Monday, December 16, 2013
Judge Questions Legality of N.S.A. Phone Records
Judge Questions Legality of N.S.A. Phone Records
By CHARLIE SAVAGE NYT
Published: December 16, 2013
The judge, Richard J. Leon of Federal District Court for the District of Columbia, ordered the government to stop collecting data on the personal calls of the two plaintiffs in the case and to destroy the records of their calling history. But Judge Leon, appointed to the bench in 2002 by President George W. Bush, stayed his injunction “in light of the significant national security interests at stake in this case and the novelty of the constitutional issues,” allowing the government time to appeal it, which he said could take at least six months.
“I cannot imagine a more ‘indiscriminate’ and ‘arbitrary’ invasion than this systematic and high-tech collection and retention of personal data on virtually every single citizen for purposes of querying and analyzing it without prior judicial approval,” Judge Leon wrote in a 68-page ruling. “Surely, such a program infringes on ‘that degree of privacy’ that the founders enshrined in the Fourth Amendment,” which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures.
Andrew Ames, a Justice Department spokesman, said government lawyers were studying the decision, but he added: “We believe the program is constitutional as previous judges have found.”
The case is the first in which a federal judge who is not on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which authorized the once-secret program, has examined the bulk data collection on behalf of someone who is not a criminal defendant. The Justice Department has said that 15 separate judges on the surveillance court have held on 35 occasions that the calling data program is legal.
It also marks the first successful legal challenge brought against the program since it was revealed in June after leaks by the former N.S.A. contractor Edward J. Snowden.
In a statement from Moscow, where he has obtained temporary asylum, Mr. Snowden praised the ruling.
“I acted on my belief that the N.S.A.’s mass surveillance programs would not withstand a constitutional challenge, and that the American public deserved a chance to see these issues determined by open courts,” Mr. Snowden said in his statement. It was distributed by Glenn Greenwald, a journalist who received leaked documents from Mr. Snowden and wrote the first article about the bulk data collection. “Today, a secret program authorized by a secret court was, when exposed to the light of day, found to violate Americans’ rights,” the statement said. “It is the first of many.”
The case was brought by several plaintiffs led by Larry Klayman, a conservative legal activist. Mr. Klayman, who represented himself and the other plaintiffs, said in an interview on Monday that he was seeking to turn the case into a class action on behalf of all Americans. “I’m extremely gratified that Judge Leon had the courage to make this ruling,” he said. “He is an American hero.”
Mr. Klayman argued that he had legal standing to challenge the program in part because, he contended, the government had sent inexplicable text messages to his clients on his behalf; at a hearing, he told the judge, “I think they are messing with me.”
The judge portrayed that claim as “unusual” but looked past it, saying Mr. Klayman and his co-plaintiff instead had standing because it was highly likely, based on the government’s own description of the program as a “comprehensive metadata database,” that the N.S.A. collected data about their phone calls along with everyone else’s.
Similar legal challenges to the N.S.A. program, including by the American Civil Liberties Union and the advocacy group Electronic Frontier Foundation, are at earlier stages in the courts. Last month, the Supreme Court declined to hear an unusual challenge to the program by the Electronic Privacy Information Center, which had sought to bypass lower courts.
The ruling on Monday comes as several government panels are developing recommendations on whether to keep, restructure or scrap the bulk data collection program, and as Congress debates competing bills over the program’s future.
Though long and detailed, Judge Leon’s ruling is not a final judgment on the program, but rather a preliminary injunction to stop the collection of data about the plaintiffs while they pursued their case.
He also wrote that he had “serious doubts about the efficacy” of the program, saying that the government had failed to cite “a single instance in which analysis of the N.S.A.’s bulk metadata collection actually stopped an imminent attack, or otherwise aided the government in achieving any objective that was time-sensitive.”
Judge Leon rejected the Obama administration’s argument that a 1979 case, Smith v. Maryland, had established there are no Fourth Amendment protections for call metadata — information like the numbers dialed and the date, time and duration of calls, but not their content. The 1979 case, which involved collecting information about a criminal defendant’s calls, helped establish the principle that people do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy for information they have exposed to a third party, like the phone company, which knows about their calls.
The surveillance court, which issues secret rulings after hearing arguments from only the Justice Department and without opposing lawyers, has maintained that the 1979 decision is a controlling precedent that shields the N.S.A. call data program from Fourth Amendment review. But Judge Leon, citing the scope of the program and the evolving role of phones and technology, distinguished the bulk collection from the 34-year-old case.
