Weekend Gazette 06-08-14

Sunday June 8th 2014

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Egypt's Sisi sworn in and hails 'historic moment'

Ex-army chief Abdul Fattah al-Sisi has been sworn in as Egypt's new president after a landslide win in May elections.

He said his election was "a democratic, peaceful handover of power" that represented "a historic moment and turning point" for the nation.
Security forces were deployed at key locations around the capital Cairo for the ceremony at the Supreme Constitutional Court.
The retired field marshal overthrew President Mohammed Morsi last July.
He has since been pursuing a crackdown on Mr Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood, which urged a boycott of the elections.
Liberal and secular activists, including the 6 April youth movement which was prominent in the 2011 revolution that ousted long-serving President Hosni Mubarak, also shunned the 26-28 May poll in protest at the curtailing of civil rights.
'No coup' Mr Sisi, 59, was sworn in for a four-year term at a ceremony shown live on television.
He signed the document authorising him to take over power from interim president, Adly Mansour.
Mr Sisi said: "Throughout its extended history over thousands of years, our country has never witnessed a democratic peaceful handover of power."

Afghanistan election: Will country ‘turn the page,’ or descend into chaos?

The only election that might matter as much to America as the midterms this year is taking place next week, as Afghanistan chooses a new leader to guide the country after more than a decade of war. 
For the first time since 2001, Afghans will be choosing a president whose name is not Karzai. The transition is an opportunity for the Afghan people to turn the page on a tenure fraught with corruption and mismanagement, and for America to move beyond an increasingly bitter and contentious relationship. 

It also carries the risk that hard-fought gains could unravel in an instant -- observers were reminded of this Friday, when the leading presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah escaped an apparent assassination attempt when his convoy was bombed. 
Those risks may have grown after the Obama administration freed five Taliban leaders from Guantanamo in exchange for captured American Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. Sources close to Abdullah told Fox News the candidate is extremely concerned about the Taliban members' release. 
Who will lead the war-torn country will be decided in a June 14 runoff between Abdullah and rival Ashraf Ghani. Aside from evident security challenges, another key question is whether the winner will survive the horse-trading and notorious political corruption to emerge a reformer, or send Afghanistan down a path to more of the same, or worse, civil war.

Poroshenko Sworn In As Ukraine's President

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine's new president on Saturday called for pro-Russian rebels in the country's east to lay down their arms and welcomed dialogue with the insurgents, but said he wouldn't negotiate with those he called "gangsters and killers" and struck a defiant tone on the Russian-annexed Crimean Peninsula.
Petro Poroshenko's inaugural address after taking the oath of office in parliament gave little sign of a quick resolution to the conflict in the east, which Ukrainian officials say has left more than 200 people dead.
He also firmly insisted that Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula annexed by Russia in March, "was, is and will be Ukrainian." He gave no indication of how Ukraine could regain control of Crimea, which Russian President Vladimir Putin has said was allotted to Ukraine unjustly under Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev.
Hours after the speech, Putin ordered security tightened along Russia's border with Ukraine to prevent illegal crossings, Russian news agencies said. Ukraine claims that many of the insurgents in the east have come from Russia; Poroshenko on Saturday said he would offer a corridor for safe passage of "Russian militants" out of the country.
Rebel leaders in the east dismissed Poroshenko's speech.
"At the moment it's impossible for him to come (to Donetsk for talks)," said Denis Pushilin, a top figure in the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic. "Perhaps with security, a group, so people won't tear him to pieces."
Poroshenko offered amnesty to rebels who "don't have blood on their hands." But "I don't believe it," said Valery Bolotov, the insurgent leader in the Luhansk region. Rebels in both Luhansk and Donetsk have declared their regions independent.

Iraq Car Bombs Kill Dozens

BAGHDAD (AP) — A series of car bombs exploded across Iraq's capital Saturday night, killing at least 52 people in a day of violence that saw militants storm a university in the country's restive Anbar province and take dozens hostage, authorities said.

