World/Nation Briefs 5.3.2012
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By -
BEIJING (AP) — U.S. officials said Thursday they are still trying to help a blind Chinese activist who says he fears for his family’s safety, and denied he was pressured to leave the American Embassy to resettle inside China.
The diplomatic dispute between Washington and Beijing over Chen Guangcheng is sensitive for the Obama administration. It risks appearing soft on human rights during an election year or looking as though it rushed to resolve Chen’s case ahead of strategic talks this week with China attended by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
After fleeing persecution by local officials in his rural town and seeking refuge in the embassy in Beijing for six days, Chen left Wednesday to get treatment for a leg injury at a Beijing hospital and be reunited with his family. U.S. officials said the Chinese government had agreed to resettle him in a university town of his choice.
Chen, 40, initially said he had assurances that he would be safe in China — which is what U.S. officials said he wanted — but hours later he told The Associated Press he feared for his family’s safety unless they are all spirited abroad. He also said he felt pressured to leave, both by Chinese and U.S. officials.
U.S. Ambassador Gary Locke told a news conference that he could say ‘‘unequivocally’’ that Chen was never pressured to leave. Locke said Chen left the embassy after talking twice on the telephone with his wife, who was waiting at the hospital.
———
AP survey: Economists confident that hiring gains will help sustain US recovery
WASHINGTON (AP) — Hiring through the rest of 2012 will lag the brisk pace set early this year. But it will be strong enough to push the unemployment rate below 8 percent by Election Day.
That’s the view that emerges from an Associated Press survey of 32 leading economists who foresee a gradually brighter jobs picture. Despite higher gas prices, Europe’s debt crisis and a weak housing market, they think the economy has entered a ‘‘virtuous cycle’’ in which hiring boosts consumer spending, which fuels more hiring and spending.
The survey results come before a report Friday on hiring during April. The April report is eagerly awaited because employers added surprisingly few jobs in March. That result contributed to fears that the economy might struggle to sustain its recovery.
But the economists think the recovery will manage to reduce unemployment to 7.9 percent by Election Day from 8.2 percent in March.
Falling unemployment would boost President Barack Obama’s prospects in November. Going back to 1956, no president has lost re-election when the unemployment rate dropped in the two years before the election. And none has won when the rate rose over that time.
———
Problems seen for Medicare provider payments if Supreme Court strikes down health care law
WASHINGTON (AP) — Tossing out President Barack Obama’s health care law would have major unintended consequences for Medicare’s payment systems, unseen but vital plumbing that handles 100 million monthly claims from hospitals and other service providers, the administration has quietly informed the courts.
Although the law made significant cuts to providers and improved prescription and preventive benefits for seniors, Medicare has been overlooked in a Supreme Court debate focused on the law’s controversial requirement that individuals carry health insurance. Yet havoc in Medicare could have repercussions in an election year when both parties are avidly courting seniors.
In papers filed with the Supreme Court, administration lawyers have warned of ‘‘extraordinary disruption’’ if Medicare is forced to unwind countless transactions that are based on payment changes required by more than 20 separate sections of the Affordable Care Act.
Opponents argue that the whole law should go. The administration counters that even if it strikes down the insurance mandate, the court should preserve most of the rest of the legislation. That would leave in place its changes to Medicare, as well as a major expansion of Medicaid coverage.
Last year, in a lower court filing on the case, Justice Department lawyers said reversing the Medicare payment changes ‘‘would impose staggering administrative burdens’’ on the government and ‘‘could cause major delays and errors’’ in claims payment.
———
Hollande’s France would tweak NATO, Afghan roles but hold hard Sarkozy line on Syria, Iran
PARIS (AP) — If polls are to be believed, leftist Francois Hollande will soon be French president, and will tell Barack Obama next month that France is speeding up its withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan — bucking NATO’s slower timetable.
Conservative French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who has trailed Hollande for months in the polls, is arguably the most America-friendly French leader in a half-century. He has aligned with Washington on Iran and Syria, upped France’s military presence in Afghanistan and took a major role in NATO’s air campaign over Libya that helped oust Moammar Gadhafi.
Hollande, with virtually no foreign policy experience, might be less vigorous in flexing military or diplomatic muscle abroad than Sarkozy. And that would have implications for France’s allies and enemies alike.
Whoever is elected in Sunday’s presidential elections, his decisions will carry weight on Iran’s nuclear ambitions, government repression in Syria, and the fight against terrorism and pirates in Africa, and beyond.
