Gazette 122613

Thursday December 26th 2013

-----------------------------------

Thailand rejects election delay call

Thailand's government has rejected calls to delay February's election, amid increasingly violent protests in which a policeman has been shot dead.

The Electoral Commission urged the postponement over safety fears for candidates on the campaign trail.
But government officials said parliament was already dissolved so there was no legal reason for a delay.
The protesters want the government to stand down and be replaced by an unelected "people's council"
Violent scenes

In a televised address, Deputy Prime Minister Phongthep Thepkanjana rejected the electoral commission's request.

"The Election Commission said holding elections will bring violence but the government believes delaying an election will cause more violence," he said.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra called the snap election, scheduled for 2 February, after weeks of protests.
The demonstrators dismissed the election, and the official opposition has refused to field candidates.
Protesters have further rejected another offer by Ms Yingluck to form a national reform council intended to run alongside her government.
Thursday has seen some of the most violent scenes since the latest wave of protests began.

Piranha attack in Argentina leaves at least 60 injured, officials say

A piranha feeding frenzy in Argentina has left at least 60 people injured, including a girl who lost part of her finger, officials say.
The attack, which took place on Christmas morning in the Parana River near the city of Rosario, came as people in the country are seeking relief from a heat wave that has pushed temperatures higher than 100 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the AFP.
Gustavo Centurion, a medical official, said the attack was “very aggressive.”
"There were some people that the fish literally had torn bits of flesh from," he told the AFP.
Health Undersecretary Gabriela Quintanilla said one girl lost part of her finger.

U.S. Quietly Sends Arms To Iraq

WASHINGTON — The United States is quietly rushing dozens of Hellfire missiles and low-tech surveillance drones to Iraq to help government forces combat an explosion of violence by a Qaeda-backed insurgency that is gaining territory in both western Iraq and neighboring Syria. 

The move follows an appeal for help in battling the extremist group by the Iraqi prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, who met with President Obama in Washington last month.

But some military experts question whether the patchwork response will be sufficient to reverse the sharp downturn in security that already led to the deaths of more than 8,000 Iraqis this year, 952 of them Iraqi security force members, according to the United Nations, the highest level of violence since 2008.

Al Qaeda’s regional affiliate, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, has become a potent force in northern and western Iraq. Riding in armed convoys, the group has intimidated towns, assassinated local officials, and in an episode last week, used suicide bombers and hidden explosives to kill the commander of the Iraqi Army’s Seventh Division and more than a dozen of his officers and soldiers as they raided a Qaeda training camp near Rutbah.

Crisis talks held in South Sudan

The leaders of two of South Sudan's neighbours, Kenya and Ethiopia, have held "constructive" talks there in a bid to halt fighting, officials say.

More than a thousand people are feared dead in violence that began 11 days ago and has raised fears of a civil war.
Ethiopia's foreign minister said the meeting with President Salva Kiir was "candid" and had centred on halting the violence and starting political talks.
Mr Kiir is involved in a power struggle with ex-deputy Riek Machar.
The fighting has exposed ethnic divisions in the world's youngest state as the president is an ethnic Dinka, while Mr Machar represents the Nuer tribe.

Morocco dismantles terror cell in several cities

Morocco's government says a terror cell active in several cities has been dismantled, and a convict believed to have spearheaded nationwide fundraising and recruiting is among those arrested.

The Interior Ministry said Thursday it was the fifth terror cell discovered this year in Morocco.
Among those arrested were several "who have trained with terrorist organizations in the handling of various weapons and explosives," the statement said.
Anas el Haloui, who organizes legal defense for detained Moroccan Salafists, said about 50 Moroccans have been arrested after returning from Syria. Morocco, like many other countries, fears that fighters will be radicalized and return with war experience they will use against their homelands.

6 Peacekeepers Killed In Central African Republic

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — The spokesman for an African Union peacekeeping force in the Central African Republic says six Chadian peacekeepers were killed and 15 were wounded, after being ambushed in the country's chaotic capital.
Eloi Yao told The Associated Press by telephone Thursday that the peacekeepers were attacked at noon Wednesday. Yao said that the identity of the attackers was unclear.
The Chadian contingent, which is made up of Arabic-speaking Muslim soldiers, has been accused of taking sides in the country's communal conflict. They are seen as being anti-Christian and of having sided with the Muslim rebels who grabbed power in a coup nine months ago.
The attack further underscores the messy nature of the conflict in the Central African Republic, where both French and AU forces have come under attack.

