Weekend Gazette 062814

Saturday June 28th 2014

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Iraq army launches offensive to retake Tikrit from Isis

Iraq's military says it has launched a major offensive to retake the northern city of Tikrit from Sunni militants.

Thousands of troops backed by tanks and air power are trying to dislodge Isis-led rebels who took the city two weeks ago in a lightning offensive that also captured the second city, Mosul.
The rebels have taken large swathes of the north and west.
Iraqi military sources said the Tikrit offensive was being coordinated with American military advisers.
However, although the US has confirmed it is flying armed drones in Iraq to protect US personnel on the ground, US officials say American troops are not directly involved in the hostilities.

Bomb blast in Egypt kills girl, wounds mother, official says

CAIRO –  An Egyptian security official says a girl has been killed and her mother wounded by the explosion of a homemade bomb on the outskirts of Cairo.
The official said assailants placed the explosive in a building under construction in 6 October district on Saturday.

The explosion wounded the girl's mother, who is the wife of the building's guard.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief reporters.
Egypt has seen a series of attacks mainly targeting security forces since the ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi last July.

Blast in northern Nigeria kills 10: Police

KANO: An explosion in the red light district of northern Nigeria's Bauchi city has killed 10 people and injured 14 others, police said on Saturday.
The cause of Friday's blast was not immediately clear, but Boko Haram Islamists have attacked Bauchi repeatedly during their five-year uprising aimed at creating a strict Islamic state in the north.
Bauchi state police spokesman Mohammed Haruna said the targeted building in the Bayan Gari neighbourhood on the outskirts of the city was widely known as a brothel.
"Ten people were confirmed dead, while 14 others sustained various degrees of injury," Haruna said, adding that the explosion went off at roughly 10pm.
"The entire area has been cordoned off and (the) scene secured," Haruna said. Bomb attacks on targets which Boko Haram has branded sinful - including bars, churches and schools teaching a Western curriculum - have formed a major part of the insurgency.
Nigeria has estimated that more than 10,000 people have been killed since the conflict began in 2009. The violence has escalated in recent months, with more than 2,000 deaths recorded since the start of the year.

IDF forces arrest 18 Palestinians in continued West Bank operation

IDF forces arrested 18 Palestinians on Saturday in continued West Bank operations aiming to retrieve three Israeli teenagers kidnapped over two weeks ago.
Since the beginning of Operation Brother's Keeper, security forces have detained more than 400 Palestinian suspected of terror activity.
The most recent arrests came at the end of the week during which the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) revealed the identity of two chief suspects wanted for involvement in the abduction.
IDF soldiers maintained their search for Eyal Yifrah, Gil-Ad Shaer and Naftali Fraenkel on Saturday as the Muslim holy month of Ramadan sets in.
On Friday, a senior security source said the IDF was prepared to continue operating in full force during Ramadan to search for the kidnapped youths.
During the Ramadan holiday, the IDF expects to see more Palestinians up at night after breaking the fast. Large numbers of Palestinians are also expected to visit the Temple Mount for prayers.
On Friday, the UN agency for human rights expressed its concern over Israeli activities in the ongoing operations and called for all parties to exercise restrain.
While the UNHR said it was concerned that three youths had still not been located, calling for their immediate safe return, the agency came down on Israel for certain actions taken during sweeps of the West Bank.
"We are alarmed about the loss of life, and the sharp increase in tension in the occupied West Bank, especially in and around Hebron, as a result of the Israeli operations," the agency said in a statement.

U.N. Report: Iran Shipped Arms, Violating Embargo

UNITED NATIONS, June 27 (Reuters) - A U.N. expert panel has concluded that a shipment of rockets and other weapons that was seized by Israel came from Iran and represents a violation of the U.N. arms embargo on Tehran, according to a confidential report obtained by Reuters on Friday.

The finding comes just days ahead of the next round of negotiations in Vienna between Iran and six world powers aimed at securing a deal that would gradually lift international sanctions on Tehran -- including the arms embargo -- in exchange for curbs on the controversial Iranian nuclear program.

Despite Israel's public statements that the seized arms were destined for Gaza -- an allegation that Gaza's governing Islamist militant group Hamas dismissed as a fabrication -- the experts said the weapons were being sent to Sudan.

The experts do not speculate in the report about why the arms were being sent to Sudan, a country which Western diplomatic and intelligence sources have told Reuters has in the past been a conduit for Iranian arms shipments to other locations in Africa, as well as the Gaza Strip.

