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| Sunday September 14 2014 |
David Haines: PM says Britain will 'hunt down' IS killers
Britain will take
"whatever steps are necessary" to keep the country safe, following the
killing of hostage David Haines by Islamic State militants, the prime
minister has said.
David Cameron said the UK would "hunt down" the killers of the aid worker, whom he called a "British hero".He said Britain had to confront and "ultimately destroy" the "menace" of IS in a "calm, deliberate" way.
Meanwhile, a second Briton being held has been named as Alan Henning. 47.
Mr Haines was seized in Syria in 2013. He was being held by Islamic State militants who had already killed two US captives, and a video of his death came shortly after his family appealed to his captors to make contact with them.
IS has now threatened to kill another hostage, Alan Henning
Born in Holderness, East Yorkshire, Mr Haines went to school in
Perth and had been living in Croatia with his second wife, who is
Croatian, and their four-year-old daughter. His parents live in Ayr.A video of the 44-year-old's beheading was released on Saturday night. A masked man who appears to have a British accent was pictured beside Mr Haines holding a knife.
The footage also includes a threat by IS, also known as Isil and Isis, to kill Mr Henning.
Speaking after a meeting of the UK emergency committee Cobra, Mr Cameron said of IS, "they are not Muslims, they are monsters".
"We will do everything in our power to hunt down these murderers and ensure they face justice, however long it takes."
Islamic State group's war chest is growing daily
Islamic State militants, who once relied on wealthy Persian Gulf donors for money, have become a self-sustaining financial juggernaut, earning more than $3 million a day from oil smuggling, human trafficking, theft and extortion, according to U.S. intelligence officials and private experts.The extremist group's resources exceed that "of any other terrorist group in history," said a U.S. intelligence official who, like others interviewed, spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss classified assessments. Such riches are one reason that American officials are so concerned about the group even while acknowledging they have no evidence it is plotting attacks against the United States.
While U.S. intelligence does not assess that those governments are complicit in the smuggling, the Obama administration is pressing them do to more to crack down. The illicit oil is generally transported on tanker trucks, analysts said.
"There's a lot of money to be made," said Denise Natali, who worked in Kurdistan as an American aid official and is now a senior research fellow at National Defense University. "The Kurds say they have made an attempt to close it down, but you pay off a border guard you pay off somebody else and you get stuff through."
Gaza children return to school after end of war with Israel
Schools in the Palestinian territory had delayed opening because of damage and use of buildings to house displaced people
Children in Gaza made a delayed return to school on Sunday after the 50-day war with Israel that killed more than 2,100 Palestinians and damaged hundreds of school buildings.
Gaza education ministry official Ziad Thabet said the opening was for 230,000 pupils attending public schools, 200,000 going to UN-run schools and tens of thousands enrolled in private institutions.
The opening had been delayed for two weeks because of damage to schools and the use of UN school buildings as temporary centres to house displaced people. About 50,000 people are still housed in UN schools, the UN Palestinian refugee agency said.
Early on Sunday Gaza City streets were crowded with children dressed in school uniform, many accompanied by parents or older siblings.
In al-Zaytoun boys elementary school, students pasted stickers with the names of fellow students killed during the war, as teachers struggled to cope with badly damaged facilities, including holes in ceilings and partially collapsed walls.
"I'm not as excited coming to school as I was in the past," said student Tamar Toutah, 11. "I feel that something is missing. I asked about my fellow students, but some were killed or wounded."
Thabet said that the first week in government schools would be given over to providing psychological counselling and recreational activities to help the war-weary children return to learning.
"We gave special training to more than 11,000 teachers and 3,000 principals and administrators about how to address students after the war," he said.
Thabet said 26 Gaza schools were destroyed during the war, and another 232 sustained damage.
A member of staff was seriously injured in the shelling, medical officials at the hospital have told the BBC.
Many residents of Falluja and Ramadi have said they are more at risk from army air raids than from the jihadists.
The extremist group overran the two cities, which are both in the mainly-Sunni Anbar province, in December 2013.
