World/Nation Briefs 6.25.2012
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By -
WASHINGTON (AP) — When it comes to the economy, half of Americans in a new poll say it won’t matter much whether Barack Obama or Mitt Romney wins — even though the presidential candidates have staked their chances on which would be better at fixing the economic mess.
People are especially pessimistic about the future president’s influence over jobs, according to the Associated Press-GfK poll. Asked how much impact the November winner will have on unemployment, 6 in 10 gave answers ranging from slim to none.
Yet the candidates, the polls and the pundits agree — the economy is the issue of 2012. Can either man convince voters that he would set things right?
James Gray of Snow Hill, N.C., is skeptical.
‘‘It doesn’t look to me like the economy or nothing gets better no matter who you’ve got up there,’’ Gray said. ‘‘I don’t know why it is.’’
———
Fires spread to Colorado tourist areas near Pikes Peak, Rocky Mountain park, disrupt vacations
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — Wildfires damaged more than a dozen Colorado homes over the weekend and forced evacuations for thousands more while shrouding top state tourist destinations in smoke and emptying hotels and campgrounds ahead of the Fourth of July holiday.
Colorado is having its worst wildfire season in a decade with more than a half dozen forest fires burning. One of the newest fires, a blaze near Colorado Springs, grew to more than 3 square miles Sunday after erupting just a day earlier and prompting evacuation orders for 11,000 residents and an unknown number of tourists.
The fire sent plumes of gray and white smoke over the area that obscured at times Pikes Peak, the most-summited high-elevation mountain in the nation and inspiration for the song ‘‘America The Beautiful.’’
Winds had started to push smoke away from Colorado Springs and evacuations orders were lifted for the 5,000 residents of nearby Manitou Springs, but area residents and tourists still watched nervously as haze wrapped around the peak.
‘‘We’re used to flooding and tornadoes, nothing like this,’’ said Amanda Rice, who recently moved to the area from Rock Falls, Ill. Rice, her husband, four children and dog. They left a Manitou Springs hotel late Saturday.
———
Slow-moving center of Tropical Storm Debby could mean flooding misery for Florida
MIAMI (AP) — Tropical Storm Debby whipped Florida with bands of drenching rain Monday while its center was nearly stationary in the Gulf of Mexico. Its slow progress meant the most pressing threat from the storm was flooding, not wind.
Tropical storm warnings were in effect for parts of Florida as the storm parked offshore. A tropical storm warning for the coast of Alabama was discontinued early Monday. Yet even with the storm’s center far from land, it lashed Florida with heavy rains and spawned isolated tornadoes that killed at least one person. Another person was missing in rough surf off Alabama.
Residents in several counties near the crook of Florida’s elbow were urged to leave low-lying neighborhoods because of the threat of flooding. High winds forced the closure of an interstate bridge that spans Tampa Bay and links St. Petersburg with areas to the southeast. In several locations, homes and businesses were damaged by high winds authorities believe were from tornadoes.
Debby’s center was essentially stationary about 90 miles (145 kilometers) south-southwest of Apalachicola, Fla., early Monday. Debby’s top sustained winds decreased to near 50 mph (85 kph). The forecast map indicated the storm could inch forward through the week, eventually coming ashore over the Panhandle. However, a storm’s path is difficult to discern days in advance.
Underscoring the unpredictable nature of tropical storms, forecasters discontinued a tropical storm warning Sunday afternoon for Louisiana after forecast models indicated Debby wasn’t likely to turn west. At one point, forecasters expected the storm to come ashore in that state.
———
DEA Honduras drug killing part of new, aggressive strategy against illicit flights
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — A U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent who killed a suspected drug trafficker during a raid in a remote region of Honduras was part of an aggressive new enforcement strategy that started in April and in little more than two months has caught more than half the number of illegal drug flights intercepted previously over 18 months.
The mission, called Operation Anvil, is run with six U.S. State Department helicopters that were moved from Guatemala to northern Honduras as well as a special team of DEA agents who work with Honduran police to move more quickly and pursue suspicious flights, according to a U.S. official in Honduras who couldn’t be named for security reasons.
With the new operation, Honduran and U.S. drug agents follow every flight they detect of unknown origin and work with non-U.S. contract pilots that don’t have the restrictions on rules of engagement that the U.S. military do.
