VOCR Gazette -070813

Monday July 8th 2013

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Tensions soar amid Cairo killings

At least 42 people have been shot dead near a military barracks in Cairo, amid ongoing unrest following the removal of Egypt's President Mohammed Morsi.

The Muslim Brotherhood says its members were staging a pro-Morsi sit-in at the barracks, where he is believed to be in detention, when they were fired on.
But the army said a "terrorist group" had tried to storm the barracks.
The office of interim president Adly Mansour expressed "deep sorrow" over the deaths and called for restraint.
In a statement, he too said there had been an attempt to storm the Presidential Guard barracks.
Mr Mansour ordered the formation of a judicial committee to investigate the clashes, and urged protesters not to approach the military or "vital installations".
The Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the Brotherhood's political wing - which took nearly half the seats in historic parliamentary elections held in late 2011 and early 2012 - called on Egyptians to stage an "uprising" against "those trying to steal their revolution with tanks".
It also urged the international community to intervene to "stop further massacres" and prevent Egypt becoming "a new Syria".
The hardline Salafist Nour party - which had supported Mr Morsi's removal - said it was withdrawing from talks to choose an interim prime minister, describing the shooting incident as a "massacre". 

Egypt plunges into deeper crisis, Islamists call for all-out rebellion against army

CAIRO: Egyptian soldiers and police guarding a military building opened fire on supporters of the ousted president on Monday in bloodshed that claimed at least 40 lives, officials and witnesses said, and plunged the divided country deeper into crisis with calls by Islamists for all-out rebellion against the army.

The carnage outside the Republican Guard building in Cairo — where toppled President Mohamed Morsi was first held last week — marked the signal biggest death toll since massive protests forced Morsi's government from power and brought in caretaker rule overseen by Egypt's powerful armed forces.

Even before all the bodies were counted, there were conflicting accounts on how the violence began — with Morsi's backers saying it was an unprovoked attack and the military saying they came under assault first.

However, the violence is almost certain to draw sharper battle lines between Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood and their opponents who claim Morsi squandered his election victory and betrayed by democratic spirit of the Arab Spring revolution by seeking only to boost his cadre of backers. The military, which effectively supported by the anti-Morsi movement, now may face pressures to impose stricter security measures to try to keep unrest from spilling out of control.

Radical Muslim Cleric Pleads Innocent To Terrorism

AMMAN, Jordan — A radical Muslim preacher described as a key al-Qaida operative in Europe rejected terrorism charges Sunday linked to alleged plots targeting Americans and Israelis in Jordan, his lawyer said, hours after Britain deported him to bring an end to a decade-long legal saga over his extradition.
Jordan first submitted an extradition request to U.K. authorities for the militant cleric known as Abu Qatada in 2001, but it was blocked in British and European courts over human rights concerns. Last month, Britain and Jordan ratified a treaty on torture aimed at easing those worries, paving the way for the 53-year-old preacher's deportation.
Abu Qatada arrived at Amman's civilian airport early Sunday on board a British aircraft and was immediately whisked away by heavily armed anti-terrorism police for questioning at a nearby courthouse. Police sealed off the area as the convoy drove against traffic to the court building, just across the street from the airport. Armed policemen kept a crush of journalists at bay.
After nearly two hours of questioning, Jordanian prosecutors charged Abu Qatada with conspiring to carry out terror attacks in Jordan twice – once in 1999 for a foiled plot against the American school in Amman and another time in 2000 for allegedly targeting Israeli and American tourists and Western diplomats during new year celebrations.

Gunmen kill top Yemen army officer

Gunmen shot dead a high-ranking Yemeni army officer Monday in the country's southeastern Hadramawt province as he was heading to work, a military official told AFP.

The unknown assailants opened fire on Colonel Ahmed al-Suhaili, commander of a military camp in Hadramawt's city of Seiyun, the official said on condition of anonymity.

The defence ministry confirmed the attack on its website 26sept.net and said Suhaili responded by shooting at the assailants who were in a vehicle and wounded one of them before he died.

It said a search was on to hunt down the attackers but did not blame any particular group for the assault on Suhaili.

Members of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the network's deadliest branch, frequently carry out hit-and-run attacks against intelligence and army officials, especially in the lawless south and east.

