Weekend Gazette 082314

Saturday August 23rd 2014

Gaza conflict: Israeli boy's death 'will intensify ops'

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said military operations will "intensify" after an Israeli boy was killed by fire from Gaza.

The four-year-old died in a mortar attack on a southern Israeli village near the Gaza border.
Meanwhile Israeli air strikes have continued, killing at least four people on Friday, Palestinian officials say.
More than 2,090 Palestinians - mostly civilians - and 67 Israelis have been killed in recent weeks.
Most of the dead on the Israeli side have been soldiers. A Thai national in the country was also killed by rocket fire early on in the six-week-old conflict.
Mr Netanyahu's spokesman, Ofir Gendelman, quoted him on Twitter as saying Hamas would "pay a heavy price" for the boy's death.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and the Shin Bet security service would "intensify" operations against Hamas until the goal of Israel's Operation Protective Edge campaign was achieved, he added.
On Thursday, an Israeli air strike killed three senior Hamas leaders.
Israeli officials say more than 80 rockets were fired from Gaza on Friday.
One strike hit a synagogue in the coastal town of Ashdod, damaging the building and lightly wounding three civilians.
Israeli says it carried out about 30 air strikes on Friday. In one evening raid, a house was destroyed in Gaza City, wounding more than 40 people - some seriously.
Related: Bomb Fired From Gaza Kills Israeli Child, Netanyahu Vows Tough Response

Iraq suicide bomber kills at least 11 in Baghdad

BAGHDAD –  Iraqi officials say a suicide bombing against an Interior Ministry building in central Baghdad has killed at least 11 people.
A police officer says the suicide bomber drove an explosives-laden car into the gate of the intelligence headquarters in Karrada district Saturday afternoon, killing six civilians and five security personnel.

He added that 24 other people were wounded.
A medical official confirmed causality figures. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to brief the media.
Since early this year, Iraq has been facing a growing Sunni insurgency with the Islamic State group and allied Sunni militants who have taken over areas in the country's west and north.
The crisis has worsened since June when the group declared an Islamic state, or caliphate, in territory under its control.
Related: Iraq launches investigation into Shia attack on Sunni mosque

UN call to 'prevent Iraq massacre'

The UN has called for action to prevent what it says may be a possible massacre in the northern Iraqi town of Amerli.

Special representative Nickolay Mladenov says he is "seriously alarmed" by reports regarding the conditions in which the town's residents live.
The town, under siege by Islamic State for two months, has no electricity or drinking water, and is running out of food and medical supplies.
The majority of its residents are Turkmen Shia, seen as apostates by ISIS.
"The situation of the people in Amerli is desperate and demands immediate action to prevent the possible massacre of its citizens," Mr Mladenov said in a statement.
"I urge the Iraqi government to do all it can to relieve the siege and to ensure that the residents receive life-saving humanitarian assistance or are evacuated in a dignified manner."
On Friday, the most influential Shia cleric in Iraq, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, expressed concern over the plight of the town's inhabitants.
Residents say they have had to organise their own resistance to the militants and no foreign aid has reached the town since the siege began.

Isis fighters surround Syrian airbase in rapid drive to recapture lost territory

Syrian reinforcements rush to defend Tabqa but there are fears that no regional military can slow group's momentum

Islamic State extremists rampaging through Iraq have now turned their sights back towards Syria, where only a besieged airbase stands between the terror group and a rush for the Mediterranean coast that could split the country in two.
The attack on the Tabqa airbase in eastern Syria comes as Isis continues to move back towards areas it controlled north of Aleppo until February. Using weapons the group looted from abandoned Iraqi military bases, Isis has returned with a vengeance to the area, stunning regional powers with its rapid advances.
Less than three months after taking Iraq's second and fourth biggest cities, much of Anbar province and the Syrian border, the group is establishing itself with extraordinary speed as a regional power that will determine the fate of both countries. There are growing fears across the Middle East that no regional military can slow the group's momentum.
Isis now controls a swath of land slightly larger than the UK, from Aleppo to central Iraq, and holds sway over a population of at least four million people. The group's rapid ability to organise and consolidate continues to splinter a fractured body politic in Iraq and Syria and is fast causing ramifications for the broader Middle East.
"The Islamic State is now the most capable military power in the Middle East outside Israel," a senior regional diplomat said on Friday. "They can determine outcomes in a few days that the Syrian rebels took two years to influence. Their capacity is in sharp contrast to the Syrian regime, which is only able to fight one battle at a time and has to fight hard for every success.

Report: Iran opens uranium-conversation plant, part of interim nuclear deal with world powers

TEHRAN, Iran –  Iran's official news agency is reporting that the country has inaugurated a plant to convert a type of uranium into a material that can only be used in nuclear reactors.
The report Saturday by IRNA quoted Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of Iran's nuclear agency, saying that the plant is part of the interim deal the Islamic Republic struck with world powers over its contested nuclear program.

