Gazette 03-19-14

Wednesday March 19th 2014

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Pro-Russians storm Ukraine Sevastopol naval base in Crimea

Pro-Russian activists, some armed, have stormed the HQ of Ukraine's navy in the Crimean city of Sevastopol.

Several Ukrainian servicemen have left, the Russia flag is flying and there are reports that Ukrainian navy chief Serhiy Hayduk has been detained.
It comes a day after Crimean leaders signed a treaty with Russia absorbing the peninsula into Russia.
Sunday's disputed referendum, which officials say backed splitting from Ukraine, has been widely condemned.
Crimean and Russian officials say the vote showed overwhelming public support for joining Russia, with 97% of voters in favour.

Ukraine Bolsters Frontier In Wake Of Crimea Vote

UKRAINIAN-RUSSIAN FRONTIER, March 18 (Reuters) - Ukraine has strengthened frontier defenses with Russia following Moscow's seizure of Crimea but there is no sign of a major troop build-up in a region where some say they would welcome a Russian takeover.
On a day when a Ukrainian soldier became the first fatal casualty in the confrontation on the Black Sea peninsula, at the southernmost crossing between the two countries, where Ukraine dug anti-tank ditches this week, Kiev's frontier guards were keen to play down the Russian threat and hope for the best.
"I think everything will be all right in the end," said Sergeant Oleksy Romanenko, as he lifted a barrier to let in one of a slow trickle of cars arriving from Russia on Tuesday.
But despite President Vladimir Putin saying Moscow had no designs on regions of Ukraine beyond Crimea, tension persists.
Asked how he felt about possibly having to fight former Soviet allies who Ukraine's president says are ready to invade, Romanenko said tersely: "We are ready to defend our country."
Border defenses have been strengthened by an anti-tank chicane of house-high concrete blocks, placed across the two-lane M14 highway that links the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and runs round the coast toward Crimea, 350 km (200 miles) west.

 Israel air force strikes Syrian army targets day after Israeli patrol was hit by roadside bomb

The Israeli military says its warplanes have carried out airstrikes against Syrian army targets in response to a roadside bomb that hit an Israeli patrol and wounded four soldiers the day before.

The strikes are Israel's fiercest against Syria since the neighboring country's civil war began three years ago.
The military says the air force targeted a Syrian army training facility, an army headquarters and artillery batteries early on Wednesday. Israel also carried out artillery strikes against Syrian military targets the day before.
There was no comment from Damascus and the impact of the airstrikes was not immediately known.
Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon says Israel holds President Bashar Assad's government responsible for Tuesday's roadside bombing.
Yaalon says if Assad pursues a path harmful to Israel, he would "regret his actions."

Syria conflict: UN reports mass executions by ISIS

Jihadist rebels have carried out mass executions of detainees in Syria, UN human rights investigators say.

The commission of inquiry's latest report documents several incidents blamed on the al-Qaeda-linked Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS).
Government forces are meanwhile accused of sharply increasing their use of indiscriminate weapons, such as barrel-bombs, against civilians.
The report was released before a debate at the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
In a separate development, the US state department told the Syrian government that it must immediately suspend its diplomatic and consular missions in the US and withdraw all personnel who were not US residents.
The newly appointed US special envoy, Daniel Rubenstein, said the order was a response to the Syrian embassy's decision to suspend consular services, as well as the "atrocities the Assad regime has committed".
'Execution field' The report by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria covers what it says were the "most egregious violations" of human rights committed between 20 January and 10 March.
At the start of January, deadly clashes erupted when Western-backed and Islamist rebel groups launched co-ordinated attacks on ISIS strongholds in northern and north-eastern provinces of Syria.

