The Star Online: World Updates
The Star Online: World Updates |
- French left can still beat Sarkozy in 2012 - poll
- CORRECTED - Strauss-Kahn under house arrest in New York
- Japan's Tepco confirms meltdowns of 2 more Fukushima reactors
| French left can still beat Sarkozy in 2012 - poll Posted: 23 May 2011 08:47 PM PDT PARIS (Reuters) - Nicolas Sarkozy would be beaten by either of the two French Socialists expected to run for president in 2012 after the fall of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the earlier favourite, according to a poll published on Tuesday. The poll, conducted after former IMF chief Strauss-Kahn was arrested in New York on attempted rape charges which he denies, shows Sarkozy losing by a sizeable margin to either of the likely left-wing challengers -- Francois Hollande or Martine Aubry.
The BVA polling institute said its survey, conducted on May 20-21, a week after the arrest of the man who was the runaway favourite for 2012, suggested that those now expected to fill his shoes would do just about as well. Hollande, a grassroots Socialist Party veteran who has never held government office, would win the first round of the 2012 presidential contest with a score of 27 percent, versus 21 percent for Sarkozy. Aubry, Socialist Party leader, would score 24 percent of the first round votes versus 22 percent for Sarkozy, if she rather than Hollande is the challenger chosen in the Socialist Party's selection contest. "Martine Aubry and Francois Hollande are taking DSK's place in voters' hearts for now," BVA analyst Gael Sliman said. In a second-round runoff, Hollande would crush Sarkozy, taking 62 percent of the vote versus 38 percent for the incumbent of the Elysee Palace, which is a poll prediction roughly on a par with the scores given to Strauss-Kahn in opinion surveys before his arrest. Aubry too would beat Sarkozy convincingly. The BVA poll had her winning with 59 percent versus 41 percent for Sarkozy. The Socialists are organising a primary contest to pick a challenger in next year's presidential election, where Sarkozy is expected to seek a second term. The election takes place in two rounds on April 22 and May 6. Far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen, tipped by several opinion polls to beat Sarkozy to make it to the runoff round, did less well in the latest BVA survey. "Neither Nicolas Sarkozy nor Marine Le Pen are benefitting from the political climate in the wake of the DSK affair," said Sliman, deputy managing director of BVA. Strauss-Kahn, a former French finance minister, was widely expected to be the Socialists' candidate in 2012. He was arrested on May 14 and has been charged with attempting to rape a maid at the Sofitel hotel in New York. He has quit as head of the International Monetary Fund and vowed to fight the charges. (Reporting by Brian Love; Editing by Janet Lawrence) Copyright © 2011 Reuters Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. | ||
| CORRECTED - Strauss-Kahn under house arrest in New York Posted: 23 May 2011 08:16 PM PDT (Corrects May 21 story's second graph to say Strauss-Kahn will defend himself against charges of attempting to rape a maid, not charges of raping a maid)
By Michelle Nichols and Ellen Wulfhorst NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn remained under house arrest and armed guard on Saturday in an apartment in New York's financial district that has become a tourist attraction. Strauss-Kahn, who was released from jail on Friday, was expected to stay in the apartment in Manhattan for a few days until permanent housing could be found, as he defends himself against charges of attempting to rape a maid in a New York hotel. A trial may be six months or more away. The temporary housing was arranged by a private security company that is guarding Strauss-Kahn at an estimated cost of $200,000 a month, which he is responsible for paying. Satellite trucks lined the block outside the apartment, and scores of reporters and photographers waited for a glimpse of the man who until a week ago was one of the most powerful financial figures in the world. Once a strong contender to be the next president of France, Strauss-Kahn resigned as head of the International Monetary Fund on Wednesday. French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde was seen as the leading contender to succeed him. Strauss-Kahn was detained by police in New York a week ago, just hours after the alleged attack at the Sofitel hotel in Manhattan. He is due to reappear in court on June 6, when he will formally answer the charges. He denies the sexual assault accusations made by the maid, a 32-year-old widow from Guinea. If convicted, he could face 25 years in prison. Word of the new tenant at 71 Broadway quickly spread. Curious pedestrians questioned police officers stationed at the entrance and took pictures of the media. A guide on a tour bus heading down the street could be heard on a microphone pointing out the building as the one where Strauss-Kahn was staying. Some neighbors seemed less than thrilled, complaining about the added security and throngs of media. "I