Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/314380209?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Saturday, June 22, 2013
Lavrov: Syria peace conference could be derailed
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) ? Russia's foreign minister said Friday that Washington is sending contradictory signals on Syria that could derail an international conference intended to end the civil war, warning that U.S. talk about a possible no-fly zone would only encourage the rebels to keep fighting.
Sergey Lavrov, speaking in an interview with The Associated Press and the Bloomberg news agencies on Friday, also criticized demands that Syrian President Bashar Assad step down.
"Not because we like the regime, not because we want the regime to stay, but because it's for the Syrians to decide," Lavrov said. "And to say you must capitulate and deliver the power to us is just not realistic."
In addition, he dismissed allegations by the United States, Britain and France that Assad's regime has used chemical weapons.
Russia has been the key ally of Assad's regime throughout a two-year civil war, which has killed more than 93,000 people, shielding it from U.N. Security Council sanctions and continuing to provide it with weapons.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has confirmed that his country signed a contract for the delivery of S-300 state-of-the art air defense missile systems to Syria, but said it hasn't been fulfilled yet.
Lavrov defended the S-300 deal, pointing to the deployment of U.S. Patriot air defense missiles and fighter jets to neighboring Jordan.
"The contract on S-300s is absolutely legal, it's transparent and it's fully in line with the international norms and with the Russian export control legislation," he said.
"Second, the contract hasn't been yet finalized. Third, the Americans are leaving Patriots after this exercise in Jordan, together with F-16 planes, and no one is asking them not to do this. The region is really full of weapons, including offensive weapons which have been supplied in the past to the countries of the region, and some of these weapons are infiltrating into Syria."
He said supplies of weapons to the Syrian opposition, which have been promised by Washington and are being considered by the European Union, would be a "very big mistake."
Lavrov was asked if Russia is warning the West in particular against providing the rebels with shoulder-fired air defense missiles that could challenge Assad's air dominance. He replied: "We believe this is absolutely illegitimate, and we aren't going to legitimize it by starting discussing some conditions on which these supplies could be justified."
He said that while the U.S. says it favors sponsoring a Syria peace conference in Geneva, it has made statements that have sent a conflicting signal to the rebels. Lavrov said that the U.S. talk about a possible no-fly zone in particular has encouraged the opposition to step up fighting instead of sitting down for talks.
"The message the opposition is getting: Guys, don't go to Geneva, don't say you are going to negotiate with the regime, soon things will change in your favor," Lavrov said. "It's either the conference or the instigation of the opposition not to be flexible. I don't think it's possible to do both at the same time."
The date and location of the international conference on Syria haven't been announced yet, but it's already being dubbed "Geneva 2" since a similar event was held there a year ago.
"If our goal is the conference, then we must avoid any discussions and, of course, any action designed to establish a no-fly zone. We must avoid confrontational debates and one-sided resolutions in the General Assembly and in the Human Rights Council because all this isn't helping to create the atmosphere necessary to convene a conference," Lavrov said.
He shrugged off the U.S., British and French statements about the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime as ungrounded, saying they "smack of politics and speculation."
"We have been told by the Americans, by the French, by the British that they have proofs," he said. "What they showed to us is absolutely unconvincing. It's not based on facts, and it can't be taken as a proof."
He said that a new international probe must determine the truth and added that after the conflict is over, Syria could be encouraged to destroy its chemical weapons stockpiles.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/lavrov-syria-peace-conference-could-derailed-131227642.html
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Friday, June 21, 2013
Flooding kills 3, forces 75,000 from Calgary homes
CALGARY, Alberta (AP) ? Floodwaters that devastated much of southern Alberta left at least three people dead and forced officials in the western Canadian city of Calgary on Friday to order the evacuation of its entire downtown, as the waters reached the 10th row of the city's hockey arena.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper called the level of flooding "stunning" and said officials don't know yet if it will get worse, but said the water has peaked and stabilized and noted that the weather has gotten better.
