SEASONS GREETINGS!
Friday December 20th 2013
------------------------------
North Korea threatens to strike South 'without notice'
North Korea has threatened to attack South Korea "without notice" in response to demonstrations held in the South to mark the anniversary of its former leader's death.South Korea’s Defense Ministry said a letter from the North’s National Defense Commission was faxed early Thursday via a military communication link between the two sides, warning of a "merciless" attack on the South, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.
The letter objected to the "repeated extra-large provocations to North Korea's highest dignity taking place in the middle of Seoul" and threatened "a merciless retaliation without warning," ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok told the newspaper.
The warning came after conservative activists and North Korean refugee groups held demonstrations in Seoul on the anniversary of Kim Jong Il's death. Some protesters reportedly burned pictures of current leader Kim Jong Un, according to The Telegraph.
The South Korean government reportedly responded to Pyonghang's threats by sending a fax to that promised "resolute punishment" in response to any provocation from the North.
US blocks Iran presence at Geneva II
International negotiators
have failed to agree on whether to invite Iran to peace talks over the
Syrian conflict, the UN-Arab League envoy on Syria said.
Lakhdar Brahimi said the US remained unconvinced that Iran's participation "would be the right thing to do". He said some 26 nations had been asked to join the conference, which is due to be held in Switzerland in January.
The US, UN and Russia have been struggling for months to get the talks, known as Geneva II, off the ground.
The conference aims to ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid, end the fighting and outline a political transition for Syria.
Obstacles remain Mr Brahimi met American and Russian delegations in the Swiss city of Geneva to finalise the list of nations partaking in the planned peace talks on 22 January.
"On Iran, we haven't agreed yet," he told reporters on Friday. "It's no secret that we in the United Nations welcome the participation of Iran, but our partners in the United States are still not convinced."
America opposes Iran's presence, because of Teheran's support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Violence Returns To Central African Republic After Period Of Calm
BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) — After a period of relative calm, violence flared anew Friday in the Central African Republic with shootouts at checkpoints, the destruction of a mosque and angry demonstrations against Chadian peacekeepers that left at least 30 dead.The impoverished country has been chaotic since Muslim rebels, known as the Seleka, overthrew the government and installed a Muslim president in this majority-Christian nation.
After overnight shootings involving Chadian peacekeepers, violence exploded once more with mobs attacking Muslim neighborhoods and a shootout at a checkpoint manned by Congolese troops left three dead.
"We are here to keep the peace, if they draw on us, we shoot back," said a soldier from Congo-Brazzaville, gesturing at the corpse at his feet.
The soldier, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press, said two cars filled with what he described as Seleka supporters of President Michel Djotodia pulled up at the checkpoint and opened fire. One of the cars was a smoking ruin while the other's windows were smashed with shell casings littered around it. Two other corpses lay nearby.
The local office of the Red Cross put the death toll since the shootings the night before at more than 30 people, estimating that 583 have died since hostilities flared on Dec. 5.
Hezbollah warns Israel over killing
The head of Lebanese
militant group Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, has warned that his movement
will "punish" Israel for the killing of a senior commander.
Hassan Lakkis was shot near his home on the outskirts of the Lebanese capital, Beirut, in early December."All evidence indicates that Israel is behind the assassination," Mr Nasrallah said in a televised tribute.
Israel, which fought a 34-day war with Hezbollah in 2006, denied the accusation.
Little is known publicly about Lakkis, but he was reputedly close to Mr Nasrallah and an expert in weapons manufacture.
He is said to have trained in warfare in Iran and been key in channelling Iranian assistance to Hezbollah.
'Not safe anywhere' In Friday's speech, the Hezbollah chief called Lakkis "one of the brilliant brains of the resistance".
"The killers will be punished sooner or later," Mr Nasrallah said.
"Those who killed our brothers will not know safety anywhere in the world."
