Gazette 082014

Wednesday August 20th 2014

Gaza conflict: Israel 'targets Hamas leader Deif'

Hamas says the wife and child of its military commander, Mohammed Deif, have been killed in an Israeli air strike on the Gaza Strip.

At least 19 Palestinians have died since hostilities resumed on Tuesday, with both sides blaming each other for the collapse of the Cairo peace talks.
The Israeli military said it had carried out 92 air strikes in response to 137 rockets fired at its territory.
Six weeks of fierce fighting have left at least 2,103 people dead.
Egypt has expressed "profound regret" at the end of the 10-day period of calm and said it will continue trying to secure a lasting truce.
Bomb shelters It is believed the air strike on a house in Gaza City late on Tuesday that killed Mohammed Deif's wife and their young son was intended to kill the militant himself, reports the BBC's Kevin Connolly in Jerusalem.
Related: Israel targets Hamas commander after militants break Gaza cease-fire

Germany prepared to send arms to Kurds in Iraq

BERLIN –  Germany is prepared to arm Kurdish fighters battling Sunni insurgents in northern Iraq, officials said Wednesday.
Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier cited the "barbaric" actions of the Islamic State group that has taken control of large parts of Iraq in recent weeks, and the threat that their further advance could pose to the region and Europe.

"We are prepared, in principle, to provide weapons and ammunition within our means," Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen said in a joint news conference with Steinmeier in Berlin.
The two ministers said Germany would closely coordinate its efforts with France, Britain and Italy, and other European countries that have expressed willingness to deliver weapons to the Kurds.
France began shipping arms to Kurdish forces last week and has also supplied similar weapons to Western-backed Syrian opposition forces. The French government announced Wednesday it was getting a new shipment of humanitarian aid ready for Iraq as minorities under attack by Sunni militants issued a new appeal for help.

ISIS reportedly outing Middle Eastern intelligence agents

The terrorist group ISIS is actively outing agents from Middle Eastern intelligence services -- as many as 30 in the last two months -- by posting their pictures and locations on social media, a counterterrorism source told Fox News.
In some cases, the source, who asked not to be identified due to the sensitivity of the investigations, said the Islamic State appeared to be getting the agents' identities from Saudi sympathizers.

"I wouldn't be surprised if they had an effective counterintelligence operation going on as well,"said Bill Roggio, who has investigated ISIS for the Long War Journal. He added that recent images of the White House and Chicago, posted on social media by ISIS, were designed to show the group had global reach and was the successor to Usama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda.
"They're getting a significant number of recruits,” Roggio said. “They're a sexy jihadist organization to the younger generation because they're showing they're brutal, they're effective and that they can communicate their message.Al Qaeda has a very real messaging problem and one that they will have to address if they want to stop this flood of recruits that are going to Islamic State."
Earlier this month, 60 foreign fighters linked to ISIS were arrested in Kosovo, once part of the former Yugoslavia.The operatives were reported to have weapons, ammunition and explosives, some hidden in makeshift mosques that doubled as recruiting stations.
Related: James Foley, Missing American Photojournalist, Beheaded By ISIS In Syria

UN Launches Major Aid Operation To Reach Iraqis Fleeing Violence

BAGHDAD, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Iraqi forces halted a short-lived offensive on Tuesday to recapture Tikrit, home town of executed dictator Saddam Hussein, due to fierce resistance from Islamic state fighters who have also threatened to attack Americans "in any place".
In Geneva, the United Nations refugee agency announced a major aid operation to get supplies to more than half a million people displaced by fighting in northern Iraq.
Buoyed by an operation to recapture a strategic dam from the jihadists after two months of setbacks, Iraqi army units backed by Shi'ite militias launched their offensive shortly after dawn on Tikrit, a city 130 km (80 miles) north of Baghdad which is a stronghold of the Sunni Muslim minority.

