Sunday, August 31, 2014

10:08 PM

By Unknown

In: , , ,

No comments

Beijing faces defiance in Hong Kong on vote reform - SFGate


HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong pro-democracy legislators have disrupted a Beijing official's speech as he sought to explain a decision to tightly limit voting reforms for the southern Chinese financial hub.


They chanted slogans and held up placards accusing China's central government of "breaking its promise" to let Hong Kong directly elect its leader.


The noisy demonstration at the start of Li Fei's address was a rare occasion on which a Beijing official faced open defiance.


Li is a deputy secretary general of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, or legislature. He continued his speech after security officers hustled the lawmakers out of the auditorium.


On Sunday Beijing inflamed political tension by ruling out open nominations of candidates running for Hong Kong's top job in inaugural elections in 2017.









Source: Top Stories - Google News - http://ift.tt/1r1W0NE
9:35 PM

By Unknown

In: , , ,

No comments

Iraqi forces, US strikes break ISIS siege on northern Shiite town - New York Daily News


JM LOPEZ/EPA Peshmerga fighters fire a cannon at Islamic State positions during heavy clashes in Duz-Khurmatu, Iraq, on Sunday. The Iraqi military retook control of the northern town of Amirli from ISIS militants, who had besieged it for nearly two months.

Iraqi security forces and a coalition of militiamen on Sunday broke a six-week siege imposed by the Islamic State terror army on a northern Iraqi village, amid mounting criticism over the Obama administration’s lack of a strategy to contain the bloodthirsty jihadists.


The farming community of Amirli, about 105 miles north of Baghdad and home to roughly 15,000 Shiite Turkmen, had been surrounded by ISIS since mid-July, according to reports.


“ISIS militants have fled as our heroes in the army and the volunteers are progressing at Amirli,” said Qassim Atta, the Iraqi military spokesman, according to a report on state television Sunday.


The military advance came after the United States hit ISIS militants with airstrikes on Saturday in support of a humanitarian mission.


The coalition that stormed the town from two directions included the Iraqi Army, Kurdish fighters and Shiite militias.


Army spokesman Lt. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi said on state TV that the forces suffered “some casualties,” but did not give a specific number.


JM LOPEZ/EPA An Al-Sadr militia fighter fires a mortar during heavy clashes in Duz-Khurmatu in Iraq.

He said fighting was “still ongoing to clear the surrounding villages.”


In June, members of the minority Turkmen chose to hold their ground and initially fended off ISIS fighters.


Many residents complained that aid drops of food and water were not enough as they endured oppressive heat with virtually no electricity or running water.


Despite the victory, American lawmakers across both parties had harsh words Sunday for President Obama’s “cautious” approach to ongoing threats from Islamic militants in Syria and Iraq.


“I think I’ve learned one thing about this President, and that is he’s very cautious,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”


Iraqi Shiite Turkmen disembark from an Iraqi Army helicopter that brought supplies to Amirli, a town that had been completely surrounded by militants with the Islamic State group since mid-July.Uncredited/AP Iraqi Shiite Turkmen disembark from an Iraqi Army helicopter that brought supplies to Amirli, a town that had been completely surrounded by militants with the Islamic State group since mid-July.

“Maybe in this instance, too cautious.”


On Thursday, during a television statement to the nation, Obama admitted “we don’t have a strategy yet” to combat the rise of the monstrous ISIS.


The extremist group has taken control of cities, towns and massive areas of land in northeastern Syria and northern and western Iraq. It views Shiites as apostates and has carried out a number of massacres and beheadings — often posting gruesome videos and photos of the slaughters online.


On Sunday, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) slammed the President’s undetermined policy to deal with the extremists.


“Our traditional allies are now standing up, saying, ‘Well, maybe America is not the best force to lead us through these troubles,’ ” Rogers said on “Fox News Sunday.”


American lawmakers on Sunday criticized President Obama's response to the threat posed by radical ISIS forces.Charles Dharapak/AP American lawmakers on Sunday criticized President Obama's response to the threat posed by radical ISIS forces.

“It shows, and, I think, exemplifies, that his foreign policy is in free fall.”


Rogers repeated warnings that the jihadist group poses an imminent threat to the U.S. and may already have recruited hundreds of Americans to join its cause.


Saudi King Abdullah has predicted that ISIS would soon reach the U.S. and Europe.


“We want to do whatever we need to do to stop ISIS,” Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.), the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “You don’t just come in and bomb” without a plan, he added. “When the time is right, we will do what we have to do.”


Meanwhile, Germany announced Sunday that it will send high-end rifles, tank-busting weapons and armored vehicles to help Kurdish fighters battling ISIS.


PHOTO TAKEN DECEMBER 21, 2012Ann Heisenfelt/Ap Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Obama's approach might be 'too cautious.'

Last week, a United Nations report detailed the brutal executions by ISIS in Syria, including beheadings or victims shot in the head from close range.


The terrorists hung some of the bodies on crucifixes displayed in public squares for days after the killings. The executed were offered no chance at proving their innocence in front of a judicial body before the lethal sentences were imposed.


ISIS beheaded one of its captives, freelance American journalist James Foley, 40, whose death was recorded on video and made public Aug. 19. The terrorists have threatened to execute 31-year-old Steven Sotloff, another hostage U.S. journalist, if the U.S. fails to stop its airstrikes in Iraq.


American air support began Aug. 10, with a total of 118 strikes since then. U.S. military officials estimate the tab for military operations in Iraq at about $560 million since mid-June. The Obama administration has been considering expanding its air campaign to include ISIS targets inside Syria.


With News Wire Services


rblau@nydailynews.com









Source: Top Stories - Google News - http://ift.tt/1u5ETKX
9:35 PM

By Unknown

In: , , ,

No comments

China Restricts Voting Reforms for Hong Kong - New York Times

HTTP/1.1 302 Found Date: Mon, 01 Sep 2014 04:19:38 GMT Server: Apache Set-Cookie: NYT-S=deleted; expires=Thu, 01-Jan-1970 00:00:01 GMT; path=/; domain=www.stg.nytimes.com Set-Cookie: NYT-S=0MhLY3awSMyxXDXrmvxADeHKc9C54FSf.JdeFz9JchiAIUFL2BEX5FWcV.Ynx4rkFI; expires=Wed, 01-Oct-2014 04:19:38 GMT; path=/; domain=.nytimes.com Location: http://ift.tt/1lCudDm Content-Length: 0 nnCoection: close Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8 HTTP/1.1 200 OK Server: Apache Cache-Control: no-cache Channels: NytNow Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8 Transfer-Encoding: chunked Date: Mon, 01 Sep 2014 04:19:38 GMT X-Varnish: 2094353982 2094350431 Age: 86 Via: 1.1 varnish X-Cache: HIT X-API-Version: 5-5 X-PageType: article Connection: close 002504






Asia Pacific |China Restricts Voting Reforms for Hong Kong



http://nyti.ms/1ndHqh9






Asia Pacific |​​NYT Now





Protesters switched on their cellphones at a rally in Hong Kong on Sunday night after China curbed election reforms in the city. Bobby Yip/Reuters




HONG KONG — China’s legislature laid down strict limits on Sunday to proposed voting reforms in Hong Kong, pushing back against months of rallies calling for free, democratic elections.