Militants Bomb Sinai Pipeline.. Again

Militants bombed an Egyptian gas pipeline responsible for bringing fuel to Israel and Jordan on Saturday.
According to the BBC, two remote-controlled bombs went off in the Mazar area of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, west of the Israeli border, shutting down the pipeline. The bombings are believed to have been the work of militant groups who oppose the sale of gas to Israel, the outlet adds.
The pipeline has been the target of several attacks in the past.
Also on Sunday, militants attacked four checkpoints in the Sinai town of Sheikh Zuweid, according to Reuters.
Sinai has seen a surge in violent attacks since the fall of Egypt's former dictator Hosni Mubarak in 2011. Militants made use of a security vacuum to establish strongholds in the remote region.
Sunday's attacks come days after the Egyptian army removed president Mohammed Morsi from power.
The Sinai Peninsula has seen "major disturbances" since then, the Agence France Presse notes. A day before the bombings, armed Morsi supporters stormed the provincial headquarters of the city of el-Arish, raising the black flag associated with Islamist militants. Five police officers were gunned down at checkpoints in the area on Friday, Reuters reports.

Bomb blast kills 6 people in northwest Pakistan

Police say a bomb blast targeting a pro-government tribal elder has killed six people in northwest Pakistan.

Police officer Fazal Naeem Khan says it's unclear whether the elder, Malik Habibullah Khan, is among those killed in the attack Monday, but his vehicle was damaged. The explosion in Hangu district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province also wounded 10 people.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, but suspicion likely will fall on the Pakistani Taliban.
The Pakistani government has encouraged tribesmen in the northwest to form militias to fight against the Taliban. The militants have carried out many retaliatory attacks against these groups. 

Use 'maximum force' to stop 2014 winter Olympics: Russian Islamist to followers

MOSCOW: The leader of an Islamist insurgency in Russia's North Caucasus region urged followers on Wednesday to use 'maximum force' to prevent President Vladimir Putin staging the 2014 winter Olympic Games in Sochi.

In a video posted on www.kavkazcenter.com, a mouthpiece for militants seeking an Islamist state, insurgent leader Doku Umarov said an order not to attack Russian targets outside the North Caucasus had been cancelled.

The Games are due to be held next February in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, close to the volatile and mountainous North Caucasus region in southern Russia. Putin has promised tight security at the Games, on which he has staked his reputation.

"They (Russia) plan to hold the Olympics on the bones of our ancestors, on the bones of many, many dead Muslims, buried on the territory of our land on the Black Sea, and we as mujahideen are obliged to not permit that, using any methods allowed us by the almighty Allah," Umarov said in the video.

The authenticity of the video could not immediately be established independently, but Umarov, Russia's most wanted man, has regularly posted videos on the website to send messages to the Islamic fighters he refers to as mujahideen.

Japan moves closer to restarting nuclear reactors

Japan has moved a step closer to restarting nuclear reactors, with four utility companies applying for safety inspections of 10 idled plants, the clearest sign of a return to atomic energy almost two and a half years after the Fukushima disaster.
With all but two of the country's 50 reactors offline since a tsunami swept through the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant in March 2011, Japan has been almost without nuclear energy that once supplied about a third of its power.
Four Japanese nuclear plant operators – supplying the regions of Hokkaido, Kansai, Shikoku and Kyushu – on Monday filed applications for inspections by the Nuclear Regulation Authority for 10 reactors at five plants under new safety requirements that have just come into effect. Applications for two more reactors are expected later this week.
Reactors that pass the stricter rules may be allowed to restart early next year, with each inspection expected to take several months. Critics say the rules have loopholes, including grace periods for some safety equipment.
Hit by soaring gas and oil costs to run conventional power plants to make up the energy shortfall, Japanese utility companies have lobbied hard to put their reactors back online.
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Video going Viral

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John Kerry's wife taken to hospital

The wife of US Secretary of State John Kerry has been taken to hospital in Boston where she is reported to be in a critical condition.

Teresa Heinz Kerry, 74, became ill during a family holiday in Nantucket, Massachusetts, on Sunday.
Her condition was stabilised at the local hospital before she was transferred to a hospital in Boston, Mr Kerry's spokesman said.
Mr Kerry is reported to have travelled with his wife to Boston.
"The family is grateful for the outpouring of support it has received and aware of the interest in her condition, but they ask for privacy at this time," Mr Kerry's spokesman Glen Johnson said.
Born to a Portuguese family in Mozambique, Teresa Heinz Kerry is a former UN interpreter and widow of Senator John Heinz, heir to the ketchup company fortune, who died in 1991.
She married Mr Kerry in 1995. It was a second marriage for both of them.
Ms Heinz Kerry revealed in 2009 that she had been treated for breast cancer.

Bin Laden raid files reportedly purged from Pentagon computers, sent to CIA

The nation's top special operations commander ordered military files about the Navy SEAL raid on Usama bin Laden's hideout to be purged from Defense Department computers and sent to the CIA, where they could be more easily shielded from ever being made public. 
The secret move, described briefly in a draft report by the Pentagon's inspector general, set off no alarms within the Obama administration even though it appears to have sidestepped federal rules and perhaps also the Freedom of Information Act. 
An acknowledgement by Adm. William McRaven of his actions was quietly removed from the final version of an inspector general's report published weeks ago. A spokesman for the admiral declined to comment. The CIA, noting that the bin Laden mission was overseen by then-CIA Director Leon Panetta before he became defense secretary, said that the SEALs were effectively assigned to work temporarily for the CIA, which has presidential authority to conduct covert operations. 