The area of Brus Laguna, where the DEA says an agent shot a drug suspect as he was reaching for his gun Saturday, is part of the remote Mosquitia region that is dotted with clandestine airstrips and a vast network of rivers for carrying drugs to the coast.
Saturday’s incident marked the first time that a DEA agent has killed someone in Central America since the agency began deploying specially trained agents several years ago to accompany local law enforcement personnel on all types of drug raids throughout the region, said DEA spokeswoman Dawn Dearden. Operation Anvil targets illicit flights.
———
New book: Biden warned Afghan buildup was hollow; Obama sidelined CIA when planning drawdown
WASHINGTON (AP) — As President Barack Obama considered adding as many as 40,000 U.S. forces to a backsliding war in Afghanistan in 2009, Vice President Joe Biden warned him that the military rationale for doing so was flawed, a new book about Obama’s expansion of the conflict says.
The book, ‘‘Little America: The War Within the War for Afghanistan,’’ also says that in planning the drawdown of troops two years later, the White House intentionally sidelined the CIA. Obama purposely did not read a grim CIA assessment of Afghanistan that found little measurable benefit from the 30,000 ‘‘surge’’ forces Obama eventually approved, the book quotes a U.S. official as saying.
A copy of the book by Washington Post correspondent Rajiv Chandrasekaran was obtained by The Associated Press. It will be released Tuesday.
A previously undisclosed Biden memo to Obama in November 2009 reflects his view that military commanders were asking Obama to take a leap by adding tens of thousands of forces whose role was poorly defined.
Although Biden’s doubts have become well known, the new book details how Biden used a months-long White House review of the war to question the basic premise that the same ‘‘counterinsurgency’’ strategy that had apparently worked in Iraq could be applied to Afghanistan.
———
Denver police spokesman killed in shooting near popular park concert series
DENVER (AP) — A Denver police officer trying to break up a confrontation was shot and killed at a city park where families had gathered for a free weekly jazz concert before gunfire erupted and sent hundreds running.
The officer, who was shot in the head Sunday, was taken to a hospital where she was pronounced dead, police spokesman Sonny Jackson said. Police were searching for a suspect in what Jackson described as an isolated incident.
At least three shots were fired shortly after the jazz band playing on a lake-side pavilion stage finished, sending waves of people running through park grounds where some concert goers who were initially unaware of the shooting remained seated on picnic blankets and lawn chairs.
More than 1,000 people were at the City Park Jazz concert, the fourth of 10 shows scheduled for this summer in the annual series that draws families and people of all backgrounds to one of the city’s more popular summer events. The mayor said late Sunday that the concerts should continue.
‘‘We will not surrender what we consider special in this city to anyone,’’ Denver Mayor Michael Hancock said.
———
Efforts under way to link Appalachian Trail with 4,600-mile trail to ND, nation’s longest
WEYBRIDGE, Vt. (AP) — The longest hiking trail in the United States stops 40 miles short of its most famous cousin, but a group is trying to bridge that gap.
The North Country National Scenic Trail runs 4,600 miles from North Dakota to New York’s eastern border. From there, it’s about 40 miles across Vermont fields and mountains to the Appalachian Trail, the famous 2,170-mile hiking trail that runs from Georgia to Maine.
Bringing them together now are a push from the organization that runs the North Country Trail; a changed attitude from officials in Vermont, where the connection was blocked decades ago; and a growing movement to connect the nation’s longest hiking trails.
‘‘This 40-mile gap is a gap in the system,’’ said Bruce Matthews, executive director of the Michigan-based North Country Trail Association, which is working with the National Park Service, Vermont’s Green Mountain Club and others to build the new connecting trail. ‘‘There’s no logical reason for it.’’
Despite being the longest hiking trail in the country, the North Country Trail isn’t as well-known as others, partly because it’s still a work in progress and partly because it has no defining feature, like the mountain range the Appalachian Trail is named for.
———
Politicians, police join thousands in march for gay pride in San Francisco, other US cities
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Loud sirens, flashing lights and countless rainbow flags and banners accompanied uniformed police officers, cheerleaders and politicians who marched in San Francisco’s gay pride parade Sunday, the 42nd year the city has celebrated the lesbian, gay and transgender community.
More than 200 floats made their way down Market Street, the city’s main thoroughfare. A few marchers were dressed in elaborate, brightly colored outfits made from balloons, while many other participants and parade watchers wore hardly anything.
