Gazette 03-07-14

Friday March 7th 2014

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Ukraine crisis

Does Russia have a case?

Russia says it is acting in Ukraine to protect the human rights of its citizens. But what justification does it have for taking de facto control of Crimea?

What is Russia's claim to Crimea? Its historical links with the peninsula go back to Catherine the Great in the 18th Century, when Russia conquered southern Ukraine and Crimea, taking them from the Ottoman Empire. In 1954, Crimea was handed to Ukraine as a gift by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, who was himself half-Ukrainian. Only 10 years earlier, Joseph Stalin had deported Crimea's entire Tatar population, some 300,000 people, allegedly for co-operating with Hitler's Germany.

Niger extradites Gaddafi's son

The Libyan government says former leader Col Muammar Gaddafi's son, Saadi, has been extradited from Niger and is now in custody in Tripoli.

Pictures posted on the internet showed him having his head and beard shaved.
Saadi Gaddafi, the former head of Libya's football federation, fled after his father was killed in the 2011 revolution.
The 40-year-old is best known for a brief career in Italian football as well as his playboy lifestyle.
Saadi, one of Col Gaddafi's seven sons, is accused of shooting protesters and other crimes committed during his father's rule.
"The Libyan government received today Saadi Gaddafi and he arrived in Tripoli," the Libyan government said in a statement early on Thursday.
Two security sources later confirmed to the BBC's Rana Jawad that Saadi Gaddafi had been returned and was now in the hands of the Libyan judicial authorities.
Lawyer Nick Kaufman, who has previously represented Saadi and other Gaddafi family members, criticised the move, calling it a "rendition".

China allows first corporate bond default 

Chinese authorities have allowed the country's first corporate bond default, inflicting losses on small investors in a painful step toward making its financial system more market-oriented.

A Shanghai manufacturer of solar panels paid only part of 90 million yuan ($15 million) in interest due Friday on bonds issued in 2012, according to two bondholders. They received as little as 3 percent of what they were owed.
Until now, Beijing has bailed out troubled companies to preserve confidence in its credit markets. But the ruling Communist Party has pledged to make the economy more productive by allowing market forces a bigger role.
Earlier efforts to stave off defaults by other borrowers with loans or other aid prompted complaints authorities were wasting money. Critics said investors should share in losses.

Venezuela Protests Leave At Least Two Dead

CARACAS, March 6 (Reuters) - A Venezuelan soldier and a motor cyclist were killed in a standoff with opposition demonstrators who had set up a barricade along an avenue of Caracas, the vice president of the ruling Socialist Party said on Thursday.
Demonstrators demanding the resignation of President Nicolas Maduro have for weeks been staging rallies and setting up barricades, leading to clashes with security forces and government supporters. At least 20 have been killed.
Troops were called in to the neighborhood of Los Ruices in eastern Caracas on Thursday and used tear gas and water cannons to disperse several hundred demonstrators who had set up a barrier along a well-trafficked principal avenue.
"We have learned that a motorcycle driver was killed by a sniper," said Diosdado Cabello in an unrelated press conference at the National Assembly. "And a member of the National Guard was also killed in the same place by a sniper."
The mayor of the Caracas municipality of Sucre, where the events took place, said via his Twitter account that a member of the National Guard had died.
Officials did not respond to requests for information on how the soldier died and additional details on the incident.

Anwar gets jail term for sodomy

A Malaysian court has sentenced opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim to five years in jail after overturning his acquittal on sodomy charges.

Mr Anwar led the opposition to its strongest ever performance in the May 2013 general elections.
While homosexual acts are illegal in Muslim-majority Malaysia, very few people are ever prosecuted.
Mr Anwar has always maintained the charges were part of a political smear campaign.

The court decision will affect Mr Anwar's plans to compete in a key by-election in the state of Selangor this month, reports say.

A victory for Mr Anwar would mean he could become Selangor's chief minister - widely seen as a powerful post.
The court said he could remain free on bail while he appeals against the verdict to the country's highest court, AP news agency reported.
"All over again, after 15 years, they want to put me in the lockup and that is why they are rushing," Mr Anwar said after his acquittal was overturned.
He added that Prime Minister Najib Razak's government "faces the wrath of the people".

