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July 3, 2013

Indonesia Quake
A 6.1-magnitude earthquake in the Indonesian province of Aceh flattened buildings and sparked landslides on Tuesday, killing at least three people and injuring dozens in a region devastated by the quake-triggered tsunami of 2004.

World

Gitmo Inmates Seek End To Force-Feedings for Ramadan

Longtime prisoners on hunger strike at the Guantanamo detention camp for terrorism suspects are asking a federal judge to order the US government to stop forcibly drugging them and to stop forcefeeding them in advance of the religious fast during Ramadan. The month-long fast, celebrated by all Muslims, is set to begin with the new moon on July 8. The motion was filed Sunday. It asks the judge to block US officials from continuing to administer a drug said to cause dangerous side-effects. Prolonged use of the drug, Reglan, may cause a neurological muscular disorder similar to Parkinsons disease, lawyers for the detainees say. It can also trigger depression, suicidal thoughts, and suicide, they argue. On Monday, US District Judge Rosemary Collyer gave the government two days, until July 3, to respond with its own motion. The action was filed by lawyers with the London-based group Reprieve on behalf of four Guantanamo detainees. Being strapped to a chair and having a tube forcibly inserted through ones nostrils and into ones stomach is dishonorable and degrading. It falls within the ambit of torture or other forms of inhumane treatment, the motion says in part. In the long history of American detention of the enemy, bodily invasions of this character have never been the routine business of the prisoner of war camp, the motion says. The motion adds that the forced administration of the drug Reglan in conjunction with the forced feeding violates the detainees right to refuse a drug that poses a significant risk of adverse side effects from prolonged use. The practice is inhumane, violates human rights and medical ethics, and serves no legitimate penological interest, according to the motion. The US military, which runs the detention camp, has defended the procedures used to feed the detainees, saying they are humane. All four of the detainees have been cleared for release from Guantanamo, but the transfer process has been stopped because of a long-running stalemate between Congress and the White House. They are among 166 detainees being held at the detention camp at the US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Eightysix of the prisoners have been cleared for release. Lawyers estimate that 120 are currently on hunger strike and that, of those, 44 are being force-fed by US officials. The hunger strike began in early February to protest their indefinite detention without charge.

US, Russia Want Syria Conference Soon

US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Tuesday that both the US and Russia are seriously committed to having an international conference on Syria and setting up a transitional government to end the bloodshed and save the state of Syria. Kerry said the two countries both believe the meeting should take sooner rather than later, but acknowledged it might not be possible until August or later. Such an international meeting, which has been delayed several times before, is known as Geneva II because it follows a Syria meeting in the Swiss city in June 2012, AP reported. Kerry spoke outside the US Embassy in Brunei after a 90minute-plus meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of an Asian security summit. Russia has been a key backer of Syrian President Bashar Assads government in the two-year civil war that has claimed more than 93,000 lives. But Kerry said the US and Russia agreed that they have an ability to make a difference if they can pull together. Our objective remains the same--that to recognize the notion that there really isnt a military victory, per se, for Syria that keeps Syria as a country, Kerry said. And No. 2, that we have an obligation to try to work towards a peaceful resolution because a peaceful settlement is the best way to save the state of Syria and to minimize destruction. He emphasized that the first international conference called for a transitional government for Syria with a neutral environment by mutual consent to a full transfer of power. Last month, Lavrov said the US was sending conflicting signals to the insurgents. While the US said it favored a peace conference in Geneva, Lavrov said, talk about a possible no-fly zone encouraged the opposition to step up fighting instead of sitting down for talks.

In Focus
Children Among 19 Dead In Siberia Helicopter Crash
Nineteen people, including children, died on Tuesday when a MI-8 helicopter crashed in the nearly impassable taiga in eastern Siberia, the latest disaster to hit Russias accident-prone aviation industry. A Moscow-based aviation committee, citing the surviving crew, said 19 of the 28 people on board were killed, but the emergencies ministry refused to confirm the toll, AFP reported. The ministry said rescue teams were having a hard time reaching the crash site in the mountainous woods of the northern Yakutia region, with efforts hampered by bad weather. There were three crew members and 25 passengers on board, the Interstate Aviation Committee said in a statement. Nineteen people died, the aircraft burnt down. Of the 25 passengers, 11 were children, officials said without providing further details. The accident apparently happened when the Polar Airlines helicopter performed a hard landing in poor weather, 45 kilometers (28 miles) northwest of the small town of Deputatsky in Yakutia. The first deputy head of the Interstate Aviation Committee, Alexander Filatov, told AFP he had been notified of the death toll through a telegram from aviation officials in Yakutia, who were able to communicate with the crew after the crash. But a spokeswoman for the emergencies ministry, Irina Rossius, said it could not give a toll until rescue teams were on the ground. Some 240 rescuers and eight aircraft have been dispatched to the area. A spokesman for the regional government in Yakutia, Afanasy Yegorov, said the crash site was so difficult to reach that the rescue teams had to land their aircraft some 30 kilometers (18 miles) away and continue their journey using all-terrain vehicles.

