The Times from Munster, Indiana • 68

THE TIMES Yemen's president vows no retreat SANAA, YEMEN I Yemen's embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh vowed Wednesday he would not step down even as urban combat between government troops and armed tribesmen engulfed parts of the capital. Both sides raised the specter of civil war as the three -day death toll rose to at least 63. BY THE associated PRESS 25 children among the dead in uprising Beirut I More than 25 children, some of them tortured, are among the victims of the Syrian government's deadly crackdown on an uprising that has killed more than 1,000 people, an opposition group said Wednesday. Since Syria has blocked media access, independent verification is not possible. BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS LIBYA Obama: Gadhafi will not last PAGEC2 THURSDAY, MAY 26, 2011 R0 President says NATO wear down Libyan forces determined whether the Sudanese fighters belonged to JEM.

Gadhafi has long provided arms, training and vehicles to various rebel groups in Sudan. Witnesses in Libya have reported African mercenary fighters shooting at protesters or being captured by anti-Gadhafi forces. Some were flown in to put down the rebellion, but most fighters were already in the war-torn country. Gadhafi has used Libya's oil wealth to aid neighboring African nations, including Sudan, and to fund the transformation of the old Organization of African Unity into the African Union, which has helped resolve conflicts on the continent. London, Obama said the U.S.-led NATO coalition was engaged in "a slow, steady process in which we're able to wear down the regime forces." "There will not be a let up in the pressure we are applying" on Gadhafi, Obama said.

"I believe that we have built enough momentum that as long as we sustain the course we're on, he will step down." Government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim reacted angrily to Obama 's assertion, saying "Gadhafi's destiny, Gadhafi's future, is for the Libyan nation to decide." "It would be a much more productive statement to say that the Libyan people need to engage in an inclusive peaceful democratic transparent political process in which they can choose the shape of their political system and the leaders of their system," he said. A rebel commander in southeast Libya, Ahmed Alzway, said rebel fighters fought off a Sudanese mercenary force 18 miles west of the southeast oasis of Kufra. The rebel force pursued, dislodging the Sudanese fighters from a fortified position further out in the desert, Alzway said. He said they also found documents indicating the fighters were from the Sudanese Justice and Equality Movement. In previous clashes at the southern border, captured Sudanese mercenaries have said they belonged to JEM, a Darfur-based rebel group.

It could not immediately be BY DIAA HADID AND MICHELLE FAUL Associated Press Writers Benghazi, LIBYA I Libyan rebels clashed Wednesday with Sudanese mercenaries fighting for Moammar Gadhafi near the border with Sudan, as President Barack Obama predicted the Libyan leader would be forced to step down if NATO keeps up its military campaign with the U.S. playing a key role. Speaking at a news conference in SEVERE WEATHER uwim 1 V.l WK AS r.i..,r, nr. ir ,1 -i 1, 1. 1, in- CHRIS LANDSBERGER THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Rebecca Watts walks by a car stuck in a tree after being destroyed by a tornado north of El Reno, on Tuesday.

The high-powered storms arrived Tuesday night and early Wednesday, just days after a massive tornado tore up the southwest Missouri city of Joplin. Jborecasts, 1 V. luck eased tornado risk Egypt to open Rafah crossing for Gaza Strip permanently CAIRO I Egypt will open its only crossing with the Gaza Strip this weekend, the Cairo military government announced Wednesday, significantly easing a four-year blockade on the Hamas-ruled territory but setting up a potential conflict with Israel. Egypt's official Middle East News Agency said the Rafah border crossing would be opened permanently starting Saturday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

every day except Fridays and holidays. This gives Gaza Palestinians a way to freely enter and exit their territory for the first time since 2007, when Hamas overran the territory, and Israel and Egypt closed the crossings. Israel's crossings are more significant, since they handle mostly cargo. A year ago Israel significantly eased its restrictions on cargo entering Gaza, but it still severely limits entry and exit of Gazans through its northern crossing into Israel. BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS German official: Evidence links Al-Qaida chief to Europe plot BERLIN I A German security official says new evidence links a senior al-Qaida leader to terrorist threats that sowed fear in France, Britain and Germany last fall.

He tells The Associated Press that during the Dusseldorf arrest last month of Abdeladim El-Kebir, a 29-year-old Moroccan, investigators found messages between El-Kebir and Sheikh Yunis al Mauritania, a senior al Qaida member, about planned terror attacks in Europe. He spoke Wednesday on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information, and said he had no details of the plots themselves. U.S. officials told Germany it has evidence Osama bin Laden knew of the plots, but none that he was involved in planning them, the official said. BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS AP source: Edwards could be indicted by feds within days Raleigh, NX.

