hCouple in competition?

hCouple in competition?
PARIS -- They are France's power couple: He is the Socialist Party boss, and she is the party's most popular politician. Now, Francois Hollande and Segolene Royal might end up competing against each other in the 2007 presidential race. Although Hollande is bespectacled and somewhat bland, Royal is the darling of the polls, with a disarming smile and crisp, chic suits. In a country where women make up only 12 percent of parliament, she seems the more unlikely candidate for president. And that's exactly why people like her. Royal, 52, campaigns for some of the traditional family values that are usually the terrain of the right. She has not unveiled a platform and is untested on economic and international affairs. She has often seemed on the Socialist fringe.
Money in marriage
WASHINGTON -- Marrying for money, it turns out, works. A study by an Ohio State University researcher shows that a person who marries -- and stays married -- accumulates nearly twice as much personal wealth as a person who is single or divorced. And for those who divorce, it's a bit more expensive than giving up half of everything they own. They lose, on average, three-fourths of their personal net worth."Getting married for a few years and then getting divorced is clearly not the path to financial independence," said Jay Zagorsky, whose study divided married couples' assets so they could be compared with singles.
Faked-death accusation
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Police arrested a man accused of faking his death more than 25 years ago to avoid paying child support. Johnny Sterling Martin, 58, had a relative call Family Court in 1979 and report that he died during a bar fight in Alabama, authorities said. That call came a few months after he escaped from a work detail while serving a one-year jail term for failing to pay $4,120 in support for two children. He was captured Tuesday and jailed, and now owes more than $30,000 in child support and faces an escape charge, authorities said. Martin has been living in Myrtle Beach, about 150 miles away, and had been using his real name for about 20 years, investigators said. He has been married four times -- twice since his disappearance -- and has a third child, sheriff's Maj. John Allard said. The investigation was reopened last week when police got a tip from one of Martin's ex-wives that he was alive and living in Myrtle Beach. A fingerprint analysis confirmed Martin's identity, investigators said.
Pitch for the cherry
WASHINGTON -- New York has the apple, Florida has the orange and soon the District of Columbia could have the cherry as its official fruit. With the nation's capital lacking a designated fruit, a group of elementary school students made a pitch for the cherry to the city council, saying it was the obvious choice. "We have a cherry blossom festival every year, and it was a cherry tree that George Washington chopped down in a famous story from his youth," said Marcus Parker, 11. The kids said there was no second choice. "It does fit right in to the theme for Washington," said Council Chair Linda Cropp at Wednesday's meeting. "From the mouth of babes we have a good idea."
President Ford improving
RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. -- Former President Gerald R. Ford was showing improvement after five days hospitalized for treatment of pneumonia and could be released today, his chief of staff said. "He is responding to treatment and shows improvement every day. He is sitting in a chair reading his newspapers and we continue to anticipate a Thursday discharge," spokeswoman Penny Circle said in a statement Wednesday. Ford, 92, was admitted to Eisenhower Medical Center on Saturday. It was his second hospitalization in five weeks at the medical center, near his Thunderbird Estates home in the Southern California desert.
Fighting bird flu
BEIJING -- After a year of unprecedented appeals for money to cope with the Asian tsunami and the South Asia earthquake, the world dug deeper Wednesday, pledging $1.9 billion to fight bird flu and prepare for a potential pandemic. The United States alone came up with $334 million that will largely be used to help poor countries in Southeast Asia, such as Vietnam and Indonesia, where the H5N1 bird flu virus is endemic. The European Union pledged an additional $261 million, responding with a renewed sense of urgency after the disease killed four children in Turkey.
Associated Press