Gazette 072414

Thursday July 24th 2014

Ukraine's PM tenders resignation as anti-protest laws repealed

Mykola Azarov offers to go as parliament repeals anti-protest laws – but moves stop well short of opposition's demands
In back-to-back moves to try to resolve Ukraine's political crisis, Prime Minister Mykola Azarov submitted his resignation on Tuesday and parliament repealed anti-protest laws that prompted violent clashes between protesters and police.

The twin moves were significant concessions to the protesters who have occupied the capital's main square for two months and fought sporadically with police for the last 10 days. Yet key issues remain unresolved in Ukraine's political crisis, including the opposition's repeated demands for President Viktor Yanukovych to resign and a new election to be held.

"The conflict situation which has come about in the country is threatening the economic and social development of Ukraine, creating a threat to the whole of Ukrainian society and to each citizen," said Azarov, adding that he had personally asked Yanukovich to accept his resignation.

Under the constitution, the departure of the prime minister means the resignation of the entire government.

Yanukovych has been under increasing pressure since he pushed the tough laws through parliament, setting off clashes and protests in other parts of the country in a sharp escalation of tensions after weeks of mostly peaceful protests over his rejection of a deal to deepen ties with the 28-nation European Union.

Azarov's resignation has yet to be accepted by the president, but that appears to be only a formality. Yanukovych last week offered the premiership to Arseniy Yatsenyuk, one of the opposition's top figures. Yatsenyuk turned down the offer.

The prime minister's resignation would remove one of the figures the opposition most despises, and the repeal of the anti-protest laws should remove a severe aggravating factor in the crisis. Yatsenyuk hailed the move, saying: "We have repealed all the laws against which the whole country rose up."

European air safety agency lifts recommendation against flying to Israel's Tel Aviv airport

BERLIN –  The European Aviation Safety Agency has lifted a recommendation that airlines refrain from flying to Tel Aviv airport.
The agency said Thursday it is now recommending that national authorities base decisions on flying to Israel's main airport "on thorough risk assessments, in particular using risk analysis made by operators."

EASA had said late Tuesday that it "strongly recommends" that airlines refrain from operating flights to and from Tel Aviv. It said it revised its advice on the basis of information provided by Israel's Civil Aviation Authority and following coordination with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.

Related :Gaza Fighting Continues Even As FAA Lifts Flight Ban To Tel Aviv

Hamas resists Kerry's attempts at Gaza cease-fire deal

Secretary of State John Kerry's proposals for a cease-fire that would halt the fighting in the Gaza Strip have been resisted by the Islamic militant group Hamas, who insist that any truce agreement must meet the group's main demand that a joint Israeli-Egyptian blockade of the territory be lifted.
"When it comes to the balance of power in this crisis between us and Israel, they are the executioners, the aggressors, the occupiers, the settlers, and we are the true owners of the land," Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal said Wednesday in a televised speech from his home-in-exile in Doha, Qatar. "We will not accept anything but the end of the siege."

The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that diplomats from the U.S., Israel, and other Middle Eastern countries are reworking a cease-fire proposal made by Egypt's foreign ministry last week. The paper reports that the new proposal would call for both Israel and Hamas to cease military operations in the coming days before calling on the U.S. and the international community to begin talks on a long-term economic program for Gaza.
Hamas rejected the initial Egyptian cease-fire proposal on the grounds that it had not been consulted by Cairo, and claimed that the plan did not provide for the lifting of the blockade or the release of militant prisoners from Israeli custody.
The Journal reports that Hamas' demands to open up the movement of goods into Gaza are likely to be met with resistance by Israel unless it is allowed to monitor the trade for weapons bound for Hamas.
Related : John Kerry 'wanded' by security guards at Egypt's presidential palace

Palestinians In Gaza Denounce Israel For Saying It Warns Civilians Before Strikes

GAZA CITY -- It was late Saturday morning when Aisha, 2, and Fatima, 4, left their bedroom and walked downstairs to their grandmother's apartment. Minutes after they left, the family says, an Israeli tank shell crashed through the girls’ bedroom wall, landing right next to a stroller. They say they didn't receive any warning.

But the girls' family was lucky. Unlike with many strikes in Gaza, the shell did not explode and no one was injured.

"Maybe it was a mistake," said Ismael, a member of the extended family, who was visibly confused as to why their building was targeted. "They’re just randomly bombing!" said one elderly female resident as neighborhood kids pointed to a gaping hole in the fourth floor.