The decision by the National People’s Congress Standing Committee drew battle lines in what pro-democracy groups warned would be a deepening confrontation over the political future of the city and of China. The committee demanded procedural barriers for candidates for the city’s leader that would ensure Beijing remained the gatekeeper to that position — and to political power over the city.


Li Fei, a deputy secretary general of the committee, told a news conference in Beijing that the nominating guidelines — including a requirement that candidates “love the country, and love Hong Kong” — would “protect the broad stability of Hong Kong now and in the future.”


The move closes one of the few avenues left for gradual political liberalization in China after a sustained campaign against dissent on the mainland this year under President Xi Jinping. In pressing its offensive in Hong Kong, Beijing has chosen a showdown with a protest movement unlike any it has ever faced on the mainland.




A protester in Hong Kong held a placard reading, “Communist Party, you lie!” at a rally attended by several thousand people. Bobby Yip/Reuters

Hong Kong’s opposition forces enjoy civil liberties denied in the rest of China and, capitalizing on those freedoms, have taken a more confrontational approach than seen before in Hong Kong.


They said the limits set by Beijing for selection of the city’s leader, the chief executive, made a mockery of the “one person, one vote” principle that had been promised to Hong Kong.


“After having lied to Hong Kong people for so many years, it finally revealed itself today,” said Alan Leong, a pro-democracy legislator. “Hong Kong people are right to feel betrayed. It’s certain now that the central government will be effectively appointing Hong Kong’s chief executive.”


Occupy Central, the main Hong Kong group advocating open elections, said it was planning civil disobedience protests in the city’s commercial heart. Several thousand people turned out for a rally opposing Beijing’s plan on Sunday night.




Benny Tai, right, co-founder of the Occupy Central movement, rallied democracy activists next to the Hong Kong government complex on Sunday. Alex Ogle/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

“We are no longer willing to be docile subjects,” Benny Tai, a co-founder of Occupy Central and an associate professor of law at the University of Hong Kong, told the crowd. “Our hope is that people gathered here will be dauntless civil resisters. What is our hope? Our hope is that today Hong Kong has entered a new era, an era of civil disobedience, an era of resistance.”


Other groups were also preparing to protest, and the Hong Kong Federation of Students urged university students to boycott classes.


Beyond their consequences for this former British colony of 7.2 million people, the tight reins on Hong Kong politics reflect a fear among leaders in Beijing that political concessions here would ignite demands for liberalization on the mainland, a quarter-century after such hopes were extinguished at Tiananmen Square in 1989.


“They are afraid that caving in to Hong Kong would show weakness,” Minxin Pei, a professor of government at Claremont McKenna College in California, said in a telephone interview. “They believe that political weakness will encourage Hong Kong to demand more and will give opponents of the party’s rule in China great confidence to challenge the party.”




People gathered in Hong Kong on Sunday to protest election limits imposed by China. Alex Ogle/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Since taking leadership of the Communist Party almost two years ago, President Xi has orchestrated intense campaigns in China against political dissent and demands for competitive democracy, civil society and a legal system beyond party control. But Hong Kong presents special challenges.


Advocates and opponents of political liberalization alike have seen Hong Kong as a potential incubator for change in China since it was returned to Chinese rule in 1997. Since then, the territory has had considerable autonomy and retained a wealth of Western-style freedoms under an arrangement known as “one country, two systems.”


The struggle over electoral change here pits the Chinese authorities and their allies in Hong Kong against an opposition that claims robust middle-class support, protections by the city’s independent judiciary and a voice in an independent, though beleaguered, news media.


“China’s two most important cities are Beijing and Hong Kong,” Hu Jia, a prominent dissident in Beijing, said in a telephone interview on Sunday. He said he had been placed under house arrest, like other dissidents, before the National People’s Congress announcement.




Protesters in the Occupy Central movement outside the Hong Kong government complex on Sunday. Lam Yik Fei/Getty Images

“In the territory controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, only Hong Kong has some space for free speech, some judicial independence, so it is a mirror for people on the mainland,” he said. “The outcome of this battle for democracy will also determine future battles for democracy for all of China.”


Chinese officials have accused Hong Kong’s democracy groups of serving as tools for subversion by Western forces seeking to chip away at party control.


Mr. Li, the legislative official, on Sunday accused them of “sowing confusion” and “misleading society” by arguing that elections for the chief executive should follow international standards. “Each country’s historical, cultural, economic, social and political conditions and circumstances are different, and so the rules formulated for elections naturally also differ,” he said.


Under current law, the chief executive is chosen by an Election Committee, whose approximately 1,200 members are selected by constituencies generally loyal to Beijing and the city’s business elite.




A storm front moved over Hong Kong on Sunday as protesters began gathering before China’s legislature announced its decision on suffrage in the territory. Alex Ogle/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

According to the Chinese legislature’s proposal, the leader would be chosen by popular vote starting in 2017, as promised, but candidates would first have to win an endorsement from at least half the members of a nominating committee. The composition of that committee would be based on that of the current Election Committee, according to the decision, announced at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People.


Mr. Li said that the existing committee was already “broadly representative” of the Hong Kong electorate, and so would furnish the right basis for a nominating committee in future elections, an assertion that Hong Kong democrats have roundly rejected. Democracy advocates expect that the new committee, like the existing one, will exclude candidates seen as unfavorable by Beijing.


Its composition would ensure “that democrats have no chance of getting nominated,” said Michael Davis, a law professor at the University of Hong Kong. In fact, he said, it would raise the bar. Candidates have to win only one-eighth of the support of the current committee but would have to win 50 percent under the new guidelines. “As far as I can see, the government has no capacity to offer a deal the democrats will take in this,” he said.


The Chinese government fears that direct nominations would allow candidates hostile to Beijing, and it has said direct nominations would also contravene the Basic Law, the document governing Hong Kong’s relationship with the mainland. The People’s Daily, the main newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party, said in an editorial on Monday that “nobody who is antagonistic” to the central government should ever be allowed to become chief executive.




From left, Edward Chin, organizer of Financial Professionals for Occupy Central, Benny Tai, co-founder of the Occupy Central movement, and the activist Bob Kraft addressed members of the news media at a protest outside government offices in Hong Kong on Friday. Alex Ogle/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

The Hong Kong government will use the Chinese legislature’s proposal as a framework for an electoral reform bill. That bill then must win approval from the city’s 70-member Legislative Council, where the 27 democratic members could still block its passage by the required two-thirds majority. Emily Lau, chairwoman of Hong Kong’s Democratic Party, said they would. “We will veto this revolting proposal,” she said Sunday.


But C. Y. Leung, Hong Kong’s current, pro-Beijing chief executive, said killing the bill would also kill universal suffrage.