Last month, a federal judge declined to grant a new trial to several San Diego men convicted of sending money to a terrorist group in Somalia. Government officials have since acknowledged that investigators became interested in them because of the call records program. Citing Smith v. Maryland, the judge said the defendants had “no legitimate expectation of privacy” over their call data.
David Rivkin, a White House lawyer in the administration of the elder President George Bush, criticized Judge Leon’s reasoning.
“Smith v. Maryland is the law of the land,” Mr. Rivkin said. “It is not for a District Court judge to question the continuing validity of a Supreme Court precedent that is exactly on point.”
Judge Leon also pointed to a landmark privacy case decided by the Supreme Court in 2012 that held it was unconstitutional for the police to use a GPS tracking device to monitor a suspect’s public movements without a warrant.
Although the court decided the case on narrow grounds, five of the nine justices separately questioned whether the 1979 precedent was still valid in an era of modern technology, which enables long-term, automated collection of information.
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Jim Lo Scalzo/European Pressphoto Agency
A city bus in Washington displays a wraparound advertisement sponsored by the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund.
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Published: December 16, 2013
WASHINGTON — A federal district judge ruled on Monday that the National Security Agency program that is systematically keeping records of all Americans’ phone calls most likely violates the Constitution, describing its technology as “almost Orwellian” and suggesting that James Madison would be “aghast” to learn that the government was encroaching on liberty in such a way.
The judge, Richard J. Leon of Federal District Court for the District of Columbia, ordered the government to stop collecting data on the personal calls of the two plaintiffs in the case and to destroy the records of their calling history. But Judge Leon, appointed to the bench in 2002 by President George W. Bush, stayed his injunction “in light of the significant national security interests at stake in this case and the novelty of the constitutional issues,” allowing the government time to appeal it, which he said could take at least six months.
“I cannot imagine a more ‘indiscriminate’ and ‘arbitrary’ invasion than this systematic and high-tech collection and retention of personal data on virtually every single citizen for purposes of querying and analyzing it without prior judicial approval,” Judge Leon wrote in a 68-page ruling. “Surely, such a program infringes on ‘that degree of privacy’ that the founders enshrined in the Fourth Amendment,” which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures.
Andrew Ames, a Justice Department spokesman, said government lawyers were studying the decision, but he added: “We believe the program is constitutional as previous judges have found.”
The case is the first in which a federal judge who is not on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which authorized the once-secret program, has examined the bulk data collection on behalf of someone who is not a criminal defendant. The Justice Department has said that 15 separate judges on the surveillance court have held on 35 occasions that the calling data program is legal.
It also marks the first successful legal challenge brought against the program since it was revealed in June after leaks by the former N.S.A. contractor Edward J. Snowden.
In a statement from Moscow, where he has obtained temporary asylum, Mr. Snowden praised the ruling.
“I acted on my belief that the N.S.A.’s mass surveillance programs would not withstand a constitutional challenge, and that the American public deserved a chance to see these issues determined by open courts,” Mr. Snowden said in his statement. It was distributed by Glenn Greenwald, a journalist who received leaked documents from Mr. Snowden and wrote the first article about the bulk data collection. “Today, a secret program authorized by a secret court was, when exposed to the light of day, found to violate Americans’ rights,” the statement said. “It is the first of many.”
The case was brought by several plaintiffs led by Larry Klayman, a conservative legal activist. Mr. Klayman, who represented himself and the other plaintiffs, said in an interview on Monday that he was seeking to turn the case into a class action on behalf of all Americans. “I’m extremely gratified that Judge Leon had the courage to make this ruling,” he said. “He is an American hero.”
Mr. Klayman argued that he had legal standing to challenge the program in part because, he contended, the government had sent inexplicable text messages to his clients on his behalf; at a hearing, he told the judge, “I think they are messing with me.”
The judge portrayed that claim as “unusual” but looked past it, saying Mr. Klayman and his co-plaintiff instead had standing because it was highly likely, based on the government’s own description of the program as a “comprehensive metadata database,” that the N.S.A. collected data about their phone calls along with everyone else’s.
Similar legal challenges to the N.S.A. program, including by the American Civil Liberties Union and the advocacy group Electronic Frontier Foundation, are at earlier stages in the courts. Last month, the Supreme Court declined to hear an unusual challenge to the program by the Electronic Privacy Information Center, which had sought to bypass lower courts.
The ruling on Monday comes as several government panels are developing recommendations on whether to keep, restructure or scrap the bulk data collection program, and as Congress debates competing bills over the program’s future.
