Gazette 06-02-14

Monday June 2nd 2014

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Palestinian unity government sworn in by Mahmoud Abbas

A new Palestinian unity government has been sworn in, marking a key step towards ending a major rift between factions in the West Bank and Gaza.

The government, comprising technocrats, was agreed by Hamas and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party.
The two sides have governed separately since Hamas, which won elections in 2006, ousted Fatah from Gaza in 2007.
Israel says it will not deal with a Palestinian government backed by Hamas, which is sworn to Israel's destruction.
Israel suspended crisis-hit peace talks with the Palestinians in April in response to the announcement of the reconciliation deal.
Hamas, which is designated a terrorist organisation by Israel and other countries, opposes the peace talks, though President Abbas has said the new government will abide by previous agreements.
Israel warning The new government comprises politically independent ministers and will be tasked with organising elections to be held within six months.
It is headed by incumbent Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah.
However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that world leaders should not "rush to recognise" the new government.

Pro-Russia insurgents attack border guards in eastern Ukraine

Ukrainian officials say that hundreds of pro-Russian insurgents attacked a camp of border guards in the eastern city of Luhansk.
Officials from Ukraine's border guards service said that approximately 100 armed insurgents attacked the camp early Monday and injured an unspecified number of servicemen. 

Border guards responded with fire on the attackers whose numbers swelled to 400 a few hours later. The fighting was ongoing, the border guard service said.
Reuters reported that a group of separatists were shooting into the border post from the upper floors of a nearby apartment building. Another statement claimed that separatists had occupied private apartments, making it difficult for servicemen to return fire. 
A spokesman for the post said that at least five separatists had been killed, while "eight or nine" servicemen had been injured. 
Border guards lamented that neither the army nor the police has arrived with reinforcements yet.
For weeks, Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine has been the scene of deadly clashes between government troops and pro-Russian insurgents.

Bowe Bergdahl Trade: Afghan Government Protests U.S. Deal To Exchange POW For Taliban Prisoners

KABUL, June 2 (Reuters) - Afghanistan's government protested against a U.S. deal to free five high-ranking Taliban militants in exchange for a U.S. soldier arguing the transfer of the men from a Guantanamo Bay jail to Qatar violated international law.

The five prisoners were flown to Qatar on Sunday as part of the agreement to release Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, the only known U.S. prisoner of war in Afghanistan, held captive for five years. Bergdahl was flown out of Afghanistan to a military hospital in Germany on Sunday.

The prisoner swap has stoked anger in Afghanistan, where many view the deal as a further sign of a U.S. desire to disengage from Afghanistan as quickly as possible. Washington has mapped out a plan to fully withdraw all of its troops by the end of 2016.

"No government can transfer citizens of a country to a third country as prisoners," the Afghan Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a statement issued late on Sunday.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who was excluded from the deal to avoid leaks according to the U.S. government, has not commented on the prisoner swap, although the foreign ministry statement was emailed from his media office.

Karzai, who is due to step down as leader later this year, has been fiercely critical of the U.S. administration in recent years, and the prisoner swap will only serve to deepen the distrust between the sides.

Under the terms of the deal cut by Qatari intermediaries, the five Taliban detainees were released from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where they had been held since it opened in 2002, and flown to Qatar where they must stay for a year.

Libya fighting: Seven killed in Benghazi

At least seven people including several soldiers have been killed in the Libyan city of Benghazi, medics say.

A military commander told the AFP news agency that the violence began when Ansar al-Sharia militants attacked special forces loyal to renegade General Khalifa Haftar.
Benghazi has been plagued by violence since Muammar Gaddafi was ousted.
The government has been trying to disarm numerous armed groups that took part in the war that ended his rule.
Cradle of the uprising Three years after the Nato-supported war that terminated Col Gadaffi's 42 years in power, Libya is in chaos, correspondents say, with Islamist, anti-Islamist, regional and political groups all vying for power.

Angry Islamists torch Christians' shops in Egypt

LUXOR, Egypt –  A security official in Egypt says a mob of angry Islamists has burned shops owned by Coptic Christians near the ancient city of Luxor hours before a trial for a Coptic Christian accused of blasphemy.
The official says the attack early Monday saw Islamists throw gasoline bombs at the shops in the village of el-Mahameed near Luxor. The official says authorities are investigating the attack.

The attack came hours before the start of a trial in Luxor for Kerolos Ghattas, a young Coptic Christian charged with contempt to Islam over a series of alleged Internet postings.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to journalists.
Christians make up about 10 percent of Egypt's population.

