Gazette 04-11-14

  Friday April 11 2014 

Iraq deputy PM al-Mutlaq survives convoy ambush

An Iraqi deputy prime minister has survived an assassination attempt west of Baghdad, his office says.

Militants dressed as soldiers opened fire on a convoy carrying Saleh al-Mutlaq and other officials, triggering a shootout.
One security guard was killed and three others wounded, a security source told BBC Arabic.
The attack comes three weeks before Iraqis are due to head to polls in parliamentary elections.
Mr Mutlaq's party had been inspecting flood damage after an al Qaeda-linked group closed a dam in nearby Fallujah.
No group has said it carried out the attack. Islamist militants in Iraq have frequently targeted officials in an effort to undermine confidence in the Shia-led government of Prime Minister Nouri Maliki.
Sunni politician Talal al-Zobaie said he had been accompanying the deputy prime minister, also a Sunni, and several other government officials on a visit to villages in the Abu Ghraib area at the time.
After the shootout, the attackers fled the scene, he said.
Both Mr Zobaie and Mr Mutlaq have in the past called on Iraqi politicians to put aside their ethnic and religious differences and focus on protecting the nation.

Israel imposes tax sanction on Palestinian Authority

Israel has imposed sanctions against the Palestinian Authority (PA) in retaliation for its signing up to join international treaties, officials say.

They say taxes collected on behalf of the PA will be frozen, with limited access to bank deposits in Israel.
Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat condemned the move as "Israeli hijacking" and "theft".
It is the latest in a series of steps by both sides which have strained US-led peace-making efforts.
Israel says the move by the PA to join the treaties breached a commitment made before talks resumed last July after a three-year hiatus.
On Friday, Switzerland confirmed that "the state of Palestine" had acceded to the Geneva Conventions, which govern the rules of war and military occupations.
The Palestinians have repeatedly accused Israel of breaching the Fourth Geneva Convention by pursuing settlement construction in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967.
Israel has rejected the charge, saying the convention should not apply there since neither had been sovereign territory but under Jordanian occupation when Israel took control of them in the 1967 Middle East war.
'Narrowing gaps' Israeli officials are quoted as saying that debt payments will be deducted from tax transfers routinely received by the PA.
Israel collects taxes on behalf of the Palestinians, and transfers about $100m (80m euros) per month, accounting for two-thirds of the authority's budget.
It is not yet clear how much money will be withheld or for how long.
Israel has also said it will suspend its participation in a gas exploration off the coast of the Gaza Strip.

Syria chemical weapons claims need referral from state body, say inspectors

The international body tasked with destroying Syria's chemical weapons arsenal says it will investigate new opposition allegations that regime forces have used banned chemicals in at least three attacks since January if the claims are referred by an appropriate state authority.
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said it would need a referral from a state signatory to the treaty banning the use of such weapons before looking at the claims, which come amid a protracted withdrawal of Syria's 1,200 tonnes of sarin, mustard gas and the precursors used to make them.
A senior Israeli defence official said earlier this week that new chemical attacks had taken place in the suburbs of the Syrian capital, Damascus. The claim supported complaints by rebel groups in Harasta that at least three people had been killed in late March, with several dozen more taken ill, after shells landing near them discharged noxious fumes.
Israel concluded the effects were not caused by sarin or mustard gas, but could have come from an industrial-strength substance, such as a pesticide. The UK said it was also investigating the claims.
On Friday the Syrian opposition leadership repeated its demand for the claims be examined. But as a non-state body it has no sway over the OPCW, which has so far overseen the surrender of 53% of Syria's arsenal.
Monzer Akbik, a senior opposition official, said: "The regime repeatedly uses chemical weapons on Syrian civilians, so many can testify to this. And with the regime way behind on [UN security council] resolution 2118 on chemical weapons removal, and constantly violating humanitarian resolution 2139 with its barrel bombs and starvation campaigns, it is time for the international community to start taking seriously their responsibility to protect Syrian civilians."

