Friday, August 7, 2015
Donald Trump's debate drama highlights the still-unsettled Republican race for president
CLEVELAND (AP) — It took just one question for chaos to erupt in Cleveland.
"Is there anyone on stage, and can I see hands, who is unwilling tonight to pledge your support to the eventual nominee of the Republican Party and pledge to not run an independent campaign against that person," asked Fox News' Bret Baier to kick off the first Republican debate of the 2016 campaign for president.
Only one hand went up, and with it, billionaire businessman Donald Trump sparked fresh waves of anxiety within the GOP as he went on to headline a debate that at times felt more like a circus than a forum for those who aspire to the White House.
The primetime ruckus on national television overshadowed some of the GOP's biggest stars, while creating fresh openings for others. But more than anything else, Thursday night's two-hour show — and Trump's presence made sure it was a show — was an in-your-face reminder the race for Republican nomination remains leaderless and unsettled.
The yelling erupted just minutes into the debate, when Trump answered Baier's question and refused to rule out a third-party bid should one of his many rivals beat him in the Republican contest.
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FACT CHECK: Republican candidates veer from the truth in 1st presidential primary debate
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans seeking their party's 2016 presidential nomination have the challenging task of trying to stand out among the 17 candidates in the race, and Thursday's televised debate was the first opportunity for the party to start whittling down its choices. So it's no surprise that the candidates had a vested interest in puffing up their own records as governors, senators and public figures. And some of them just got the facts wrong.
Some of the claims in the Cleveland debate and how they compare with the facts:
DONALD TRUMP: "If it weren't for me, you wouldn't even be talking about illegal immigration."
THE FACTS: Republicans have been talking about immigration for at least 30 years, including former President George W. Bush and the Republican field in the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections. In 2013, an immigration overhaul seeking to address illegal immigration passed the Senate with strong Republican support, although the House never took it up. And Republican debate about immigration has only intensified in the wake of President Barack Obama's sweeping executive action shielding from deportation millions of immigrants in the U.S. illegally.
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No. 3 Senate Democrat opposes nuclear deal with Iran, says risk it presents is too great
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat expected to be the party's next leader in the Senate, said he will oppose the Iran nuclear deal in spite of President Barack Obama's intense lobbying in favor of the accord.
The deal, struck last month with Tehran and Western powers, would curb Iran's nuclear program in exchange for billions of dollars in relief from crippling sanctions.
"The very real risk that Iran will not moderate and will, instead, use the agreement to pursue its nefarious goals is too great," Schumer said in opposing the pact. He said he based his decision on the nuclear and non-nuclear elements of the accord and on the question, "Are we better off with the agreement or without it?"
A leading Jewish Democrat, Schumer was the first senator of Obama's party to step forward to oppose the deal. His announcement Thursday night came just hours after two other Senate Democrats — New York's Kirsten Gillibrand and New Hampshire's Jeanne Shaheen — announced their support for the international accord.
"After deep study, careful thought and considerable soul-searching, I have decided I must oppose the agreement and will vote yes on a motion of disapproval," he said in a statement issued weeks before he will cast a vote.
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French officials question Malaysia claims on more debris from missing Flight 370
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia's assertion that more debris potentially linked to missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 had washed up on an Indian Ocean island prompted puzzlement from French officials, adding to criticisms that the international response to one of the most famous aviation mysteries of all time is suffering from an exasperating lack of cohesion.
Ever since the Boeing 777 vanished on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014, Malaysian officials have been accused of giving inaccurate statements and withholding information from families and other countries involved in the investigation.
On Thursday, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak's statement that a wing fragment found on a French island had been definitively linked to Flight 370 prompted cautious responses from French, U.S. and Australian officials involved in the probe, who would say only that it was likely or probable the part came from the missing plane.
Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai added to the confusion later Thursday, saying a Malaysian team had found more debris on Reunion Island, including a window and some aluminum foil, and had sent the material to local authorities for French investigators to examine.
"I can only ascertain that it's plane debris," Liow said. "I cannot confirm that it's from MH370."
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A year after Michael Brown's death, a changed Ferguson tries to move beyond shooting, protests
FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) — A year ago, Ferguson, Missouri, was a mostly quiet working-class suburban town. The uneasy relationship between its growing black population and its mostly white police force barely registered in local headlines.
Everything changed on Aug. 9, 2014, when a white police officer named Darren Wilson shot and killed Michael Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old. The street confrontation on that sultry day launched the "Black Lives Matter" movement.
Now the city government, and the streets themselves, look much different.
The city has a new police chief, a new city manager and a new municipal judge — all blacks who replaced white leaders. All Ferguson officers wear body cameras. The city council has new members, too, several of whom are black. And the business district that was at the center of last year's sometimes-violent protests is slowly rebuilding.
The unrest that followed the shooting scarred a proud community, which has spent nearly a year trying to atone for past sins and move ahead.
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As Fed weighs rate hike, US jobs report for July likely to show another solid gain above 200K
WASHINGTON (AP) — The jobs report for July that the government will release Friday is expected to show another month of solid gains, matching the steady hiring that has propelled the U.S. economic expansion.
The report will also provide a key piece of evidence for the Federal Reserve to weigh in deciding whether the U.S. economy is ready for it to raise interest rates from record lows as soon as September.
Economists have forecast that employers added 225,000 jobs in July and that the unemployment rate remained at a seven-year low of 5.3 percent, according to a survey by FactSet. The job growth would roughly match June's 223,000 gain and the healthy monthly average of 244,583 over the past year.
