Gazette- Weekend 092813

Saturday September 28th 2013

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Berlusconi resignations spark crisis

The party of Italy's former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi says all five of its ministers are resigning from the shaky coalition government.

The development follows weeks of worsening relations between his party and Prime Minister Enrico Letta's centre-left grouping.

Mr Berlusconi had already threatened to withdraw his ministers if he is expelled from the Senate for tax fraud.

The crisis could lead to fresh elections amid economic problems.

Mr Letta flew back from New York on Friday in an attempt to prevent the government from collapsing.

The prime minister said late on Friday that he would quit unless his government won a confidence vote due next week in parliament.

Related story: Italy's coalition on brink of collapse as politicians fail to agree fiscal deal

Agreement reached on UN resolution on Syria weapons

The five permanent members of the deeply divided U.N. Security Council reached agreement Thursday on a resolution to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons, a major step in taking the most controversial weapon off the battlefield of the world's deadliest ongoing conflict.

The draft resolution's demands that Syria abandon its chemical stockpile and allow unfettered access to chemical weapons experts are legally binding. But if Syria fails to comply, the council will need to adopt a second resolution to impose measures under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which allows for military and nonmilitary actions to promote peace and security.
Nonetheless, after 2 1/2 years of inaction and paralysis, the agreement represents a breakthrough for the Security Council and rare unity between Russia, which supports Syrian President Bashar Assad's government, and the United States, which backs the opposition.

Obama, Rouhani speak by phone in first direct US-Iran communication since 1979

NEW YORK - US President Barack Obama called Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Friday, breaking over three decades of cold silence between the leaderships of the two nations.
The two leaders spoke before Rouhani left to return to Tehran after a four-day debut visit to the US to attend the UN General Assembly.
This is the first direct communication between an American and Iranian president since 1979.
"Just now I spoke on the phone with President Rouhani of the Islamic Republic of Iran," Obama said from the White House Friday afternoon. "I reiterated to President Rouhani what I said in New York: While there will surely be important obstacles to moving forward, and success is by no means guaranteed, I believe we can reach a comprehensive agreement."
A senior administration official told reporters that the historic call lasted 15 minutes, opening with Obama congratulating Rouhani on his election and ending with Obama saying farewell in Farsi.
The White House has been in consultation with the Israeli government as well as leaders of Congress over the call.
Related Story: Rivals rally as Rouhani returns

Bus bombing in Pakistan kills at least 17

Peshawar, Pakistan: A bomb exploded on a crowded bus carrying government officials north of Peshawar on Friday, killing 17 people and wounding more than 40 in the second major attack in or near the north-western Pakistani city in a week.
The bus, carrying employees of the Peshawar Civil Secretariat, was passing through Charsadda district, 16 kilometres north of the city, said the city commissioner, Sahibzada Mohammad Anis.
Most of those killed were sitting near the back of the bus, where the explosion occurred, or on top of it, a local police official said. “The bus was packed to its capacity and people were sitting on the roof,” said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak with the media.
Mr. Anis, the city commissioner, said the explosion appeared to have been caused by either a magnetic bomb or a device that had been placed inside the bus.

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The bombing came less than a week after a suicide attack on a Christian church in Peshawar killed 85 people, triggering angry street demonstrations by Christians across Pakistan.
A Taliban splinter group claimed responsibility for that attack, saying it was in retaliation for American drone strikes in the nearby tribal belt. It also stoked the political debate about the wisdom of opening peace talks with the Taliban, which Imran Khan, the politician whose party runs Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province, where Peshawar is located, has long advocated.
Mr. Khan’s administration is coming under pressure for its failure to prevent recent Taliban attacks in the province, including a jailbreak in which hundreds of prisoners escaped. 

30 killed in Syria car bomb blast
 BEIRUT: A car bomb exploded near a mosque north of the Syrian capital as worshippers emerged from Friday prayers, killing at least 30 people, activists said.

The blast, which struck outside the al-Sahel mosque in the town of Rankous, also wounded dozens of people, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

No further details were immediately available, and it was not clear whether the mosque itself was the target of the attack.

Mohammed Saeed, an activist in the eastern Damascus suburb of Douma, and the Observatory's director Rami Abdul-Rahman both said the town is neither rebel-held nor regime-held. Abdul-Rahman said the local residents have an agreement with the rebels not to bring their weapons into Rankous in order to avoid government shelling.