Overflowing rivers washed out roads and bridges, soaked homes and turned streets into dirt-brown waterways around southern Alberta. Royal Canadian Mounted Police Sgt. Patricia Neely told reporters three were dead and two bodies were recovered. The two bodies recovered are the two men who had been seen floating lifeless in the Highwood River near High River on Thursday, she said.
Harper, a Calgary resident, said he never imagined there would be a flood of this magnitude in this part of Canada.
"This is incredible. I've seen a little bit of flooding in Calgary before. I don't think any of us have seen anything like this before. The magnitude is just extraordinary," he said.
"We're all very concerned that if gets much more than this it could have real impact on infrastructure and other services longer term, so we're hoping things will subside a bit."
Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi said the water levels have reached a peak, but have not declined.
"We've sat at the same level for many, many hours now," Nenshi said. "There is one scenario that would it go even higher than this, so you'll either see the Bow river continue at this level for many hours or you will see it grow even higher and we're prepared for that eventuality."
Twenty-five neighborhoods in the city, with an estimated 75,000 people, have already been evacuated due to floodwaters in Calgary, a city of more than a million people that hosted the 1988 Winter Olympics and serves as the center of Canada's oil industry.
Alberta Premier Alison Redford said Medicine Hat, east of Calgary, was under a mandatory evacuation order affecting 10,000 residents. The premier warned that communities downstream of Calgary had not yet felt the full force of the floodwaters.
About 350,000 people work in downtown Calgary on a typical day. However, officials said very few people need to be moved out, since many heeded warnings and did not go to work Friday.
A spokesman for Canada's defense minister said 1,300 soldiers from a base in Edmonton were being deployed to the flood zone.
Police were asking residents who were forced to leave the nearby High River area to register at evacuation shelter. The Town of High River remained under a mandatory evacuation order.
In downtown Calgary, water was inundating homes and businesses in the shadow of skyscrapers. Water has swamped cars and train tracks.
The city said the home rink of the National Hockey League's Calgary Flames flooded and the water inside was 10 rows deep. That would mean the dressing rooms are likely submerged as well.
"I think that really paints a very clear picture of what kinds of volumes of water we are dealing with," said Trevor Daroux, the city's deputy police chief.
At the grounds for the world-famous Calgary Stampede fair, water reached up to the roofs of the chuck wagon barns. The popular rodeo and festival is the city's signature event. Mayor Nenshi said it will occur no matter what.
About 1,500 have gone to emergency shelters while the rest have found shelter with family or friends, Nenshi said.
The flood was forcing emergency plans at the Calgary Zoo, which is situated on an island near where the Elbow and Bow rivers meet. Lions and tigers were being prepared for transfer, if necessary, to prisoner holding cells at the courthouse.
Schools and court trials were canceled Friday and residents urged to avoid downtown. Transit service in the core was shut down.
Residents were left to wander and wade through streets waist-deep in water.
Newlyweds Scott and Marilyn Crowson were ordered out of their central Calgary condominium late Friday as rising waters filled their parking garage and ruptured a nearby gas line. "That's just one building but every building is like this," he said. "For the most part, people are taking it in stride."
Crowson, a kayaker, estimated the Bow River, usually about four feet deep, is running at a depth of 15 feet (4.57 meters).
"It's moving very, very fast," he said of the normally placid stream spanned by now-closed bridges. "I've never seen it so big and so high."
It had been a rainy week throughout much of Alberta, but on Thursday the Bow River Basin was battered with up to four inches (100 millimeters) of rain. Environment Canada's forecast called for more rain in the area, but in much smaller amounts.
Calgary was not alone in its weather-related woes. Flashpoints of chaos spread from towns in the Rockies south to Lethbridge.
More than a dozen towns declared states of emergency. Entire communities, including High River and Bragg Creek, near Calgary, were under mandatory evacuation orders.
Some of the worst flooding hit High River, where an estimated half of the town's residents experienced flooding in their homes.