Out of four new polls, three showed those in favour of maintaining the union with a lead of between 2 and 8 percentage points. But an ICM poll conducted over the Internet showed supporters of independence in the lead with 54 per cent and unionists on 46 per cent.
The final weekend of campaigning before Thursday’s vote brought thousands of people on to the streets of the capital Edinburgh and of Scotland’s largest city, Glasgow. Rival leaders worked across the country to convince undecided voters.
Scottish National Party leader Alex Salmond, who has spearheaded the drive for independence, said he was confident the “Yes” campaign would win. The priority after the referendum would be would be to bring Scots together again to work for the country’s future good, he said on the BBC.
“We’re not aiming to win by one vote. We’re aiming to achieve a substantial majority if we can. And one of the great assets of the ‘Yes’ campaign is that we don’t regard any section or sector of Scottish society or any geography of Scotland beyond our reach,” said Salmond, also Scotland’s First Minister.
Alistair Darling, a former British finance minister and leader of the “Better Together” campaign, warned that if Scots vote to split from the UK it would be an irreversible decision.
With promises from British political leaders of greater powers for Scotland in the event of a “No” vote, Scots could have the best of both worlds, Darling said.
• Iraq halts air strikes against civilian areas
Kerry was speaking in Cairo as part of a regional tour to build support for President Barack Obama’s plan to strike both sides of the Syrian-Iraqi frontier, defeat Isis Sunni fighters and build a coalition for a potentially complex military campaign in the heart of the Middle East.
At home, Obama used his weekly address to appeal for international support, saying: “This can’t be America’s fight alone.”
Obama said: “To meet a threat like this, we have to be smart. We have to use our power wisely. And we have to avoid the mistakes of the past.
“American military power is unmatched, but this can’t be America’s fight alone. And the best way to defeat a group like [Isis] isn’t by sending large numbers of American combat forces to wage a ground war in the heart of the Middle East. That wouldn’t serve our interests. In fact, it would only risk fueling extremism even more.
“What’s needed now is a targeted, relentless counterterrorism campaign against [Isis] that combines American air power, contributions from allies and partners, and more support to forces that are fighting these terrorists on the ground. And that’s exactly what we’re doing.”
In Cairo, Kerry referred to Egypt as “an intellectual and cultural capital to the Muslim world”, saying it had a “critical role” to play in denouncing the harsh ideology of Isis, which has seized much of northeastern Syria and northern and western Iraq.
The US accuses North Korea of using Mr Miller and two other detained Americans as pawns in a diplomatic game.
The North Korean authorities have not specified the charges against Mr Miller, but they claim he tore up his visa and demanded asylum.
During the trial, prosecutors said Mr Miller admitted having a "wild ambition" to spend time in a North Korean prison so he could find out about the country's human rights situation, the Associated Press (AP) reports.
Notes produced in court also suggested he had become a fugitive because he was involved with Wikileaks, the organisation that has leaked US state secrets.
Our correspondent in Seoul, Steve Evans, says it is impossible to know how those notes were written - whether under duress or not - and it is not clear whether there is any truth to the allegations.
After a 90-minute trial, the sentence was handed down and Mr Miller was handcuffed and led from the room, AP reports.
The White House has described securing the release of Mr Miller and the two other American citizens detained in North Korea as a "top priority".
The other pilot was rescued shortly after and received medical attention aboard the ship. He has since been released from medical facilities.
The two jets, which cost $57m (£35m) each, have not been recovered.
"This is an exceptionally difficult time for the friends and family of the missing pilot and the Navy community," Rear Adm Christopher Grady told reporters.
The identity of the pilot will not be released until the family notification process is complete, he added.
The planes were flying routine operations in the US 7th Fleet's area of responsibility, which stretches west from the International Date Line to the India-Pakistan border.
The two aircraft had not long taken off from USS Carl Vinson when they apparently collided about 11 km (7 miles) from the carrier.
The crash occurred about 290 miles west of Wake Island, which is 2,300 miles west of Honolulu, a spokesman said.
The message was delivered in a meeting Thursday with White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough and other administration officials, including domestic policy adviser Cecilia Munoz, a key player for Obama on the issue, according to Politico.