Since Israel began its offensive against Gaza more than two weeks ago, with the stated aim of destroying Hamas' tunnels and halting the militant group's rocket fire, it has bombarded the area with land, air and sea strikes. At least 693 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed. As the death toll continues to rise, many Palestinians here insist Israel isn't doing enough to avoid killing noncombatants. They say many civilians often have no idea their building is about to be targeted, or that the warning comes too late.
Related: Gaza conflict takes toll on Hamas rocket stocks and tunnels

Militants 'kill 60' in ambush on Iraq prison convoy

Suicide attackers have mounted a bomb and gun attack on a prison convoy in Iraq, killing 51 prisoners and nine police officers, security sources say.

Roadside bombs exploded as the convoy was taking the prisoners from the town of Taji to the capital Baghdad 24km (15 miles) away, justice ministry and medical sources told Reuters.
Gunmen opened fire and a battle ensued with security forces, AFP reports.
It is thought the prisoners were being evacuated at the time.
The prisoners, who were suspected militants, were put in a convoy after mortar rounds hit military bases in Taji at dawn on Thursday, Iraqi officials told AP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Kurdish Politician Fouad Massoum Named President Of Iraq

Kurdish politician Fouad Massoum was named Iraq's new president on Thursday hours after an attack on a prison convoy killed dozens of people, brutally underscoring the challenges faced by the country's leaders as they struggle to form a new government.

Massoum, 76, one of the founders of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan party led by the previous president, Jalal Talabani, accepted the position after winning two-thirds of the votes, noting the "huge security, political and economic tasks" facing the government.

Last month's rapid advance of the Islamic State extremist group, which captured Iraq's second largest city of Mosul, has plunged the country into its worst crisis since the withdrawal of U.S. troops in 2011 and inflamed already-existing tensions between sectarian and political rivals.

Isis 'orders female genital mutilation' for women in Mosul

The UN says militant Islamist group Isis has ordered all women and girls in Mosul, northern Iraq, to undergo female genital mutilation (FGM).

UN official Jacqueline Badcock said the fatwa, or religious edict, applied to females between the ages of 11 and 46.
She said the unprecedented decree issued by the Islamists in control of the city was of grave concern.
Iraq is facing a radical Isis-led Sunni insurgency, with cities in the north-west under militant control.
The ritual cutting of girls' genitals is practiced by some African, Middle Eastern and Asian communities in the belief it prepares them for adulthood or marriage.
FGM poses many health risks to women, including severe bleeding, problems urinating, infections, infertility and increased risk of newborn deaths in childbirth.
'Four million' The UN General Assembly approved a resolution in December 2012 calling for all member states to ban the practice.
The Isis edict could affect nearly four million women and girls in and around the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, the UN warns.
Ms Badcock, the UN's resident and humanitarian coordinator in Iraq, said the practice "is something very new for Iraq... and does need to be addressed".
She was talking to reporters via video link from the Kurdish provincial capital of Irbil.

Two aid workers shot dead in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan –  Two Finnish aid workers were shot dead Thursday in the western Afghan city of Herat, officials said.
The two women were riding in a taxi when they were shot dead by two men on a motorcycle, said Sami Wafa, the chief of staff of the Herat governor. Herat police spokesman Raouf Ahmadi said the taxi driver had been detained as part of the investigation.

Finland's Foreign Ministry confirmed that two Finnish citizens have died in Afghanistan.  Spokesman Keijo Norvanto said they worked for the International Assistance Mission, an aid group which has been operating in Afghanistan since 1966. The organization could not immediately be reached for comment.

Earlier on Thursday, a bombing in a market in northern Afghanistan killed six people, including a young girl, while a separate attack in the east killed a local police commander and his bodyguard, officials said.
The attack in the market was aimed at a police car but the police escaped unharmed, said Sonatullah Timor, the spokesman for the Takhar provincial government. The bomb, which was placed on a motorcycle, wounded 26 people, including children, he said.
It was not immediately clear who carried out the attack, but Taliban insurgents frequently target the country's security forces.

Algeria airliner missing on Sahara route from Burkina Faso

Algeria's national airline, Air Algerie, says it has lost contact with one of its planes flying from Burkina Faso to Algiers across the Sahara.

Algerian aviation officials said the plane had crashed, but gave no further details.
Contact was lost about 50 minutes after take-off from Ouagadougou, Air Algerie said, as the plane crossed Mali.
The airline said 50 French citizens were among the 110 passengers and six crew on board Flight AH 5017.
The pilot had contacted Niger's control tower in Niamey to change course because of a storm, correspondents say.
BBC West Africa correspondent Thomas Fessy says the route is well used by French travellers.