Foreign policy beyond Europe takes up just four points of Hollande’s 60-point platform. And while a flow chart of his campaign team lists advisers on issues like gender equality, France’s overseas territories, or sports, no one is named as his main adviser on international affairs.
———
Sudden death in NYC leads to bags of cash, inquiry of Boston men with ’colorful’ criminal past
NEW YORK (AP) — The mystery began with a heart attack, a man with a past, and a bag of money that federal authorities now want to keep.
Last August, a retired Teamster from Boston stepped off an Amtrak train in New York City and collapsed on the platform at Pennsylvania Station. As medics tried to revive him, police searched his backpack for identification. Inside, they found the stuff that ‘‘Law & Order’’ episodes are made of: $179,980 in cash, bundled with rubber bands and tucked inside two plastic bags.
That raised some eyebrows. So did the dead man’s background.
William P. Coyman, 75, a lifelong resident of Boston’s Charlestown section, had a criminal history dating to 1955. His record included prison time in New Hampshire after he was caught with a pile of cocaine and $20,000 that had just been stolen from a department store.
Coyman’s old union, International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 25, was notorious for its organized crime ties in the 1990s. Years ago, Coyman’s name was mentioned in news articles about allegations that union officials were shaking down Hollywood film crews and forcing producers to give cushy film set jobs to gangland hoodlums. He’d worked as a driver on some of the films in question.
———
Police say former NFL star Junior Seau found dead in apparent suicide at California home
OCEANSIDE, Calif. (AP) — Junior Seau’s apparent suicide stunned an entire city and saddened former teammates who recalled the former NFL star’s ferocious tackles and habit of calling everybody around him ‘‘Buddy.’’
It also left everyone wondering what led to Seau’s death Wednesday morning in what police said appeared to be a suicide. He was 43.
‘‘I’m sorry to say, Superman is dead,’’ said Shawn Mitchell, a chaplain for the San Diego Chargers. ‘‘All of us can appear to be super, but all of us need to reach out and find support when we’re hurting.’’
Police Chief Frank McCoy said Seau’s girlfriend reported finding him unconscious with a gunshot wound to the chest and lifesaving efforts were unsuccessful. A gun was found near him, McCoy said. Police said no suicide note was found and they didn’t immediately know who the gun was registered to.
Neither Mitchell nor Seau’s ex-wife knew what might have led to the former first-pumping, emotional leader of his hometown San Diego Chargers to kill himself.
———
High-profile Democrats in GOP-leaning House races could aid Obama in core battleground states
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Republican-leaning areas in states vital to President Barack Obama’s re-election prospects are drawing top-tier Democratic congressional candidates who, even if they lose, could help turn out the vote and boost Obama’s chances of winning a second term.
The best example of the trend is former Iowa first lady Christie Vilsack, challenging GOP Rep. Steve King in Iowa’s 4th Congressional District.
Christie Vilsack, the wife of former two-term governor Tom Vilsack — now Obama’s agriculture secretary — moved more than 100 miles away from her home to run in a largely rural tract of GOP-heavy northern and western Iowa, where Obama lost in 2008 despite winning the state.
‘‘That race is a great example of one that will help the president,’’ said Tad Devine, a senior adviser to 2004 Democratic nominee John Kerry. ‘‘There will be a strong correlation between Obama and Vilsack voters. It’s about the composition of the electorate.’’
Other key matchups are in Colorado, Florida, Ohio and Virginia. Obama carried these four states four years ago while losing to Republican John McCain in the individual counties that make up the districts.
———
Pettitte helps Clemens by saying he might have misunderstood their HGH conversation
WASHINGTON (AP) — Andy Pettitte, the reluctant witness who was supposed to bolster the government’s case against Roger Clemens, appears to have instead substantially aided his former teammate and friend when he readily conceded he might have misunderstood their conversation about human growth hormone.
The doubt Pettitte acknowledged on cross-examination Wednesday sounded like a significant step back from his testimony the day before that ‘‘Roger had mentioned to me that he had taken HGH.’’
Clemens, a seven-time Cy Young Award winner, is accused of lying to Congress in 2008 when he said he never used steroids or HGH.
Prosecutors had hoped Pettitte, with no apparent motive to lie, would reinforce a case that otherwise relies heavily on Brian McNamee, a former strength coach for both Pettitte and Clemens who says he injected Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone.
