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Sunday, June 23, 2013

Pakistani Taliban kill nine foreigners at foot of world's ninth highest mountain

A Pakistani Taliban spokesman said the attack was retaliation for the killing of the group's No. 2 in a US drone strike last month.

By Taha Siddiqui,?Correspondent / June 23, 2013

Nine foreign tourists and one Pakistani guide have been shot dead in the Himalayas of northern Pakistan, a region considered relatively insulated from the country's extremist violence.

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According to the police, the attack took place in the middle of the night when armed men dressed up as local paramilitary police ambushed a base camp in the Gilgit-Baltistan region. The camp lies at the foot of Nanga Parbat, the world's ninth highest mountain, and is usually inhabited by mountaineers for climbing expeditions.?

Although the identities of the tourists have yet to be verified, Pakistan?s interior ministry has confirmed that they hailed from China, Russia, and Ukraine.

In a country already struggling with its image abroad, many in the tourism industry fear that the latest attack on foreigners will discourage thousands of other international tourists who come every year to Pakistan to one of the only remaining safe regions in the country.

?Around fifteen to twenty thousand tourists including mountaineers came to Pakistan each year during the summer season. Each one of them spends over five to six thousand dollars. The loss to Pakistan because of this attack will be in billions of rupees,? says Ghulam Nabi, a representative of Pakistan Tour Operators? Association. ?And it?s not just tourists that run away then, it also affects the foreign investor confidence."

Following the attack, this Monitor reporter received a call from an undisclosed location in which Ehsanullah Ehsan, the spokesperson for the banned terrorist group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), claimed responsibility for the attack.

?We will continue to target the foreigners until the drone strikes stop. This attack was particularly in revenge for the killing of our commander Wali-ur-Rehman. Our local Taliban faction in the area carried it out under our instructions,? Mr. Ehsan said.

Wali-ur-Rehman, who was killed last month in one of the first drone strikes after the new government in Pakistan came to power, served as the deputy commander of the TTP, operating out of the tribal region of Waziristan where the US has focused much of its drone activity. Following his killing, the Taliban withdrew an offer for?peace talks with Nawaz Sharif, whose party was elected into power after the?May 11?general elections.

The newly elected Prime Minister has openly condemned the drone attacks and has asked the United States to stop using drones. He is of the view that peace talks are one of the main options to tackle the issue of insurgency led by the Pakistani Taliban.

But analysts believe that the government?s insistence on peace talks has helped the Taliban gain strength and that is why there is an increase in their attacks once again. ?When the government and especially the leadership calls for a dialogue with the Taliban, the security forces become relaxed thinking that their job is over ? which actually gives the Taliban time to regroup and rebuild. We have seen this happen many times before,? says Khadim Hussain, a development specialist who has worked on counter-terrorism projects in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region where the Taliban are headquartered.

Mr. Hussain says that the solution to end terrorism in Pakistan can only be through a multifaceted policy which should include use of force, political strategy, and social changes.

?There is a strong ideological support in the general Pakistani population for these elements because of years of state indoctrination through education, media, mosques, etc. We need to use the same tools to create an alternative discourse for jihad and teach values that inculcate pluralistic and democratic principles,? he adds.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/c4zQrO_KbKs/Pakistani-Taliban-kill-nine-foreigners-at-foot-of-world-s-ninth-highest-mountain

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US to Hong Kong: Don't delay Snowden extradition

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Obama administration on Saturday sharply warned Hong Kong against slow-walking the extradition of Edward Snowden, reflecting concerns over a prolonged legal battle before the government contractor ever appears in a U.S. courtroom to answer espionage charges for revealing two highly classified surveillance programs.

A formal extradition request to bring Snowden to the United States from Hong Kong could drag through appeal courts for years and would pit Beijing against Washington at a time China tries to deflect U.S. accusations that it carries out extensive surveillance on American government and commercial operations.

The U.S. has contacted authorities in Hong Kong to seek Snowden's extradition, the National Security Council said Saturday in a statement. The NSC advises the president on national security.

"Hong Kong has been a historically good partner of the United States in law enforcement matters, and we expect them to comply with the treaty in this case," White House national security adviser Tom Donilon said in an interview with CBS News. He said the U.S. presented Hong Kong with a "good case for extradition."

However, a senior administration official issued a pointed warning that if Hong Kong doesn't act soon, "it will complicate our bilateral relations and raise questions about Hong Kong's commitment to the rule of law." The official was not authorized to discuss the matter by name and insisted on anonymity.