Taiwan Plane Crash Not Caused By Weather, Authorities Say

Taiwan authorities said on Thursday it was unlikely bad weather was the cause of the crash of a TransAsia Airways turboprop plane the previous day in which 48 people, including two French nationals, were killed.

The plane, a 70-seat ATR 72, crashed near the runway while trying to land on the small island of Penghu, west of Taiwan island, after a typhoon had passed earlier in the day.

The leaders of rivals China and Taiwan both expressed condolences over the deaths. Ten people were injured and taken to hospital.

Taiwan's civil aviation authorities said the weather on Wednesday had been suitable for flying and they were trying to determine the cause of the crash.

"There were nine flights on the same route between 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. yesterday. Only the TransAsia flight crashed," said Jean Shen, director of the Civil Aeronautics Administration.

"The weather reports showed it was totally OK for landing. We can not say for sure what went wrong at this point. The flight safety committee has opened an investigation ... they will complete an official report within a year."

Shen said authorities were not ruling anything out. Both black boxes had been found and officials would begin examining them on Thursday, she said.

Overnight clashes in Libya kill at least nine, toll crosses 50

BENGHAZI: At least nine people were killed and 19 wounded, mostly civilians, in heavy clashes overnight in Benghazi as government forces tried to oust Islamist militants holed up in Libya's eastern port city, medical sources said on Thursday.

The fighting, late on Wednesday, involved aircraft and ground troops and followed more than a week of the fiercest clashes between militants, former rebel fighters and government forces in Benghazi and the capital Tripoli since the 2011 war against Muammar Gaddafi.

Sporadic shelling continued in parts of Tripoli early on Thursday though there were no immediate reports of any casualties after heavy clashes a day earlier.

More than 50 people have died so far in the violence that started ten days ago and that has deepened fears post-war Libya is slipping further into lawlessness, with its government unable to control heavily armed brigades of former rebel fighters battling for power.

Two main rival militias in Tripoli exchanged fire with Grad rockets, shells and anti-aircraft cannons for control of the main airport, shutting down most international flights and prompting the United Nations to pull its staff out of Libya.

Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu, on Thursday, said that Turkey may evacuate its embassy in Tripoli, a day after his ministry advised all Turkish citizens to leave the north African country due to the worsening security situation.

Spending bill in limbo, Congress at odds over who owns border crisis

The congressional strife over trying to approve President Obama's supplemental spending request to combat the border crisis boils down to one thing: ownership of the issue.
Ownership is easy to define in most instances. There's a deed for a lot. A title to a car. A Coca-Cola bottle with your name emblazoned on the side.

But "ownership" of the border issue is more complex. Is "ownership" passing a bill to tackle the disaster? Or is "ownership" failing to advance any measure at all before a yawning, five-week congressional summer recess? And is "ownership" a good thing? In other words, to some conservatives, isn't this Obama's problem? Do they truly want to "own" it? To other Republicans, failing to address the issue could mean the GOP "owns" it because they stumbled. That already plays into the narrative that the party opposes immigration reform and has completely alienated minority voters.
Both House Republican and Senate Democratic leaders know the race is on to knock out a bill before Congress tentatively abandons Washington late next week. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is staring at a fiscal shortfall next month as it detains, processes, houses and feeds thousands of unaccompanied minors who arrived on the border. The House Republican brass backs a proposal to spend $1.5 billion for the border and alter some policies to help DHS deport some of the children more expeditiously. The Senate's cracking on a $2.7 billion border package which doesn't alter any of the polices. The House mitigates its spending proposals with matching offsets. The Senate plan offers no offsets.
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In Los Angeles, Obama gives his die-hard supporters a tough-love talk

President Obama delivered a tough-love talk to his biggest boosters  Wednesday, telling Democratic donors gathered in Los Angeles that they need to step it up before November if he’s going to get much done in his last two years in office.

"You thought, 'OK, we elect Barack and that's it,’” Obama told a crowd big-dollar donors gathered in the lush Hancock Park backyard of TV producer Shonda Rhimes. He reminded them that he'd warned that it wasn’t about electing him but about getting "our democracy to work.”
“I have got to have a Congress that has some sense and is willing to work and is willing to compromise and is focused on the American people. And we don’t have that right now.”
Obama is often candid about what he describes as Democrats’ chronic problem: low turnout in midterm elections. But his remarks Wednesday came with a sharper ribbing for a crowd he seemed to think could take it.