The attacks in Baghdad largely focused on Shiite neighborhoods, underscoring the sectarian violence now striking at Iraq years after a similar wave nearly tore the country apart following the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. Now with U.S. troops gone, Iraq founds itself fighting on fronts across the country, as separate clashes in a northern city killed 21 police officers and 38 militants, officials said.

The first Baghdad attack took place Saturday night in the capital's western Baiyaa district, killing nine people and wounding 22, police said. Later on, seven car bombs in different parts of Baghdad killed at least 41 people and wounded 62, police said. A roadside bomb in western Baghdad also killed two people and wounded six, police said. All the attacks happened in a one-hour period and largely targeted commercial streets in Shiite neighborhoods, authorities said.

Hospital officials confirmed the casualty figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release details to journalists.

Two Kurds die in protest over new Turkish army posts

Two Kurdish protesters have died from gunshot wounds sustained in clashes with government soldiers in south-eastern Turkey.

They were demonstrating against government plans to build new military barracks in Diyarbakir province.
A crowd of demonstrators threw petrol bombs at security forces. The sides accuse each other of opening fire.
Building new army posts in majority-Kurdish areas is seen by many as a threat to the peace process.
It began in 2012 in an attempt to end a 30-year insurgency by Kurdish rebels of the PKK which has claimed at least 40,000 lives.
The protests against the new military posts have intensified in the last couple of weeks.
They also come just ahead of a critical presidential election, which Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is widely expected to contest.
Support from the Kurdish minority - some 20% of the Turkish population - could be key to his chances of success, observers say.
'Lacking sincerity' In the clashes at Lice on Saturday, two men aged 24 and 50 were killed, AFP news agency said.
Several hundred people took part in a demonstration in which petrol bombs and stones were thrown at the security forces.

3 former lawmakers in Kuwait get prison terms over insulting ruler, but can stay free on bail

KUWAIT CITY –  A defense lawyer in Kuwait says the country's top court has sentenced three former opposition lawmakers to 20 months in prison for insulting the country's ruler, though they will be allowed to remain free on bail.
Lawyer Yousif al-Hirbish said Sunday's decision overturned an earlier appeals court verdict acquitting the three parliamentarians — Falah al-Sawwagh, Bader al-Dahoum and Khaled al-Tahous.

He says they will be able to avoid prison time by paying 2,000 dinars bail — some $7,000.
The three were arrested in 2013 after participating in rallies opposing changes to Kuwait's voting rules made by the emir.
The sentence foreshadows what may be the return of political unrest in Kuwait after months of calm. Activist Musallam al-Barrack has called for an opposition rally Tuesday to announce government corruption allegations.

China sentences nine to death for terrorism offences in Xinjiang

A further 72 people receive lesser sentences as authorities make 29 new arrests after deadly attacks blamed on Muslim extremist

Chinese authorities handed down the death penalty to nine people, sentenced a further 72 to lesser sentences and made 29 new arrests in a huge crackdown in the far west following deadly attacks blamed on Muslim extremists, state media and officials said on Thursday.
Four high-profile attacks on civilians since late October have handed a major security challenge to China's president, Xi Jinping, during his first 15 months in office.
The attacks have been blamed on extremists from the Xinjiang region's native Turkic-speaking Uighurs seeking to overthrow Chinese rule and inspired by global jihadi ideology.
Since a vegetable market bombing that killed 43 people on 22 May, officials have issued a flurry of announcements citing more than 300 arrests and scores of rapid prosecutions resulting in stiff sentences including the death penalty, raising concerns among some human rights advocates that the prosecutions may be trampling legal rights.
David Zweig, a political scientist at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, said the Chinese government felt threatened by the attacks and wanted to show the public it had the means to stop them.
"They would be quite concerned that the general population is afraid that they can't manage the situation," Zweig said.
"They probably feel that if they go and arrest a lot of people very quickly and lock them up, that they might have a chance of breaking the cycle."
Authorities have said 23 extremist groups have been broken up, including a group of five allegedly plotting another bomb attack.
Last week, officials said 55 people charged with terrorism and other crimes were sentenced at a stadium in northern Xinjiang including at least one sentenced to death.

