Gazette - 01-13-14

Monday January 13 2014

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

Afghan 'suicide vest girl' reveals family ordeal

An Afghan girl has told the BBC that her family forced her to attack a police checkpoint in Helmand province.

The girl, known as Spozhmai, said her brother and father had beaten her, ordering her to put on a suicide vest.
She was taken into protective custody in the provincial capital Lashkar Gah, after an Afghan soldier spotted her wearing the vest last Monday.
Said to be about 10, she has appealed to Afghan President Hamid Karzai to put her in a new home.
A presidential spokeswoman said she would only be returned to relatives if tribal elders guaranteed her safety.
The girl is thought to be the sister of a prominent Taliban commander, who police say encouraged her to carry out the attack.
'Treated like a slave' She told the BBC's Newsday programme that she had been scared to carry out the attack, but that her brother had promised only her targets would die.
She added that her father had ordered her to return home, but she refused to obey.
More of the story......

Nigerian leader signs law banning marriage

Nigeria's president has signed a law banning same-sex marriage as well as homosexual associations, societies and meetings, with penalties of up to 14 years in jail.

The Associated Press obtained a copy of the Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act on Monday signed by President Goodluck Jonathan and dated Jan. 7.

Any public show of love by people of the same sex is a new crime punishable by up to 10 years in jail. It is already a crime to have homosexual sex in the West African nation.

Operating or even going to a gay club, society or organization also becomes a crime.

Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States was "deeply concerned" by a law that "dangerously restricts freedom of assembly, association, and expression for all Nigerians."

Iran Nuclear Talks To Resume In February With World Powers In Attendance

BRUSSELS, Jan 13 (Reuters) - World powers and Iran will very likely resume negotiations on the Islamic Republic's nuclear ambitions in February, shortly after an interim, six-month deal restricting its atomic work goes into effect, a diplomatic source told Reuters on Monday.

The goal of the new round of talks is to find a broad settlement in the decade-old dispute over Iran's nuclear programme and ease the risk of mistrust leading to deeper tensions or even conflict in the Middle East.

The diplomatic source said the first meeting between Iran and six powers - the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany - would include Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.

"It won't happen in January, because of the Chinese New Year, but it is very, very, very likely in February," the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Senior diplomats from the seven countries, led by the EU, will hold talks ahead of the meeting to prepare an agenda.

Iran says its atomic energy programme is aimed purely at electricity generation and other civilian purposes, although past Iranian attempts to hide sensitive nuclear activity from U.N. non-proliferation inspectors raised concerns. 

François Hollande 'used Corsican mafia apartment for affair with actor'

François Hollande's partner was said to have suffered a 'very strong emotional shock' after hearing claims of affair   

A top aide to France's first lady says she will remain in hospital for several more days to recover from the shock of a tabloid report that her partner, François Hollande, is having an affair with an actress.

Valerie Trierweiler's chief of staff, Patrice Biancone, said on Monday she could be remain in hospital for another six or eight days. She was initially expected to leave the hospital on Monday. He said she suffered a "very strong emotional shock" from the tabloid report and needed rest. One official said she was receiving treatment for "a severe case of the blues"
Hollande has never married. He and Trierweiler have lived together since 2007 and she occupies the so-called "madame wing" of the presidential palace.
Meanwhile, the "Hollande affair" has taken an unexpectedly sinister turn with claims – and counter-claims – that the flat used for the president's alleged love tryst with an actor was linked to the Corsican mafia.
French media reported that the apartment where François Hollande met Julie Gayet was lent to her by a friend who was involved with two mobsters.
However, the friend, Emmanuelle Hauck, denied her ex-husband Michel Ferracci, who was given an 18-month suspended sentence in connection with money-laundering last November, had ever owned, rented or lived in the property and threatened to sue for defamation.
It was later revealed that after splitting from Ferracci, Hauck lived with François Masini, who was shot dead last May in an apparent gangland killing.
Meanwhile, Hollande is preparing for a key press conference on Tuesday in which he was expected to announce new goals and a timetable for reforms in front of 600 French and foreign journalists.

