Friday May 30th 2014
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Russia pulls most troops from Ukraine border, US defense officials say
U.S. defense officials say that Russia has pulled a large number of forces away from the Ukraine border, a withdrawal that the U.S. has been demanding for weeks and a move that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel called "promising."Although defense officials were not authorized to speak about the precise numbers, a senior defense official traveling with Defense Secretary Hagel told The Washington Post that approximately seven Russian battalions remain of those that were deployed to the east and south of Ukraine, amounting to a couple of thousand troops.
Hagel didn't provide any details to reporters traveling with him en route to an Asian defense conference in Singapore at the start of a 12-day overseas trip which will include a meeting with NATO defense ministers in Brussels next week. However, he called the withdrawal promising.
"They are not where they need to be and won't be until all of their troops that they positioned along that border a couple of months ago are gone," Hagel told The Associated Press.
'Almost 2,000' killed by Syria barrel bombs in 2014
Almost 2,000 people have
been killed by Syrian government air attacks in the northern city of
Aleppo so far this year, an activist group says.
The dead included 283 women and 567 children, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).The Syrian air force has used so-called "barrel bombs" dropped from aircraft to try to put down a rebellion against President Bashar al-Assad.
Aleppo has seen fierce fighting since a rebel offensive in the area in 2012.
The UK-based SOHR said 1,963 people had been killed in the city - Syria's largest - and the surrounding area since January.
The government has used air and ground forces to drive the rebels back, but they remain in control of some areas to the east of Aleppo.
Crude bombs The SOHR - which has a network of activists around the country reporting on the violence - says more than 162,000 people have been killed in the three-year conflict.
Israeli Troops Say They Stopped Palestinian Suicide Bomber
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli troops manning a checkpoint inside the West Bank caught a Palestinian suicide bomber en route to an attack, the military said Friday.Lt. Col. Peter Lerner said troops were suspicious of the Palestinian because he was wearing a heavy coat on a very hot day.
Soldiers called on the man to stop and a search revealed explosives connected with wires strapped around his torso. He told the soldiers he had intended to carry out a suicide bombing. The explosive belt was later detonated by military sappers.
Lerner said it was unclear at this stage if the man was acting alone or if he belonged to a Palestinian group like Hamas or Islamic Jihad, which carried out suicide bombings on buses and in cafes in the years that followed the Palestinian uprising, or Intifada, in 2000.
He said it has been years since a suicide bomber was detained, but the area has seen a number of Palestinian shooting and knife attacks.
The incident occurred at a checkpoint south of Nablus in the northern part of the West Bank, which Israel captured from Jordan in the 1967 war. Palestinians are demanding the territory along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip for their future state.
Talks aimed at resolving the conflict by establishing a Palestinian state alongside Israel collapsed last month.
Police lob tear gas at angry French farmers as Hollande opens art museum in southern France
PARIS – French police have
lobbed tear gas to break up a demonstration of angry farmers who stole
the show from President Francois Hollande as he opened an art museum in
southern France.
The protest Friday by the militant Confederation Paysanne was a reaction to the arrest two days earlier of five of its members in northern France for dismantling part of a huge dairy farm under construction there. The group opposes the farm, saying it will hurt small farmers.
The
group claimed that they detained Hollande's agriculture aide, Philippe
Vincent, for several hours during the inauguration of the museum in
southern France's Rodez. Hollande's office said Vincent met with farmers
but was "absolutely not held" against his will.
There were no arrests and no comment from Hollande Friday.
General Khalifa Haftar, a former army chief of staff under Col Muammar Gaddafi, has launched several recent attacks in Benghazi and Tripoli.
He accuses the government of supporting terrorism, which the authorities deny.
Gen Haftar's actions have been backed by an array of armed groups, including military forces in the east as well as some members of the air force.
The central government has called his assault an "attempted coup", but some government officials say they back the operation.
Legacy of violence Libya is still in turmoil three years after the fall of Gaddafi - with political, religious and political factions locked in disagreement about the country's future.
There are almost daily assassinations, bombings and kidnappings.
A police spokeswoman says that after a peaceful protest late Thursday, about 60 youths began throwing stones, attacking stores and setting trash containers on fire in the central Sants district. The officer spoke on condition of anonymity because of police rules preventing staff from being identified.
She said Friday that police responded to the violence, which lasted three hours, by using a high-pitched horn to try to disperse the crowd and by firing foam bullets.
The disturbances in the northeastern Spanish city began after the dismantling of a popular social center that had been run by squatters for 17 years. In all, 61 people have been arrested.
