Gazette 06-18-14

Wednesday June 18th 2014

--------------------------

Battle grips Iraq's biggest refinery

The Iraqi army says it has driven off Islamist-led militants attacking the country's biggest oil refinery amid reports it had been overrun.

An official told Reuters the militants had occupied 75% of the Baiji refinery, 210km (130 miles) north of Baghdad.
The army said 40 attackers had been killed, a claim which could not be verified independently.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has gone on television to urge Iraqis to unite against the militants.
Government forces are battling to push back ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) and its Sunni Muslim allies in Diyala and Salahuddin provinces, after the militants overran the second city, Mosul, last week.
In other developments:

• UK Prime Minister David Cameron told Parliament in London that ISIS was also plotting terror attacks on Britain
• India confirmed that 40 of its citizens had been kidnapped in the violence-hit Iraqi city of Mosul
• Saudi Foreign Minister Saud bin Faisal warned that Iraq faced the risk of civil war
• Turkey is investigating reports that 15 Turkish builders were abducted by ISIS on Tuesday; 80 Turks were kidnapped in Mosul last week 

At least 14 killed in suicide bombing at Nigeria World Cup viewing site

DAMATURU, Nigeria –  An explosion at an illegal World Cup viewing site in northeast Nigeria killed at least 14 people while security forces arrested a "terror kingpin" among nearly 500 people detained as suspected terrorists in the southeast of the country, police said Wednesday.
At least 26 people were wounded in Tuesday night's blast as soccer fans were viewing the Brazil-Mexico match in Damaturu, the capital of Yobe state, police said.
"The bomb just threw me away and I didn't even know where I was," survivor Babagana Mohammed said. He recovered consciousness in the hospital.
Another wounded victim, Musa Mohammed, said some people lost limbs in the blast. He said he had stopped by to buy airtime for his cellphone. "I stopped at the viewing center to buy a recharge card and suddenly the blast went off. It was just like a flash of light and many people were killed. Some were amputated ... But thank God mine was a lesser injury."
Witnesses said a suicide bomber drove a tricycle taxi packed with explosives into the area. But Police Assistant Superintendent Nathan Cheghan said the explosion came from a car parked and abandoned on the road in front.
Cheghan said such viewing sites were banned in Yobe state two months ago because they have become a target of Boko Haram, an armed Islamic group that wants to turn Nigerian into an Islamic state.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility but he blamed Boko Haram.

ISIS Takeover Wreaks Havoc On Many Iraqi Businesses, Gives Others A Boost

ERBIL, Iraq -- Kosrit Maged has thrived as the owner of a small fabric store in this northern Iraqi city for the past 18 years. On a good week, he is used to selling about 10,000 meters of fabric. But now he’s often down to 200 meters at best.
The reason for the drastic downturn, Maged says, is the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, an extremist Sunni militant group that in recent days has taken over several cities, including Mosul -- the country's second biggest city, just 190 kilometers away. Tens of thousands of Iraqis fled Mosul to this semiautonomous Kurdish region to escape the group, known for carrying out mass executions and beheading those who don’t follow its strict brand of Islam. But even though Erbil is calm and quiet, defended by well-trained and fiercely loyal Kurdish fighters, business is far from usual.
Merchants here have lost access to many products because their business partners in Mosul have shut down their shops. Businesses can no longer get cheap goods that come by ship from places like China, as there are few safe ways to travel here from the southern Iraqi port of Basra. And people like Maged who sell nonessential goods have seen a huge drop in business because many residents are saving money to prepare for a potentially long, bloody battle that could destroy livelihoods and inflate prices.
“Now there is almost no one,” Maged said as he paged through his log from the week. “People are afraid. They want to save money.”
Like many Iraqis, his livelihood is closely tied to the security situation. Most people aren’t focused on buying fabric to make curtains or sew clothing these days, since extremist rebels are rampaging the country, instituting Sharia law, and proudly posting graphic photos and videos of executions on social media.

Afghan president hopeful Abdullah Abdullah cries foul

Afghan presidential election candidate Abdullah Abdullah has demanded an immediate halt to vote-counting over allegations of widespread fraud.

