Gazette 102413

Thursday October 24th 2013

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US envoy summoned over spy row

Germany has summoned the US ambassador in Berlin over claims that the US monitored German Chancellor Angela Merkel's mobile phone.

Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle will meet US envoy John Emerson later in what is seen as an unusual step between close allies.
Mrs Merkel has demanded a "complete explanation" of the claims, which are threatening to overshadow an EU summit.
She discussed the issue with US President Barack Obama on Wednesday.
President Obama told Mrs Merkel the US was not monitoring her calls and would not in future, the White House said.
However, it left open the question of whether calls had been listened to in the past.

Iran extends reach into Nigeria, working with militants to undermine West

Iran's influence is increasingly extending into western Africa, where its operatives in Nigeria are gathering intelligence on U.S. and European targets, according to a new analysis exclusively previewed by Fox News.
The troubling development was highlighted in the CTC Sentinel, a journal published by the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, and set for release Thursday. Oil-rich Nigeria is host to many Western-based companies, and has been the scene of ongoing violence between Muslims and Christians. But word that Iran is working with Muslim militants to undermine the interests of the U.S. and its allies comes even as the Obama administration has sought a thawing in relations with Tehran.
"In recent years, Iran's Quds Force and Lebanese [Hezbollah] have coordinated intelligence gathering on U.S. and Israeli targets in Nigeria,"  Jacob Zenn wrote in an article titled, "The Islamic Movement and Iranian Intelligence Activities in Nigeria."

Report: Images Show New Work At NKorean Nuke Test Site

WASHINGTON -- WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. research institute says North Korea has made new tunnel entrances at its nuclear test site in a sign it is preparing to conduct more underground explosions there in the future.
But the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies says there's no sign that Pyongyang plans another test soon.
In February, North Korea conducted its third nuclear test since 2006, drawing tighter U.N. sanctions. It now says it is willing to resume aid-for-disarmament negotiations without preconditions.
The institute says recent satellite imagery shows two new tunnel entrances at the Punggye-ri site and enlarged heaps of soil, suggesting construction of new tunnels or new entrances for existing tunnels.
The findings were provided to The Associated Press Wednesday ahead of publication on the institute's website, 38 North.

Marines accused in court martial of executing Afghan insurgent after clash

Court shown footage from head-camera of injured man being dragged away and apparently shot after skirmish in Helmand

Three Royal Marines carried out the "execution" of a suspected insurgent as he lay badly wounded after being hit by helicopter cannon fire in Afghanistan, a court martial was told on Wednesday.
Footage of the helpless, bloodied man being dragged across a field and the moment a sergeant bends down and apparently shoots him in the chest at close range was shown in court.
The sergeant, who can be identified only as Marine A, is allegedly heard telling the man: "There you are, shuffle off this mortal coil, you cunt. It's nothing you wouldn't do to us."
A few moments later Marine A is allegedly heard telling colleagues: "Obviously this doesn't go anywhere fellas. I've just broken the Geneva convention."
The footage was captured on a camera fixed to the helmet of another of the men, Marine B, who is accused of helping Marine A carry out the murder.
A third marine, identified as C, later allegedly wrote in his journal that he had wanted to shoot the captive in the head and had been upset that he had not fired the fatal round. "I felt no pity for him; fucker had been shooting up our boys," he is said to have written.
David Perry QC, prosecuting, told the military court in Bulford, Wiltshire, that the prisoner posed no threat. He said: "This killing was not in the heat of armed conflict. It amounted to an execution, a field execution, the execution of a man entitled to be treated with dignity and respect."
Perry said the identity, age and nationality of the victim was not known.

Pakistan 'endorsed US drone strikes'

Secret US documents reveal that senior Pakistani government officials have for years known of and endorsed CIA drone strikes, an American newspaper reports.