Thailand's Army Deploys Thousands Of Troops Against Protesters

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand's ruling junta deployed thousands of security forces on the streets of Bangkok on Sunday to thwart another round of small-scale protests denouncing last month's military coup. Hundreds of demonstrators came out and several were detained, but there was no violence.
Fears over possible unrest, however, prompted a major downtown shopping mall to close and authorities temporarily shut down several subway and elevated train stations near where protests could have materialized.
Thailand has been calm since the army overthrew the nation's elected government on May 22, saying it had to restore order after seven months of demonstrations that had triggered sporadic violence and left the country's political rivals in a stalemate.
But the junta that took power has launched a major campaign to suppress dissent, summoning politicians, journalists and academics — the majority of them perceived as being critical of the new regime.
Since the coup, small groups of pro-democracy protesters have come out nearly every day, marching through Bangkok and sometimes scuffling with soldiers. No injuries have been reported so far.
The junta has issued stern warnings calling on the demonstrators to stop because it sees their actions as destabilizing, but it has not employed force to stop them. On Sunday, authorities said about 5,700 soldiers and police were deployed at key intersections in Bangkok to stop demonstrators from massing.
The protesters say they should have the right to express themselves freely.

France arrests Syria jihad suspects as Nemmouche held

Four people have been arrested in the Paris region and southern France, officials say, on suspicion of recruiting militants to fight in Syria.

The raids came a day after it emerged a Frenchman was being held by police investigating the murder of three people at the Brussels Jewish Museum.
Mehdi Nemmouche, 29, was arrested at a station in Marseille on Friday.
Prosecutors say he has claimed responsibility for the attack and spent more than a year in Syria.
Interior Minister Bernard Cazaneuve told Europe 1 radio on Monday: "There are people who recruit jihadists. There are as I'm speaking arrests being made."
"We are acting everywhere. There will be no respite in the fight against terrorists."
There is no suggestion of a link between the four arrests on Monday and the detention of Mr Nemmouche during a random check on a coach arriving from Amsterdam in southern France on Friday.
But Mr Nemmouche is said to have had links with radical Islamists and served five years in jail in France for robbery before being released in December 2012.
When he was arrested, he had with him a Kalashnikov rifle and a handgun believed to have been used in the attack, the Paris prosecutor said.

Officials: Attacks across Iraq kill at least 15 people, wound dozens

BAGHDAD –  Officials say attacks across Iraq have killed at least 15 people and wounded dozens.
Police officials say a parked car bomb ripped through a commercial area in the southern city of Najaf on Monday, killing six civilians and wounding 13. Najaf is located about 160 kilometers (100 miles) south of Baghdad.

A suicide car bomber struck an army checkpoint in the town of Mishahda, killing three soldiers and two civilians, and wounding 14 people. The town is located 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of Baghdad.
Attacks on busy commercial areas in the city of Nasiriyah and the towns of Iskandariyah and Mahmoudiyah killed four people and wounded 31.
Medical officials confirmed the causality figures. All spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to media.

Turkey's Police Tear Gas Crowds Marking Anniversary Of Protest Wave

ISTANBUL (AP) — Police used tear gas and water cannon on Saturday to push back crowds of protesters who defied a warning by Turkey's prime minister and gathered in Istanbul and Ankara on the anniversary of last year's nationwide anti-government demonstrations.
Riot police fired tear gas on hundreds of protesters on a main pedestrian street leading to Istanbul's main square, Taksim, following a stand-off with police. Clashes also erupted in the capital Ankara, where police used water cannons against a group of stone-throwing protesters.
Dogan new agency video footage showed police, some in plain clothes, detaining several people in the two cities. Abdulbaki Boga, of the Human Rights Association, told The Associated Press at least 83 people were detained and 14 people were injured in Istanbul alone.
Large numbers of police blocked access to Taksim, and news reports earlier said authorities planned to deploy some 25,000 police officers and up to 50 anti-riot water cannon vehicles around the city to thwart the demonstrations. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned activists to keep away from the square, saying authorities were under strict orders to prevent protests.
"I am calling on my people: don't fall for this trap. This is not an innocent environmental action," Erdogan said.
In late May and June last year, hundreds of thousands of Turks took to the streets denouncing Erdogan's increasingly autocratic leadership and demanding more democratic freedoms. The protests were sparked by opposition to government plans to uproot trees at Taksim Square's Gezi Park and build a shopping center.

