2012年5月30日星期三

Trump overshadows Romney with 'birther' talk

LAS VEGAS — Mitt Romney's presidential campaign collided with Donald Trump's "birther" rhetoric on Tuesday as the reality television star hosted a fundraiser for the Republican while claiming again that President Barack Obama is foreign-born.

The debunked conspiracy theory among conservative activists dubbed "birthers" charges that Obama is not constitutionally qualified to serve in the White House. Romney has said he believes Obama was born in America, but he has not condemned Trump's comments.

Democrats contend it's the latest example of Romney's reluctance to confront the more extreme elements in his party.

"A lot of people do not think it was an authentic certificate," Trump told CNN of Obama's birth certificate, just hours before he was set to host Romney's finance event at the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas.

Such allegations have been repeatedly proven false. The state of Hawaii recently re-affirmed that Obama was born there.

Trump's comments, repeated in several media interviews Tuesday, overshadowed Romney's visit to Nevada, one of a handful of swing states expected to decide the presidential contest in November. Trump also upstaged news from Texas that Romney had collected enough delegates to clinch the Republican presidential nomination.

Romney did not address the issue directly at separate events in Colorado and Nevada, but on Monday night he told reporters aboard his campaign plane that Trump is entitled to his opinion. Even as Trump-related criticism from Democrats and Republicans intensified in recent days, Romney showed no sign of distancing himself from the polarizing figure.

"I don't agree with all the people who support me. And my guess is they don't all agree with everything I believe in," Romney said. "But I need to get 50.1 percent or more. And I'm appreciative to have the help of a lot of good people."

The birth question wasn't brought up at the Las Vegas fundraiser, and Romney spoke highly of Trump's efforts on his behalf.

"Mr. Trump, thank you for letting us come to this beautiful hotel and being with so many friends," Romney said. "Thank you for twisting the arms that it takes to bring a fundraiser together. I appreciate your help."

Trump remains popular among the conservative base and boasts ties to deep-pocketed donors. The Las Vegas event was expected to raise $2 million, but Romney's ties to Trump extend beyond that single fundraiser. He has recorded automated phone calls for Romney, hosted a fundraiser for his wife, Ann, in New York, and pressed the candidate's case as a television surrogate.

When Romney's campaign plan arrived at the Las Vegas airport Tuesday, it parked within sight of Trump's plane — the businessman's name emblazoned on the side in large gold letters.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, once a rival for the GOP nomination and now a Romney supporter, suggested that the Trump issue will not derail Romney's campaign.

"Gov. Romney's not distracted. The Republican Party's not distracted," said Gingrich, who attended the Trump fundraiser. "We believe that this is an American-born job-killing president. Other people may believe that he was born somewhere else and still kills jobs."

The Obama campaign released a video Tuesday criticizing what it considers Romney's unwillingness to stand up to Trump and the more extreme elements in his party. There have been other examples in recent weeks that underscore Romney's delicate push to win over skeptical conservatives while appealing to moderates and independents who generally deliver general election victories.

"Mitt Romney's continued embrace of Donald Trump and refusal to condemn his disgraceful conspiracy theories demonstrates his complete lack of moral leadership," Obama's deputy campaign manager, Stephanie Cutter, said in a statement. "If Mitt Romney lacks the backbone to stand up to a charlatan like Donald Trump because he's so concerned about lining his campaign's pockets, what does that say about the kind of president he would be?"

While Trump asserts that the matter of Obama's birth is a "good issue" for Romney, conservative commentator George Will questioned the "cost benefit" of Romney appearing with Trump.

"The cost of appearing with this bloviating ignoramus is obvious, it seems to me," Will said Sunday. "Donald Trump is redundant evidence that if your net worth is high enough, your IQ can be very low and you can still intrude into American politics. ... Again, I don't understand the benefit. What is Romney seeking?"

Trump revived the false claims about Obama's birthplace late last week, citing a story about a literary agency that mistakenly listed that Obama was born in Kenya.

While Romney briefly addressed the issue Monday, senior aide Eric Fehrnstrom declined to condemn Trump's remarks in a recent interview.

"I can't speak for Donald Trump ... but I can tell you that Mitt Romney accepts that President Obama was born in the United States," Fehrnstrom said. "He doesn't view the place of his birth as an issue in this campaign."

Former Liberian leader Charles Taylor sentenced to 50 years in prison

An international court proceeding ended Wednesday with the sentencing of Taylor, who was convicted of aiding and abetting numerous war crimes in Sierra Leone.