The president faced sharp criticism, including accusations of caving
to election-year politics, from Hispanic lawmakers, immigration-reform
advocates and others in his Democratic base when the White House
revealed last weekend that he would delay action until after the Nov. 4
elections.
In 2012, Obama used executive action to delay deportation for many young immigrants brought to the United States illegally by their parents. He is expected to widen that effort to include millions more.
Roughly 11 million people are now living in the U.S. illegally.
This week’s meeting was apparently intended to restore the Congressional Hispanic Caucus’s faith in the White House, considering in part that a reform plan appears stuck in the GOP-led House.
Chow said she “welcomes Doug Ford to the race,” and now candidates can debate policy and not simply the personal tribulations of the mayor who in the past year has admitted to crack cocaine use and spent more than two months in addictions rehabilitation.
“The last few months have been all about Rob Ford the person, and how he’s a terrible role model for our kids,” she said to reporters following her speech.
“We have endured four years of Rob Ford and the damages are substantial.”
Doug Ford all about 'cutting services': Chow
At a press conference Friday night outside his mother’s home, Doug Ford stressed that his campaign and potential mayoral term would largely be about continuing his brother’s controversial legacy at city hall. Chow tried to emphasize several times that while Doug Ford may not have the same track record of substance abuse, a vote for him would ultimately be a vote for Rob Ford.
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Gaza education ministry official Ziad Thabet said the opening was for 230,000 pupils attending public schools, 200,000 going to UN-run schools and tens of thousands enrolled in private institutions.
The opening had been delayed for two weeks because of damage to schools and the use of UN school buildings as temporary centres to house displaced people. About 50,000 people are still housed in UN schools, the UN Palestinian refugee agency said.
Early on Sunday Gaza City streets were crowded with children dressed in school uniform, many accompanied by parents or older siblings.
In al-Zaytoun boys elementary school, students pasted stickers with the names of fellow students killed during the war, as teachers struggled to cope with badly damaged facilities, including holes in ceilings and partially collapsed walls.
"I'm not as excited coming to school as I was in the past," said student Tamar Toutah, 11. "I feel that something is missing. I asked about my fellow students, but some were killed or wounded."
Thabet said that the first week in government schools would be given over to providing psychological counselling and recreational activities to help the war-weary children return to learning.
"We gave special training to more than 11,000 teachers and 3,000 principals and administrators about how to address students after the war," he said.
Thabet said 26 Gaza schools were destroyed during the war, and another 232 sustained damage.
Iraq's Falluja hospital 'hit by shelling'
A hospital in the Iraqi
city of Falluja, mainly controlled by Islamic State (IS) fighters, has
been hit by government shelling, reports say.
It comes a day after PM Haider al-Abadi ordered the Iraqi army to stop shelling civilian areas in towns seized by IS.A member of staff was seriously injured in the shelling, medical officials at the hospital have told the BBC.
Many residents of Falluja and Ramadi have said they are more at risk from army air raids than from the jihadists.
The extremist group overran the two cities, which are both in the mainly-Sunni Anbar province, in December 2013.
Human Rights Watch calls for probe of Iraqi airstrike that killed 31 civilians
BAGHDAD – An international rights
group is calling for an investigation into an Iraqi airstrike near a
school housing displaced families that killed 31 civilians, including 24
children.
The New York-based Human Rights Watch says in a statement Sunday that three survivors from the Sept. 1 airstrike said there were no militants in the area at the time. The airstrike hit the town of al-Alam, just outside the northern city of Tikrit, which was captured by the Islamic State extremist group in June.
Iraqi
officials were not immediately available for comment, but the report
cited the Iraqi government as saying that the pilot had targeted a car
driving near the school that was thought to be transporting fighters and
explosives, causing an explosion that was "far larger than normal."
At least three Somali families in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area have female relatives who have gone missing in the past six weeks and may have tried to join Islamic State, said community leader Abdirizak Bihi. He said that while the reasons for their disappearance were unclear, he had told the families to contact police.
In a separate case, a 19-year-old American Somali woman from St. Paul snuck away from her parents on Aug. 25 saying she was going to a bridal shower. Instead, she flew to Turkey and joined IS in Syria.