Spain's King Juan Carlos to abdicate

Monarch says he is proud of country's transition to democracy but son Felipe has the maturity to 'open a new era of hope'

After 39 years on the throne, King Juan Carlos of Spain will abdicate in favour of his son Crown Prince Felipe, the king said in a televised address on Monday.
   Hours after the prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, broke the news, the king explained his decision on Spanish television and radio. He highlighted his pride in the "transformation of Spain" and the "tremendous amount achieved by all" since the country's transition into democracy.
"Today, when I look back, I cannot help but feel pride and gratitude towards all of you," he said.
The decision to step down, he said, was made after his 76th birthday in January. His son Felipe, he assured Spaniards, "has the maturity, preparation, and sense of responsibility necessary to assume the title of head of state and open a new era of hope which combines the experience and momentum of a new generation."
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Bowe Bergdahl release: US parties clash on Afghan deal

The main US political parties have clashed over the deal to swap five Guantanamo Bay detainees for a Taliban-held soldier, with Republicans warning it could put American lives at risk.

Senator John McCain said the detainees, who were transferred to Qatar, were some of the "highest high-risk people".
Afghanistan also condemned the deal, saying handing prisoners to a third country violated international law.
Sgt Bowe Bergdahl, 28, was handed to US forces in Afghanistan on Saturday.
In an emotional address on Sunday, his father, Robert Bergdahl, said he was proud how far his son was willing to go to help the Afghan people, but warned that his recovery would take a long time.
He said he and his wife had not yet spoken to the soldier, who is in a good condition and undergoing medical care at a US military hospital in Germany.

Obama administration unveils controversial emissions cap on power plants

The Obama administration on Monday unveiled the first-ever national limits on carbon emissions from existing power plants, a controversial regulation aimed at fulfilling a key plank of President Obama's climate change agenda. 
The Environmental Protection Agency wants existing plants to cut pollution by 30 percent by 2030, under the plan. 

The draft regulation sidesteps Congress, where Obama's Democratic allies have failed to pass a so-called "cap-and-trade" plan to limit such emissions. The EPA plan will go into effect in June 2016, following a one-year comment period. States will then be responsible for executing the rule with some flexibility.
They are expected to be allowed to require power plants to make changes such as switching from coal to natural gas or enact other programs to reduce demand for electricity and produce more energy from renewable sources.
They also can set up pollution-trading markets as some states already have done to offer more flexibility in how plants cut emissions.
If a state refuses to create a plan, the EPA can make its own.
Without waiting to see what Obama proposes, governors in Kansas, Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia have already signed laws directing their environmental agencies to develop their own carbon-emission plans. Similar measures recently passed in Missouri and are pending in the Louisiana and Ohio legislatures.

The "Inside Politics" Forecast: Is the U.S. Border Patrol the next Administration flashpoint?

The Veterans Affairs crisis ended this week in the resignation of General Shinseki, but Steve Inskeep of NPR says the next agency to come under scrutiny might be Homeland Security.
"There have been a lot of questions about the Border Patrol shooting unarmed people, including Mexicans,” said Inskeep.
“There have been a lot of questions about Americans being searched by the Border Patrol. And a lot of questions in that agency about transparency, some of the same kinds of questions being asked about the VA.”

NSA 'collects facial-recognition photos from the the net'

US cyber-spies have collected millions of photos of people's faces from the net for use in facial-recognition programmes, according to reports.

The New York Times says leaked National Security Agency documents show in 2011 it intercepted about 55,000 "facial-recognition-quality images" every day.
The leaks suggested the photos had been harvested from emails, text messages, social media and video chats, it says.
The NYT added the images were then cross-referenced with other databases.
These are said to include photographs of airline passengers, and pictures taken from other countries' national identity-card schemes.
The NSA has said that it does not have access to photos taken for US passports or US driving licences, but declined to comment about photos submitted by foreigners applying for visas to the country.

Obama travels to Europe, expected to urge leaders to keep pressure on Russia

President Barack Obama will press European leaders this week to keep up pressure on Russia over its threatening moves in Ukraine, while seeking to assuage fears from Poland and other NATO allies that the West could slip back into a business-as-usual relationship with Moscow.
Obama's four-day trip to Poland, Belgium and France comes against the backdrop of successful national elections in Ukraine and signs that Russia is moving most of its troops off its shared border with the former Soviet republic. Yet violence continues to rage in eastern Ukrainian cities and there remains deep uncertainty about whether Ukraine's new president-elect can stabilize his country.

U.S. officials contend that, even with some signs of progress, Russia has not taken the necessary steps to ease tensions and could still face additional economic sanctions. Obama will look for Western allies to show a united front during a meeting of the Group of Seven major industrial nations that was quickly arranged after leaders decided to boycott a meeting Russia had been scheduled to host this week.
But at least some parts of Obama's visit will challenge the notion that the West has isolated Moscow. Russian President Vladmir Putin is scheduled to join U.S. and European leaders in France Friday for a day of events marking the 75th anniversary of the D-Day invasion at Normandy. Putin will also hold one-on-one talks with French President Francois Hollande, his first meeting with a Western leader since the Ukraine crisis began.
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