World/Nation Briefs 5.7.2012
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By -
PARIS (AP) — When Nicolas Sarkozy bounded up the steps of France’s presidential palace in jogging shorts and shoes on his first day in office five years ago, many French instantly sensed they were in for something new.
In a country where King Louis XIV’s phrase ‘‘L’Etat, c’est moi’’ — ‘‘I am the state — resonated for later heads of state, the message from Sarkozy was clear: Tradition-bound France needed a self-image makeover.
His idea of change wasn’t exactly what many French had in mind.
Sarkozy’s meticulously built political career all but collapsed Sunday, after he lost to Francois Hollande, an unassuming and bespectacled Socialist, in France’s presidential run-off. Sarkozy becomes the first French one-term president since Valery Giscard d’Estaing lost his re-election bid in 1981.
Sarkozy’s inauguration day jog, which conveyed youthful vigor, ultimately epitomized what many French came to see as jejeune, self-centered antics unbefitting of a president at a time when economic troubles and persistently high joblessness were on most minds.
———
House GOP plan cuts social programs to stave off Pentagon cuts
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republicans who control the House are using cuts to food aid, health care and social services like Meals on Wheels to protect the Pentagon from a wave of budget cuts come January.
The reductions, while controversial, are but a fraction of what Republicans called for in the broader, nonbinding budget plan they passed in March. Totaling a little more than $300 billion over a decade, the new cuts are aimed less at tackling $1 trillion-plus government deficits and more at preventing cuts to troop levels and military modernization.
The House Budget Committee meets Monday to officially act on the measure, the product of six separate House panels. It faces a likely floor vote Thursday.
The measure kicks off Congress’ return to action after a weeklong recess. The House will also vote on a spending bill funding NASA and the Justice Department and on legislation to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act. The Senate, meanwhile, has a test vote slated for Tuesday on a plan backed by President Barack Obama to prevent a doubling of college loan interest rates.
Fully one-fourth of the House GOP spending cuts come from programs directly benefiting the poor, such as Medicaid, food stamps, the Social Services Block Grant, and a child tax credit claimed by working immigrants. Federal workers would have to contribute an additional 5 percent of their salaries toward their pensions, while people whose incomes rise after receiving coverage subsidies under the new health care law would lose some or all of their benefits.
———
Twitter’s role in 2012 presidential campaign extends beyond 140 characters
NEW YORK (AP) — (at)BarackObama is on Twitter. So is (at)MittRomney. And so are all the voters following the 2012 presidential contest, whether they know it or not.
Candidates, strategists, journalists and political junkies have all flocked to Twitter, the social networking hub where information from the mundane to the momentous is shared through 140-character microbursts known as tweets.
While relatively few voters are on Twitter — a study by the Pew Research Center found that about 13 percent of American adults have joined the site — it’s become an essential tool for campaigns to test-drive themes and make news with a group of politically wired ‘‘influencers’’ who process and share those messages with the broader world.
Put simply: When a voter is exposed to any information related to the presidential contest, chances are it’s been through the Twitter filter first.
‘‘The subset of people on Twitter may be relatively small, but it’s a politically engaged audience whose influence extends both online and off,’’ said Heather LaMarre, a University of Minnesota communications professor who studies social media. ‘‘It’s not the direct message that has the biggest influence on people — it’s the indirect message.’’
———
World stocks dive after Europe elections, disappointing US jobs data
BANGKOK (AP) — World stock markets were pummeled Monday by election results in Greece and France that heightened uncertainty about Europe’s ability to solve its debt crisis.
Signs of a faltering economic recovery in the U.S. compounded the dour mood while oil slid to nearly $97 a barrel.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index plunged 2.8 percent to close at 9,119.14 — its lowest finish in three months — with the market’s export sector also sapped by a rising yen. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slid 2.6 percent to 20,536.59.
Futures augured losses for Wall Street. Dow Jones industrial futures fell 0.8 percent to 12,857 and S&P 500 futures lost 0.9 percent to 1,350.90. Among European markets, Germany’s DAX dropped 1.5 percent to 6,463.67 and France’s CAC-40 shed 1.6 percent to 3,112.49. Britain’s markets were closed for a public holiday.