China's trade surplus rises to $36bn in May

China's exports grew in May but a drop in imports signalled a possible weakening of demand in the world's second-largest economy.

The country's exports rose by 7% in May compared with 12 months before. But imports fell by 1.6% on a year earlier.
It meant the nation's trade surplus widened sharply to $35.9bn (£21.4bn), from April's $18.5bn, the General Administration of Customs said.
The figures will add to recent concern about the state of the Chinese economy.
It has shown signs of weakness amid poor data from the manufacturing and retail sectors.
'Normal level' The country's commerce ministry had hoped the trade picture would pick up in May.
Some experts believe the weak trade figures are partly due to an unnatural comparison with last year, when there was a glut of fake invoicing of exports as a way of getting around impending currency restrictions.
There has been a crackdown on such activities since May 2013.
"The data shows that the country's exports growth has returned to a normal level and will continue to improve," customs office spokesman Zheng Yuesheng told state television.
Exports to the US were up by 6.3% in May, down from a rise of 12% in April.
Shipments to the EU rose by 13.4%, down from an increase of 15.1% the previous month.
And exports to ASEAN bloc countries rose by 9.1%, up from the figure of 3.8% in April.
The Chinese government is aiming for total trade to grow 7.5% this year. Last year trade grew by 7.6%, below the official target of 8%.

Netanyahu to security forces: 'There's no knowing how many lives you have saved'

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu met on Sunday with the soldiers and border policemen who stopped a Palestinian suicide bomber at Tapuah Junction and days later killed a Palestinian gunman who opened fire on the same checkpoint. The prime minister addressed the servicemen saying, "We will never know how many lives you saved."

The prime minister visited a Border Police headquarters in Jerusalem where he thanked the servicemen for their exceptional work in both incidents.
On May 30, two border policemen manning the Tapuah Junction's checkpoint in the northern West Bank became suspicious when the would-be bomber wore heavy clothing on a hot day and walked in a strange manner. The security personnel ordered him to lie on the ground, and found 12 pipe bombs wrapped around his body and connected by wires.
Days later, a Palestinian terrorist armed with a handgun arrived at the same junction and opened fire at security forces in the area guarding a checkpoint.
Border Police and an IDF soldier who were at the checkpoint stormed the attacker, firing at him as they went. The gunman was killed in the return fire while one border policeman sustained a light injury.

Canada prisoners escape in a chopper

MONTREAL: Three inmates have escaped from a detention center in Quebec City with the help of a helicopter, police said late Saturday.

It's the second helicopter-aided inmate escape in Quebec province in two years.

Provincial police said the helicopter headed west from the Orsainville Detention Center after the escape.

"We (are working with) a few partners like the airports of Quebec City and surrounding areas, the military bases, and of course there's a ground search in the event that the helicopter is located," said police spokeswoman Audrey-Anne Bilodeau.

Police identified the inmates on Twitter as Yves Denis, Denis Lefebvre and Serge Pomerleau and told anyone who sees them to not approach them and immediately contact police.

They were being held at the detention center waiting to stand trial.

In March of last year, a helicopter pilot was forced at gunpoint to pluck two inmates from the St Jerome prison on a quiet Sunday afternoon. Two inmates climbed up a rope ladder into the hovering helicopter and fled.

Police caught the two escapees and the two suspects who hijacked the helicopter within a few hours of the escape.

Lawmakers: Obama releasing Taliban detainees with no notice first step in closing Guantanamo

President Obama releasing five Taliban detainees from the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, without notifying Congress has congressional Republicans arguing the president took the first step in his larger plan to side-step Capitol Hill to close the facility.
South Carolina GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham is among those most critical of Obama and is trying to thwart his effort.

