Gazette 05-22-14

Thursday May 22nd 2014

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Thai military seizes power in coup

Thailand's military has announced it is taking control of the government and has suspended the constitution.

In a TV statement, army chief Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha vowed to restore order and enact political reforms.
The cabinet has been told to report to the military, TV broadcasting is suspended and political gatherings are banned. A nationwide curfew will operate from 22:00 to 05:00 local time.
The coup follows months of political turmoil in Thailand.
On Tuesday the army imposed martial law. Talks were then held between the main political factions, but the army announced the coup on Thursday.
Key political figures, including opposition protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban and pro-government protest leader Jatuporn Prompan, were taken away from the talks venue after troops sealed off the area.

Man stabs passengers aboard Taiwan train

(CNN) -- Moments after his train left a station in Taipei on Wednesday, a young Taiwanese man randomly stabbed passengers before his violent fury ended when he was forced to the ground, police said.

At least four people were killed and 22 others injured in the incident -- the first such attack since the East Asian nation's mass rapid transit (MRT) system opened in 1996, media in Taiwan and nearby Hong Kong reported.

According to police, the suspect, a 21-year-old college student, began attacking people 20 seconds after his train left Longshan Temple Station in Taipei.

Staff were alerted something was wrong after people hit an emergency button, and the train stopped at the next station, Jiangzicui.

The man was subdued by Taipei City Police "along with MRT staff and courageous passengers," the Taipei City Police Department said in a press release.

The suspect was identified as Cheng Chieh, a second-year environmental engineering student at Tunghai University in Taichung, Taiwan's third largest city.

Cheng had been considering the attack for some time, a police spokesperson told reporters after the incident.

At least 13 killed in eastern Ukraine as violence spikes ahead of election

At least 13 Ukrainian troops have died in an attack on a military checkpoint in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine as growing violence threatens to disrupt Sunday's presidential election.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense confirms to Fox News that there was an attack, and acting President Oleksandr Turchynov said 13 troops were killed. Associated Press reporters at the scene saw 11 bodies at the Ukrainian military checkpoint in the village of Blahodatne, 20 miles southeast of Donetsk.

Witnesses told the AP that the checkpoint was attacked by pro-Russian insurgents who wounded 33 more Ukrainian troops.
Three charred Ukrainian armored infantry vehicles, their turrets blown away, and several burned trucks were seen at the site, in one of two regions in eastern Ukraine that have declared independence from the interim government in Kiev. A military helicopter landed, carrying officials who inspected the area.
Residents said attackers used an armored bank truck, which the unsuspecting Ukrainian soldiers waved through, and then mowed them down at point-blank range. Their account couldn't be independently confirmed.

North Korea Fires Into Disputed Waters, South Korea Returns Fire

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North and South Korean warships exchanged artillery fire Thursday in disputed waters off the western coast, South Korean military officials said, in the latest sign of rising animosity between the bitter rivals in recent weeks.
Officials from the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff and Defense Ministry said a South Korean navy ship was engaged in a routine patrol near the countries' disputed maritime boundary in the Yellow Sea when a North Korean navy ship fired two artillery shells. The shells did not hit the South Korean ship and fell in waters near it, they said.
The South Korean ship then fired several artillery rounds in waters near the North Korean ship which also did not hit it, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of office rules.
South Korea was trying to determine if the North Korean ship had attempted to hit the South Korean vessel but missed, or if the shells were not meant to hit the ship.
Officials said that residents on the frontline Yeonpyeong Island were evacuated to shelters, and fishing ships in the area were ordered to return to ports. In 2010, North Korea fired artillery at the island, killing two civilians and two marines.
Kang Myeong-sung, a Yeonpyeong resident, said in a phone interview that hundreds of residents were in underground shelters after loudspeakers ordered them there. He heard the sound of artillery fire and said many people felt uneasy at first but later began to stop worrying.
Both Koreas regularly conduct artillery drills in the disputed waters. The sea boundary is not clearly marked, and the area has been the scene of three bloody naval skirmishes between the rival Koreas since 1999.