Saeed, who is in contact with activists in Rankous, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Damascus, said residents quickly held funerals for some of those killed in the bombing, in line with Islamic tradition that calls for a prompt burial. As people marched in one funeral procession, several rockets fired by government troops fell nearby and wounded some of the mourners.

Eight held over Nairobi mall attack as al-Shabab issues new threat

Kenyan authorities are holding eight people in connection with an attack by Islamist militants on a Nairobi shopping mall and have released three others after the assault that killed 67 civilians and soldiers, the interior minister said on Friday.
Somali Islamist group al-Shabab suggested that Saturday’s attack, followed by a four-day siege, would be followed by other actions by its “warriors.”
A top Kenyan military official played down reports of a buildup of Kenyan forces near the Somali border, saying that troops who had gathered near Somalia were rotating to join African peacekeepers there and replace other Kenyan soldiers.
Al-Shabab said it launched the attack to demand that Kenya withdraw its troops from Somalia, where Kenyan forces deployed in 2011 to strike at the group which Nairobi blamed for attacks and kidnappings in Kenya’s northern area and coastline.
President Uhuru Kenyatta has said Kenya will not withdraw.
The attack on Westgate mall confirmed Western and regional fears about al-Shabab’s ability to strike beyond Somalia’s borders. It also dented Kenya’s vital tourism industry, although the finance minister said it would not have a long-term impact.

Two suspects in brutal murder of British soldier plead not guilty

Two men accused of hacking a British soldier to death earlier this year in an apparent Islamist terrorist attack on a London street,  pleaded not guilty in court Friday, the BBC reported.
Michael Adebolajo, 28, and Michael Adebowale, 22, both from London, denied charges that they murdered  off-duty soldier Lee Rigby near his southeast London barracks on May 22.  They're accused of running Rigby over with a car and then stabbing him repeatedly in broad daylight.
The suspects also plead not guilty to charges of attempting to murder a local police officer on the same day and plotting to kill a police officer around the same time.
While appearing in court via video link, Adebolajo asked to be called Mujaahid Abu Hamza, while Adebowale requested he be called Ismail Ibn Abdullah.
Adebolajo and Adebowale were shot by police after the attack and placed under armed guard in a hospital.  They are suspected Islamic extremists who filmed a video boasting of the killing moments after Rigby died.

Kenya seeks UK woman Samantha Lewthwaite's arrest

International police body Interpol has issued a wanted persons notice for Briton Samantha Lewthwaite, at Kenya's request.

Ms Lewthwaite, 29, is the widow of one of the four suicide bombers who attacked London on 7 July 2005.
Known colloquially as the "white widow", she has been linked with Somali militant Islamist group al-Shabab.
Interpol did not link the warrant to the Nairobi shopping complex attack that left at least 67 dead.
However, it comes after much speculation linking Ms Lewthwaite to events there.
Al-Shabab was behind the attack and subsequent four-day siege at the Westgate shopping complex in the Kenyan capital.
An Interpol statement said she was "wanted by Kenya on charges of being in possession of explosives and conspiracy to commit a felony dating back to December 2011".
The Interpol alert, known as a "Red Notice", requires member countries to detain the suspect pending extradition procedures.

Hundreds rally in Spain to protest against monarchy, call on king to abdicate

Hundreds of protesters have marched in Spain's capital to call for the abdication of King Juan Carlos, the abolition of the monarchy and the establishment of a republic.

A large police presence blocked access to the Royal Palace, where the demonstration was due to end in a rally, with metal barriers and police vans.
Protesters marched under banners reading "Checkmate to the King" and chanting "Tomorrow, Spain will be a republic."
University student Anthea Bauza, 22, said the monarchy needed to be replaced by a democratically-elected head of state.
A heavy downpour caused many protesters to peel off from Saturday's march before it reached a newly convened gathering point near the palace.
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Tunisia's Islamist Government Agrees To Step Down