Obamacare Regulations Rolled Back

WASHINGTON, July 7 (Reuters) - Days after delaying health insurance requirements for employers, the Obama administration has decided to roll back requirements for new state online insurance marketplaces to verify the income and health coverage status of people who apply for subsidized coverage.

President Barack Obama's healthcare reform law is slated to begin offering health coverage through state marketplaces, or exchanges, beginning Oct. 1. But to receive tax subsidies to help buy insurance, enrollees must have incomes ranging from 100 percent to 400 percent of the federal poverty line and not have access to affordable insurance through an employer.

Until now, the administration had proposed that exchanges verify whether new applicants receive employer-sponsored insurance benefits through random checks. It also sought to require marketplaces to verify each enrollee's income status.

But final regulations released quietly on Friday by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) give 16 states and the District of Columbia, which are setting up their own exchanges, until 2015 to begin random sampling of enrollees' employer-insurance status. The rules also allow only random - rather than comprehensive - checks on income eligibility in 2014.

Defense furloughs set to start

A day without pay, the first of 11 through September, comes this week for more than 650,000 people who hold civilian jobs with the Defense Department. But officials worry that the Pentagon will be hit even harder in 2014 by having to impose layoffs if automatic budget cuts continue as planned.

About 85 percent of the department’s nearly 900,000 civilians around the world will be furloughed one day each week over the next three months, according to the latest statistics provided by the Pentagon. But while defense officials were able to shift money around to limit the impact of the cuts to furloughs this year, thousands of civilian, military and contract jobs could be on the chopping block next year.

Hillary Clinton's Response to the Has-Been Charge

"Republicans in search of an attack line against Hillary Clinton have begun to cast her as a tired relic of the past -- an implicit contrast to their own bench of up-and-comers like hip hop-listening Marco Rubio and libertarian-leaning Rand Paul," Politico reports.

"But Democrats are confident that giving voters the chance to make history by electing the first female president -- by definition a forward-looking act - would trump any argument that Clinton is too 20th century and give her a 'change' mantra of her own."

Said Democratic operative Stephanie Cuitter: "If Secretary Clinton runs, she'll be the nominee -- the first female nominee of either party. That breaks through the 'old' tagline that the Republican geniuses are cooking up because, if handled correctly, women of all ages will absolutely be inspired by that. I don't recommend that be the totality of her message or platform, but there's no way to hide that fact and it certainly shouldn't be discounted." 

Obama angry and upset about Muslim Brotherhood getting tossed out in Egypt

The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt had and has no greater friend than Barack Hussein Obama.
 
Obama ordered, aided and abetted the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak, Egypt’s former President who was a long time friend and ally of the United States, a long time friend and ally whose presence and cooperation kept peace between Egypt and Israel and allowed the U.S. to implement its foreign policy in the region and the wider Middle East.

That paved the way for the Brotherhoods rise to power.

Throughout the Muslim Brotherhood’s rise to power and time in power Obama did everything he possibly could to support and maintain it; even though it was vicious and dictatorial, even though it abused, tortured and killed religious minorities; even though it destroyed the Egyptian economy; even though it was rapidly turning Egypt into a country governed by Sharia, Islamic Law; even though it was rabidly and fanatically anti-American, anti-Semitic and anti-Israel; even though the honesty and results of the elections which brought it into power in the first place were questionable; even though it was plain that the Egyptian people rejected the Brotherhood and what it was doing to their lives and their country and even though it was obvious from the beginning that a Muslim Brotherhood government was not and never would be in the best interests of the United States in the Middle East or anywhere else…was in fact harmful to the best interests of the United States in the Middle East and everywhere else.

Obama’s angry and upset alright, so angry and upset that he has threatened to curtail funding of the Egyptian military in retaliation for deposing the Muslim Brotherhood government in spite of being warned not to do so; so angry and upset that he has failed to congratulate the Egyptian people for rising up and getting rid of a brutal dictator, Mohamed Morsi, and a government which was rapidly bringing the country to rack and ruin; so angry and upset that he isn’t detached and looking at or acting in the best interests of the United States but is allowing his bias for the Brotherhood to govern his reaction; so angry and upset that he is taking its ouster as a personal repudiation, which of course it is and which fits in perfectly with his personality and mentality.

So angry and upset that he would return Morsi and the Brotherhood to power if he could.