Home to the biggest Somali community in the United States, the Twin Cities area of Minnesota has been plagued by terrorist recruiting since the Somali group al-Shabaab began enlisting in America around 2007.
This year, law enforcement officials say they learned of 15-20 men with connections to the Minnesota Somali community fighting for extremist groups in Syria. They included Douglas McAuthur McCain, a convert to Islam, who was killed in battle this summer.
The St. Paul woman is the first case of an area female joining IS that has been made public although her family have asked for her name to be kept private because it fears retaliation from Islamists.
Greg Boosalis, FBI division counsel in Minneapolis, said law enforcement was investigating the possible recruitment in the area by Islamist extremists of other females, as well as males, but refused to comment on specific cases.
"We are looking into the possibility of additional men and women travelers," he said.
The New York-based Human Rights Watch says in a statement Sunday that three survivors from the Sept. 1 airstrike said there were no militants in the area at the time. The airstrike hit the town of al-Alam, just outside the northern city of Tikrit, which was captured by the Islamic State extremist group in June.
Islamic State Attracts Female Jihadis From The U.S. Heartland
MINNEAPOLIS, Sept 14 (Reuters) - U.S. law enforcement is investigating a new phenomenon of women from the American heartland joining Islamic State as President Barack Obama vows to cut off the militants' recruiting at home.At least three Somali families in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area have female relatives who have gone missing in the past six weeks and may have tried to join Islamic State, said community leader Abdirizak Bihi. He said that while the reasons for their disappearance were unclear, he had told the families to contact police.
In a separate case, a 19-year-old American Somali woman from St. Paul snuck away from her parents on Aug. 25 saying she was going to a bridal shower. Instead, she flew to Turkey and joined IS in Syria.
Home to the biggest Somali community in the United States, the Twin Cities area of Minnesota has been plagued by terrorist recruiting since the Somali group al-Shabaab began enlisting in America around 2007.
This year, law enforcement officials say they learned of 15-20 men with connections to the Minnesota Somali community fighting for extremist groups in Syria. They included Douglas McAuthur McCain, a convert to Islam, who was killed in battle this summer.
The St. Paul woman is the first case of an area female joining IS that has been made public although her family have asked for her name to be kept private because it fears retaliation from Islamists.
Greg Boosalis, FBI division counsel in Minneapolis, said law enforcement was investigating the possible recruitment in the area by Islamist extremists of other females, as well as males, but refused to comment on specific cases.
"We are looking into the possibility of additional men and women travelers," he said.
'Islamic State' is a slur on our faith, say leading Muslims
Imams call on David Cameron and others to stop using phrase which they say gives credibility to a terrorist organization
The prime minister and media should stop legitimising the terror group rampaging through Syria and Iraq
by describing it as Islamic State, according to a coalition of imams
and organisations representing British Muslims. Use of the jihadis'
preferred title, they argue, gives credibility to the Sunni militants
and slurs the Islamic faith.
Signatories to a letter to David Cameron, including Sughra Ahmed, president of the Islamic Society of Britain, admit that UK Muslims need to do more to dissuade their young men from being misled into taking part in the group's "hatred and poison". "We shall take every opportunity to continue to say clearly and loudly 'not in our name' and 'not for our faith,' " they write.
The letter's authors also call for the prime minister to reassess his own language. Cameron, in common with other senior politicians, has repeatedly made reference to the Islamic State, including during a Commons debate this month.
Signatories including Mohammed Abbasi, from the Association of British Muslims, and Amjad Malik QC, president of the Association of Muslim Lawyers, write: "We do not believe the terror group responsible should be given the credence and standing they seek by styling themselves Islamic State. It is neither Islamic, nor is it a state.
"The group has no standing with faithful Muslims, nor among the international community of nations. It clearly will never accept the obligations that any legitimate state has, including the responsibility to protect citizens and uphold human rights.
"So we believe the media, civic society and governments should refuse to legitimise these ludicrous caliphate fantasies by accepting or propagating this name. We propose that 'UnIslamic State' (UIS) could be an accurate and fair alternative name to describe this group and its agenda – and we will begin to call it that."
