Send National News Roundup May 20

Posted: 12:55 AM May 20, 2012
Reporter: AP

G-8-SUMMIT
CAMP DAVID, Md. (AP) -- President Barack Obama says there's an "emerging consensus" that more must be done to promote jobs growth in Europe as the continent faces a daunting debt crisis.
Obama told reporters at the end of the G-8 meeting Saturday at Camp David in Maryland that he and leaders of seven other major industrial nations agree that "growth and jobs must be our top priority" and a stable, growing European economy is in everyone's best interest.
Obama says the world leaders made progress on a number of international issues, including Iran, Syria and North Korea.
Addressing shaky oil markets, the leaders set the stage for a broad release of national oil reserves to address any disruption in the world markets when tough new sanctions kick in on Iran's oil exports.

NATO SUMMIT-PAKISTAN
CHICAGO (AP) -- The White House says it is not expecting to finish negotiations with Pakistan over reopening key supply lines during the NATO summit.
Deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes says the U.S. does believe the issue will be resolved but says there is still work to be done. Rhodes spoke to reporters traveling with Obama to Chicago, where he is hosting the NATO summit.
Pakistan closed the supply lines in November in response to a US airstrike that killed two dozen Pakistani soldiers. The route is critical for getting supplies to NATO forces in Afghanistan.
Rhodes says Obama has no plans to meet separately at the NATO meeting with Pakistan's president

NATO SUMMIT-TERROR CHARGES
CHICAGO (AP) -- Prosecutors say three men arrested in a raid on a Chicago apartment had planned to attack President Barack Obama's campaign headquarters, Mayor Rahm Emanuel's home and other targets, including police stations and police cars.
The trio was arrested Wednesday in a nighttime raid in the Bridgeport neighborhood on the South Side. They're accused of trying to make Molotov cocktails ahead of the two-day NATO summit that starts Sunday.
Defense attorneys told a judge on Saturday that undercover police are the ones who brought the Molotov cocktails, and that their clients were entrapped.
Bond of $1.5 million was set for each defendant. They have been charged with providing material support for terrorism, conspiracy to commit terrorism and possession of explosives.

CHINA-BLIND ACTIVIST
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) -- A blind Chinese legal activist who was suddenly allowed to leave the country has arrived in the U.S.
Chen Guangcheng, his wife, and two children arrived this evening at Newark Liberty International Airport, outside New York City. Chen had been hurriedly taken from a hospital hours earlier and put on a plane for the U.S: after Chinese authorities suddenly told him to pack and prepare to leave.
His arrival ends nearly a month of uncertainty and years of mistreatment by local authorities for the self-taught activist. After seven years of prison and house arrest, Chen made a daring escape from his rural village in April and was given sanctuary inside the U.S. Embassy, triggering a diplomatic standoff over his fate.
An arrangement made by the Chinese government and the State Department will allow Chen to study law at New York University.

NAACP-GAY MARRIAGE
MIAMI (AP) -- The NAACP has passed a resolution endorsing same-sex marriage as a civil right and opposing any efforts "to codify discrimination or hatred into the law."
The Baltimore-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People announced Saturday that its board voted at a leadership retreat in Miami to back a resolution supporting marriage equality. It said the position is consistent with the equal protection provision of the U.S. Constitution.
Same-sex marriage is legal in six states and the District of Columbia, but 31 states have passed amendments to ban it.
NAACP President Benjamin Todd Jealous, a strong backer of gay rights, says "civil marriage is a civil right and a matter of civil law."
Gay marriage has divided the black community, with many religious leaders opposing it.

JOPLIN-RECOVERY COSTS
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- The tornado that tore through Joplin a year ago already ranks as the deadliest twister in six decades. Now it carries another distinction -- the costliest since at least 1950.
Insurance policies are expected to cover most of the $2.8 billion in damage. But taxpayers could supply about $500 million in the form of federal and state disaster aid, low-interest loans and local bonds backed by higher taxes. That's according to records obtained by The Associated Press and interviews with federal, state and local officials.
Almost one-fifth of that money was paid to contractors who hauled off debris. Tens of millions more went to individuals for temporary housing and other living expenses after the storm. Additional money could help subsidize construction of a new hospital.

MISSISSIPPI RIVER-BOAT CRASH
Search crews have found no signs of four people missing since an overnight boat crash on the Mississippi River in southeast Iowa.
Crews have been searching the river near Burlington since the collision was reported about 1:45 a.m. Saturday. Iowa Department of Natural Resources spokesman Kevin Baskins says he expects the search to continue until at least dark.
Baskins says two boats carrying a total of 12 people collided, although details of crash remain unclear. Eight people pulled from the water have been hospitalized.
The names of the missing and injured people have not been released, pending notification of their families.
Baskins says the crash happened on the main channel of the river and searchers aren't sure whether the missing boaters could have made it to shore.

MCKINLEY FATAL FALL
DENALI NATIONAL PARK and PRESERVE, Alaska (AP) -- National Park officials say a climber has died of injuries after falling during a climb of Alaska's Mount McKinley.
A park release Saturday says the climber fell about 1,100-feet Friday, while following the West Buttress route to the summit. Witnesses say the climber fell at about 16,200-feet. He was trying to recover a backpack that had started to slide downhill.
A park service mountaineering patrol was behind the climber's three-person team and called for a helicopter. The victim's body was flown to Talkeetna, Alaska, after rangers confirmed that the climber had died of injuries.
The victim's identity has not been released pending notification of family members overseas.
Mount McKinley is North America's highest mountain.
Friday's fatal fall is the first serious incident on McKinley during the 2012 mountaineering season.

FACEBOOK CEO-MARRIED
PALO ALTO, Calif. (AP) -- Mark Zuckerberg has updated his Facebook status to "married."
The 28-year-old Facebook founder and CEO has wed longtime girlfriend, 27-year-old Priscilla Chan, capping a busy week for the couple. His Facebook profile page showed the two married Saturday and included a photo of the newlyweds.
Zuckerberg took his company public in one of the most anticipated moves in Wall Street history on Friday. And Chan graduated from medical school at the University of California, San Francisco, on Monday, the same day Zuckerberg turned 28.
The couple met at Harvard and have been together for more than nine years.

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