Turkish Prime Minister Reshuffles Cabinet Amidst Corruption Scandal And Resignations 

ISTANBUL, Dec 26 (Reuters) - Turkey's opposition accused scandal-hit Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday of trying to rule via a secretive "deep state", after a cabinet reshuffle that would tighten controls on police already beleaguered by government-ordered purges.
Among 10 new loyalist ministers Erdogan named late on Wednesday was Efkan Ala, a former governor of the restive Diyarbakir province who will wield the powerful Interior portfolio and oversee Turkish domestic security.
Ala replaces Muammer Guler, one of three cabinet members who resigned after their sons were detained in a graft probe that erupted on Dec. 17. Guler, who like Erdogan had called the case baseless and a plot, sacked or reassigned dozens of police officers involved including the chief of the force in Istanbul.
"He (Erdogan) is trying to put together a cabinet that will not show any opposition to him. In this context, Efkan Ala has a key role," Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the head of the biggest opposition party CHP, said in remarks carried by Turkish media.
"Erdogan has a deep state, (his) AK Party has a deep state and Efkan Ala is one of the elements of that deep state," added Kilicdaroglu, using a term that for Turks denotes a shadowy power structure unhindered by democratic checks and balances.
During his three terms in office, the Islamist-rooted Erdogan has transformed Turkey, cutting back its once-dominant secularist military and overseeing rapid economic expansion. He weathered unprecedented anti-government protests that swept major cities in mid-2013.
But the corruption scandal has drawn an EU call for the independence of Turkey's judiciary to be safeguarded and has rattled stocks and the lira, with the currency falling to a historical low of 2.1025 against the dollar on Monday.
 
 Herzog: Netanyahu's demand for recognition of a Jewish State 'makes sense'

In an exclusive interview with newly elected opposition leader Isaac Herzog, he insists Labor is a healthy alternative to the prime minister, but agrees with some of his main objectives.

Israel’s parliamentary democracy is comprised of a majority coalition and its counterpart: an opposition that is dynamic and able to assume the reins of government in the span of time it takes to pass a motion of no-confidence. For the better part of a decade, many have argued that latter is lacking.
But the popular longtime legislator Isaac “Buji” Herzog recently took over leadership of the Labor party, making him head of the opposition and the man who would become prime minister if the coalition should fall.

French tanks deploy in Central African Republic amid civilian panic

Bangui, Central African Republic: Around a dozen French tanks have deployed at Bangui's airport as intense gunfire in adjoining neighbourhoods sowed panic among residents, an AFP journalist reports.
The tanks took positions late on Wednesday afternoon at the entrance to the airport, where French and African peacekeepers are based, after automatic weapons fire and explosions shook several parts of the city.
Tens of thousands of people have taken refuge on the airport grounds since sectarian bloodletting erupted early this month in the former French colony, claiming hundreds of lives.
The heavy machine gun fire was apparently not directed at the airport but was especially intense in the nearby PK12 area.

Advertisement

Hundreds of panicked residents could be seen fleeing the area towards central Bangui, which was virtually deserted because of regular outbursts of gunfire in other areas throughout the day.
Peacekeeping troops were also absent from the streets, with only one helicopter, probably French, circling above.
Earlier Wednesday, a spokesman for the African peacekeeping force MISCA (Mission internationale de soutien à la Centrafrique sous conduite africaine) said its Chadian troops would be redeployed out of the capital amid charges they were siding with a former rebel group.
"The whole Chadian contingent will be sent to secure the north in the next few days," MISCA spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Ndong Toutoune told AFP.
The spokesman did not elaborate on how or exactly where the Chadian troops would redeploy in the impoverished country that has for decades been prone to coups, rebellions and mutinies.
The Chadians, mainly because they are Muslim, face accusations by many in Bangui of complicity with the mostly Muslim Seleka rebels who overthrew president Francois Bozize in March in the predominantly Christian country.
Amnesty International says some 1000 people have been killed since December 5, mostly by Muslim ex-rebels but also in Christian reprisal attacks.
-
Santa gang rob Albanian jewellery store

Maybe their excuse is that their sleighs had ran out of presents, but four armed Santas who robbed a jewellery shop in the Albanian capital, Tirana, are the targets of a nationwide police hunt.
The robbery, which was caught on video by a security camera in the TEG shopping centre, took place minutes before the shop closed for Christmas on Tuesday evening. The thieves, all dressed in traditional Santa outfits, burst in carrying Kalashnikov semi-automatic rifles and proceeded to fill their sacks with the jewellery on display.
The only people in the shop at the time were the owner and his wife. Both were held at gunpoint, but neither was hurt. The robbers were in the shop for less than three minutes.
They are thought to have fled the scene of the crime in a Mercedes, which they then drove off the road. The car was set alight and the thieves fled into the gathering darkness.
It was not immediately clear whether a shoot-out involving the police which took place at about the same time near the village of Lanabregas was linked to the robbery.
Both the interior minister in Edi Rama's centre-left government, Samir Tahiri, and the head of the Albanian police, Artan Didi, visited the shopping centre as police began questioning witnesses.
In a statement, Tirana district police said that two of the guns used by the masked thieves had been found in a waste bin near the shop. Forensic and ballistic tests were being carried out on the weapons.
-

Benefits to end for long-term unemployed

Kathy Biscotti cut back to two meals a day after losing her job over the summer. On Saturday, she must swallow an even more bitter pill: the end of her federal unemployment benefits.