North Korean Missile Passed Near Chinese Plane, Seoul Says

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean officials on Thursday criticized a North Korean artillery launch that they say happened minutes before a Chinese commercial plane reportedly carrying 202 people flew in the same area.
It wasn't immediately clear what danger, if any, the launch Tuesday posed to the China Southern Airlines plane traveling from Tokyo to Shenyang, China, but Seoul Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok called it a "serious threat" that Pyongyang failed to notify international aviation authorities of its launch plans in the area.
Kim said the plane was traveling at an altitude of 10 kilometers (6 miles), while the projectile's peak altitude was 20 kilometers (12 miles). He said the flight passed through the area about five minutes after the projectile hit the water.
An unidentified North Korean army spokesman said in a statement Wednesday night that rocket drills conducted from Feb. 21 until Tuesday were part of regular training. He said that neither regional security nor the international navigation were in danger because the North took "scrupulous advance security measures for flight orbit and targets in the designated waters."
Asked about the incident, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman called for all sides to continue improving relations and to refrain from provocations.
Seoul officials say the suspected artillery launch Tuesday and others that included Scud missiles in previous days were protests of ongoing U.S.-South Korean military drills that Pyongyang considers invasion preparation. Washington and Seoul say the drills, which prompted threats of nuclear war from the North a year ago, are defensive in nature and meant to deter North Korean aggression.

Chinese police arrest 45 for 'spreading rumours' online after knife attack

Chinese police have arrested 45 people for "spreading rumours" online in the wake of Saturday's horrific knife attack at a Chinese train station.
The suspects have been arrested for "deliberately creating a panicked mood and disturbing social order, and will be dealt with according to the law and punished by public security", a branch of the country's public security bureau posted to its official microblog on Thursday, without providing further details.
The announcement underscores the sensitivity with which Chinese officials have handled the attack, which left at least 33 people dead and 144 wounded in the peaceful south-western city of Kunming. Witnesses said a handful of black-clad men and women hacked furiously at pedestrians with foot-long knives. State media reported that out of eight assailants, four were shot dead at the scene, and four have been captured.
China's official newswire Xinhua has called the attackers "separatists" from the ethnically riven north-west region Xinjiang. Although the region is frequently racked by violent clashes between its native Uighurs – a predominantly Muslim group numbering 8.4 million – and local police, such incidents beyond its borders are vanishingly rare.
Uighur groups abroad say the group has long chafed at Beijing's religious and cultural constraints. Beijing maintains that it grants Uighurs significant religious freedom, and blames the violence on interference from abroad.
At the National People's Congress, an important political conclave in Beijing, the region's top-ranked party official Zhang Chunxian blamed the internet – specifically VPNs, software that allows users to evade internet controls – for the surge in violence.
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Vatican denies reports Pope cancels visit to Israel in May 

The Vatican denied on Friday reports coming from Israel stating that Pope Francis has cancelled his visit to Israel, scheduled for May, due to the ongoing strike of Israel's Foreign Ministry workers.
"The strike may create difficulties but for now there is nothing further as far as were concerned," said Father Frederico Lombardi. 
The Vatican denied on Friday reports coming from Israel stating that Pope Francis has cancelled his visit to Israel, scheduled for May, due to the ongoing strike of Israel's Foreign Ministry workers.
"The strike may create difficulties but for now there is nothing further as far as were concerned," said Father Frederico Lombardi. 

NATO air strike kills five Afghan soldiers

Puli Alam, Afghanistan: A NATO air strike in eastern Afghanistan has accidentally killed five Afghan soldiers, officials say.
It is the latest incident likely to worsen already fraught relations between Kabul and the US-led coalition.
NATO on Thursday offered its condolences over the deaths and vowed action to avoid further mistakes. But President Hamid Karzai has often seized on botched airstrikes to launch bitter criticism of the international military effort in Afghanistan.
‘‘At 3.30am this morning, due to a NATO air strike in Charkh district, Logar province, five service members of the Afghan national army were martyred and eight others were wounded,’’ defence ministry spokesman Zahir Azimi said on his Twitter account.

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Khalilullah Kamal, the Charkh district governor, told AFP he had visited the site of the attack, which he said was from a US drone.
‘‘The post is totally destroyed,’’ he said.
‘‘The Americans used to be in that post but since they left, the ANA [Afghan national army] took over. The post is on a hilltop. The attack was conducted by drones.’’
NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) issued a statement confirming that at least five Afghan soldiers had been killed accidentally.
‘‘An investigation is being conducted at this time to determine the circumstances that led to this unfortunate incident,’’ it said.

Twelve workers missing following blast at Chinese chemical plant

An explosion Friday at a chemicals plant in northern China has left 12 people missing, state media reported.
Thirteen people were on a floor that produced emulsion explosives at the plant run by Kailuan Group in the city of Tangshan when the morning blast occurred, the official Xinhua News Agency said. One person was rescued, but authorities were searching for the 12 others.
The brief report gave no cause for the explosion.
Workplace safety is a major issue in China. A shoe factory fire in the eastern city of Wenling in January killed 16 people, prompting a broad government campaign that shut down many of the city’s shoe factories to ensure compliance of safety rules.
Last June, 121 people were killed in a poultry plant fire in the country’s northeast. That fire was triggered by a short circuit, but investigators found the plant’s safety exits were blocked, trapping workers inside. Several city officials were fired for failing to enforce safety regulations.
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 Putin brushes aside Obama's warnings as US moves to counter Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin defended the country's moves in Ukraine as being consistent with international law during a phone call with President Obama, escalating a high-stakes standoff over Moscow's military incursion into Crimea.
President Obama and Putin spoke for an hour by phone Thursday as the administration moved on several fronts to counter Russia's aggression in the Crimean peninsula.
A statement published on the Kremlin website early Friday said that during the call, Vladimir Putin condemned the newly formed Kiev government as the result of an "anti-constitutional coup" and said Russia was "unable to ignore" requests for protection from the region.
Putin stressed the importance of Russian-American relations, and said he hoped they would not become "a victim of disagreement" on certain issues.
The White House said Obama emphasized to Putin that "Russia's actions are in violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, which has led us to take several steps in response in coordination with our European partners." 
These included sending U.S. fighter jets to allied countries, imposing visa restrictions on Russians and strongly decrying a planned referendum in Crimea to split from Ukraine and join Russia.