U.S. Suspending Diplomatic Relations With Syria

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration ordered the Syrian government on Tuesday to suspend its diplomatic and consular missions in the United States, requiring all personnel who are not legal U.S residents to leave the country.
The order, three years after the start of Syria's bloody civil war, essentially shutters the Syrian embassy in Washington and its honorary consulates in Troy, Mich., and Houston, Texas. It comes in response to a decision by President Bashar Assad's government to suspend consular services for Syrians living in the U.S.
"We have determined it is unacceptable for individuals appointed by that regime to conduct diplomatic or consular operations in the United States," U.S. special envoy to Syria Daniel Rubenstein said in a statement.
However, Rubenstein said the U.S. wants to continue diplomatic relations with Damascus, "as an expression of our longstanding ties with the Syrian people, an interest that will endure long after Bashar Assad leaves power."
"The United States will continue to assist those seeking change in Syria, to help end the slaughter, and to resolve the crisis through negotiations — for the benefit of the Syrian people," Rubenstein said.
More than 140,000 people have been killed in the war that began in March 2011 as an uprising against Assad's government. It since has largely divided along sectarian lines, with a chaotic mix of mostly Sunni rebels pitted against Syria's minorities, including Christians, Shiites and Alawites, who largely have sided with the government or remained neutral. Assad himself is part of the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam.
Tuesday's order should not affect Syria's mission at the United Nations, although the State Department earlier this month already imposed restrictions limiting its ambassador to New York.

Egyptian troops clash with militants after raid on bomb factory; 2 officers, 5 militants die

 Egypt's interior ministry says fierce clashes that erupted after troops raided a makeshift bomb factory outside of Cairo have killed two military officers and five militants.

The ministry says a combination of police, special forces and military explosives experts raided a warehouse in a village in Qalioubiya province, just north of the capital early Wednesday, when the fighting broke out.
It says the militants responded with gunfire and car bombs, setting off the clashes that lasted several hours. Four militants were arrested.
The raid followed an investigation that showed the place was used as a bomb-making factory by the al-Qaida-inspired Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, or Champions of Jerusalem.
The militant group is based in Sinai and has claimed responsibility for several recent attacks in and near Cairo that targeted security forces.
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China attacked over human rights at UN forum in Geneva
The United States and European Union have accused China of using arrests and harassment to silence human rights activists, also voicing consternation at the death in custody of a prominent dissident.
During the debate at the UN Human Rights Council, China’s delegation responded that Cao Shunli had died in hospital last week of tuberculosis and that the Chinese people enjoyed the right to freedom of expression.
China tried unsuccessfully to stop a speech by Ti-Anna Wang, daughter of Wang Bingzhang, a physician serving a life sentence for his role in overseas Chinese democracy movements.
Criticism of China is rare at the Geneva forum. Western states and activists took advantage of a catch-all agenda item to complain of violations by China, which is among the council’s 47 member states this year.
“China has increased arrests, forced disappearances and extralegal detentions of those who peacefully challenge official policies and actions, including Xu Zhiyong and Ilham Tohti,” said Peter Mulrean, the US charge d’affaires.
The Chinese government had increased internet controls, media censorship and continued to limit religious freedom, particularly in Tibetan and Uighur areas, he said. “We note with profound sadness the recent death of Cao Shunli, an activist who urged independent civil society participation in China’s Universal Periodic Review process and was detained until recently,” Mulrean said.
China’s foreign ministry denied on Monday that Cao Shunli died because she was refused medical treatment while in detention. Cao staged a two-month sit-in along with other activists outside the foreign ministry starting in June to press for the public to contribute to a national human rights report.

Chechen warlord reported dead

Doku Umarov, a Chechen warlord who had threatened to attack the Sochi Olympics and claimed responsibility for some of Russia's deadliest terror attacks, is reported to have died.

The Islamic militant group he led said only that the 49-year-old, who was one of Russia's most wanted men, had died. No cause of death was given.
Umarov's death has been claimed repeatedly in the past, but this appeared to be the first time such a report has come from the organisation he headed.
Umarov has claimed responsibility for major terror attacks in Russia, including the suicide bombing in Moscow's Domodedovo airport in January 2011 that killed 37 people and injured more than 180, and twin suicide bombings on the Moscow subway in March 2010 that killed 40 people and injured more than 120.

The Caucasus Emirate announced the ''martyrdom'' of Umarov in a statement posted on Tuesday on Kavkaz Centre, the website of Islamic militant groups in Russia's North Caucasus.
The region includes the provinces of Chechnya and Dagestan.
As the leader of the Caucasus Emirate, a loose alliance of rebel groups seeking to create an independent Islamic state in the region, Umarov was seen more as a spiritual leader than a commander directing terror attacks.
The impact of his death on the Islamic insurgency was not yet clear.
Russia's National Anti-Terrorist Committee said it had no information about whether Umarov had died and would not comment on the report, the state RIA Novosti news agency said. 

