotiation I was involved with the PA (players association) and the NFL, I used us (the Colts) as an example of what you should strive to and I make no bones about it," he said. "This organization is the best in the business and it will continue."

Before playing in his sixth and final Pro Bowl last month, Saturday had already said he was retiring. He even made a cameo appearance with the AFC so he could snap the ball one more time to his close friend, former Colt and current Bronco Peyton Manning. Green Bay cut Saturday last month, a procedural move that made Thursday's festivities possible.

Ironically, though, the move came exactly one year to the day after team owner Jim Irsay and Manning, the four-time MVP, appeared in the same room to announce Manning's release. Both men spoke then in halting tones as they fought back tears.

This time, it was more celebratory. Saturday and Irsay smiled and even joked about the formality of the one-day deal.

"I'm going to sign this contract and let Jeff come up and sign his portion so we can make it official that Jeff is a Colt today, and this is not costing me anything," Irsay said, drawing laughter. "And that's rare, but Jeff did ask for a new pickup truck so I told him I would consider that. "

When Saturday stepped to the podium, he responded in kind.

"Like he said, it cost him a lot more the last time than it did this time," Saturday said.

The only time Saturday choked up was when he thanked his wife, Karen, for allowing him to pursue a football career. He then turned toward reporters and explained he couldn't look at his wife because he would "lose it." She wiped her eyes, too.

Saturday also thanked his three children, seated behind him in blue No. 63 jerseys, Irsay, his head coaches and position coaches, ex-teammates and even the equipment managers and trainers, some of whom watched from the back of the room.

His improbable journey actually started in Baltimore in 1998. The Ravens signed him as an undrafted rookie but cut him before training camp opened.

One year later, the Colts took a low-risk gamble on someone who had spent the previous year selling electrical supplies in North Carolina and he wound up making the roster. By 2000, he had won the starting center's job, which he kept until leaving for Green Bay as a free agent last year.

With Indy, Saturday won two AFC titles, one Super Bowl ring, became a pillar in the community and made 170 starts with Manning behind him, an NFL record for a quarterback-center tandem.

"The relationship between a center and a quarterback is special. We loved each other but we could fight each other as well. We could bump heads and there was always a mutual respect," Saturday said. "It never got any further than that. It was always on the field. Off the field, we were friends. He's taken me to places and given me gifts and allowed me to do things that I would never have the opportunity to do."

Asked for his favorite football moment, Saturday didn't offer up the Super Bowl win.

"The AFC Championship game trumps them all for me," he said, referring to the Colts' second-half comeback against the Patriots in the 2006 playoffs. "Getting to recover a fumble for a touchdown, getting to slay the Patriots, all those things. That's the one for me, even above the Super Bowl."

Saturday said he will continue to make Indy his home and Irsay said Saturday will be inducted into the team's Ring of Honor. Irsay also has hired Saturday to work in the Colts' community relations and marketing department and said there could be a future for Saturday on the coaching staff or in the front office.

"Here's a man who came into the league, no one thought he was going to do much," Irsay said. "He wasn't a first-round draft pick and is an individual who literally took this town and this state over with his integrity, with his love for the community, with this performance on the field, just an absolutely incredible individual. Going through the lockout, how he played a huge role in getting that settled. It was just absolutely incredible how Jeff has made his mark in this league and for this franchise."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-03-07-FBN-Colts-Saturday-Retires/id-0733c9f027db4b6a829d42c7e022f679

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