Though long and detailed, Judge Leon’s ruling is not a final judgment on the program, but rather a preliminary injunction to stop the collection of data about the plaintiffs while they pursued their case.
He also wrote that he had “serious doubts about the efficacy” of the program, saying that the government had failed to cite “a single instance in which analysis of the N.S.A.’s bulk metadata collection actually stopped an imminent attack, or otherwise aided the government in achieving any objective that was time-sensitive.”
Judge Leon rejected the Obama administration’s argument that a 1979 case, Smith v. Maryland, had established there are no Fourth Amendment protections for call metadata — information like the numbers dialed and the date, time and duration of calls, but not their content. The 1979 case, which involved collecting information about a criminal defendant’s calls, helped establish the principle that people do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy for information they have exposed to a third party, like the phone company, which knows about their calls.
The surveillance court, which issues secret rulings after hearing arguments from only the Justice Department and without opposing lawyers, has maintained that the 1979 decision is a controlling precedent that shields the N.S.A. call data program from Fourth Amendment review. But Judge Leon, citing the scope of the program and the evolving role of phones and technology, distinguished the bulk collection from the 34-year-old case.
Last month, a federal judge declined to grant a new trial to several San Diego men convicted of sending money to a terrorist group in Somalia. Government officials have since acknowledged that investigators became interested in them because of the call records program. Citing Smith v. Maryland, the judge said the defendants had “no legitimate expectation of privacy” over their call data.
David Rivkin, a White House lawyer in the administration of the elder President George Bush, criticized Judge Leon’s reasoning.
“Smith v. Maryland is the law of the land,” Mr. Rivkin said. “It is not for a District Court judge to question the continuing validity of a Supreme Court precedent that is exactly on point.”
Judge Leon also pointed to a landmark privacy case decided by the Supreme Court in 2012 that held it was unconstitutional for the police to use a GPS tracking device to monitor a suspect’s public movements without a warrant.
Although the court decided the case on narrow grounds, five of the nine justices separately questioned whether the 1979 precedent was still valid in an era of modern technology, which enables long-term, automated collection of information.
யுத்தகால மண் அணைகளை அகற்றுமாறு கோரிக்கை!
யுத்தகால மண் அணைகளை அகற்றுமாறு கோரிக்கை
திங்கட்கிழமை, 16 டிசெம்பர் 2013 16:19 Tamil Mirror
-சுப்பிரமணியம் பாஸ்கரன்
முல்லைத்தீவு, புதுக்குடியிருப்பு பிரதேசத்தில் பயிர்ச்செய்கை நிலங்களிலும் குடியிருப்பு பகுதிகளிலும் காணப்படும் மண் அணைகளையும் கைவிடப்பட்ட காவலரண்களையும் அகற்றித் தருமாறு மீள்குடியேறியுள்ள மக்கள் பிரதேச செயலகத்தில் முறைப்பாடு செய்துள்ளனர்.
குறித்த பகுதியில் பொதுமக்கள் குடியிருப்புக்கள் மற்றும் பயிர்ச்செய்கை நிலங்களில் யுத்த காலத்தில் போடப்பட்டிருந்த மண் அணைகள், கைவிடப்பட்ட காவலரண்கள் ஆகியன இன்று வரையும் பல பகுதிகளில் காணப்படுகின்றன.
இவை அகற்றப்படாமையினால் விவசாய நிலங்களில் விவசாய நடவடிக்கைகள் மேற்கொள்ள முடியாத நிலை காணப்படுகின்றது. கைவிடப்பட்ட காவலரண்களில் வெடிபொருட்களின் அச்சம் காணப்படுவதால் அவற்றினை அப்பகுதி மக்கள் அகற்ற முடியாத நிலையில் உள்ளமை குறிப்பிடத்தக்கது.
Sunday, December 15, 2013
“My country is now enjoying rapid economic development, with tourism becoming a major growth sector,” MR
Considerable potential to expand Lanka–Kenya ties
“Sri Lanka has now entered an era of peace, having overcome the threat of terrorism, which plagued the country for over three decades. We stand undivided now, under one flag, committed to achieving sustainable economic prosperity, to be shared by all communities,” the President Of Sri Lanka
President Mahinda Rajapaksa said Sri Lanka has entered an era of peace, having overcome the threat of terrorism, and the country now stands undivided under one flag,
“Sri Lanka has now entered an era of peace, having overcome the threat of terrorism, which plagued the country for over three decades. We stand undivided now, under one flag, committed to achieving sustainable economic prosperity, to be shared by all communities,” the President said in his address at the state banquet hosted by his Kenyan counterpart Uhuru Kenyata at the State House in Nairobi on Friday. President Rajapaksa, who is on a four-day state visit to Kenya, expressed his appreciation to Kenya for the “understanding and unwavering support” extended to Sri Lanka to eliminate the menace of terrorism in the island nation and in overcoming the challenges of the post-terrorism era.