“Five million Hong Kong people would be deprived of the voting right that they would be otherwise entitled to,” he said. “We cannot afford a standstill in our constitutional development or else the prosperity, or stability, of Hong Kong will be at stake.”


The clash in Hong Kong will be more about winning over public opinion than winning control of the crowded streets. Opinion polls show that most Hong Kong citizens support the demand for “unfiltered” electoral choice, but also that many have qualms about possible disruption from protests.


On the main campus of the University of Hong Kong on Monday, there were mixed views about the wisdom of a student strike, but considerable support for the idea.


“Going on strike would be a sensible way to show our concern,” said Echo Lo, an architecture student. “ If we don’t do anything, they’ll say that we don’t care.”


But others were warier. “The decision of the central government was a bit tight, with no negotiation,” said Terrence Tang, a masters student in economics. “But I also agree that any country must take care of its security. It’s difficult because Hong Kong is so special.”


The Chinese government and the Hong Kong political establishment have accused Occupy Central and allied groups of recklessly imperiling the city’s reputation for political stability and support for business. And many ordinary Hong Kong residents have voiced worry about any political conflict that could hurt their livelihoods.


Occupy Central says it will engage in nonviolent civil disobedience to avoid major disruption. Its organizers have said that they do not plan to plunge into mass protests immediately.


“We’re not making threats, we’re just sending warning signals,” said Mr. Tai, the group’s co-founder. “The house is on fire, something has to be done.”




Alan Wong contributed reporting from Hong Kong, and Patrick Zuo contributed research from Beijing.



A version of this article appears in print on September 1, 2014, on page A1 of the New York edition with the headline: CHINA RESTRICTS VOTING REFORMS FOR HONG KONG.




Site Index











Source: Top Stories - Google News - http://ift.tt/1u5ETe8
8:14 PM

By Unknown

In: , , ,

No comments

Iraqi forces, US strikes break ISIS siege on northern Shiite town - New York Daily News


JM LOPEZ/EPA Peshmerga fighters fire a cannon at Islamic State positions during heavy clashes in Duz-Khurmatu, Iraq, on Sunday. The Iraqi military retook control of the northern town of Amirli from ISIS militants, who had besieged it for nearly two months.

Iraqi security forces and a coalition of militiamen on Sunday broke a six-week siege imposed by the Islamic State terror army on a northern Iraqi village, amid mounting criticism over the Obama administration’s lack of a strategy to contain the bloodthirsty jihadists.


The farming community of Amirli, about 105 miles north of Baghdad and home to roughly 15,000 Shiite Turkmen, had been surrounded by ISIS since mid-July, according to reports.


“ISIS militants have fled as our heroes in the army and the volunteers are progressing at Amirli,” said Qassim Atta, the Iraqi military spokesman, according to a report on state television Sunday.


The military advance came after the United States hit ISIS militants with airstrikes on Saturday in support of a humanitarian mission.


The coalition that stormed the town from two directions included the Iraqi Army, Kurdish fighters and Shiite militias.


Army spokesman Lt. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi said on state TV that the forces suffered “some casualties,” but did not give a specific number.


JM LOPEZ/EPA An Al-Sadr militia fighter fires a mortar during heavy clashes in Duz-Khurmatu in Iraq.

He said fighting was “still ongoing to clear the surrounding villages.”


In June, members of the minority Turkmen chose to hold their ground and initially fended off ISIS fighters.


Many residents complained that aid drops of food and water were not enough as they endured oppressive heat with virtually no electricity or running water.


Despite the victory, American lawmakers across both parties had harsh words Sunday for President Obama’s “cautious” approach to ongoing threats from Islamic militants in Syria and Iraq.


“I think I’ve learned one thing about this President, and that is he’s very cautious,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”


Iraqi Shiite Turkmen disembark from an Iraqi Army helicopter that brought supplies to Amirli, a town that had been completely surrounded by militants with the Islamic State group since mid-July.Uncredited/AP Iraqi Shiite Turkmen disembark from an Iraqi Army helicopter that brought supplies to Amirli, a town that had been completely surrounded by militants with the Islamic State group since mid-July.

“Maybe in this instance, too cautious.”


On Thursday, during a television statement to the nation, Obama admitted “we don’t have a strategy yet” to combat the rise of the monstrous ISIS.


The extremist group has taken control of cities, towns and massive areas of land in northeastern Syria and northern and western Iraq. It views Shiites as apostates and has carried out a number of massacres and beheadings — often posting gruesome videos and photos of the slaughters online.


On Sunday, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) slammed the President’s undetermined policy to deal with the extremists.


“Our traditional allies are now standing up, saying, ‘Well, maybe America is not the best force to lead us through these troubles,’ ” Rogers said on “Fox News Sunday.”


American lawmakers on Sunday criticized President Obama's response to the threat posed by radical ISIS forces.Charles Dharapak/AP American lawmakers on Sunday criticized President Obama's response to the threat posed by radical ISIS forces.

“It shows, and, I think, exemplifies, that his foreign policy is in free fall.”


Rogers repeated warnings that the jihadist group poses an imminent threat to the U.S. and may already have recruited hundreds of Americans to join its cause.


Saudi King Abdullah has predicted that ISIS would soon reach the U.S. and Europe.


“We want to do whatever we need to do to stop ISIS,” Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.), the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “You don’t just come in and bomb” without a plan, he added. “When the time is right, we will do what we have to do.”


Meanwhile, Germany announced Sunday that it will send high-end rifles, tank-busting weapons and armored vehicles to help Kurdish fighters battling ISIS.


PHOTO TAKEN DECEMBER 21, 2012Ann Heisenfelt/Ap Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Obama's approach might be 'too cautious.'

Last week, a United Nations report detailed the brutal executions by ISIS in Syria, including beheadings or victims shot in the head from close range.


The terrorists hung some of the bodies on crucifixes displayed in public squares for days after the killings. The executed were offered no chance at proving their innocence in front of a judicial body before the lethal sentences were imposed.


ISIS beheaded one of its captives, freelance American journalist James Foley, 40, whose death was recorded on video and made public Aug. 19. The terrorists have threatened to execute 31-year-old Steven Sotloff, another hostage U.S. journalist, if the U.S. fails to stop its airstrikes in Iraq.


American air support began Aug. 10, with a total of 118 strikes since then. U.S. military officials estimate the tab for military operations in Iraq at about $560 million since mid-June. The Obama administration has been considering expanding its air campaign to include ISIS targets inside Syria.


With News Wire Services


rblau@nydailynews.com









Source: Top Stories - Google News - http://ift.tt/1wYKJm0
8:14 PM

By Unknown

In: , , ,

No comments

Hong Kong pro-democracy activists heckle China official day after vote ruling - Reuters



By Clare Jim


HONG KONG Sun Aug 31, 2014 10:59pm EDT







1 of 8. Pro-democracy lawmaker Leung Kwok-hung is blocked by security guards as he protests against Li Fei (not pictured), deputy general secretary of the National People's Congress (NPC) standing committee, as Li speaks on the podium during a briefing session in Hong Kong September 1, 2014.