Ballot boxes had been stuffed and the whole system was working to benefit his rival Ashraf Ghani, Dr Abdullah said.
He said he had lost trust in election officials, adding: "We have asked our monitors to leave their offices."
A run-off vote to choose who replaces Hamid Karzai was held on Saturday. Final results are due in July.
Dr Abdullah won most votes in the first round in April, but did not secure an outright majority.
There was no immediate comment from Mr Ghani, a former World Bank economist.
Mr Karzai, who has served two terms as Afghanistan's first and only president since the Taliban were ousted in 2001, is obliged by law to stand down after the latest election, which would be the country's first peaceful transfer of power.
He is expected to hand over to his successor in August.
'No legitimacy' Dr Abdullah said that a number of his observers had been beaten up, detained and only released on Tuesday.
He accused President Karzai of not being neutral and said important concerns he had raised over the election had been ignored.

Libya denies knowledge of US seizure of top suspect in Benghazi attack, demands handover

TRIPOLI, Libya –  The Libyan government has denied it had prior knowledge of the U.S. capture of a top suspect in the deadly 2012 assault on Americans in Benghazi and demanded his return.
In a statement read on television Wednesday, the interim government condemned the seizure of Ahmed Abu Khattala, who the U.S. accuses of involvement in the attack on its consulate in Benghazi that left four Americans dead, including Ambassador Chris Stevens.
Abu Khattala is headed for the United States to face what President Barak Obama called "the full weight of the American justice system." Obama called the Libyan an "alleged key leader" of the attack.
The Libyan statement said: "The government stresses its right to try Abu Khattala on its territories and according to its laws."

Iran Vows To Defend Shiite Muslim Holy Sites In Iraq From 'Killers And Terrorists'

BAGHDAD, June 18 (Reuters) - Iran's president vowed on Wednesday to defend Shi'ite holy sites in Iraq, where Sunni militants battled their way into the biggest oil refinery in what is rapidly turning into a sectarian war across the frontiers of the Middle East.

Sunni fighters were in control of three quarters of the territory of the Baiji refinery north of Baghdad, an official said there, after a morning of heavy fighting at gates defended by elite troops under siege for a week.

A lightning advance has seen Sunni fighters rout the Shi'ite-led government's army and seize the main cities across the north of the country since last week.

The fighters are led by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant which aims to build a caliphate ruled on medieval precepts, but also include a broad spectrum of more moderate Sunnis furious at what they see as oppression by Baghdad.

Washington and other Western capitals are trying to save Iraq as a united country by leaning hard on Shi'ite Prime Minister to reach out to Sunnis. Maliki met Sunni and Kurdish political opponents overnight, concluding with a frosty, carefully-staged joint appearance at which an appeal for national unity was read out.

But so far Maliki's government has relied almost entirely on his fellow Shi'ites for support, with officials lashing out at Sunni political leaders as traitors. Extra-legal Shi'ite militia - many believed to be funded and backed by Iran - have mobilized to halt the Sunni advance, as Baghdad's million-strong army, built by the United States at a cost of $25 billion, crumbles.

Overt participation by Iran, the Middle East's main Shi'ite power which fought a war that killed a million people against Iraq in the 1980s, would transform the fight into a conflict spanning the frontiers of the region.

Speaking on live television to a crowd, Iran's President Hassan Rouhani made the clearest declaration yet that Tehran was prepared to mobilize.