By Thomas Escritt and Anthony Deutsch, Reuters / May 30, 2012

Former Liberian President Charles Taylor waits for the start of his sentencing judgement in the courtroom of the Special Court for Sierra Leone(SCSL) in Leidschendam, near The Hague, Netherlands, Wednesday May 30.

Toussaint Kluiters/AP

The Hague

Former Liberian President Charles Taylor was jailed for 50 years on Wednesday for helping Sierra Leonean rebels commit what a court in The Hague called some of the worst war crimes in history.

2012年5月19日星期六

Transgendered beauty queen falls short at Miss Universe Canada

Transgendered contestant Jenna Talackova reacts after being selected to move on the top 12 finalists as she takes part in Miss Universe Canada competition during the bikini segment in Toronto, May 19, 2012. Talackova was originally disqualified from the Miss Universe Canada contest because she was not a "naturally born female". Talackova, 23, who underwent gender reassignment surgery when she was 19, was then reinstated to the Canadian competition last by businessman Donald Trump, who owns the Miss Universe organization.

Photograph by: Mark Blinch , Reuters

TORONTO — Jenna Talackova came up short Saturday in her bid to win the Miss Universe Canada and become the first transgendered title holder.
The 23-year-old blond from Vancouver was one of the final 12 contestants, but failed to make the final five at the Toronto pageant.
Another Vancouver contestant, Sahar Biniaz, 26, claimed the crown and advances to the international Miss Universe competition in December
Talackova was one of four contestants named Miss Congeniality.
Talackova’s lawyer Gloria Allred said during Saturday’s pageant that Talackova shouldn’t feel too disappointed.
“She’s still a winner as far as I’m concerned,” Allred said during an intermission. “She won an ’herstoric’ civil rights victory and that I think is frankly more important than anything, any victory she would win, even representing Miss Canada.”
Talackova was born Walter Talackova and under went a sex change operation four years ago.
She was initially barred from competing because she was born male.
Pageant owner Donald Trump allowed her to compete, over-ruling the earlier decision.
Talackova was the first transgender competitor to seek the Miss Universe Canada crown and attracted extensive media coverage during the run up to Saturday night’s final.

GLOBAL MARKETS: European Stocks Set To Open Mixed; Greek Worries Weigh

--Stocks seen mixed; investors continue to digest weekend elections
--French election outcome as expected, but Greek election outcome prompts worries
--Fitch standing by France's triple-A rating helps the mood
LONDON (Dow Jones)--European stock markets are expected to open mixed Tuesday amid worries over Greece's future as the country's leaders failed to form a coalition government after the weekend's elections.
Traders noted that concerns about Europe's debt problems remain following weekend elections in France and Greece. Although the outcome of the French election was largely priced-in by markets, the political gridlock in Greece after elections places pressure on market sentiment. Greece's ...

Transgendered contestant Jenna Talackova cracks top 12 at Miss Universe Canada pageant

Jenna Talackova stole the show at the Miss Universe Canada competition.
The transgendered contestant strutted her way into beauty pageant history Saturday — and the top 12 — wearing sparkling high heels and a white bikini in front of a fawning 850-person audience. She did not advance to the top five after the evening gown segment.
That Talackova, 23, got to compete at all represents a major policy change at the Miss Universe Organization, which opened the pageant to transgendered women for the first time.
PHOTOS FROM THE PAGEANT
Talackova’s story made headlines around the world when a blogger revealed she had competed in a transsexual beauty pageant in Thailand.
Talackova was immediately disqualified for not being a “naturally born female.”
But the Vancouver beauty refused to back down. She argued the controversial decision was discrimination. Talackova says she knew she was female by the time she was 4, began hormone therapy at 14 and had sex-reassignment surgery at 19.
In a surprise reversal, the Miss Universe Organization, owned by Donald Trump, reinstated her.
The pageant went one step further and changed its rules to allow transgendered women to compete in its worldwide competition. It will model its gender rules after the Olympic’s system, organization president Paula Shugart said Saturday.
“If you are legally recognized in your country, and you’ve had your surgery and been through everything, you’d be able to compete in your country’s pageant,” Shugart said. Some conservative countries have very strict gender rules, she added, meaning transgendered women might not qualify in those places.
But no one questioned the 6-foot-1 blonde’s right to compete Saturday as 62 women from across the country vied for the crown and the chance to represent Canada at the Miss Universe pageant in December.
Vancouver’s Sahar Biniaz, 26, won the competition, held in Toronto. Talackova was in a four-way tie for Miss Congeniality.
“As a transsexual, I'm here to support my community,” said spectator Lola Rodriguez, decked out in a revealing ball gown. “I'm cheering for Jenna but she's got beautiful competition.”
Talackova’s time in the spotlight has been positive for the trans community, said Susan Gapka, chair of Toronto’s Trans Lobby Group, who attended the event to support her. Even though Gapka was skeptical of the beauty pageant at first, she believes the publicity has educated many people who otherwise wouldn’t have thought about the issue.
“Jenna has broken down a barrier for social inclusion in the beauty pageant,” she said. “She’s a winner in our eyes as a woman, a trans, an activist and a beauty queen.”