Military helicopters plucked about 30 people off rooftops in the area. Others were rescued by boat or in buckets of heavy machinery. Some even swam for their lives from stranded cars.
Further west, in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains, photos from the mountain town of Canmore depicted a raging river ripping at house foundations.
___
Associated Press writer Rob Gillies contributed from Toronto and AP writer Jeremy Hainsworth contributed from Vancouver, British Columbia.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/flooding-kills-3-forces-75-000-calgary-homes-020050347.html
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Border security: Boost for Senate immigration bill
FILE - In this June 6, 2013 file photo, Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., speaks during a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing in Washington. Kirk said Thursday, June 20, 2013, he's been working with colleagues to craft immigration reform that's gaining momentum in the Senate. He says the measure will secure the U.S. border to the south and create a "tough but fair" path to citizenship. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
FILE - In this June 6, 2013 file photo, Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., speaks during a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing in Washington. Kirk said Thursday, June 20, 2013, he's been working with colleagues to craft immigration reform that's gaining momentum in the Senate. He says the measure will secure the U.S. border to the south and create a "tough but fair" path to citizenship. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio responds to reporters' questions on immigration reform legislation, jobs, and President Barack Obama's plan to put limits on the carbon emissions of existing power plants, Thursday, June 20, 2013, during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Jenny Beth Martin, co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots, listens at left, as Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., speaks at a news conference hosted by the Tea Party Patriots to oppose the Senate immigration reform bill, Thursday, June 20, 2013, on Capitol Hill in Washington. From left are, Martin; Akady Faktorovich, an immigrant from the former Soviet Union; Hans Marsen, an immigrant from England; Sessions; Niger Innis with TheTeaParty.Net, and George Wilkerson with The Remembrance Project. White House-backed immigration legislation gained momentum in the Senate on Thursday as lawmakers closed in on a bipartisan compromise to spend tens of billions of dollars stiffening border security without delaying legalization for millions living in the country unlawfully. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? A breakthrough at hand, Republicans and Democrats reached for agreement Thursday on a costly, military-style surge to secure the leaky U.S.-Mexican border and clear the way for Senate passage of legislation giving millions of immigrants a chance at citizenship after years in America's shadows.
Lawmakers in both parties described a Southern border that would be bristling with law enforcement manpower and technology as a result of legislation at the top of President Barack Obama's second-term domestic policy agenda. The emerging deal called for a doubling of the Border Patrol, with 20,000 new agents, 18 new unmanned surveillance drones, 350 miles of new fencing, and an array of fixed and mobile devices to maintain vigilance.
"This is a border surge. We have militarized our border, almost," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican.
"Boots on the ground, drones in the air," summed up Sen. Chuck Schumer, the New York Democrat who has been at the center of efforts to push immigration legislation through the Senate.
The plan was announced by Sens. John Hoeven of North Dakota and Bob Corker of Tennessee, Republicans who had been publicly uncommitted on the legislation. Both said other GOP fence-sitters would also swing behind the measure if the changes were incorporated, and by late in the afternoon, two had done so.
A final vote on the legislation is expected by the end of next week.
The next move would be up to the House, where majority Republicans are overwhelmingly opposed to granting citizenship to immigrants living in the United States illegally. Talks on any final compromise would be held in the fall ? if then.
The White House declined to respond to requests for comment on the Senate proposal, even though congressional officials said administration officials were involved in the formal drafting of the terms. Obama met at the White House recently with key Democrats to discuss the measure, and kept apprised of the negotiations while on his just-completed European trip.
Under the emerging deal, an estimated 11 million immigrants living in the United States illegally would be eligible to obtain legal status while border security was increased. They could not be awarded green cards, which bestow permanent residency status, until the entire border enhancement plan had been put into place.
That effectively would give the government a decade to set up the additional security, since the legislation envisions a pathway to citizenship that gives immigrants provisional status after six months but requires them to wait at least a decade before they become eligible for green cards.