Urumqi attack kills 31 in China's Xinjiang region

Attackers in China's restive Xinjiang region have crashed two cars into shoppers at a market, killing 31 people, Chinese media reports say.

They also threw explosives during the attack in the regional capital Urumqi. More than 90 people were injured, the state-run Xinhua news agency said.
The Ministry of Public Security called it a "violent terrorist incident".
Xinjiang, which is home to the Muslim Uighur minority, has seen a spate of attacks in the past year.
Information about incidents in the region, where ethnic tensions between Uighurs and Han Chinese continue, is tightly controlled.

Boko Haram Attacks 3 Nigerian Villages

JOS, Nigeria (AP) — Islamic militants killed 48 villagers in northeastern Nigeria near the town where they kidnapped 300 schoolgirls, and the U.S. said Wednesday it was sending in 80 military personnel to expand the drone search for the captives.
The developments came hours after twin car bombings claimed at least 130 lives in this central city — an escalating campaign of violence blamed on the Boko Haram terrorist network and its drive to impose an Islamic state on Nigeria.
The three villages attacked overnight Tuesday and early Wednesday are near the town of Chibok, where the girls were abducted from their boarding school in a brazen April 15 assault that has ignited a global movement to secure their freedom.
First lady Michelle Obama is among those who have joined a viral social media campaign under the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls, tweeting earlier this month, "Our prayers are with the missing Nigerian girls and their families. It's time to #BringBackOurGirls."
On Wednesday, President Barack Obama announced that the U.S. was sending in 80 military personnel to help in the search for the missing schoolgirls. In a letter to House Speaker John Boehner and the Senate, Obama said the service members were being sent to Chad, which borders northeastern Nigeria, to help with intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft missions over Nigeria and the nearby region.
The U.S. mission will help expand drone searches of the region, said Lt. Col. Myles Caggins, adding that this latest deployment will not be involved in ground searches.
The drone — a Predator — will be in addition to the unarmed Global Hawks already being used, a senior U.S. official said. The new flights will be based out of Chad and allow the military to expand its search effort, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

Russia and China veto UN move to refer Syria to international criminal court

Washington condemns Moscow and Beijing for sinking draft resolution backed by 65 countries and rest of security council

Russia and China have vetoed a draft UN resolution calling for the crisis in Syria to be referred to the international criminal court – ignoring support for the measure by 65 other countries and all other members of the security council.
Vitaly Churkin, Russia's UN ambassador, had earlier dismissed the vote as a "publicity stunt" and warned that if the resolution had passed it would hinder efforts to end the country's three-year war. However, no peace negotiations are currently taking place.
Thirteen of the security council's 15 members voted for the resolution. Russia and China both cast their vetoes – which are restricted to the five permanent members.
Samantha Power, the US ambassador, immediately attacked Moscow and Beijing, saying: "The Syrian people will not see justice today. They will see crime, but not punishment. The vetoes today have prevented the victims of atrocities from testifying at The Hague."
She cited the testimony of a Syrian defector, codenamed Casear, who produced photographic evidence – first reported by the Guardian – of the killing of 11,000 detainees in Syrian government custody.

Turkish aid group opposes dropping lawsuit against Israelis over 'Mavi Marmara' 

ISTANBUL - A Turkish relief agency said on Thursday it would oppose what it called an imminent Israeli offer to pay compensation for a deadly commando raid on its Gaza-bound aid flotilla in exchange for dropping lawsuits over the attack.

The two nations, erstwhile allies, have been negotiating for months to end a diplomatic crisis over the Israeli commandos' boarding of the Mavi Marmara, a Turkish ship challenging Israel's naval blockade of Palestinian-run Gaza Strip in 2010.

Eight Turks and a Turkish-American died in the operation.

In a rapprochement brokered by Washington, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu apologized to his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan last year and pledged compensation to the bereaved or hurt.

Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) said on Thursday it had been in close contact with Turkish government officials and had heard Israel and Turkey were about to finalize the terms of a formal settlement.

There was no immediate comment from either the Turkish or Israeli governments.

"We are hearing that an agreement will soon be announced on the compensation Israeli state will pay as an outcome of talks ... One of Israel's conditions is to drop the court cases," said Ugur Yildirim, a lawyer for IHH.

"We are warning the authorities against this clear violation of global law principles," he told reporters.

Israel is facing public and private prosecutions in Turkey over the killings. Israel has previously dismissed the cases as "political theater".

Libyan renegade general calls on government to give up power

Abyar: A Libyan renegade general has called on the government to hand over power to the country's top judges, mounting a challenge against Tripoli as heavy fighting erupted in the capital.
Western powers fear a call by General Khalifa Haftar for army units to join his campaign will split the nascent military and trigger more turmoil in the oil-producing country, which is struggling to restore order three years after the fall of strongman Muammar Gaddafi.
The government is unable to control the militias that helped oust Colonel Gaddafi in a NATO-backed 2011 uprising, but are now defying authority.

"I call on the top judicial council to form a crisis government to oversee the next elections," said the retired general, dressed in uniform and surrounded by senior officers.
The council is independent and is one of the few state bodies respected by normal Libyans tired of anarchy and militias.
General Haftar said government and parliament had lost any legitimacy because they were unable to purge the OPEC producer of extremists roaming around unchallenged.
Libya's top air defence commander has declared his support for General Hafta's campaign, which kicked off last Friday with a strike against Ansar al-Sharia and other militant groups in the eastern city of Benghazi.
Culture Minister Habib Amin also announced his backing, the first government minister to do so. He said parliament had failed to fight "terrorists", echoing General Haftar's rhetoric.
Tripoli residents reported several loud explosions early on Wednesday near the al-Yarmouk air defence barracks after air defence top commander Juma al-Abani released a video message saying he was joining "Operation Dignity", General Haftar's campaign against Islamists.
Heavy fighting involving anti-aircraft machine guns mounted on trucks also broke out near an army camp in Tajoura, an eastern suburb, witnesses said. At least two people from Mali died in the fighting, a health ministry source said.


Police say Taliban kidnap 27 Afghan officers 

KABUL: Taliban fighters kidnapped 27 police officers during an assault on a northeastern province in Afghanistan, authorities said on Thursday, part of the extremist group's spring offensive ahead of the withdrawal of foreign troops at the end of this year.

Gen. Fazeluddin Ayar, the police chief in Badakhshan province, said that the 27 officers were hiding in a cave during the Taliban attack on Wednesday in Yamgan district. The Taliban took the officers hostage and police have launched an effort to try and find them, Ayar said.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in a message to journalists. The militants routinely execute security forces they capture.

Insurgents ambushed several police checkpoints in Badakhshan province, killing at least six police officers in Yamgan district, Ayar said Wednesday. The fighting started late Tuesday and lasted into Wednesday.

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Democrats name five members to Benghazi panel

Democrats in the US Congress have named five representatives to a special panel on the Benghazi attacks despite arguing it is motivated by Republican politics.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Democrats would serve on the panel "to fight for a fair hearing and process".
Republicans have argued the Democratic Obama administration misled the public on the nature of the attack.

A US ambassador and three others were killed after an assault on the Libyan diplomatic post in September 2012.
Democrats have argued a series of previous panels and reports have already thoroughly documented the attack and its aftermath, and the Republican-led panel is a political ploy to raise campaign cash and motivate voters.

Nasty Texas GOP race gets nastier with brawl over psychiatric records

In the early days of the Texas Republic, candidates were known to call each other drunks and hog thieves. Elections haven't gotten much tamer since. A brutal Republican runoff for Texas lieutenant governor is shaping up as one of the nastiest races in the country, let alone the Lone Star State. 
The feud hit a flashpoint just days before early voting got under way this week, as one candidate's private medical history -- including caregiver notes from a psychiatric facility -- was released to reporters. The development follows a round of political mudslinging and attack ads. 