2012年5月7日星期一

Most front pages are dominated by photos of a beaming and waving Francois Hollande (centre-left Liberation, centre-right Le Figaro and others), some show jubilant crowds (regional dailies La Marseillaise, Le Telegramme) and the left-wing l'Humanite divides its front-page between the two.
Headlines range from a neutral "Francois Hollande President" (best-selling daily Ouest France, Catholic daily La Croix) to "Big victory for Hollande" (L'Humanite), "Turn to the left" (regional daily Corse-Matin), "Turning point" (regional daily L'Independent) and "'Giving new hope'" (regional daily La Nouvelle Republique).
Some headlines, such as "Francois II the heir" (regional daily La Voix du Nord), allude to the fact that Mr Hollande is only the second left-wing French president after Francois Mitterrand, who served from 1981 to 1995.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

We count on you to reconcile the French ”

End Quote Ouest France

Liberation encapsulates this in its single-word headline "NORMAL!", a reference to Mr Hollande self-styling himself as Mr Normal as well as to the fact that having a left-wing president has just become a more "natural" state of affairs in France.

"Welcome, Mr President"
Liberation does not hide its elation. In an editorial by Nicolas Demorand entitled "Finally", the paper says that there is "huge joy" at Mr Hollande's victory. Although "hard work" lies ahead, "today, be happy and live this beautiful month of May to the full", it says.

Mr Sarkozy is the first French president not to win a second term since 1981

L'Humanite says that most French people will have "breathed a sigh of relief" when the result was announced, which the paper interprets as punishment for the "ultra-free-market, antisocial and authoritarian" policies pursued by Nicolas Sarkozy.
Meanwhile the centre-right Le Figaro, which had backed Mr Sarkozy, shows magnanimity. "We welcome this election as the expression of the will of the majority. So, welcome, Mr President," the paper says in a front-page editorial by Etienne Mougeotte.
But it goes on to pay tribute to the "major reforms" carried out by Mr Sarkozy and warns that there is "not a minute to lose to reaffirm France's determination to respect the European stability pact" to bring down the deficit.
A front-page "Letter to Mr President" by Francois-Regis Hutin in Ouest France wishes Mr Hollande "good luck". The paper says that "we count on you to arouse the dynamism of all the French... to reconcile the French, to help overcome the split between the included and the excluded, young people and old people, town and country, workers and pensioners, rich people and poor people."
Challenges ahead

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

Francois Hollande's long Republican march has only just begun”

End Quote Midi Libre

A commentary by Jacques Camus in the regional daily La Republique du Centre warns that "the hardest bit is just starting for Francois Hollande".

The paper believes that the new president will have to meet the call for fairness and solidarity expressed by voters while also facing social demands from his "unruly allies". "The time has come for Francois Hollande to mistrust his friends," the paper says.
"Francois Hollande to be tested by power", says the front-page headline of the business daily Les Echos. The paper argues that Mr Hollande faces "12 economic challenges", including growth, competitiveness, debt, unemployment and the negotiation of a new European growth pact.
The regional daily Midi Libre says there will be "no respite" for Mr Hollande. A commentary by Philippe Palat points out that, in order to govern, the new president will need the support of France's lower house of parliament. The National Assembly is currently dominated by the right but legislative elections are due to be held in June.
"President Francois Hollande's long Republican march has only just begun," the paper concludes.
BBC Monitoring selects and translates news from radio, television, press, news agencies and the internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages. It is based in Caversham, UK, and has several bureaux abroad.

