VOCR Gazette -062613

Wednesday June 26th 2013

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100,000 Dead In Syria

BEIRUT — More than 100,000 people have been killed since the start of Syria's conflict over two years ago, an activist group said Wednesday.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has been tracking the death toll in the conflict through a network of activists in Syria, released its death toll at a time when hopes for a negotiated settlement to end the civil war fade.
It said it had tallied a total of 100,191 deaths over the 27 months of the conflict, but Observatory chief Rami Abdul-Rahman said he expected the real number was higher as neither side was totally forthcoming about its losses.
Of the dead, 36,661 are civilians, the group said.
On the government side, 25,407 are members of President Bashar Assad's armed forces, 17,311 are pro-government fighters and 169 are militants from Lebanon's Hezbollah, who have fought alongside army troops.
Deaths among Assad's opponents included 13,539 rebels, 2,015 army defectors and 2,518 foreign fighters battling against the regime.
Entry of the foreign media into Syria is severely restricted and few reports from the fighting can be independently verified.
Earlier this month, the U.N. put the number of those killed in the conflict at 93,000 between March 2011 when the crisis started and end of April this year.
The government has not released death tolls. The state media published the names of the government's dead in the first months of the crisis, but then stopped publishing its losses after the opposition became an armed insurgency.

Egypt: Army reinforces bases for protests

Security officials say the military has brought in reinforcements of troops and armor to bases near Egyptian cities ahead of planned June 30 protests to force the Islamist president out.

The officials say Wednesday's deployments are restricted to the outskirts of major cities and inside existing military facilities. In Cairo, the focus of Sunday's protests, the extra troops went to major bases to the east and west.
The protests mark President Mohammed Morsi's first year in office.
Army chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has given Morsi and the opposition a week to reach an understanding to prevent bloodshed. There has been no sign of compromise by either side.
Morsi addresses the nation later on Wednesday.
The officials spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Qatari emir 'to announce reshuffle'

Qatar's new Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani is set to announce a cabinet reshuffle, a day after taking over from his father Sheikh Hamad, officials say.

Sheikh Tamim is due to address the nation on Wednesday after his official enthronement.
Long-serving Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani is expected to step aside.
Sheikh Hamad - also known as "HBJ" - has been a prominent figure in regional diplomacy.
One man mentioned as a possible replacement for the role of prime minister is Abdallah Bin Nasser Bin Khalifa Al Thani, currently minister for internal affairs.
The previous emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, 61, announced the handover to his 33-year-old son in a speech broadcast on Qatari television on Tuesday, saying it was time for a "young leadership" to take over.
"Our youth have proved in recent years that they are resolute people, that they comprehend the spirit of the times and participate in it," he said.
A peaceful handover is a rarity for the Gulf, where most rulers stay in place for decades, normally until they die.
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Netanyahu says Israel will withstand any challenge to its security

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon attended a Golani Brigade war drill on the Golan Heights on Wednesday, and issued stern warnings to potential attackers on the other side of the border of severe consequences that would stem from violations of Israeli sovereignty.
"We don't want to challenge anyone but no one will harm the State of Israel," the prime minister said.
Netanyahu, who was last in the Golan in September, came back to the area in order to send a message of determination in the face of the rapidly changing situation in Syria.
"I want to tell you from experience that battle is the kingdom of uncertainty," he said. "Regardless of how much training and preparation, it is the kingdom of uncertainty."
Netanyahu said that even with all available technology, battles are won by determination and "the ability to break the enemy and make them scared to death."
The prime minister said that at a time when the situation is "so flammable and dynamic," exercises in the Golan Heights are not just something theoretical.
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Pakistan bombs kills 10, wounds top judge: Officials

KARACHI: Bomb attacks in Pakistan killed 10 people and wounded nine others on Wednesday, including a senior judge who was critically injured following a blast in the business capital Karachi, officials said.

The first bomb targeted Maqbool Baqir, a judge at the high court in southern province Sindh in the port city of Karachi, killing at least seven people on a busy street during the morning rush hour.

The bomb, planted on a motorbike, exploded as Baqir drove past with his security detail in Burns Road in the centre of the city.

"According to initial information, seven people have been killed," Sindh information minister Sharjeel Memon told reporters.

He said one officer from the Rangers paramilitary force was among the dead. Rangers and police were accompanying Baqir, the minister said.
Police said Baqir was in hospital with critical injuries and that his driver was killed.
Memon asked reporters to "please pray" for the judge's recovery.
"I can confirm that Justice Maqbool Baqir is critically injured," police official Salman Syed told AFP.
"Nine people are injured. The bomb was planted on a motorbike and it was detonated by remote control," he added. 