IAF strikes Gaza in response to rockets fired on southern Israel

Palestinians fire 2 rockets at Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council near site of former prime minister's burial ceremony at Negev ranch; projectiles land in open areas; no damage, injuries reported.

The Israel Air Force struck on Monday evnening two targets in Gaza in response to rocket fire on southern Israel earlier in the day, the IDF confirmed.

The targets hit were a military compound and a terror infrastructure site, said an IDF spokesperson, adding that both targets were accurately hit.
Both targets belonged to Hamas, which the IDF holds responsible for failing to prevent Monday's rocket fire.
On Monday afternoon, Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip fired two rockets at the Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council shortly after the burial ceremony for former prime minister Ariel Sharon culminated at his nearby Sycamore Ranch.
The rockets landed in open fields and did not cause damages or injuries.
Earlier on Monday, Israel had beefed up security for Sharon's  funeral near the Gaza border and warned Hamas not to allow rocket fire during the ceremony, which many international dignitaries attended.

Al-Qaeda executes rivals in Syria

Amman:The al-Qaeda-linked Islamist State of Iraq and the Levant has executed dozens of rival Islamists over the past two days as the group recaptured territory it had lost in the north-eastern Syrian province of Raqqa, activists said.
One of the activists, who spoke from the province on condition of anonymity, said up to 100 fighters from the Nusra Front, another al-Qaeda affiliate, and the Ahrar al-Sham brigade, were shot dead.
There was no independent confirmation of the report.
"About 70 bodies, most shot in the head, were collected and sent to the Raqqa National hospital," the activist said.

"Many of those executed had been wounded in the fighting. The fact that Nusra Front and Ahrar al-Sham are ideologically similar to the ISIL did not matter," he added.
ISIL's growth has alarmed Western nations, who are pushing the opposition to attend peace talks in Switzerland in 10 days' time. The group's growth has also helped Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to portray himself as the only secular alternative to Islamist extremism.
Fighting between the ISIL and rival Islamists and more moderate rebels have killed hundreds of people over the past 10 days.
The fierce fighting had shaken ISIL but it has now regrouped and recaptured much of its stronghold in Raqqa, the only provincial capital under rebel control.
To the north, ISIL recaptured the town of Tel Abyad on the border with Turkey over the weekend.
Raqqa, on the Euphrates River 385 kilometres north-east of Damascus, is the most significant city to have fallen completely to Dr Assad's opponents since the revolt against his family's four-decade rule broke out in March 2011.

Syria warns against conditions for Geneva peace talks

DAMASCUS: Syria warned on Monday against preconditions for peace talks in Switzerland next week, a day after an opposition leader said President Bashar al-Assad's departure was "inevitable".

"Any person who seeks preconditions or mistakes their dreams for reality is leading to the failure of the Geneva conference before it even starts," Syrian state media quoted a foreign ministry source as saying.

The statement came after the Sunday meeting of the so-called Friends of Syria, a grouping of nations that back the Syrian opposition, which the regime terms the "Enemies of Syria".

Speaking at the end of the meeting, the president of Syria's opposition National Coalition Ahmed Jarba said: "We all agreed that there is no future for Bashar al-Assad and his family in Syria."

"His departure is inevitable." The Syrian government has said it will attend the peace talks — to be held January 22 in the town of Montreux instead of Geneva as originally planned — but that Assad's departure from office is not on the table.

"We consider any statement, opinion or announcement before the Geneva conference to be worthless, desperate attempts by certain people to hide the defeats of their gang on the ground," state media quoted the foreign ministry source as saying.

"Syria pays no attention to those outside the country who speak in the name of the Syrian people, whether they are Arabs or westerners," the source added.

"The Syrian people are the only ones who can decide what they want and who can choose their leaders and the nature of their state."