Egypt's Tahrir Square dream fades as Sisi builds power 

CAIRO - In a courthouse near Cairo, a peremptory message hangs above the judge presiding over one of a series of trials involving Egypt's briefly powerful and now almost impotent Muslim Brotherhood.
"In the name of God the Merciful", it reads, "Allah commands you to render trust to whom it is due, and when you judge between people to judge with justice".
The chaotic scenes in the court do not appear to measure up.
A metal cage held 33 members of the Brotherhood - outlawed as a terrorist organization after the army last July deposed Mohamed Morsi, the elected president who ruled in the Brotherhood's name for one tumultuous year.
Among them was Mohamed Badie, supreme guide of the Brotherhood. It is the most influential mainstream Islamist organization in the world and its confrontation with the army-backed authorities in Cairo has created a country more divided than at any time since the group was founded in Egypt in 1928.
Dressed in white robes and facing a string of charges, some of which carry the death penalty, the Brothers kept up a barrage of chants, from Allahu Akbar (God is Greatest) to "Down, down with military rule".
The judge, heavily mustached and wearing black sunglasses, looked bored as he scornfully dismissed pleas from lawyers asking for more respectful treatment of their clients.


13 Pakistan militants die in fresh infighting

MIRANSHAH: At least 13 militants were killed in a bombing and a gunfight in Pakistan's restive tribal areas on Friday, the latest clashes in almost a week of infighting between rival Taliban factions.

A total of 56 people have been killed in the violence which erupted on Sunday between supporters of commander Khan Said Sajna and followers of the late Hakimullah Mehsud group in troubled North Waziristan.

Both factions are part of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) umbrella group, which has been waging a bloody seven-year insurgency against the state.

Ten insurgents were killed in clashes that began when members of the Sajna group came under rocket attack in their car in the town of Shawal, a local intelligence official told AFP.

Militant sources confirmed the clash and casualties. The feud began after Sajna, a senior commander, was rejected for the TTP leadership following the killing of then-leader Mehsud last November, militants say.

The TTP has long been riven by infighting. Sajna had been seen as a strong candidate to become TTP chief following Mehsud's death.

But the movement's ruling council at the last minute elected Mullah Fazlullah, who hails from Swat and is believed to be hiding in Afghanistan.

Ukraine Turns To Europe For Gas After Russian Threats

KIEV, April 11 (Reuters) - Ukraine said on Friday it would turn to Europe for gas and won a promise of help from Brussels after Russia warned it could cut supplies over Kiev's refusal to pay Moscow's "political, uneconomic price" for supplies.

Presenting a united front a day after President Vladimir Putin wrote to the European Union warning that its supplies could be disrupted if Ukraine failed to cover its bills, European officials said they had little to fear and would help Ukraine pay.

With Russia increasing the pressure on Ukraine's faltering economy, Ukrainian Energy Minister Yuri Prodan told parliament the EU would stand in solidarity with Kiev if Russia reduced supplies, making sure Moscow could not increase flows through alternative pipelines to bypass its neighbor.

US threatens fresh sanctions against Russia over Ukraine

WASHINGTON –  Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew is warning Russia that it could face tougher economic sanctions because of its actions in Ukraine but so far other economic powers are showing a reluctance to go as far as the United States.
Lew delivered his warning Thursday to Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, telling him that the Obama administration was willing to impose "additional significant sanctions" if Russia escalates the Ukraine situation. Treasury said in a statement that Lew described Russia's annexation of Crimea as "illegal and illegitimate."
Lew met Siluanov in advance of talks between finance ministers and central bank presidents of the Group of Seven major economic powers and a broader Group of 20, which includes the traditional powers and emerging economies such as China, Brazil and India.
Lew's tough language did not find its way into a joint statement from the G-7, and there was no hint that sanctions against Russia might be strengthened.
Instead, the G-7 statement said the major economic powers had discussed "the situation in Ukraine, its financing needs and the international response."
It was expected that Russia also would be spared any criticism in the G-20 communique, which was scheduled to be issued at the end of the G-20 talks Friday.

Venezuela's President, Opposition Start Talks As Unrest Death Toll Hits 40

CARACAS, April 10 (Reuters) - President Nicolas Maduro was due to host Venezuelan opposition leaders on Thursday at the start of mediated talks intended to stem two months of political unrest that has killed dozens in the OPEC nation.