U.S. hostage urges Obama to meet al Qaeda demands

DUBAI (Reuters) - An American aid worker abducted by al Qaeda in Pakistan last year has pleaded with President Barack Obama to meet his captors' demands for the release of prisoners in order to save his life, in a video released by the militant group's media arm.

The SITE monitoring service, which follows al Qaeda's statements, quoted Warren Weinstein, who was kidnapped in the central Pakistani city of Lahore last August, appealing to Obama to "accept and respond to the mujahideen".

"My life is in your hands, Mr. President. If you accept the demands, I live; if you don't accept the demands, then I die," it quoted Weinstein as saying in the video, which was posted on Islamist websites on Sunday.

Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri said in an audio recording in December that the group was responsible for Weinstein's abduction and demanded the release of all those in U.S. detention for ties his Islamist militant group or the Taliban.

He also demanded an end to air strikes by the United States and its allies against militants in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen and Somalia and Gaza.

(Writing by Joseph Logan; editing by Sami Aboudi/Maria Golovnina)

Supporting Casts Lifts Lakers Past Nuggets 92-88

Crunch time for the Los Angeles Lakers usually belongs to Kobe Bryant, Andrew Bynum or Pau Gasol.
Not this time.
Ramon Sessions and Steve Blake put the dagger in the Denver Nuggets on Sunday night, swishing 3-pointers in the final minute to lead the Lakers to a 92-88 comeback win that gave L.A. a 3-1 lead in their best-of-seven first-round series.
The Lakers can wrap it up Tuesday night when the series shifts back to Southern California for Game 5.
Bryant (22 points, eight rebounds, six assists) and Bynum (19 points, seven boards and three blocks) had bounce-back games and Gasol came up with huge plays at both ends as the Lakers controlled the tempo by grabbing 19 offensive rebounds, stymieing the faster, younger Nuggets who blew them out in Game 3.
With the game tied in the final minute, however, it was the Lakers' supporting cast that iced it.
"They got the two 3s to go down at the end of the game," Nuggets coach George Karl said, "but conceptually what we're trying to do at the end of the game is not let Kobe, Bynum and Gasol beat you."
Instead, it was Sessions and Blake — after top reserve Jordan Hill sparked a comeback from a six-point halftime deficit with a double-double off the bench.

Steve Blake, Danilo Gallinari, Kobe Bryant

Los Angeles Lakers guard Steve Blake, left,... View Full Caption

"Sessions has hit big 3s. Even when I was out he hit some big 3s to win games. He did it again tonight. I have confidence in him," Bryant said. "If you're observing the game in the third quarter, I hit Sessions for an open shot, Blake for an open shot and (Matt) Barnes for an open shot and they missed all three of them. George, being observant as he is, saw I was (ticked). I was and (he) didn't think I would trust them at the end of the game to knock down those shots, but they stepped up and knocked them down."

With the game tied at 86, Danilo Gallinari was covering Bryant when a hard screen from Gasol sent the Italian to the floor grabbing his throat. While Gallinari stayed down, Sessions' 3-pointer from just in front of the Nuggets bench put the Lakers ahead 89-86 with 48 seconds remaining.
"It was a tough pick, you've got to expect that in the playoffs," Gallinari said. "I've got to be ready and play defense. Unfortunately, they hit a big shot out of that."
Andre Miller was whistled for basket interference at the other end, and Bryant found Blake for a 3-pointer from the left corner with 18.9 seconds left for a six-point cushion, L.A.'s biggest of the night.
Sessions, whose acquisition from Cleveland this spring led to the trade of five-time NBA champion Derek Fisher, finished with 12 points, and Blake had 10.
"Those are tough shoes to fill because he had experience," Bryant said of Fisher, who's now with the Oklahoma City Thunder. "But you have to start somewhere. Fish and I started somewhere. ... This was the beginning for them."
Gallinari led the Nuggets with 20 points, and Miller had 15.
After torching the Lakers for 50 points combined in the previous two games, Ty Lawson was held to 11 points and Nuggets big men Kenneth Faried and JaVale McGee weren't nearly as effective on offense or disruptive defensively as they were in Game 2, when they combined for 28 points and 30 rebounds.
Together, they had 14 points and 11 rebounds Sunday.
Bynum, who blamed his scoreless first half 48 hours earlier on failing to properly prepare in the pregame, was much more active early on, scoring 11 in the first half, which ended with the Lakers trailing 51-45.

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