At a top-level meeting on Thursday, Xi Jinping called for "copper walls and iron barriers" as well as "nets spread from the earth to the sky" in the Xinjiang region to stop terrorism, according to a statement from China's central government.
The 22 May attack that killed 43 people in Urumqi was the deadliest in a series of attacks blamed on members of the region's Uighur ethnic minority.
Beijing says the attackers are religious extremists with ties to overseas Islamist terror groups, but foreign experts say they see no evidence of that. Uighur activists say the unrest is fuelled by growing frustration at an influx of settlers from China's Han majority and official discrimination and suppressive policies.
Xi promised that the government would focus on employment, education and poverty alleviation, the statement said. He also pledged more education spending and vowed to enrol more children in school, but no details were given.
Thursday's meeting was the first in four years to focus exclusively on Xinjiang. Xi defended Beijing's policies in the region, including those on religion. Official restrictions such as a prohibition on taking children to mosques have angered Muslims.
"Our party's strategy on the governance of Xinjiang is proven to be correct and must be continued," the president was quoted as saying. He said authorities should focus on "helping religion adapt to a socialist society".
Because of stricter rules, diplomatic sensitivities and the changing nature of the al-Qaida threat, there hasn't been a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan's tribal areas since Christmas. And American officials say opportunities for drone attacks will dwindle further as the CIA and the military draw down in neighboring Afghanistan, reducing their intelligence-gathering footprint.
"The program (in Pakistan) appears to have ended," said Peter Bergen, who has closely studied drone strikes for the New America Foundation, a Washington think tank.
U.S. officials won't go that far, but Obama announced this week a plan to pull nearly all American troops out of Afghanistan by the end of 2016. The targeted killing program in Pakistan relies on drones flown from, and intelligence gathered in, U.S. bases in Afghanistan that would then be closed.
In a major foreign policy speech at the U.S. Military Academy Wednesday, Obama said the U.S. would continue to carry out occasional drone strikes against terrorist targets, but he cited Yemen and Somalia, not Pakistan, where Hellfire missiles once rained down at a rate of two per week.
Armed U.S. drones are still flying over Pakistan's tribal areas, and CIA targeting officers are still nominating militants to the kill list, according to U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the covert program publicly. But over the last five months, no missiles have been fired.
The protest Friday by the militant Confederation Paysanne was a reaction to the arrest two days earlier of five of its members in northern France for dismantling part of a huge dairy farm under construction there. The group opposes the farm, saying it will hurt small farmers.
There were no arrests and no comment from Hollande Friday.
Rogue Libya general's forces bomb Islamist camp
Libyan forces loyal to a renegade general have bombed government-funded Islamist militia in the eastern city of Benghazi.
Witnesses say aircraft targeted a base of the February 17th Brigade, one of the main armed groups in the area.General Khalifa Haftar, a former army chief of staff under Col Muammar Gaddafi, has launched several recent attacks in Benghazi and Tripoli.
He accuses the government of supporting terrorism, which the authorities deny.
Gen Haftar's actions have been backed by an array of armed groups, including military forces in the east as well as some members of the air force.
The central government has called his assault an "attempted coup", but some government officials say they back the operation.
Legacy of violence Libya is still in turmoil three years after the fall of Gaddafi - with political, religious and political factions locked in disagreement about the country's future.
There are almost daily assassinations, bombings and kidnappings.
Barcelona Riots: More Arrests In 4th Night Of Clashes Between Police, Protesters
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Police in Barcelona have arrested 23 people after a fourth night of clashes with hooded youths.A police spokeswoman says that after a peaceful protest late Thursday, about 60 youths began throwing stones, attacking stores and setting trash containers on fire in the central Sants district. The officer spoke on condition of anonymity because of police rules preventing staff from being identified.
She said Friday that police responded to the violence, which lasted three hours, by using a high-pitched horn to try to disperse the crowd and by firing foam bullets.
The disturbances in the northeastern Spanish city began after the dismantling of a popular social center that had been run by squatters for 17 years. In all, 61 people have been arrested.
China's president pledges more cash to Xinjiang to defuse ethnic tensions
Xi Jinping also calls for tougher security after 22 May bomb attack in Urumqi, blamed on Uighur minority, left dozens dead
China's president has promised to raise incomes and education spending in the country's restive Muslim north-west in an effort to defuse rising ethnic tensions while calling for tougher security, following an attack in the region's capital that killed dozens of people.At a top-level meeting on Thursday, Xi Jinping called for "copper walls and iron barriers" as well as "nets spread from the earth to the sky" in the Xinjiang region to stop terrorism, according to a statement from China's central government.
The 22 May attack that killed 43 people in Urumqi was the deadliest in a series of attacks blamed on members of the region's Uighur ethnic minority.