Kenya Violence: Al-Shabab Militants Vow To Continue Deadly Attacks

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The killers in the Kenyan village singled out non-Muslims, shooting them point-blank or slitting their throats, just like the previous night in an adjacent hamlet. A Somali extremist group claimed responsibility but Kenya's president on Tuesday blamed local political networks for the 60 deaths.
President Uhuru Kenyatta, in a national address, said evidence indicates that the motive for the killing spree was to evict a community of people in order to grab the land along the coast near the Somali border. He said al-Shabab, a Somali group linked to al-Qaida, was not behind it.
But analysts expressed doubt. Matt Bryden, the former head of the U.N. Monitoring Group on Somalia, said al-Shabab has never claimed credit for an attack it didn't carry out.
"It has all the hallmarks of an al-Shabab attack, said Bryden, now the head of Sahan Research. "Secondly, there's been no sign of a Kenyan group carrying out an attack on this scale or with these tactics."
In a nearby village, residents stood on top of burned-out vehicles and erected barricades of burning tires to blockade the road in protest against the recent killings and what they claimed was the government's failure to provide them with enough security. Some residents abandoned another village with their belongings on their heads while armed security forces marched in single file along narrow paths leading through the dense swamp and forest, searching for the killers.
Al-Shabab said Monday that such attacks would continue "as you continue to invade our lands and oppress innocent Muslims." Al-Shabab gunmen attacked an upscale mall in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, last September, killing at least 67 people in reprisal for Kenya sending its troops to Somalia.
The second night of deadly attacks against a Christian community on Kenya's north coast seemed designed to try to inflame Christian-Muslim tensions in Kenya, religious and political leaders said.

Ukraine unveils plans for ceasefire

President Petro Poroshenko hopes to win Vladimir Putin's backing for peace plan as fighting continues in east of country

Ukraine's president has announced plans for a unilateral ceasefire as part of a "peace plan" designed to end fighting in the east of the country.
The announcement came not long after Petro Poroshenko spoke by telephone to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, raising hopes that the latest attempt to solve the crisis might win the support of the Kremlin.
"The plan will begin with my order for a unilateral ceasefire," said Poroshenko, speaking at a military academy in Kiev. "I can say that the period of the ceasefire will be rather short. We anticipate that immediately after this the disarming of the illegal military formations will take place."
There were also reports on Wednesday that Poroshenko plans to replace a number of key ministers, including the foreign minister.
Andriy Deshchytsia, the current acting minister, achieved notoriety over the weekend after being caught on camera calling Putin a "dickhead". Russia's foreign ministry said it would never speak to Deshchytsia again after the incident.
Ukraine's defence minister, Mikhail Koval, said the ceasefire could begin in a matter of days.

Livni praises Abbas for condemnation of kidnappings 

Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, who for eight months led Israel’s negotiation team with the Palestinians, lauded Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s condemnation Wednesday of the kidnappings of the three Israeli teens.

Abbas’s words were “important, correct, and reflect the true reality – Hamas is an extreme Islamic terrorist organization that attacks civilians and children, and does not wage a war for the Palestinian people and their national aspirations, but rather against the existence of the state of Israel. It is forbidden to give them legitimacy.”
Livni said these are words she continuously tells the world. “These are words the world needs to internalize, especially after they were voiced clearly by Abu Mazen [Abbas].”

Britain expected to face worst-ever cyber attack

LONDON: Britain might face its worst-ever cyber attack on Tuesday night. The country's National Crime Agency had warned people on June 2 to brace themselves against a "powerful computer attack" involving a strain of malware known as Gameover Zeus. Its alternative names are GoZeuS and P2PZeus.

GoZeuS is designed to steal banking information from personal computers, while CryptoLocker encrypts user-created files such as business documents and photographs, only releasing them in return for a ransom of hundreds of pounds. The attack is expected on the night on June 17.

In a last ditch attempt, the NCA on Tuesday reminded UK computer users that there is still time to protect themselves.

The NCA announced "an international operation had temporarily weakened the global network of infected computers, providing a particularly strong two-week opportunity for members of the public to rid themselves of the malware and help prevent future infection. By updating security software, running system scans to detect and clear infections, and checking that computer operating systems are up to date, individuals and businesses can take advantage of the criminal network's relative weakness. The NCA strongly recommends taking these steps as soon as possible before midnight on June 17".

The NCA is also emphasizing the dangers of opening 'spam' e-mails and downloading unknown attachments—the most common means of infection.