Bond between Christie, Obama unravels

The once-budding friendship between President Obama and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie reached its zenith in May on a storm-ravaged boardwalk in Point Pleasant, N.J.

After Obama missed four throws at a carnival game, Christie stepped in, picked up a football and tossed it through a hoop, winning the president a stuffed bear.
“One and done,” the governor said as a crowd cheered and the two men exchanged a high-five.
On Thursday, however, Christie used an appearance before the Conservative Political Action Conference to blast Obama in personal terms, as a weak leader.
Accusing Obama of sitting on the sidelines during bipartisan debt talks, Christie said, “If that’s your attitude, Mr. President, what the hell are we paying you for?”
The stark contrast between then and now demonstrated how the bond nurtured by the odd couple after Hurricane Sandy has unraveled — and been replaced by a feud between two politicians who no longer stand to benefit from the appearance of a close partnership.

Jindal presses Obama to address Medicare Advantage cuts during Florida trip

Louisiana Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal challenged President Obama to address cuts to Medicare Advantage when he visits senior-heavy Florida on Friday. 
Obama plans to travel to Miami on Friday where he'll discuss education and the economy. 
But Jindal, on the sidelines of the Conservative Political Action Conference, held a brief conference call where he urged Obama to address cuts affecting 1.3 million Florida seniors. 
Jindal cited a report by from America's Health Insurance Plans, an industry group, which showed costs up an average of $50-$90 per month or reduced benefits next year. He also praised Florida Republican Gov. Rick Scott for being critical of these cuts. 
More than a third of Medicare beneficiaries in Florida are enrolled in Medicare Advantage, about the same proportion in the plan nationwide. Jindal said the program is successful and popular, and that when threatened by "reckless" cuts, bipartisan groups have sent letters. 
Obama and the first lady are visiting a Miami high school on Friday, for a speech on education. But Jindal hopes he will also make time to address Medicare Advantage. 
President George W. Bush started Medicare Advantage with the hope that increased competition among private insurers would bring down costs in general. The plans turned out to be more expensive than traditional Medicare, so the new health care law reduces payments to private insurers.

Trying to Revive His Prospects, Rubio Pushes Strength Abroad

OXON HILL, Md. — Alarmed by the rise of noninterventionist voices in his party, Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, is aiming to revive his political prospects in an unlikely way: trying to become the leading voice for a muscular brand of foreign policy.

The road to presidential success in Iowa and New Hampshire may not run through the Crimean Peninsula or the streets of Caracas, but in recent weeks Mr. Rubio has used Russia’s incursion into Ukraine and the violent clashes in Venezuela to remind Republicans of their orthodoxy — projecting strength abroad — and of why he was such a favorite in the party before seeing his popularity slip over his backing of an immigration overhaul.

Marijuana reform: 5 things to know about possible changes to the law

Smoke a joint, get caught by police and then...get a ticket?

The Canadian Conservative government has confirmed it is currently working on legislation to change Canada’s laws on possession of small amounts of marijuana, which could make it a ticketed offence rather than one resulting in a criminal charge.

• Nova Scotia, B.C. lead cannabis use across Canada
• Government working on new pot legislation, Peter MacKay says
• Ticket system for pot possession pushed by some Tories

This comes after Canada’s police chiefs voted in favour of a resolution outlining the same proposal at a meeting last August.
This would not be decriminalization or legalization of marijuana, said Justice Minister Peter MacKay, but would provide police with an additional enforcement measure.
The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police said under the "current legislation, the only enforcement option for police when confronted with simple possession of cannabis is either to caution the offender or lay formal charges, resulting in a lengthy, difficult process which results, if the charge is proven, in a criminal conviction and criminal record."
So what should Canadians know about about potential changes to marijuana legislation?
Here are five points to consider:

Simple possession

The ticketing system would likely apply only to simple possession of small amounts of marijuana – amounts under 30 grams.
If caught, a person would get a ticket rather than getting arrested. The ticket would outline a fine or present a court option, in which the person could represent themselves or have legal counsel — much like a speeding ticket.
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