The Pioneering White House journalist Helen Thomas dies at 92

FamedWhite House journalist Helen Thomas has died at the age of 92.

The Gridiron Club and Foundation, a journalistic organization in Washington, D.C., confirmed Thomas' passing to NBC News on Saturday.

Thomas died on Saturday morning at her Washington apartment after a long illness, the club said in a statement. A former president of the Gridiron Club, Thomas broke a long line of all-male leadership when she was chosen for the position in 1993.

Thejournalist who scored a front-row seat at White House press briefings after years of reporting for wire services had been in and out of the hospital recently, a friend, Muriel Dobbin, told the Associated Press. The daughter of Lebanese immigrants, Thomas had grown up in Detroit before moving to Washington, D.C., where she broke several barriers for female correspondents.

Known for her persistent style of questioning, Thomas was most recognized for her work with United Press International, and covered nine presidents over her long career. She started as a copy girl at the Washington Daily News, moving to what was then called the United Press in 1943.

She spent her last 10 years in journalism writing a column for Hearstnewspapers, a post she retired from in 2010 after she was caught on a videotape saying that Israel should “get the hell out of Palestine.” Her comments spread quickly on the Internet, and Thomas announced that she would retire shortly before her 90th birthday.

In a statement issued later, Thomas said she regretted her comments: “They do not reflect my heart-felt belief that peace will come to the Middle East only when all parties recognize the need for mutual respect and tolerance. May that day come soon.”

A 49-year veteran of the White House press, Thomas was known for getting the last word at presidential news conferences: “Thank you, Mr. President.”

She saw the nation's leaders at their best and worst from her front-row seat to the executive branch.

“I have witnessed presidents in situations of great triumph and adulation, when they are riding the crest of personal fulfillment, and I have seen them fall off their pedestals through an abuse of power or what President Clinton called ‘a lapse of critical judgment,'” Thomas wrote in her memoir.

Her husband, The Associated Press’ Douglas Cornell, died in 1982.

Source: nbcnews

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Snowden going to Ecuador to seek asylum

Admitted leaker Edward Snowden took flight Sunday in evasion of U.S. authorities, seeking asylum in Ecuador and leaving the Obamaadministration scrambling to determine its next step in what became a game of diplomatic cat-and-mouse.

The former National Security Agency contractor and CIA technician fled Hong Kong and arrived at the Moscow airport, where he planned to spend the night before boarding an Aeroflot flight to Cuba. Ecuador's Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino said his government received an asylum request from Snowden, and the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks said it would help him.

"He goes to the very countries that have, at best, very tense relationships with the United States," said Rep. IleanaRos-Lehtinen, R-Fla., adding that she feared Snowden would trade more U.S. secrets for asylum. "This is not going to play out well for the national security interests of the United States."

The move left the U.S. with limited options as Snowden's itinerary took him on a tour of what many see as anti-American capitals. Ecuador in particular has rejected the United States' previous efforts at cooperation, and has been helping WikiLeaks founder,Julian Assange, avoid prosecution by allowing him to stay at its embassy in London.

Snowden gave The Guardian and The Washington Post documents disclosing U.S. surveillance programs that collect vast amounts of phone records and online data in the name of foreign intelligence, but often sweep up information on American citizens. Officials have the ability to collect phone and Internet information broadly but need a warrant to examine specific cases where they believe terrorism is involved.

Snowden had been in hiding for several weeks in Hong Kong, a former British colony with a high degree of autonomy from mainland China. The United States formally sought Snowden's extradition from Hong Kong but was rebuffed; Hong Kong officials said the U.S. request did not fully comply with their laws.

The Justice Department rejected that claim, saying its request met all of the requirements of the extradition treaty between the U.S. and HongKong.

During conversations last week, including a phone call Wednesday between Attorney General Eric Holder and Hong Kong Secretary for JusticeRimsky Yuen, Hong Kong officials never raised any issues regarding sufficiency of the U.S. request, a Justice spokesperson said.