Despite the changes, the legislation appeared certain to retain the basic contours negotiated over many months by a so-called Gang of Eight, four senators from each party.
Whatever its impact on the bill's prospects, the deal failed to satisfy a group of conservative Senate critics who want proof that the border has been secured before legalization begins, rather than the mere placement of new agents and equipment.
"My impression is this is a promise of future performance and there is no contingency in the form of a trigger" to assure its effectiveness, said John Cornyn, R-Texas.
Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., also cautioned that the highly touted agreement had not been drafted yet, much less read by members of the Senate and their staffs.
The legislation has a broad array of outside interests pushing for its passage, although two organizations objected to the plan for changes.
Speaking for CAMBIO, an organization that favors immigrant rights, Christian Ramirez said the deal should include lapel cameras to deter abuse by border agents, as well as the placement of 1,000 distress beacons in the desert.
The ACLU called the proposed agreement a "massive deployment of force" that would be "simply devastating for border communities."
Corker and Hoeven both said they expected the legislation to be formally unveiled in the Senate late Thursday, although for unexplained reasons, it had not yet materialized after several hours.
The agreement was a turn in the Senate spotlight for the two men, who have spent days in secretive talks with fellow Republicans, and then with Schumer and Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey.
"We must secure the border first" before anyone in the country illegally can gain citizenship, Hoeven said on the Senate floor. "That's what Americans demand and that's what we must do." He said the 10-year cost included $25 billion for the additional Border Patrol agents, $3 billion for fencing and another $3.2 billion for other measures. Other officials said the overall cost of the security upgrade could reach $40 billion over a decade.
Corker told reporters the plan amounted to 'border security on steroids" and said it would impart "tremendous momentum" to the bill on the Senate floor. By day's end, Republican Sens. Mark Kirk of Illinois and Dean Heller of Nevada said they, too, were prepared to vote for the bill if the changes were incorporated.
That brought to 10 the number of Republicans who have indicated they will vote for the bill, far more than enough to assure it will have the 60 required to overcome any attempted filibuster by last-ditch opponents. Democrats control 54 seats, and party aides have said they do not expect any defections from their side of the political aisle.
Apart from the border security measures, the legislation as drafted already included implementation of a biometric system to track the comings and goings of foreigners at air and sea ports as well as land crossings, and a requirement for businesses to verify the legal status of job seekers.
At the same time the border security talks appeared all but settled, officials disclosed changes on other thorny issues.
Under one of them, sought by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, immigrants would not be able to claim credit for Social Security taxes they paid while working without lawful status. Credits are used to determine the amount in benefits a worker receives from the program after retirement.
Also under discussion was a second proposal by Hatch to prohibit the federal government or the states from making immigrants eligible for welfare until they had held legal status for five years.
Officials also said the White House had taken a role in drafting a change to clarify when immigrants would become eligible for federal subsidies under the health care law that is now taking full effect. Details were not immediately available.
Democrats and Republicans alike said Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, was pressing for a toughening of the E-Verify program, and that a small group of Southern Republicans wanted changes made to a new program that would permit farm workers from other countries to work in the United States temporarily. The outcomes of those talks ? and the votes of several Republicans as well ?were unclear.
In addition to border security issues, the legislation would increase the number of visas going to high-skilled workers whose labor is sought by U.S. technology firms, create a new program for lower-skilled immigrants and allow farm laborers to come to the country temporarily to perform seasonal jobs.
Separately, younger immigrants who came to the United States illegally as children would be eligible for legal status more quickly than others.
For foreigners looking to move to the United States legally, a decades-old system that emphasizes family ties would be replaced by one that gives more weight to education, work skills, English proficiency and relative youth.
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Friday, May 3, 2013
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Will 'Iron Man 3' Storm the Box Office This Weekend?
From Robert Downey Jr. suiting up and saving the country in Iron Man 3 to Ben Barnes and Amanda Seyfried's marriage catastrophe in The Big Wedding, here are the movies to check out. Will you be grabbing your popcorn and catching one of them this weekend?
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