Showing posts with label Security. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Security. Show all posts

Thursday, December 17, 2015

The EU says it may retaliate if the US goes ahead with plans to impose visas reform on members already part of the Visa Waiver Program.



EU warns of visas for US citizens if Washington implements visa waiver reforms

© Fred Greaves
The EU says it may retaliate if the US goes ahead with plans to impose visas for some members of the bloc who are currently part of the Visa Waiver Program. Brussels says it will not increase security and that US nationals may require visas to enter the EU.
A letter signed by 28 European member state ambassadors to the US was published in The Hill after Europe reacted furiously and with disbelief to plans by Washington to tighten-up the Visa Waiver Program (VWP), which currently lets millions of citizens from the bloc travel to the US each year without a visa.

OP-ED: EU warns of visas for US citizens if Washington implements visa waiver reforms

Last week, the US House of Representatives adopted a bill to reform the visa program that would ban certain EU nationals from entering the US without a visa if they had visited Iran, Iraq, Syria or Sudan after March 2011. Some US politicians want the legislation introduced to tighten security following the November 13 Paris terror attacks.

“A blanket restriction on those who have visited Syria or Iraq, for example, would most likely only affect legitimate travel by businesspeople, journalists, humanitarian or medical workers while doing little to detect those who travel by more clandestine means overland,” the letter signed by the 28 ambassadors stated.

At present, 23 of the EU’s 28 member states enjoy visa-free travel to the US, with the remaining five nations keen to join the VWP. The bloc says it is imperative to keep the visa waiver program intact for business and tourism purposes, while the current system does not mean that it is “a license to enter the US with nothing more than the wave of a passport of an allied country.”


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Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Putin Has a Massive Corruption-Fighting Record. But you wouldn't know it from the Western press.



Russia Insider logo 
 Russia Insider 
People Over Profits

Putin Has a Massive Corruption-Fighting Record You've Never Heard Of

Mr. Putin is tackling corruption, whereas his predecessor embodied it. But you wouldn't know it from the Western press


I love Russia, but let’s not sugarcoat things.


After the widespread sociopathy of the 1990s—when people had to break all rules just to feed their families, and it was not unknown even for priests to steal from their flocks—a too-high proportion of the Russian population remains in a state of going through each day with little thought other than how to cheat and defraud its fellow man. Yet it is also a fact that you cannot lock up everyone (Всех не посадишь, as the Russians say) or you would have no country left.

The Kremlin’s solution has been to make conspicuous examples of some, while creating parallel structures to work around corrupt or incompetent state bodies and officials.

Probably the most prominent example of such a structure is the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, commonly known by its Russian initials, SK or SK RF, or less commonly by the acronym, Sledkom.

The SK traces its history to 2007—when authority to make criminal charges was taken away from Russia’s Prosecutor General—and has existed in its current form since early 2011.

Today, the Office of the Prosecutor General is responsible for prosecutions only.  It is the SK that investigates crimes and decides whom to bring to trial and on what charges.

Since it was brought out from under the Prosecutor General and made into an independent body reporting only to the President, the SK has been at the very center of the Kremlin’s anticorruption drive.


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Thursday, November 19, 2015

White House issues veto threat over refugee bill. White House says legislation, which sets high hurdles for refugee admissions, is ‘untenable’




 

Some governors say they won't accept Syrian refugees
 
Some governors say they won't accept Syrian refugees 02:34
 

Story highlights

  • "The certification requirement ... is untenable and would provide no meaningful additional security for the American people," the White House said
  • The refugee issue has emerged as a key political issue in the wake of last week's terrorist attacks in Paris

Washington (CNN)President Barack Obama on Wednesday vowed to veto a GOP-drafted bill that would suspend the program allowing Syrian and Iraqi refugees into the U.S. until key national security agencies certify they don't pose a security risk.

"The certification requirement at the core of H.R. 4038 is untenable and would provide no meaningful additional security for the American people, instead serving only to create significant delays and obstacles in the fulfillment of a vital program that satisfies both humanitarian and national security objectives," the White House said in a statement.



 
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Could the government shut down over refugees?

Story highlights

  • President Barack Obama and House Democrats said they would oppose a GOP-drafted bill to suspend the program allowing Syrian and Iraqi refugees into the U.S. until key national security agencies certify they don't pose a security risk
  • The deadline to reach a spending deal is December 11, and the refugee issue could make it more difficult to reach an accord

Washington (CNN)The "je suis Paris" mood didn't last long in Washington.