The intervention marks an intensification of a campaign by prominent British Muslims to deter young men from seeking adventure with the militants. It follows a recent decision by Muslim leaders to issue a fatwa condemning British jihadis.
"Early in the morning, we entered Ukraine to bring aid to Luhansk," said Yury Stepanov, a Russian who was overseeing the convoy. "We came in around 215 vehicles," he added, as workers unloaded boxes into a local warehouse.
The much-needed aid arrived as fighting flared again between pro-Russian rebels and government forces, further imperiling an already fragile cease-fire in the region.
On Saturday, Ukraine's military operation in the east said it had
repelled a rebel attack on the government-held airport of Donetsk, which
came under artillery fire from rebel positions late on Friday.
Ukrainian authorities also admitted for the first time since the
cease-fire started last week that they have inflicted casualties on the
rebel side.
Continuous rocket fire could be heard overnight in Donetsk. A statement on the city council website said that shells hit residential buildings near the airport, although no casualties were reported. A column of three Grad rocket launchers — all its rockets still in place — was seen moving freely through the rebel-held city on Saturday morning.
BEIJING: Trials started on Friday for four people accused of killing 31 people in a knife attack outside a railway station in the southern Chinese city of Kunming.
Kunming Intermediate People's Court said in a statement released Friday that Iskandar Ehet, Turgun Tohtunyaz and Hasayn Muhammad were standing trial on charges of organizing and leading a terror group and murder. The fourth person, Patigul Tohti, was being tried on charges of joining a terror group and murder.
The court said they were part of a terror group that plotted the March 1 attack, when five knife-wielding assailants hacked 31 people to death and injured another 141 people.
The attack shook the country amid escalating ethnic tensions between China's Muslim minority group of Uighurs and the majority Han people, which were once contained in the ethnic region of Xinjiang but began to spill to the rest of China late last year.
The court did not identify the suspects' ethnicity, but all have Uighur-sounding names.
Beijing has blamed religion-influenced terrorists with foreign ties for the Kunming attack and other violent incidents, which have left hundreds of people dead this year in and outside Xinjiang.
Signatories to a letter to David Cameron, including Sughra Ahmed, president of the Islamic Society of Britain, admit that UK Muslims need to do more to dissuade their young men from being misled into taking part in the group's "hatred and poison". "We shall take every opportunity to continue to say clearly and loudly 'not in our name' and 'not for our faith,' " they write.
The letter's authors also call for the prime minister to reassess his own language. Cameron, in common with other senior politicians, has repeatedly made reference to the Islamic State, including during a Commons debate this month.
Signatories including Mohammed Abbasi, from the Association of British Muslims, and Amjad Malik QC, president of the Association of Muslim Lawyers, write: "We do not believe the terror group responsible should be given the credence and standing they seek by styling themselves Islamic State. It is neither Islamic, nor is it a state.
"The group has no standing with faithful Muslims, nor among the international community of nations. It clearly will never accept the obligations that any legitimate state has, including the responsibility to protect citizens and uphold human rights.
"So we believe the media, civic society and governments should refuse to legitimise these ludicrous caliphate fantasies by accepting or propagating this name. We propose that 'UnIslamic State' (UIS) could be an accurate and fair alternative name to describe this group and its agenda – and we will begin to call it that."
The intervention marks an intensification of a campaign by prominent British Muslims to deter young men from seeking adventure with the militants. It follows a recent decision by Muslim leaders to issue a fatwa condemning British jihadis.
Another Russian Convoy Enters Ukraine Amid Renewed Fighting
LUHANSK, Ukraine (AP) — A convoy of more than 200 white trucks crossed the Russian border to deliver humanitarian aid to a battered Ukrainian city on Saturday, a move made without Kiev's consent yet met with silence by Ukraine's top leaders."Early in the morning, we entered Ukraine to bring aid to Luhansk," said Yury Stepanov, a Russian who was overseeing the convoy. "We came in around 215 vehicles," he added, as workers unloaded boxes into a local warehouse.
The much-needed aid arrived as fighting flared again between pro-Russian rebels and government forces, further imperiling an already fragile cease-fire in the region.