Hong Kong's government had no immediate reaction to the charges against Snowden, a former National Security Agency contractor who admitted providing information to the news media about the programs. Police Commissioner Andy Tsang told reporters only that the case would be dealt with according to the law. A police statement said it was "inappropriate" for the police to comment on the case.

A one-page criminal complaint against Snowden was unsealed Friday in federal court in Alexandria, Va., part of the Eastern District of Virginia where his former employer, government contractor Booz Allen Hamilton, is headquartered, in McLean. He is charged with unauthorized communication of national defense information, willful communication of classified communications intelligence information and theft of government property. The first two are under the Espionage Act and each of the three crimes carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison on conviction.

The complaint is dated June 14, five days after Snowden's name first surfaced as the person who had leaked to the news media that the NSA, in two highly classified surveillance programs, gathered telephone and Internet records to ferret out terror plots.

Snowden told the South China Morning Post in an interview published Saturday on its website that he hoped to stay in the autonomous region of China because he has faith in "the courts and people of Hong Kong to decide my fate."

A prominent former politician in Hong Kong, Martin Lee, the founding chairman of the Democratic Party, said he doubted whether Beijing would intervene yet.

"Beijing would only intervene according to my understanding at the last stage. If the magistrate said there is enough to extradite, then Mr. Snowden can then appeal," he said.

Lee said Beijing could then decide at the end of the appeal process if it wanted Snowden extradited or not.

Snowden could contest extradition on grounds of political persecution.

Hong Kong lawyer Mark Sutherland said that the filing of a refugee, torture or inhuman punishment claim acts as an automatic bar on any extradition proceedings until those claims can be assessed.

"Some asylum seekers came to Hong Kong 10 years ago and still haven't had their protection claims assessed," Sutherland said.

Hong Kong lawmakers said that the Chinese government should make the final decision on whether Snowden should be extradited to the United States.

Outspoken legislator Leung Kwok-hung said Beijing should instruct Hong Kong to protect Snowden from extradition before his case gets dragged through the court system.

Leung urged the people of Hong Kong to "take to the streets to protect Snowden."

The Obama administration has now used the Espionage Act in seven criminal cases in an unprecedented effort to stem leaks. In one of them, Army Pfc. Bradley Manning acknowledged he sent more than 700,000 battlefield reports, diplomatic cables and other materials to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks. His military trial is underway.

Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, welcomed the charges against Snowden.

"I've always thought this was a treasonous act," he said in a statement. "I hope Hong Kong's government will take him into custody and extradite him to the U.S."

But the Government Accountability Project, a whistle-blower advocacy group, said Snowden should be shielded from prosecution by whistle-blower protection laws.

"He disclosed information about a secret program that he reasonably believed to be illegal, and his actions alone brought about the long-overdue national debate about the proper balance between privacy and civil liberties, on the one hand, and national security on the other," the group said in a statement.

Michael di Pretoro, a retired 30-year veteran with the FBI who served from 1990 to 1994 as the legal liaison officer at the American consulate in Hong Kong, said "relations between U.S. and Hong Kong law enforcement personnel are historically quite good."

"In my time, I felt the degree of cooperation was outstanding to the extent that I almost felt I was in an FBI field office," di Pretoro said.

The U.S. and Hong Kong have a standing agreement on the surrender of fugitives. However, Snowden's appeal rights could drag out any extradition proceeding.

The success or failure of any extradition proceeding depends on what the suspect is charged with under U.S. law and how it corresponds to Hong Kong law under the treaty. In order for Hong Kong officials to honor the extradition request, they have to have some applicable statute under their law that corresponds with a violation of U.S. law.

Disclosure of the criminal complaint came as President Barack Obama held his first meeting with a privacy and civil liberties board and as his intelligence chief sought ways to help Americans understand more about sweeping government surveillance efforts exposed by Snowden.

The five members of the little-known Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board met with Obama for an hour in the White House Situation Room, questioning the president on the two NSA programs that have stoked controversy.

One program collects billions of U.S. phone records. The second gathers audio, video, email, photographic and Internet search usage of foreign nationals overseas, and probably some Americans in the process, who use major Internet service providers, such as Microsoft, Google, Apple, and Yahoo.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-hong-kong-dont-delay-snowden-extradition-214453115.html

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Paula Deen fans vent their outrage at Food Network

FILE - This 2006 file photo originally released by the Food Network shows celebrity chef Paula Dean. It was revealed that Deen admitted during questioning in a lawsuit that she had slurred blacks in the past. It's the second time the queen of comfort food's mouth has gotten her into big trouble. She revealed in 2012 that for three years she hid her Type 2 diabetes while continuing to cook the calorie-laden food that's bad for people like her. The Food Network, which began airing "Paula's Home Cooking" in 2002, has said it does not tolerate discrimination and is looking at the situation. Deen's other show, "Paula's Best Dishes," started at the network in 2008. She's one of the longest-running and most recognizable of the network stars, although her show airs in daytime _ not prime-time. (AP Photo/ Food Network, file)

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) ? Watching Paula Deen's cooking show was a weekend ritual for Marilynne Wilson, who says she's furious at the Food Network for dumping the comfort-food queen after she acknowledged using racial slurs in the past.