House Speaker Paul Ryan called for a bipartisan response to the ISIS terrorist attacks in France, but President Barack Obama and House Democrats said they would oppose a GOP-drafted bill to suspend the program allowing Syrian and Iraqi refugees into the U.S. until key national security agencies certify they don't pose a security risk.

The White House Wednesday afternoon said Obama would veto the bill, saying the certification requirement is "untenable and would provide no meaningful additional security for the American people, instead serving only to create significant delays and obstacles in the fulfillment of a vital program that satisfies both humanitarian and national security objectives."
 
The battle over what to do about the program, and whether it should continue receiving federal money, could trigger what Ryan was hoping to avoid -- another government shutdown.

Ryan made a rare floor speech on Wednesday arguing that the legislation the House would take up on Thursday was a reasonable response to concerns about new attacks. He distanced himself from some Republican presidential candidates who have urged that the U.S. refuse asylum for Muslim refugees.
"We will not have a religious test, only a security test," Ryan said.

The House Republican proposal would halt the program permitting refugees fleeing war in Iraq and Syria to enter the United States until the Secretary of Homeland Security signs off that those applying to come in do not have ties to terrorism. The proposal also requires that the FBI certify that those applying to enter the U.S. have had background checks, and that federal agencies regularly report to Congress about those who were vetted.

Obama's vocal criticism of Republicans pushing for restrictions in the refugee program seemed to deepen the divide on Capitol Hill, and even take some Democrats aback
.
While traveling through Turkey and the Philippines, the President called some GOP suggestions about the program "offensive" and ripped those warning that allowing those refugees fleeing the war posed a threat.

"Apparently, they are scared of widows and orphans coming into the United States of America," Obama said, responding to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who said he would refuse entry of a 5-year-old Syrian orphan into the United States. "At first, they were too scared of the press being too tough on them in the debates. Now they are scared of 3-year-old orphans. That doesn't seem so tough to me."



 
Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Arizona, said the President's partisan rhetoric "went over the line."

"I haven't called for a halt or a moratorium. So I'm sympathetic to the administration's position here," Flake said. "But instead of blaming people or assuming people are bigots, come out and explain what the vetting process is and I think people will feel more comfortable."

House Homeland Security Chairman Mike McCaul of Texas pointed out it was concerns raised by officials from the FBI and Homeland Security that prompted the legislation he drafted with Rep. Richard Hudson, R-North Carolina.

"It's not me making this up," McCaul said.

In its veto threat, the White House added, "No refugee is approved for travel to the United States under the current system until the full array of required security vetting measures have been completed. Thus, the substantive result sought through this draft legislation is already embedded into the program."



 
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Obama threatens to veto House Republican bill on Syrian refugees

 

November 19, 2015, 2:29 am 3
Syrian refugee children look from their tent during a visit by UN humanitarian chief Stephen O'Brien to the Zaatari Refugee Camp, near Mafraq, Jordan, Saturday, Sept. 19, 2015. (AP Photo/Raad Adayleh)
 
Syrian refugee children look from their tent during a visit by UN humanitarian chief Stephen O'Brien to the Zaatari Refugee Camp, near Mafraq, Jordan, Saturday, Sept. 19, 2015. (AP Photo/Raad Adayleh)
 
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House on Wednesday threatened a presidential veto of House Republican legislation aimed at increasing screenings for Syrian and Iraqi refugees before they enter the United States, calling new requirements in the bill “untenable.”

The legislation, which sets high hurdles for refugee admissions, including FBI background checks and individual sign-offs by top federal officials, “would provide no meaningful additional security for the American people, instead serving only to create significant delays and obstacles in the fulfillment of a vital program that satisfies both humanitarian and national security objectives,” the White House said.

President Barack Obama would veto the legislation if it reaches his desk, the statement concluded.
Republican leaders, eager to respond quickly to Friday’s terror attacks in Paris, had described the bill as a middle-ground approach. It institutes tough new screening requirements, but steers clear of demands from some Republicans, including presidential candidates, for religious questioning or a complete end to the US refugee program.

“This is common sense. And it’s our obligation,” Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin said on the House floor ahead of the veto threat. “If the intelligence and law-enforcement community cannot certify that a person presents no threat, then they should not be allowed in.”

In the Senate, lawmakers emerging from a closed-door briefing with administration officials Wednesday night said Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Republican Sen. Jeff Flake planned to introduce a bill that would restrict visas for any individual who had been in Iraq or Syria in the past five years.