EU Urged Common Stand on US Spying

rench President Francois Hollande on Tuesday called for the European Union to take a common stand over allegations of Washington spying on its allies. Europe must have a coordinated, common position on the requirements we need to come up with and the explanations we must ask for, Hollande said as he met his Lithuanian counterpart Dalia Grybauskaite, whose country currently holds the EU presidency, in Paris, AFP reported. Media reports that the US National Security Agency (NSA) bugged European offices and embassies have sparked widespread concern in Europe, with Hollande on Monday warning that they threatened talks due to start next week on a crucial EU-US free trade pact. Hollande also said France had not received an official request for asylum from fugitive US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor behind the spying allegations. Paris has not yet received any particular request from Mr Snowden, Hollande said, refusing to comment further. Snowden broke his silence on Monday for the first time since fleeing to Moscow over a week ago, blasting the Obama administration and saying he remained free to make new disclosures about US spying activity. WikiLeaks said on Monday that Snowden had submitted asylum requests to 21 countries including France. Grybauskaite said her office was in consultation with the European Commission, the EUs executive arm, over the allegations and was expecting answers from Washington. We are requesting different informa-

Brazil President Prepares Package of Political Reforms

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has prepared a package of political reforms in a bid to put an end to days of anti-government protests and social unrest across the country. On Monday, Rousseff said she would send her political reforms to Congress on Tuesday. Tomorrow we are going to send to Congress our suggestions for a plebiscite spelling out the general lines which we view as more important, Rousseff said. She also said the plebiscite was part of her attempt to combine forces with state governors and city mayors in offering rapid and concrete solutions to problems of the economy, transport, health, education and politics. On June 24, following talks with state governors, cabinet members, and city mayors, Rousseff said, I am going to press for a referendum for the election of a constituent assembly tasked with political reform. According to the Datafolha survey released on Saturday, the Brazilian presidents approval rating has gone from 57 percent to 30 percent since June 6-7. The survey added that the number of those who thought that Rousseffs government was doing a bad or terrible job has increased from nine to 25 percent. The protests in Brazil erupted on June 11, when people in Sao Paulo took to the streets to condemn a price hike in public transport. The unrest spread quickly across the nation as protesters also voiced their anger over the high cost of the World Cup, poor public service and political corruption. On several occasions, Brazilian police resorted to tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the protesters.

tion from the United States to respond to the information we saw recently in the media, she said. Were waiting for those responses, and this is important because Europe is

concerned about such information in the public domain, she said. What is important for us is to protect all private information for our citizens and there are concerns that we will be

expressing to our partners in the United States. She said the EU had received some information from the United States and they are ready to cooperate.

Deadly Taliban Attack Hits NATO Compound

Taliban suicide attackers blew up a truck bomb early Tuesday at the gates of a NATO supply companys compound in Kabul and sprayed gunfire at security personnel, killing eight people, Afghan officials said. Four Nepalese and one Romanian were among those killed in the bombing, which came after a series of recent Taliban suicide attacks targeting the Supreme Court, the airport, the presidency and a CIA office, AFP reported. The attacks have made clear the Taliban have no intention of ending the violence, even as they say they are willing to enter peace negotiations. The UN deputy chief, Jan Eliasson, who was in Kabul wrapping up a five-day trip to Afghanistan when the attack took place, said continued violence could only harm the Talibans own cause. I would hope that there would be steps taken by the leadership of the Taliban to realize that the tool of violence in any case cannot instill confidence in the population, he said. Theres been too much suffering there and there are too many widows, too many father-andmotherless children in Afghanistan and I think we need to instill a sense of calm. Tuesdays attack started before dawn, when a suicide bomber drove a small truck to the outer gate of the logistics center used to supply NATO troops and detonated it. The explosion made a massive crater in the ground and damaged a guard tower, said Kabul provincial police chief Mohammad Ayuob Salangi. Two truck drivers waiting nearby to enter the compound were also killed in the blast, along with the bomber. Three gunmen then stormed into the breach and battled with security guards for more than an hour before being killed. Four Nepalese security guards were also killed, Salangi said. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the assault, saying it was a very effective attack that embarrassed the enemy. Mujahid said only three militants had been involved in the attack on a big foreign base important for NATO logistics, and listed them by name in a statement on the groups website. The Taliban last month opened a new political office in the Persian Gulf nation of Qatar, and indicated that they were prepared to enter into Afghan peace talks, but at the same time did not renounce violence. The following week, Taliban suicide attackers were able to get past preliminary security checks and open fire on guards at a gate to the presidential palace in a bold attack at the heart of the Afghan government. Earlier in June, heavily armed fighters launched a failed assault on NATOs operational headquarters at Kabuls international airport and blew up a car bomb outside Afghanistans Supreme Court.