The verbal slugfest pits David Dewhurst, who has served as Texas lieutenant governor since 2003, against state Sen. Dan Patrick. The two are heading into a Republican runoff later this month. 
"Just when you think this race couldn't get any nastier, it sinks into the depths of the sewer," said Mark Jones, political science professor at Houston's Rice University. "I can't recall this level of negativity on personal issues before." 
The medical history on Patrick, drawn from a criminal and civil court case, was released by Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, who finished fourth in the primary but later endorsed Dewhurst. The records chronicle psychiatric hospital stays in 1982 and 1986 in which Patrick "needed sitters around the clock for being severely depressed." Patterson says the information was "not leaked, but in the public domain for 25 years."

Alison Lundergan Grimes Dodges Questions On Obamacare Vote

BEATTYVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Democratic Senate candidate Alison Lundergan Grimes on Wednesday twice refused to say whether she would have voted for President Barack Obama's signature health care law.

Asked two times whether she'd have voted for the 2010 overhaul, the Kentucky Democrat who is challenging Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell told The Associated Press: "I, when we are in the United States Senate, will work to fix the Affordable Care Act."

Grimes added: "I believe the politically motivated response you continue to see from Mitch McConnell in terms of repeal, root and branch, is not in reality or keeping ... with what the facts are here in Kentucky."

The law Republicans call "Obamacare" presents a delicate issue for Grimes, who won the Democratic Senate primary on Tuesday. Kynect, Kentucky's state-run health insurance exchange made possible by the law, is wildly popular. More than 400,000 people have either signed up for an expanded Medicaid program or purchased private insurance plans with the help of government subsidies. But Obamacare remains unpopular in the state, mostly because President Barack Obama himself is unpopular here.

Fast-food worker scared, then emboldened after her first arrest for protesting

Natasha Carson was a bit frightened on Wednesday afternoon when she found herself at the front of the crowd, carrying part of a banner in the protest against her employer, McDonald’s. She had been part of earlier fast food protests, but this one, at the company’s corporate headquarters outside Chicago, was bigger, with ample media attention and plenty of police.
Police officers, some in riot gear, watched as protesters, including union leaders and clergy, started chanting and singing. “I was pushing away my fear,” Carson said in an interview. “You stand up for your rights and you make history.”
That sentiment comes from a 20-year-old who lives with her mom in Milwaukee, and is known as Tazz. She has worked for McDonald’s for almost five years, starting in high school and now while attending Milwaukee Area Technical College.
Organizers say she was the first worker arrested Wednesday, and then 100 others from 33 cities were taken into custody. Oak Brook, IL, police started the arrests for trespassing around 1:15 p.m., and more arrests could come Thursday as the workers take their demands for $15 an hour wages to McDonald’s annual shareholders meeting. Reuters reported that on Thursday shareholders were scheduled to vote on executive pay, including that of McDonald’s chief executive Donald Thompson, whose total compensation was $9.5 million in 2013.

House committee approves bill that would end door-to-door mail for 15 million people

A House committee has approved a proposal that would end door-to-door mail delivery for millions of Americans in favor of communal or curbside boxes.
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee approved the measure on an 18-13 party-line vote Wednesday. The bill would direct the U.S. Postal Service to convert 15 million addresses over the next decade to the less costly, but also less convenient delivery method.

Democrats objected to the plan, and efforts in recent years to win its adoption have failed.
"I think it's a lousy idea," Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., told the Associated Press. Other lawmakers said it wouldn't work in urban areas where there's no place on city streets to put banks of "cluster boxes" with separate compartments for each address. People with disabilities who have difficulty leaving their homes could get waivers, and people who still want delivery to their door could pay extra for it — something Lynch derided as "a delivery tax."
The committee's chairman, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., acknowledged that the measure is far from the comprehensive overhaul most officials agree is needed to solve the postal service's financial problems, but said it "provides an interim opportunity to achieve some significant cost savings."
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