Gazette 05-21-14

Wednesday May 21st 2014

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Pakistan: North Waziristan strikes 'kill 60 militants'

Pakistan says it has killed 60 militants in North Waziristan in the deadliest air strikes in months, throwing peace talks into doubt.

A military statement said the dead included "important commanders" and foreigners, but did not specify who.
Local residents in the Mir Ali area described hearing huge explosions after helicopters and jets flew overhead in the early hours.
North Waziristan is a stronghold of Taliban and al Qaeda-linked militants.
It is one of seven lawless tribal agencies, but the army have pushed the militants out of their bases in most of the other ones.
The government has been pursuing peace talks with the Pakistani Taliban, but the country's powerful military remains hesitant about the move.
'Huge explosions' Senior military officials said Wednesday's air strikes were launched after they had "confirmed intelligence information about hideouts of the militants and their top commanders".
Although they did not name the targeted commanders, officials said the strikes were aimed at those involved in recent attacks against Pakistani armed forces and Pakistani soldiers.
At least nine soldiers were killed and several critically wounded by a roadside bomb in the region earlier this month.

Taliban attacks across Afghanistan kill 21

KABUL, Afghanistan –  Taliban fighters launched attacks in several Afghan provinces on Wednesday, killing at least 10 policemen and three civilians, officials said. Villagers also found the bodies of eight slain policemen who were abducted by militants two weeks ago.
The violence comes as the Islamic militant group has launched its annual spring offensive promising to step up attacks against Afghan security forces in a bid to undermine the Western-backed government as foreign combat troops prepare to withdraw by the end of the year. The Taliban also have pledged to disrupt voting as Afghans prepare for a second round of presidential elections on June 14. The first round was relatively peaceful, but no candidate won a majority forcing a runoff vote between the top two vote-getters -- Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai.

Insurgents ambushed several police checkpoints in the northeastern Badakhshan province, prompting gunbattles that left six policemen dead in the Yamgan district, provincial police chief Gen. Fazeluddin Ayar said. The fighting started late Tuesday and lasted into Wednesday.
Reinforcements were sent to the site, but the police were forced to pull back from the area and were fighting the Taliban forces from surrounding mountains as army helicopters flew overhead, Ayar said. Five insurgents also were killed, and three policemen were wounded, he added.
The Taliban said its fighters had raised the movement's white flag above the district headquarters.

 Nigeria violence: 'Boko Haram kill 17' in village attack

The Islamist group Boko Haram has been accused of killing at least 17 people in an attack on a village in north-east Nigeria, close to where hundreds of schoolgirls were seized.

It comes a day after 118 people died in a double bombing in the central city of Jos, also blamed on Boko Haram.
In the latest attack, Boko Haram fighters reportedly spent hours killing and looting in the village of Alagarno.
Alagarno is near Chibok, from where the schoolgirls were abducted last month.
The abductions of more than 200 girls caused international outrage and prompted foreign powers to send military advisers to assist Nigeria's army.
People in north-east Nigeria are extremely vulnerable to attacks because many areas are no-go zones for the military and the insurgents operate freely, correspondents say.

4 killed, dozens injured in Taiwan subway stabbing spree

TAIPEI, Taiwan –  A university student wielding a knife attacked riders aboard a subway train in Taiwan's capital on Wednesday, killing four people and injuring at least 21 others, police and local media said.
The seemingly random attack occurred at about 4 p.m. at the start of the evening rush hour aboard a train on Taipei's Banqiao line, which leads to the city's southwestern suburbs.

Photos showed the floor of one of the train's cars and the adjacent station platform splattered with blood and strewn with backpacks, umbrellas and other items.
The government's Central News Agency and other media described panicked passengers rushing from the train when it arrived at Jiangzicui station, shouting for those waiting on the platform to flee.
They said security guards quickly called police, who arrived within minutes and took the man into custody. They said the man reeked of alcohol.
"Everyone in the train was trying to run to the other side. No one tried to stop the criminal suspect," a woman injured in the attack told reporters at a local hospital. The woman, who was stabbed in the hand, would only give her surname, Yen.
Pictures showed the attacker handcuffed sitting against a wall, his face covered in blood. He was dressed in white tennis shoes, black shorts and a red T-shirt.