"I was shocked. I thought she'd get a fair trial," Wilson, a nurse from Jacksonville, Fla., said Saturday after stopping to buy souvenirs at the gift shop Deen owns next to her Savannah restaurant. "I think the Food Network jumped the gun."

A day after announcing that it's dropping Deen from its roster of celebrity cooks, the cable network was served heaping portions of Southern fried outrage by her fans.

Angry messages piled up Saturday on the network's Facebook page, with many Deen fans threating to change the channel for good. "So good-bye Food Network," one viewer wrote. "I hope you fold like an accordion!!!"

The decision to drop Deen, whose daytime shows have been a Food Network fixture since 2002, came two days after disclosure of a recent court deposition in which Deen was asked under oath if she had ever used the N-word. "Yes, of course," 66-year-old Deen said, though she added, "It's been a very long time."

Deen and her brother are being sued by a former manager of their restaurant who says she was harassed and worked in an environment rife with innuendo and racial slurs.

Wilson's friend Debbie Brown said the Food Network is "basically convicting" Deen. "They should have waited until it goes to court," she said.

Deen issued a videotaped apology Friday in asking fans and critics alike for forgiveness. It had been posted online for about an hour when the Food Network released a terse statement that it "will not renew Paula Deen's contract when it expires at the end of this month." The network refused to comment further.

A representative for Deen did not immediately return a phone call and email message Saturday.

Meanwhile, Deen's critics were making themselves heard online. On Friday night, #PaulaDeenTVShows became a top trending topic on Twitter, with postings that satirized familiar titles. Earlier in the week, they tweeted satirical names for recipes using #PaulasBestDishes.

Deen's legal deposition was conducted last month as part of the 2012 lawsuit filed by Lisa Jackson, who worked at Uncle Bubba's Seafood and Oyster House. The lawsuit drew scant attention from news outlets until Deen was questioned under oath and her remarks became available to the public in a transcript.

On Saturday, the controversy didn't keep customers from The Lady & Sons, the restaurant owned by Deen and her sons in Savannah's downtown historic district.

"If you look at her restaurant here, I don't think it's going to hurt her too much," said Felipe Alexander, an Atlanta trucking company owner, as he waited on the sidewalk for his lunchtime reservation. He also said he didn't blame the Food Network for cutting Deen loose.

"If the network didn't want to be associated with somebody who used that word, it has the right to do that," Alexander said.

The fallout may not end with Food Network. At least two other companies that do business with Deen say they're keeping a close eye on the controversy. Las Vegas-based Caesars Entertainment Corporation, which has Deen's restaurants in some of its casinos, said Friday that it "will continue to monitor the situation." Publisher Ballantine, which has a new Deen book scheduled to roll out this fall, used similar words.

The heat over Deen's remarks hasn't been quite as intense in Savannah, where her success over the past decade has helped raise the coastal Georgia city's profile as a tourist magnet.

The head of Visit Savannah, the city's tourism bureau, weighed in on Deen's plight Saturday on Twitter.

"OK, I'll do it: what @Paula-Deen did was wrong," Joe Marinelli, Visit Savannah's president, tweeted. "But she's part of our @Savannah family and I'm here to support her."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-06-22-US-Paula-Deen/id-e1e19d0a45c5458dab64eff0f14077b4

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Saturday, June 22, 2013

Fighter jets to provide training in Jordan

WASHINGTON (AP) ? About a dozen U.S. fighter jets will be flying and conducting training operations in Jordan, poised to respond if needed to protect allies if the war in neighboring Syria spills over the border, U.S. administration officials said Friday.

The increased show of U.S. military might ? which brings the total number of U.S. forces in Jordan to as many as 1,000 ? should be seen as a signal to Syria that it must confine its 2-year-old civil war within its borders, officials said. The officials said it is meant to show that the U.S. is committed to its defense relationship with Jordan and that America intends to maintain a strong presence in the region.

The officials added, however, that the decision to keep the F-16 fighters there is not a first step toward establishing a no-fly zone around any parts of Syria and should not be interpreted as a move to begin staging American troops there for possible military action in Syria. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the mission publicly.