Flight 370: Files were deleted from flight simulator of pilot aboard missing jet, Malaysia says

 
KUALA LUMPUR: Investigators are trying to restore files deleted last month from the home flight simulator of the pilot aboard the missing Malaysian plane to see if they shed any light on the disappearance, Malaysia's defence minister said on Wednesday.

Hishammuddin Hussein told a news conference that the pilot, Capt Zaharie Ahmad Shah, is considered innocent until proven guilty of any wrongdoing. He said members of Zaharie's family are cooperating in the investigation.

Files containing records of the simulations carried out on the program were deleted on February 3, Malaysian police chief Khalid Abu told the news conference.

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 with 239 people aboard went missing March 8 on a night flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Malaysian authorities have not ruled out any possible explanations, but have said the evidence so far suggests the flight was deliberately turned back across Malaysia to the Strait of Malacca. They are unsure what happened next.

Lebanese army deploys in restive border town  Lebanese army deployed in the town of Arsal along the border with Syria, reopening the main road linking the town to the rest of Lebanon after a night of violent protests. The mainly Sunni town had been sealed off by residents from the mostly-Shia neighbouring town of Labweh, where one person was killed last week by rocket fire. The closure of the main road out of Arsal prompted fury among Sunnis in other parts of Lebanon, and many took to streets across the country on Tuesday night to burn tires in protest. In the wake of the tensions, President Michel Sleiman was meeting on Wednesday with Prime Minister Tammam Salam and top security officials, the official National News Agency reported. Residents of Labweh blame Sunni Arsal for the rocket fire, although it was reported to have originated across the border in Syria. Rising tensions Tensions between residents of the two towns have increased since the fall of the Syrian rebel bastion Yabroud, just across the frontier, on Sunday. Yaborud's capture prompted an exodus of hundreds of Syrians to Arsal, where residents are sympathetic towards the Syrian uprising. Angry Sunnis during the night blocked roads in Beirut, along the coast and in the Beqaa valley to protest what they called a "siege" of Arsal by Labweh residents. The unrest led to the death of one man and the injury of four others in a Beirut suburb. The army reacted on Tuesday night by announcing it would deploy in the northern Beqaa border area,	-

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Medal of Honor awarded to two dozen veterans

President Barack Obama is awarding America's highest military honour to 24 men previously denied the decoration because of discrimination.

Only three veterans receiving the Medal of Honor on Tuesday are still alive, all of whom served in Vietnam. The rest will be decorated posthumously.
The honours follow a 12-year Pentagon review of veterans affected by bias.
The recipients include Hispanic, African-American and Jewish veterans of World War Two, Korea and Vietnam.
On Tuesday afternoon Mr Obama welcomed the living veterans and family and friends of the deceased in a ceremony at the White House.
Climate of bias "This ceremony reminds us of one of the enduring qualities that makes America great," said the president. "That makes us exceptional.
"No nation is perfect, but here in America, we confront our imperfections and face a sometimes painful past, including the truth that some of these soldiers fought and died for a country that did not always see them as equal."
Retired Sgt First Class Melvin Morris, who was wounded in Vietnam, told the BBC beforehand that it would be "a nervous moment" standing next to the president.
"I can't be nothing but proud," he said. "Even though it may come late, better late than never."