I John Edwards could be indicted within days in a federal investigation into whether the former presidential candidate illegally used money from some of his political backers to hide his extramarital affair and out-of-wedlock child, a person familiar with the case said Wednesday. It was not immediately clear what charges prosecutors planned to bring. The 57-year-old former North Carolina senator could strike a plea bargain to avoid indictment, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the case's sensitivity. Federal authorities have spent more than two years investigating the Democrat's campaign finances, focusing heavily on money from wealthy supporters that allegedly went to keep mistress Rielle Hunter and her baby in hiding in 2007 and 2008 to protect Edwards' White House campaign from a career-ending scandal. BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS U.S.

shooting spree suspect ruled incompetent for trial phoenix I A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the suspect in the Tucson shooting rampage that wounded U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords is mentally incompetent to stand trial, putting the criminal case against him on hold indefinitely. The decision by U.S. District Judge Larry Burns means Jared Lee Loughner, 21, will be sent to a federal facility for up to four months in a bid to restore his competency. Loughner, dressed in a khaki prison suit and sporting bushy, reddish sideburns, was removed from the hearing after an outburst and had to watch part of the proceeding on a TV screen in another room.

BY THE associated press Minute-by-minute coverage of storm helped thousands stay informed of tornadoes' danger House GOP to advance $1B package of disaster aid WASHINGTON I Republicans controlling the House began advancing a $1 billion aid package on Tuesday to make sure that disaster relief accounts don't run dry after massive flooding along the Mississippi River and devastating tornadoes In Missouri and Alabama. BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS calling out to specific communities like Piedmont to "Take cover now!" Forecasters said another line of severe storms could sweep through the nation's midsection Wednesday, mainly east of Oklahoma. A tornado warning was briefly issued for downtown Kansas City, and at least two weak tornadoes touched down in or near the suburbs. In Joplin, rescue and recovery work went on Wednesday, with crews repeating grid searches for any survivors who might still be buried in rubble. BY CHUCK BARTELS AND KRISTI EATON Associated Press Writers piedmont, OKLA.

I When three tornadoes marched toward Oklahoma City and its suburbs, thousands of people in the path benefited from good forecasts, luck and live television to avoid the kind of catastrophe that befell Tuscaloosa, and Joplin, Mo. Even though more than a dozen people died in the latest round of violent weather, schools and offices closed early, giving many families plenty of time to take shelter. And even stragglers were able to get to safety at the last minute because TV forecasters narrated the twisters' every turn. "We live in Oklahoma and we don't mess around," Lori Jenkins, of Guthrie, said after emerging from a neighbor's storm shelter to find her carport crumpled and her home damaged. The people of Oklahoma City, which has been struck by more tornadoes than any other U.S.

city, knew the storms were coming. Anxiety was perhaps running higher than usual after last month's twister outbreak in the South that killed more than 300 people and a Sunday storm that killed at least 122 in Joplin, Mo. The Oklahoma twisters proved to be weaker than the other tornadoes. But the minute-by-minute accounts of the developing weather helped thousands of people stay abreast of the danger. Television helicopters broadcast live footage while the system approached the metropolitan area of 1.2 million people SCOTTY MCCREERY WINS IDOL' CROWN 'J S.

-A tj 1 i "1 1 MICHAEL BECKER I FOX Lauren Alaina Suddeth, left, and Scotty McCreery from tne singing competition series "American WoL" are shown fc Las Armeies. McCreery's victory Wednesday continued a recent pattern: He's the fourth male in a row to win "Idol." The last female to win was 17-year-old Jordin Sparks in 2007. Suddeth competed in Tuesday's final sing-off despite a vocal cord injury that required medical treatment. She received raves from the judges, who said she won the night. But the consistently popular' McCreery claimed the title.

The contest between the teenage country crooners drew a record 122 million-plus votes. BY LYNN ELBER AP Television Writer LOS ANGELES I Scotty McCreery is the new "American Idol," defeating fellow country crooner Lauren Alaina Suddeth. McCreery, a fresh-faced 17-year-old from Garnfer, N.C., with a strikingly deep voice, received more viewer votes than Suddeth, a peppy 16-year-old from Rossville, Ga. It was the first all-country finale for the Fox singing contest, now in its 10th season..