Weekend election results in Greece sent tremors throughout Europe as voters punished the parties responsible for highly unpopular austerity measures instituted to prevent the country from defaulting on its massive debts and exiting the euro currency bloc.
———
Clinton presses India to cut oil imports from Iran to keep pressure on the Islamic republic
KOLKATA, India (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton urged energy-starved India on Monday to reduce its Iranian oil imports to keep up pressure on the Islamic republic to come clean about its nuclear program.
Clinton told a town hall meeting in the eastern city of Kolkata that there’s an adequate supply in the market for India to find alternative sources of oil. Clinton noted India has taken some steps to reduce its imports from Iran but she says the U.S. wants to see more.
‘‘If there weren’t an adequate supply ... we would understand, but we believe that there is adequate supply,’’ she said.
India could face U.S. sanctions by the end of June if the Obama administration determines it has not made significant cuts in imports under a law aimed at squeezing Iran’s petroleum industry to press the country to prove its nuclear program is peaceful.
India, with a growth rate of about 7 percent, has a nearly insatiable need for oil. About 9 percent of its oil imports are from Iran, though officials say it has reduced its dependency on Iranian oil in recent months,
———
After 12 years on run, couple in Illinois Ponzi scheme caught in Arizona
TONOPAH, Ariz. (AP) — Acting on a tip, U.S. marshals in Arizona put an end to an Illinois couple’s life on the lam, a dozen years after they fled punishment for running a Ponzi scheme that targeted friends, the elderly, and even family members, authorities said.
As fugitives, Nelson Grant Hallahan, 65, and wife Janet Hallahan, 54, lived in several states in the Southwest and had used a number of aliases, the Marshals Service said Sunday.
The two were arrested by deputy marshals Saturday afternoon in Tonopah, a desert community 50 miles west of Phoenix. Officials believe they hid in Arizona for the past couple years.
‘‘The 12-year run from justice of the Hallahans, also known as the ‘Mini Madoffs,’ has come to an end,’’ U.S. Marshal for Arizona David Gonzales said in a statement. ‘‘Their investment scams involving family, friends, and the elderly, ruined many lives.’’
The agency said it received a tip about their location after they were featured on ‘‘America’s Most Wanted’’ the previous night.
———
New openness may take heavy toll on environment of Myanmar, one of Asia’s least spoiled places
As many as 40,000 gorgeously plumed birds known as the Gurney’s pitta thrive in the lowland rainforests of economically backward Myanmar. Across the border, Thailand’s last five pairs are guarded around the clock against snakes and human predators.
The bird’s status is among many reasons Myanmar is regarded as one of Asia’s last bastions of biodiversity, and why environmentalists view the country’s steps toward opening its doors with some fear.
Myanmar has avoided the rapid, often rampant development seen in Thailand and other parts of Asia because of decades of isolation brought on by harsh military rule. But as foreign investors begin pouring in, activists in what was once known as Burma say endemic corruption, virtually nonexistent environmental laws and a long-repressed civil society make it ‘‘ripe for environmental rape.’’
They hope that it will at least prove a race: pro-democracy reformers and conservationists are urging the government to put more safeguards in place against the unscrupulous eager to take advantage of their absence.
The rush is already on. Airplanes bound for Yangon, the nation’s largest city, are booked up with businessmen looking for deals, along with throngs of tourists. Singapore dispatched a delegation with 74 company representatives in March while the Malaysians sent a high-level investment mission focused on property development, tourism, rubber and oil palm plantations. U.S. and European countries are not as involved because sanctions against Myanmar prevent them from starting new businesses there.
———
George Lindsey, actor known as Goober Pyle on ’The Andy Griffith Show,’ dies in Tennessee
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — George Lindsey, who made a TV career as a grinning service station attendant named Goober on ‘‘The Andy Griffith Show’’ and ‘‘Hee Haw,’’ has died. He was 83.
The Marshall-Donnelly-Combs Funeral Home in Nashville said Lindsay died early Sunday morning after a brief illness.
Lindsey was the beanie-wearing Goober on ‘‘The Andy Griffith Show’’ from 1964 to 1968 and its successor, ‘‘Mayberry RFD,’’ from 1968 to 1971. He played the same jovial character on ‘‘Hee Haw’’ from 1971 until it went out of production in 1993.