But officers in the Iraqi forces' operations room said by mid afternoon that the advance had stopped.
South of Tikrit, the government side came under heavy machinegun and mortar fire from the militants, a group of Arab and foreign fighters hardened by battle both in Iraq and over the border in Syria's civil war, the officers told Reuters.
To the west, landmines and snipers frustrated efforts to get closer to the city center in the latest in a series of attempts to drive out the militants. Residents of central Tikrit said by telephone that Islamic State fighters were firmly in control of their positions and patrolling the main streets.

Islamic State Militants Attack Major Air Base In Eastern Syria

Islamic extremists fired rockets and tank shells Wednesday at a major air base in northeastern Syria, kicking off a long-anticipated offensive to seize the last position held by the Syrian government in a province that is a stronghold of the Islamic State group, activists said.

The attack on the Tabqa air base had been expected for weeks. Islamic State fighters have tightened their siege of the sprawling facility in recent days, capturing a string of nearby villages.
The group in past months virtually eliminated the military's presence in Raqqa province, with the exception of Tabqa. The air base is one of the most significant government military facilities in the area, containing several warplane squadrons, helicopters, tanks, artillery and ammunition.

Last month, the jihadis overran the sprawling Division 17 military base in Raqqa, killing at least 85 soldiers. Two weeks later, Islamic State fighters seized the nearby Brigade 93 base after days of heavy fighting.
Militant websites affiliated with the Islamic State announced the assault Wednesday. Since July, following their blitz in Iraq and after they declared a self-styled caliphate straddling the Iraq-Syria border, Islamic State fighters methodically have gone after isolated government bases in northern and eastern Syria, killing and decapitating army commanders and pro-government militiamen.
The Tabqa attack also was reported by the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Raqqa Media Center, an activist collective, which reported fierce clashes around the facility accompanied by government airstrikes.
It said army warplanes conducted airstrikes on suspected militant positions in the nearby town of Tabqa on the Euphrates river, which flows from Turkey through Syria into Iraq.
The town is home to al-Furat dam, Syria's largest, now controlled by the Islamic State group.

Egypt suffers regular blackouts due to worst energy crisis in decades

Rising population, intense heat and claims of terror attacks on infrastructure means demand is now 20% more than capacity

Egypt is experiencing one of its most serious energy crises for decades, with parts of the country facing around six power cuts a day for up to two hours at a time.
The blackouts have created widespread frustration, with businesses reporting a downturn in production and citizens complaining about the disruption to everyday life.
Earlier this week, electricity demand hit a record daily high of 27,700 megawatts, 20% more than powers stations could provide, state media reported.
"Have mercy on us," read the front page of Wednesday's al-Gomhoria, a state-owned newspaper, above an article about the electricity shortages.
The government claims the problem is caused by a recent series of 300 alleged terrorist attacks on Egypt's energy infrastructure. But energy analysts have predicted the shortage for some time, and blackouts were already an issue well before the rise in militancy over the past year.
A ballooning population – which has increased by an estimated 1 million in the past six months – and the intense August heat, which has caused a surge in air-conditioning usage, means that demand now outstrips the capacity of Egypt's mainly gas-fuelled power stations.
Egypt also faces a problem of supply. Parts of its own natural gas reserves were notoriously exported at marked-down prices under former dictator Hosni Mubarak. It still has untapped gas fields, but these have traditionally been mined by foreign companies. These firms are reluctant to extract more until they are paid overdue debts owed to them by the Egyptian government.

Iran's parliament dismisses Science Minister Faraji-Dana

Iran's parliament has voted to dismiss the science minister, dealing a blow to reformist President Hassan Rouhani.