Midterm mania: Democratic pundits hitting the panic button

The conventional wisdom -- that Democrats will probably lose the Senate this fall -- is now hardening into cement. 
Even Democratic pundits are falling into line.
We all know that politics is a never-ending spin cycle in which commentators cast their own side in the most favorable light. That helps explain why some conservatives insisted up to Election Day that Mitt Romney was going to send Barack Obama packing.
It's still early for definitive pronouncements about whether Republicans will pick up the six seats they need to make Mitch McConnell majority leader. However nationalized the election, these are a series of local races.
But when Chris Matthews, a former Tip O'Neill aide, is talking down his party's chances, it's a recognition of reality. "It's going to be very hard to hold the Senate--I think the Senate goes," he said on MSNBC.
Give him points for honesty: Matthews isn't glossing over the bad news for the Dems, He added that Republicans have "passion" and Democrats are "not sure of themselves."
Another MSNBC commentator, who famously worked for the president, is similarly downbeat. As Mediaite noted, Robert Gibbs served up his pessimism with one caveat involving his former boss.
Unless Obama steps up his fundraising for Democratic candidates, Gibbs said on "Meet the Press," “you lose the Senate. And if you lose the Senate, turn out the lights, the party’s over.”
When Gibbs jumped from the White House to MSNBC, he told me he wouldn't just be an administration mouthpiece. And with those comments, he proved it (though he is, understandably, consistently pro-Obama).
Maybe some liberal commentators will shift to cheerleading mode when the midterms enter their stretch run. But for now, some of MSNBC's top voices are engaged in reality-based programming. Or maybe they're just depressed.

Chris Christie Town Hall Disrupted By Protesters

SOUTH RIVER, N.J. (AP) — At least a dozen protesters have disrupted a town hall meeting with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
Several audience members stood and began shouting about how his administration has distributed Superstorm Sandy relief aid. They also asked why the governor hasn't fired the head of a bistate transit agency in the wake of a political payback scandal.
The ongoing scandal is overshadowing Christie's administration and raising questions about his chances as a 2016 presidential candidate.
Christie stood by as police escorted out the protesters. Some were shouting "New Jersey deserves better."
Moments earlier, the Republican governor had criticized the head of a legislative panel investigating the plot by Christie operatives that's at the heart of the scandal, which involved blocking traffic for political retribution.

Obama picks long-time aide as new deputy chief of staff

President Obama’s new deputy chief of staff will be long-serving aide Anita Breckenridge, the White House said Tuesday.
Breckenridge has been associated with Obama since 2003, most recently as his personal assistant.
“She has impeccable judgment, extraordinary foresight and the battle-tested resolve to help lead this White House for the next three years,” said White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough.
The 35-year-old Breckenridge will replaces outgoing Deputy Chief of Staff Alyssa Mastromonaco.
“Nobody works harder for President Obama,” McDonough said. “Alyssa has served at the president’s side for the past 10 years, and her leadership can be felt in all corners of the White House.”
Breckenridge and Obama met 11 years ago at an event in Illinois when he was a state senator and she was a political operative.
She went on to oversee his regional offices in the southern part of Illinois. Obama later hired Breckenridge to work on his presidential campaign, which included helping with his announcement in 2007 in Springfield, Ill., that he would seek the White House.
Breckenridge served as chief of staff at the National Endowment for the Arts from January 2009 until May 2011, when Obama asked her to work in the White House.

White House launches new climate data initiative Wednesday

The White House is launching an initiative Wednesday that aims to expand the use of climate data nationwide, to help communities cope with the impacts of global warming.
The effort includes making federal data more accessible through climate.data.gov; launching a design competition to demonstrate the extent to which Americans are vulnerable to coastal flooding; releasing new federal map data to depict which aspects of the nation's infrastructure are vulnerable to climate change; and enlisting private firms such as Google and the software company Esri to disseminate and store data.
In a joint blog post, White House counselor John D. Podesta and the president's science adviser John P. Holdren wrote that the effort "will help create easy-to-use tools for regional planners, farmers, hospitals, and businesses across the country—and empower America’s communities to prepare themselves for the future."
"Every citizen will be affected by climate change—and all of us must work together to make our communities stronger and more resilient to its impacts," they wrote.
The administration tried to launch a similar effort back in 2010. Modeled loosely on the National Weather Service, the administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration at the time, Jane Lubchenco, called it a National Climate Service.
NOAA had begun exploring the idea toward the end of the Bush administration, when officials became increasingly concerned the agricultural industry as well as regional and local planners lacked the climate data they needed to make long-term decisions. But congressional Republicans resisted the idea.
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Finance Minister Jim Flaherty Resigns From Cabinet

Jim Flaherty, one of Canada's longest-serving finance ministers, has announced his resignation from cabinet.
Flaherty, first elected in 2006 after a long career in Ontario politics, says he plans to return to the private sector.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued a statement saying he had accepted Flaherty's decision "with great reluctance." Harper said he would name a replacement within days.
Sources tell HuffPost Canada that while Flaherty's resignation from cabinet is effective immediately, he will stay on as an MP for now. The prime minister's statement said that Flaherty would "eventually" return to the private sector.