Credit: Reuters/Bobby Yip





HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong pro-democracy activists heckled a senior Chinese official on Monday, shouting slogans and forcing him to temporarily abandon a speech explaining Beijing's decision to rule out a fully democratic election in 2017.



Li Fei, deputy secretary general of China's National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, was speaking a day after Beijing rejected demands by pro-democracy activists for the right to freely choose the city's next leader in 2017.



Dressed in black and wearing yellow ribbons, members of Hong Kong's democratic camp were escorted out of the auditorium after they shouted and held up signs reading "shameful" and saying Beijing had lost credibility.



Pro-establishment people in the crowd clapped as the democrats were led out.



About 100 activists had gathered for Li's speech, some waving British colonial flags and banners with an "X" over the Chinese characters for "Communism" amid a heavy police presence. The former British colony returned to Communist Chinese rule in 1997.



A group of Beijing loyalists stood nearby waving China's flag.



The NPC Standing Committee on Sunday endorsed a framework to let only two or three candidates run in Hong Kong's 2017 leadership vote. All candidates must first obtain majority backing from a nominating committee likely to be stacked with Beijing loyalists.



The decision makes it almost impossible for opposition democrats to get on the ballot and prompted pro-democracy to renew their vow to bring Hong Kong's financial hub to a halt with "Occupy Central" protests.



Political reform has been a major source of tension in Hong Kong, with China party leaders fearful of calls for democracy spreading to other cities.



Following the publication by Beijing of a white paper outlining China's authority over Hong Kong in June, democracy activists held an unofficial referendum on voting in the special administrative region, and hundreds of thousands marched to the city's business district and staged a sit-in.



Li's briefing is being organized by the Hong Kong government and China's Liaison Office in Hong Kong. The vice chairman of the Standing Committee's Legislative Affairs Commission, Zhang Rongshun, and the Deputy Director of the State Council's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, Feng Wei, were also due to speak in a series of briefings throughout the day.



Student activists said they would gather outside of the Hong Kong chief executive's office in the afternoon.



Britain made no mention of democracy for Hong Kong until the dying days of about 150 years of colonial rule.



(Reporting by Clare Jim; Writing by Clare Baldwin; Editing by Nick Macfie)












Source: Top Stories - Google News - http://ift.tt/1u5hjOr
7:42 PM

By Unknown

In: , , ,

No comments

Obama Needs New Strategy to Defeat Islamic State, Lawmakers Say - Businessweek


Lawmakers expressed support for stronger U.S. action against extremists in Iraq and Syria, with both Democrats and Republicans calling on President Barack Obama to formulate a more aggressive strategy against the group known as Islamic State.


“I think it’s very, very serious. We have to have a strategy to deal with it in Syria and Iraq, in this new caliphate, and to prevent that caliphate from expanding,” Senator Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat, said in an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” program that aired today.


The Obama administration’s strategy for confronting Islamic State has drawn new attention after reports that the group includes hundreds of members holding U.S. or European passports who could travel back to conduct attacks in their home countries.


Representative Dutch Ruppersberger of Maryland, the top-ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence committee, said the “biggest threat” to the U.S. are Americans and Britons who join extremist groups and also hold passports that make it easier for them to travel back to the U.S. -- and harder for intelligence officials to identify.


The U.K. has raised its terror threat to “severe,” the second-highest level, and Prime Minister David Cameron will announce legislation tomorrow that would make it easier to confiscate passports of people suspected of wanting to travel to join extremist groups.


U.S. Assistance


Senator John McCain, an Arizona Republican, said the U.S. should increase participation of special forces and military advisers in the region.


“We have to defeat ISIS,” McCain said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” program, using an acronym for Islamic State. “Not contain, not stop. Defeat.”


Obama last week said the U.S. has no immediate plans to strike Islamic State havens inside Syria and that a strategy for confronting the extremist group beyond Iraq is still being drafted.


Obama said the U.S. will continue airstrikes on Islamic State positions and equipment in northern Iraq, as the “core priority” is protecting U.S. personnel and preventing extremists from overtaking the country. The U.S. has carried out more than 100 airstrikes against Islamic State positions since the campaign began Aug. 8.


Airstrikes Weighed


Obama said he’d “consult” with Congress about a strategy for the region, stopping short of saying he’d wait for congressional approval for airstrikes or other actions. The president already has authorized surveillance flights over Syria to track the militants.


Obama administration officials “are putting the pieces of the strategy together,” Michele Flournoy, the president’s former undersecretary of defense for policy, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” program.


She noted the surveillance flights over Syria, the formation of a new Iraqi government under Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi, and that Secretary of State John Kerry would travel to the region to build a multi-nation coalition to address the threat.


“The pieces are starting to emerge,” though Obama “wants to take his time to get it right,” Flournoy said.


Ruppersberger said he expects “action within the next week or two” in Syria after U.S. officials collect the necessary intelligence.


“You just don’t come in and bomb unless you know where you are, who you are going to get,” Ruppersberger said on CNN’s “State of the Union” program.


Understanding Targets


“We have got to go in cautiously. We have to understand where our targets are. We should have been doing this for a very long time, assessing this,” Representative Adam Kinzinger, an Illinois Republican and military veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, said on CNN.


Representative Adam Smith, a Democrat from Washington state, urged U.S. officials to ally with moderate Sunnis in the region, saying that otherwise attacking the militants would indirectly assist Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad.


“We do not want to go into this on the side of Assad,” Smith said on CBS.


Pressure to confront Islamic State increased after the extremists beheaded U.S. journalist James Foley earlier this month. Human-rights groups said Islamic State executed more than 100 Syrian soldiers in an attack on the Tabaqa military airport.


Raqqa, where U.S. officials think Foley and other hostages have been held, is the first province fully outside Assad’s control, cementing Islamic State’s hold over its self-declared caliphate. That allows it to focus on neighboring Aleppo province, home to Syria’s largest city and commercial capital, where it already has seized villages and towns previously held by other rebels.


To contact the reporters on this story: Greg Giroux in Washington at ggiroux@bloomberg.net; Michelle Jamrisko in Washington at mjamrisko@bloomberg.net


To contact the editors responsible for this story: Maura Reynolds at mreynolds34@bloomberg.net Laurence Arnold









Source: Top Stories - Google News - http://ift.tt/1pyxnc2
7:12 PM

By Unknown

In: , , ,

No comments

Israel claims West Bank land for possible settlement use, draws US rebuke - Reuters



By Jeffrey Heller


JERUSALEM Sun Aug 31, 2014 7:02pm EDT







1 of 4. Israeli women walk in a Jewish settlement known as 'Gevaot', in the Etzion settlement bloc, near Bethlehem August 31, 2014. Israel announced on Sunday a land appropriation in the occupied West Bank that an anti-settlement group termed the biggest in 30 years and a Palestinian official said would cause only more friction after the Gaza war. Some 400 hectares (988 acres) in the Etzion settlement bloc near Bethlehem were declared 'state land, on the instructions of the political echelon' by the military-run Civil Administration. Construction of a major settlement at the location has been mooted by Israel since 2000. Last year, the government invited bids for the building of 1,000 housing units at the site.