Graham said this week that his goal is “to keep these prisoners in jail when appropriate to protect the United States” while Obama and fellow administration officials are “trying to clean out the jail.”
His remarks were followed within hours by fellow Republican Sen. Mark Kirk, Illinois, handing out a flier with mug shots of the five detainees that read: "Obama's Release Threatens Americans' Safety Around the World and is a Backdoor Effort to Close Guantanamo."
Earlier in the week, Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said: “The whole motivation here is the president wants to shut that [prison] down. … It fits right in with what the president has been trying to do on Gitmo since before he was president.”
Graham’s effort to stop the closure in part focuses on using the fiscal 2015 National Defense Authorization Act to achieve his goal. He recently got an amendment attached to the legislation that would require a congressional vote -- not just a 60-day notice -- on any administration plan to close the prison by sending detainees to the United States.

U.S. Capitol Evacuated Briefly After Airspace Violation

WASHINGTON (AP) — Authorities say two F-16 fighter jets escorted a small airplane out of restricted airspace in Washington, an apparently inadvertent intrusion that prompted evacuations at the U.S. Capitol and surrounding buildings.
North American Aerospace Defense Command spokesman Master Sgt. Chuck Marsh says jets escorted the plane to an airport in Mount Airy, North Carolina, where it landed Saturday afternoon. Secret Service agents met the plane there and interviewed the pilot. Transportation Security Administration spokesman Ross Feinstein wrote on Twitter that it appeared the pilot was just confused. The plane had departed from Westfield, Massachusetts.
U.S. Capitol Police say the Capitol and surrounding office buildings were evacuated about 1:30 p.m. Authorities say the Supreme Court and the Library of Congress were also evacuated, but that security at the White House was not affected.

Obama prepares to take executive action expanding student loan program

WASHINGTON –  President Barack Obama is prepping new executive steps to help Americans struggling to pay off their student debt, and throwing his support behind Senate Democratic legislation with a similar goal but potentially a much more profound impact.
Obama on Monday will announce he's expanding his "Pay As You Earn" program that lets borrowers pay no more than 10 percent of their monthly income in loan payments, the White House said. Currently, the program is only available to those who started borrowing after October 2007 and kept borrowing after October 2011. Obama plans to start allowing those who borrowed earlier to participate, potentially extending the benefit to millions more borrowers.

"At a time when college has never been more important, it's also never been more expensive," Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address released Saturday.
Obama also plans to announce he's directing the government to renegotiate contracts with federal student loan servicers to encourage them to make it easier for borrowers to avoid defaulting on their loans. And he will ask the Treasury and Education departments to work with major tax preparers, including H&R Block and the makers of TurboTax, to increase awareness about tuition tax credits and flexible repayment options available to borrowers.

Outside Money Floods Alaska in Senate Race

ANCHORAGE — A big part of being an Alaskan is harboring a suspicion of all things Lower 48. It’s an inclination that runs so deep that locals have a proper noun to describe everywhere else — Outside.

So, naturally, there is quite a bit of alarm here over the state’s newest political distinction. Alaska has unwillingly become a giant receptacle for money from “super PACs” and other out-of-state groups fighting over control of the United States Senate.

In no other state have so many ads about a Senate race run so far; in no place else has more money been spent to book commercial time through Election Day. More than $20 million worth of ads have been reserved so far — the bulk of the money coming from Washington-based outfits like Karl Rove’s American Crossroads, which wants to elect a Republican, and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which is defending Senator Mark Begich, one of the most targeted first-term Democrats.

Justice Department, AmeriCorps join to give legal help to children who come to US illegally

Young lawyers and paralegals are being sought for the community service program AmeriCorps to provide legal assistance in immigration proceedings to children who come to the U.S. illegally.
Officials say about 100 lawyers and paralegals will be enrolled as members of AmeriCorps in a new division called "justice AmeriCorps." It's a partnership between the Justice Department and the agency that administers AmeriCorps, the Corporation for National and Community Service.

Attorney General Eric Holder said Friday the new program represents, in his words, "a historic step to strengthen our justice system and protect the rights of the most vulnerable members of society."
The government estimates that 60,000 to 90,000 children traveling alone could be apprehended at the U.S.-Mexican border this year, many times the number taken into custody in recent years.
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