“This, together with Kenya’s solidarity with Sri Lanka in international fora, is a manifestation of the deep understanding and friendship we share,” he said.
President Rajapaksa said Sri Lanka seeks to build a modern, dynamic partnership with Kenya, having identified several areas for focused cooperation.
“To this end, we will, during my visit, sign formal agreements and establish the Kenya - Sri Lanka joint commission, graduating our relationship to greater heights,” he said, adding that he is convinced that there is considerable potential for the expansion of economic relations between the two countries. “It is for this
reason that leading business persons of my country, who are keenly interested in developing partnerships with their Kenyan counterparts, have accompanied me on this visit.
“My country is now enjoying rapid economic development, with tourism becoming a major growth sector,” he said.
He pointed out that the prevalent stable environment for investment provides many opportunities for the business communities.
Saturday, December 14, 2013
Over 100,000 land issues
Over 100,000 land issues
December 14, 2013
Minister of Lands and Land Development Janaka Bandara Tennakoon says over 100,000 land issues remain to be resolved in the North and East.
Speaking in Parliament today, the Minister however said that addressing most land issues however have been hampered owing to ongoing court cases.
He said that some 22,408 land related issues have already been resolved in the North and East but another 125,950 land issues are yet to be resolved.
The Minister insisted that his Ministry had taken steps to resolve the land issue but court cases initiated as a result of political influence had hampered those efforts.
(Colombo Gazette)
December 14, 2013
Minister of Lands and Land Development Janaka Bandara Tennakoon says over 100,000 land issues remain to be resolved in the North and East.
Speaking in Parliament today, the Minister however said that addressing most land issues however have been hampered owing to ongoing court cases.
He said that some 22,408 land related issues have already been resolved in the North and East but another 125,950 land issues are yet to be resolved.
The Minister insisted that his Ministry had taken steps to resolve the land issue but court cases initiated as a result of political influence had hampered those efforts.
(Colombo Gazette)
Friday, December 13, 2013
மண்டேலா வாரிசு ஒபாமாவின் யேமன் ரோன் தாக்குதலில் `திருமண விழாக்கண்ட` பத்துக்கு மேற்பட்ட குடிவாசிகள் படுகொலை!
U.S. drone strike on Yemen wedding party kills 17
YEMEN-UNREST-DRONE
By Zaid Ali and Laura King
December 13, 2013, 12:01 p.m.
SANA, Yemen -- Anger over the American drone campaign against militants in Yemen swelled Friday with word that most of those killed in a strike a day earlier were civilians in a wedding party.
The death toll reached 17 overnight, hospital officials in central Bayda province said Friday. Five of those killed were suspected of involvement with Al Qaeda, but the remainder were unconnected with the militancy, Yemeni security officials said.
U.S. drone strikes have become commonplace in Yemen, where government measures have proven ineffectual against what is considered one of the most virulent Al Qaeda offshoots in the region.
However, civilian deaths like those in Thursday’s strike have inflamed popular sentiment against both the U.S. and the fragile central government.
The Obama administration generally does not publicly disclose individual strikes, though it has acknowledged the existence of the drone campaign. Human rights groups in recent months have called for greater transparency about drone strikes.
The incident is likely to fuel existing concerns in Congress and elsewhere about the White House's stated intention to move most of the drone program under military control. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), for example, said in May that she believed the military had not been as patient or precise in drone strikes as the
CIA has been.
In Yemen, the stakes are getting higher as violence increases. Al Qaeda-linked militants were suspected in an audacious Dec. 5 attack on the country’s well-fortified defense ministry, in which at least 56 people were killed, including some foreigners. Many of the dead were working at a hospital inside the complex.
Video footage of that attack, aired this week on state television, showed assailants methodically stalking medical personnel, including a wounded nurse. In one chilling scene, an attacker calmly approaches a group of civilians, then hurls a grenade at them, obscuring the camera lens with dust and debris from the
explosion.
The capital, Sana, has been jittery in the aftermath of the attack on the defense ministry, with checkpoints springing up and international organizations on high alert.