Angel Nava, 19, of Sacramento, Calif., wearing just a pair of skimpy orange-colored shorts, stood with his arms crossed, apparently chilled, but still in good humor.
‘‘I think all these people are beautiful,’’ he said.
Mayor Ed Lee was set to speak at the city’s Civic Center — near the parade’s end-point — later Sunday. He’ll appear not far from where gay rights activist and San Francisco City Supervisor Harvey Milk famously addressed gay pride celebrants more than 30 years ago.
———
’Jeopardy!’ host Alex Trebek hospitalized with mild heart attack
NEW YORK (AP) — ‘‘Jeopardy!’’ host Alex Trebek is in a Los Angeles hospital recovering from a mild heart attack.
Sony Television spokeswoman Paula Askanas said Sunday that Trebek was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on Saturday. She says the 71-year-old Trebek is expected to fully recover and be back giving answers when ‘‘Jeopardy!’’ resumes production on a new season in July.
While he was in the hospital on Saturday, ‘‘Jeopardy!’’ won a Daytime Emmy award for best game show.
Trebek has been hosting ‘‘Jeopardy!’’ for 28 years.
———
Likely Wimbledon scenario: 2-time champion Nadal versus Djokovic or Federer in men’s final
WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — His practice session completed on the eve of Wimbledon, Rafael Nadal departed the All England Club on foot, leading a small entourage out the gate and up a hill, momentum on his side.
He won a record seventh French Open title two weeks ago. He has three consecutive victories over top-ranked Novak Djokovic, the most recent coming in the final at Roland Garros. He has won four tournaments this year, all since mid-April.
But Nadal’s not about to proclaim himself the favorite to win Wimbledon for a third time.
‘‘I’m very happy the way things went the last couple of months,’’ he said. ‘‘But thinking about winning another title here in Wimbledon is arrogant and crazy. That’s something I cannot think about, no?’’
Nadal’s not one to overlook an opponent, which in this case means No. 80-ranked Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil in the first round Tuesday. But fans have the luxury of projecting Nadal into the final, and wondering whether he’ll then meet Djokovic or six-time champion Roger Federer.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — When it comes to the economy, half of Americans in a new poll say it won’t matter much whether Barack Obama or Mitt Romney wins — even though the presidential candidates have staked their chances on which would be better at fixing the economic mess.
People are especially pessimistic about the future president’s influence over jobs, according to the Associated Press-GfK poll. Asked how much impact the November winner will have on unemployment, 6 in 10 gave answers ranging from slim to none.
Yet the candidates, the polls and the pundits agree — the economy is the issue of 2012. Can either man convince voters that he would set things right?
James Gray of Snow Hill, N.C., is skeptical.
‘‘It doesn’t look to me like the economy or nothing gets better no matter who you’ve got up there,’’ Gray said. ‘‘I don’t know why it is.’’
———
Fires spread to Colorado tourist areas near Pikes Peak, Rocky Mountain park, disrupt vacations
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — Wildfires damaged more than a dozen Colorado homes over the weekend and forced evacuations for thousands more while shrouding top state tourist destinations in smoke and emptying hotels and campgrounds ahead of the Fourth of July holiday.
Colorado is having its worst wildfire season in a decade with more than a half dozen forest fires burning. One of the newest fires, a blaze near Colorado Springs, grew to more than 3 square miles Sunday after erupting just a day earlier and prompting evacuation orders for 11,000 residents and an unknown number of tourists.
The fire sent plumes of gray and white smoke over the area that obscured at times Pikes Peak, the most-summited high-elevation mountain in the nation and inspiration for the song ‘‘America The Beautiful.’’
Winds had started to push smoke away from Colorado Springs and evacuations orders were lifted for the 5,000 residents of nearby Manitou Springs, but area residents and tourists still watched nervously as haze wrapped around the peak.
‘‘We’re used to flooding and tornadoes, nothing like this,’’ said Amanda Rice, who recently moved to the area from Rock Falls, Ill. Rice, her husband, four children and dog. They left a Manitou Springs hotel late Saturday.
———
Slow-moving center of Tropical Storm Debby could mean flooding misery for Florida
MIAMI (AP) — Tropical Storm Debby whipped Florida with bands of drenching rain Monday while its center was nearly stationary in the Gulf of Mexico. Its slow progress meant the most pressing threat from the storm was flooding, not wind.