The Washington Post said it had obtained CIA documents and Pakistani diplomatic memos which indicated officials were routinely given classified briefings.
Pakistan has responded by repeating its opposition to drone strikes.
Analysts have long suspected Pakistan gave tacit consent for such strikes.
Pakistan's PM Nawaz Sharif has publicly urged US President Obama to halt such attacks.
"I also brought up the issue of drones in our meeting, emphasizing the need for an end to such strikes," Mr Sharif said after the two met on Wednesday.
The attacks by unmanned US aircraft have been a critical source of tension in the relationship between the countries and came up amid wide-ranging talks between the leaders in Washington.
They are also deeply unpopular with the Pakistani public, and Pakistan has consistently stated that they violate its sovereignty.
The Pakistani government has responded to the report by repeating its opposition to US drone strikes
"Whatever understandings there may or may not have been in the past, the present government has been very clear regarding its policy on the issue," the Pakistani foreign ministry said in a statement.
"We regard such strikes as violation of our sovereignty as well as international law," it said, adding that they were also counterproductive.

Afghan defense minister: Security deal will pass 

Afghanistan's top defense official says he's confident a security deal on keeping U.S. and other international troops in his country after 2014 will be approved by an important national assembly, the Loya Jirga of tribal elders.

Defense Minister Gen. Bismullah Khan Mohammadi, speaking through a translator, told reporters in Berlin Thursday that when the Loya Jirga meets in late November, "we are very confident that we can vote for this agreement with a large majority and sign it."
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has insisted the bilateral security agreement he agreed to in principle with the U.S. this month be vetted by the Loya Jirga.
The deal would allow American forces to stay after combat troops in the NATO-led military coalition depart at the end of 2014.
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Top IDF commander to JPost Diplomatic Conference: Israel must act to stem recent wave of terrorist attacks

Livni talks about the need to unify Jewish and national values; Lapid says "no division of Jerusalem in peace deal with Palestinians"; Peres discusses Iran's fears of the potential for an Iranian Spring.

A number of Israel's top political and military leaders convened in Herzliya on Thursday for the Jerusalem Post's second annual Diplomatic Conference with Noam Tibon, the commander of the IDF Northern Corps, speaking last to address issues facing Israel from a security perspective.
Tibon noted that Syrian civil war is no longer an internal war, but rather a war that has scene many factions, groups and countries sending fighters to take various sides in the conflict, including Iran and Hezbollah.
He added his belief that Syrian President Bashar Assad "is continuing to struggle inside Syria against the rebels."
Though the IDF is "not taking any sides," Tibon hilighted Israel's ongoing decision to offer humanitarian aide to those suffering from the Syrian conflict.
He also spoke about the IDF's monitoring of weapons transfers between Hezbollah and Syria and promised that the "IDF will do everything in its power to prevent it."
Drawing on his 30 years of experience serving in the IDF, Tibon discussed the ongoing threat of terrorism and how it has changed over the years.
"I don't think the recent attacks on Israelis are organized, but there is still a feeling for potential terrorists that they can carry out attacks, and we must stop this," Tibon said.
The head of French Jewry's largest umbrella organization decried the anti-Israel sentiment in Europe as a new form of anti-Semitism.
Roger Cukierman, the president of CRIF, told the Jerusalem Post Diplomatic Conference on Thursday that kneejerk criticism of Israel is a convenient cover for those who harbor anti-Jewish animus.

India, China sign border pact

New Delhi: Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh signed an agreement to resolve border disputes that have hampered ties between the world's two most populous nations for the past five decades.
Under the agreement, India and China will avoid making threats to use force against each other and refrain from seeking "unilateral superiority" along their 3500-kilometre border. Both sides agreed to exchange information on military exercises and show "maximum restraint" in the event border forces come into contact.
"When India and China shake hands, the world takes notice," Mr Singh said at a joint briefing with Mr Li yesterday during a three-day trip to Beijing. "My visit to China has put our relations on a path of stable and fast growth."
The pact signals a warming in ties as India seeks to reduce its trade deficit with China, which has contributed to a 13 percent drop in the rupee against the dollar over the past year. A military standoff in April marked the most serious incident in a quarter century between the nuclear-armed neighbours on the Himalayan border where India and China fought a brief war in 1962.