Salehi said the plant will convert uranium hexafluoride, which can be used to make nuclear weapons. He said the new form of the material, uranium dioxide, can only be used in nuclear reactors.
Iran and world powers are negotiating a final deal over its nuclear program after striking an interim agreement last November.

Islamist-allied militia in Libya's capital says airstrikes launched by unknown group kill 15

CAIRO –  A senior Islamist militia leader says two airstrikes targeting its positions in Libya's capital, Tripoli, have killed 15 fighters and wounded 20.
The official from the Islamist-allied Misrata militia said the two airstrikes by unidentified warplanes early Saturday also targeted the Interior Ministry's building and several militia positions. He said the airstrikes also set fire to a warehouse.

He said two sons of the head of the military council of Misrata militias, Ibrahim Bin Rajab, were among the wounded. He spoke on condition of anonymity as he wasn't authorized to speak to journalists.
Libya is witnessing its worst spasm of violence since Moammar Gadhafi was toppled in 2011. Many of the rebel brigades which helped overthrow the longtime dictator have become powerful, heavily armed militias.

Ukraine crisis: Russian lorries leave as Merkel visits

All the lorries from an unauthorised Russian aid convoy have now crossed back over the border from Ukraine.

The convoy returned from the eastern city of Luhansk, which is held by pro-Russian separatists. Kiev and Western officials fear the trucks may have had military equipment to help the rebels.
Russia said they had delivered generators, food and drink.
Meanwhile, Ukraine is to receive a 500m-euro (£400m) loan from Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel said in Kiev.
The money will be used to help rebuild the country's damaged infrastructure, Mrs Merkel said in a joint press conference with President Petro Poroschenko in the Ukrainian capital on Saturday.
A further 25m euros will go toward helping refugees, she said.
Four months of fighting in eastern Ukraine have left more than 2,000 people dead. More than 330,000 people have fled their homes.
'Dangerous escalation' Prior to her arrival in Kiev, Mrs Merkel described the Russian convoy's movement into Ukrainian territory as a "dangerous escalation".

Political impasse in Pakistan: Standoff between govt and protesters continues

ISLAMABAD: A tense standoff continued in Pakistan on Saturday as overnight talks between the government and protesters demanding Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's resignation made little headway in breaking the political logjam.

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan and cleric Tahir-ul Qadri are protesting alleged vote rigging in polls last year and demanding Sharif's resignation and holding of fresh polls.

Khan and Qadri had separately launched protests from eastern city of Lahore on August 14 to dislodge the 15-month-old government and have been camping in the capital since last Saturday with thousands of their supporters.

The political crisis has paralysed the government and raised questions about Pakistan's democratic stability.

With an aim to end the protests, government officials yesterday met with senior members of Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf () party. The protest leaders had previously rebuffed offers of negotiations from Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N.

The latest round of talks came at a time when lawmakers from Khan's party have resigned from the National Assembly and the Speaker is yet to accept them.

The government enjoys a majority with ruling PML-N having 190 members in a House of 342. Khan's is the third largest party in the National Assembly.

Exchange of fire on Pakistan-India border; deaths reported

Pakistan and India exchanged fire near the border in the disputed Kashmir region early Saturday, killing at least two people from each country.

The Indian paramilitary border security force said Pakistani forces fired shots and mortar rounds near the border, killing a father and his 8-year-old son, and injuring four others, including a trooper. A spokesman for the security force called the action from the Pakistani side "unprovoked."

The Pakistani military said an intermittent exchange of fire continues between the countries. It accused Indian troops of "unprovoked" opening fire on the working boundary near Sialkot, killing two civilians -- a woman and a 60-year-old man.

The two nuclear-armed countries agreed to a bilateral ceasefire in November 2003. But while it has held well, it has suffered breaches since last year. The latest round of violence has triggered the dislocation of more than 1,000 border residents, an Indian official said.

Kashmir has been in the throes of separatist violence since 1989; officials say it has claimed 42,000 lives, but rights groups and nongovernmental organizations put the number at twice that.

Galileo satellites go into wrong, lower orbit - Esa

The European Space Agency (Esa) says the latest two satellites for Europe's version of the American GPS satellite navigation system have not gone into the correct orbit.

However, it says the fifth and sixth satellites launched from French Guiana on Friday are under control.
The agency is examining the implications of the anomaly.
The satellites Doresa and Milena went up on a Soyuz rocket after a 24-hour delay because of bad weather.
"Observations taken after the separation of the satellites from the Soyuz VS09 (rocket) for the Galileo Mission show a gap between the orbit achieved and that which was planned," said launch service provider Arianespace, in a statement.
"They have been placed on a lower orbit than expected. Teams are studying the impact this could have on the satellites," it added.
Arianespace declined to comment on whether their trajectories could be corrected, the AFP news agency reports.
After years of delay, Galileo is now finally moving towards full deployment.
Esa, which is building the system on behalf of the EU, expects to have a 26-satellite constellation in orbit by 2017.
The EU is investing billions in its sat-nav project.
It believes Galileo will bring significant returns to European economies in the form of new businesses that can exploit precise timing and location data delivered from orbit.
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National Guard begins to withdraw from Ferguson

The National Guard has begun withdrawing from Ferguson, Missouri, where the shooting of an unarmed black teenager by a white policeman has sparked days of protests.