Democrats like the fun of a presidential campaign, Obama said. But “we’ve got to step it up in the midterms. Not when it’s easy, not when it’s sexy, not when there’s hope posters...."
While Democrats “don’t even know there’s an election,” Obama said, Republicans get to the polls.
“Lo and behold we’re surprised when John Boehner is speaker of the House! What happened to Nancy Pelosi? What happened is y’all didn't vote. And that's when all kinds of ... stuff happened,” Obama said, pausing as if deliberating on whether to keep the rant clean. “That's what it was -- stuff."

House Republicans unveil plan to deal with border crisis

A House Republican plan to address the influx of illegal immigrants at the U.S.-Mexico border would cost considerably less than President Obama has requested but could get upended by the political forces that long have divided GOP lawmakers.
The $1.5 billion proposal unveiled Wednesday proposes to spend far less than Obama’s
$3.7 billion request to provide more resources along the southern border and to care for the record number of migrants who have arrived in recent months. It would mandate the deployment of National Guard troops, boost funding for Border Patrol, and require the administration to more quickly process and deport young children and families who have illegally entered the country.
But it was unclear how rapidly the House could advance the proposal and whether House Republicans will be able to reach agreement with Senate Democrats on a final deal before Congress adjourns Aug. 1 for a five-week recess.
“I’d like to act. We’ve got a humanitarian crisis on the border that has to be dealt with,” House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) told reporters Wednesday. But Boehner also faulted Obama for failing to work with Congress to swiftly seek a solution.
“The administration ought to get their act together,” he said. Later, Boehner’s office sent a letter to the White House asking for clarification on whether it supports changing a 2008 ­anti-trafficking law to make it easier to deport minors from Central America.

Michael Bloomberg blitzes Wolf Blitzer

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg attacked CNN’s Wolf Blitzer for the “tone” of his questions during his interview on Wednesday from Jerusalem.

Blitzer interviewed Bloomberg alongside Nir Barkat, the mayor of Jerusalem, after the former mayor flew to the city despite the Federal Aviation Administration cancelling flights to and from Israel for safety reasons. What began as a discussion about the flight ban quickly became heated.

“I think the State Department is just overreacting in typical bureaucratic fashion,” Bloomberg said.
“[Are there] Political reasons for that?” Blitzer asked.
“Why would you think that … don’t be ridiculous,” Bloomberg retorted. “It’s an outrage for you to accuse one of our agencies.”
Blitzer interrupted and explained that his question was not meant to be accusatory.
“By asking the question you’re implying that our government does things for political reasons, and maybe once in a while they do, but it’s your job to prove it,” Bloomberg said. “Just the allegation against our government, I personally take as an offense.”

Wolf replied, “I’m just asking if you thought there was some political motive behind the travel advisory or the FAA, because a lot of people in Israel do.”

“I don’t know, you don’t know and the other people don’t know, but just the tone of the question is trying to create dissension, it’s insulting to America,” Bloomberg said.

5 Reasons NBC And Brian Williams Should Be Worried About ABC’s “World News”

ABC has been on a roll of late as Diane Sawyer’s long hand-off to David Muir continues.

NBC’s Nightly News with Brian Williams has been America’s go-to evening news broadcast for quite a while now. In late June of this year, Nightly News topped ABC’s World News in viewers for the 249th consecutive week. Both networks left CBS’s Evening News with Scott Pelley in the dust at a distant third.

But Tuesday’s announcement that ABC’s World News has been #1 in the demo for the last three weeks should be alarming for NBC News. Here’s why:

1. Friday’s coverage, anchored by breaking news coming out of Gaza and Ukraine, pushed Word News to #1 in total viewers, aged 18-49 and aged 25-54 for the night. That was the largest single-day advantage over Nightly News telecast in more than five years.

2. World News is the only broadcast up from last year in total viewers, aged 18-49 and aged 25-54.
3.. Although it is up 1% in total viewers from last year, NBC’s Nighty News is down 6% in the all-important demo of people aged 25-54.
4.World News has been #1 in the demo for the last three weeks.
5. David Muir, who will be taking over World News from Diane Sawyer in September, has anchored two of those three weeks — including a head-to-head matchup with NBC’s Williams on that breaking news filled Friday.

That last one must be the most worrying for NBC. Losing a television legend like Sawyer as your main competition should be something NBC could easily capitalize on, but so far, ABC’s measured transition from Sawyer to Muir is working better than both networks could have possibly imagined.

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