Tajik Elite Drives 200 Cars Stolen In Germany
About 200 cars stolen in Germany have been tracked down in Tajikistan, where most are now driven by family and friends of President Emomali Rakhmon, media and officials in Berlin said Thursday.The case of the German-registered cars, including 93 BMWs located via GPS, has caused friction between Germany and the Central Asian country, mass-circulation daily Bild reported.
A German foreign ministry spokeswoman did not confirm the Bild report that former foreign minister Guido Westerwelle had called in the Tajik ambassador over the case this year.
However, she told AFP that "there have been talks with the Tajik side on cooperation in fighting organised crime".
The cars were located by the "Westwind" task force of German and Lithuanian investigators, mostly using the vehicles' GPS systems, said Berlin city justice department spokeswoman Lisa Jani.
When Tajik authorities failed to respond to requests to help in the investigation, Berlin's justice minister Thomas Heilmann wrote to Germany's then-foreign minister Westerwelle, she told AFP.
"Most of the vehicles are in the possession of people who have business or family ties with the family of the Tajik president," Heilmann wrote to the foreign minister, said Jani.
Russia's Mikhail Khodorkovsky released, flies to Berlin
After spending 10 years in Russian jails for what many in the West believe were trumped-up offences, Mikhail Khodorkovsky left prison a free man Friday and immediately flew to Germany.Russian President Vladimir Putin pardoned his long-time rival Friday morning and the country's Federal Penitentiary Service said Khodorkovsky quickly left the IK-7 prison in the remote northwestern village of Segezha.
Khodorkovsky had petitioned to be allowed to travel to Germany to meet his mother who is undergoing medical treatment, the Penitentiary Service said in a statement.
Germany's Foreign Ministry confirmed that Khodorkovsky arrived at Berlin's Schoenefeld Airport in the afternoon.
In a statement released on the website of his lawyers and supporters, Khodorkovsky said his application for a pardon was not an admission of guilt.
"I am very much waiting for the minute when I can embrace my nearest and personally shake the hands of all my friends and colleagues," he said in the statement.
During his time in prison on politically tinged charges of tax evasion and embezzlement, the 50-year-old Khodorkovsky has shifted his image from a powerfully wealthy, often arrogant oligarch into a respected dissident. The former oil tycoon became a political thinker and editorial writer who argued for social justice and placed the blame for Russia's stagnating economy squarely on its longtime leader Putin.
It wasn't clear whether Khodorkovsky would continue his opposition to the Kremlin or even choose to return to Russia.
Libyan intelligence official killed by gunmen outside home
Gunmen shot and killed a top Libyan military intelligence official Friday outside his home in an eastern city known as a stronghold for an Islamic extremist militia, the latest in a string of assassinations targeting government officials and others.
Col. Fatallah Abdel-Rahim al-Qazeri died outside his home in Darna following a relative's wedding, a security official said. Al-Qazeri had been named as head of military intelligence in the restive city of Benghazi earlier this month, the official said.The official spoke on condition of anonymity as he feared being targeted in a reprisal attack.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for al-Qazeri's killing, though Darna is known as a stronghold of Ansar al-Shariah, a hard-line group suspected to have been behind the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.
Three suicide bomb attacks target Shia pilgrims in Iraq
Three suicide bomb
attacks targeting Shia pilgrims travelling to the Iraqi city of Karbala
for a religious event have killed at least 29 people.
The attackers struck in the capital Baghdad and in two sites to the south.Meanwhile, gunmen wearing military uniforms shot dead a family of five in Baghdad's western suburb of Abu Ghraib.
Sectarian violence has surged across Iraq this year. More than 8,000 people have been killed since January, the highest annual toll since 2008.
The UN says the overall death toll in November was 659, including 565 civilians and 94 members of the Iraqi security forces, compared with 979 in October.
'Heretics' The Baghdad attack took place in the southern district of Dora; a suicide bomber detonated his explosives belt as pilgrims had gathered at a tent for refreshments. Fourteen people were killed and 28 were wounded, police said.