India ends eight-year-old ban, starts supplying arms to Nepal
  
KATHMANDU: Ending an eight-year-old ban on military supplies, India has handed over some of the equipment, including vehicles and arms, it had pledged to provide to Nepal ahead of crucial polls to be held next month.

Over 360 vehicles, including 25 mine-protected vehicles, have already arrived while arms and ammunition, which are in the pipeline, will come soon, sources in the Nepalese army headquarters said on Wednesday.

This is the first time that military equipment is being provided to Nepal by India after ending a ban on the supply of such gear, including lethal arms, that was imposed when former King Gyanendra seized executive powers in February 2005, said a statement issued by army headquarters.

Nepal has said the equipment is needed by 62,000 troops who will provide security for the constituent assembly elections to be held on November 19. The country recently amended its constitution to allow the army to be mobilized to ensure free and fair polls.

The equipment provided by India so far includes 216 light vehicles, 154 heavy vehicles and some arms. Among the heavy vehicles are 58 trucks with a capacity of 7.5 tonnes, four ambulances and 25 mine-protected vehicles, sources said.

The assistance will help smoothen regular operations of the Nepal Army, modernize the force and increase its efficiency for military operations, the official statement said.

Syrian rebel leader reportedly killed in clashes

BEIRUT -- A prominent Syrian rebel field commander was killed Monday in clashes with military forces near the southern city of Dara, according to opposition and government accounts.

One of the earliest and highest-ranking defectors in the south and a founding member of the U.S.-backed Free Syrian Army, Lt. Col. Yasser Abboud, 46, was killed by rocket fire while leading a "reconnaissance mission to take out a sniper" near the town of Tafas, Abu Majd Zoubi, speaking for the rebel Yarmouk Brigades in Dara, said via telephone from near the Jordanian-Syrian border.
The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency also confirmed the death, reporting that troops had killed Abboud "and a large number of terrorists from Al Nusra Front." The Syrian government commonly refers to rebels as terrorists.
Although Abboud acknowledged the effective battlefield role of the Al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front, he remained adamant that Syrian society "would not accept extremism."
When asked about the future of the Islamists in Syria in an Al Jazeera interview in April, he replied: "If they wish to assimilate into Syrian society in its simple and open and moderate nature, then we welcome them as brothers. But if in the future they wish to impose their opinions by force then this will not be. Syria does not bear extremism and its people are an open moderate one."
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Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel granted new murder trial

A relative of the prominent US Kennedy family has been granted a new trial in the 1975 beating death of a girl.

Michael Skakel, whose aunt Ethel was the widow of Robert Kennedy, was found guilty in 2002 of killing his teenage neighbour with a golf club.
On Wednesday a judge in the US state of Connecticut found Mr Skakel's lawyer had failed to represent him adequately.
Mr Skakel was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison. He has maintained his innocence.
"We're very, very thrilled,'' Mr Skakel's lawyer Hubert Santos told reporters.
Mr Santos said he planned to seek Mr Skakel's release on Thursday, the Associated Press news agency reported.
Bridgeport State's Attorney John Smriga told the Associated Press he planned to appeal against the decision overturning the conviction.
'Triggered rage' Mr Skakel, 52, appealed his 2002 conviction on the grounds that his trial attorney was negligent in defending him in the death of 15-year-old Martha Moxley.
But prosecutor Susann Gill has said the state has compelling evidence of motive as well as three confessions and other incriminating statements made by Mr Skakel.
"His drug-addled mental state, coupled with the infuriating knowledge that his hated brother Tommy had a sexual liaison with Martha, and the fact that Martha spurned his advances, triggered the rage which led him to beat her to death with a golf club,'' Ms Gill wrote.