A State Department official said the United States was in touch through diplomatic and law enforcement channels with countries that Snowden could travel through or to, reminding them that Snowden is wanted on criminal charges and reiterating Washington's position that Snowden should only be permitted to travel back to the U.S.

Those officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the case.

The Justice Department said it would "pursue relevant law enforcement cooperation with other countries where Mr. Snowden may be attempting to travel."

The White House would only say that President Barack Obama had been briefed on the developments by his national security advisers.

Russia's state  ITAR-Tass news agency and Interfax cited an unnamed Aeroflot airline official as saying Snowden was on the plane that landed Sunday afternoon in Moscow.

Upon his arrival, Snowden did not leave Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport. One explanation could be that he wasn't allowed; a U.S. official said Snowden's passport had been revoked, and special permission from Russian authorities would have been needed.

"It's almost hopeless unless we find some ways to lean on them," said Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y.

The Russian media report said Snowden intended to fly to Cuba on Monday and then on to Caracas, Venezuela.

U.S. lawmakers scoffed. "The freedom trail is not exactly China-Russia-Cuba-Venezuela, so I hope we'll chase him to the ends of the earth, bring him to justice and let the Russians know there'll be consequences if they harbor this guy," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

With each suspected flight, efforts to secure Snowden's return to the United States appeared more complicated if not impossible. The United States does not have an extradition treaty with Russia, but does with Cuba, Venezuela and Ecuador. Even with an extradition agreement though, any country could give Snowden a political exemption.

The likelihood that any of these countries would stop Snowden from traveling on to Ecuador seemed remote. While diplomatic tensions have thawed in recent years, Cuba and the United States are hardly allies after a half century of distrust.

Venezuela, too, could prove difficult. Former President Hugo Chavez was a sworn enemy of the United States and his successor, Nicolas Maduro, earlier this year called Obama "grand chief of devils." The two countries do not exchange ambassadors.

U.S. pressure on Caracas also might be problematic given its energy exports. The U.S. Energy Information Agency reports Venezuela sent the United States 900,000 barrels of crude oil each day in 2012, making it the fourth-largest foreign source of U.S. oil.

"I think 10 percent of Snowden's issues are now legal, and 90 percent political," said Douglas McNabb, an expert in international extradition and a senior principal at international criminal defense firm McNabb Associates.

Assange's lawyer, Michael Ratner, said Snowden's options aren't numerous.

"You have to have a country that's going to stand up to the United States," Ratner said. "You're not talking about a huge range of countries here."

That is perhaps why Snowden first stopped in Russia, a nation with complicated relations with Washington.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is "aiding and abetting Snowden's escape," said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

"Allies are supposed to treat each other in decent ways, and Putin always seems almost eager to put a finger in the eye of the United States," Schumer said. "That's not how allies should treat one another, and I think it will have serious consequences for the United States-Russia relationship."

It also wasn't clear Snowden was finished with disclosing highly classified information.

"I am very worried about what else he has," said Rep. Loretta Sanchez, a California Democrat who sits on the House Homeland Security Committee.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said she had been told Snowden had perhaps more than 200 sensitive documents.

Ros-Lehtinen and King spoke with CNN. Graham spoke to "Fox News Sunday." Schumer was on CNN's "State of the Union." Sanchez appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press." Feinstein was on CBS' "Face the Nation."

Source: yahoo

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Nelson Mandela former president of South Africa is in critical condition

Nelson Mandela was in critical condition Sunday after a deterioration in his health, and doctors "are doing everything possible'' for him, South Africa's government said.

The office of President Jacob Zuma said that on Sunday evening the president had visited Mandela, the former president of the country who was imprisoned for nearly three decades as he battled the country's apartheid system of racial separatism.

Zuma'soffice said he was informed by Mandela's doctors that his condition had become critical in the past 24 hours.

Mandela, 94, has been in intensive care for more than two weeks. He was hospitalized on June 8 for what the government said was a recurring lung infection.

"The doctors are doing everything possible to get his condition to improve and are ensuring that Madiba is well-looked after and is comfortable,'' Zuma said in a statement. "He is in good hands."

Madiba is Mandela's tribal nickname.