The government will issue the July jobs report at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time.
Another hiring gain above 200,000 would likely nudge the Fed closer to its first rate hike in nearly a decade. The Fed has held its key short-term rate near zero since late 2008, a policy introduced after the financial crisis to try to energize the economy through stronger borrowing, investing and spending. Now, more than a half-dozen years into the recovery, Fed Chair Janet Yellen has suggested that the economy not only can tolerate but needs higher rates.
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Survivors of A-bomb — 'marked with same scar' — find acceptance at Hiroshima nursing homes
HIROSHIMA, Japan (AP) — Ayako Ishii was 19 and in love for the first time: She was studying the art of flower arranging in Kyoto and fell for her teacher. It was not to be, for the same reason her many subsequent attempts to find love were not to be.
When the man's family found out that Ishii was from Hiroshima, they banned their relationship from developing further.
"There are many things I could have said, but I didn't as my heart was closed and I was resigned," Ishii, now 78, said with a cynical laugh. Beneath her neatly coiffed gray hair, her eyes glittered, as if they were filled with tears.
Even those who survived the Aug. 6, 1945, A-bomb attack on Hiroshima were transformed by it. They were harmed not only physically but mentally, long before post-traumatic stress disorder was even a diagnosis. Many lost relatives — sometimes all of them. They were stigmatized by people fearful that the radiation they were exposed to could cause disease and birth defects.
Many grew old with no one to care for them, which is why Ishii's nursing home, Mutsumi-en or "Garden of Amity," opened in 1970. Now some 600 Hiroshima survivors live in a total of four nursing homes intended just for them.
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Huge migrant camp in Calais, a nest of squalor, takes on air of permanence with lives in limbo
CALAIS, France (AP) — The kitchen is a rustic grill under a tarp in a fetid-smelling camp teaming with migrants — but for Zubair Nazari it means survival. The teen, who ended up in this port city after a perilous escape from the Taliban, sticks with a group of fellow Afghans who do their best to recreate the tastes of home — a stew of eggs, onions and tomatoes — amid a stretch of squalor known as "the jungle."
"We don't eat like this every day," said Nazari of the simple meal that was, in fact, a special treat cooked up for visitors. "The jungle is not a place for humans. It's just for animals."
An estimated 2,500 migrants are currently at the wind-swept camp surrounded by sand dunes that sprang up in early April when a state-approved day center for migrants was opened nearby. Unlike the others, this refuge far from Calais' city center — and more than a two-hour walk to the Channel tunnel — has mushroomed into a veritable village. A mosque, church and myriad shops, all built by migrants from plastic tarp and plywood, convey a sense of permanence. It's a sign that, while most migrants are desperate to leave Calais, they appear increasingly resigned to the long haul in a city that is groaning under the strain of the migrant load.
Maya Konforti of Auberge des Migrants — Migrants' Shelter — an NGO that helps supply food, tents and blankets, says the camp's building binge is due in part to its far-flung location, with no nearby grocery stores. But another reason is that some 30 percent of the camp population is seeking political asylum in France — and these people know they are in for a prolonged wait.
Squalor is the only constant between this new "jungle" and the makeshift encampments bulldozed by authorities. "There is no water, no food, no clothing," Nazari said. "Where are the human rights?"
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Last laughs: Jon Stewart ends 'Daily Show' run with 'moment of Zen,' Bruce Springsteen
NEW YORK (AP) — Jon Stewart said goodbye to "The Daily Show" on Thursday, America's foremost satirist of politicians and the media ushered out by Bruce Springsteen and a reunion of the many colleagues that he worked with during 16 years as host.
"Guess what? Stewart said. "I've got big news. This is it."
Armed with a razor-sharp wit and research team adept at finding video evidence of hypocrisy or unintentional comedy among the nation's establishment, Stewart turned a sleepy basic-cable entertainment show into a powerful cultural platform. But the 52-year-old comic announced last winter that he was getting restless and it was time to move on.
For his finale, he pretended to report on Thursday's Republican presidential debate — which actually happened after the taping — but said he didn't have enough remaining correspondents to talk about all the candidates. That proved to be the vehicle to bring in a long succession of personalities whose careers were jump-started by Stewart when they were on the show, like Aasif Mandvi, Lewis Black, Stephen Colbert, Steve Carell, Rob Corddry, Samantha Bee and Wyatt Cenac.
He'd been away from the show for more than a decade, but Carell said that "becoming an international superstar is just something I did while awaiting my next assignment."
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Van down by the river: Parked vehicles latest NYC lodging choice for bold, cheap tourists
NEW YORK (AP) — There's no electricity, no running water, no bathroom.
But travelers to New York City bold enough to book a parked van for $22 a night through Airbnb do get a real bed and a spectacular view of the Manhattan skyline from across the East River in Queens.
"If you want a New York adventure, this is it. Great location, great view," says Rapha Schaele, a 23-year-old student from Freiburg, Germany, who recently stayed in the van with two friends for four days.
While parked vehicles make up a tiny fraction of the thousands of Airbnb private accommodation listings in New York City — just three vans, a converted yellow taxi and two campers — they provide an option for adventurous, budget-minded visitors seeking a place to rest their heads for far less than the $200-and-up most hotels charge.
"The money is perfect," says Clemens Spath, 24, among the German trio who stayed in the 78-square-foot van down by the river. They did complain, however, that the battery-powered fan was not enough to cool them on a sweltering night and mosquitoes got in through an open window.
