World/Nation Briefs 4.30.2012
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
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BEIJING (AP) — U.S. and Chinese officials are ironing out a deal to secure American asylum for a blind Chinese legal activist who fled house arrest, with an agreement likely before Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrives this week, a U.S. rights campaigner said Monday.
Bob Fu of the Texas-based rights group ChinaAid said that China and the U.S. want to reach agreement on the fate of Chen Guangcheng before the annual high-level talks with Clinton and other U.S. officials begin in Beijing on Thursday.
‘‘The Chinese top leaders are deliberating a decision to be made very soon, maybe in the next 24 to 48 hours,’’ Fu said, citing a source close to the U.S. and Chinese governments. Both sides are ‘‘eager to solve this issue,’’ said Fu, a former teacher at a Communist Party academy in Beijing whose advocacy group focuses on the rights of Christians in China and who maintains a network of contacts in the country.
‘‘It really depends on China’s willingness to facilitate Chen’s exit,’’ Fu said.
Chen, a well-known dissident who angered authorities in rural China by exposing forced abortions, made a surprise escape from house arrest a week ago into what activists say is the protection of U.S. diplomats in Beijing, posing a delicate diplomatic crisis for both governments.
———
Syria: 2 blasts that kill at least 8 in city of Idlib carried out by suicide bombers
BEIRUT (AP) — Syria’s state news agency says the two explosions that killed at least eight people in the city of Idlib were carried out by suicide bombers.
The state news agency, SANA, said Monday’s blasts wounded nearly 100 people. The explosions were near a military compound, but it’s not clear what the target was.
The force of the explosions shattered windows in the area and sent debris flying for hundreds of meters.
———
Sailboat wreckage found hours after disappearance, raising questions after 3 die, 1 missing
ENSENADA, Mexico (AP) — Eric Lamb was doing safety patrol on a 124-mile yacht race when he spotted a boat that appeared too close to Mexico’s Coronado Islands. He never got there.
As his twin-engine boat neared the uninhabited islands just south of San Diego, he stumbled on sailboat shards that were mostly no more than six inches long strewn over about two square miles. He saw a small refrigerator, a white seat cushion and empty containers of yogurt and soy milk.
Over several hours, a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter directed him in his search and led him to two dead bodies floating with their backs up, badly scraped and bruised. The Coast Guard recovered a third body and the fourth member of the crew was missing Monday in California’s second deadly accident this month involving an ocean race.
Lamb, 62, said the 37-foot racing yacht looked like it ‘‘had gone through a blender.’’
‘‘It was real obvious it had been hit just because the debris was so small,’’ he said Sunday.
———
Once rivals, Obama and Clintons forge genuine partnership; incentive for both to make it work
McLEAN, Va. (AP) — There were no bear hugs on display, but President Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton looked relaxed and friendly as they began a summer fundraising blitz that demonstrates their shared hopes for Democratic victory despite past differences.
Although Clinton had dismissed Obama in 2008 as undeserving of the presidency his wife Hillary Rodham Clinton was then seeking, on Sunday evening Clinton warmly declared ‘‘Barack Obama deserves to be re-elected president of the United States.’’
Obama is ‘‘beating the clock’’ to restore the nation’s economy to health, Clinton told about 500 cheering supporters who had paid as little at $1,000 and as much as $20,000 apiece to see, as Obama put it, ‘‘two presidents for one.’’
Digging out of similar financial holes has historically taken five to 10 years, Clinton said.
Longtime Clinton backer and strategist Terry McAuliffe hosted the event, the first of three planned joint appearances for Clinton and Obama.
———
Obama hosts Japan prime minister who leaves woes at home to reaffirm core alliance with US
WASHINGTON (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, in his Monday meeting with President Barack Obama, is looking to reaffirm Japan’s strong alliance with the U.S. and boost his leadership credentials as his popularity flags at home.
Noda, who came to power in September and is Japan’s sixth prime minister in six years, faces huge challenges in reviving a long-slumbering economy and helping his nation recover from the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl.
His Oval Office meeting and working lunch with Obama, to be followed by a gala dinner hosted by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, could offer Noda some brief relief from domestic woes. The two sides are determined to show that U.S.-Japan ties are as close as ever, particularly after the assistance the U.S. lent following the massive March 2011 earthquake and tsunami that triggered a meltdown at a nuclear plant.
The U.S. alliance with Japan, the world’s third-largest economy, is at the core of Obama’s expanded engagement in Asia — a diplomatic thrust motivated in part by a desire to counter the growing economic and military clout of strategic rival China.
The U.S. has about 50,000 troops in Japan, and both sides never tire of saying that their defense cooperation underpins regional peace and security.