Credit: Reuters/Ronen Zvulun (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS SOCIETY)





JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel announced on Sunday a land appropriation in the occupied West Bank that an anti-settlement group termed the biggest in 30 years, drawing Palestinian condemnation and a U.S. rebuke.



Some 400 hectares (988 acres) in the Etzion Jewish settlement bloc near Bethlehem were declared "state land, on the instructions of the political echelon" by the military-run Civil Administration.



"We urge the government of Israel to reverse this decision,” a State Department official said in Washington, calling the move "counterproductive" to efforts to achieve a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians.



Israel Radio said the step was taken in response to the kidnapping and killing of three Jewish teens by Hamas militants in the area in June.



Tensions stoked by the incident quickly spread to Israel's border with Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas, and the two sides engaged in a seven-week war that ended on Tuesday with an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire.



The notice published on Sunday by the Israeli military gave no reason for the land appropriation decision.



Peace Now, which opposes Israeli settlement activities in the West Bank, territory the Palestinians seek for a state, said the appropriation was meant to turn a site where 10 families now live adjacent to a Jewish seminary into a permanent settlement.



Construction of a major settlement at the location, known as "Gevaot", has been mooted by Israel since 2000. Last year, the government invited bids for the building of 1,000 housing units at the site.



Peace Now said the land seizure was the largest announced by Israel in the West Bank since the 1980s and that anyone with ownership claims had 45 days to appeal. A local Palestinian mayor said Palestinians owned the tracts and harvested olive trees on them.



Israel has come under intense international criticism over its settlement activities, which most countries regard as illegal under international law and a major obstacle to the creation of a viable Palestinian state in any future peace deal.



Nabil Abu Rdainah, a spokesman for Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, called on Israel to cancel the appropriation. "This decision will lead to more instability. This will only inflame the situation after the war in Gaza," Abu Rdainah said.



Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu broke off U.S.-brokered peace talks with Abbas in April after the Palestinian leader reached a reconciliation deal with Hamas, the Islamist movement that dominates the Gaza Strip.



In a series of remarks after an open-ended ceasefire halted the Gaza war, Netanyahu repeated his position that Abbas would have to sever his alliance with Hamas for a peace process with Israel to resume.



The administration of President Barack Obama, who has been at odds with Netanyahu over settlements since taking office in 2009, pushed back against the land decision. It was the latest point of contention between Washington and its top Middle East ally Israel, which also differ over Iran nuclear talks.



“We have long made clear our opposition to continued settlement activity,” said the State Department official, who declined to be identified.



"This announcement, like every other settlement announcement Israel makes, planning step they approve and construction tender they issue, is counterproductive to Israel's stated goal of a negotiated two-state solution with the Palestinians," the official said.



After the collapse of the last round of U.S.-brokered peace talks, U.S. officials cited settlement construction as one of the main reasons for the breakdown, while also faulting the Palestinians for signing a series of international treaties and conventions.



Israel has said construction at Gevaot would not constitute the establishment of a new settlement because the site is officially designated a neighborhood of an existing one, Alon Shvut, several km (miles) down the road.



Some 500,000 Israelis live among 2.4 million Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, territory that the Jewish state captured in the 1967 Middle East war.



(Reporting by Jeffrey Heller in Jerusalem, Matt Spetalnick in Washington and Ali Sawafta in Ramallah; Editing by Mark Heinrich and Andrea Ricci)












Source: Top Stories - Google News - http://ift.tt/VZTmfc
6:08 PM

By Unknown

In: , , ,

No comments

Israel seizes land in West Bank block - The Globe and Mail


Israel on Sunday laid claim to nearly 1,000 acres of West Bank land in a Jewish settlement block near Bethlehem – a step that could herald significant Israeli construction in the area – defying Palestinian demands for a halt in settlement expansion and challenging world opinion.


Peace Now, an Israeli group that opposes the construction of settlements in the West Bank, said that the action Sunday might be the largest single appropriation of West Bank land in decades and that it could “dramatically change the reality” in the area.



More Related to this Story




Secretary of State John Kerry met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi on Tuesday as part of a multi-national effort to end fighting between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza that has killed at least 609 Palestinians and 29 Israelis. (July 22) Secretary of State John Kerry met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi on Tuesday as part of a multi-national effort to end fighting between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza that has killed at least 609 Palestinians and 29 Israelis. (July 22) AP Video
Video

Video: Diplomatic push intensifies to end war in Gaza


Sirens sound in Jerusalem as residents run for cover as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says strikes will increase until Hamas is hit hard. Deborah Lutterbeck reports. Sirens sound in Jerusalem as residents run for cover as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says strikes will increase until Hamas is hit hard. Deborah Lutterbeck reports. Reuters
Video

Video: Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu vows to fight on


Palestinians aspire to form a state in the lands that Israel conquered in 1967.


Israeli officials said the political directive to expedite a survey of the status of the land came after three Israeli teenagers were kidnapped and killed in June while hitchhiking in that area. In July, the Israeli authorities arrested a Palestinian who was accused of being the prime mover in the kidnapping and killing of the teenagers. The timing of the land appropriation suggested that it was meant as a kind of compensation for the settlers and punishment for the Palestinians.


The land, which is near the Jewish settlement outpost of Gvaot in the Etzion block south of Jerusalem, has now officially been declared “state land,” as opposed to land privately owned by Palestinians, clearing the way for the potential approval of Israeli building plans there.


But the mayor of the nearby Palestinian town of Surif, Ahmad Lafi, said the land belonged to Palestinian families from the area. He told the official Palestinian news agency WAFA that Israeli army forces and personnel arrived in the town early Sunday and posted orders announcing the seizure of land that was planted with olive and forest trees in Surif and the nearby villages of Al-Jabaa and Wadi Fukin.


The kidnapping of the teenagers prompted an Israeli military clampdown in the West Bank against Hamas, the Islamic group that dominates Gaza and that Israel said was behind the abductions. The subsequent tensions along the Israel-Gaza border erupted into a 50-day war that ended last week with an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire.


The land appropriation has quickly turned attention back to the Israeli-occupied West Bank and exposed the contradictory visions in the Israeli government that hamper the prospects of any broader Israeli-Palestinian peace process.


Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, condemned the announcement and called for a reversal of the land claim, saying that it would “further deteriorate the situation” and that all settlement was illegal.


Though Israel says that it intends to keep the Etzion settlement block under any permanent agreement with the Palestinians and that most recent peace plans have involved land swaps, most countries consider Israeli settlements to be a violation of international law. The continued construction has also been a constant source of tension between Israel and the Palestinians, as well as Israel and its most important Western allies.


The last round of U.S.-brokered peace talks broke down in April. Israel suspended the troubled talks after Mr. Abbas forged a reconciliation pact with the Palestinian Authority’s rival, Hamas, which rejects Israel’s right to exist. American officials also said that Israel’s repeated announcements of new settlement construction contributed to the collapse of the talks.