Zuma visited Mandela along with ANC Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa visited Mandela. Zuma also met Graca Machel, Mandela's wife, at the hospital and discussed the former leader's condition, according to the statement.

Zuma appealed to South Africans and the rest of the world to pray for Mandela, his family and his medical team. Mandela turns 95 on July 18.

On Saturday, it was reported that the ambulance carrying Mandela to the hospital June 8 broke down while he was on board, requiring that he be moved to a second vehicle. Zuma said he had been assured "all care was taken to ensure his medical condition was not compromised.''

"There were seven doctors in the convoy who were in full control of the situation throughout the period. He had expert medical care. The fully equipped military ICU ambulance had a full complement of specialist medical staff including intensive care specialists and ICU nurses. The doctors also dismissed the media reports that Madiba suffered cardiac arrest. There is no truth at all in that report," Zuma said in a statement released by spokesman Mac Maharaj.

Mandela became South Africa's first black president after the end of apartheid in 1994. He retired from public life in 2004 and has rarely been seen at official events since. He has been seen around the world as a leader of the movement for human rights and reconciliation.

Source: usatoday

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Montreal Mayor Michael Applebaum Pressure to resign

Interim Montreal Mayor Michael Applebaum is under tremendous pressure to resign from his post following his arrest on criminal charges of fraud, breach of trust and corruption.

The political future of the 50-year-old political veteran appears to be measured in hours now after a chorus of angry calls that stretched from the municipal hustings, to Montreal city hall to Quebec City.

“In the circumstances, it would surely be preferable that he resign from the post that he currently holds,” said Quebec Premier PaulineMarois.

It was a stunning turn of events for the man who, only seven months ago, was selected by a majority of Montreal city councillors to step into the void left when former Montreal mayor Gérald Tremblay left office. Tremblay quit under a cloud of accusations that his political party had run a vast and illegal political financing scheme and looked the other way as corruption took hold.

Applebaum became the first anglophone in 100 years to hold the mayor’s office, even if it was with the promise that he wouldn’t use the post as a beachhead for next November’s municipal election.

Those who had entrusted him with their vote said Monday they were shocked and scandalized.

Citycouncillor Marvin Rotrand, one of Applebaum’s staunchestsupporters, said he was in a state of shock.

“It’s very difficult to understand,” he said, according to La Presse. “He’s someone who follows the law. The idea that he could have received compensation for a zoning change is unbelievable.”

The idea that Montreal could be placed under trusteeship, a situation that occurred after former Laval mayor Gilles Vaillancourt was arrested along with 36 others last month, was quickly ruled out by Marois, who cited the presence of several opposition parties who are already running the city in coalition.

But political figures in Montreal are agreed on one thing: the next municipal election this fall cannot come soon enough.

“It’s an extremely difficult moment to live through,” said mayoral candidate Denis Coderre, the former federal Liberal cabinet minister. “There will be an election in four months. We will have a new administration on Nov. 3.”

Source: thestar.com

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May Day protests: From Bangladesh to Europe, angry workers rally in the tens of thousands

In Jakarta, Indonesia, some of the tens of thousands of demonstrators marching through the city came dressed as ants – complete with bright red outfits and antennae – to depict the exploitation of workers. 

And in Greece, trains, buses, and ferries sat vacant and hospitals nearly empty as thousands of public sector employees walked off the job in a one-day strike.

Each year, May 1, better known as May Day, is marked with labor rallies and strikes around the world. And this year's holiday came at a particularly prescient moment in many parts of the world. 

From Europe, where the bite of austerity has left many facing down unemployment and reduced benefits, to South and SoutheastAsia, a region cluttered with precariously-built factories similar to the one that collapsed last week in Bangladesh, demonstrators gathered to vent outrage and demand reform.

“My brother has died. My sister has died. Their blood will not be valueless,” yelled one Bangladeshi protestor through a crackling loudspeaker, according to the Associated Press.

As the march wove through downtown Dhaka, rescue workers in the industrial suburb of Savar continued their search for bodies and survivors in the rubble of Rana Plaza, which collapsed suddenly on April 24 with thousands of garment workers inside.