———
Officials probe cause of Bronx SUV accident that killed 7 members of family, including 3 kids
NEW YORK (AP) — Three generations of a family died in a horrifying crash just a few miles from home when the SUV they were traveling in plunged more than 50 feet off a highway overpass and into a ravine on the grounds of the Bronx Zoo, killing all seven aboard, including three children.
‘‘Sometimes you come upon events that are horrific and this is one of them,’’ FDNY deputy Chief Ronald Werner said shortly after the crash.
Authorities were trying to determine what caused Sunday’s accident that killed Jacob Nunez, 85, and Ana Julia Martinez, 81, both from the Dominican Republic, their daughters, Maria Gonzalez, 45, and Maria Nunez, 39, and three grandchildren. Police say Gonzalez was driving.
The children were identified as Jocelyn Gonzalez, 10, the daughter of the driver, Niely Rosario, 7, and Marly Rosario, 3, both daughters of Nunez.
‘‘They were a good, wholesome family,’’ a Bronx neighbor, Felicia Lee, 29, told the Daily News.
———
The not-so-buttoned-down Secret Service finds its blue-chip reputation in the line of fire
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Secret Service does not often get a black eye behind those oh-so-cool sunglasses. It’s got a shiner now.
The public face of the service is one of steely professionals in impeccable suits, wearing discreet earpieces and packing even more discreet weapons. Agents are expressionless except for their ever-searching gaze, lethal automatons ready to die for a president.
By reputation, stoked by Hollywood myth and the public’s fleeting glances at dark-windowed motorcades, they are anything but party animals.
But what happened in Colombia didn’t stay in Colombia.
The exposed Secret Service secrets have put the storied agency under a different line of fire, as lawmakers and internal investigators try to get to the bottom of officers’ behavior and any implications for the safety of those they protect, starting with President Barack Obama.
———
Cross-country fugitive siblings being sentenced in Colorado; Next up: Georgia, Florida
DENVER (AP) — Three Florida siblings accused of shooting at a police officer and staging a daring bank robbery in a multistate crime spree are facing sentencing on charges stemming from their shootout and capture in Colorado — effectively ending their stay here as Georgia authorities await their extradition.
Lee Grace Dougherty, 29, Dylan Stanley-Dougherty, 27, and Ryan Dougherty, 22, pleaded guilty to charges related to the Aug. 10 freeway chase and shootout with police in southern Colorado. Once 3rd Judicial District Judge Claude Appel hands down their sentences, the U.S. Marshals Service will transport them to Albany, Ga., for a court hearing on May 15, making it likely they’ll be transferred from state to federal custody within days, if not hours of Monday’s sentencing.
U.S. Marshals Service spokesman Steve Wallisch declined to comment, citing security concerns.
Dylan Stanley-Dougherty pleaded guilty to one charge of first-degree assault and faces up to 32 years in prison. Ryan Dougherty pleaded guilty to five counts of menacing and faces up to 20 years in prison.
Their sister, 29-year-old Lee Grace Dougherty, pleaded guilty to first-degree assault and two counts of menacing. She faces a maximum of 28 years in prison.
———
Bruce Springsteen closes first weekend of New Orleans’ Jazz Fest
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Bruce Springsteen has closed out the first weekend of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival with a 2 1/2-hour show that combined crowd-pleasers such as ‘‘Born to Run’’ with the cover tune of his new CD, ‘‘Wrecking Ball.’’
Fans began staking out spots when the Fair Grounds opened at 11 a.m. Sunday, rushing from the entrance gates to spread blankets and set up chairs close to the stage. By the time Springsteen stepped on stage fans were stretched around the fairgrounds track, some standing 10 to 12 people deep.
At one point New Orleans blues legend Dr. John took the stage with Springsteen, joining him on ‘‘Something You Got.’’
Springsteen last played Jazz Fest in 2006.
Soul singer Al Green closed out the day on the Congo Square stage.
———
Paul’s free throws cap Clippers’ stunning rally from 27 down to stun Grizzlies 99-98
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Chris Paul begged coach Vinny Del Negro to put him back into the game for the fourth quarter and not give up despite being down 21 points.
The result was another Clippers comeback — one of the greatest in NBA playoff history.
Paul hit a pair of free throws with 23.7 seconds left, and the Clippers rallied from a deficit that had been as much as 27 to stun the Memphis Grizzlies 99-98 Sunday night in the opening game of their Western Conference series.
The key, Paul said, is to keep believing.