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Tuesday, November 17, 2015

The governors of Alabama, Michigan, Indiana and Texas are among at least a dozen of those challenging Obama over Syrian refugees.




States refuse to accept Syrian refugees after Paris attacks

 
November 16, 2015 1:20 PM MST

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White House, U.S. governors to discuss Syrian refugees: reports

Reuters
 
The North Portico of the White House at sunrise in Washington
.
View photo
The North Portico of the White House is seen at sunrise in Washington, D.C. November 29, 2007. REUTERS/Larry 
 
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House plans to hold a conference call with U.S. governors on Tuesday to discuss the Syrian refugee situation, CNN and NBC News reported. 



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Sunday, November 8, 2015

Some NATO members are questioning the decision of the alliance to cast Russia in an adversarial role, reports Alexander Grushko, Russia's permanent representative to NATO


 Sputnik

General view of the main entrance of the NATO headquarters in Brussels

Russia's NATO Rep. Hears Many Want to Re-Think Relations with Moscow

© AFP 2015/ GERARD CERLES
World

Whispers in the ear of Russia's permanent representative to NATO, Alexander Grushko, told him that some members of the alliance see the folly of refusing to establish a partnership with Russia to tackle major issues facing global security.

 

Some NATO members are questioning the decision of the alliance to cast Russia in an adversarial role, rather than cooperate in an effort to tackle the major issues facing global security today, Russia's permanent representative to NATO, Alexander Grushko, reported.
 
"In many of my unofficial meetings – and this is something that is also testified to in analytical material from experts about NATO – some in NATO question the decision to reject cooperation with Russia in a range of areas which present a common interest."

These include "the situation in Afghanistan, which is deteriorating in all areas – security and the war on drugs are really not improving, and the social-economic situation. Plus, new factors have appeared – the penetration of the Islamic State into Afghanistan, and the advancement of extremists to the northern borders, towards the Commonwealth of Independent States," Russia's representative to NATO said in an interview with Vzglyad.ru.

Unfortunately, said Grushko, such misgivings are yet to take root among the top brass of the alliance, to the detriment of both global security and the foreign policy concerns of its individual members.
"If we talk about global threats, then Russia and the countries of Western Europe in many respects are equally vulnerable to the same challenges, and it is necessary to combine efforts in the interest of common safety," said Grushko.


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Thursday, October 29, 2015

Death toll in Saudi haj disaster at least 2,070 - Reuters tally



World | Thu Oct 29, 2015 8:11pm GMT
Reuters
 
Rescue workers carry the body of a Muslim pilgrim after a stampede at Mina, outside the holy Muslim city of Mecca, in this September 24, 2015 file photo.
Reuters/Stringer/Files
 
 

The deadly crush that occurred at the haj near Mecca last month killed at least 2,070 people, nearly triple the number accounted for in a death toll maintained by Saudi authorities, a Reuters tally indicated on Thursday.

Saudi Arabia has come under heavy criticism for its handling of the disaster. Safety during the pilgrimage is a politically sensitive issue for the kingdom's ruling Al Saud dynasty, which presents itself as the guardian of Islam and custodian of its holiest sites in Mecca and Medina.

The figure, based on information provided by the state and religious authorities and local media reports in the home countries of the victims, would make it the worst such catastrophe to befall the annual pilgrimage since 1,400 people were crushed to death in a tunnel in 1990.

Saudi officials have stood by their official counts of 769 dead and 934 injured, which have not been updated since two days after the crush. The healthy ministry has said any discrepancies in death tolls may stem from countries counting pilgrims who had died of natural causes.



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Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Congress is a mess



Fight for the Future's profile photo
Fight for the Future




Evan from FFTF

info@list.fightforthefuture.org





So many politicians blatantly push for policies that harm all of us, just because the special interests that fund their campaigns want them to.

Because of this, Congress tries to hide -- taking vague positions, pushing for watered down legislation, or remaining silent at critical moments.

This week, they’re expected to renew debate on CISA, the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act, a bill that would give corporations sweeping legal immunity when they share your data with the government.

Now more than ever, it’s so important that we don’t let our lawmakers hide in the shadows.


This scoreboard is a tool we can use to hold politicians accountable and demand they stand up for our basic human and Constitutional rights.

Surveillance will define our future. Let’s make sure the future isn’t terrible.