The motion to sack Reza Faraji-Dana, whose responsibilities included the country's universities, was backed by 145 of the 270 lawmakers present.
Conservatives had been angered by his decision to let students expelled from university after the anti-government unrest in 2009 return to campus.
Mr Rouhani had urged parliament to have greater confidence in the minister.
Mr Faraji-Dana was also accused of nominating for senior department positions people who were involved in the mass opposition protests that followed the disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009, which the authorities considered a "plot".
Critics said he had tolerated student publications that questioned Islamic teachings and promoted sedition and riots.
President Rouhani was elected last year on promises of greater openness and diplomatic engagement with the West.
In a speech on state TV, he praised the work of Mr Faraji-Dana, whom he described as a "polite and knowledgeable minister", but said he would comply with the result of Wednesday's vote to preserve national unity.

Fighting outside key Ukrainian city kills 9 troops

KIEV, Ukraine: A Ukrainian official said nine troops were killed in overnight fighting in the streets of the town of Ilovaysk, which lies just east of the rebel stronghold Donetsk.

Anton Herashchenko, an adviser to the Ukrainian interior minister, said in a Facebook post on Wednesday morning that government troops now control half of the town, but rebels are offering fierce resistance after more than a day of fighting.

Government efforts to quell the pro-Russia insurgency in eastern Ukraine are focused on encircling Donetsk and also driving rebels out of the city of Luhansk.

The Kiev government also has pursued diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict, which has killed more than 2,000 people and displaced 300,000.

The Ukrainian president hosts the German chancellor this weekend before meeting next week with Russia's president. 

Beijing arrests nearly 1,000 members of Christian sect accused of brainwashing

China crackdown on Church of Almighty God over three months precedes 'cult' members' trial for woman's murder at McDonald's

Over the past three months China has arrested nearly 1,000 members of a Christian sect referred to as a cult by Beijing, state media said on Tuesday.
The crackdown, since June, has focused on members of the Church of Almighty God, a Christian group that has attracted followers in rural areas of China for more than 10 years.
The people arrested include "high-level organisers and backbone members" of the group, the official Xinhua news agency said, citing officials. The agency did not give details of the crimes linked to the suspects, who are said to come from more than six provinces.
China has previously cracked down harshly on groups it labels as cults, notably the Falun Gong spiritual movement, which was banned in the late 1990s.
Falun Gong members said they were a target because the ruling Communist party had called the group a threat, detaining and allegedly torturing thousands of its followers.
Beijing has for years struggled to suppress the Almighty God group, with state media reporting the arrest of nearly 1,000 followers in 2012 when the organisation was under the spotlight for predicting an apocalypse. The group told members that year that a "female Jesus" had arrived and called on members to overthrow the Communist party, which the group referred to as "the big red dragon", the state-run Global Times reported.
State media said the group brainwashed its members and encouraged them to isolate themselves from family and friends.
This year's crackdown follows the murder in May of a woman at a McDonald's restaurant in the eastern province of Shandong, which police blamed on members of Almighty God. The movement's founder is reported to have fled to the US.

Liberian police break up Ebola quarantine protest with tear gas

Police in the Liberian capital Monrovia fired tear gas on Wednesday to disperse a stone-throwing crowd agitating to leave a neighbourhood placed under quarantine because of the Ebola virus, witnesses said.
Liberian authorities introduced a nationwide curfew on Tuesday and put the neighbourhood, West Point, under quarantine. The rundown area has been hit by Ebola, which has killed more than 1,200 people in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia and five in Nigeria.
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US Attorney General to visit Ferguson amid relative calm

US Attorney General Eric Holder is due in the town of Ferguson, Missouri, to defuse tensions following the police shooting of a black teenager.

Mr Holder promised a "full, fair and independent" investigation.
Ferguson has seen 10 nights of often violent clashes between police and demonstrators since the shooting of Michael Brown, who was unarmed.
Police arrested 47 people during a protest on Tuesday night but said that the violence had largely abated.
Community leaders have continued to appeal for calm and healing.
'Inflaming tensions' In an open letter published in the St Louis Post-Dispatch on Tuesday, Mr Holder said that the justice department "will defend the right of protesters to peacefully demonstrate".
However, he added that "violence cannot be condoned" and urged Ferguson residents to condemn "the actions of looters, vandals and others seeking to inflame tensions and sow discord".

