Adviser says Romney would back Israeli strike to stop Iran’s nuclear program
JERUSALEM (AP) — Mitt Romney would back an Israeli military strike against Iran aimed at preventing Tehran from obtaining nuclear capability, a top foreign policy adviser said Sunday, outlining the aggressive posture the Republican presidential candidate will take toward Iran in a speech in Israel later in the day.
Romney has said he has a “zero tolerance” policy toward Iran obtaining the capability to build a nuclear weapon.
“If Israel has to take action on its own, in order to stop Iran from developing the capability, the governor would respect that decision,” foreign policy adviser Dan Senor told reporters ahead of the speech, planned for late Sunday near Jerusalem’s Old City.
Romney believes the option of a U.S. attack should also be “on the table.” He has said he will do “the opposite” of what U.S. President Barack Obama would do in his approach to Israel.
The Obama administration hasn’t ruled out the military option, but Obama has so far been relying on sanctions and diplomatic negotiations to discourage Iran from building a nuclear bomb.
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Romanians vote on impeaching president in battle that has sparked Western doubts
BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romania’s unpopular president was fighting for his political life on Sunday as Romanians voted on whether to impeach him, part of a political battle that has raised questions about the rule of law in the fledgling European Union member.
Basescu’s rivals in the government are seeking to impeach him for the second time in five years. They claim the 60-year-old populist violated the constitution by meddling in government business, coddling cronies and using the secret services against enemies.
Traian Basescu, a 60-year-old former ship captain whose popularity has plummeted over austerity measures, says the impeachment process is a political vendetta carried out by opponents and has urged his supporters to boycott the vote — a tactic that may help him survive thanks to a rule requiring turnout to be more than half of the total electorate.
The political turmoil has dented Romania’s credibility, with the U.S. and EU expressing doubts about the left-leaning government’s respect for the independence of the judiciary. Critics accuse Prime Minister Victor Ponta, himself the subject of a plagiarism scandal, of orchestrating the move as part of a power grab.
Polls opened at 7 a.m. (0400 GMT) and will close at 11 p.m. (2000 GMT) with 18 million Romanians eligible to vote. Most are expected to vote to impeach Basescu, but it is uncertain whether the government can muster the necessary turnout.
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Injured Colorado theater victim whose daughter died in massacre suffers miscarriage
DENVER (AP) — A woman who was critically wounded in the Colorado theater shooting that left dead her 6-year-old daughter has suffered a miscarriage.
The family of Ashley Moser said in a statement Saturday that she is recovering from surgery but that the trauma caused the miscarriage.
Jacki Kelley of the Jefferson County sheriff’s office declined to release details and says the family has declined to speak to the media.
Moser’s daughter, Veronica Moser-Sullivan, was the youngest person killed in the attack at a midnight showing of the new Batman movie in Aurora, Colo., more than a week ago.
Moser suffered gunshot wounds to her neck and abdomen. A family member has said they hadn’t told her about Veronica’s death.
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First step: US Olympic team begins tourney with French team loaded with NBA talent
LONDON (AP) — As the world watched the queen, David Beckham and what seemed like all of England take part in the Olympic opening ceremonies, Mike Krzyzewski stayed in.
Back at the U.S. team’s hotel, Krzyzewski and his assistants studied tape of France.
Krzyzewski isn’t taking any chances.
“To not prepare would be the ultimate sign of disrespect,” Krzyzewski said, “and the biggest, poorest assumption that you could make.”
It’s gold time for the Americans, who open the 12-nation tournament Sunday against France, a squad led by San Antonio guard Tony Parker and featuring five other NBA players. The French are one of several teams that believe they have a legitimate chance of shocking the star-studded Americans.
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EYES ON LONDON: Awaiting the royals, angst over empty seats and some arrested activists
LONDON (AP) — Around the 2012 Olympics and its host city with journalists from The Associated Press bringing the flavor and details of the games to you:
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APPETITE FOR ROWING
Yes, there were plenty of empty seats at the tennis and gymnastics on the opening day of the London Olympics. But the crowds continue to flock to the rowing regatta in Windsor.
A capacity crowd enjoyed a packed day of action on Saturday. And despite there being a shorter schedule 24 hours later, the grandstands were close to full by start of racing Sunday. There were even so-called “Mexican waves.”
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Will the problem be the solution? Divided Cyprus drifts away from thoughts of reconciliation
PYLA, Cyprus (AP) — Tell a Greek Cypriot that your next destination is the Turkish city of Istanbul, once the seat of empires, and there’s a chance you will be gently chided. “You mean ‘Constantinople,'” the conversation partner might say, referring to the former Byzantine capital, which fell to Ottoman armies in 1453.
This allegiance to the past is tinged with defiance, a stubborn refusal to call a place by the name chosen by the inhabitants of a hostile country. But it is more recent civil strife and war, nearly half a century ago, that infuse the psyche of Cyprus, a Mediterranean island favored by vacationers for its sun and beaches.
In a strange twist, divided Cyprus has taken on a role meant to unify, this month assuming the rotating presidency of the European Union, a six-month stint that gives it a self-promotional platform even as it scrambles for a multi-billion dollar bailout to support its troubled banks. In another quirk of split-screen Cyprus, it is seeking money from oil-rich Russia, an increasingly important friend, in addition to the EU, as it tries to avoid the austerity measures that would likely come with any European aid.