Liberman: US has no right to tell Israel to investigate deaths of Palestinians

Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman said on Wednesday during a speech at Ariel University that he rejects the international community's requests to investigate the killing of two Palestinian teenagers – allegedly by the IDF – during the May 15 Nakba Day riots by Ofer Prison near Ramallah.
"We don't need an American demand to investigate what happened. The IDF is the most moral army in the world. I am sorry that such demands don't come for other situations. In Syria, close to 170 thousand people have been killed and I haven't seen any active response from the international community to investigate those deaths. Hamas kills Gazans without trials. I haven't seen any requests from the international community regarding that," the foreign minister said.
Liberman continued and questioned the authenticity of the videos. "Moreover, the video wasn't released immediately, rather a few days later, and it raises questions."

China Signs 30-Year Gas Deal With Russia's Gazprom

SHANGHAI (AP) — China signed a landmark deal Wednesday to buy Russian natural gas worth about $400 billion, giving a boost to diplomatically isolated President Vladimir Putin and expanding Moscow's ties with Asia.
Price negotiations on the 30-year deal continued into the final hours of a two-day visit by Putin to China, during which both sides had said they hoped to sign an agreement.
Putin was in Shanghai for an Asian security conference where China's president called for a new model of Asian security cooperation based on a regional group that includes Russia and Iran and excludes the United States.
The gas deal gives Moscow an economic boost at a time when Washington and the European Union have imposed visa bans and asset freezes on dozens of Russian officials and several companies over Ukraine. It allows Russia to diversify its markets for gas, which now goes mostly to Europe.
The agreement "opened the door for Russia to enter into Asia's gas market," said Keun-Wook Paik, senior research fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies.
Politically, the deal has provided "a breathing space for Russia," Paik said. "Russia, and Putin, can demonstrate it's not completely isolated because of the Ukraine crisis. Russia has demonstrated that they have a very reliable strategic partnership with China."
Russia's economy has been bruised by its dispute with the West over Ukraine's tilt toward the European Union, a shift that inflamed Moscow's insecurities about declining influence and sparked its annexation of Crimea in March.

Egyptian doctor to stand trial for female genital mutilation in landmark case

Raslan Fadl, a doctor in a Nile delta village, is accused of killing 13-year-old schoolgirl Sohair al-Bata'a in a botched operation

A doctor is to stand trial in Egypt on charges of female genital mutilation on Thursday, the first case of its kind in a country where FGM is illegal but widely accepted.
Activists warned this week that the landmark case was just one small step towards eradicating the practice, as villagers openly promised to uphold the tradition and a local police chief said it was near-impossible to stamp out.
Raslan Fadl, a doctor in a Nile delta village, is accused of killing 13-year-old schoolgirl Sohair al-Bata'a in a botched FGM operation last June. Sohair's father, Mohamed al-Bata'a, will also be charged with complicity in her death.
Fadl denies the charges, and claims Sohair died due to an allergic reaction to penicillin she took during a procedure to remove genital warts.
"What circumcision? There was no circumcision," Fadl shouted on Tuesday evening, sitting outside his home where Sohair died last summer. "It's all made up by these dogs' rights people [human rights activists]."
In the next village along, Sohair's parents had gone into hiding, according to their family. Her grandmother – after whom Sohair was named – admitted an FGM operation had taken place, but disapproved of the court case.
"This is her destiny," said the elder Sohair. "What can we do? It's what God ordered. Nothing will help now."
According to Unicef, 91% of married Egyptian women aged between 15 and 49 have been subjected to FGM, 72% of them by doctors, even though the practice was made illegal in 2008. Unicef's research suggests that support for the practice is gradually falling: 63% of women in the same age bracket supported it in 2008, compared with 82% in 1995.

NATO: No Evidence Of Russian Troop Withdrawal From Ukraine Border

MOSCOW, May 21 (Reuters) - Russia said on Wednesday that troops deployed for exercises near the Ukrainian border had now dismantled equipment and were moving to train stations and airfields for return to their permanent bases, but NATO said it saw no sign of a pullout.