The experts said the Israeli U.N. mission wrote to the U.N. Iran Sanctions Committee on March 13 about "the transfer of rockets, mortars and related materiel from Iran to Sudan."

The 14-page report on the incident by the U.N. Security Council's Panel of Experts on Iran makes no mention of the Gaza Strip as a possible destination for the arms, which were concealed in 20 containers on the Panamanian-flagged vessel Klos C. The weaponry was seized by Israeli authorities in March.

U.S. Mideast Envoy Martin Indyk Quits After Attempt To Peace Deal

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. special Mideast envoy Martin Indyk is resigning after nearly a year of unsuccessful efforts to forge an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, Obama administration officials said Friday.
The officials said Indyk's departure, and his return to his previous job at The Brookings Institution think tank, is expected later Friday. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. The State Department declined to comment.
A former U.S. ambassador to Israel, Indyk was appointed to the envoy post last July by Secretary of State John Kerry when he announced a resumption in peace talks with the goal of reaching a settlement within nine months. However, the negotiations collapsed before that target date amid what Kerry and other U.S. officials said were negative steps taken by both sides.
With the peace process in hiatus, it is unclear whether Indyk will be replaced. His deputy, Frank Lowenstein, will assume the envoy position on an interim basis, the officials said.
Indyk's resignation marks the second time the Obama administration has lost a Mideast peace envoy following a failed bid to bring the parties together. Former Sen. George Mitchell stepped down from the post in May 2011 after two years of frustrating efforts to get negotiations going.
The latest effort, in which Kerry and Indyk had invested significant time and energy, collapsed in March when Israel and the Palestinians each backed out of pledges they had made when the peace talks resumed. Each side blamed the other for the breakdown. The Palestinians accused Israel of reneging on a promised prisoner release and continuing to construct Jewish settlements on disputed territory, and the Israelis accused the Palestinians of seeking greater U.N. recognition. The Palestinians then formed a unity government backed by the militant Hamas movement, which Israel refuses to deal with.  

Britain's Chief Foreign Spy Master Is Stepping Down

LONDON, June 26 (Reuters) - The chief of Britain's MI6 foreign intelligence service will step down in November after five years in the job, a government source said on Thursday.

John Sawers, a peer, is believed to have wanted to relinquish his sensitive role as Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service before a national election next year.

He will step down around the same time as the head of Britain's GCHQ eavesdropping agency leaves his post.

Sawers, 58, made headlines in 2013 when he appeared before a parliamentary committee to complain that documents leaked by former U.S. intelligence operative Edward Snowden had put secret operations at risk and were being "lapped up" by al Qaeda.

MI6 collects intelligence and mounts covert operations overseas to defend national security and support British interests. A quirky tradition means that its chief writes in green ink and is known internally as "C".

Sawers served as Britain's permanent representative to the United Nations until his appointment as MI6 chief in 2009. He had previously worked as a foreign policy adviser to former prime minister Tony Blair and in a variety of diplomatic posts.

His successor will be approved by Foreign Secretary William Hague and Prime Minister David Cameron.

Ukraine pact with European Union prompts warning from Russia

Ukraine signing an historic trade and economic pact with the European Union Friday may bring "grave consequences," Russia warned.
The agreement also prompted EU leaders to hold off on imposing new sanctions on Russia for its continued military presence in the embattled country.   

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called Friday's agreement the "most important day" for his country since it became independent from the Soviet Union.
Olexander Motsyk, Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.S., told FoxNews.com the nation is looking westward to its future.
“It is our ambition to become a member of the European Union in foreseeable future, the purpose of which is not just to join the EU, but, most importantly, to build a free, democratic and prosperous European nation in Ukraine,” Motsyk said.   
Russia’s response was threatening but unspecific. "There will undoubtedly be serious consequences for Ukraine and Moldova's signing," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said.