For the Internet,
 
~Evan at Fight for the Future


P.S. As much as we’ve talked about how bad CISA is for expanding mass surveillance, there’s another side to the law that just made it even worse. Late last week, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island introduced an amendment to expand the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the law that has been used time and again to persecute digital activists, including our friend Aaron Swartz. That’s despicable, and needs to be quashed immediately — so take action now to help kill CISA.

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Saturday, May 10, 2014

The Supreme Court refuses to challenge a New Jersey law which restricts the right to bear arms outside the home.

Supreme Court won't rule on carrying guns in public

Supreme Court won't rule on carrying guns in public
Credit: KING

by Richard Wolf, USA TODAY
Posted on May 5, 2014 at 7:14 AM
Updated today at 7:14 AM


WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court appears hesitant to wade back into the national debate on guns.
The court refused Monday to decide whether the right to bear arms extends outside the home. The justices won't consider a challenge to a New Jersey law that restricts most residents from carrying guns in public.
The case would have marked the most significant gun control case at the high court since its District of Columbia v. Heller decision in 2008 upheld the right to keep handguns at home for self-defense.
The New Jersey challenge was backed by the National Rifle Association and Gun Owners Foundation. "The Second Amendment guarantees the right to carry weapons for the purpose of self-defense — not just for self-defense within the home, but for self-defense, period," the NRA argued in its brief to the high court.
New Jersey law enforcement groups defended the state's requirement that citizens prove a "justifiable need" to carry handguns outside the home, whether openly or concealed from view. In their brief, they claimed the law "qualifies as a presumptively lawful, longstanding regulation that does not burden conduct within the scope of the Second Amendment's guarantee."

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Thursday, February 27, 2014

Russia : It has been announced that Yanukovych would give a press conference on Friday. How did Yanukovych get to Russia?

The New Zealand Herald


Former Ukraine president turns up in Russia - in a 5-star hotel




The Ukrainia hotel, where Viktor Yanukovych is said to be staying, is seen against the twilight Moscow sky. Photo / AP
The Ukrainia hotel, where Viktor Yanukovych is said to be staying, is seen against the twilight Moscow sky. Photo / AP
Ukraine's fugitive president may be enjoying VIP treatment under Moscow's protection, said to have been spotted at an opulent five-star hotel and a Kremlin country retreat.

But beneath the surface, the embrace has been chilly: State-run TV has portrayed him as a coward who betrayed those who stood by him.

The conflicting messages indicate that while Russia still considers him the legitimate president of Ukraine, it is far from happy with his handling of Ukraine's crisis.

Yanukovych made his appeal for protection in a written statement released simultaneously by two Russian state news agencies: "I have to ask Russia to ensure my personal safety from extremists," he wrote. Shortly afterward, the same agencies quoted an unidentified government official as saying that the request had been "satisfied on the territory of Russia." The ITAR-Tass and RIA Novosti news agencies often are used by the government to issue official statements......
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How did Yanukovych get to Russia?
It is still far from clear. Ukraine issued an arrest warrant for him and border guards were instructed to stop him leaving. Most likely he was evacuated out of Kiev by helicopter at the weekend and taken to pro-Russia Crimea, where Russia has its Black Sea naval base in the city of Sevastopol. He could then have inconspicuously travelled by boat onto Russian territory proper.
"I think he came from Sevastopol on a vessel," said Konovalov.
From Russia's Black Sea coast he could have moved on anywhere in the country. Unconfirmed reports had sighted him at a Moscow hotel or an out-of-town health spa.
However Russian news agencies said late Thursday he will give a news conference Friday in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don which lies close to the Black Sea, making it unlikely that he has been to Moscow......

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Ousted Ukrainian leader Viktor Yanukovych reported to be in Russia