The Kremlin said on Monday that President Vladimir Putin had told his defense chief to order troops to pull back from the frontier with Ukraine, where eastern regions have fallen largely under the control of pro-Russian rebels.

After spending a day dismantling field camps, packing and preparing military vehicles, forces in the Rostov, Belgorod and Bryansk provinces "have begun to move toward train stations and airfields", the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

It said troops were returning to their permanent bases, but did not specify how many troops were leaving the border provinces and made no mention of two other provinces that border eastern Ukraine.

A withdrawal, cooling Western fears of a any immediate Russian intervention, could ease tension before Sunday's presidential election in Ukraine. The United States and EU hope the vote will strengthen the central government in Kiev, which is fighting pro-Moscow separatists in the east.

NATO has said Russia had amassed some 40,000 troops near the border, adding to tension since Russia's annexation of the Crimea region which brought relations to a post-Cold War low.

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Wednesday that the alliance had still seen no "visible evidence" of a Russian troop withdrawal from the border.

Warning shots fired at three North Korean ships crossing sea border

Seoul, South Korea (CNN) -- The South Korean Navy fired warning shots after three North Korean patrol boats crossed the maritime border at the Yellow Sea, an official with the South Korean Defense Ministry said.

The North Korean boats crossed into the South Korean waters at the boundary, known as Northern Limit Line (NLL), at around 4 p.m. local time (3 a.m. ET) on Tuesday. The ships returned to the northern side after a South Korean naval vessel fired ten warning shots.

The NLL is the de facto maritime border, which stretches from the western coast of the peninsula into the Yellow Sea, marking the boundary between the two neighbors. It was set by the United Nations following the Korean War but the North does not recognize it.

Incidents have been known to occur on and around the border, including one earlier this year when North and South Korean artillery batteries exchanged hundreds of shells.

 US imposes new sanctions on 12 Russians

Washington: The Obama administration on Tuesday levelled sanctions against 12 Russians for human rights abuses including the detention and death of a lawyer who the United States says sought to expose fraud by Russian officials.
The sanctions were announced under a 2012 law named for the lawyer, Sergei L. Magnitsky, who died in detention in November 2009 and whose case has become a symbol of human rights abuses in Russia.
The United States imposed sanctions on 18 Russians under the Magnitsky Act in April 2013, and USlawmakers and human rights activists had expected the Obama administration to add to that list in December.
Ten of the individuals named Tuesday were linked to the Magnitsky case, the Treasury Department said. They include Larisa Litvinova, Dmitry Kratov and Alexandra Gauss, three doctors who worked at detention centres who "withheld appropriate medical care" for Magnitsky, according to the department. The department also imposed sanctions on Igor B. Alisov, a Russian judge who oversaw the posthumous trial of Magnitsky for tax evasion.
The Treasury Department also cited four individuals it said were involved in the "criminal conspiracy" uncovered by Magnitsky.
The sanctions include a freeze on assets the people might have in the United States and a ban on travel visas.
David J. Kramer, the president of Freedom House, a human rights group, said the White House had resisted in December expanding the list of individuals under sanctions because the move would have come at a time when the Obama administration was seeking to maintain a good working relationship with the Kremlin.
Still, Mr Kramer said he was "rather pleased with the list."
Jen Psaki, the State Department spokeswoman, denied that there had been a delay.
"We add new names to the list as credible information becomes available," she said in a statement.