‘‘America has grown up with me,’’ Lindsey said in an Associated Press interview in 1985. ‘‘Goober is every man; everyone finds something to like about ol’ Goober.’’
He joined ‘‘The Andy Griffith Show’’ in 1964 when Jim Nabors, portraying Gomer Pyle, left the program. Goober Pyle, who had been mentioned on the show as Gomer’s cousin, replaced him.
———
Romney, Obama sling similar insults at each other to see what sticks; voters to have final say
WASHINGTON (AP) — He’s a smug, Harvard-trained elitist who doesn’t get how regular Americans are struggling these days. More extreme than he lets on, he’s keeping his true agenda hidden until after Election Day. He’s clueless about fixing the economy, over his head on foreign policy. Who is he?
Your answer will help decide the next president.
Is it Barack Obama, as seen by Mitt Romney? Or Romney, the way Obama depicts him? For all their liberal versus conservative differences, when the two presidential contenders describe each other, they sound like they’re ragging on the same flawed guy. Or mirror images of that guy.
Will voters prefer the man waving with his left hand or his right?
Blame it on two cautious candidates with more traits in common than their disparate early biographies would suggest.
———
AT&T sets up new group to sell home security and automation, challenging Tyco’s ADT
NEW YORK (AP) — AT&T Inc. will start selling home automation and security services nationwide, taking on incumbents led by Tyco International Ltd.’s ADT.
The installations and services will be sold in AT&T stores, starting with a trial this summer in Dallas and Atlanta.
Several of AT&T’s competitors, including cable TV company Comcast Corp. and phone company Verizon Communications Inc., have ventured into the home automation and security field. Dallas-based AT&T is showing more ambition with its stated goal of selling nationwide, rather than sticking to its landline service territory, as Verizon does.
Steven Winoker, an analyst at Sanford Bernstein, said about 23 percent of U.S. homes have security systems, so there’s plenty of room to grow. Even fewer have automation systems for controlling appliances, lights, heating and cooling.
The biggest player in the field is ADT, but it has only 25 percent of the market. Many smaller companies make up the rest, according to Winoker.
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PARIS (AP) — When Nicolas Sarkozy bounded up the steps of France’s presidential palace in jogging shorts and shoes on his first day in office five years ago, many French instantly sensed they were in for something new.
In a country where King Louis XIV’s phrase ‘‘L’Etat, c’est moi’’ — ‘‘I am the state — resonated for later heads of state, the message from Sarkozy was clear: Tradition-bound France needed a self-image makeover.
His idea of change wasn’t exactly what many French had in mind.
Sarkozy’s meticulously built political career all but collapsed Sunday, after he lost to Francois Hollande, an unassuming and bespectacled Socialist, in France’s presidential run-off. Sarkozy becomes the first French one-term president since Valery Giscard d’Estaing lost his re-election bid in 1981.
Sarkozy’s inauguration day jog, which conveyed youthful vigor, ultimately epitomized what many French came to see as jejeune, self-centered antics unbefitting of a president at a time when economic troubles and persistently high joblessness were on most minds.
———
House GOP plan cuts social programs to stave off Pentagon cuts
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republicans who control the House are using cuts to food aid, health care and social services like Meals on Wheels to protect the Pentagon from a wave of budget cuts come January.
The reductions, while controversial, are but a fraction of what Republicans called for in the broader, nonbinding budget plan they passed in March. Totaling a little more than $300 billion over a decade, the new cuts are aimed less at tackling $1 trillion-plus government deficits and more at preventing cuts to troop levels and military modernization.
The House Budget Committee meets Monday to officially act on the measure, the product of six separate House panels. It faces a likely floor vote Thursday.
The measure kicks off Congress’ return to action after a weeklong recess. The House will also vote on a spending bill funding NASA and the Justice Department and on legislation to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act. The Senate, meanwhile, has a test vote slated for Tuesday on a plan backed by President Barack Obama to prevent a doubling of college loan interest rates.
Fully one-fourth of the House GOP spending cuts come from programs directly benefiting the poor, such as Medicaid, food stamps, the Social Services Block Grant, and a child tax credit claimed by working immigrants. Federal workers would have to contribute an additional 5 percent of their salaries toward their pensions, while people whose incomes rise after receiving coverage subsidies under the new health care law would lose some or all of their benefits.