Yair Lapid, Israel’s finance minister, who has spoken out in favour of a new diplomatic process, told reporters Sunday that he “was not aware of the decision” about the land around Gvaot and had instructed his team to look into it. “We are against any swift changes in the West Bank right now because we need to go back to some kind of process there,” he said. He added that the Israeli government was now talking to the Palestinian Authority about the situation in Gaza, “and this is a good thing.”


But Yariv Oppenheimer, general director of Peace Now, said that instead of strengthening the Palestinian moderates, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “turns his back on the Palestinian Authority and sticks a political knife in the back” of Mr. Abbas, referring to the latest land appropriation. “Since the 1980s, we don’t remember a declaration of such dimensions,” Mr. Oppenheimer told Israel Radio.


Israeli officials said that the land declaration Sunday was open to judicial review and that interested parties had 45 days in which to register objections.


Follow us on Twitter: @globeandmail









Source: Top Stories - Google News - http://ift.tt/1u4MCZH
6:08 PM

By Unknown

In: , , ,

No comments

Choosing between Hezbollah and the Islamic State - Haaretz


Although Islamic State’s homepage declared that the organization, along with other opposition groups, had taken over the Quneitra crossing between Syria and Israel on the Golan Heights, and even though its flag was hoisted nearby, IS isn’t there yet. Rather, it is the Nusra Front, along with the Syria Revolutionaries Front – an alliance of a dozen Islamist organizations working together with the Free Syrian Army – that control the border crossing.


This mishmash of organizations, some of which are deemed moderate by the U.S. State Department while others, such as the Nusra Front, are affiliates of Al-Qaida, makes it difficult for the United States and Europe to formulate a strategy to deal with them.


In contrast to Iraq, in which IS controls a continuous territory – making it easy to conduct an aerial bombardment campaign – the complexity of organizations in Syria and their territorial dispersion prevents any concentrated effort against them. The American dilemma is clear: should one view President Bashar Assad and his army as allies, part of the solution in the dismantling of IS? Should the Free Syrian Army receive sophisticated weapons so it can effectively fight IS, in light of its failures on other fronts, and amid justifiable concern that these weapons would pass into the hands of more radical organizations, as they did before?


How should one relate to the fact that the Free Syrian Army is collaborating with the Islamic Front, not noted for its pro-Western stance, and with the Revolutionaries Front, some of whose members used to belong to the Nusra Front? Adding to the mix of deliberations is the unknown reaction of Iran if the United States starts bombing targets within Syria, as well as the unclear reaction of Russia, whose relations with the Americans have recently deteriorated to an unprecedented low in modern times.


This dilemma does not exist in Iraq, where Iran and Russia concur with the need to forcibly remove IS. One possible solution, which may not be practical, lies in an initiative by Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi, who is expected to propose the establishment of an Arab and international coalition of states under the aegis of the Arab League, which will take action to remove IS. The condition for establishing this coalition is the removal of Assad in Syria. This idea meets with approval in Washington, D.C., which also favors an international coalition.


Russia and Iran are expected to oppose this idea. As long as this coalition is not formed and as long as the United States does not give opposition groups quality armaments, IS can continue with its plans.


The working hypothesis regarding Iraq is that IS will be content with solidifying its control over the Sunni areas it took possession of in June and will not advance southward and toward Baghdad, where there are large formations of Iraq’s military forces, as well as armed Shi’ite militia groups.


Things are different in Syria. The concern is that IS units will advance southward toward Daraa in order to remove Assad’s forces from that region, as well as removing the Nusra Front, which already has some strongholds in the south. From there, IS could continue toward Jordan.


This leaves Assad and Western countries with a terrible paradox. Is it preferable that the Nusra Front and Islamic groups acting alongside it control Quneitra, preventing IS from moving southward? Or should the intentions of Assad – along with Hezbollah – to take control of the border crossing be ignored?


This is also a difficult Israeli dilemma. While the Syrian army controlled the Golan border, there was quiet for four decades. Now the choice is between Assad and Hezbollah forces sitting on Israel’s northeastern border, and between the Nusra Front and other organizations controlling it.


Israel Defense Forces assessments are that neither Hezbollah nor the Nusra Front wishes to open a new front with Israel at this time. This assessment also contends that IS, despite its loud verbal campaign directed at Israel, is a group that acts with military logic and will not risk dragging Israel into its conflicts. IS is overstretched in Iraq and Syria, and must now collaborate with others in order to maintain control. It must cooperate, willingly or from necessity, with civilians, tribal and other local leaders in order to rule.


However, there is a difference between maintaining control of a town or region and the conquest of new objectives, which requires moving fighters between different areas. The political objectives of IS are unclear. Will it make do with controlling the wide swaths of land it conquered, including most of the oil fields in Syria and some in Iraq? Or does it plan to adopt the Taliban model in Afghanistan?


According to this model, a decade after they were removed from power by the American invasion, their “moderate” wing – to use that vague and meaningless term – became desirable and even crucial partners for dialogue in the eyes of the new Afghani regime, following American encouragement. In the absence of any other strategy, Syria and Iraq could find themselves in the same situation.









Source: Top Stories - Google News - http://ift.tt/1vBIMu7
6:08 PM

By Unknown

In: , , ,

No comments

Hong Kong Group Vows Fight Over China 'Puppet' Poll Plan - Bloomberg


Protest leaders in Hong Kong vowed to start an era of civil disobedience that may bring chaos to one of the world’s financial capitals after they accused China of betraying its promise to deliver greater democracy.


The activist group Occupy Central With Love and Peace said the time for negotiation had passed and it will carry out its threat to stage a mass occupation of Hong Kong’s financial district, without specifying a date.


China, which seven years ago promised Hong Kong a form of universal suffrage for the 2017 leadership election, instead approved a plan that would require candidates to be screened by a 1,200-member committee before voters get to cast their ballots.


“We are told Hong Kong people will have one man one vote, but Beijing will select all the candidates, of course puppets, for you,” Martin Lee, 76, founding chairman of the Democratic Party in Hong Kong, told thousands of demonstrators at a rally late yesterday outside the offices of Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying. “So what’s the difference of a rotten apple, a rotten orange and a rotten banana?”


China’s plan angered pro-democracy campaigners because it gives the government in Beijing an effective veto over anyone not viewed as friendly to the Communist Party. Division over universal suffrage threatens to boil over after a series of mass rallies in recent months both for and against action to oppose the framework.


Hopes ‘Dashed’


China’s decision “dashed the hopes” of even the most moderate pro-democracy advocates, Ivan Choy Chi-keung, a senior lecturer in politics at Chinese University of Hong Kong, said in a phone interview. “It’s clear that Beijing won’t allow a pro-democratic candidate in universal suffrage,” he said.


The maximum number of contenders allowed to contest the poll will be set at two or three, according to the decision, a limit that has also upset pro-democracy activists.