So Pettitte’s concession weakens the prosecution’s effort to prove Clemens guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, University of Iowa law professor James Tomkovicz said in an email interview.
———
Its last nuclear reactor going offline, Japan takes tentative steps toward renewable energy
TOKYO (AP) — Another long, stupefyingly hot summer is looming for Japan just as it shuts down its last operating nuclear power reactor, worsening a squeeze on electricity and adding urgency to calls for a green energy revolution.
On Saturday, the last of the country’s 50 usable nuclear reactors will be switched off, completely idling a power source that once supplied a third of Japan’s electricity. At a time when temptation to set the aircon to deep freeze is at its greatest, companies and ordinary Japanese will be obliged to economize amid temperatures that can climb above 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).
Nuclear energy seemed a steady mainstay of Japan’s power supply until the March 11, 2011, tsunami crippled the Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant in the worst atomic accident since the 1986 Chernobyl explosion. Authorities have since tightened safety standards and refrained from restarting reactors that were shut down, mostly for routine checks.
To offset the shortfall, utilities have ramped up oil- and gas-based generation, giving resource-poor Japan, the world’s third-largest economy, its biggest annual trade deficit ever last fiscal year. That $100 million-plus a day extra cost, worries over the risks of nuclear power and concern over carbon emissions are leading many decisionmakers to view renewable energy such as solar, hydro and wind more positively.
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has pledged to reduce Japan’s reliance on nuclear power over time. And Japan is debating renewable energy targets of between 25 percent to 35 percent of total power generation by 2030, looking to Germany, which raised the proportion of renewables from 5 percent in 1990 to 20 percent by 2010.
———
Angels ace Jered Weaver pitches no-hitter, shuts down Twins 9-0
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — His gem complete, Jered Weaver started to sob. Then, there were more tears when his wife and mom and dad joined the Angels ace for a group hug.
Quite an on-field celebration for the California kid. And quite a performance — a no-hitter, for crying out loud.
Weaver pitched the second no-hitter in the majors in less than two weeks, completely overmatching Minnesota and leading Los Angeles to a 9-0 win over the Twins on Wednesday night.
‘‘It was an easy ride,’’ Weaver said.
He’s about to get another chance to tame the Twins, too. His next start is scheduled for Monday night at Minnesota.
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BEIJING (AP) — U.S. officials said Thursday they are still trying to help a blind Chinese activist who says he fears for his family’s safety, and denied he was pressured to leave the American Embassy to resettle inside China.
The diplomatic dispute between Washington and Beijing over Chen Guangcheng is sensitive for the Obama administration. It risks appearing soft on human rights during an election year or looking as though it rushed to resolve Chen’s case ahead of strategic talks this week with China attended by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
After fleeing persecution by local officials in his rural town and seeking refuge in the embassy in Beijing for six days, Chen left Wednesday to get treatment for a leg injury at a Beijing hospital and be reunited with his family. U.S. officials said the Chinese government had agreed to resettle him in a university town of his choice.
Chen, 40, initially said he had assurances that he would be safe in China — which is what U.S. officials said he wanted — but hours later he told The Associated Press he feared for his family’s safety unless they are all spirited abroad. He also said he felt pressured to leave, both by Chinese and U.S. officials.
U.S. Ambassador Gary Locke told a news conference that he could say ‘‘unequivocally’’ that Chen was never pressured to leave. Locke said Chen left the embassy after talking twice on the telephone with his wife, who was waiting at the hospital.
———
AP survey: Economists confident that hiring gains will help sustain US recovery
WASHINGTON (AP) — Hiring through the rest of 2012 will lag the brisk pace set early this year. But it will be strong enough to push the unemployment rate below 8 percent by Election Day.
That’s the view that emerges from an Associated Press survey of 32 leading economists who foresee a gradually brighter jobs picture. Despite higher gas prices, Europe’s debt crisis and a weak housing market, they think the economy has entered a ‘‘virtuous cycle’’ in which hiring boosts consumer spending, which fuels more hiring and spending.
The survey results come before a report Friday on hiring during April. The April report is eagerly awaited because employers added surprisingly few jobs in March. That result contributed to fears that the economy might struggle to sustain its recovery.
But the economists think the recovery will manage to reduce unemployment to 7.9 percent by Election Day from 8.2 percent in March.
Falling unemployment would boost President Barack Obama’s prospects in November. Going back to 1956, no president has lost re-election when the unemployment rate dropped in the two years before the election. And none has won when the rate rose over that time.