Obama: 'I Will Not Stand For' Misconduct At Veterans Affairs Hospitals

WASHINGTON (AP) — Seeking to head off a growing furor over veterans' health care, President Barack Obama declared Wednesday that allegations of misconduct at Veterans Affairs hospitals are "dishonorable" and will be not be tolerated by his administration.
"I will not stand for it — not as commander in chief but also not as an American," Obama said following an Oval Office meeting with embattled VA Secretary Eric Shinseki.
The Obama administration is under mounting pressure from Capitol Hill to address troubling allegations of treatment delays and preventable deaths at VA hospitals. The VA Inspector General's office said late Tuesday that 26 facilities are being investigated nationwide — up from 10 just last week — including a Phoenix hospital where 40 veterans allegedly died while waiting for treatment and staff there kept a secret list of patients waiting for appointments to hide delays in care.
Obama said that anybody found to have to have manipulated records will be held accountable. But he appealed for patience as his deputy chief of staff, Rob Nabors, undertakes a review of VA policies, which is expected to be finished next week.
The president spoke hours before the House was scheduled to vote later Wednesday on a bill that would grant the VA secretary more authority to fire or demote senior executives. The White House has said it shares the goals of the House measure — to ensure accountability at the VA — but has concerns about some of the details.

Kerry off to Mexico for talks on Venezuelan crisis

The State Department said Wednesday the U.S. may have to take a larger role in trying to ease the crisis in Venezuela if a South American effort to broker talks between the government in Caracas and the opposition remains stalled.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was headed to Mexico to discuss potential next steps with officials there.

The U.S. has supported regional efforts to reach a compromise. But a senior State Department official told reporters Wednesday that the standoff needs to be resolved within days, or weeks at most, or risk the continued of violent unrest that has gripped Venezuela for months.
The official said Kerry and Mexican officials are expected to look at what more can each country do to help the regional talks and Washington may have to exert its influence with another country in the region which has stronger ties to Caracas. The official was not authorized to discuss the diplomatic plans by name and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Congress is considering issuing sanctions against Venezuelan officials to punish them for human rights abuses.

Special Operations Forces May Get 'Iron Man' Suit

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — In the 2008 movie "Iron Man," the main character becomes a superhero after building a suit of armor with an exoskeleton that gives him incredible strength.
Today, elite US special operations forces may be a few short years away from donning a similar suit, one that can monitor the user's vital signs, give him real-time battlefield information and be bulletproof from head to toe. The suit might eventually have other features unheard of only a few years ago, including an exoskeleton made of liquid armor, smart fabrics that could help stop hemorrhaging, enhanced sensory capabilities and Google Glass-like visuals.
The Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit (TALOS) project is coordinated through the Special Operations Command headquarters at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa. Prototypes are expected to be shown to military commanders in June, with hopes that the suit will be given to high-risk units in 2018.
While the project sounds like something out of a science fiction novel, its mission is simple, said James Geurts, the Deputy for Acquisition of the U.S. Special Operations Command at MacDill.
"We've lost a lot of guys to gunshot wounds and explosions," he said. "If there's anything I can do to more rapidly field technology, give better protection, better capability, any progress, I think we've done well."
Some companies working on the TALOS project are in Tampa this week for the International Special Operations Forces conference. The four-day event showcases special military technologies, gadgets and tools — from pen-like systems collecting chemical vapors to underwater robots. Several top analysts and military brass are also scheduled to speak, including SOCOM commander, Adm. William McRaven.

Republicans receive boost in Senate primaries

Republicans’ hopes of taking back the Senate received a big boost in primary elections Tuesday, with Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) easily winning and other candidates favored by the party establishment beating back tea party challengers.

After years of intraparty turmoil that cost Republicans key races, voters this year are coalescing around the GOP’s strongest candidates ahead of November’s general election, when control of the Senate during President Obama’s final two years in office will be up for grabs.

On Tuesday, the most consequential day of voting so far this year, Democrats were left disappointed. GOP Senate candidates prone to making controversial statements lost to better-financed, more disciplined rivals with the potential to capi­tal­ize on Obama’s unpopularity and the troubles with his signature health-care law.
Nowhere was this more evident than in Kentucky and Georgia, the only two states where Democrats think they can win Senate seats held by Republicans. Democrats had hoped McConnell would emerge from the primary campaign badly bruised, if not defeated, but he prevailed Tuesday largely unscathed and conservative groups quickly called for party unity.
And in Georgia, Democrats were banking on Republicans nominating a candidate so far to the right that he or she would alienate suburban centrist voters. But the two contenders considered to have the broadest general-election viability — businessman David Perdue and Rep. Jack Kingston — advanced to a July 22 runoff, complicating Democrat Michelle Nunn’s path to victory.
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