Kenya says its military killed Shabaab commanders in air strikes

Kenya’s military has killed more than 30 al-Shabaab militants, including commanders, a spokesman said, in its first major barrage of air strikes in Somalia since the retaliation for the Islamists’ attack on a Nairobi shopping mall.
Kenyan fighter jets hit a camp at Garbarahey in the Gedo region on Thursday evening, where the militants, who profess links to al-Qaeda, were holding a meeting, the military said.
Al-Shabaab has been weakened by African Union troops over the past two years, ushering in some stability in many parts of the Horn of Africa country after a campaign of cross-border raids and kidnappings of Westerners and security forces.
However, the rebels, who have waged a seven-year insurgency seeking to impose a strict interpretation of sharia law in Somalia, stunned the world in September when they attacked an upscale shopping mall in Nairobi, killing at least 67 people.
Thursday’s air raids were the first since October, when Kenyan warplanes bombed targets held by the Islamists in reprisal for the attack on the mall.
“There are remnants of al Shabaab that are still trying to draw back the gains that have been made (against them),” Kenyan military spokesman Colonel Cyrus Oguna told Reuters on Friday.

Bangkok shutdown protests under way 

Opposition protesters occupy key intersections in the capital as part of campaign to unseat Prime Minister Yingluck.

Thai opposition protesters have stepped up their rallies, gathering in thousands in seven major intersections in the capital, in their attempt to "shutdown" of Bangkok to ultimately unseat Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.
The demonstrators want the embattled prime minister to step down to make way for an appointed government that would oversee electoral reforms to curb the political dominance of her billionaire family and tackle a wider culture of money politics.
Thousands of flag-waving protesters, some wearing T-shirts with the slogan "Bangkok Shutdown", massed at strategic points in the city on Monday, including outside a major shopping mall that was set on fire during deadly political unrest in 2010.
"We will fight regardless of whether we win or lose. We will not compromise or accept negotiation," protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban told crowds at a rally late on Sunday.
The firebrand opposition politician - who faces a murder charge in connection with a deadly military crackdown on political protests when he was deputy prime minister in 2010 - was set to lead a march through the city centre later on Monday.
But it was still unclear how much support he would enjoy among city residents, some of whom voiced fears that the action would hurt their livelihoods.

Palestinian police clash with backers of striking U.N. agency workers

RAMALLAH, West Bank – Palestinian police used tear gas and stun grenades Sunday to disperse dozens of protesters at a refugee camp north of Ramallah who had blocked main roads leading to the de facto capital of the Palestinian Authority.
The protesters, residents of the Jalazoun refugee camp, were trying to draw attention to a 40-day-old strike by workers of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, or UNRWA, who are demanding better wages.
Police clashed with the protesters, who pelted them with stones, causing at least 10 minor injuries among the police force, according to emergency ward officials at the Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah, where the officers were treated for cuts and bruises.
Farther to the south of Ramallah, residents and UNRWA staff at the Qalandia refugee camp blocked the main Ramallah-Jerusalem road, causing serious traffic jams for several hours on Sunday.
Palestinian police did not intervene to reopen the road because it is...

-

Cuba: US 'very open' to new relationship

 

A senior American official has said the United States is "very open" to building a new relationship with Cuba.

However, Edward Alex Lee of the US state department stressed that any improvement should go hand-in-hand with more political freedom on the communist-run island.

He said the two countries had held "very constructive" talks on migration and other issues this week.

But he declined to give any details of what he called "substantial progress".

Mr Lee, who has been on an official visit to Cuba, added the two nations would seek to continue these rare negotiations.

"Despite our historically difficult relationship...we have been able to speak to each other in a respectful and thoughtful manner," he told a news conference in Havana.

But he added that the US wanted a "fundamental change" in the Cuban government's attitude towards its own people.

"We want to have that opening reflect - from the Cuban side - a respect for Cubans to express themselves freely, to be able to petition their government with grievances without the danger of arrest."

Power trip: Obama’s clout on trial

Supreme Court justices today will give their first clues as to how they will decide what could be a make or break case for the remainder of the Obama presidency. Presidents have long taken advantage of the Constitution’s provision that the chief executive may make temporary, emergency appointments to key positions without confirmation from the Senate. The allowance for so-called recess appointments was conceived as a way to let the executive branch function during times when the Senate was out of session and Philadelphia was a long carriage ride over rutted roads from most of the nation. But modern presidents have used it to install controversial appointees unlikely to win confirmation into important posts for one year. President Obama’s decision to push the envelope and fill out the National Labor Relations Board with pro-Union picks when the Senate was not technically in recess may permanently deprive the executive branch of that helpful loophole. The Supreme Court is holding an extended session today to hear arguments on this case.