Joe Oliver's replacement of Jim Flaherty reassures Bay Street: Greg Weston

In tapping 73-year-old Natural Resources Minister and former investment banker Joe Oliver to replace retiring Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, the prime minister has apparently opted for public confidence over personal charisma in an attempt to reassure Bay Street — and Canadian voters — that the economy is being passed from one seasoned hand to another. 

At risk is the Conservative brand, built on a perception of economic stewardship.

That is the party’s political strength, and with the next federal election barely 18 months away, no one was more closely associated with the fiscal brand than Flaherty, the only finance minister the Conservatives have ever known in power.
Suddenly he’s gone, that wry Irish twinkle giving a final farewell wink to politics and the prime minister.
It was not his difficult health problems of the past year, said Flaherty. At 64, it was just time to go.

Quebec Election 2014: New Poll Has Quebec Liberals Favoured Over PQ 

MONTREAL - Parti Quebecois Leader Pauline Marois, faced with slumping support in opinion polls, sharpened her attacks on her main rival Tuesday, suggesting electing Philippe Couillard as premier would mean a return to the "ethical problems" of his predecessor Jean Charest's government.
It was a tougher line from Marois, who has so far suggested Couillard has no ideas about how to govern the province.
The CROP online survey was conducted March 12 to 16 and put the Liberals at 39 per cent support and the PQ at 36 per cent among respondents.
The same poll, which was done for Montreal La Presse, said two-thirds of respondents indicated they did not want a referendum on sovereignty and that roughly the same amount believed the PQ would hold a referendum if elected on April 7.
Persistent questions about Marois' sovereignty agenda has often derailed discussions of other issues such as the controversial secularism charter which the PQ had cited as a priority as the campaign began.
Marois insisted Tuesday her party's message is on track.
"I'm very satisfied with the game plan we have put forth," Marois told her only media availability of the day before heading off to prepare for Thursday's televised debate. "What concerns me, on the other hand, is returning to the old ways under the Liberals.

Quebec Mohawks likely to declare own independence if PQ wins sovereignty referendum: Grand Chief

Leaders from Mohawk communities near Montreal say they will likely declare their own independence if a re-elected Parti Québécois succeeds in winning a third sovereignty referendum.
“We’d never be part of Quebec or cede out of Canada because we don’t believe we are Canadians to begin with. Our ties are to the land,” said Grand Chief Michael Delisle of Kahnawake, which counts about 8,000 Mohawks. “I would take a wild guess and I’m sure I’d be right my community would absolutely turn down any sovereignty movement by the provincial government.”
At Akwesasne, about 12,000 Mohawks live on a territory that is mostly in Quebec but also straddles Ontario and northern New York.
“I would advise our council and community to hold our own vote in order to determine whether we would stay within the borders of Quebec or separate ourselves,” said Mohawk Council of Akwesasne Grand Chief Mike Kanentakeron Mitchell in a press release Tuesday. “With the potential threat of this region’s culture and language becoming distinctly French, we must concern ourselves with the reality that there is not even 1% of the Akwesasne population that speaks the French language.”

Afghan mission: Stephen Harper sets May 9 as day of honour

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is designating May 9 as a national day of honour to commemorate Canada's mission in Afghanistan as he welcomed the last group of soldiers returning home in Ottawa Tuesday morning.
"I know that you have had a long journey and you are anxious to be at home with your friends and loved ones," Harper said in his speech.
"It is important, however, that, as a country, we pause to mark this moment."
The troops, escorted by CF-18 fighter jets, arrived at the Ottawa airport where they were greeted with a welcome ceremony that includes Governor General David Johnston, Defence Minister Rob Nicholson and Defence Chief General Thomas Lawson.  
Perhaps most importantly, the 93 soldiers were welcomed home by their families. The scene at the airport was one of warm embraces, smiles and tears.
"Thank you to all members of the Canadian Armed Forces, to those who served in Afghanistan and those who made it possible for them to serve,” Harper said.
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