Thursday’s drone attack, southeast of Sana, was the second in a week in Yemen. The remoteness of the area precluded precise immediate reports, but by Friday, security sources said most of the dead were traveling in a convoy of wedding guests.
In the gruesome aftermath, scorched vehicles and body parts were left scattered on the road.The incident illustrated the fact that many of the militants have tribal connections that make them likely to take part in village events, such as wedding celebrations.
Yemen’s struggling government has been battling separate insurgencies in the north and south, as well as unrest over domestic issues including a floundering economy.
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Tens of thousands rally in Gaza to mark PFLP 46th anniversary
Tens of thousands rally in Gaza to mark PFLP 46th anniversary
Dec 07 2013 PFLP Web
Comrade Jamil Majdalawi
''There is a decline in the grip of the United States over international affairs, and this weakening of the leader of imperialism and injustice in the world will necessarily mean an increased weakness in the enemy camp that supports and sustains the Zionist aggression on our people, emphasizing that the US is still the primary economic and military power in the world and that there are long years of struggle to come by the people and exploited classes of the world to defeat imperialism and achieve justice and equality.''
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine marked the 46th anniversary of its founding with a mass rally in al-Katiba courtyard in Gaza City, with tens of thousands of participants, including leaders, cadres and members of the Front, women’s, student and youth organizations, with the participation of representatives
of the national and Islamic forces.
Banners were draped on the walls, calling for Palestinian national unity, and resistance, and saluting the Front’s history over 46 years. Performers played national Palestinian and PFLP songs and danced dabkeh, traditional Palestinian dance.
Comrades Hani Thawabteh and Shireen Abu Oun chaired the rally, at which Comrade Jamil Majdalawi delivered the keynote address. He saluted the martyrs, the prisoners, and the masses of Palestinians at home and in exile, particularly those in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria facing continued repression and new
displacement, and to our people in the Naqab who are confronting the Prawer plan, the new Zionist scheme to displace Palestinians.
Majdalawi said that over the years, the harvest of the Palestinian national movement has not reached the great sacrifices or the goals of our people, and all of our forms of resistance have been weaker than they should be and can be, which only exacerbates the imbalance of power in favor of the Zionist enemy.
He described internal Palestinian division and lack of national unity as devastating to the Palestinian movement. In addition, the Palestinian Authority’s return to the dangerous and futile negotiations with the Zionist enemy in open rejection of Palestinian national consensus is particularly damaging.
Instead of negotiations, what is needed is resistance in all forms and the implementation of our people’s rights to return, self-determination and national liberation, Majdalawi said.
He saluted the ongoing steadfastness of the Palestinian people, which will be what secures the victory of our people over the criminal enemy. He particularly saluted the steadfastness of our people in Jerusalem, the capital of Palestine, in all of its forms to confront the enemy and its continuous plans. Support for the
struggle of our people is growing inside and outside Palestine; hundreds of international activists confront soldiers and illegal settlers beside the steadfast Palestinian people and various levels of political, cultural and economic struggle are taking place around the world.
Majdalawi highlighted the ongoing siege on Gaza which is denying access to the most basic necessities including food, medicine, building materials and fuel, causing an electricity crisis in the sector, and transforming the area into a massive prison due to the ongoing, prolonged and repeated closure of the Rafah
crossing, the only exit for the Palestinians of Gaza to the outside world. This comes in addition to mass unemployment and the drinking water crisis, attacks on fishers at sea, and the retreat in services by the UNRWA, when refugees are over two-thirds of the population in Gaza.
Majdalawi said that there is a decline in the grip of the United States over international affairs, and this weakening of the leader of imperialism and injustice in the world will necessarily mean an increased weakness in the enemy camp that supports and sustains the Zionist aggression on our people, emphasizing that theUS is still the primary economic and military power in the world and that there are long years of struggle to come by the people and exploited classes of the world to defeat imperialism and achieve justice and equality.
On the Arab level, Majdalawi expressed support for the democratic process in Tunisia and the importance of protecting pluralism in Tunisia, warned of the dangerous exclusivity taking place in Egypt that must be discarded in favor of pluralism and democracy for all, and expressed his standing with the Syrian people in
the struggle for a united Syria, with democratic freedoms and equal rights for all Syrians and their political and social forces without discrimination, in addition to our stand against external interference which aims to destroy the potential of the country’s future and sink the country into the morass of obscurantism, as
supported by the U.S. imperialists and their allies.