Beijing says the attackers are religious extremists with ties to overseas Islamist terror groups, but foreign experts say they see no evidence of that. Uighur activists say the unrest is fuelled by growing frustration at an influx of settlers from China's Han majority and official discrimination and suppressive policies.
Xi promised that the government would focus on employment, education and poverty alleviation, the statement said. He also pledged more education spending and vowed to enrol more children in school, but no details were given.
Thursday's meeting was the first in four years to focus exclusively on Xinjiang. Xi defended Beijing's policies in the region, including those on religion. Official restrictions such as a prohibition on taking children to mosques have angered Muslims.
"Our party's strategy on the governance of Xinjiang is proven to be correct and must be continued," the president was quoted as saying. He said authorities should focus on "helping religion adapt to a socialist society".
CIA Winds Down Drone Strike Program In Pakistan
WASHINGTON (AP) — The CIA's targeted killing program in Pakistan, once the mainstay of President Barack Obama's counterterrorism effort, is winding down.Because of stricter rules, diplomatic sensitivities and the changing nature of the al-Qaida threat, there hasn't been a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan's tribal areas since Christmas. And American officials say opportunities for drone attacks will dwindle further as the CIA and the military draw down in neighboring Afghanistan, reducing their intelligence-gathering footprint.
"The program (in Pakistan) appears to have ended," said Peter Bergen, who has closely studied drone strikes for the New America Foundation, a Washington think tank.
U.S. officials won't go that far, but Obama announced this week a plan to pull nearly all American troops out of Afghanistan by the end of 2016. The targeted killing program in Pakistan relies on drones flown from, and intelligence gathered in, U.S. bases in Afghanistan that would then be closed.
In a major foreign policy speech at the U.S. Military Academy Wednesday, Obama said the U.S. would continue to carry out occasional drone strikes against terrorist targets, but he cited Yemen and Somalia, not Pakistan, where Hellfire missiles once rained down at a rate of two per week.
Armed U.S. drones are still flying over Pakistan's tribal areas, and CIA targeting officers are still nominating militants to the kill list, according to U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the covert program publicly. But over the last five months, no missiles have been fired.
Egypt police arrest woman accused of working for Al-Jazeera
CAIRO – Egypt's Interior
Ministry says police have arrested a female freelance reporter for
allegedly sending footage to the local affiliate of Qatari broadcaster
Al-Jazeera.
In a statement sent to reporters Friday, the ministry said police raided her home in the coastal city of Port Said and confiscated streaming devices, a laptop and a mobile phone with videos that Al-Jazeera Mubasher Misr allegedly used.
The
Arabic website of the Doha-based satellite network confirmed the
arrest, saying the woman had been detained Wednesday, but did not say
whether or not she was an employee.
Three journalists from Al-Jazeera English are currently on trial in Egypt, accused of airing false news, and of belonging to and aiding the Muslim Brotherhood of ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, which has been designated a terrorist group.
In a statement, Virgin Galactic said the deal brings it "another step closer" to commercial space flights.
The firm hopes to launch its first flight by the end of 2014.
Safe for birds In a separate development on Thursday, the FAA found that Virgin Galactic rival SpaceX's plans to build a spaceport in Texas would not have adverse consequences on the environment.
SpaceX has proposed launching 12 rockets per year from a site near Brownsville in southern Texas, but has not promised to build there just yet.
US regulators found that while the proposed site would create noise for residents of a nearby neighbourhood and alter the landscape, most other environmental impacts could be mitigated.
The firm, which was founded by serial entrepreneur Elon Musk, is set to unveil the latest model of its Dragon ship, which is designed to ferry NASA astronauts to and from the International Space Station.
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BREAKING : Veterans Secretary Eric Shinseki resigns after report
A recent report revealed nationwide systemic problems with veterans' care including delays and falsified records.
Earlier on Friday Mr Shinseki said such problems were "totally unacceptable".
"I can't explain the lack of integrity," he told a homeless veterans group in a speech. "I will not defend it, because it is not defensible."
The retired four-star general, who was himself wounded in Vietnam, said he would sack senior officials at a Phoenix healthcare facility where administrators falsified records to hide a lengthy backlog of veterans awaiting care.
But he had come under growing pressure to resign from members of Congress from both parties and at least one major veterans group after reports that potentially dozens of veterans died while waiting for care.
Mr Obama met Mr Shinseki in the Oval Office for an "update on the situation" on Friday morning. Shortly after, Mr Obama told reporters he had accepted the secretary's resignation.
The former secretary of state devotes a chapter of her upcoming book, "Hard Choices," to the Benghazi attack, which killed four Americans. The chapter was obtained by Politico.