Deposed president who still claims to be leader to hold press conference in southern city of Rostov on Friday
The Russian government sanatorium where Viktor Yanukovych was reportedly staying on Wednesday
The Russian government sanatorium where ousted Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych was reportedly staying on Wednesday night. Photograph: Yuri Kochetkov/EPA
Ukraine's ousted president, Viktor Yanukovych, has surfaced in Russia and is still claiming to be the legitimate ruler of his country, according to Russian media reports quoting top government sources.
"Given that President Yanukovych appealed to Russian authorities with a request to guarantee his personal safety, that request has been granted on Russian territory," a government source told Interfax.
An appeal to Ukrainian citizens from Yanukovych said: "My allies and I were being threatened with revenge and so I was forced to ask the Russian authorities to guarantee my personal safety from the actions of extremists."
Yanukovych said he continues to believe he is the legitimate president of Ukraine and wants to achieve a compromise that would enable Ukraine to exit the crisis. The deposed president called the current session of Ukraine's parliament – which among other things is electing a new government – "illegitimate".
"There is an orgy of extremism on the streets of many cities," wrote the president. "I am certain that in these conditions all the decisions taken [by the parliament] will be ineffective and not carried out.
"In this situation, I officially declare that I am determined to fight to the end for the implementation of important compromise agreements that will bring Ukraine out of the deep political crisis."
On Thursday evening it was announced that Yanukovych would give a press conference on Friday afternoon in the southern Russian city of Rostov on Don – contradicting earlier claims that he was in the Moscow region staying at a top government sanatorium that has previously hosted officials such as Leonid Brezhnev and Boris Yeltsin. No other details about the press conference were immediately available.

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NBC News


Ousted Viktor Yanukovych: I'm Ukraine's 'Legitimate Leader'

MOSCOW - Ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych still sees himself as his country's legitimate head of state, according to a statement by him published by Russian news agencies on Thursday.
NBC News was unable to confirm a report by Russian news organization RBK that Yanukovych had been spotted in Moscow. But in his statement published by Interfax and Itar Tass, the Kremlin-backed former leader said he has asked for protection from Russia "to ensure my personal security from extremists' actions."
Interfax quoted a source as saying Russia had granted this appeal. NBC News could not immediately verify that claim.


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Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Ukraine: Boxing Heavyweight Vitaly Klitschko to Run for President

IB Times



klitschko
Ukrainian opposition leader Vitaly Klitschko (left) helps carry a victim of the Kiev clashesReuters
Ukrainian opposition leader and ex-boxer Vitaly Klitschko has confirmed he will run for the presidency as plans to form a new government were put on hold by interim president Oleksander Turchinov.

The former heavyweight boxing champion and leader of the progressive Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reforms (UDAR) has been at the forefront of the anti-government protests that shook the regime of Viktor Yanukovich and ultimately led to his removal.
UDAR, an acronym of the Ukrainian word for "punch," is a largely progressive party that wants Ukraine to become a "successful European state". Among its goals are to centre politics around "fundamental European values," such as the rule of law, a competitive democracy and a social contract constitution. UDAR holds a 9.5% share of the Ukrainian parliament.

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Sunday, February 2, 2014

Armed man arrested for threatening ex-President Bush




MSN News

Former U.S. president George W. Bush watches before the start of the MLB American between the Rangers and White Sox in Arlington, Texas

On Thursday, the man's mother called police to report she had found a threatening note in the home she shares with her son and that a rifle was also missing.
NEW YORK - A New York man sitting in a car that had a loaded rifle, machete and a container of gasoline was charged on Friday with threatening to kill George W. Bush after professing a romantic interest in one of the twin daughters of the former president, prosecutors said.
Benjamin Smith, 44, of Pittsford in upstate New York was arrested in Manhattan by the U.S. Secret Service, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court.
"Bush will get his," Smith screamed as he was taken into custody, according to the complaint. Later, when asked about his marital status, he told agents he was divorced and "working on a relationship with Barbara Bush."
At a preliminary hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrea Griswold told U.S. Magistrate Judge Henry Pitman the government believes Smith was referring to the former president's daughter and not Bush's mother, who shares the same name.

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Man arrested for threatening to kill Bush over daughter



by YAMICHE ALCINDOR

USA TODAY

Posted on February 1, 2014 at 5:25 PM
Updated today at 6:40 PM

A man with a loaded rifle, a machete and gasoline was arrested Friday after threatening to kill former president George W. Bush and expressing interest in a relationship with his daughter, according to multiple media reports.
Benjamin Smith, 44, was arrested by the Secret Service in New York City after telling agents he was divorced and "working on a relationship with Barbara Bush." Reuters, quoting from a criminal complaint filed in federal court, reported Smith screamed "Bush will get his!" as he was taken into custody. Barbara Pierce Bush, 32, is the elder of the 43rd president's twin girls.
George Ogilvie, a spokesman for the U.S. Secret Service, told USA TODAY that Smith was arrested under U.S. Code Title 18 Section 879, which prohibits threats against a former president. Ogilvie would not go into detail about the incident.
At a preliminary hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrea Griswold told U.S. Magistrate Judge Henry Pitman that the government believes Smith was referring to the former president's oldest daughter and not Bush's mother, who shares the same name, Reuters reported.

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