Continuous rocket fire could be heard overnight in Donetsk. A statement on the city council website said that shells hit residential buildings near the airport, although no casualties were reported. A column of three Grad rocket launchers — all its rockets still in place — was seen moving freely through the rebel-held city on Saturday morning.
China puts 4 on trial for train station attack in Kunming
BEIJING: Trials started on Friday for four people accused of killing 31 people in a knife attack outside a railway station in the southern Chinese city of Kunming.
Kunming Intermediate People's Court said in a statement released Friday that Iskandar Ehet, Turgun Tohtunyaz and Hasayn Muhammad were standing trial on charges of organizing and leading a terror group and murder. The fourth person, Patigul Tohti, was being tried on charges of joining a terror group and murder.
The court said they were part of a terror group that plotted the March 1 attack, when five knife-wielding assailants hacked 31 people to death and injured another 141 people.
The attack shook the country amid escalating ethnic tensions between China's Muslim minority group of Uighurs and the majority Han people, which were once contained in the ethnic region of Xinjiang but began to spill to the rest of China late last year.
The court did not identify the suspects' ethnicity, but all have Uighur-sounding names.
Beijing has blamed religion-influenced terrorists with foreign ties for the Kunming attack and other violent incidents, which have left hundreds of people dead this year in and outside Xinjiang.
Polls send mixed messages on Scottish independence vote
The future of Scotland and the United Kingdom looked uncertain on Sunday, five days before a historic referendum on independence, as polls showed the rival campaigns running desperately close.Out of four new polls, three showed those in favour of maintaining the union with a lead of between 2 and 8 percentage points. But an ICM poll conducted over the Internet showed supporters of independence in the lead with 54 per cent and unionists on 46 per cent.
The final weekend of campaigning before Thursday’s vote brought thousands of people on to the streets of the capital Edinburgh and of Scotland’s largest city, Glasgow. Rival leaders worked across the country to convince undecided voters.
Scottish National Party leader Alex Salmond, who has spearheaded the drive for independence, said he was confident the “Yes” campaign would win. The priority after the referendum would be would be to bring Scots together again to work for the country’s future good, he said on the BBC.
“We’re not aiming to win by one vote. We’re aiming to achieve a substantial majority if we can. And one of the great assets of the ‘Yes’ campaign is that we don’t regard any section or sector of Scottish society or any geography of Scotland beyond our reach,” said Salmond, also Scotland’s First Minister.
Alistair Darling, a former British finance minister and leader of the “Better Together” campaign, warned that if Scots vote to split from the UK it would be an irreversible decision.
With promises from British political leaders of greater powers for Scotland in the event of a “No” vote, Scots could have the best of both worlds, Darling said.
Obama and Kerry appeal for international support against Isis
• Secretary of state meets President el-Sissi• Iraq halts air strikes against civilian areas
- Obama puts faith in allies with little proof of worth
- Trevor Timm: this is just a way to maintain perpetual war
Kerry was speaking in Cairo as part of a regional tour to build support for President Barack Obama’s plan to strike both sides of the Syrian-Iraqi frontier, defeat Isis Sunni fighters and build a coalition for a potentially complex military campaign in the heart of the Middle East.
At home, Obama used his weekly address to appeal for international support, saying: “This can’t be America’s fight alone.”
Obama said: “To meet a threat like this, we have to be smart. We have to use our power wisely. And we have to avoid the mistakes of the past.
“American military power is unmatched, but this can’t be America’s fight alone. And the best way to defeat a group like [Isis] isn’t by sending large numbers of American combat forces to wage a ground war in the heart of the Middle East. That wouldn’t serve our interests. In fact, it would only risk fueling extremism even more.
“What’s needed now is a targeted, relentless counterterrorism campaign against [Isis] that combines American air power, contributions from allies and partners, and more support to forces that are fighting these terrorists on the ground. And that’s exactly what we’re doing.”
In Cairo, Kerry referred to Egypt as “an intellectual and cultural capital to the Muslim world”, saying it had a “critical role” to play in denouncing the harsh ideology of Isis, which has seized much of northeastern Syria and northern and western Iraq.