Tropical storm warnings were in effect for parts of Florida as the storm parked offshore. A tropical storm warning for the coast of Alabama was discontinued early Monday. Yet even with the storm’s center far from land, it lashed Florida with heavy rains and spawned isolated tornadoes that killed at least one person. Another person was missing in rough surf off Alabama.
Residents in several counties near the crook of Florida’s elbow were urged to leave low-lying neighborhoods because of the threat of flooding. High winds forced the closure of an interstate bridge that spans Tampa Bay and links St. Petersburg with areas to the southeast. In several locations, homes and businesses were damaged by high winds authorities believe were from tornadoes.
Debby’s center was essentially stationary about 90 miles (145 kilometers) south-southwest of Apalachicola, Fla., early Monday. Debby’s top sustained winds decreased to near 50 mph (85 kph). The forecast map indicated the storm could inch forward through the week, eventually coming ashore over the Panhandle. However, a storm’s path is difficult to discern days in advance.
Underscoring the unpredictable nature of tropical storms, forecasters discontinued a tropical storm warning Sunday afternoon for Louisiana after forecast models indicated Debby wasn’t likely to turn west. At one point, forecasters expected the storm to come ashore in that state.
———
DEA Honduras drug killing part of new, aggressive strategy against illicit flights
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — A U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent who killed a suspected drug trafficker during a raid in a remote region of Honduras was part of an aggressive new enforcement strategy that started in April and in little more than two months has caught more than half the number of illegal drug flights intercepted previously over 18 months.
The mission, called Operation Anvil, is run with six U.S. State Department helicopters that were moved from Guatemala to northern Honduras as well as a special team of DEA agents who work with Honduran police to move more quickly and pursue suspicious flights, according to a U.S. official in Honduras who couldn’t be named for security reasons.
With the new operation, Honduran and U.S. drug agents follow every flight they detect of unknown origin and work with non-U.S. contract pilots that don’t have the restrictions on rules of engagement that the U.S. military do.
The area of Brus Laguna, where the DEA says an agent shot a drug suspect as he was reaching for his gun Saturday, is part of the remote Mosquitia region that is dotted with clandestine airstrips and a vast network of rivers for carrying drugs to the coast.
Saturday’s incident marked the first time that a DEA agent has killed someone in Central America since the agency began deploying specially trained agents several years ago to accompany local law enforcement personnel on all types of drug raids throughout the region, said DEA spokeswoman Dawn Dearden. Operation Anvil targets illicit flights.
———
New book: Biden warned Afghan buildup was hollow; Obama sidelined CIA when planning drawdown
WASHINGTON (AP) — As President Barack Obama considered adding as many as 40,000 U.S. forces to a backsliding war in Afghanistan in 2009, Vice President Joe Biden warned him that the military rationale for doing so was flawed, a new book about Obama’s expansion of the conflict says.
The book, ‘‘Little America: The War Within the War for Afghanistan,’’ also says that in planning the drawdown of troops two years later, the White House intentionally sidelined the CIA. Obama purposely did not read a grim CIA assessment of Afghanistan that found little measurable benefit from the 30,000 ‘‘surge’’ forces Obama eventually approved, the book quotes a U.S. official as saying.
A copy of the book by Washington Post correspondent Rajiv Chandrasekaran was obtained by The Associated Press. It will be released Tuesday.
A previously undisclosed Biden memo to Obama in November 2009 reflects his view that military commanders were asking Obama to take a leap by adding tens of thousands of forces whose role was poorly defined.
Although Biden’s doubts have become well known, the new book details how Biden used a months-long White House review of the war to question the basic premise that the same ‘‘counterinsurgency’’ strategy that had apparently worked in Iraq could be applied to Afghanistan.
———
Denver police spokesman killed in shooting near popular park concert series
DENVER (AP) — A Denver police officer trying to break up a confrontation was shot and killed at a city park where families had gathered for a free weekly jazz concert before gunfire erupted and sent hundreds running.
The officer, who was shot in the head Sunday, was taken to a hospital where she was pronounced dead, police spokesman Sonny Jackson said. Police were searching for a suspect in what Jackson described as an isolated incident.