———
Twitter’s role in 2012 presidential campaign extends beyond 140 characters
NEW YORK (AP) — (at)BarackObama is on Twitter. So is (at)MittRomney. And so are all the voters following the 2012 presidential contest, whether they know it or not.
Candidates, strategists, journalists and political junkies have all flocked to Twitter, the social networking hub where information from the mundane to the momentous is shared through 140-character microbursts known as tweets.
While relatively few voters are on Twitter — a study by the Pew Research Center found that about 13 percent of American adults have joined the site — it’s become an essential tool for campaigns to test-drive themes and make news with a group of politically wired ‘‘influencers’’ who process and share those messages with the broader world.
Put simply: When a voter is exposed to any information related to the presidential contest, chances are it’s been through the Twitter filter first.
‘‘The subset of people on Twitter may be relatively small, but it’s a politically engaged audience whose influence extends both online and off,’’ said Heather LaMarre, a University of Minnesota communications professor who studies social media. ‘‘It’s not the direct message that has the biggest influence on people — it’s the indirect message.’’
———
World stocks dive after Europe elections, disappointing US jobs data
BANGKOK (AP) — World stock markets were pummeled Monday by election results in Greece and France that heightened uncertainty about Europe’s ability to solve its debt crisis.
Signs of a faltering economic recovery in the U.S. compounded the dour mood while oil slid to nearly $97 a barrel.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index plunged 2.8 percent to close at 9,119.14 — its lowest finish in three months — with the market’s export sector also sapped by a rising yen. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slid 2.6 percent to 20,536.59.
Futures augured losses for Wall Street. Dow Jones industrial futures fell 0.8 percent to 12,857 and S&P 500 futures lost 0.9 percent to 1,350.90. Among European markets, Germany’s DAX dropped 1.5 percent to 6,463.67 and France’s CAC-40 shed 1.6 percent to 3,112.49. Britain’s markets were closed for a public holiday.
Weekend election results in Greece sent tremors throughout Europe as voters punished the parties responsible for highly unpopular austerity measures instituted to prevent the country from defaulting on its massive debts and exiting the euro currency bloc.
———
Clinton presses India to cut oil imports from Iran to keep pressure on the Islamic republic
KOLKATA, India (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton urged energy-starved India on Monday to reduce its Iranian oil imports to keep up pressure on the Islamic republic to come clean about its nuclear program.
Clinton told a town hall meeting in the eastern city of Kolkata that there’s an adequate supply in the market for India to find alternative sources of oil. Clinton noted India has taken some steps to reduce its imports from Iran but she says the U.S. wants to see more.
‘‘If there weren’t an adequate supply ... we would understand, but we believe that there is adequate supply,’’ she said.
India could face U.S. sanctions by the end of June if the Obama administration determines it has not made significant cuts in imports under a law aimed at squeezing Iran’s petroleum industry to press the country to prove its nuclear program is peaceful.
India, with a growth rate of about 7 percent, has a nearly insatiable need for oil. About 9 percent of its oil imports are from Iran, though officials say it has reduced its dependency on Iranian oil in recent months,
———
After 12 years on run, couple in Illinois Ponzi scheme caught in Arizona
TONOPAH, Ariz. (AP) — Acting on a tip, U.S. marshals in Arizona put an end to an Illinois couple’s life on the lam, a dozen years after they fled punishment for running a Ponzi scheme that targeted friends, the elderly, and even family members, authorities said.
As fugitives, Nelson Grant Hallahan, 65, and wife Janet Hallahan, 54, lived in several states in the Southwest and had used a number of aliases, the Marshals Service said Sunday.
The two were arrested by deputy marshals Saturday afternoon in Tonopah, a desert community 50 miles west of Phoenix. Officials believe they hid in Arizona for the past couple years.
‘‘The 12-year run from justice of the Hallahans, also known as the ‘Mini Madoffs,’ has come to an end,’’ U.S. Marshal for Arizona David Gonzales said in a statement. ‘‘Their investment scams involving family, friends, and the elderly, ruined many lives.’’