TUNIS, Tunisia — Tunisia's governing Islamist party has agreed to resign in favor of a caretaker government in an attempt to resolve a political crisis that has paralyzed the country, officials said Saturday.
The assassination of a left-wing politician at the end of July – the second in five months – was the turning point for the country's disgruntled opposition, which pulled its deputies out of parliament and staged a string of protests across the country.
The opposition also faulted the governing Ennahda Party for ignoring a rising trend of Islamic radicals, some of whom attacked the U.S. Embassy in Tunis last year. But the government has since cracked down on these groups, throwing many of their members in jail.
Tunisia kicked off the Arab Spring by overthrowing its long-ruling dictator, Zine El Abidine, but its transition to democracy has been dogged by terrorist attacks, a struggling economy and widening divisions between Ennahda and the opposition.
After the second assassination, the UGTT, the country's main labor union, together with other members of the civil society, mediated between the government and the opposition for two months to bring the transition back on track.
"It is a positive development for Ennahda, which has accepted the plan without reserve or conditions, and which will clear the impasse," Bouali Mbarki, the deputy head of the union, said Saturday. He said his union has a written statement from Ennahda about that, and opposition officials also confirmed the agreement.


Philippines siege hostages rescued

The remaining people held hostage in a deadly standoff with Muslim rebels in the southern Philippines have been rescued, officials said on Saturday.

Nearly 200 people were seized earlier this month by Moro National Liberation Front militants in Zamboanga city.
Defence Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said only a handful of rebels remained in hiding and were now being hunted.
Over 200 people died in clashes between troops and the rebels, who want self-rule in the mostly Catholic country.
"I can say that the crisis is over. We have accomplished the mission," Mr Gazmin, who oversaw the government offensive and rescue mission, told the Associated Press.
He said 195 hostages had been rescued, escaped or freed during the clashes on the island of Mindanao, 860 kilometres (540 miles) south of Manila.
Military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Ramon Zagala said on Friday about 300 gunmen had surrendered or been captured during operations.

Iran’s president calls Israel to join nuclear nonproliferation treaty

President Hassan Rouhani of Iran told the United Nations on Thursday that “no nation should possess nuclear weapons,” and that Israel should join the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, as Iran did long ago, as part of a grander plan to create a zone free of nuclear weapons in the Middle East.
In a speech at a special United Nations conference on disarmament on the sidelines of the annual General Assembly session, the new Iranian president sought to portray Iran as a peace-loving nation that has always opposed the militarisation of nuclear power, despite suspicions by the United States, Israel and other countries that it is secretly moving toward being able to make nuclear weapons.

Urgent practical steps toward the establishment of such a zone are necessary 

It was Mr. Rouhani’s second major speech this week at the United Nations, where he has been engaged in a near-breathless series of appearances and interviews with the Western news media. He appears to want to send the message that he is a reasonable, practical leader who differs from his bombastic predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and who wants urgently to solve Iran’s protracted disputes with the West, most notably the nuclear issue.
Israel, which regards Iran as an existential threat, has repeatedly warned that it may take military action to strike at Iran’s uranium enrichment centres and other nuclear facilities that the Israelis say are part of an Iranian scheme to build a weapon.

The Iranians have frequently pointed out that they have publicly renounced nuclear arms and that — unlike Israel — Iran is a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations nuclear monitor. The Iranians also have countered that Israel is believed to already have an arsenal of nuclear weapons, which it refuses to confirm or deny.

Top U.S. Nuke Commander Suspended Amid Probe

WASHINGTON — The No. 2 officer at the military command in charge of all U.S. nuclear war-fighting forces has been suspended and is under investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service for issues related to gambling, officials said Saturday.
The highly unusual action against a high-ranking officer at U.S. Strategic Command was made more than three weeks ago but not publicly announced.
Air Force Gen. Robert Kehler, who heads Strategic Command, suspended the deputy commander, Navy Vice Adm. Tim Giardina, from his duties on Sept. 3, according to the command's top spokeswoman, Navy Capt. Pamela Kunze. Giardina is still assigned to the command but is prohibited from performing duties related to nuclear weapons and other issues requiring a security clearance, she said.
Kehler has recommended to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel that Giardina be reassigned, Kunze said. Giardina has been the deputy commander of Strategic Command since December 2011. He is a career submarine officer and prior to starting his assignment there was the deputy commander and chief of staff at U.S. Pacific Fleet.
Two senior U.S. officials familiar with the investigation said it is related to gambling issues. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the probe in incomplete.
Strategic Command oversees the military's nuclear fighter units, including the Navy's nuclear-armed submarines and the Air Force's nuclear bombers and nuclear land-based missiles. It is located near Omaha, Neb.