Aurther eight people were killed and 28 wounded when a suicide attacker blew himself up among pilgrims in Youssifiyah, some 20km (12 miles) south of Baghdad, shortly after sunset, the Associated Press quotes officials as saying. A third suicide bomber detonated explosives in the town of Latifiyah, some 30km (20 miles) south of Baghdad, killing at least seven people and wounding 25.
The pilgrims were heading to the holy city of Karbala for Arbaeen, which marks the end of the 40 days of mourning for the Prophet Muhammad's grandson, Hussein.
China's central bank acts to avert short-term credit crunch
China's central bank has announced an emergency injection of liquidity into financial markets to avert a short-term credit crunch.The People's Bank of China has been progressively tightening financial conditions over recent months to rein in excessive lending growth in the economy. But analysts said the unexpected short-term liquidity operation (SLO) was an indication of the challenges facing Beijing as it seeks to shift to a more sustainable growth model.
As part of its clampdown on credit growth, the central bank had cancelled its usual daily "open market operations" – which push money into the markets – in recent days.
But as a result, interbank lending rates, a key measure of market stress, had shot up, raising fears of a crunch.
Echoing similar measures it took in June, the central bank took the unusual step of announcing, via Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, that it had carried out an SLO. Trading was also extended by an extra half an hour, to allow banks to benefit from the measure.
No details were published about the scale of the operation, or which banks had been involved, but the liquidity injection evoked memories of the crisis measures taken by central banks in Europe and the US in the wake of the collapse of Lehman Brothers, as markets threatened to dry up altogether.
Mark Williams of consultancy Capital Economics said: "The story of the past few months has been that the PBoC wants to tighten monetary conditions to slow credit growth, and that's been happening in fits and starts."
-
Internal Islamist feud in Turkey threatens stability of Erdogan’s government
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan is facing the greatest challenge to his rule since the protests that erupted in the summer in Gezi Park.
Tensions from within his Islamist base have escalated and come out into the open.
Istanbul's powerful police chief was dismissed by the government on Thursday in what seems to be a response to an anti-corruption investigation striking at the heart of Turkey's ruling elite and threatening the authority of Erdogan at home and abroad.
Huseyin Capkin was the most senior commander so far to be sacked following the dismissal of dozens of senior officers on Wednesday over what Erdogan has termed a "dirty operation" to tarnish the government.
Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli spoke out against the dismissal of members of the police by the government, saying it demonstrated “panic” because of “feelings of guilt” by the government, as quoted by Turkey’s Hurriyet Daily News.
Turkey's judiciary and lawyers were upset when Erdogan's government appointed two more prosecuters to take part in the investigation, saying the government was attempting to obstruct and interfere with the investigation, Today’s Zaman newspaper reported.
The dismissal of senior police officers came after the police staged raids on Tuesday morning, detaining over 80 people.
-
Obama hints at changing bulk collection of phone records
U.S. President Barack Obama suggested Friday that he may be ready to make some changes in the bulk collection of Americans' phone records to allay the public's concern about privacy.Obama said he has not yet made any decisions about the National Security Agency's collection programs. But among the dozens of recommendations he's considering, he hinted that he may strip the NSA of its ability to store data in its own facilities and instead shift that storage to the private phone companies.
"There may be another way of skinning the cat," Obama said during a news conference.
- Task force urges limits on NSA snooping
- Bulk phone record collection violates U.S. Constitution: judge
"There are ways we can do it, potentially, that gives people greater assurance that there are checks and balances — that there's sufficient oversight and sufficient transparency," Obama said.
Programs like the bulk collection of phone records "could be redesigned in ways that give you the same information when you need it without creating these potentials for abuse."