don't like all of this," said Ian Horowitz, 29, a resident who works in finance. "I don't like all the attention and all the people outside." A deal to have Strauss-Kahn stay in an apartment on the city's Upper East Side fell through after the media besieged the building. CRISIS MANAGEMENT He is only allowed to leave his apartment to travel within Manhattan for court appearances, meetings with his lawyers, medical appointments and a weekly religious observance. His legal team has informally sought public relations advice from a Washington consulting firm, TD International, run by former CIA officers and U.S. diplomats. A source said if the firm signs on, its role will be helping in crisis management. In France, Le Monde reported Strauss-Kahn's lawyers have employed Guidepost Solutions, a global investigations firm headed by Bart Schwartz, former criminal division chief in the Manhattan District Attorney's office. Other company officers include the former global head of security for IBM and a former federal prosecutor and U.S. Secret Service special agent. Also in France, feminist organizations published a petition saying they were "stunned by the daily flood of misogynist comments by public figures" since Strauss-Kahn was detained. They said his friends and allies have downplayed the plight of the alleged victim -- former French culture minister Jack Lang said Strauss-Kahn should have been released earlier, considering "nobody has died." "We are witnessing a sudden rise of sexist and reactionary reflexes, so quick to surface among part of the French elite," the groups said in a statement on the website of the newspaper. CAMPAIGN FOR IMF TOP JOB With the sudden vacancy in the IMF's top job, its board has said the process for finding a new chief would be completed by June 30. With the euro zone debt crisis still far from controlled, European and U.S. officials want to move quickly. The chair of the IMF's main advisory panel, the International Monetary and Financial Committee, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, who is also Singapore's finance minister, said it was imperative that the process be open and transparent. "The challenges we face are pressing and an early conclusion to the selection process will be advantageous," he said in a statement on Saturday. Lagarde, backed by many European governments, has been praised for her role in tackling the European debt crisis and the handling of demands of advanced and developing economies through France's presidency of the Group of 20 this year. But developing countries, with growing clout in the world economy, were keeping pressure on Europe and the United States to avoid a backroom deal over the appointment. The IMF has been run by a European ever since it was created at the end of World War Two. Lagarde, who headed U.S. law firm Baker & McKenzie in Chicago before joining the French government in 2005, would be the first woman to head the IMF. Former Turkish economy minister Kemal Dervis had been seen as another frontrunner, but he ruled himself out on Friday, putting pressure on emerging nations to find a consensus candidate. (Additional reporting by Leslie Wroughton in Washington and Jessica Rinaldi in New York; Writing by Ellen Wulfhorst, Editing by Christopher Wilson and Paul Simao) Copyright © 2011 Reuters Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. | ||
| Japan's Tepco confirms meltdowns of 2 more Fukushima reactors Posted: 23 May 2011 07:15 PM PDT TOKYO (Reuters) - Tokyo Electric Power Co, the operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant disabled by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, confirmed on Tuesday that there were meltdowns of fuel rods at three of the plant's reactors early in the crisis. It had said earlier this month that fuel rods in the No.1 reactor had melted, but officials of the utility, known as Tepco, confirmed at a news conference that there were also meltdowns of fuel rods at the plant's No.2 and No.3 reactors early in the crisis.
Engineers are battling to plug radiation leaks and bring the plant northeast of Tokyo under control more than two months after the 9.0 magnitude earthquake and deadly tsunami that devastated a swathe of Japan's coastline and tipped the economy into recession. The disaster has triggered a drop of more than 80 percent in Tokyo Electric's share price and forced the company to seek government aid as it faces compensation liabilities that some analysts say could top $100 billion. The Tepco officials said damage to the No.2 reactor fuel rods began three days after the quake, with much of the fuel rods eventually melting and collecting at the bottom of the pressure vessel containing them. Fuel rods in the No.3 reactor were damaged by the afternoon of March 13, they said. They repeated that the tsunami that followed soon after the quake disabled power to the reactors, knocking out their cooling capabilities. (Reporting by Shinichi Saoshiro; Editing by Michael Watson) Copyright © 2011 Reuters Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
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