At the heart of these dueling directions lies the “Cyprus problem,” as it is blandly known.
Talk of a peace settlement between the island’s majority Greek Cypriot community and Turkish Cypriots that would end decades of political uncertainty is giving way to a sense that the problem is, unofficially, the default solution.
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Vietnam may become first in Asia to recognize same-sex couples; region takes small steps
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Dinh Thi Hong Loan grasps her girlfriend’s hand, and the two gaze into each other’s love-struck eyes. Smiling, they talk about their upcoming wedding — how they’ll exchange rings and toast the beginning of their lives together.
The lesbians’ marriage ceremony in the Vietnamese capital won’t be officially recognized, but that could soon change. Vietnam’s Communist government is now considering whether to allow same-sex couples to marry or legally register and receive rights — positioning the country to be the first in Asia to do so.
“Our love for each other is real and nothing changes regardless of whether the law is passed or not,” said Loan, 31. “But when it is passed, we will definitely go get registered. I can’t wait!”
Even longtime gay-rights activists are stunned by the Justice Ministry’s proposal to include same-sex couples in its overhaul of the country’s marriage law. No one knows what form it will take or whether it will survive long enough to be debated before the National Assembly next year, but supporters say the fact that it’s even being considered is a victory in a region where simply being gay can result in jail sentences or whippings with a rattan cane.
“I think everyone is surprised,” said Vien Tanjung, an Indonesian gay-rights activist. “Even if it’s not successful it’s already making history. For me, personally, I think it’s going to go through.”
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DA: Mass. dad who just separated from wife shot 2 kids, killing 7-year-old, then kills self
OXFORD, Mass. (AP) — A man who had recently separated from his wife shot his two children, killing his 7-year-old daughter, before committing suicide, prosecutors said.
A family member called police Saturday night after finding the bodies of 41-year-old Daryl Benway and his daughter, Abigail, in the master bedroom of their two-story Oxford home, Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early Jr. said. Benway’s 9-year-old son, Owen, was found shot in the head in the kitchen and was taken to UMass Memorial Children’s Medical Center in serious condition.
Benway’s wife, Kelleen, returned home after the shootings, unaware of what had happened, and found a swarm of police cruisers and television crews, Early said. She was taken to the children’s hospital, where authorities told her the fates of her children and husband.
Neighbors told the Telegram & Gazette that Daryl Benway’s brother Shawn lived on the first floor of the home with his wife and mother. Shawn Benway called 911 to report the shootings, Early said.
Daryl and Kelleen Benway separated three or four weeks ago but were still married, Early said. He said he couldn’t speculate on a motive.
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Friend: Md. man accused in shooting plot was ‘gentle giant,’ was concerned about break-ins
WASHINGTON (AP) — To his friends, Neil E. Prescott was a “gentle giant” — a physically towering young man with a background in computers and electronics and a sarcastic, even biting, sense of humor that people close to him knew to shrug off as innocuous.
But police say they had no choice but to take it seriously when Prescott threatened to shoot up his workplace and referred to himself as “a joker,” comments that raised particular alarm in the wake of last week’s mass shooting at a Colorado theater during the latest Batman movie. The man accused in those shootings dyed his hair reddish-orange, and New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly has said the man called himself the Joker — a reference to Batman’s nemesis.
Prescott, 28, was taken into custody early Friday at his apartment in Maryland, where officers found several thousand rounds of ammunition and a cache of about two dozen weapons including semi-automatic rifles and pistols. He was receiving an emergency psychiatric evaluation at a hospital and had not been charged as of Saturday afternoon.
Two friends told The Associated Press Saturday that they couldn’t imagine that Prescott, who was in the process of being fired or already had lost his job, intended to be taken seriously when he allegedly told a supervisor: “I’m a joker and I’m gonna load my guns and blow everybody up.”
“Neil’s the kind of guy who had the ability to say the wrong thing at the wrong time and not mean anything by it. So to him, he thinks it’s funny,” said Wesley Weber, who said his friend, at 6 feet 7 inches, was a “gentle giant” prone to bouts of exaggeration and inappropriate jokes who “talked big but didn’t walk the walk.”
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Charlie Sheen happy about ‘Anger Management,’ with FX sitcom poised for renewal
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — Charlie Sheen says he’s not insane anymore.
Instead, these are good days for the “Anger Management” star, he declares, with his FX sitcom half-way through its initial 10-episode run and poised to get an order for 90 more.
Sheen told reporters Saturday that the prospect of continuing is as “exciting as hell,” and added cheerily, “I don’t think 90’s gonna be enough.”
With the expected pickup, FX plans to bring aboard Sheen’s dad, Martin Sheen, as a recurring cast member. He will play the father of Charlie Goodson, the anger-management therapist played by Charlie Sheen. The veteran movie actor, who also played President Jed Bartlet on the drama series “The West Wing,” is guest-starring on an “Anger Management” episode that airs Aug. 16.
“I think that was the best episode we did,” his son said.