At least three shots were fired shortly after the jazz band playing on a lake-side pavilion stage finished, sending waves of people running through park grounds where some concert goers who were initially unaware of the shooting remained seated on picnic blankets and lawn chairs.
More than 1,000 people were at the City Park Jazz concert, the fourth of 10 shows scheduled for this summer in the annual series that draws families and people of all backgrounds to one of the city’s more popular summer events. The mayor said late Sunday that the concerts should continue.
‘‘We will not surrender what we consider special in this city to anyone,’’ Denver Mayor Michael Hancock said.
———
Efforts under way to link Appalachian Trail with 4,600-mile trail to ND, nation’s longest
WEYBRIDGE, Vt. (AP) — The longest hiking trail in the United States stops 40 miles short of its most famous cousin, but a group is trying to bridge that gap.
The North Country National Scenic Trail runs 4,600 miles from North Dakota to New York’s eastern border. From there, it’s about 40 miles across Vermont fields and mountains to the Appalachian Trail, the famous 2,170-mile hiking trail that runs from Georgia to Maine.
Bringing them together now are a push from the organization that runs the North Country Trail; a changed attitude from officials in Vermont, where the connection was blocked decades ago; and a growing movement to connect the nation’s longest hiking trails.
‘‘This 40-mile gap is a gap in the system,’’ said Bruce Matthews, executive director of the Michigan-based North Country Trail Association, which is working with the National Park Service, Vermont’s Green Mountain Club and others to build the new connecting trail. ‘‘There’s no logical reason for it.’’
Despite being the longest hiking trail in the country, the North Country Trail isn’t as well-known as others, partly because it’s still a work in progress and partly because it has no defining feature, like the mountain range the Appalachian Trail is named for.
———
Politicians, police join thousands in march for gay pride in San Francisco, other US cities
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Loud sirens, flashing lights and countless rainbow flags and banners accompanied uniformed police officers, cheerleaders and politicians who marched in San Francisco’s gay pride parade Sunday, the 42nd year the city has celebrated the lesbian, gay and transgender community.
More than 200 floats made their way down Market Street, the city’s main thoroughfare. A few marchers were dressed in elaborate, brightly colored outfits made from balloons, while many other participants and parade watchers wore hardly anything.
Angel Nava, 19, of Sacramento, Calif., wearing just a pair of skimpy orange-colored shorts, stood with his arms crossed, apparently chilled, but still in good humor.
‘‘I think all these people are beautiful,’’ he said.
Mayor Ed Lee was set to speak at the city’s Civic Center — near the parade’s end-point — later Sunday. He’ll appear not far from where gay rights activist and San Francisco City Supervisor Harvey Milk famously addressed gay pride celebrants more than 30 years ago.
———
’Jeopardy!’ host Alex Trebek hospitalized with mild heart attack
NEW YORK (AP) — ‘‘Jeopardy!’’ host Alex Trebek is in a Los Angeles hospital recovering from a mild heart attack.
Sony Television spokeswoman Paula Askanas said Sunday that Trebek was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on Saturday. She says the 71-year-old Trebek is expected to fully recover and be back giving answers when ‘‘Jeopardy!’’ resumes production on a new season in July.
While he was in the hospital on Saturday, ‘‘Jeopardy!’’ won a Daytime Emmy award for best game show.
Trebek has been hosting ‘‘Jeopardy!’’ for 28 years.
———
Likely Wimbledon scenario: 2-time champion Nadal versus Djokovic or Federer in men’s final
WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — His practice session completed on the eve of Wimbledon, Rafael Nadal departed the All England Club on foot, leading a small entourage out the gate and up a hill, momentum on his side.
He won a record seventh French Open title two weeks ago. He has three consecutive victories over top-ranked Novak Djokovic, the most recent coming in the final at Roland Garros. He has won four tournaments this year, all since mid-April.
But Nadal’s not about to proclaim himself the favorite to win Wimbledon for a third time.
‘‘I’m very happy the way things went the last couple of months,’’ he said. ‘‘But thinking about winning another title here in Wimbledon is arrogant and crazy. That’s something I cannot think about, no?’’
Nadal’s not one to overlook an opponent, which in this case means No. 80-ranked Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil in the first round Tuesday. But fans have the luxury of projecting Nadal into the final, and wondering whether he’ll then meet Djokovic or six-time champion Roger Federer.
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