North Korea jails US man Matthew Miller for six years
A North Korean court has
sentenced an American man to six years of hard labour for "hostile
acts", the state-run KCNA news agency has said.
Matthew Miller was arrested in April, shortly after arriving as a tourist.The US accuses North Korea of using Mr Miller and two other detained Americans as pawns in a diplomatic game.
The North Korean authorities have not specified the charges against Mr Miller, but they claim he tore up his visa and demanded asylum.
During the trial, prosecutors said Mr Miller admitted having a "wild ambition" to spend time in a North Korean prison so he could find out about the country's human rights situation, the Associated Press (AP) reports.
Notes produced in court also suggested he had become a fugitive because he was involved with Wikileaks, the organisation that has leaked US state secrets.
Our correspondent in Seoul, Steve Evans, says it is impossible to know how those notes were written - whether under duress or not - and it is not clear whether there is any truth to the allegations.
After a 90-minute trial, the sentence was handed down and Mr Miller was handcuffed and led from the room, AP reports.
The White House has described securing the release of Mr Miller and the two other American citizens detained in North Korea as a "top priority".
US Navy calls off search for pilot after jets crash in Pacific
The US Navy has called
off its search for the pilot of one of two jets that crashed over the
western Pacific Ocean on Friday, a spokesman has said.
The two F/A-18C Hornets were operating off the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson when they came down.The other pilot was rescued shortly after and received medical attention aboard the ship. He has since been released from medical facilities.
The two jets, which cost $57m (£35m) each, have not been recovered.
"This is an exceptionally difficult time for the friends and family of the missing pilot and the Navy community," Rear Adm Christopher Grady told reporters.
The identity of the pilot will not be released until the family notification process is complete, he added.
The planes were flying routine operations in the US 7th Fleet's area of responsibility, which stretches west from the International Date Line to the India-Pakistan border.
The two aircraft had not long taken off from USS Carl Vinson when they apparently collided about 11 km (7 miles) from the carrier.
The crash occurred about 290 miles west of Wake Island, which is 2,300 miles west of Honolulu, a spokesman said.
White House reportedly assures Hill lawmakers about executive action this year on immigration reform
The White House this week assured anxious Hispanic lawmakers on Capitol Hill that President Obama will use executive action before the holiday season closes to reform U.S. immigration law, after breaking his pledge to make changes by the end of summer.The message was delivered in a meeting Thursday with White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough and other administration officials, including domestic policy adviser Cecilia Munoz, a key player for Obama on the issue, according to Politico.
In 2012, Obama used executive action to delay deportation for many young immigrants brought to the United States illegally by their parents. He is expected to widen that effort to include millions more.
Roughly 11 million people are now living in the U.S. illegally.
This week’s meeting was apparently intended to restore the Congressional Hispanic Caucus’s faith in the White House, considering in part that a reform plan appears stuck in the GOP-led House.
Doug Ford, John Tory 'Have The Same Policies,' Says Olivia Chow
Toronto mayoral candidate Olivia Chow struck out at her political rivals Saturday, claiming that newly registered candidate Doug Ford and current front runner John Tory “have the same policies” and that both refuse to listen to the “people that are being left behind.”
Chow’s comments to a room full of supporters and media in Toronto’s Ward 20 Trinity–Spadina came one day after Mayor Rob Ford withdrew from the race due to ongoing health concerns, prompting his brother and current city councillor Doug Ford to run in his place.Chow said she “welcomes Doug Ford to the race,” and now candidates can debate policy and not simply the personal tribulations of the mayor who in the past year has admitted to crack cocaine use and spent more than two months in addictions rehabilitation.
“The last few months have been all about Rob Ford the person, and how he’s a terrible role model for our kids,” she said to reporters following her speech.
“We have endured four years of Rob Ford and the damages are substantial.”
Doug Ford all about 'cutting services': Chow
At a press conference Friday night outside his mother’s home, Doug Ford stressed that his campaign and potential mayoral term would largely be about continuing his brother’s controversial legacy at city hall. Chow tried to emphasize several times that while Doug Ford may not have the same track record of substance abuse, a vote for him would ultimately be a vote for Rob Ford.
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