Weekend 05-19-14

Monday May 19th 2014

Victoria Day (Canada)

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Putin orders Ukraine border pullout

Russia's President Vladimir Putin has ordered troops near Ukraine's border to withdraw, the Kremlin says.

Units in the Rostov, Belgorod and Bryansk regions should return to their permanent bases, a statement said.
Russia has made similar statements in the past. Nato chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said there was no evidence of any withdrawal so far.
Correspondents say removing the troops - estimated to number 40,000 - could help de-escalate the Ukraine crisis.
'Exercises' The apparent build-up of Russian forces in the region has ratcheted up diplomatic tensions in recent weeks.
Russian defence officials have insisted the troops were involved in regular training.
"In connection with the completion of the planned spring phase of military training... at ranges in Rostov, Belgorod and Bryansk regions, Putin ordered the defence minister to withdraw the troops that took part in the exercises," the Kremlin statement said.
It was unclear how many troops would be pulled out or when it would happen.

Report: 11 injured in subway explosion near Seoul

SEOUL, South Korea –  South Korea's Yonhap news agency says an explosion at a subway station south of Seoul has left 11 people injured.
The news agency provided no other details Monday.

An official for the operator of the nation's train network told The Associated Press that about 10 people received minor injuries in an incident but couldn't verify whether there was an explosion. He says part of the train's electrical insulation device was damaged.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity, citing office rules.

Rogue Libyan General's Troops Attack Parliament

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Forces apparently loyal to a renegade Libyan general said they suspended parliament Sunday after earlier leading a military assault against lawmakers, directly challenging the legitimacy of the country's weak central government three years after the overthrow of dictator Moammar Gadhafi. Libya's leadership condemned the attack and vowed to carry on.
A commander in the military police in Libya read a statement announcing the suspension on behalf of a group led by Gen. Khalifa Hifter, a one-time rebel commander who said the U.S. backed his efforts to topple Gadhafi in the 1990s. Hours earlier, militia members backed by truck-mounted anti-aircraft guns, mortars and rocket fire attacked parliament, sending lawmakers fleeing for their lives as gunmen ransacked the legislature.
Gen. Mokhtar Farnana, speaking on a Libyan television channel on behalf of Hifter's group, said it assigned a 60-member constituent's assembly to take over for parliament. Farnana said Libya's current government would act on as an emergency Cabinet, without elaborating.
Farnana, who is in charge of prisons operated by the military police, said forces loyal to Hifter carried out Sunday's attack on parliament. He also said Sunday's attack on Libya's parliament was not a coup, but "fighting by the people's choice."
"We announce to the world that the country can't be a breeding ground or an incubator for terrorism," said Farnana, who wore a military uniform and sat in front of Libya's flag.
Early Monday morning, Libya's interim government condemned the attack on parliament and largely ignored the declaration by the general's group.
"The government condemns the expression of political opinion through the use of armed force," Libyan Justice Minister Salah al-Marghani said in a statement. "It calls for an immediate end of the use the military arsenal ... and calls on all sides to resort to dialogue and reconciliation."

Nigeria's Boko Haram crisis: Kano suicide attack

A suicide blast in a street full of bars and restaurants in the northern Nigerian city of Kano has killed four people, police say.

One of those killed was a girl aged 12, they say.
Witnesses say the explosion was caused by a bomb in a car in the mainly Christian area of Sabon Gari.
The area has previously been targeted by Boko Haram Islamist militants but it is the first attack on Nigeria's second biggest city for several months.
More than 1,000 people have been killed in Boko Haram attacks this year but the government has said it has pushed the militants back into their strongholds in the north-eastern Borno state.
This is where they seized more than 200 girls last month, in a case which shocked the world and prompted foreign powers to send military advisors to assist Nigeria's army tackle the insurgency.

Brazil Won't Clean Up Water Pollution In Guanabara Bay By 2016 Olympics, Officials Say

Brazil will not make good on its commitment to clean up Rio de Janeiro's sewage-filled Guanabara Bay by the 2016 Olympic Games, state environmental officials acknowledged in a letter obtained Saturday by The Associated Press.