In it, Clinton responds to Republicans who have accused the Obama administration of stonewalling congressional investigators and misleading the public about the nature of the attack.
Clinton says those who exploit the tragedy as a political tool "minimize the sacrifice" of those who serve the nation.
She adds that there has been a "regrettable amount of misinformation" about the case.
The deployment of the two unarmed Global Hawk drones to Japan, a key U.S. ally, is intended to demonstrate Washington's commitment to security in Asia as part of its rebalancing of forces to the Pacific. But it will likely rankle with China and North Korea, which have been working to improve their own unmanned aircraft fleets.
Lt. Gen. Sam Angelella, commander of U.S. Forces Japan, said Friday
the drones will remain here until October, when the typhoon season on
the drones' home base on the Pacific island of Guam is over. Similar
rotations from Guam to Misawa are expected in the future, though
Angelella said no firm plans have been made. He refused to comment on
the specific missions the drones will carry out but noted that the
Global Hawk's "capabilities are well known."
The drone is considered particularly valuable because it can conduct long-range missions without the limitations of pilot fatigue, is able to fly at a maximum 60,000 feet (18.3 kilometers) and can "loiter" around any particular site of interest for 24 hours or more.
Mr Matanov is not accused of a role in the bombings or of knowing of the plot.
The blasts at the finish line of the Boston Marathon killed three people and hurt more than 260 on 15 April 2013.
In a statement, the US attorney's office in Boston said that in the days after the bombing, Mr Matanov realised the FBI would want to interview him because of his ties to Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the bombing suspects, and because he shared their "philosophical justification for violence".
Prosecutors say Mr Matanov deleted information from his computer and lied to FBI investigators about his relationship with the brothers.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 20, has pleaded not guilty to terrorism charges in connection with the bombing and is awaiting trial. His brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, was killed in a shoot-out with police four days after the attack.
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Mr Dallaire, 68, has acknowledged he suffered from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after witnessing atrocities during the genocide.
He has said he plans to dedicate his time to research on the disorder as well as other humanitarian causes.
"It is with some sadness, but indeed much optimism, that I announce that I am resigning from my seat," Mr Dallaire said in the Senate on Wednesday.
"There are so many things to do, as well as increasing opportunities to do them, that I find myself short of that most precious of commodities: time."
Among Mr Dallaire's planned endeavours after leaving office are to serve as a senior fellow at the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies at Concordia University, and as a member of the UN Secretary General's Advisory Committee on Genocide Prevention.
He will also conduct research on PTSD in conjunction with the University of Southern California, and has been contracted to write two books on PTSD and conflict resolution, he said.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper thanked Mr Dallaire for his work via Twitter following the announcement.
"Thank you Senator Dallaire for your service to Canadians. Best wishes for the future," he wrote.
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In a statement sent to reporters Friday, the ministry said police raided her home in the coastal city of Port Said and confiscated streaming devices, a laptop and a mobile phone with videos that Al-Jazeera Mubasher Misr allegedly used.
Three journalists from Al-Jazeera English are currently on trial in Egypt, accused of airing false news, and of belonging to and aiding the Muslim Brotherhood of ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, which has been designated a terrorist group.
Virgin Galactic signs spaceflight deal with US authority
Virgin Galactic has
signed a deal with the US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA), which will
allow it to charter space flights from its base in the US state of New
Mexico.
The agreement lays out rules for how the flights will be integrated into US air space.In a statement, Virgin Galactic said the deal brings it "another step closer" to commercial space flights.
The firm hopes to launch its first flight by the end of 2014.
The agreement with US authorities outlines how
the FAA's air traffic control centre in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and
the state's Spaceport Authority, will work with Virgin Galactic to make
sure there is safe airspace for Virgin Galactic's space plane, the
SpaceShipTwo.
Virgin Galactic, which is co-owned by Richard Branson and Abu
Dhabi's Aabar Investments, also has agreements with the US state of
California to allow test flights.Safe for birds In a separate development on Thursday, the FAA found that Virgin Galactic rival SpaceX's plans to build a spaceport in Texas would not have adverse consequences on the environment.
SpaceX has proposed launching 12 rockets per year from a site near Brownsville in southern Texas, but has not promised to build there just yet.
US regulators found that while the proposed site would create noise for residents of a nearby neighbourhood and alter the landscape, most other environmental impacts could be mitigated.
The firm, which was founded by serial entrepreneur Elon Musk, is set to unveil the latest model of its Dragon ship, which is designed to ferry NASA astronauts to and from the International Space Station.