The F-16 fighters, along with a Patriot missile battery and about 700 U.S. troops, are staying in Jordan beyond an international military exercise, which ended this week. The decision significantly increases the number of U.S. troops in Jordan, adding to the approximately 250 that have been there for some time.

Jordan had asked the U.S. to leave some military troops and equipment behind.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel approved the order last week for the U.S. Air Force to leave the fighters there, and military officials have been working to carve out exactly what the troops' mission will be in the coming weeks and months. No date has been set for the forces to leave.

In a letter to congressional leaders, President Barack Obama said Friday, "the detachment will remain in Jordan, in full coordination with the government of Jordan, until the security situation becomes such that it is no longer needed."

The training mission also provides a way for the fighter pilots to meet their flight requirements. F-16 pilots are required to fly nine or 10 sorties a months in order to remain combat ready.

The added U.S. military support to Jordan comes as the Obama administration hammers out details to provide lethal aid for Syrian rebels.

U.S. officials announced earlier this month that they had conclusive evidence that Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime has used chemical weapons, including the nerve agent sarin, on a small scale against opposition forces. The White House said multiple chemical attacks last year killed up to 150 people.

As a result, officials said that Obama authorized sending weapons to Syrian opposition groups ? a policy shift after months of wrangling over whether or not the chemical weapons had actually been used. Obama had said that the use of chemical weapons would cross a "red line" triggering greater U.S. involvement in the civil war.

Syrian rebels have been pressing for additional weapons, including anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles, but administration officials have worried that high-powered weapons could end up in the hands of terrorist groups. Hezbollah fighters are among those backing Assad's armed forces, and al-Qaida-linked extremists back the rebellion.

Officials have said that the CIA would largely coordinate the delivery of arms to the rebels.

The CIA has led U.S. outreach to the rebels from outside Syria, meeting them at refugee camps and towns along the Turkish and Jordanian borders. CIA paramilitary officers, as well as special operations trainers, have trained select groups of rebels in Jordan on the use of encrypted communications equipment ? the nonlethal aid provided by the Obama administration ? and they have helped the rebels learn how to fire anti-aircraft weapons and small arms provided by Gulf states.

The U.S. troops were in Jordan for a 12-day military exercise, dubbed Eager Lion, which ended this week. It included land, air and sea maneuvers across the country and involved about personnel from 19 Arab and European nations.

___

Associated Press writer Julie Pace contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-06-21-US-US-Syria-Training/id-97d56514871d4e558e14b92488f09580

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Southwest grounds flights due to computer glitch

DALLAS (AP) ? Southwest Airlines grounded its entire fleet of aircraft preparing for departure late Friday due to a system-wide computer problem, but flights already in the air were not affected, a company spokesman said.

Brad Hawkins, spokesman for the Dallas-based airline, told The Associated Press the computer glitch impaired the airline's ability to do such things as conduct check-in, print boarding passes and monitor the weight of the aircraft. Some flights were on the taxiway and diverted back to the terminal after the glitch occurred around 11 p.m. ET Friday, he said.

By nearly 2 a.m. ET Saturday, service still hadn't resumed, but Hawkins said "it's definitely all hands on deck to figure out the situation." However, he said the airline doesn't do redeye flights and was near "the end of our operational day," so it wasn't clear if any flights would take off before daybreak.

Because of the late hour of the disruption, the computer problem affected far more flights on the West Coast, but Hawkins had no estimate on how many were grounded.

Southwest, based in Dallas, conducts on average 3,400 flights a day, he said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/southwest-grounds-flights-due-computer-glitch-053537425.html

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Hong Kong silent so far on Snowden extradition

HONG KONG (AP) ? Hong Kong was silent Saturday on whether a former National Security Agency contractor should be extradited to the United States now that he has been charged with espionage, but some local legislators said the Chinese government should decide.

Edward Snowden, believed to be holed up in Hong Kong, has admitted providing information to the news media about two highly classified NSA surveillance programs.

It is not known if the U.S. government has made a formal extradition request ? a process that could take years, and the Hong Kong government had no immediate reaction to the charges against Snowden. Police Commissioner Andy Tsang told reporters only that the case would be dealt with according to the law. A police statement said it was "inappropriate" for the police to comment on the case.

When China regained control of Hong Kong in 1997, the former British colony was granted a high degree of autonomy and granted rights and freedoms not seen on mainland China. However, under the city's mini constitution Beijing is allowed to intervene in matters involving defense and diplomatic affairs.