Current indications are that UK GoZeuS and CryptoLocker infections have reduced since June 2, but thousands of systems remain affected or at risk.
-

Obama eyes ‘special forces’ option in Iraq

no airstrikes, for now

President Obama plans to huddle with top congressional leaders on Wednesday to discuss ramping up U.S. involvement in the Iraq crisis, and is said to be leaning toward sending U.S. special forces into the country. 
White House officials stress that several options remain on the table and no decision has been made. But the president reportedly has, for now, ruled out using airstrikes against the Al Qaeda-inspired Sunni Muslim insurgency that has seized vast swaths of territory in the north and west of Iraq. 
According to The Wall Street Journal, the concern is that U.S. commanders lack sufficient intelligence to determine clear battlefield targets. 
A senior official told Fox News that the president instead appears to be leaning toward sending roughly 100 special forces into the region. Such a contingent presumably would be sent to help train the Iraqi military and boost intelligence available to the Iraqis. 
The president likely will use his meeting with top congressional leaders Wednesday afternoon to take their pulse on these options, recognizing that his Democratic colleagues may be a tougher sell. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, among those set to attend the Oval Office meeting, has voiced concern about any U.S. involvement in the sectarian crisis in Iraq. 
House Speaker John Boehner, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell are also set to attend. 
More broadly, the Obama administration is pressing for Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to take steps to make his Shiite-dominated government more inclusive. Obama said last week that any short-term U.S. military actions in Iraq would not be successful unless they were accompanied by political changes by the government in Baghdad.

Hillary Clinton Grilled On Benghazi In Fox News Interview

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hillary Rodham Clinton says many unanswered questions remain about the deadly 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, even as U.S. authorities have captured their first suspect in the case.
Clinton, speaking in separate interviews with CNN and Fox News, said Tuesday she was still seeking information on the attacks that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans and led to numerous investigations. But she defended the Obama administration's response to the incident and said the State Department tried to respond to the fast-moving attacks that have become a focal point of criticism from Republicans.
"We want to know who was behind it, what the motivation of the leaders and the attackers happened to be. There are still some unanswered questions," Clinton said on CNN. "It was, after all, the fog of war."
The potential 2016 Democratic presidential candidate addressed the Benghazi investigation and a range of issues in the two interviews as part of a promotional tour for her new book, "Hard Choices," about her four years as President Barack Obama's secretary of state.
Clinton urged the Obama administration to remain cautious about working with Iran to combat fast-moving Islamic insurgents in Iraq. And she said it was unclear whether it would have turned the tide in Syria if the U.S. had tried to help moderate rebel forces there, as she once advised.
The former first lady's appearances came hours after the Obama administration announced the capture of a Libyan militant suspected in the Benghazi attacks. Clinton said the capture showed the U.S. has an "an unwavering commitment" to go after anyone who would attempt to harm Americans.

The Clintons have a very complicated tax life. Here’s how to understand it.

Perhaps you, like 99.983 percent of Americans, are not familiar with residence trusts as a means of reducing estate tax bills. (We made up that percentage.) Perhaps you are also in the 99.987 percent of Americans who aren't particularly worried about whether or not the estate you leave your kids will exceed $5.3 million. (That one, too.)
But maybe, just maybe, you are curious just how much the Clintons -- you know, Bill and Hillary -- saved on their estate taxes by using a sophisticated planning tool. We were, so we asked an expert.
The question was prompted by an article from Bloomberg on Tuesday. Richard Rubin reported that the Clintons created a residence trust on the home they own in New York state, in an effort to reduce the amount of taxable assets they would pass on in their estate. The piece was framed as a bit of hypocrisy, the Clintons seeking to avoid paying the very taxes that they have advocated as policy. For that to be an effective critique, however, there's one key question: How much were the Clintons actually saving?
To answer that, we first have to go over how estate taxes work. We spoke with Alban Salaman, mid-Atlantic region chair of private wealth services for the law firm of Holland & Knight, who walked us through the legal requirements.
The first key number is $5,340,000. That is how large your estate can be without it being taxed by the federal government. That's the figure in 2014; it changes over time. And it's cumulative, so if you leave your kid a $5 million estate and a $500,000 sports car, you're $160,000 over the max. Anything over the "exemption amount," as it's known, is taxed at 40 percent. So your lucky kid would need to pay $64,000 in taxes. ($160,000 times 40 percent.) Simpler: Think of it like a bag at a candy store. Anything you fit in the bag you get free; anything else, you have to pay for. You're going to do your best not to overfill that bag.

Koch Group Forms ‘Super PAC’ as 2014 Races Near

A political nonprofit group at the center of the philanthropic and political network overseen by Charles and David Koch has formed a new “super PAC,” according to documents filed earlier this month with the Federal Election Commission, providing a new outlet for the hundreds of millions of dollars the Kochs and their fellow donors are preparing to funnel into the 2014 election.