These 9 Charts Show America's Coming Student Loan Apocalypse

Borrowers with federal student loans, long promoted as the safest way to borrow for college, appear to be buckling under the weight of their debt, new data show.
More than half of Direct Loans, the most common type of federal student loan, aren't being repaid on time or as expected, according to figures from the U.S. Department of Education. Nearly half of the loans in repayment are in plans scheduled to take longer than 10 years. The number of loans in distress is rising.
The increase in troubled loans comes as the average amount of student debt has significantly outpaced wage growth. After adjusting for inflation, the average recipient of federal student loan funds owed 28 percent more in 2013 than in 2007, according to Education Department data. But the typical holder of a bachelor's degree working full time experienced a 0.08 percent decrease in weekly earnings during that same period. For those with advanced degrees, median wages increased just 0.02 percent, according to figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

North Korean statement insults Secretary of State Kerry's 'hideous lantern jaw'

SEOUL, South Korea –  In its latest personal attack on a prominent official from a rival country, North Korea on Wednesday called U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry a wolf with a "hideous lantern jaw."
North Korea has unleashed a slew of crude insults against leaders in Washington and Seoul this year, calling President Barack Obama a monkey and South Korean President Park Geun-hye a prostitute.

Wednesday's slur against Kerry appeared only in a Korean-language dispatch, suggesting it was meant to rally anti-U.S. sentiment and burnish the leadership's image domestically at a time when Washington and Seoul are conducting annual military drills that Pyongyang calls an invasion rehearsal.
An unidentified policy department spokesman at the North Korean defense commission, led by leader Kim Jong Un, described Kerry as a "wolf donning the mask of sheep."
The spokesman criticized Kerry for recently saying Washington wants to see peace on the Korean Peninsula although the U.S. and South Korea then went ahead with their summertime drills that North Korea has demanded be scrapped. The U.S. and South Korea say the drills are defensive in nature.

Millions in federal emergency communications funding lost, diverted

WASHINGTON — Four years ago, Commerce Department officials were touting their pilot grant program as a way to vault police, firefighters and other emergency responders into the age of high-speed broadband.
With seven grant awards, the department promised to show how public safety agencies could use new data-delivery networks to beam suspects’ images to cops on the beat or life-saving video instructions to medics hunched over disaster victims.
But now, the public safety broadband communication program is in turmoil – and tens of millions of federal grant dollars have been lost or diverted to other purposes while a new agency sets out to build a nationwide broadband network. Mississippi officials have even been asked to retrieve equipment for their aborted project from scores of transmission towers.
More than two-thirds of the program’s $382 million in public safety grant money went to pilot projects won by Illinois-based Motorola Solutions Inc., which holds an estimated 80 percent share of the emergency two-way radio market. That’s ironic, because it was Motorola’s radio dominance that helped instigate the push toward a more competitive broadband market as the best way to build the new network.

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2014/07/14/233250_millions-in-federal-emergency.html?sp=/99/323/rh=1#storylink=cpy

Beheading video prompts calls for US to escalate campaign against ISIS

Military analysts and U.S. lawmakers say the apparent beheading of an American journalist by Islamic State terrorists should be a wake-up call to the need to dismantle the organization which has taken root in Iraq and Syria with aspirations, they say, of attacking the West.  
“America got a glimpse of exactly who they are,” House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Mich., told Fox News on Wednesday. “This is a group you need to deal with.”