House GOP to propose Obamacare delay

House Republican leaders proposed a new plan to the GOP rank-and-file Saturday afternoon: Make a new gesture of defiance toward President Obama’s health-care law, even if it increases the chances of a government shutdown Monday night.
Their proposal calls for amendments to a bill designed to keep the government open for a few more weeks. The changes would include a one-year delay in the health-care law, which is set to take effect next month. The GOP plan would also repeal, permanently, a medical-device tax included in the law.

Study: Insurance costs to soar under Obamacare

New research from the Manhattan Institute estimates that insurance rates for young men will rise by 99 percent. Rates for younger women will rise between 55 percent to 62 percent, according to the right-leaning New York think tank. 

The precise impact of the new health law is likely to vary markedly from state-to-state, however. That's largely because different states have had different requirements for what had to be included in health insurance policies in the past. The Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, overrides these rules and sets a federal overlay that demands a wide array of mandatory coverages. The Manhattan Institute has drawn up an interactive map that may help forecast the rise in cost for individuals.
These differences mean men will get hammered in North Carolina with an average 305 percent rate hike, while women will suffer in Nebraska, paying an average of 237 percent more. For most people, subsidies in the law will not counteract the rate shock, says co-author of the study Avik Roy, a health care expert and senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute.

DESPICABLE! 15 Democrats walk out of House Hearing on Benghazi as soon as parents of victims got up to speak

 Darrell Issa tweeted this photo of Democrats excusing themselves as the parents of Sean Smith and Tyrone Woods prepared to testify. Take a look at the list of Democrats who walked out and essentially spit in the faces of the families of the dead Benghazi victims.

  THOSE DEMOCRATS BELOW WHO DID THIS SHOULD BE REMOVED FROM OFFICE ASAP:

Carolyn Maloney Danny Davis Eleanor Holmes Norton Gerald E. Connolly Jim Cooper John Tierney Mark Pocan Matt Cartwright Michelle Lujan Grisham Peter Welch Stephen Lynch Steven Horsford Tammy Duckworth Tony Cardenas William Lacy Clay

Are There Muslim Brotherhood Sleeper Cells Operating in U.S. Congress?

In a report published by Egyptian daily al Watan, investigative journalist Ahmad al Taheri wrote that sources have uncovered that Muslim Brotherhood lobbies are operating within the Congress to build up ties between members and the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt and Syria, and the Jihadists in Libya, as well as mobilizing public opinion to support a military strike against the regime of Bashar Assad in Syria. The report said these lobbies particularly targeted Senator McCain and his colleagues convincing them to align themselves with radical and extremist forces throughout the Arab Spring. These positions do not come from void, but as a result of the these efforts by the Islamist lobbies. The report cited Mr Muaz Mustafa from  Palestinian descent as advising or assisting Senator McCain, and said Mustafa has ties to Hamas. al Watan added that Mustafa played a major role in building relationships between the deputy chief of the banned Muslim Brotherhood movement in Egypt, Khairat al Shater and Senator McCain during the crisis pertaining to the funding of the civil society NGOs in Egypt.      
The report unveiled that this episode, (the NGO crisis, including the IRI issue) was the beginning of McCain's engagement with the international Muslim Brotherhood organization. According to al Watan, Mustafa oversaw the Senator's visit to Syria last May and his meetings with General Selim Idriss, chief of staff of the Free Syria Army. The report also revealed that Muaz Mustafa is highly active with the Council on American Islamic Relations CAIR who participated in the uprising against Muammar Gaddafi. Mustafa also attacked Egypt's June 30 revolution and criticized the removal of Mohammed Morsi on his Twitter Account.    
The report also said another activist in the group named Elizabeth O'Bagy was questioned by US media for her inaccurate statements about receiving a Ph.D from Georgetown University, which she hasn't received. Media also questioned her article in the Wall Street calling for a strike on Syria, cited by politicians in the Administration and in Congress. al Watan added that many questions were raised about Mustafa and O'Bagy for their activities at the Syria Task Force, which support military factions in Syria." 
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