The troops were deployed on Monday when demonstrations became more violent.
On Thursday, Missouri governor Jay Nixon ordered their withdrawal when it appeared that tensions had eased.
Michael Brown, 18, was killed on 9 August after being stopped by a police officer for walking in the street.
Mr Nixon had called in the National Guard, a military force established by the state of Missouri, on Monday to support police operations, amid unrest driven by anger over Brown's death and the police response.
Monday night 'critical' But Wednesday and Thursday were relatively calm with only a few arrests made.
Despite the easing of tension, some caution violence could flare up again when Mr Brown is buried on Monday.
"Monday night will be a critical night," St Louis based Bishop Edwin Bass told the Reuters news agency.
"The funeral could have a big impact on the mood of the community," he said.

Food stamp fraud rampant: GAO report

Americans receiving food stamps were caught selling and bartering their benefits online for art, housing and cash, according to a new federal report that investigates fraud in the nation’s largest nutrition support program.
Complicating the situation is the fact states around the country are having trouble tracking and prosecuting the crimes because their enforcement budgets have been slashed despite the rapidly-rising number of food stamp recipients, according to the Government Accountability Office report.

Under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, 47 million people have been awarded $76 billion in benefits. State agencies are responsible for addressing SNAP recipient fraud under the guidance and monitoring of the Food and Nutrition Service.
“Such rapid program growth can increase the potential for fraud unless appropriate agency controls are in place to help minimize these risks,” the investigators said in their report.
The GAO report resulted from a review of 11 state and federal efforts to fight food stamp fraud, effectiveness of certain fraud detection tools and how FNS oversees state anti-fraud efforts.
The report found that “most of the selected states reported difficulties in conducting fraud investigations due to either reduced or maintained staff levels while SNAP recipient numbers greatly increased from fiscal year 2009 through 2013.”

White House Rolls Out New Birth Control Accommodation For Nonprofits

The Obama administration announced on Friday a new accommodation for religious nonprofits that object to covering the full range of contraceptives in their employee health care plans.
The new accommodation will allow religious nonprofits, such as Catholic schools and hospitals, to opt out of covering birth control by notifying the Department of Health and Human Services of their objections. HHS and the Department of Labor will then arrange for a third-party insurer to pay for and administer the coverage for the nonprofits' employees so that women still receive the contraceptive coverage guaranteed to them by the Affordable Care Act.
“Women across the country deserve access to recommended preventive services that are important to their health, no matter where they work,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell. “Today’s announcement reinforces our commitment to providing women with access to coverage for contraception, while respecting religious considerations raised by non-profit organizations and closely held for-profit companies."
The original accommodation required religious nonprofits to directly ask a third-party insurer to pay for and administer the contraception coverage if the nonprofit objected to covering it. But several nonprofits sued the administration over the rule, claiming that the act of filling out a form violated their religious beliefs by serving as a "permission slip" for its employees to use contraceptives.
The administration developed the new accommodation to pre-empt those lawsuits, which legal experts expected the Supreme Court to take up next year.

Florida judge approves redrawn congressional maps

A Florida judge on Friday approved the new congressional maps redrawn by Republican legislative leaders in a lawsuit over gerrymandering and ruled that he would not order a special election in affected districts.
Circuit Court Judge Terry Lewis said the 2014 midterm elections would proceed on Nov. 4 using the state’s existing maps, despite previously ruling that two of the congressional districts were unconstitutional.
His ruling last month had clouded the outcome of congressional races, holding out the possibility of delays in elections in the largest U.S. swing state.
Under court orders to fix the maps, the Republican-controlled legislature last week approved minor changes affecting seven of Florida’s 27 congressional districts in a hastily convened special session.
In July, Lewis ruled that Republican leaders had conspired to rig the boundaries to protect the party’s majority in Washington.

Harry Reid apologizes for dropping some non-politically correct Asian-themed jokes

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has apologized for making "politically incorrect" jokes earlier this week at an event hosted by the Las Vegas Asian Chamber of Commerce.
“My comments were in extremely poor taste and I apologize. Sometimes I say the wrong thing," Reid said Friday, according to Politico.

On Thursday, Reid told a predominately Asian-American audience at an event in Las Vegas: “I don’t think you’re smarter than anybody else, but you’ve convinced a lot of us you are.”
He then quipped at the conclusion of his remarks: “One problem that I’ve had today is keeping my Wongs straight.”
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