‘‘Unfortunately, that’s how we play,’’ he said. ‘‘We get killed in the first three quarters and in the fourth quarter we like to try to stand up."[[In-content Ad]]
BEIJING (AP) — U.S. and Chinese officials are ironing out a deal to secure American asylum for a blind Chinese legal activist who fled house arrest, with an agreement likely before Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrives this week, a U.S. rights campaigner said Monday.
Bob Fu of the Texas-based rights group ChinaAid said that China and the U.S. want to reach agreement on the fate of Chen Guangcheng before the annual high-level talks with Clinton and other U.S. officials begin in Beijing on Thursday.
‘‘The Chinese top leaders are deliberating a decision to be made very soon, maybe in the next 24 to 48 hours,’’ Fu said, citing a source close to the U.S. and Chinese governments. Both sides are ‘‘eager to solve this issue,’’ said Fu, a former teacher at a Communist Party academy in Beijing whose advocacy group focuses on the rights of Christians in China and who maintains a network of contacts in the country.
‘‘It really depends on China’s willingness to facilitate Chen’s exit,’’ Fu said.
Chen, a well-known dissident who angered authorities in rural China by exposing forced abortions, made a surprise escape from house arrest a week ago into what activists say is the protection of U.S. diplomats in Beijing, posing a delicate diplomatic crisis for both governments.
———
Syria: 2 blasts that kill at least 8 in city of Idlib carried out by suicide bombers
BEIRUT (AP) — Syria’s state news agency says the two explosions that killed at least eight people in the city of Idlib were carried out by suicide bombers.
The state news agency, SANA, said Monday’s blasts wounded nearly 100 people. The explosions were near a military compound, but it’s not clear what the target was.
The force of the explosions shattered windows in the area and sent debris flying for hundreds of meters.
———
Sailboat wreckage found hours after disappearance, raising questions after 3 die, 1 missing
ENSENADA, Mexico (AP) — Eric Lamb was doing safety patrol on a 124-mile yacht race when he spotted a boat that appeared too close to Mexico’s Coronado Islands. He never got there.
As his twin-engine boat neared the uninhabited islands just south of San Diego, he stumbled on sailboat shards that were mostly no more than six inches long strewn over about two square miles. He saw a small refrigerator, a white seat cushion and empty containers of yogurt and soy milk.
Over several hours, a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter directed him in his search and led him to two dead bodies floating with their backs up, badly scraped and bruised. The Coast Guard recovered a third body and the fourth member of the crew was missing Monday in California’s second deadly accident this month involving an ocean race.
Lamb, 62, said the 37-foot racing yacht looked like it ‘‘had gone through a blender.’’
‘‘It was real obvious it had been hit just because the debris was so small,’’ he said Sunday.
———
Once rivals, Obama and Clintons forge genuine partnership; incentive for both to make it work
McLEAN, Va. (AP) — There were no bear hugs on display, but President Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton looked relaxed and friendly as they began a summer fundraising blitz that demonstrates their shared hopes for Democratic victory despite past differences.
Although Clinton had dismissed Obama in 2008 as undeserving of the presidency his wife Hillary Rodham Clinton was then seeking, on Sunday evening Clinton warmly declared ‘‘Barack Obama deserves to be re-elected president of the United States.’’
Obama is ‘‘beating the clock’’ to restore the nation’s economy to health, Clinton told about 500 cheering supporters who had paid as little at $1,000 and as much as $20,000 apiece to see, as Obama put it, ‘‘two presidents for one.’’
Digging out of similar financial holes has historically taken five to 10 years, Clinton said.
Longtime Clinton backer and strategist Terry McAuliffe hosted the event, the first of three planned joint appearances for Clinton and Obama.
———
Obama hosts Japan prime minister who leaves woes at home to reaffirm core alliance with US
WASHINGTON (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, in his Monday meeting with President Barack Obama, is looking to reaffirm Japan’s strong alliance with the U.S. and boost his leadership credentials as his popularity flags at home.
Noda, who came to power in September and is Japan’s sixth prime minister in six years, faces huge challenges in reviving a long-slumbering economy and helping his nation recover from the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl.
His Oval Office meeting and working lunch with Obama, to be followed by a gala dinner hosted by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, could offer Noda some brief relief from domestic woes. The two sides are determined to show that U.S.-Japan ties are as close as ever, particularly after the assistance the U.S. lent following the massive March 2011 earthquake and tsunami that triggered a meltdown at a nuclear plant.
The U.S. alliance with Japan, the world’s third-largest economy, is at the core of Obama’s expanded engagement in Asia — a diplomatic thrust motivated in part by a desire to counter the growing economic and military clout of strategic rival China.
The U.S. has about 50,000 troops in Japan, and both sides never tire of saying that their defense cooperation underpins regional peace and security.