Majdalawi announced that the Front has just completed its seventh national conference. Several historic leaders of the Front have stepped down from their positions and did not put their names forward in the elections at the conference, in order to support renewal in the organization and to prevent ossification and
bureaucracy, including comrades Abdel Rahim Mallouh, Younis al-Jalou, Abdelaziz Abu Al-Qaraya and himself, Jamil Majdalawi.
He concluded by calling for progressive and democratic Palestinian forces to come together to build resistance and unity and mobilize the people towards victory.
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
US mulls sanctions against Ukraine
US mulls sanctions against Ukraine
Last updated: 12 Dec 2013 02:23
Ukraine has been gripped by weeks of demonstrations after the government rejected an EU trade deal [Reuters]
The United States may impose sanctions against Ukraine if security forces intensify a crackdown on anti-government demonstrators in the capital's Independence Square.
US lawmakers said on Wednesday they were considering legislation to deny visas to Ukrainian officials or to freeze their American assets if violence escalates at the central protest camp.
White House deputy spokesman Josh Earnest said the US was "appalled" at how the government has handled the political crisis.
"The Ukrainian government's response to peaceful protests over the last two weeks has been completely unacceptable... The right to peaceful protest and assembly must be respected," Earnest said.
Kiev has been gripped by weeks of demonstrations by hundreds of thousands of people against President Viktor Yanukovich's decision to reject a European Union trade pact and steer Ukraine closer to Russia.
If he continues to use bulldozers and batons to break up peaceful demonstrations, there could be consequences.Chris Murphy, Democratic Senator
Several dozen people were injured in the early hours of Wednesday when riot police and Interior Ministry special forces moved against the demonstrators' last stronghold in Independence Square.
Security forces initially tore down makeshift barricades but were eventually forced to retreat amid cheers from the demonstrators, whose ranks swelled through the night.
US Senate and House of Representatives aides cited discussions at the staff level about Congress responding to the unrest in Ukraine with legislation along the lines of the Magnitsky Act, which bars Russian officials believed to be involved in human-rights abuses from entering the United States.
Democratic Senator Chris Murphy, who chairs the Senate's Europe subcommittee, said lawmakers would be closely monitoring Yanukovich's conduct in the days ahead.
"If he continues to use bulldozers and batons to break up peaceful demonstrations, there could be consequences, real consequences, from the Congress," Murphy said.
The US State Department said it was considering all options, including sanctions.
Talks rejected
Ukraine's police have been criticised by the West for heavy-handedness in dealing with protests even before the latest crackdown, with dozens of demonstrators injured in clashes last week.
Yanukovich has vowed that the authorities would never use force against peaceful protests, and urged the opposition to sit down for talks.
"For the sake of achieving compromise I am calling on the opposition not to reject [talks], not to follow the path of confrontation and ultimatums," Yanukovich said in a statement on Wednesday.
But the opposition, which earlier ruled out any negotiations until he dismissed the government and punished riot police for crushing a smaller protest on November 30, vowed to do everything to topple the president.
"With what happened last night, Yanukovich closed off the path to any kind of compromise," opposition leader Vitaly Klitschko told a news conference, adding they "had planned to have talks with Yanukovich. We understand that Yanukovich has no wish to talk to the people and only understands physical force, which he uses against the protesters."
An estimated 5,000 pro-EU demonstrators were camping out in Independence Square on Wednesday night, reinforcing barricades with snow and sand bags.
White House "appalled" by Ukrainian government's crackdown on massive protests at Kiev's Independence Square.
Last updated: 12 Dec 2013 02:23
Ukraine has been gripped by weeks of demonstrations after the government rejected an EU trade deal [Reuters]
The United States may impose sanctions against Ukraine if security forces intensify a crackdown on anti-government demonstrators in the capital's Independence Square.
US lawmakers said on Wednesday they were considering legislation to deny visas to Ukrainian officials or to freeze their American assets if violence escalates at the central protest camp.
White House deputy spokesman Josh Earnest said the US was "appalled" at how the government has handled the political crisis.
"The Ukrainian government's response to peaceful protests over the last two weeks has been completely unacceptable... The right to peaceful protest and assembly must be respected," Earnest said.
Kiev has been gripped by weeks of demonstrations by hundreds of thousands of people against President Viktor Yanukovich's decision to reject a European Union trade pact and steer Ukraine closer to Russia.
If he continues to use bulldozers and batons to break up peaceful demonstrations, there could be consequences.Chris Murphy, Democratic Senator
Several dozen people were injured in the early hours of Wednesday when riot police and Interior Ministry special forces moved against the demonstrators' last stronghold in Independence Square.