———
Problems seen for Medicare provider payments if Supreme Court strikes down health care law
WASHINGTON (AP) — Tossing out President Barack Obama’s health care law would have major unintended consequences for Medicare’s payment systems, unseen but vital plumbing that handles 100 million monthly claims from hospitals and other service providers, the administration has quietly informed the courts.
Although the law made significant cuts to providers and improved prescription and preventive benefits for seniors, Medicare has been overlooked in a Supreme Court debate focused on the law’s controversial requirement that individuals carry health insurance. Yet havoc in Medicare could have repercussions in an election year when both parties are avidly courting seniors.
In papers filed with the Supreme Court, administration lawyers have warned of ‘‘extraordinary disruption’’ if Medicare is forced to unwind countless transactions that are based on payment changes required by more than 20 separate sections of the Affordable Care Act.
Opponents argue that the whole law should go. The administration counters that even if it strikes down the insurance mandate, the court should preserve most of the rest of the legislation. That would leave in place its changes to Medicare, as well as a major expansion of Medicaid coverage.
Last year, in a lower court filing on the case, Justice Department lawyers said reversing the Medicare payment changes ‘‘would impose staggering administrative burdens’’ on the government and ‘‘could cause major delays and errors’’ in claims payment.
———
Hollande’s France would tweak NATO, Afghan roles but hold hard Sarkozy line on Syria, Iran
PARIS (AP) — If polls are to be believed, leftist Francois Hollande will soon be French president, and will tell Barack Obama next month that France is speeding up its withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan — bucking NATO’s slower timetable.
Conservative French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who has trailed Hollande for months in the polls, is arguably the most America-friendly French leader in a half-century. He has aligned with Washington on Iran and Syria, upped France’s military presence in Afghanistan and took a major role in NATO’s air campaign over Libya that helped oust Moammar Gadhafi.
Hollande, with virtually no foreign policy experience, might be less vigorous in flexing military or diplomatic muscle abroad than Sarkozy. And that would have implications for France’s allies and enemies alike.
Whoever is elected in Sunday’s presidential elections, his decisions will carry weight on Iran’s nuclear ambitions, government repression in Syria, and the fight against terrorism and pirates in Africa, and beyond.
Foreign policy beyond Europe takes up just four points of Hollande’s 60-point platform. And while a flow chart of his campaign team lists advisers on issues like gender equality, France’s overseas territories, or sports, no one is named as his main adviser on international affairs.
———
Sudden death in NYC leads to bags of cash, inquiry of Boston men with ’colorful’ criminal past
NEW YORK (AP) — The mystery began with a heart attack, a man with a past, and a bag of money that federal authorities now want to keep.
Last August, a retired Teamster from Boston stepped off an Amtrak train in New York City and collapsed on the platform at Pennsylvania Station. As medics tried to revive him, police searched his backpack for identification. Inside, they found the stuff that ‘‘Law & Order’’ episodes are made of: $179,980 in cash, bundled with rubber bands and tucked inside two plastic bags.
That raised some eyebrows. So did the dead man’s background.
William P. Coyman, 75, a lifelong resident of Boston’s Charlestown section, had a criminal history dating to 1955. His record included prison time in New Hampshire after he was caught with a pile of cocaine and $20,000 that had just been stolen from a department store.
Coyman’s old union, International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 25, was notorious for its organized crime ties in the 1990s. Years ago, Coyman’s name was mentioned in news articles about allegations that union officials were shaking down Hollywood film crews and forcing producers to give cushy film set jobs to gangland hoodlums. He’d worked as a driver on some of the films in question.
———
Police say former NFL star Junior Seau found dead in apparent suicide at California home
OCEANSIDE, Calif. (AP) — Junior Seau’s apparent suicide stunned an entire city and saddened former teammates who recalled the former NFL star’s ferocious tackles and habit of calling everybody around him ‘‘Buddy.’’
It also left everyone wondering what led to Seau’s death Wednesday morning in what police said appeared to be a suicide. He was 43.
‘‘I’m sorry to say, Superman is dead,’’ said Shawn Mitchell, a chaplain for the San Diego Chargers. ‘‘All of us can appear to be super, but all of us need to reach out and find support when we’re hurting.’’
Police Chief Frank McCoy said Seau’s girlfriend reported finding him unconscious with a gunshot wound to the chest and lifesaving efforts were unsuccessful. A gun was found near him, McCoy said. Police said no suicide note was found and they didn’t immediately know who the gun was registered to.
