KRGV.com

2 arrested in shooting rampage in Tulsa; police say attack may have been revenge

TULSA, Okla. (AP) Two men were arrested Sunday in a shooting rampage that left three people dead and terrorized Tulsa's black community, and police said one suspect may have been trying to avenge his father's shooting two years ago by a black man.

Police identified both suspects as white, while all five victims in the rampage early Friday were black.

Police and the FBI said it is too soon to say whether the attacks in Tulsa's predominantly black north side were racially motivated. Police spokesman Jason Willingham said that investigators are considering many possible motives but based on Facebook postings, revenge appeared to be a factor.

In a Thursday update on Facebook that appeared to have been written by 19-year-old Jake England, he angrily blamed his father's death on a black man and used a racial slur. He said Thursday was the second anniversary of his father's death.

"It's hard not to go off," given the anniversary and the death of his fiancee earlier this year, the posting said.

___

Syria poses last-minute truce conditions rejected by opposition; deal in jeopardy

BEIRUT (AP) A U.N.-brokered plan to stop the bloodshed in Syria effectively collapsed Sunday after President Bashar Assad's government raised new, last-minute demands that the country's largest rebel group swiftly rejected.

The truce plan, devised by U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan, was supposed to go into effect on Tuesday, with a withdrawal of Syrian forces from population centers, followed within 48 hours by a cease-fire by both sides in the uprising against four decades of repressive rule by the Assad family.

But on Sunday, Syria's Foreign Ministry said that ahead of any troop pullback, the government needs written guarantees from opposition fighters that they will lay down their weapons.

The commander of the rebel Free Syrian Army, Riad al-Asaad, said that while his group is ready to abide by a truce, it does not recognize the regime "and for that reason we will not give guarantees."

Annan's spokesman had no comment on the setback. The envoy has not said what would happen if his deadlines were ignored.

___

Mike Wallace, interrogator on '60 Minutes,' dies at 93; feared for his prosecutorial style

NEW YORK (AP) "Mike Wallace is here to see you."

The "60 Minutes" newsman had such a fearsome reputation that it was often said that those were the most dreaded words in the English language, capable of reducing an interview subject to a shaking, sweating mess.

Wallace, who won his 21st and final Emmy Award at 89, died Saturday in the New Canaan, Conn., care facility where he had lived the last few years of his life. He was 93.

Wallace didn't just interview people. He interrogated them. He cross-examined them. Sometimes he eviscerated them pitilessly. His weapons were many: thorough research, a cocked eyebrow, a skeptical "Come on" and a question so direct it took your breath away.

He was well aware that his reputation arrived at an interview before he did, said Jeff Fager, CBS News chairman and Wallace's long-time producer at "60 Minutes."

___

Gingrich calls Romney 'far and away' most likely GOP presidential nominee but stays in race

WASHINGTON (AP) Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich once led his rivals for the nomination in polls. Today, he's millions in debt and describing Mitt Romney as "far and away the most likely" GOP nominee.

Running for president "turned out to be much harder than I thought it would be," he said Sunday.

"I do think there's a desire for a more idea-oriented Republican Party, but that doesn't translate necessarily to being able to take on the Romney machine," Gingrich told "Fox News Sunday" in a reflective interview.

After his Jan. 21 victory in the South Carolina primary, the former House Speaker said the Florida primary he lost in the following days turned into a "real brawl." He said Romney did a good job building a substantial machine, adding he has no regrets.

"Unfortunately, our guys tried to match Romney," Gingrich said of the Florida match-up. "It turned out, we didn't have anything like his capacity to raise money."

___

Afghans, US sign deal on night raids, clearing way for pact on long-term US presence

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) The U.S. and Afghanistan signed a deal Sunday giving Afghans authority over raids of Afghan homes, resolving one of the most contentious issues between the two wartime allies.

The majority of these raids are nighttime operations in which U.S. and Afghan troops descend without warning on homes or residential compounds searching for insurgents.

The raids are widely resented by Afghans, and President Hamid Karzai had repeatedly called for a halt to all night raids by international forces. He said for months that they would have to stop before he would sign a much-anticipated pact governing the long-term U.S. presence in Afghanistan.

Both countries have said that they wanted that bigger deal signed before the NATO summit in May, so the night raids agreement announced Sunday makes hitting that deadline possible.

Karzai has argued that night raids by international troops make civilian casualties more likely and that U.S. soldiers are disrespectful in the way they conduct the operations. The U.S. military has said such operations are essential for intelligence gathering and for capturing Taliban and al-Qaida commanders.