In the May 7 letter addressed to Sports Minister Aldo Rebelo, Rio's state environment secretary, Carlos Francisco Portinho, asks for more funding for depollution efforts but acknowledges that at current investment rates, it will take more than a decade to significantly reduce the levels of pollution in the bay, where the Olympic sailing events are to be held.
In Brazil's 2009 Olympic bid, officials promised that the city's waterways would be cleaned up, "setting a new standard of water quality preservation for the next generations."
But an AP analysis last year of a decade's worth of government data on Guanabara and other waterways showed that sewage pollution indicators consistently spiked far above acceptable limits, even under Brazilian laws that are far more lenient on pollution than the United States or Europe.
Authorities pledged to cut by 80 percent the flow of pollution into Guanabara Bay by the 2016 Games through the expansion of the sewage network and the construction of River Treatment Units, or RTUs, built at the mouths of rivers flowing into the bay. The facilities would filter out much of the sewage and trash.
But little progress has been made on either front, and with just over two years to go until the Olympics, nearly 70 percent of the sewage in the metropolitan area of 12 million inhabitants continues to flow untreated, along with thousands of tons of garbage daily, into area rivers, the bay and even Rio's famed beaches like Copacabana and Ipanema.
Related Story : World Cup Stadium Construction Won't Be Finished In Time For Opening Game In Brazil

Breaking pattern, court acquits 169 Brotherhood supporters in Egypt

An Egyptian court acquitted 169 Muslim Brotherhood supporters charged in connection with unrest that followed the overthrow of president Mohammed Morsi last year, breaking a pattern of mass convictions at trials involving the Islamist opposition.
The men were charged with “illegal gathering” in relation to violence in Cairo on August 16 last year, two days after the security forces killed hundreds of Morsi supporters while breaking up their protest camps in the capital.
Of those charged, 117 were still being held. They will now be freed. Others charged in the case had already been released. Further details on the ruling were not immediately available.
The authorities have jailed thousands of Morsi supporters since the army deposed the Brotherhood politician last July following mass protests against his rule.
Earlier this year, a judge issued preliminary death sentences against 1,200 Brotherhood supporters and members in two separate cases, triggering heavy condemnation from Western governments and human rights groups. The convicted included the group’s leader, Mohamed Badie.
Rights groups criticized the trials for deep procedural flaws, and despite the acquittals, other courts are continuing with convictions.
A judge in Alexandria on Monday convicted 62 people and sentenced them to jail terms of up to 25 years in relation to political violence last July. The judge also upheld the death penalty against one of those charged in the case.
This came a day after more than 160 Brotherhood supporters were handed sentences of up to 15 years in prison.

Iran is at breaking point under US sanctions – and its leaders feel the heat

Despite talk of a defiant 'resistance economy', the consequences may be dire if a nuclear deal with the west does not come soon

At the car repair shop on Soreana Avenue in central Tehran, Homayoon is happy to talk; after all, there is not much else to do. Business is bad, he says, as he wipes his hands with an oily cloth. It's the same for everybody.
"It's not good at all. Petrol is expensive, so people drive less, so they break down less," Homayoon says. Wearing a grubby red T-shirt advertising Axol Lubes, he laughs and shrugs when asked whether American sanctions are to blame for high prices and lack of customers.
"Of course it's sanctions!" interrupts Ali, another mechanic. "The economy is sick. My friends have small businesses like this one. Electricity is up 25%, water up 30%, petrol up 75%, business tax up, VAT up. Interest rates are 25%, so they can't borrow. They can't handle it," he says.
"I don't know about those things," says Homayoon, still smiling. "That's for the government to decide. I like the Americans. They're great. I don't care what they say at Friday prayers."
What they say at Friday prayers is less forgiving. A day earlier, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, one of the Islamic Republic's most venerable imams, treated the weekly televised gathering at Tehran University stadium to a stern anti-American diatribe.
With white beard, flowing robe, turban and walking stick, Jannati is every inch the mullah – a Shia fundamentalist cleric of the old school. He preaches under the slogan "Any diversion from the true path will be the path of accursed Satan".
Today, Jannati is treading the path of self-sufficiency and what the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, calls the resistance economy – Iran's supposed answer to the crushing American-led oil, banking and trade embargoes.