U.S. intelligence officials continue to analyze the video, which purports to show Islamic State extremists beheading American journalist James Foley, who is from New Hampshire.
The beheading marks the first time the Islamic State has killed an American citizen since the Syrian conflict broke out in March 2011, upping the stakes in an increasingly chaotic and multilayered war.
The militants in the video rail against U.S. airstrikes in Iraq and threaten to kill a second American journalist, depending on President Obama’s “next decision” – an apparent reference to U.S. military policy in the region.
The video puts pressure on the White House to weigh the risks of ramping up airstrikes in Iraq targeting the Islamic State, and the possibility that militants could kill more Americans in response.
Related: White House Knew Of Islamic State's Threat To Execute James Foley

Neither Obama Nor Congress Seems Eager for a Vote on Military Action in Iraq 

WASHINGTON — Mingling with Senate Democrats at the White House earlier this summer, President Obama had a tart comeback to the suggestion that he should seek a vote of Congress before deepening American military involvement in Iraq.

“Guys, you can’t have it both ways here,” Mr. Obama told the group, according to Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia. “You can’t be ducking and dodging and hiding under the table when it comes time to vote, and then complain about the president not coming to you” for authorization.

The president’s comments were tinged with humor, Mr. Kaine said, but they reflected a serious reality that administration officials say has informed the president’s decision not to seek authorization to carry out airstrikes against militants in Iraq: Most lawmakers have little appetite for such a vote.

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Harper North trip to highlight agriculture, Arctic sovereignty

Lack of transportation infrastructure still seen as major roadblock to development

Prime Minister Stephen Harper leaves for his ninth annual trip north today — a visit that has become a bit of a summer ritual.
Soon after he was elected in 2006, Harper went to the military base in Alert, Nunavut and has made a point to go back north every summer.

• ANALYSIS | Prime Minister Stephen Harper takes another northern tour

This year the Prime Minister will visit all three territories to meet with the party faithful and to announce money for research into northern agriculture and telecommunications and to wave the Canadian flag from the deck of naval ship that is travelling in the High Arctic.
He'll also highlight what his office calls "new partnerships and technologies that are a part of the 2014 Search for Franklin Expedition."
The north is changing from being out-of-sight and out-of-mind and into a region that is playing a growing role in the country's sovereignty and economic development. And with it, there are growing expectations from northerners about what Harper will announce during his trip.

Roads, airports vital for growth, say business leaders

The Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut account for 40 per cent of the country's land mass, making roads and airports crucial. So far there just aren't enough of them, according to regional business leaders.

Alberta announces new rules on heels of Redford flight scandal

EDMONTON - Alberta Premier Dave Hancock on Tuesday apologized for a partisan political flight taken by former premier Alison Redford and announced new rules for ministers booking government aircraft in the wake of a damning report by Alberta's Auditor General.
Premier Dave Hancock and Finance Minister Doug Horner announced that invited guests on government aircraft must now be pre-approved by the finance minister, and each request must come with a report identifying why a commercial flight isn't an option.
"I want to start by apologizing to Albertans on behalf of our government,"Hancock said.
"There's no question Albertans feel let down by their government and that means all of us."
Hancock said, ultimately, Horner is responsible for oversight of the fleet but cabinet ministers are responsible for the individual use of planes. Hancock said Horner trusted "each of us and reminded us of the rules a number of times."
In a report released Aug. 7, Auditor General Merwan Saher found Redford's "aura of power" led to her using government airplanes "inappropriately" for personal and partisan purposes.
"We observed a tendency to work around or ignore rules in order to fulfill requests coming from the premier's office in ways that avoided leaving the premier with personal responsibility for decisions," wrote Saher.
Saher found Redford used government planes to travel to Vancouver in March 2013 and to Jasper in June 2013 where there "was a greater personal time component to these trips than a government business component" as well as three trips in 2012 and 2013 where only "partisan business" occurred.
Hancock said Tuesday that he was surprised a Grande Prairie flight turned up in the report and admitted it should have been cancelled when the government event it was initially scheduled for was also cancelled.
"As leader of the government, I apologize for that flight and as you know, the party has reimbursed taxpayers for the cost of it."
Horner said the Treasury Board will discuss options for providing oversight of the premier's office and the use of government aircraft at a meeting this week. His ministry will also now issue a quarterly report on the fleet.