———
Officials probe cause of Bronx SUV accident that killed 7 members of family, including 3 kids
NEW YORK (AP) — Three generations of a family died in a horrifying crash just a few miles from home when the SUV they were traveling in plunged more than 50 feet off a highway overpass and into a ravine on the grounds of the Bronx Zoo, killing all seven aboard, including three children.
‘‘Sometimes you come upon events that are horrific and this is one of them,’’ FDNY deputy Chief Ronald Werner said shortly after the crash.
Authorities were trying to determine what caused Sunday’s accident that killed Jacob Nunez, 85, and Ana Julia Martinez, 81, both from the Dominican Republic, their daughters, Maria Gonzalez, 45, and Maria Nunez, 39, and three grandchildren. Police say Gonzalez was driving.
The children were identified as Jocelyn Gonzalez, 10, the daughter of the driver, Niely Rosario, 7, and Marly Rosario, 3, both daughters of Nunez.
‘‘They were a good, wholesome family,’’ a Bronx neighbor, Felicia Lee, 29, told the Daily News.
———
The not-so-buttoned-down Secret Service finds its blue-chip reputation in the line of fire
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Secret Service does not often get a black eye behind those oh-so-cool sunglasses. It’s got a shiner now.
The public face of the service is one of steely professionals in impeccable suits, wearing discreet earpieces and packing even more discreet weapons. Agents are expressionless except for their ever-searching gaze, lethal automatons ready to die for a president.
By reputation, stoked by Hollywood myth and the public’s fleeting glances at dark-windowed motorcades, they are anything but party animals.
But what happened in Colombia didn’t stay in Colombia.
The exposed Secret Service secrets have put the storied agency under a different line of fire, as lawmakers and internal investigators try to get to the bottom of officers’ behavior and any implications for the safety of those they protect, starting with President Barack Obama.
———
Cross-country fugitive siblings being sentenced in Colorado; Next up: Georgia, Florida
DENVER (AP) — Three Florida siblings accused of shooting at a police officer and staging a daring bank robbery in a multistate crime spree are facing sentencing on charges stemming from their shootout and capture in Colorado — effectively ending their stay here as Georgia authorities await their extradition.
Lee Grace Dougherty, 29, Dylan Stanley-Dougherty, 27, and Ryan Dougherty, 22, pleaded guilty to charges related to the Aug. 10 freeway chase and shootout with police in southern Colorado. Once 3rd Judicial District Judge Claude Appel hands down their sentences, the U.S. Marshals Service will transport them to Albany, Ga., for a court hearing on May 15, making it likely they’ll be transferred from state to federal custody within days, if not hours of Monday’s sentencing.
U.S. Marshals Service spokesman Steve Wallisch declined to comment, citing security concerns.
Dylan Stanley-Dougherty pleaded guilty to one charge of first-degree assault and faces up to 32 years in prison. Ryan Dougherty pleaded guilty to five counts of menacing and faces up to 20 years in prison.
Their sister, 29-year-old Lee Grace Dougherty, pleaded guilty to first-degree assault and two counts of menacing. She faces a maximum of 28 years in prison.
———
Bruce Springsteen closes first weekend of New Orleans’ Jazz Fest
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Bruce Springsteen has closed out the first weekend of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival with a 2 1/2-hour show that combined crowd-pleasers such as ‘‘Born to Run’’ with the cover tune of his new CD, ‘‘Wrecking Ball.’’
Fans began staking out spots when the Fair Grounds opened at 11 a.m. Sunday, rushing from the entrance gates to spread blankets and set up chairs close to the stage. By the time Springsteen stepped on stage fans were stretched around the fairgrounds track, some standing 10 to 12 people deep.
At one point New Orleans blues legend Dr. John took the stage with Springsteen, joining him on ‘‘Something You Got.’’
Springsteen last played Jazz Fest in 2006.
Soul singer Al Green closed out the day on the Congo Square stage.
———
Paul’s free throws cap Clippers’ stunning rally from 27 down to stun Grizzlies 99-98
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Chris Paul begged coach Vinny Del Negro to put him back into the game for the fourth quarter and not give up despite being down 21 points.
The result was another Clippers comeback — one of the greatest in NBA playoff history.
Paul hit a pair of free throws with 23.7 seconds left, and the Clippers rallied from a deficit that had been as much as 27 to stun the Memphis Grizzlies 99-98 Sunday night in the opening game of their Western Conference series.
The key, Paul said, is to keep believing.
‘‘Unfortunately, that’s how we play,’’ he said. ‘‘We get killed in the first three quarters and in the fourth quarter we like to try to stand up."[[In-content Ad]]
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