[The Seattle Times has the back story of a pop bottler in Yakima, Wash. that spurred the case that could alter the federal balance of power.]

High stakes - Senate Republicans have joined the bottling company in seeking to have the appointments struck down and the board’s rulings after the non-recess recess appointments invalidated. If Democrats manage to stave off Republicans in midterm elections, the case won’t be so important in the immediate future, since under powers newly assumed by Senate Democrats, presidential appointments can be confirmed with 51 instead of 60 votes. But if the GOP manages to win half of the dozen Senate seats that seem to be in play this year, it would nix Obama’s chances to fill key positions unless he was willing to make compromises with his longtime red team adversaries in the Senate. Read more. – Watch Fox: Correspondent Shannon Bream considers President Obama’s potential executive overreach and has the latest from the Supreme Court.

Christie is still atop 2016 GOP field — for now

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie just endured the worst week of his five years in elected office, battered by a scandal involving traffic jams as political payback and implicating several top — and now former — aides.

And yet, Christie still holds down the top spot in our rankings of the 2016 Republican field — a sign of both the considerable strengths he retains in the race and the lack of an obvious challenger to his dominance.
Make no mistake: Bridge-gate has hurt Christie and slowed, badly, the considerable momentum he built during a sweeping reelection victory in 2013. But, assuming that no other revelations emerge linking him to the closure of several lanes of traffic in Fort Lee, Christie remains the candidate — with the possible exception of former Florida governor Jeb Bush — who is best positioned to build the coalition of major donors, party activists and GOP elites necessary to win the nomination.

Banks Say No to Marijuana Money, Legal or Not

SEATTLE — In his second-floor office above a hair salon in north Seattle, Ryan Kunkel is seated on a couch placing $1,000 bricks of cash — dozens of them — in a rumpled brown paper bag. When he finishes, he stashes the money in the trunk of his BMW and sets off on an adrenalized drive downtown, darting through traffic and nervously checking to see if anyone is following him.

Despite the air of criminality, there is nothing illicit in what Mr. Kunkel is doing. He co-owns five medical marijuana dispensaries, and on this day he is heading to the Washington State Department of Revenue to commit the ultimate in law-abiding acts: paying taxes. After about 25 minutes at the agency, Mr. Kunkel emerges with a receipt for $51,321.

“Carrying such large amounts of cash is a terrible risk that freaks me out a bit because there is the fear in my mind that the next car pulling up beside me could be the crew that hijacks us,” he said. “So, we have to play this never-ending shell game of different cars, different routes, different dates and different times.”

Hillary Clinton team reportedly created list of traitors after '08 bid

The Clintons are known for holding grudges against their political enemies. But according to a new book, their aides went so far as to build a formal spreadsheet rating their friends and foes. 
The so-called "hit list" reportedly was entered into a Microsoft Excel document at the end of Hillary Clinton's unsuccessful 2008 presidential bid. In one draft, Democrats in Congress were even given a rating, from 1 to 7, with 7 being the worst. 
The details were reported Monday in The Hill and Politico, excerpted from the forthcoming book, "HRC: State Secrets and the Rebirth of Hillary Clinton." 
According to the report, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass.; Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va.; Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa.; and Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., were among those to earn a score of 7 on the list. 
The list of who's naughty and who's nice -- in their eyes -- was largely based on who endorsed then-candidate Barack Obama in 2008, who endorsed Clinton and who sat out the race. 
Others to earn the Clintons' scorn were Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., who delivered a significant early endorsement to Obama in the 2008 race. 
The list was made not just to keep track of those who betrayed the family, but also to keep track of those who did right by them, for the purpose of returning political favors. 
The book was written by Politico's Jonathan Allen and The Hill's Amie Parnes.
-