Obama facing Hill rebellion on Iran sanctions
President Obama is facing a growing insurrection on Capitol Hill over Iran sanctions legislation, with one source telling Fox News the bill is attracting a "flood" of support and another lawmaker vowing to muscle through the legislation with a veto-proof majority if necessary.The momentum comes a day after 26 senators, half of them Democrats, introduced Iran legislation in defiance of the administration -- the bill threatens new sanctions if Tehran does not hold up its end of a newly struck nuclear deal.
The president criticized those lawmakers in a year-end press conference on Friday, claiming they were just trying to "look tough."
But the legislation could pose a serious challenge to the administration, which warns that even the introduction of such a bill could imperil ongoing nuclear talks. Though the White House has threatened to veto, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told Fox News he's looking to gather enough senators -- 67 -- to override.
"If the president wants to veto [the bill], we'll override his veto," he said. "He's making a mistake for the ages, to not keep the pressure on the Iranians."
One source told Fox News that, as of mid-day Friday, there were close to 50 senators signing up to co-sponsor. The Republican source said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has also taken a significant procedural step to fast-track the bill as early as next month.
Harry Reid Hospitalized After 'Not Feeling Well'
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) went to the hospital Friday morning after not feeling well, his office said."Early this morning, Senator Reid was not feeling well and as a precaution decided to go to the hospital. Tests have been conducted and everything is normal. He is alert, resting and feeling better," said spokesman Adam Jentleson in a statement. "Doctors have asked that he remain in the hospital for observation so he will not be working today."
Reid's hospitalization came after a late night of work in the Senate Thursday, with the chamber striking a deal near midnight to avoid an all-night session.
The Senate is in its last day of business Friday until next year. Six votes on nominees are scheduled for the day, including a motion to invoke cloture on the nomination of Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen.
The 74-year-old senator was hospitalized briefly in October 2012 after his caravan was in a car crash in Las Vegas. He only suffered minor injuries in the incident.
Deutsche Bank pays 1.4bn euros to settle US lawsuit
Germany's biggest lender,
Deutsche Bank, will pay 1.4bn euros ($1.9bn; £1.2bn) to settle a
lawsuit with the US Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).
The lawsuit
accused Deutsche Bank of breaking state and federal laws when it sold
financial products backed by mortgage loans to Fannie Mae and Freddie
Mac between 2005 and 2007.It is latest in a series of settlements by banks over mortgage-backed products.
Deutsche Bank says it has left the business that led the claims.
In a statement, Juergen Fitschen and Anshu Jain, co-chief executive officers of Deutsche Bank, said: "Today's agreement marks another step in our efforts to resolve the Bank's legacy issues, and we intend to make further progress in this regard throughout 2014."
Housing boom hangover Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae had to be bailed out by the US government in 2008.
They play a key part in the US housing market by buying mortgages and repackaging them into guaranteed bonds.
But the collapse in house prices after 2008 left them with $30bn in losses and also exposed flaws in some of the products that banks had been selling to them.
The FHFA has been suing banks over those flawed products.
Bank of America, Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo and others have been involved in similar settlements.
Supreme Court strikes down Canada's prostitution laws
The Supreme Court of Canada has struck down the country's anti-prostitution laws in a unanimous decision, and given Parliament one year to come up with new legislation — should it choose to do so.'It is not a crime in Canada to sell sex for money.'- Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, Supreme Court of CanadaIn striking down laws prohibiting brothels, living on the avails of prostitution and communicating in public with clients, the top court ruled Friday that the laws were over-broad and "grossly disproportionate."
"Parliament has the power to regulate against nuisances, but not at the cost of the health, safety and lives of prostitutes," wrote Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin in the 9-0 decision that noted "it is not a crime in Canada to sell sex for money."
Related Story :Prostitution laws: Europeans debate whether criminalization or legalization works better
No comments:
Post a Comment
THE VOCR
Comments and opinions are always welcome.Email VOCR2012@Gmail.com with your input - Opinion - or news link - Intel
We look forward to the Interaction.