“Today is the darkest day of the history of Hong Kong’s democratic development,” Benny Tai Yiu-ting, co-founder of Occupy Central With Love and Peace, told reporters yesterday. “I think now this is the end of any dialogue.”


Obedient citizens will now disobey orders as Hong Kong enters a new era, Tai told cheering supporters gathered amid drizzling rain at the rally late yesterday.


U.S. Responds


In Washington, the State Department expressed support for the demands of the protesters, saying the election’s legitimacy will be “greatly enhanced” if the people get “a genuine choice of candidates representative of the voters’ will.”


“The United States supports universal suffrage in Hong Kong,” a State Department official said in a statement. “We believe that an open society, with the highest possible degree of autonomy and governed by the rule of law, is essential for Hong Kong’s stability and prosperity.”


The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the U.S. will continue to monitor the process, which hasn’t yet reached a final decision.


Leung, Hong Kong’s current leader, who was selected by a committee, urged protesters to be peaceful and law-abiding and called the development a milestone for Hong Kong and China.


“We cannot afford to stand still on our constitutional development, or else the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong will be at stake,” he told reporters.


Second Consultation


Leung pledged to hold a second public consultation before introducing a bill to the city’s legislature early next year. He acknowledged it will be difficult to approve the law.


Some pro-democracy Hong Kong lawmakers, including the Civic Party’s Ronny Tong, said the proposal would be rejected. To become law, the universal suffrage bill will require two-thirds of Hong Kong’s 70-member legislature to support it, meaning the legislation could be halted by the 27 opposition members.


“The pan-democratic camp won’t negotiate,” Tong told Hong Kong Cable TV. “A negotiation could send the wrong signal to Beijing that the democrats are willing to accept an election with pre-screening.”


The draft framework approved by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress “made a mockery of the public consultation process,” according to a statement from Hong Kong 2020, a group founded by the city’s former No. 2 official, Anson Chan. If the proposal is rejected, Hong Kong will continue to have its leader picked by a 1,200-member election committee.


‘Broadly Representative’


The NPC decision states that the nominating committee will be “broadly representative” and its composition will follow that of the 2012 Election Committee that selected Hong Kong’s current leader, a body that pro-democrats criticized as being stacked with Hong Kong’s business and political elite.


Public nomination of candidates -- a demand of some groups -- was also rejected as being against the city’s mini-constitution, known as the Basic Law, Li Fei, the NPC’s deputy secretary-general, said at a briefing in Beijing yesterday.


The legislation was a democratic development and some opponents failed to recognize the central government’s governance rights in Hong Kong, Li said. The city reverted to China from British rule in 1997.


“The development chances that Hong Kong may miss because of this will not come back again,” Li said, referring to the possible rejection of the plan.


The Federation of Hong Kong Industries and Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce welcomed the NPC’s decision, echoing earlier warnings from tycoons and business groups that protests will damage the city’s reputation as a financial center. An illegal occupation of the central district will “rock international confidence in Hong Kong’s stability,” Pang Yiu-kai, the chamber’s chairman, said in a statement.


Protesters Chant


School students and grandmothers were among those who gathered at the rally late yesterday and sat on the grass to loudly beat dishes and plates, while chanting slogans including “fight for democracy,” “disobey orders,” and “never lower our heads.” Organizers said 5,000 people turned out, while police put the number at 2,640.


“We want to tell the world that we will never give up our fight,” said Joseph Cheng, one of the event’s organizers.


After the rally finished at 9 p.m. local time, hundreds of people marched toward a hotel where NPC official Li is scheduled to stay. Some skirmished with police officers en route.


“I’m here to support these students because they are the future,” said one of the marchers, Liu Shaoying, a 70-year-old grandmother. China’s government has “lied to us for 30-odd years and I don’t think I will have another 30,” she said.


Mass Protests


“I don’t know if Beijing will change their minds, but we have to take action,” said another protester, Philip Yeung, a 16-year-old secondary school student.


Li arrived at the airport from Beijing shortly before midnight, telling reporters he would help people understand the decision at a series of events being held today.


“Beijing officials have previously talked with pan-democrats but that’s a show of good-will and public gesture,” said Ding Xueliang, a professor of Political Science at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. “But Beijing would not make a compromise. What if Shenzhen, which is not far away from Hong Kong, also asked for the same thing?” he added, referring to a Chinese city just to the north.


To contact the reporters on this story: Fion Li in Hong Kong at fli59@bloomberg.net; Jill Mao in Hong Kong at mmao14@bloomberg.net


To contact the editors responsible for this story: Rosalind Mathieson at rmathieson3@bloomberg.net Maura Reynolds, Laurence Arnold



Press spacebar to pause and continue. Press esc to stop.








Source: Top Stories - Google News - http://ift.tt/1vBIMdJ
5:36 PM

By Unknown

In: , , ,

No comments

China Limits Hong Kong Vote - Wall Street Journal


Updated Aug. 31, 2014 8:16 p.m. ET


China's government ruled that candidates for Hong Kong's top leadership post must be approved by a committee heavily loyal to Beijing, providing a clear demarcation of how far it will allow democracy to proceed in the territory.


The decree capped months of blunt reminders from Beijing of who is in charge in the former British colony, and quickly drew ire from pro-democracy voices in Hong Kong, who have threatened a mass civil-disobedience campaign if they aren't offered "genuine choice" in 2017 elections.


"Hong Kong people have the reason to believe they have been betrayed," said Alan Leong, a Hong Kong pro-democracy legislator. "We cannot be the boss, we cannot have genuine choice," he said. Another lawmaker, Lee Cheuk Yan, said the fight for "true democracy" would continue.


Democracy activists in Hong Kong gathered Sunday evening outside the city's government headquarters, where police beefed up security and erected barricades. In pouring rain, hundreds of people sat banging pots and plastic containers and cheered the speakers. Benny Tai, one of the organizers of Occupy Central, said, "Hong Kong is now entering a new era—a new era of resistance."


Several in the crowd said they weren't surprised by the decision. "I knew it wasn't possible for Beijing to grant Hong Kong democracy, but I still have to fight," said 80-year-old Ng Hung. "I am here for the next generation."


The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's largely ceremonial parliament, said future chief-executive candidates will be nominated by a "broadly representative" committee.


Candidates will need to secure support from at least 50% of members on a nominating committee, and their numbers will be capped in any given race at two or three candidates. Currently, the chief executive is appointed by the central government via a 1,200-member committee heavy on Beijing backers as well as business leaders. Candidates have until now needed to get support from just one-eighth of the panel, which in 2012 allowed a pro-democracy legislator to run as one of three candidates.


"Since the long-term prosperity and stability of Hong Kong and the sovereignty, security and development interests of the country are at stake, there is a need to proceed in a prudent and steady manner," Beijing said in its ruling Sunday.


The committee again emphasized that potential candidates must be "patriotic" and "love the country and love Hong Kong," though it left unclear how that would be determined.