___

Peru's government appeals for help to free 9 trapped miners

LIMA, Peru (AP) Peru's government appealed to mining companies on Sunday for heavy equipment and experts to help free nine miners trapped for four days in an informal copper mine.

Several dozen rescue workers have been using pickaxes and shovels to try to remove the 26 feet (eight meters) of collapsed earth and rock blocking the entrance of the mine, whose horizontal shaft is dug into a mountainside 175 miles (280 kilometers) southeast of Lima.

Firefighters have fashioned wooden beams to support the debris removal but their relatively crude efforts prompted Mining Minister Jorge Merino to appeal for help from mining companies.

Thursday's collapse occurred following a blast set by the miners themselves in a mine last exploited commercially in the 1980s.

Through a hose, rescuers have been able to communicate with the trapped miners and provide them with liquid sustenance and the local police chief, Jose Saavedra, told The Associated Press that several tons of earth and rock have already been removed from the tunnel's mouth.

___

Natural gas producers are being forced to scale back as prices fall, storage caverns fill up

NEW YORK (AP) The U.S. natural gas market is bursting at the seams.

So much natural gas is being produced that soon there may be nowhere left to put the country's swelling surplus. After years of explosive growth, natural gas producers are retrenching.

The underground salt caverns, depleted oil fields and aquifers that store natural gas are rapidly filling up after a balmy winter depressed demand for home heating.

The glut has benefited businesses and homeowners that use natural gas. But with natural gas prices at a 10-year low and falling companies that produce the fuel are becoming victims of their drilling successes. Their stock prices are falling in anticipation of declining profits and scaled-back growth plans.

Some of the nation's biggest natural gas producers, including Chesapeake Energy, ConocoPhillips and Encana Corp., have announced plans to slow down.

___

AP Photos: A half century of Mike Wallace's career

His prosecutorial style was admired, imitated, condemned and lampooned. His weapons were many: thorough research, a cocked eyebrow, a skeptical "Come on" and a question so direct sometimes it took your breath away.

He was Mike Wallace, the former "60 Minutes" correspondent who died Sunday at 93.

His reputation preceded him: "The four most dreaded words in the English language: Mike Wallace is here," as the saying goes.

"He loved being Mike Wallace," said Jeff Fager, CBS News chairman and Wallace's long-time producer. "He loved the fact that if he showed up for an interview, it made people nervous. ... He knew, and he knew that everybody else knew, that he was going to get to the truth. And that's what motivated him."

Here's a gallery of Mike Wallace photos spanning a half century.

___

Cruise ship sets sail from England and retrace voyage of the Titanic

LONDON (AP) A cruise carrying relatives of some of the more than 1,500 people who died aboard the Titanic nearly 100 years ago set sail from England on Sunday to retrace the ship's voyage, including a visit to the location where it sank.

The Titanic Memorial Cruise, carrying the same number of passengers not including crew as the Titanic did, cast off from Southampton, where the doomed vessel left on its maiden voyage. The 12-night cruise will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the White Star liner.

Waving passengers crowded the decks as the ship prepared to set sail, many dressed in period costumes as first-class passengers, crew members, steerage passenger and stewards.

Graham Free was dressed as an Edwardian gentleman and described his excitement for the cruise as he waited to board.

"I have been a fan of the Titanic since I was nine years old and this cruise is the closest you are going to get to it," said the 37 year old. "The trip has cost a considerable amount, but I wanted to do it."

___

With a great escape, Watson takes Masters playoff over Oosthuizen

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) The rarest shot in golf can happen any time Bubba Watson has a golf club in hands.

Watson was so deep in the woods late Sunday afternoon that he couldn't even see where he was going. With his golf ball nestled on a bed of pine needles, he hit a gap wedge that shot out toward the fairway and hooked some 40 yards and onto the elevated green.

Nothing less than the Masters was riding on the outcome. Nothing else would do except for a page right out of "Bubba golf."

And on a thrill-a-minute Sunday at Augusta National, where Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa made only the fourth double eagle in the 76-year history of this major, it made Watson a Masters champion.

"I've never had a dream go this far, so I can't really say it's a dream come true," Watson said. "I don't even know what happened on the back nine. ... Nervous on every shot, every putt. Went into a playoff. I got in these trees and hit a crazy shot that I saw in my head, and somehow I'm here talking to you with a green jacket on."