Outspoken legislator Leung Kwok-hung said Beijing should instruct Hong Kong to protect Snowden from extradition before his case gets dragged through the court system. Leung also urged the people of Hong Kong to "take to the streets to protect Snowden."

Another legislator, Cyd Ho, vice-chairwoman of the pro-democracy Labour Party, said China "should now make its stance clear to the Hong Kong SAR (Special Administrative Region) government" before the case goes before a court.

China has urged Washington to provide explanations following the disclosures of National Security Agency programs which collect millions of telephone records and track foreign Internet activity on U.S. networks, but it has not commented on Snowden's status in Hong Kong.

Another disclosure came late Saturday when the South China Morning Post reported on its website that Snowden claimed the NSA hacked Chinese cell phone companies to steal SMS data. The paper also said, without citing any source, that Snowden was "safe" in Hong Kong and not in police custody.

Snowden claimed to have supporting documents of the text-message hacking, the paper said, though its report did not explain his alleged evidence. He spoke to the paper in a June 12 interview.

A formal extradition request to Hong Kong could drag through appeal courts for years and would pit Beijing against Washington at a time China tries to deflect U.S. accusations that it carries out extensive surveillance on American government and commercial operations.

Snowden told the Post in the same interview that he hoped to stay in the autonomous region of China because he has faith in "the courts and people of Hong Kong to decide my fate."

A prominent former politician in Hong Kong, Martin Lee, the founding chairman of the Democratic Party, said he doubted whether Beijing would intervene yet.

"Beijing would only intervene according to my understanding at the last stage. If the magistrate said there is enough to extradite, then Mr. Snowden can then appeal," he said.

Lee said Beijing could then decide at the end of the appeal process if it wanted Snowden extradited or not.

The criminal complaint unsealed Friday in a U.S. federal court alleged Snowden engaged in two violations of the Espionage Act and committed theft of government property. All three crimes carry a maximum 10-year prison term.

If formal extradition is pursued, Snowden could contest it on grounds of political persecution.

Hong Kong lawyer Mark Sutherland said that the filing of a refugee, torture or inhuman punishment claim acts as an automatic bar on any extradition proceedings until those claims can be assessed.

"Some asylum seekers came to Hong Kong 10 years ago and still haven't had their protection claims assessed," Sutherland said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/hong-kong-silent-far-snowden-extradition-074920801.html

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Friday, June 21, 2013

Carmakers like Honda, Ford aim for high-tech simplicity

DETROIT: The engineers working on Honda's new Acura MDX luxury sport utility vehicle were obsessed with giving customers more - more space in the rear seat, more fuel economy from a high-tech engine and, above all, more apps, maps and connectivity.

But there was one feature they wanted less of: buttons.

In an effort to simplify the newest Honda vehicle on the market, the product team was determined to streamline the instrument panel. The previous MDX had 41 buttons, but the new model would have just nine.

The change was emblematic of the challenge confronting automakers in the age of the connected car. How does a car company give customers the technology they crave without overwhelming them with complicated controls that can impair their ability to drive safely?

"We are trying to give our customers what they want in a way that's going to be safe and make sense," said Steven Feit, a senior Honda engineer on the project. "That's the balance we are trying to get to."

The car has become a mobile computer packed with new entertainment options, Internet access and a dizzying array of apps that help drivers avoid traffic jams, find parking spots and locate the nearest coffee shop.

Federal regulators are struggling to keep pace. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which oversees auto safety, recently issued voluntary guidelines for carmakers to limit the visual and mental distractions that new technology can create for drivers.

Basic connectivity - such as linking a cellphone to a vehicle's sound system - can be found in some of the least expensive mainstream models.

And carmakers have learned some hard lessons about pushing ahead with new, unproved technology. The Ford Motor Co., for example, has had to revise its popular Sync system to mitigate distractions and make it easier for consumers to use.

Each new version of a car presents an opportunity to correct previous missteps. The new MDX, which goes on sale this summer, represents what Honda says is an effort to create "synergy between man and machine."

The new MDX has built-in cell technology that not only delivers a wide range of entertainment and Internet functions but also connects drivers directly to an Acura concierge who can locate a nearby restaurant and make reservations for dinner.

A voice-recognition feature allows drivers to select a destination for the navigation system or choose a phone number to call without taking their eyes off the road or hands off the wheel.

And eliminating physical buttons on the car's console was crucial to improving safety. Too many buttons created too many decisions for a driver to make while the car was in motion. The new model limits buttons to major functions, like controlling the temperature.

Because there are more distractions built into the vehicle, the car has to assist more in the act of driving.

Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international-business/carmakers-like-honda-ford-aim-for-high-tech-simplicity/articleshow/20680067.cms

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