An estimated 1.3 million long-term unemployed workers like Biscotti are expected to be affected when the program expires. The extended benefits, staunchly opposed by Republicans, were left out of the bipartisan federal budget agreement reached this month. Senate Democrats have vowed to make the issue a top priority when they return to Washington in January, but Biscotti says she can’t wait that long.

Obama visits troops, spends a low-key Christmas with family

President Obama and his wife, Michelle, made their customary Christmas visit to greet troops at Marine Corps Base Hawaii, offering thanks and encouragement to some 580 service members before spending the evening at home with friends and family.

The ocean-front Marine base at Kaneohe Bay -- where Obama also works out, plays golf and goes to the beach with his family -- is a five-minute drive from the Obamas’ vacation rental in Kailua. 
In a speech at the chow hall, Obama acknowledged the "friends and comrades" who are raising their families on the base while their loved ones serve in Afghanistan and elsewhere. 
In a three-minute speech before he stepped off the stage to greet Marines individually, Obama noted that he had recently spoken to soldiers in Afghanistan and Bahrain, among other places. 
"It was just a sampling of the incredible sacrifice that all of you and your families make every single day," the president said. "Michelle and I know that we would not enjoy the freedoms we do if it weren't for the incredible dedication and professionalism and work that you do. The least we can do is just let you all know we're grateful to you.
"We hope that the mess has done right by you and that the food is pretty good," the president added before wishing the troops a Mele Kalikimaka -- the Hawaiian saying for "Merry Christmas."
The Obamas stayed in for Christmas Eve and much of Christmas Day opening presents and singing Christmas carols, according to a White House aide, before their private Christmas dinner. 
White House Chef Sam Kass, who also heads the first lady’s “Let’s Move!” initiative, traveled to Hawaii this year, making it easier for the family to entertain at their rental home, which overlooks the turquoise waves of Kailua Bay on the windward side of Oahu.

What to Do When ObamaCare Unravels

The unraveling of the Affordable Care Act presents a historic opportunity for change. Its proponents call it "settled law," but as Prohibition taught us, not even a constitutional amendment is settled law—if it is dysfunctional enough, and if Americans can see a clear alternative.
This fall's website fiasco and policy cancellations are only the beginning. Next spring the individual mandate is likely to unravel when we see how sick the people are who signed up on exchanges, and if our government really is going to penalize voters for not buying health insurance. The employer mandate and "accountable care organizations" will take their turns in the news. There will be scandals. There will be fraud. This will go on for years.
Yet opponents should not sit back and revel in dysfunction. The Affordable Care Act was enacted in response to genuine problems. Without a clear alternative, we will simply patch more, subsidize more, and ignore frauds and scandals, as we do in Medicare and other programs.
There is an alternative. A much freer market in health care and health insurance can work, can deliver high quality, technically innovative care at much lower cost, and solve the pathologies of the pre-existing system.
-
Kerry's 3 Card trick

Secretary of State John Kerry celebrated his 70th birthday last week in Jerusalem, where he was forced to endure not only a snowstorm in a country unequipped to deal with it, but growing skepticism about his ability to complete an ambitious diplomatic plan to end a century-old Palestinian-Israeli dispute by next spring.
Similar skepticism meets Kerry whenever he tries to resolve the Syrian crisis by organizing a peaceful powwow among warriors who would rather see each other dead, and when he tries to convince Congress to withhold further Iran sanctions while he negotiates an end to Tehran's nuclear arms program.
Kerry may hope against hope that a single success in any part of this three-pronged diplomatic high-wire act will become contagious, but the reverse may also be true: A collapse of the Iran nuclear negotiations, the Syria talks, or his attempts at Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking could kill all his other diplomatic efforts.

Majority Think Congress is the Worst in Their Lifetimes

A new CNN/ORC poll finds that 67% of those questioned think the current Congress is the worst in their lifetime, with 28% disagreeing.

Said pollster Keating Holland: "That sentiment exists among all demographic and political subgroups. Men, women, rich, poor, young, old -- all think this year's Congress has been the worst they can remember. Older Americans -- who have lived through more congresses - hold more negative views of the 113th Congress than younger Americans. Republicans, Democrats and independents also agree that this has been the worst session of Congress in their lifetimes."