Britain closer to EU exit after Jean-Claude Juncker vote

A bad day for Europe, says isolated and bitter David Cameron as commission chief nominated

David Cameron took Britain closer to the exit door of the European Union last night following a tumultuous EU summit at which his fellow leaders inflicted a crushing defeat on the prime minister by nominating Jean-Claude Juncker for one of the most powerful jobs in Brussels.
In what marked a rift in the UK's long and troubled relationship with the continent, Cameron was left isolated as 26 of 28 countries endorsed Juncker as head of the European commission for the next five years. "This is a bad day for Europe," said the prime minister as he voiced bitterness over the nomination of Juncker. "Of course I'm disappointed." He described the nominee disparagingly as "the career insider of Brussels" and criticised other EU national leaders who he said had "taken different views along the way".
Accusing the leaders of Germany, France, Italy and another 23 countries of making "a serious mistake" by abandoning an approach that could have brought consensus on an alternative to the former prime minister of Luxembourg, Cameron said: "We must accept the result … Jean-Claude Juncker is going to run the commission."
Cameron admitted that he now faced an uphill struggle to keep Britain in the EU if his mooted in/out referendum on membership goes ahead as scheduled in 2017. "Today's outcome is not the one I wanted and, frankly, it makes it harder and it makes the stakes higher," he said.
"This is going to be a long, tough fight. Frankly you have to be willing to lose a battle in order to win a war … Europe has taken one step backwards with its choice of commission president."
Pierre-François Lovens, a journalist with La Libre Belgique, tweeted a selfie of himself with Juncker in what appeared to be a bar where he was apparently awaiting the result of the vote. Lovens tweeted: "The man waits, serene, calm, smiling."

Sarajevo marks 100 years since Archduke Franz Ferdinand shooting

Bosnia is commemorating 100 years since the assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo, the act that triggered World War One.

Cultural and sporting events, including a concert by the Vienna Philharmonic, are marking the occasion in the city.
Gavrilo Princip, who shot the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, continues to be a divisive figure in Bosnia.
The shots fired by the Bosnian Serb on 28 June 1914 sucked Europe's great powers into four years of warfare.
Bosnia's Serbs, Croats and Muslim Bosniaks are still divided over the role Princip played in bringing tensions to a head in Europe in 1914, with counter-commemorations planned by Bosnian Serbs.
In Austria, Franz Ferdinand's great-granddaughter and family will be holding events at the family castle at Artstetten, near Vienna, where he is buried.

Japan's Ruling Bloc Near Agreement On Major Security Shift

TOKYO (AP) — Japan's ruling party and its coalition partner are near agreement on a major shift in the country's restrictive defensive policy that would allow the military to help defend other nations.

The planned change is part of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's push to allow Japan to play a more assertive role in international security amid China's growing military presence and rising regional tensions.

On Friday, senior members of Abe's Liberal Democratic Party and its partner New Komeito were finalizing the wording of a draft security policy submitted by the government. The Cabinet is expected on Tuesday to approve Japan's right to exercise "collective self-defense" by reinterpreting the war-renouncing Article 9 of Japan's Constitution — a step opponents say undermines the charter.

The two governing partners have been discussing the change based on a recommendation in May by an Abe-appointed panel of experts. After 10 rounds of talks, Abe's party has largely pressured its centrist, Buddhist-backed partner into a compromise, though New Komeito initially opposed the idea.

Abe wants to allow Japan to fight for other countries when Japan isn't under direct attack. He says no single country can defend itself anymore and that Japan needs to keep up with the increasingly harsh security environment in the region, citing China's rise and missile and nuclear threats from North Korea.

The near-final draft Friday says Japan can exercise the right to collective self-defense only when there is a need to safeguard the people's right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness when it is threatened by a foreign armed attack on Japan or "countries with close ties." It says the military measures should be "limited to the minimum amount necessary."

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Benghazi consulate raid suspect in US court

The suspected ringleader of the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi has appeared amid tight security at a US federal courthouse.

Ahmed Abu Khattala was captured by US forces in Benghazi on 18 June.
He has repeatedly denied all the accusations against him. He says he was in Benghazi during the attack on the US consulate but that did not take part.
The US ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, and three other people were killed in the 2012 attack.
"Ahmed Abu Khatallah is in law enforcement custody", department of justice spokesman Bill Miller said.
Mr Abu Khattala is charged with killing a person on US property, a firearms offence and providing material support to terrorism.
'Key figure' American media reported that Mr Abu Khattala was brought to court in Washington from a US Navy warship where he had been held since being captured two weeks ago.
The US has described him as "key figure" in the attack on the consulate.

EPA spends $1.6 million on hotel for ‘Environmental Justice’ conference

WASHINGTON –  The Environmental Protection Agency will spend more than $1 million on hotel accommodations for an “Environmental Justice” conference this fall.
The agency posted its intention to contract with the Renaissance Arlington Local Capital View Hotel for its upcoming public meeting, for which it will need to book 195 rooms for 24 days.