Ontario's Turban-Wearing Sikhs Must Wear Helmets When Riding Motorbikes: Wynne

TORONTO - Ontario won't allow turban-wearing Sikhs to ride a motorcycle without wearing a helmet, a decision the Canadian Sikh Association called "deeply" disappointing.
Premier Kathleen Wynne wrote to the organization last week, saying she had struggled with striking the right balance between public safety and religious accommodation.
"After careful deliberation, we have determined that we will not grant this type of exemption as it would pose a road safety risk," she wrote in the Aug. 14 letter.

"Ultimately, the safety of Ontarians is my utmost priority, and I cannot justify setting that concern aside on this issue."
The mandatory helmet law is based on extensive research that shows the high risk of injury and death for motorcyclists who ride without a helmet, she added. Mortality rates have gone down 30 per cent and head injury rates down 75 per cent in jurisdictions with such laws.
Courts have also found that Ontario's law doesn't infringe on the Charter of Rights and Freedoms or the Ontario Human Rights Code, she said.
The association has been a strong advocate for an exemption and presented "compelling arguments," Wynne wrote.
"However, the Ontario government has carefully monitored, and considered, the soundness of accommodating your position, drawing on relevant academic research, key legal decisions, and consultations with caucus and the community."
The organization said it felt let down by the Liberal government, which had promised to bring in legislation that would provide the exemption.
"In all our discussions and meetings and consultations, we were given the understanding, assurances, commitment that we will be moving forward on this," said Manohar Singh Bal, secretary of the association.
Members of all three parties as well as other high-profile Canadian politicians, such as former premier Bob Rae, all support the exemption, he said. Former transportation minister Glen Murray promised to introduce a bill sometime in March or April this year.

Never mind the West, can Justin Trudeau crack Fortress Quebec?

It's Trudeau vs. Mulcair in Quebec, the battle of two very different native sons

On the campaign trail, there are few first encounters with Justin Trudeau.
Working a crowd, he enters as if returning, arms outstretched, a big smile and a Hey or Hi that suggests a personal connection, friendship even.
He moves swiftly, as if rushing to pick up the conversation where he left off. His easy manner is infectious, and he's quickly pulled in to pose. Another big smile as shutters click away, and he's off again.
It's real personality politics — the kind of glad-handing that his famously aloof father never mastered — and it was on display this past weekend as Trudeau came "home" for Montreal's annual Pride Parade.
He doesn't, of course, know everyone in the crowd. But most know him, the first impression made long ago.
In some sense, he belongs to Canada, cast in our collective memory as a child held high in the air by his father, Pierre; as the grief-stricken brother at his youngest sibling's death; or as eldest son, age 28, delivering a eulogy in which many first saw evidence of political promise.
Now, surprisingly, after defying repeated Conservative attacks, and despite some early missteps, Trudeau appears to have made good on that promise.
Almost a year and a half into his leadership, a mid-summer Ekos poll shows the Liberal party leading in voter intention, far outranking the reigning Conservatives and a big stretch ahead of its current third place in the Commons.

London, Ont., doctor, Khurram Syed Sher, acquitted of terrorism charge

OTTAWA — A London, Ont., pathologist was acquitted Tuesday of conspiring to facilitate terror.
Dr. Khurram Syed Sher’s involvement with a homegrown terror syndicate was confined to a single, albeit lengthy conversation he had with two alleged co-conspirators in July 2010.
In that conversation, secretly recorded by RCMP bugs, the men appeared to discuss attacking a military repatriation ceremony at Ontario’s CFB Trenton, and they capped the night with an oath to “Q and T” — which the court heard was al-Qaida and the Taliban.
“I pledge the same,” Sher says on a transcript of the recording. “What he said.”
By that point, however, the defence argued the evening had devolved into a farce. The men had used a dustbuster to select the leader of the alleged terror cell and the oath was replete with snorts of laughter.

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