Neither Mitchell nor Seau’s ex-wife knew what might have led to the former first-pumping, emotional leader of his hometown San Diego Chargers to kill himself.
———
High-profile Democrats in GOP-leaning House races could aid Obama in core battleground states
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Republican-leaning areas in states vital to President Barack Obama’s re-election prospects are drawing top-tier Democratic congressional candidates who, even if they lose, could help turn out the vote and boost Obama’s chances of winning a second term.
The best example of the trend is former Iowa first lady Christie Vilsack, challenging GOP Rep. Steve King in Iowa’s 4th Congressional District.
Christie Vilsack, the wife of former two-term governor Tom Vilsack — now Obama’s agriculture secretary — moved more than 100 miles away from her home to run in a largely rural tract of GOP-heavy northern and western Iowa, where Obama lost in 2008 despite winning the state.
‘‘That race is a great example of one that will help the president,’’ said Tad Devine, a senior adviser to 2004 Democratic nominee John Kerry. ‘‘There will be a strong correlation between Obama and Vilsack voters. It’s about the composition of the electorate.’’
Other key matchups are in Colorado, Florida, Ohio and Virginia. Obama carried these four states four years ago while losing to Republican John McCain in the individual counties that make up the districts.
———
Pettitte helps Clemens by saying he might have misunderstood their HGH conversation
WASHINGTON (AP) — Andy Pettitte, the reluctant witness who was supposed to bolster the government’s case against Roger Clemens, appears to have instead substantially aided his former teammate and friend when he readily conceded he might have misunderstood their conversation about human growth hormone.
The doubt Pettitte acknowledged on cross-examination Wednesday sounded like a significant step back from his testimony the day before that ‘‘Roger had mentioned to me that he had taken HGH.’’
Clemens, a seven-time Cy Young Award winner, is accused of lying to Congress in 2008 when he said he never used steroids or HGH.
Prosecutors had hoped Pettitte, with no apparent motive to lie, would reinforce a case that otherwise relies heavily on Brian McNamee, a former strength coach for both Pettitte and Clemens who says he injected Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone.
So Pettitte’s concession weakens the prosecution’s effort to prove Clemens guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, University of Iowa law professor James Tomkovicz said in an email interview.
———
Its last nuclear reactor going offline, Japan takes tentative steps toward renewable energy
TOKYO (AP) — Another long, stupefyingly hot summer is looming for Japan just as it shuts down its last operating nuclear power reactor, worsening a squeeze on electricity and adding urgency to calls for a green energy revolution.
On Saturday, the last of the country’s 50 usable nuclear reactors will be switched off, completely idling a power source that once supplied a third of Japan’s electricity. At a time when temptation to set the aircon to deep freeze is at its greatest, companies and ordinary Japanese will be obliged to economize amid temperatures that can climb above 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).
Nuclear energy seemed a steady mainstay of Japan’s power supply until the March 11, 2011, tsunami crippled the Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant in the worst atomic accident since the 1986 Chernobyl explosion. Authorities have since tightened safety standards and refrained from restarting reactors that were shut down, mostly for routine checks.
To offset the shortfall, utilities have ramped up oil- and gas-based generation, giving resource-poor Japan, the world’s third-largest economy, its biggest annual trade deficit ever last fiscal year. That $100 million-plus a day extra cost, worries over the risks of nuclear power and concern over carbon emissions are leading many decisionmakers to view renewable energy such as solar, hydro and wind more positively.
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has pledged to reduce Japan’s reliance on nuclear power over time. And Japan is debating renewable energy targets of between 25 percent to 35 percent of total power generation by 2030, looking to Germany, which raised the proportion of renewables from 5 percent in 1990 to 20 percent by 2010.
———
Angels ace Jered Weaver pitches no-hitter, shuts down Twins 9-0
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — His gem complete, Jered Weaver started to sob. Then, there were more tears when his wife and mom and dad joined the Angels ace for a group hug.
Quite an on-field celebration for the California kid. And quite a performance — a no-hitter, for crying out loud.
Weaver pitched the second no-hitter in the majors in less than two weeks, completely overmatching Minnesota and leading Los Angeles to a 9-0 win over the Twins on Wednesday night.
‘‘It was an easy ride,’’ Weaver said.
He’s about to get another chance to tame the Twins, too. His next start is scheduled for Monday night at Minnesota.
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