Security forces initially tore down makeshift barricades but were eventually forced to retreat amid cheers from the demonstrators, whose ranks swelled through the night.
US Senate and House of Representatives aides cited discussions at the staff level about Congress responding to the unrest in Ukraine with legislation along the lines of the Magnitsky Act, which bars Russian officials believed to be involved in human-rights abuses from entering the United States.
Democratic Senator Chris Murphy, who chairs the Senate's Europe subcommittee, said lawmakers would be closely monitoring Yanukovich's conduct in the days ahead.
"If he continues to use bulldozers and batons to break up peaceful demonstrations, there could be consequences, real consequences, from the Congress," Murphy said.
The US State Department said it was considering all options, including sanctions.
Talks rejected
Ukraine's police have been criticised by the West for heavy-handedness in dealing with protests even before the latest crackdown, with dozens of demonstrators injured in clashes last week.
Yanukovich has vowed that the authorities would never use force against peaceful protests, and urged the opposition to sit down for talks.
"For the sake of achieving compromise I am calling on the opposition not to reject [talks], not to follow the path of confrontation and ultimatums," Yanukovich said in a statement on Wednesday.
But the opposition, which earlier ruled out any negotiations until he dismissed the government and punished riot police for crushing a smaller protest on November 30, vowed to do everything to topple the president.
"With what happened last night, Yanukovich closed off the path to any kind of compromise," opposition leader Vitaly Klitschko told a news conference, adding they "had planned to have talks with Yanukovich. We understand that Yanukovich has no wish to talk to the people and only understands physical force, which he uses against the protesters."
An estimated 5,000 pro-EU demonstrators were camping out in Independence Square on Wednesday night, reinforcing barricades with snow and sand bags.
U.S. Suspends Nonlethal Aid to Syrian Rebels in North
U.S. Suspends Nonlethal Aid to Syrian Rebels in North
The Islamic Front, an alliance of rebel fighters that has broken with General Idris’s moderate opposition but opposes the Qaeda affiliate in Syria, joined the fray, the American official said.
After the dust cleared, the Islamic Front appeared to have taken control of warehouses in Atmeh that contain equipment and supplies provided by the United States, added the American official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was discussing internal reports.
The first reports of military actions are often confused and inexact. But it seems clear that American officials are concerned that some aid has indeed fallen into the wrong hands.
“We have seen reports that Islamic Front forces have seized the Atmeh headquarters and warehouses,” a State Department official said.
“As a result of this situation, the United States has suspended all further deliveries of nonlethal assistance into northern Syria,” the official added. “The humanitarian aid to the Syrian people is not impacted by this suspension.”
The episode illustrates two trends that pose major challenges for the Obama administration’s goal of strengthening the moderate Syrian opposition and persuading President Bashar al-Assad of Syria to yield power.
One is the growing strength of Qaeda-affiliated forces, including the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. The other is the fracturing of the Assad opposition, which has led some commanders to break away from General Idris’s Supreme Military Council, which the United States is backing, to form their own coalitions.
Since suspending aid, American officials have begun an inventory to determine how much of the nonlethal equipment and supplies are controlled by forces reporting to General Idris.
Under the Obama administration’s division of labor, the State Department is in charge of supplying nonlethal aid, like radios, vehicles and food rations. The C.I.A. runs a covert program to arm and train Syrian rebels. There was no indication that the nonlethal-aid suspension would affect that program.
“We are working with General Idris and the S.M.C. to inventory the status of U.S. equipment and supplies provided to the S.M.C.,” the State Department official said, referring to the Supreme Military Council. “We are gathering the facts and consulting with friends of the Syrian opposition on next steps in support of the
Syrian people.”
The decision was made after moderate Syrian rebel forces reporting to Gen. Salim Idris, the nominal head of the rebel Free Syrian Army, came under attack last week from fighters aligned with Al Qaeda, according to an account provided by an American official.
The Islamic Front, an alliance of rebel fighters that has broken with General Idris’s moderate opposition but opposes the Qaeda affiliate in Syria, joined the fray, the American official said.
After the dust cleared, the Islamic Front appeared to have taken control of warehouses in Atmeh that contain equipment and supplies provided by the United States, added the American official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was discussing internal reports.
The first reports of military actions are often confused and inexact. But it seems clear that American officials are concerned that some aid has indeed fallen into the wrong hands.
“We have seen reports that Islamic Front forces have seized the Atmeh headquarters and warehouses,” a State Department official said.