Underlying the gravity of the crisis, authorities said on Thursday a policeman was shot dead in western Barquisimeto city while dispersing a demonstration.

That took the official death toll to 40.

Some hardline opposition groups, including the party of jailed protest leader Leopoldo Lopez, are boycotting Thursday's scheduled talks while dozens of demonstrators remain in jail.

Kim's secret weapon: North Korea 'is capable of striking U.S. with a nuclear electromagnetic pulse attack'

Peter Vincent Pry 'has seen' leaked report from Homeland Security

• EMP attack could instantly cripple defense and infrastructure systems

Dr Pry says any missile is likely to travel over the South Pole

U.S. has 'no early warning radars' to prevent attack from the south

North Korea has the capability to deliver on its threats to carry out a nuclear electromagnetic pulse attack on the United States, it has been claimed.
Dr Peter Vincent Pry, executive director of the Task Force on National and Homeland Security, has reportedly seen a long-suppressed government report that concludes North Korea is capable of using an Unha-3 rocket to carry out an attack on the U.S..
He says the U.S. would be particularly vulnerable to such an attack, as any rocket from North Korea is likely to travel over the South Pole and approach from the south - something American missile defences would apparently be powerless to stop.
Dr Pry made the claims in an interview with the World News Daily website, in which he was quoted as saying: 'The North Koreans are seeing what they can get away with... It shows that Pyongyang is planning something big against the U.S.'
Related Story: DHS study: North Korea capable of EMP attack on U.S.

Italy's navy rescues 6,000 migrants in just four days, U.N. agency says

The Italian navy has rescued about 6,000 people in the past four days from more than 40 overcrowded boats in the Mediterranean, the United Nations' refugee agency said Friday.

Its figures give a new indication of the scale of the challenge faced by Italian authorities in keeping up with the flow of migrants seeking to reach European soil.

About 18,000 people have arrived by sea in Italy so far this year, while in 2013, the number of arrivals was near 43,000, the UNHCR said. Of those who arrived last year, the largest group, more than 11,300, were Syrians fleeing the conflict in their homeland.

Of those picked up off the Italian islands of Sicily and Calabria in the past four days, a large number were women and children, including newborns and unaccompanied minors, UNHCR spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said in a prepared statement Friday.

Many were fleeing violence, conflict and persecution, the statement said. The migrants, who had set off from Zwara, in Libya, in search of safety within the European Union, have now been taken to Italian ports.

The UNHCR has urged countries to work together to rescue people at sea at the same time as looking for legal migration channels that will prevent people from risking their lives at sea.

"The Mediterranean is one of the busiest seaways in the world, as well as a dangerous sea frontier for many asylum-seekers trying to find safety in Europe," the statement said.

"The challenges of protecting refugees traveling irregularly by sea in search of safety, often together with people moving for other reasons, are complex."

The agency also says that the reception centers in which asylum seekers are held after they are rescued must be adequate.

HHS Secretary Sebelius resigning on heels of ObamaCare rollout

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who was the face of the president's health care law, is resigning from the Obama administration -- a decision that closes one of the rockiest tenures in Obama's Cabinet. 
Sebelius leaves the administration after the tumultuous launch of the Affordable Care Act exchanges last fall. Despite calls for her ouster from Republicans at the time, she stayed on until the enrollment period ended at the end of March. 
A White House official said President Obama will formally make the announcement on Friday, and nominate White House budget office director Sylvia Matthews Burwell to replace the outgoing secretary. The Senate would have to confirm Burwell to the position. 
The administration has since touted the surge in enrollment in the last few weeks, with Sebelius saying Thursday that 7.5 million American have now signed up for coverage under the law. 
But the technical difficulties surrounding the launch, as well as ongoing concerns about the implementation of the law, hung over her. She leaves just one week after the enrollment period ended, and as a tough midterm election cycle expected to focus heavily on ObamaCare begins. 
Republicans quickly made clear that Sebelius' departure will not temper their criticisms of ObamaCare. 