The disaster at the factory, which manufactured clothing for several low-end Western retailers, touched off global outrage about the working conditions of garment workers across the developing world. In Phnom Pehn, Cambodia, workers rallied for higher wages and safer working conditions. In Manila, Philipines, where labor unions are banned, workers marched to demand the right to organize. And in HongKong, thousands turned out in support of striking dock workers, calling for wages that would help close the income gap between the country’s rich and its poor.

Source: csmonitor

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President Obama at the 2013 White House Corresdents Dinner

President Obama last night joined Conan O'Brien onstage at the Washington Hilton for the annual White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, and gave his fifth address to the organization of journalists who cover the White House, and the President himself. In his remarks, the President poked at himself, as well as some of the news organizations and politicians in the room. He also showed a spoof promo for Steven Spielberg's followup to "LIncoln," a biopic called "Obama."

But while everyone had a good laugh during the speech, President Obama closed his speech on  a more serious note, reminding the audience of the important role the media plays in American society, especially during times of crisis like the Boston Marathon bombings and the explosion that killed so many first responders in West,Texas.  

Source: whitehouse

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Law and Politics: Obama’s new Gitmo problem

While the Guantánamo Bay prison camp has faded as a political issue, the conditions there have been dramatically deteriorating. For several months, prisoners have been mounting intense protests, in response to grievances with guards and frustration with their legal status. They have conducted hunger strikes, battled with guards, and thwarted the camp’s surveillance system.

On Saturday, U.S. officials decided the prisoners had gone too far. Officials raided the camp, emptying prison cells, and forcing some detainees into isolation.

The Miami Herald’s CarolRosenberg, who has covered Guantánamo for over a decade, reports that while the U.S. has sought to provide more humanitarian conditions for detainees, the recent tensions reflect frustration with the endless legal limbo in the camp:

By the time President Barack Obama took office, the prison camps had established communal confinement in a prison called Camp 6 that was more in the spirit of the Geneva Conventions, with … TV, books and, for well-behaved captives, wristwatches…But [there have been] mounting tensions at the camp… following a particularly aggressive cell search held Feb. 6.

…Lawyers for the captives said a wide-ranging hunger strike was underway, and some described seeing long-held, once plump prisoners wasting away before their eyes. The strike, they said, was sparked by what the captives considered abusive searches of their Qurans … fueled by years of frustration at their status of legal limbo.

Rosenberg reports that there are 43 prisoners on hunger strike. The U.S. is now force-feeding 13 of them, in order to keep them alive. The guards have also lost a measure of “control over life” in the prison, Rosenberg reports: ”The captives could be seen systematically disobeying communal camp rules. They covered surveillance cameras in individual cells with cereal boxes. They refused to admit food carts to the cellblocks.”

Obama officials emphasize that they had advance notice about recent changes at the prison, such as moving detainees into individual cells, and they are monitoring developments closely. That may be fine for crisis management, but there is very little talk about actually addressing the core problems at Guantánamo Bay.

About 166prisoners remain in the camp today. That reflects progress–over 700 men have been imprisoned there–but also stalemate. Twelve years after the Afghanistan war began, these remaining prisoners are people who have been cut off from their entire world, mostly without any trial to address the charges against them, let alone their guilt or innocence. And that’s not all.

It is well known that many detainees are not high-ranking terrorists. As early as 2003, Donald Rumsfeld privately objected to how many “low-level enemy combatants” wound up in the prison. According to a comprehensive 2006 analysis of Defense Department data, most detainees were not affiliated with terrorist groups. (The report was from Seton Hall University, applying a terrorist definition was based on the U.S. government’s terrorist list.) A high error rate, of course, does not mean the prison should just be emptied.

Nor could it, since Congress severely restricted the Obamaadministration’s options for transferring detainees. As one former National Security Council official told me last year, “Congress has put up as many roadblocks as possible to keep the Guantanamo Bayprison open.”

So the prison stays open, while the door to fair trials is pretty much closed.  A reassessment of Guantánamo justice is long overdue.