“As a result of this situation, the United States has suspended all further deliveries of nonlethal assistance into northern Syria,” the official added. “The humanitarian aid to the Syrian people is not impacted by this suspension.”
The episode illustrates two trends that pose major challenges for the Obama administration’s goal of strengthening the moderate Syrian opposition and persuading President Bashar al-Assad of Syria to yield power.
One is the growing strength of Qaeda-affiliated forces, including the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. The other is the fracturing of the Assad opposition, which has led some commanders to break away from General Idris’s Supreme Military Council, which the United States is backing, to form their own coalitions.
Since suspending aid, American officials have begun an inventory to determine how much of the nonlethal equipment and supplies are controlled by forces reporting to General Idris.
Under the Obama administration’s division of labor, the State Department is in charge of supplying nonlethal aid, like radios, vehicles and food rations. The C.I.A. runs a covert program to arm and train Syrian rebels. There was no indication that the nonlethal-aid suspension would affect that program.
“We are working with General Idris and the S.M.C. to inventory the status of U.S. equipment and supplies provided to the S.M.C.,” the State Department official said, referring to the Supreme Military Council. “We are gathering the facts and consulting with friends of the Syrian opposition on next steps in support of the
Syrian people.”
Time Magazine's PERSON OF THE YEAR 2013
December 6, 2013 12:05 pm
The scandal at the Vatican bank
By Rachel Sanderson
An 11-month FT investigation reveals the extent of mismanagement at the €5bn-asset bank
©Reuters
On June 28 this year, Italian police arrested a silver-haired priest, Monsignor Nunzio Scarano, in Rome. The cleric, nicknamed Monsignor Cinquecento after the €500 bills he habitually carried around with him, was charged with fraud and corruption, together with a former secret service agent and a financial broker. All
three were suspected of attempting to smuggle €20m by private plane across the border from Switzerland.
Prosecutors alleged that the priest, a former banker, was using the Institute for Religious Works – the formal name for the Vatican’s bank – to move money for businessmen based in the Naples region, widely regarded in Italy as a haven of organised crime. Worse still, Scarano (who, together with the other men, has
denied any wrongdoing) had until only a month earlier been head of the accounting department at the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See, the treasury of the Vatican.
The arrest, and the headlines that screamed across the Italian press, was the latest shock for the Holy See. The year had already witnessed an emotional upheaval in the church with the resignation in February of the aged Pope Benedict XVI – the first time in 700 years a pope had stepped down voluntarily. But this new
crisis demanded cold, hard resolve. For regulators and politicians in Europe who had pushed for change in the Vatican’s scandal-plagued bank over the previous four years – from the Bank of Italy under Mario Draghi to officials in Mario Monti’s government and in Brussels – it served as evidence of their concerns.
Those worries also jolted a number of international financiers determined to press for reform.
In early July, Peter Sutherland, non-executive chairman of Goldman Sachs International and the former attorney-general of Ireland, flew into Vatican City. His mission – although described by some insiders as simply a “bit part” in the wider drive for change – was an illuminating one. Sutherland, a practising Catholic and an unpaid consultant to the Vatican’s treasury, had been asked by reformers in the church to speak with the council of cardinals, the most senior advisers to the pope. His message to the men who filed into a room near Doma Santa Marta, the plain-fronted residence of Pope Francis, was respectful but direct.
The banker, who declined to comment for this story, added his voice to the many in and outside the church asking the world’s smallest city-state to change its ways. “Transparency is important and necessary,” Sutherland said, according to two people who were informed of proceedings in the closed-door meeting.
The cardinals, known for long, contemplative consultations, were surprisingly receptive, said one of those informed. After a decade of paedophilia scandals, the allegations of financial impropriety seemed set to unleash another storm of criticism and had to be addressed. Outside auditors as well as financial risk
consultants were already coming into the Vatican but the arrest of Scarano made the case for reform unavoidable. “We cannot have any more scandal. It is so shameful,” a senior member of the Vatican’s financial administration said.
The Financial Times has investigated the extent of the mismanagement at the Vatican bank. In this audio slideshow, find out how the scandal erupted and what has been done to help strengthen the bank.
How God’s bank ended up as a financial penitent this year is a bracing chapter in the history of financial reforms that have swelled up in the aftermath of the 2008 credit crisis. Untouchable havens such as Switzerland and Liechtenstein were forced to open their chocolate-box palaces to the probes of international regulators. This year the power of the popes was challenged.
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