The group, known as Freedom Partners Action Fund, appears to be the first super PAC founded by the Koch political organization, which until now has relied almost entirely on nonprofit organizations that are not required to disclose their donors. Based in Virginia, the new super PAC is linked to another organization, called Freedom Partners, that is organized as a trade association of business executives, most of them attendees of the twice-yearly donor conferences hosted by the Kochs.

The new super PAC, first reported by Politico, will give donors allied with the Kochs more flexibility: Unlike political nonprofit groups, super PACs can spend every dollar they raise on political advertising expressly advocating the election or defeat of a candidate. It will also have to disclose more information about its donors.

“It’s a new vehicle that allows us to continue to advance free-market policies by supporting free-market candidates,” said James Davis, a spokesman for both groups.

Until now, groups supported by the Kochs and their fellow donors have relied heavily on “issue ads” that do not specifically ask listeners to vote for or against a candidate. Strategists working with the Kochs concluded that the approach, while preserving the secrecy of donors, limited the political impact of the groups’ efforts.

With the Kochs already the subject of aggressive and personal attacks by Democrats, and after reports that revealed the names of many of the wealthy donors working with them, Freedom Partners concluded that the flexibility afford by the super PAC was worth the headaches that increased disclosure may bring, according to a person who attended the group’s most recent conference, held earlier this week.

 

 Northern Gateway pipeline in Canada approved

Canada has conditionally approved a pipeline to bring oil from the Alberta oil sands to the country's Pacific coast over heavy criticism.

The 1,177-km (731 miles) pipeline project, known as the Northern Gateway, is expected to transport 525,000 barrels a day to Asia-bound tankers.
The move was expected after a review board recommended the pipeline in 2013.
But critics say Canada's conservative government is ignoring the objections of First Nations and environmentalists.
Ahead of the approval on Tuesday New Democrat Leader Tom Mulcair said multiple towns along the pipeline, 130 First Nations groups in British Columbia and hundreds of scientists were against it.
"The prime minister endorsed this pipeline publicly three years ago," Mr Mulcair said ."No matter what evidence, how many people speak out, how many people stand up against him, he keeps pushing this project."
Mr Harper has said diversifying Canada's oil sands production is essential, especially after President Barack Obama has delayed a decision on the Keystone XL pipeline, which would bring crude to the Gulf of Mexico.

Ambassador Gary Doer predicts U.S. will decide on Keystone next spring

WASHINGTON — Canada's ambassador to the U.S. took some not-so-subtle shots at the Obama administration Tuesday for its endless delays in making a decision about the proposed Keystone XL pipeline.
But Gary Doer also predicted the project would get its presidential verdict by March 2015.
After six years of delays, the Canadian government is no longer shy about letting the White House know it's none too pleased with President Barack Obama's failure to tackle the file.
Pressed to anticipate the outcome, Doer quipped to the audience attending the Canadian American Business Council's energy summit in Washington that Obama will make a decision on the project when "he uses science."
Studies indicate moving oil by pipeline instead of the growing reliance on rail is safer and better for the environment.
Doer then poked at Obama's widely reported ambition to leave a legacy as a president who tackled climate change.
"I wouldn't want my legacy to be saying no to oil in Canada and relying on oil from Venezuela and the Middle East," Doer said.
"I wouldn't want my legacy to be greater safety risk in cities in the United States, and I wouldn't want my legacy to be saying no to Keystone and yes to higher greenhouse gases. That's just me."
The ambassador's comments come at a key time in the pipeline file.
On Wednesday, the Senate energy committee is expected to consider a bill that would grant Keystone approval — the same bill that died on the Senate floor in May.
Even with the committee's blessing, it doesn't have the votes to pass in Congress before November's midterm elections, according to one of the bill's sponsors, North Dakota Republican Sen. John Hoeven.
Hoeven, who appeared at the event with Doer, vowed to re-introduce the bill early next year, when he predicts his party will have picked up more seats in the upper chamber.
The bill is now supported by 57 senators — short of the filibuster-proof 60 needed to pass.