French police detain 6 suspected of plotting terrorist attacks

Police have detained six people in the Paris region suspected of plotting terrorist attacks in France.
The Paris prosecutor’s office said Tuesday that the six are being questioned by anti-terrorist investigators, and are believed to have been part of a radical Islamic terrorist cell.
Prosecutor’s office spokeswoman Agnes Thibault-Lecuivre says the suspects were detained Monday and remained in custody Tuesday, she said. They can be held up to four days under France’s anti-terrorism laws.
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Kerry says doesn't want deadlines for peace process

KUWAIT - US Secretary of State John Kerry said he did not want to set any deadlines for the peace process but added that there needed to be progress before the UN General Assembly in September.
Speaking at a news conference Wednesday in Kuwait with Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled al-Sabah Kerry said Israeli and Palestinian leaders are both committed to reviving peace talks, but he acknowledged that progress on the long-stalled negotiations would be difficult.

Mistrust needed to be overcome, he said, to "avoid the disappointment and failures of the past".
Kerry, who held separate talks with both sides in May, said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas wanted the peace process to move forward.
"I believe they believe the peace process is bigger than any one day or one moment, or certainly more important to their countries than some of their current political challenges," he told a news conference in Kuwait with Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled al-Sabah.
"That is why both of them have indicated a seriousness of purpose. I would not be here now if I didn't have the belief this is possible," he said.

Julia Gillard, Australian Prime Minister, Loses Leadership Ballot To Kevin Rudd

CANBERRA, Australia — Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard was ousted as Labor Party leader Wednesday by her predecessor, Kevin Rudd, in a vote of party lawmakers hoping to avoid a huge defeat in upcoming elections.
The ballot took place three years and two days after Gillard ousted Rudd in a similar internal government showdown to become the country's first female prime minister. She lacked Rudd's charisma, and although many Labor lawmakers preferred her style, her deepening unpopularity among voters compelled a majority to seek a change ahead of elections that are set for Sept. 14 but could be held in August.
Wednesday's 57-to-45 vote makes Rudd leader of the party. Governor-General Quentin Bryce could make him prime minister as early as Thursday, but Rudd likely will have to demonstrate that he can command a majority of lawmakers in the House of Representatives.
Labor depends on independents and a minor party for its fragile ruling coalition, but Rudd appeared capable of retaining it after two independent lawmakers who did not back Gillard's government said they would support his.
The ballot ends a bitter rivalry between Gillard and Rudd that helped create an atmosphere of chaos and disunity. Gillard had survived two previous attempts by Rudd to take over.
Gillard had vowed to quit Parliament at the next election if she lost, and said after the vote that she would fulfill that pledge.
She said she was proud of her government's achievements, including the introduction of an unpopular carbon tax paid by the biggest industrial polluters. Gillard, who made international headlines for calling opposition leader Tony Abbott a misogynist, also hit back at critics who accused her of playing the gender card.
Because of her tenure, she said, "It will be easier for the next woman and the woman after that and the woman after that. And I'm proud of that."

Germany Probes Model Airplane Terrorist Attack Plot

BERLIN — German authorities are investigating two men of Tunisian origin suspected of planning to use model airplanes for terrorist attacks, prosecutors said Tuesday, as police in Germany and Belgium raided a series of sites searching for evidence of "possible attack plans and preparations."
No one was arrested in Tuesday's raids, which were carried out by about 90 police in the Stuttgart and Munich areas of southern Germany and in Saxony in eastern Germany, federal prosecutors said in a statement. One site in Belgium was raided, German officials said without elaborating.
Prosecutors said the investigation involved possible charges of "preparation of a serious, state-threatening act of violence," but they did not mention membership in any specific terrorist organization.
The two Tunisians are suspected of "procuring information and objects to commit Islamic extremist explosive attacks with remote-controlled model airplanes," prosecutors added. They gave no further information on the two men and didn't identify them.
However, the public broadcaster in southwestern Germany, SWF, quoted unnamed sources as saying that the two were studying aeronautics at the University of Stuttgart and were suspected of trying to develop techniques for remotely piloting model planes using GPS technology.
German authorities would not say whether the alleged plot was far advanced, but the German news agency dpa, quoting unnamed security sources, said the suspects had been under surveillance for more than a year.
The agency said authorities had recently detected "an increased interest in explosives and model aircraft."
However, authorities added that the national terror threat had not been raised, suggesting police believe the alleged plan – if there were one – was in early stages.

Prayer for Mandela's 'peaceful end'

A leading South African cleric has prayed for ex-President Nelson Mandela's "peaceful end" as he remains in a critical condition in hospital.

