With Mitt Romney all but formally installed as the Republican presidential nominee, the 2012 general election campaign is just getting under way.
Most voters, though, have already made up their minds.
The first Gallup daily tracking poll of the campaign, released Monday, showed that 90 percent of Republicans support Romney, while 90 percent of Democrats favor President Obama.
Good morning. I'm Steve Inskeep with congratulations to Jamie Moyer. At age 49, the pitcher won a game in the major leagues. Many of today's baseball players were not even born when Moyer's career started. He never threw the ball very hard, but won with patience and control. This year, he made the Colorado Rockies and pitched seven innings last night against San Diego for a five - three win. Some pitchers throw a 95 mile an hour fastball. Moyer's was 78. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.
Good morning. I'm Lynn Neary. The Seattle Space Needle is going retro. Built for the 1962 Seattle World's Fair, the Space Needle was meant to be a beacon of the future. At first, it was not universally well received. Prince Charles even scorned the landmark's original color. But to celebrate its 50th anniversary on Saturday, the Space Needle's sloped roof is being repainted that same shade. Some call it sienna. Designers call it Galaxy Gold. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.
An outsized figure on the world's stage is fighting to keep his job. Nicolas Sarkozy has made headlines pressing for intervention in Libya, travelling abroad with his supermodel second wife Carla Bruni, pressing to free up France's economy and struggling with Europe's debt crisis. Now, with an election approaching, the French president is trailing in opinion polls against his main rival, the socialist Francois Hollande.
Sarkozy's future depends on voters like those who spoke with NPR's Eleanor Beardsley.
It's MORNING EDITION, from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep.
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And I'm Lynn Neary. Renee Montagne is on assignment.
In Syria, a ceasefire that's part of an U.N.-Arab League peace plan is unraveling, just six days after it got underway. Once again, dozens of people are dying each day, as the Syrian military pounds the cities and towns that have most fiercely resisted the government, and opposition rebels are fighting back.
It's a mere one hundred days remain before the opening of the Olympic Games in London. From time to time, MORNING EDITION has been getting dispatches from NPR's London-based correspondent Philip Reeves, about the preparations. In his latest, Reeves says the British are gearing themselves up for this great contest, both physically and mentally.
In the world of advertising, the success of a billboard often depends on its location. And in the sporting world, what's a better local than the tall, imposing bodies of professional basketball players - which brings us to our last word in business: basketball billboard.
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At an NBA meeting last week, team owners floated the idea of slapping corporate logos on team uniforms.
At Citigroup's annual meeting Tuesday, 55 percent of shareholders voted against big paychecks for the firms top executives. Citigroup's latest pay package saw the CEO take home some $25 million, despite dwindling share values. The vote is not binding, but analysts call it historic.
China is gripped by a tale of murder, betrayal, flight and intrigue that threatens the stability of the entire nation. At its heart is the death of a 41-year-old British businessman in a hotel room in the city of Chongqing last fall. The scandal has brought down a high-flying Chinese politician, Chongqing's party secretary Bo Xilai, and his wife, with China's state-run media hinting at their corruption and abuse of power.
Egyptian election officials upheld their ban of nearly half of the presidential candidates running in next month's contest. Among them are two leading Islamist candidates and the intelligence chief for former President Hosni Mubarak. The decision radically alters the race for a post that will shape Egypt's political landscape.
Minutes after official news outlets announced the election commission ruling, candidate Hazem Abu Ismail took to the airwaves to denounce it as a conspiracy.