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BREAKING : Veterans Secretary Eric Shinseki resigns after report
Embattled US Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki has resigned following a scandal at the agency's healthcare system.
President Barack Obama said Mr Shinseki told him he "did not
want to be distraction" as the agency tried to fix Veterans Affairs (VA)
hospitals.A recent report revealed nationwide systemic problems with veterans' care including delays and falsified records.
Earlier on Friday Mr Shinseki said such problems were "totally unacceptable".
"I can't explain the lack of integrity," he told a homeless veterans group in a speech. "I will not defend it, because it is not defensible."
The retired four-star general, who was himself wounded in Vietnam, said he would sack senior officials at a Phoenix healthcare facility where administrators falsified records to hide a lengthy backlog of veterans awaiting care.
But he had come under growing pressure to resign from members of Congress from both parties and at least one major veterans group after reports that potentially dozens of veterans died while waiting for care.
Mr Obama met Mr Shinseki in the Oval Office for an "update on the situation" on Friday morning. Shortly after, Mr Obama told reporters he had accepted the secretary's resignation.
Hillary Clinton Refuses To Take Part In 'Political Slugfest' Over Benghazi: Report
WASHINGTON (AP) — Hillary Rodham Clinton is defending her handling of the deadly 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, writing in her new book that she, --quote, "will not be part of a political slugfest on the backs of dead Americans."The former secretary of state devotes a chapter of her upcoming book, "Hard Choices," to the Benghazi attack, which killed four Americans. The chapter was obtained by Politico.
In it, Clinton responds to Republicans who have accused the Obama administration of stonewalling congressional investigators and misleading the public about the nature of the attack.
Clinton says those who exploit the tragedy as a political tool "minimize the sacrifice" of those who serve the nation.
She adds that there has been a "regrettable amount of misinformation" about the case.
US Air Force deploys first advanced drones to Japan
MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan – The U.S. Air Force has deployed two of its most advanced long-distance surveillance drones to a base in northern Japan over the past week, enhancing its ability to monitor nuclear activities in North Korea and Chinese naval operations.The deployment of the two unarmed Global Hawk drones to Japan, a key U.S. ally, is intended to demonstrate Washington's commitment to security in Asia as part of its rebalancing of forces to the Pacific. But it will likely rankle with China and North Korea, which have been working to improve their own unmanned aircraft fleets.
The drone is considered particularly valuable because it can conduct long-range missions without the limitations of pilot fatigue, is able to fly at a maximum 60,000 feet (18.3 kilometers) and can "loiter" around any particular site of interest for 24 hours or more.
Kyrgyz man 'lied' to Boston bombing investigators
Authorities in the US
state of Massachusetts have charged a Kyrgyzstan national with lying to
police and destroying evidence in the Boston bombings investigation.
Khairullozhon Matanov, 23, spoke to the suspects accused of the bombing in the days after the attack, prosecutors say.Mr Matanov is not accused of a role in the bombings or of knowing of the plot.
The blasts at the finish line of the Boston Marathon killed three people and hurt more than 260 on 15 April 2013.
In a statement, the US attorney's office in Boston said that in the days after the bombing, Mr Matanov realised the FBI would want to interview him because of his ties to Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the bombing suspects, and because he shared their "philosophical justification for violence".
Prosecutors say Mr Matanov deleted information from his computer and lied to FBI investigators about his relationship with the brothers.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 20, has pleaded not guilty to terrorism charges in connection with the bombing and is awaiting trial. His brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, was killed in a shoot-out with police four days after the attack.
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Romeo Dallaire resigns from Canadian Senate
Retired Gen Romeo
Dallaire, the UN commander in Rwanda during the 1994 genocide, will
resign from the Canadian Senate, he has said.
His last day in office will be 17 June, he told colleagues on Wednesday.Mr Dallaire, 68, has acknowledged he suffered from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after witnessing atrocities during the genocide.
He has said he plans to dedicate his time to research on the disorder as well as other humanitarian causes.
"It is with some sadness, but indeed much optimism, that I announce that I am resigning from my seat," Mr Dallaire said in the Senate on Wednesday.
"There are so many things to do, as well as increasing opportunities to do them, that I find myself short of that most precious of commodities: time."
Among Mr Dallaire's planned endeavours after leaving office are to serve as a senior fellow at the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies at Concordia University, and as a member of the UN Secretary General's Advisory Committee on Genocide Prevention.
He will also conduct research on PTSD in conjunction with the University of Southern California, and has been contracted to write two books on PTSD and conflict resolution, he said.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper thanked Mr Dallaire for his work via Twitter following the announcement.
"Thank you Senator Dallaire for your service to Canadians. Best wishes for the future," he wrote.
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