The electoral-reform plan must secure the backing of Hong Kong's legislative council to proceed. With just over a third of 70 seats, Hong Kong pro-democracy lawmakers have veto power over the decision.


Mainland officials had lobbied heavily to sway pro-democracy voices to support the plan even without the direct-nomination provision.


China's government has for years been contending with a democracy campaign in Hong Kong, a major international financial center. It has counted on support from Hong Kong's business elites and what local media have sometimes called a silent majority of locals more interested in steadily rising living standards than politics.


Democracy advocates, however, say Beijing has been infringing on the autonomy it guaranteed the territory under the "one country, two systems" policy and have decried growing inequality and rising prices. They say universal suffrage—a one-person-one-vote system—would make the local government more responsive to the public.


Sunday's announcement, the details of which had been well-telegraphed by Chinese officials in recent weeks, came in response to a report previously submitted by Hong Kong's government on electoral reform. Beijing had called universal suffrage the "ultimate aim" for Hong Kong as it took control of the territory in a 1997 handover from Britain.


Nevertheless, for large swaths of Hong Kong society, economic concerns trump political considerations and Hong Kong residents are divided on the issue of street protests. According to a May survey by the University of Hong Kong, 56% of respondents said they were opposed to the Occupy Central movement, with 24% of respondents saying they approved of it.


Wong Shun-kwong, a 50-year-old chef, said he is more concerned about property prices, his job and retirement fund than about political freedom.


"With or without Occupy Central, my life is still the same, and the same goes for many people in Hong Kong," he said. "I think Beijing has already been very tolerant to people in Hong Kong, in a way that you can't find elsewhere in China."


Mr. Wong like others in the middle of the political spectrum hadn't demanded or expected Beijing to allow direct nomination for the top leader—an unusual system in any democracy—but some have expressed disappointment that any candidate will now need at least 50% support from a nominating committee heavy on pro-Beijing members.


Beijing has made it clear that it believes pro-democracy activists are a minority and that most Hong Kong residents will ultimately be contented with democratic progress of some form, however limited.


A U.S. State Department official said it was watching developments in Hong Kong and that the U.S. believes the "legitimacy of the chief executive will be greatly enhanced if the promise of universal suffrage is fulfilled."


—Olivia Geng, Te-Ping Chen

and William Mauldin

contributed to this article.









Source: Top Stories - Google News - http://ift.tt/1qT6tac
5:19 PM

By Unknown

In: , , ,

No comments

Obama's 'cautious' approach on ISIS is panned - CNN





  • Sen. Dianne Feinstein says Obama's approach to ISIS might be "too cautious"

  • Republicans insist the threat ISIS poses to the U.S. is immediate

  • Obtaining intelligence about ISIS from war-torn Syria has been difficult, Democrats say




(CNN) -- After President Barack Obama said he didn't yet have a strategy for ISIS in Syria, even a Democrat on Sunday criticized the President's approach to fighting the extremist terror group.


There's been the expected GOP criticism: Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Illinois, said the President's statement was "unfortunate," a predictable assessment from someone who disagrees with the Obama's handling of foreign policy.


But more notable is Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, who split with the leader of her party.


"I think I've learned one thing about this President and that is he's very cautious. Maybe in this instance, too cautious," the California Democrat said on NBC's "Meet the Press."


Feinstein's description comes as the Obama administration is implementing a split strategy in dealing with the group now calling itself the Islamic State.


In Iraq, where America recently concluded a long war there, the United States has continued airstrikes against ISIS, including strikes near Amerli Saturday. In Syria, meanwhile, the President has been reluctant to pursue military action as a complicated web of factions, including ISIS, is fighting to defeat President Bashar al-Assad, also a U.S. opponent.





The threat of ISIS




Fareed's Take: How to beat ISIS




Red News/Blue News: ISIS threat to U.S .

The threat


While members of both parties indicated that Syria is the most dangerous country in the world right now as it is considered ISIS' home base, Republicans differed from Democrats in that they insisted that the threat ISIS poses to the U.S. is immediate. "I believe strongly that ISIS does plan on attacking the United States," Rep. Peter King said on "Fox News Sunday."


Obama's no 'strategy yet' comment on ISIS in Syria sparks a political uproar


Sen. John McCain went even further on CBS News' "Face the Nation": "I think it starts with an understanding that this is a direct threat to the United States of America, that it may be one of the biggest we have ever faced."


The top Republicans' statements come just days after British Prime Minister David Cameron elevated the terror threat to "severe the second-highest rating for that country.


But the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger of Maryland, played down the immediacy of a direct attack in the United States on CNN's "State of the Union," saying strong intelligence "at this point" of an imminent attack on the U.S. does not exist.


Another Democrat, Rep. Adam Smith of Washington, acknowledged the threat ISIS poses is real, but it's "a bit of an overstatement" to compare the threat of ISIS to al Qaeda.


"There is no evidence at this point that they are actually doing the sort of command-and-control plotting, planning specific attacks against Western targets, like al Qaeda was, gosh, for better -- for almost a decade before 9/11," he said on "Face the Nation."


'A cancer'


Kinzinger used a cancer analogy describing ISIS, expanding upon an opinion piece written by Secretary of State John Kerry in The New York Times Friday when he said "the cancer of ISIS will not be allowed to spread to other countries."


"If you have cancer in your liver, and it's spreading to other parts of your body, you don't just treat the other parts, you treat the liver," the Iraq War veteran said on CNN's "State the Union." "The liver is Syria."


While the President has been taking heat for saying he doesn't have a strategy for ISIS, a Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee discussed the challenges in formulating a strategy, in part, because obtaining intelligence about ISIS from war-torn Syria has been difficult.


"We have got to get the intelligence," Ruppersberger said.


Smith echoed his colleague's sentiment.


"We can't simply bomb first and ask questions later. We have to have the right targets and the right support in order to be effective in stopping ISIS," he said on CBS News' "Face the Nation."


Military action now -- or soon


Most Republicans, including McCain, are urging immediate airstrikes in Syria, the place where the terrorist group gained traction with its brutal tactics and mostly erasing the border between the Syria and Iraq.


The Arizona Republican joined Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who opened the door last week to putting more U.S. troops in Iraq. McCain said that a comprehensive strategy to defeating ISIS "is going to require some more special forces."


Ruppersberger was among the Democrats who urged a broad strategic plan that leaves the door open for a variety of actions, which is the message put out by the Obama administration over the past two days, including in Kerry's opinion piece.


"If we need to go ... to protect ourselves from ISIS, we will, but it's got to be a coalition," Ruppersberger said on "State of the Union."


Democrats insisted that building an international coalition in the region and beyond is the first step.


"We have to build that coalition," Smith said. "We need reliable partners to work with in the region."


But Rep. Mike Rogers of Michigan, the Republican head of the House Intelligence Committee, said the President should have been building that coalition for the past year.


"It's just very, very late in the game and it presents fewer options," Rogers said on "Fox News Sunday."


U.N. counts 3 million Syria refugees









Source: Top Stories - Google News - http://ift.tt/1pydXUG