Source: msnbc

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White House Responds to Jay-Z's 'Open Letter' Obama Lyrics

Jay-Z's new song "Open Letter" a response to criticism over his and Beyonce's trip to Cuba, has racked up nearly 500,000 listens in just a few hours. Now we know that some of those plays came from the White House and the reporters that cover it.

During a White House press briefing earlier today, Politico reporter Donovan Slack asked White House Press Secretary Jay Carney whether PresidentObama gave Jay-Z and Beyoncé clearance for their travel, based off a lyric from the rapper's just-released song "Open Letter."

After reciting the lyric (“I turned Havana into Atlanta... Boy from the hood/ I got White House clearance... Obama said, 'Chill you gonna get me impeached/ You don’t need this shit anyway, chill with me on the beach'"), Slack asked Carney if Obama did indeed give Jay-Z clearance.

Carney brushed off the question with sarcasm: "I guess nothing rhymes with Treasury... because Treasury offers and gives licenses for travel, as you know, and the White House has nothing to do with it."

"I am absolutely saying that the White house from the President on down had nothing to do with anybody's travel to Cuba that is something that Treasury handles.," he continued.

And if Carney didn't make himself clear before, he shut down the conversation by denying White House approval straight forward.

"It's a song, Donovan. The President did not communicate with Jay-Z over this trip."

Following the presser, Slack tweeted some suggestions for words that rhyme with Treasury.

Source: billboard

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Rehtaeh Parsons Suicide

A Canadian minister of justice is seeking answers in the investigation into the alleged rape by four teenagers of Nova Scotian teen Rehtaeh Parsons, who hanged herself last week after what her mother says was months of bullying.

RehtaehParsons, 17, was taken off life-support Sunday on her mother authorization after she hanged herself at home in Cole Harbour last week. Nova Scotia Justice Minister Ross Landry said Tuesday that he hopes to meet with Parsons' mother, Leah, to "discuss her experience with the justice system." Landry has been reviewing details of the case and consulting with officials, according to a statement.

"I know that law enforcement and the public prosecution service do their best, every day, to administer and enforce the law," Landry said. "I am committed to exploring the mechanisms that exist to review the actions of all relevant authorities to ensure the system is always working to the best of its ability, in pursuit of justice."

In a lengthy post on a Facebook tribute page to her daughter, Leah Parsons outlined what she says led to her daughter's suicide. In November 2011, Parsons said, Rehtaeh went with a friend to another's home, where she was raped by four teenage boys.

"One of those boys took a photo of her being raped and decided it would be fun to distribute the photo to everyone in Rehtaeh's school and community, where it quickly went viral," Parsons wrote. "Because the boys already had a 'slut' story, the victim of the rape Rehtaeh was considered a SLUT." Read more..

Source: abcnews

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The Amazing Margaret Thatcher : We Desperately Need More Leaders Like Her

Along with Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II, Margaret Thatcher was a giant of our era and, indeed, of history. These three leaders brought about the fall of Soviet communism and the resurgence of political and economic liberty around the world.  Like Reagan, Thatcher was one of those rare individuals who was both a movement leader and an effective political leader.  It is one thing to have firm ideas, quite another to have the skills to bring them into being and for them to endure after you leave office.  The current economic crisis has put Margaret Thatcher’s ideas and ideals under siege even though this disaster resulted from ignoring her and Reagan’sfundamental free market principles.

Thatcher’s rise was astonishing.  The notion that a grocer’s daughter could become leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister in class-ridden Britain would have been preposterous.  In business it’s usually outsiders who fundamentally shakeup an existing industry or creates an entirely new ones.  In politics it takes a severe crisis for an outlier to emerge.  Though he had a pedigreed background, Winston Churchill was very much the outsider, intensely distrusted and disliked by his own party and much of the public. Only when Britain’s very existence was at stake could he reach the summit.  In Thatcher’s case it was an acute economic and social crisis that enabled her to emerge.

