World / Nation Briefs Jun 2, 2012

Political platforms shifted by weak jobs report

CHICAGO - The suddenly dismal news on American jobs is a blow to President Barack Obama's re-election argument that he has been a steward of recovery. It's heightened White House anxiety over global threats to U.S. economic growth - and the president's political prospects, too.

The economy, Obama conceded Friday, "is not growing as fast as we want it to."

Taking a harsher tone, presumed Republican rival Mitt Romney declared that the country appeared to be "moving backward." He sought to drive home a political point from the nation's first increase in joblessness in almost a year.

After a winter when the job trends were in his favor, Obama has been forced onto the defensive by three months of lackluster to dismal growth. Confronted by Friday's report of a feeble 69,000 new jobs and an uptick in unemployment to 8.2 percent in May, Obama vigorously renewed his demand that Congress step up and enact some of his jobs proposals.

Calling the Eurozone's debt crisis a "shadow" hanging over the U.S. economy, Obama made his most urgent plea yet for measures that he said would "serve as a buffer in case the situation in Europe gets any worse."

Edwards advised to keep low profile

RALEIGH, N.C. - Now that he has survived his campaign corruption trial, John Edwards may face an even tougher fight to regain the public's respect.

Image experts and friends recommended that the disgraced former Democratic presidential candidate put his public and political life on hold for a few years. The details of his affair and child with his mistress that were replayed at his trial are too fresh, they say.

"Plant a small garden, tend that garden and wait and listen," said Wade Smith, an attorney who hired Edwards when he was a young attorney and represented him before the trial.

Then a number of things might be possible - a legal career representing breast cancer patients, and the poor, or life as a stay-at-home father. But not a career in politics, ever.

Panetta: Pentagon to shift warships to Pacific

SINGAPORE - The Pentagon will shift more Navy warships to the Asia-Pacific region over the next several years, and by 2020, about 60 percent of the fleet will be assigned there as part of a new strategy to increase U.S. presence in Asia, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Saturday.

While noting it may take years to complete the transition, Panetta assured his audience at a security conference in Singapore that U.S. budget problems and cutbacks would not get in the way of changes. He said the Defense Department has money in the five-year budget plan to meet those goals.

Speaking at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue conference, Panetta provided some of the first real details of the Pentagon's impending pivot to the Pacific.

"It will take years for these concepts, and many of the investments that I just detailed, but we are making those investments in order that they be fully realized," Panetta said in a speech opening the conference. "Make no mistake, in a steady, deliberate and sustainable way, the United States military is rebalancing and is bringing an enhanced capability development to this vital region."

Judge orders Zimmerman back to jail

SANFORD, Fla. - Trayvon Martin's shooter must return to jail, a judge ordered Friday in a strongly worded ruling that said George Zimmerman and his wife lied to the court about their finances to obtain bond in a case that hinges on jurors believing his account of what happened the night the teen was killed.

Zimmerman has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder for the February shooting. The neighborhood watch volunteer says he shot Martin in self-defense because the unarmed 17-year-old was beating him up after confronting Zimmerman about following him in a gated community outside Orlando.

Zimmerman was arrested 44 days after the killing, and during a bond hearing in April, his wife, Shellie, testified that the couple had limited funds available. The hearing also was notable because Zimmerman took the stand and apologized to Martin's parents.

Prosecutors pointed out in their motion that Zimmerman had $135,000 available then. It had been raised from donations through a website he set up and they suggested more has been collected since and deposited in a bank account.

911 call reports fight leading up to attack

MIAMI - Several people called 911 after witnessing events related to the vicious attack of a 65-year-old homeless man whose face was mostly chewed off along a busy Miami highway, according to recordings released Friday by authorities.

Callers only reported seeing two men fighting in the shadow of The Miami Herald headquarters but did not mention seeing Ronald Poppo's face being chewed.

Surveillance video shows Rudy Eugene, 31, attacking Poppo alongside the highway last Saturday afternoon. A police officer fatally shot Eugene during the attack. Police have not released a motive for the attack.

"He's going to kill that man, I promise you," a female bus driver said, urging a 911 operator to send help. Poppo remains hospitalized.

The driver, who wasn't named by authorities, described the scene as she drove by.

Venus will march across the face of the sun

LOS ANGELES - Yes, it's true. You can damage your eyes by staring at the sun. People need to remember that as they turn to the skies to watch the silhouette of Venus march across the face of the sun on Tuesday from the Western Hemisphere (Wednesday from the Eastern Hemisphere). Known as a transit of Venus, this won't happen again until 2117.

To protect yourself, wear special viewing glasses such as solar eclipse glasses. You can buy them online or at your local museum. Alternatively, you can go to a hardware store and get a pair of welder's glasses, but make sure it's number 14 or darker. Or make a pinhole projector with cardboard. Do not watch the transit with regular sunglasses.

Also peer through telescopes outfitted with special filters at viewing parties hosted by museums, observatories and astronomy clubs. Many will also have experts on hand who could talk about the history and significance of a Venus transit.

- The Associated Press