“The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA), Office of Enforcement and Compliance, Office of Environmental Justice (OEJ) intends to award a fixed-price Purchase Order … to the Renaissance Arlington Local Capital View Hotel,” the solicitation said. “The purpose of this acquisition is to cover the cost of 195 sleeping room nights from Sept. 9 [to] Oct 2, 2014, at government rate for the 50th public meeting of the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC), a federal advisory committee of the EPA.”
Rooms at the Renaissance Arlington run for roughly $349 a night. At 24 nights, the cost of 195 rooms will reach $1,633,320, or $8,376 per room.
The government per diem rate for lodging is $219 for September. If the EPA receives the per diem rate, the cost will come to $1,024,920 for the duration of their stay.

Fear Of Voting Grips Senate Democratic Chiefs

WASHINGTON (AP) — A fear of voting has gripped Democratic leaders in the Senate, slowing the chamber's modest productivity this election season to a near halt.
With control of the Senate at risk in November, leaders are going to remarkable lengths to protect endangered Democrats from casting tough votes and to deny Republicans legislative victories in the midst of the campaign. The phobia means even bipartisan legislation to boost energy efficiency, manufacturing, sportsmen's rights and more could be scuttled.
The Senate's masters of process are finding a variety of ways to shut down debate.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., now is requiring an elusive 60-vote supermajority to deal with amendments to spending bills, instead of the usual simple majority, a step that makes it much more difficult to put politically sensitive matters into contention. This was a flip from his approach to Obama administration nominees, when he decided most could be moved ahead with a straight majority instead of the 60 votes needed before.
Reid's principal aim in setting the supermajority rule for spending amendments was to deny archrival Sen. Mitch McConnell a win on protecting his home state coal industry from new regulations limiting carbon emissions from existing power plants. McConnell, the Senate Republican leader, faces a tough re-election in Kentucky.

UNLV Student Leaders Are Mad About Hillary Clinton's $225,000 Speaking Fee

Former Secretary of State and expected 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is getting paid $225,000 to speak at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas in October, and some student leaders aren't happy about it.
The event Clinton's expected to speak at is to raise money for the UNLV Foundation. As the Wire explains, the more you donate, the more access to the possible Democratic nominee you receive. Clinton's fee will go toward the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.
According to the Las Vegas Review Journal, none of the funding is coming from tuition, and it's covered by private sponsorships obtained by the Foundation for the event.
But that apparently isn't enough for UNLV student body President Elias Benjelloun.
Benjelloun said this week on "Ralston Reports," a local TV show, he wants to see Clinton return part of all of the money to students.
"We really appreciate anybody who would come to raise money for the university. But anybody who's being paid $225,000 to come speak, we think that's a little bit outrageous," Daniel Waqar, the student government's public relations, added on "Ralston Reports."
Ralston himself was disgusted with the speaking fee as well.
Students appear to especially incensed due to tuition going up 17 percent over four years -- or roughly four percent a year for four years.
Michael Wixom, a Nevada Board of Regents member, insisted Clinton is worth the money, emphasizing that no tuition or state money will go toward the speaker fee.
"The fee is relatively high, and I understand that," Wixom told the Wall Street Journal. "But she's a very high-profile speaker at this point."

Reward: $1 million for lost IRS e-mails

Who wants to be a millionaire?

Forget answering a bunch of random trivia questions, all you have to do is uncover the lost IRS e-mails to and from former official Lois Lerner.

Two Republican congressmen are so angry about the missing IRS e-mails that they think the U.S. government should offer a hefty reward to anyone who finds them – a $1 million reward.

Reps. Bill Flores (R-Tex.) and Louie Gohmert (R-Tex.) introduced legislation Wednesday to offer such a prize.  A lesser sum, $500,000, would go to anyone who figures out if specific agency officials were involved in purposely destroying the e-mails.

Now, these are very conservative lawmakers, so they’re not about to just give away federal dollars. So where would the money come from, you ask? The IRS budget. Oh, and until the e-mails are found, all IRS employee salaries would be cut by 20 percent.

Now, this bill is obviously just for political theater, but the Republicans’ anger over the lost e-mails is real. For a quick review of the controversy, colleague Josh Hicks made this timeline beginning in March 2010 through the present.