Archbishop Thabo Makgoba visited Mr Mandela, 94, in hospital in Pretoria, praying with his wife Graca Machel.
Also visiting on Tuesday was his daughter Zindzi, who said her father had "opened his eyes and smiled".
Mr Mandela's condition became critical on Sunday, following his admission on 8 June with a recurring lung infection.
The scene at the hospital, where well-wishers have decorated a wall with flowers and supportive messages, is described as quiet, save for waiting journalists.
It is Mr Mandela's third stay in hospital this year with lung problems.
According to South Africa's Times newspaper, elders from Mr Mandela's Tembu clan are due to visit him on Wednesday.
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Obama lays out climate action plan

US President Barack Obama has laid out a package of measures aimed at curbing climate change, including limits on emissions from power plants.

He also unveiled plans for an expansion of renewable energy projects, improved flood resilience and calls for an international climate deal.
Administration officials had earlier rejected the idea of a "carbon tax".
President Obama pledged in his inaugural address in January to act on climate change in his second term.

'Moral obligation'

Speaking at Georgetown University in Washington DC, President Obama said: "As a president, as a father and as an American, I am here to say we need to act."

President Obama mocked critics who contend climate change is not a threat.
"I don't have much patience for anyone who denies that this challenge is real," he said. "We don't have time for a meeting of the Flat Earth Society."
The president said climate change posed an immediate threat, with the 12 hottest years on record all occurring in the past 15 years.
He added: "While we may not live to see the full realisation of our ambition, we will have the satisfaction of knowing that the world we leave to our children will be better off for what we did."
Most of the president's agenda can be executed without congressional approval, but some issues are likely to face opposition.
The top Republican in the House of Representatives, House Speaker John Boehner, has called the plans "absolutely crazy".

Muslim scholar tied to pro-Hamas group, radical cleric visits White House

A Muslim scholar whose group supports Hamas, who has urged the U.N. to criminalize blasphemy and who is the deputy of an Egyptian cleric banned from the U.S. over his radical statements was able to secure a visit at the White House earlier this month. 
A report from The Investigative Project on Terrorism uncovered a statement on the website of Sheikh Abdullah Bin Bayyah claiming he met June 13 with Obama administration officials in Washington. 
Bin Bayyah is vice president of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, a group founded by Egyptian cleric Yusuf Qaradawi -- a Muslim Brotherhood leader who has called for the death of Jews and Americans and himself is banned from visiting the U.S. 
While Bin Bayyah secured a visit, he and his group also have a history of questionable positions, IPT reports. 
A 2009 fatwa from the group barred "all forms of normalization" with Israel. Bin Bayyah also got behind a campaign to pressure the U.N. to pass a resolution criminalizing blasphemy. 
On his website, as first reported by IPT, Bin Bayyah said the Obama administration requested the meeting. 
He quoted National Security Council official Gayle Smith as saying: "We asked for this meeting to learn from you and we need to be looking for new mechanisms to communicate with you and the Association of Muslim Scholars." 
The post reportedly claimed he had met with Smith; Rashad Hussain, U.S. envoy to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation; and the national security adviser, among others. 
According to the IPT report, the reference to meeting with the national security adviser was later deleted. 

Supreme Court DOMA Decision Rules Federal Same-Sex Marriage Ban Unconstitutional 

WASHINGTON -- The Defense of Marriage Act, the law barring the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages legalized by the states, is unconstitutional, the Supreme Court ruled Wednesday by a 5-4 vote.
DOMA, signed by President Bill Clinton in 1996, prevents same-sex couples whose marriages are recognized by their home state from receiving the hundreds of benefits available to other married couples under federal law. During the Obama administration, the Justice Department initially defended DOMA in court despite the administration’s desire to repeal it. But the Justice Department changed course in early 2011, finding that the law was unconstitutional and declining to defend it any longer. House Republicans have since spent hundreds of thousands of dollars taking over that defense.
Plaintiff Edie Windsor, 84, sued the federal government after the Internal Revenue Service denied her refund request for the $363,000 in federal estate taxes she paid after her spouse, Thea Spyer, died in 2009.
During the March oral arguments in United States v. Windsor, a majority of the court seemed to express doubts about the constitutionality of DOMA. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said that supporters of the law seemed to want "two types of marriage," likening same-sex unions to the "skim milk" version of marriage.

Obama Africa Trip: President Making Long-Anticipated Trip To Senegal, South Africa & Tanzania

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is making a long-anticipated return to Africa, with the health of former South African leader Nelson Mandela hanging over the visit.
The first family is departing Wednesday for a weeklong trip to Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania to promote democracy and economic opportunities. Obama has only visited sub-Saharan Africa once before as president, a brief stop in Ghana in 2009.
In South Africa, Mandela is hospitalized in critical condition. White House advisers say they will defer to the anti-apartheid leader's family on whether he's up for a visit from Obama.
Missing from the itinerary is Kenya, the home of Obama's late father, where many of his relatives reside. Kenya's new president is facing war crimes charges, making it an awkward time for a visit.

State Dept. officials subpoenaed over Benghazi