Barack Obama called for a reduction

Barack Obama called for a reduction of $4 trillion over 12 years in the BUDGET DEFICIT, to be paid for by a mixture of spending cuts and tax rises on the rich.



With just minutes remaining to a deadline that would have shut down the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, Republicans in Congress reached an agreement with the White House to fund services in return for more extensive spending cuts.



In COTE D'IVOIRE Laurent Gbagbo was detained by troops loyal to Alassane Ouattara. Mr Gbagbo lost to Mr Ouattara in a presidential election last year but had refused to leave office, plunging the country into strife. Mr Ouattara's troops were backed by France, the former colonial power, and the UN.



The British and French governments criticised NATO for failing to destroy enough heavy weaponry used by Muammar Qaddafi's forces in LIBYA to allow rebels to break an ongoing stalemate.



Demonstrations escalated in SYRIA as the government cracked down hard, arresting 100 people in a single day.



Hosni Mubarak, the former EGYPTIAN president, was detained for up to 15 days for questioning about charges of corruption and abuse of office.



A jury in Texas acquitted Luis Posada Carriles, an alleged anti-communist terrorist, of perjury and obstruction of justice. CUBA and VENEZUELA condemned the verdict and accused the United States of sheltering him.



URUGUAY'S Senate voted to annul a law that had given military officers immunity from prosecution for crimes committed during the country's 1973-85 military dictatorship (it must be approved by the lower house of Congress to take effect). The immunity law was upheld in two referendums, in 1989 and 2009.



Daniel Ortega, NICARAGUA'S president, issued a decree moving three municipalities with large numbers of opposition voters from one electoral department to another. The unconstitutional gerrymandering should help Mr Ortega's party win more seats in an election this November.

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