Shoe thrown at Hillary Clinton during Vegas speech

LAS VEGAS –  A woman was taken into federal custody Thursday after throwing a shoe at Hillary Clinton as the former Secretary of State began a Las Vegas convention keynote speech.
The incident happened moments after Clinton took the stage before an Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries meeting at the Mandalay Bay resort.
Clinton ducked, and she did not appear to be hit by the object. She then joked about it.
"Is that somebody throwing something at me? Is that part of Cirque de Soleil?" Clinton quipped.
Many in the audience of more than 1,000 people in a large ballroom laughed and applauded as Clinton resumed her speech.
"My goodness, I didn't know that solid waste management was so controversial," Clinton said. "Thank goodness she didn't play softball like I did."
Brian Spellacy, U.S. Secret Service supervisory special agent in Las Vegas, said the woman was being questioned and would face criminal charges. Spellacy declined to identify the woman, and he said it wasn't immediately clear what the charges would be.
A black and orange shoe was recovered from the stage, Spellacy said.
Ilene Rosen, the wife of a conventioneer from Denver who was seated in the second row, said she saw an orange object fly toward the stage from a side aisle and papers fluttering in the air.
Rosen said the woman had walked down the aisle to within six rows of the front of the seating area, threw the items, turned around, put her hands in the air and walked toward the back of the room. Security officers quickly caught up with her.
In the hotel hallway, the middle-aged blonde woman sat calmly on a sofa, wearing a blue dress and thong sandals. She said she threw a shoe and dropped some papers, but didn't identify herself to reporters or explain the action. Security officials then ushered reporters and photographers away.

House approves budget that would save money by taking from federal workers

It was a lovely day at the Capitol Building — at least outside.
The cherry blossoms and tulip trees were aglow, groups of children in matching shirts scampered about and members of Congress posed with eager constituents on the Capitol steps.

Inside in the House chamber, the mood was fairly friendly, too. Discussion between Republicans and Democrats on a budget measure was pointed but not angry, as those debates sometimes can be.
By lunchtime the votes were cast, and suddenly Thursday became gloomy for federal employees. The House approved a Republican spending plan, sponsored by Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (Wis.), which would effectively cut the pay of federal workers and end their student loan reimbursement program, among other elements.
Senate approval of the GOP budget is not likely.
“If enacted, the budget’s policies would further erode employee morale and hinder recruitment and retention,” said Joseph A. Beaudoin, president of the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association. “Chairman Ryan’s budget sends a clear message — federal employees, and the work they perform, aren’t valued. Is this the message we should be sending to those who take criminals off our streets and keep them behind bars, assist our military at home and abroad, care for veterans, and help us prepare for and recover from severe weather?”
Ryan, of course, doesn’t see it that way.

Senate Dems facing tough re-election campaigns urge Obama to approve Keystone

Eleven Senate Democrats, including six who face contested re-election races this year, urged President Barack Obama on Thursday to approve the Keystone XL oil pipeline by the end of May.
The five-year review of the Canada-to-Texas pipeline has been "exhaustive in its time, breadth and scope" and has taken longer than reasonably justified, the senators wrote to the president.
Approval of the pipeline is needed to ensure pipeline operator TransCanada does not miss another construction season, the senators' letter said.
But politics likely is a larger factor. Six of the Democrats who signed the letter face challenges this year: Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Mark Begich of Alaska, Mark Pryor of Arkansas, John Walsh of Montana, Kay Hagan of North Carolina and Mark Warner of Virginia.
Democratic efforts to keep control of the Senate could hinge on those races. All but North Carolina are significant energy-producing states. Obama lost all but Virginia in 2012.
The Keystone XL pipeline has emerged as an election-year dilemma for Democrats.
Wealthy party donors are funding candidates who oppose the project — a high-profile symbol of the political debate over climate change. But some of the party's most vulnerable incumbents are pipeline boosters, including the six who signed the letter Thursday.

Blackburn Mulling a White House Bid

Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) will consider running for president in 2016 -- "if she sees an opportunity to do so," an aide told RealClearPolitics.

"Blackburn is scheduled to be one of the speakers at a New Hampshire Republican rally this weekend but was not previously known to be mulling a White House bid... Blackburn is a staunch social and fiscal conservative who was first elected to Congress in 2002, and a presidential run by her would be a long shot by any measure."

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