The agency said it received a tip about their location after they were featured on ‘‘America’s Most Wanted’’ the previous night.
———
New openness may take heavy toll on environment of Myanmar, one of Asia’s least spoiled places
As many as 40,000 gorgeously plumed birds known as the Gurney’s pitta thrive in the lowland rainforests of economically backward Myanmar. Across the border, Thailand’s last five pairs are guarded around the clock against snakes and human predators.
The bird’s status is among many reasons Myanmar is regarded as one of Asia’s last bastions of biodiversity, and why environmentalists view the country’s steps toward opening its doors with some fear.
Myanmar has avoided the rapid, often rampant development seen in Thailand and other parts of Asia because of decades of isolation brought on by harsh military rule. But as foreign investors begin pouring in, activists in what was once known as Burma say endemic corruption, virtually nonexistent environmental laws and a long-repressed civil society make it ‘‘ripe for environmental rape.’’
They hope that it will at least prove a race: pro-democracy reformers and conservationists are urging the government to put more safeguards in place against the unscrupulous eager to take advantage of their absence.
The rush is already on. Airplanes bound for Yangon, the nation’s largest city, are booked up with businessmen looking for deals, along with throngs of tourists. Singapore dispatched a delegation with 74 company representatives in March while the Malaysians sent a high-level investment mission focused on property development, tourism, rubber and oil palm plantations. U.S. and European countries are not as involved because sanctions against Myanmar prevent them from starting new businesses there.
———
George Lindsey, actor known as Goober Pyle on ’The Andy Griffith Show,’ dies in Tennessee
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — George Lindsey, who made a TV career as a grinning service station attendant named Goober on ‘‘The Andy Griffith Show’’ and ‘‘Hee Haw,’’ has died. He was 83.
The Marshall-Donnelly-Combs Funeral Home in Nashville said Lindsay died early Sunday morning after a brief illness.
Lindsey was the beanie-wearing Goober on ‘‘The Andy Griffith Show’’ from 1964 to 1968 and its successor, ‘‘Mayberry RFD,’’ from 1968 to 1971. He played the same jovial character on ‘‘Hee Haw’’ from 1971 until it went out of production in 1993.
‘‘America has grown up with me,’’ Lindsey said in an Associated Press interview in 1985. ‘‘Goober is every man; everyone finds something to like about ol’ Goober.’’
He joined ‘‘The Andy Griffith Show’’ in 1964 when Jim Nabors, portraying Gomer Pyle, left the program. Goober Pyle, who had been mentioned on the show as Gomer’s cousin, replaced him.
———
Romney, Obama sling similar insults at each other to see what sticks; voters to have final say
WASHINGTON (AP) — He’s a smug, Harvard-trained elitist who doesn’t get how regular Americans are struggling these days. More extreme than he lets on, he’s keeping his true agenda hidden until after Election Day. He’s clueless about fixing the economy, over his head on foreign policy. Who is he?
Your answer will help decide the next president.
Is it Barack Obama, as seen by Mitt Romney? Or Romney, the way Obama depicts him? For all their liberal versus conservative differences, when the two presidential contenders describe each other, they sound like they’re ragging on the same flawed guy. Or mirror images of that guy.
Will voters prefer the man waving with his left hand or his right?
Blame it on two cautious candidates with more traits in common than their disparate early biographies would suggest.
———
AT&T sets up new group to sell home security and automation, challenging Tyco’s ADT
NEW YORK (AP) — AT&T Inc. will start selling home automation and security services nationwide, taking on incumbents led by Tyco International Ltd.’s ADT.
The installations and services will be sold in AT&T stores, starting with a trial this summer in Dallas and Atlanta.
Several of AT&T’s competitors, including cable TV company Comcast Corp. and phone company Verizon Communications Inc., have ventured into the home automation and security field. Dallas-based AT&T is showing more ambition with its stated goal of selling nationwide, rather than sticking to its landline service territory, as Verizon does.
Steven Winoker, an analyst at Sanford Bernstein, said about 23 percent of U.S. homes have security systems, so there’s plenty of room to grow. Even fewer have automation systems for controlling appliances, lights, heating and cooling.
The biggest player in the field is ADT, but it has only 25 percent of the market. Many smaller companies make up the rest, according to Winoker.
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