Gunmen have shot and killed a Saudi diplomat in Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city, as he was driving to his country’s consulate, police and Saudi embassy staff say.
Hassan al-Khatani, a diplomat who worked at the Saudi consulate, was shot dead by two gunmen who were riding a motorcyle early on Monday morning, Pakistani police officials said.
“Two gunmen riding on a motorcycle showered the car with bullets,” Zameer Husain Abbasi, a police official, said, adding that a 9mm pistol had been used in the attack.
Police say al-Khatani was alone in the vehicle – a silver Toyota Corona – at the time of the attack, which took place about one kilometre from the Saudi consulate. They said he was driving to work from his residence, located nearby.
via Saudi diplomat killed in Pakistan – Central & South Asia – Al Jazeera English.
By Andy Sullivan and Ann Saphir
WASHINGTON/CHICAGO | Mon May 16, 2011 4:16pm EDT
(Reuters) – The United States reached the legal limits of its borrowing authority on Monday as a top Republican increased his party’s demand for deep spending cuts as part of any increase.
The remarks by Representative Paul Ryan, the top budget writer in the House of Representatives, underscored the divisions that Republicans and Democrats will have to overcome in order to raise the $14.3 trillion debt limit and avoid a default that would roil markets across the globe.
The Treasury Department said it was dipping into federal pension funds to pay the country’s bills, one of several emergency measures that should stave off a default until early August.
Congress is not expected to raise the debt cap until sometime this summer as lawmakers search for a deal that would allow them to back an increase while showing voters that they are taking steps to get debt under control.
Speaking to top financial executives at the Economic Club of Chicago, Ryan said any deal would have to include spending cuts that are larger than the amount of the debt-ceiling increase — a tougher stance than conditions that have been laid out previously by other party leaders.
“For every dollar the president wants to raise the debt ceiling, we can show him plenty of ways to cut far more than a dollar of spending,” Ryan said.
Outside the event, about 100 protesters waved signs reading “Hands off Medicare” — a reference to the popular health program that would face cuts under Ryan’s budget plan. With the 2012 campaign season already under way, Democrats see an opportunity to pick up votes by bashing that approach.
via Ryan pushes spending cuts as U.S. hits debt limit | Reuters.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: Residents scramble to protect homes in the Atchafalaya Basin
- Portions of Louisiana lowlands are being flooded to spare New Orleans and Baton Rouge
- Coast Guard closes portion of Mississippi River near Natchez, Mississippi
- “I have never experienced anything like this in my life,” resident says
Butte La Rose, Louisiana (CNN) — Unleashed by its U.S. Army minders, the Mississippi River poured across Louisiana lowlands Monday on its way to inundate thousands of homes and businesses as the Corps of Engineers fights to spare Baton Rouge and New Orleans.
“Hope you appreciate this Baton Rouge. You’re welcome,” read one sign posted outside a home in the path of the floodwater.
St. Martin Parish President Guy Cormier said about three-quarters of his constituents’ homes are expected to suffer water damage after the weekend opening of the Morganza Spillway by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The controlled release of water from the swollen Mississippi has lowered projected flood levels for cities downstream — but the lowered crests are little consolation to those living along the Atchafalaya River basin, where the water is being diverted.
via Louisiana residents evacuate as spillway fills lowlands – CNN.com.