Duma official: Israel-Russian relations strong - if US doesn't intervene

MOSCOW - US pressure could undermine Russia-Israel relations, Duma Committee on International Affairs vice chairman Alexander Romanovich implied in a briefing to Israeli reporters and academics Monday.
"Nothing can harm the good relations between our two countries, as long as another power doesn't intervene. I won't name it," Romanovich said.
The lawmaker's comments came several weeks after Foreign Minister Avigdor LIberman made it clear that Israel plans to refrain from taking a position on the Ukranian crisis. The policy comes from a concern that it would anger Moscow and have a ripple effect on Israeli security concerns in the region, like Syria and Iran.
Washington, however, does not back the position, with State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki saying last month that the US was surprised when Israel skipped a vote on the matter in the UN General Assembly.
Romanovich, a member of the opposition, said he cannot understand Western suspicions that Russia will try to invade Ukraine, saying commentators "are ignoring what Putin said clearly."
"Nobody wants to cross the border into Ukraine. Our troops are in Crimea, not Ukraine," he stated.
Romanovich also said the border between Russia and Ukraine was never finalized after the fall of the Soviet Union.
The vice chairman also recounted debates in the committee about Ukraine and Crimea, saying that the Duma Ethics Committee punished many of the legislators for using foul language.
As for Iran and Syria, there are no plans to change Russia's policy, Romanovich said.

'Executed' ex-girlfriend of Kim Jong-un makes TV comeback

A North Korean singer said to be Kim Jong-un's former girlfriend and reported to have been executed by firing squad last year has appeared on state television.
Hyon Song-Wol was shown delivering a speech at a rally of national art workers in the capital Pyongyang on Friday.
The singer was reported to have been caught up in palace intrigue last summer having incurred the displeasure of Ri Sol-ju, Mr Kim's wife.

The 31-year-old North Korean leader and the performer were said to have been teenage lovers but had been forced to break up by Kim Jong-il, Mr Kim's father and predecessor.
In August, Chosun Ilbo, a South Korean newspaper with close links to its country's intelligence services, reported that Hyon and 11 other well-known performers had been caught making a sex tape and executed.
But in the television appearance, Hyon expressed gratitude for Mr Kim's leadership and pledged to work harder to "stoke up the flame for art and creative work".
The reappearance of Hyon - perhaps best known for her hit song Excellent Horse-like Lady - came after months of speculation about whether she was alive.
"They were executed with machineguns while the key members of the Unhasu Orchestra, Wangjaesan Light Band and Moranbong Band as well as the families of the victims looked on," sources reportedly said at the time.
Nam Jae-Joon, South Korea's spy chief, added weight to the reports in October when two MPs quoted him as telling a closed parliamentary session: "We are aware of the execution of some 10 people associated with the Unhasu Orchestra."
It was also reported that other bands that were part of the "new wave" of music ushered in by Mr Kim's succession to the leadership had been forced to witness the execution as a salutary lesson.

China launches international manhunt for train station attacker

BEIJING: China has launched an international manhunt for the alleged mastermind behind an attack at a train station last month blamed on extremists from the Muslim Turkic Uighur ethnic group.

The official China Daily newspaper said on Monday that a request had been lodged with Interpol for the arrest of Ismail Yusup and an unspecified number of associates.

The report said that Yusup was a member of the East Turkistan Islamic Movement and organized the April 30 attack in the capital of the northwestern Xinjiang region that killed three people and injured 79 others.