'System Working'? Contractors play down ObamaCare botch, pass blame

Under heated questioning from lawmakers, contractors behind the botched ObamaCare website on Thursday played down the problems with HealthCare.gov while shifting blame to the government and each other for the troubled launch. 
"The system is working. People are enrolling," Cheryl Campbell, senior vice president with contractor CGI Federal, testified, acknowledging the system is still too slow. 
Campbell and other contractors spoke at a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing where lawmakers on both sides of the aisle made clear that they -- and the American people -- do not think the system is working. One described it as a "crash and burn." 
Noting that the administration is urging people to use paper applications, Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, said: "That is a system that has failed." 
Campbell -- who said she still thinks everything will be fixed in time for the Jan. 1 hard launch -- and others acknowledged the system needs to be improved. But all four contractor representatives tried to spread the blame around for the problems to date. 
Campbell said another contractor's project that allowed consumers to create secure accounts created a "bottleneck" in the system. She also said that an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services is the one responsible for "end-to-end testing" and deciding whether and when to launch.

Inspector general hits IRS with two new reports

This week has been rough for the Internal Revenue Service, which has come under criticism for oversight problems in two new watchdog reports.
A Treasury Department inspector general found the IRS has made little progress in reducing its more than $10 billion per year in faulty payments for earned-income tax credits and that its contractor employees owe millions of dollars in back taxes — even though its own workers must submit their tax payments on time.
The reports come as the agency is still recovering from political, administrative and public backlash after it was revealed last spring that it had targeted certain political groups for tax scrutiny.
One of the inspector general’s reports, released Tuesday, said the IRS issued $11.6 billion to $13.6 billion in improper earned-income tax credits in 2012, representing 21 percent to 25 percent of all payments in that category for the year.
The numbers show an improvement of more than 15 percent compared with 2011, but they’re still higher than the $11.2 billion to $13.3 billion range from President Obama’s first year in office.
The report noted that the IRS has not established reduction targets or produced quarterly reports on high-dollar faulty payments, both of which are required under a 2009 presidential order aimed at reducing the improper payouts.
“The IRS must do a better job of reigning in improper payments in this and other programs,”  J. Russell George, inspector general for tax administration, said in a statement on Tuesday.

Bank of America liable in fraud trial

Bank of America's Countrywide Financial unit has been found liable for defrauding two US government-backed mortgage companies by a federal jury.

Countrywide, which was acquired by Bank of America in 2008, was accused of selling thousands of defective loans to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The ruling is a major win for the US government, which launched the case in the wake of the financial crisis.
The Justice Department is seeking as much as $848m (£523m) in penalties.
The judge who presided over the trial said a civil penalty will be decided at a later date.
A former Countrywide executive Rebecca Mairone was also found liable on a civil fraud charge. She was the only individual to be sued by the government in the case.

Clinton heckled about Benghazi

Hillary Clinton deflected 2016 questions and a heckler at a speech Wednesday in Buffalo, N.Y., drawing big applause as she talked over a man shouting about the attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya.
A man in the audience at the University of Buffalo, where Clinton gave a 40-minute speech and took questions, stood up and began yelling, “Benghazi. You let them die,” according to video from local TV station WIVB.

As he was escorted out, Clinton spoke over his shouts.

“We have to be willing to come together as citizens to focus on the kind of future we want, which doesn’t include yelling, it includes sitting down and talking with one another,” Clinton said, drawing a large round of applause.
In her speech, Clinton praised Buffalo and talked about problems in D.C.
(Women Rule essay: Hillary Clinton is no quitter)
“Recently in Washington we’ve seen what happens when politicians choose scorched earth over common ground,” Clinton said.
She also deflected multiple questions about her 2016 aspirations, speaking in generalities about what she would want to see in a 2016 candidate. “Trying to, insofar as it is possible, kind of isolate the extreme voices and allow the vast majority of American voices to be heard,” Clinton said.
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