Source: forbes

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North Korea Moves Missile to Coast but little threat is seen

Last Thursday the South Korea's defense chief said that the North Korea had moved to it's east coast a missile with a “considerable” range, but that it was not capable of reaching the United States. The disclosure came as the Communist North's military warned that it was ready to strike American military forces with “cutting-edge smaller  lighter and diversified nuclear strike means.”

North Korea has been issuing a blistering series of similar threats in recent weeks, citing as targets the American military installations in the Pacific islands of Hawaii and Guam, as well as the United States mainland. In its latest threat on Thursday, it did not name targets but said it was authorized to “take powerful, practical military counteractions” against the threats from B-2 bombers from the United States, B-52 bombers from Guam and F-22 Stealth jet fighters from United States bases in Japan that have recently run missions over the Korean Peninsula during joint military exercises with South Korea.

“The moment of explosion is approaching fast,” the general staff of the North Korean People’s Army said in a statement carried by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency. “The U.S. had better ponder over the prevailing grave situation.”

Most analysts do not believe that North Korea has a missile powerful enough to deliver a nuclear warhead to the United States mainland or that it is reckless enough to strike the American military in the Pacific. Still, with the North’s bellicose postures showing no signs of letting up, the United States announced Wednesday that it was speeding the deployment of an advanced missile defense system to Guam in the next few weeks, two years ahead of schedule, in what the Pentagon said was a “precautionary move” to protect American naval and air forces from the threat of a North Korean missile attack.

Testifying before a parliamentary hearing, Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin of South Korea said the missile North Korea had moved to the east coast, possibly “for demonstration or for training,” appeared not to be a KN-08, which analysts say is the closest thing North Korea has to an intercontinental ballistic missile, though its exact range is not known. The new missile was unveiled during a military parade in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, last April.

South Korean media quoted unnamed military sources as saying that the missile was a Musudan. Deployed around 2007, the Musudan is a ballistic missile with a range of more than 1,900 miles, according to the South Korean Defense Ministry. Guam is nearly 2,200 miles from North Korea.

Wee Yong-sub, an army colonel and deputy spokesman for the Defense Ministry, would say only that the South Korean and American military have been closely monitoring the movements of all North Korean missiles, including the Musudan.

“Chances are not high that they will lead to a full-scale war,” said Mr.Kim, the defense minister, referring to the North Korean threats. “But given the nature of the North Korean regime, it’s possible that they will launch a localized provocation.”

On Thursday, for a second straight day, North Korea blocked South Koreans from crossing the border to enter a jointly operated industrial park, threatening the future of the last remaining symbol of inter-Korean cooperation. It also warned that it would pull out more than 53,000 North Korean workers from the joint factory park, located in the North Korean city of Kaesong, if taunts from the South Korean news media continued.

After the North’s threat to close the industrial complex last week, some South Korean media reports said the North Korean leader, KimJong-un, would be all talk but no action when it came to the park because he did not want to risk one of his most precious sources of hard currency.

After the United Nations Security Council imposed further sanctions against the North for its launching of a three-stage rocket in December and its third nuclear test in February, North Korea has appeared to harden its stance considerably. It said it would never negotiate away its nuclear weapons arsenal, but would instead expand it. On Tuesday, it declared that it would restart a nuclear reactor that gave it a small stockpile of plutonium and would readjust its uranium-enrichment plant for weapons efforts.

Photographs published Wednesday on the Web site 38 North, which follows North Korean developments, show new construction at the aging reactor, dating back several weeks. Once operational, the reactor can produce one bomb’s worth of plutonium a year.

The Pentagon’s decision to deploy a new missile defense system to Guam now is the latest in a series of steps intended to deter the North from either military action or new missile tests.

Earlier this week, the Defense Department announced that two of the Navy’s Aegis-class missile defense warships were positioned in the Pacific to monitor North Korea. Installing the land-based missile system in Guam will free up the ships, which have radar and interceptor missiles, to be repositioned closer to the North Korean coast. That would give President Obama a wider range of options if the North Koreans fire their missiles in a test or at a target.

“We haven’t made any decisions,” a senior administration official said. “But we want as many options as possible.”

Source: nytimes

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