Beijing says an organized militancy with elements based overseas is behind a rising number of terrorist attacks in the country. Little evidence has been provided to back up the claim and many analysts doubt such an organization exists.
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US justice department charges Chinese with hacking 

The US has charged five Chinese officials with hacking into private-sector companies, in a first of its kind cyber-espionage case.

Attorney General Eric Holder will announce charges against five Chinese hackers, saying they broke into US companies to gain trade secrets.
The US and China have previously sparred over cyber attacks, with the US accusing China of being behind attacks on companies and US government targets.
China says it faces similar attacks.
Among the alleged victims were the United States Steel Corporation, Alcoa Inc, Allegheny Technologies, and a labour union, Reuters reported.

Team Obama warned on Vets scandal in 2008

WashTimes: “The Obama administration received clear notice more than five years ago that VA medical facilities were reporting inaccurate waiting times and experiencing scheduling failures that threatened to deny veterans timely health care — problems that have turned into a growing scandal. Veterans Affairs officials warned the Obama-Biden transition team in the weeks after the 2008 presidential election that the department shouldn't trust the wait times that its facilities were reporting. ‘This is not only a data integrity issue in which [Veterans Health Administration] reports unreliable performance data; it affects quality of care by delaying — and potentially denying — deserving veterans timely care,’ the officials wrote. The briefing materials, obtained by The Washington Times through the Freedom of Information Act, make clear that the problems existed well before Mr. Obama took office, dating back at least to the Bush administration.”

Obama Angry Over Falsification of Veterans Affairs Data, Chief of Staff Says

WASHINGTON — President Obama is “madder than hell” about reports that some medical facilities run by the Department of Veterans Affairs have falsified data to hide substantial delays for veterans to see doctors, and he has demanded that the department’s leaders “fix these things,” the White House chief of staff said in an interview aired Sunday.

“The president is madder than hell, and I’ve got the scars to prove it, given the briefings that I’ve given the president” on the subject, the chief of staff, Denis R. McDonough, said on the CBS News program “Face the Nation.”

He said that the White House had “deployed additional staff over to the Veterans administration to dig into this, to find out if this is a series of isolated cases or whether this is a systemic issue that we need to address with wholesale reform.” He also called attention to what he said had been substantial increases in resources devoted to veterans care under Mr. Obama.

Obama encountering growing election-year dissent from Democrats

President Barack Obama is encountering an increasingly resistant Democratic caucus on Capitol Hill, as lawmakers in his party break with him on a series of issues in the run-up to the November elections.
On issues such as judicial nominees, the Keystone XL pipeline, taxes and trade, the fraying party unity is a sign that individual Democrats have reached a point where their own re-election needs take precedence over Mr. Obama's goals.

It is a common election-year posture for lawmakers from the same party as the sitting president, especially one whose popularity has waned, as Mr. Obama's has. But Democrats' recent moves to demonstrate their independence are forcing Mr. Obama to compromise on an agenda already largely opposed by Republicans. And it comes at a point in his presidency when time is running short to accomplish his goals.
In the past week, Democrats have diverged from the White House over its insistence that the cost of extending certain tax breaks due to expire should be offset with tax increases and other measures, so as not to add to the deficit.
Other Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, expressed opposition to one of Mr. Obama's judicial nominees. Mr. Reid and more than 40 Democratic senators also signed a letter to the administration voicing concern about its preliminary decision to exempt South Korea from a trade-policing mechanism.

Prince Charles, Camilla greeted by hundreds in Halifax

Prince Charles gave his first speech of his four-day tour of Canada, telling a crowd of hundreds at Grand Parade in Halifax this morning that the Royal Family is "always made to feel so welcome in Canada."
The Prince of Wales, accompanied by Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, added: "Being with you here today, my wife and I can only feel Nova Scotians and Canadians have offered us what I can only describe as a thousand welcomes."
Charles said he has many fond memories of Canada, including one from 42 years ago when he visited as part of the Royal Navy.
The first stop for Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall is part of what is amounting to a busy day in Halifax.
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