Analysis: A new balance at the cabinet on Iran - Jerusalem Post

On June 4, 1967, then-prime minister Levi Eshkol formed a national unity government and appointed Moshe Dayan minister of defense. A day later, the Six Day War broke out.

The threat that Israel faces today from Iran is not as imminent as the one Eshkol was concerned with 45 years ago. On the other hand though, by inserting Shaul Mofaz and Kadima into the government, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu may be trying to tighten ranks ahead of a possible war that might be looming on the horizon, a war against Iran.

Mofaz however is not someone who is expected to immediately fall in line behind Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak when it comes to Iran.

A former defense minister and chief of staff, he has a record that nearly parallels Barak’s and could try and take a stand against him in the government. He is intimately familiar with the Iranian issue – not just because of his birth in Tehran – but also from his more recent role as chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and head of the Strategic Dialogue with the United States up until 2009.

According to media reports over the past year, Mofaz has been opposed to an Israeli attack against Iran and will find a partner in his successor as chief of staff Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe “Bogie” Ya’alon who is also opposed to unilateral Israeli action.

Both believe that a military option should be a last resort and Israel should instead try and get the United States to stop the Iranians.

If Netanyahu plans on bringing such an option to a security cabinet vote in the near future and possibly as early as this summer, he likely gave thought to the way Mofaz would vote and the potential outcome.

Judging by the decision to bring Kadima into the government, Netanyahu either is not planning on bringing a possible strike to a vote or he believes that he has a majority in the cabinet without Mofaz. Another possibility is that Netanyahu believes that once Mofaz joins the government and is re-exposed to the latest classified material on Iran, the Kadima leader will change his mind.

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FBI experts examine al Qaeda's latest bomb - CBS News

Last Updated 10:15 a.m. ET

(CBS/AP) FBI experts are studying an unexploded bomb created by al Qaeda which was intended to blow up an airliner bound for the United States around the anniversary of Osama bin Laden's death.

A covert CIA operation in Yemen thwarted the suicide mission. The would-be suicide bomber, based in Yemen, had not yet picked a target or purchased plane tickets when the CIA seized the bomb, officials say.

Bomb experts at the FBI's laboratory at Quantico, Va., are examining the device to determine if it could have slipped past airport security and taken down a commercial jet.

The device did not contain metal, meaning it probably could have passed through an airport metal detector. But it was not clear whether new body scanners used in many airports would have detected it.

CIA thwarts new al Qaeda underwear bomb plot

Senior correspondent John Miller, a former Deputy Director of National Intelligence, said that the plot targeted planes bound for the United States, using a new and improved version of the Underwear Bomb - the device used during a failed attempt to blow a jetliner out of the skies over Detroit on Christmas Day 2009.

Officials said this new bomb was also designed to be used in a passenger's underwear, but this time al Qaeda developed a more refined detonation system.

A law enforcement source told CBS News that the new bomb has a slight modification from the original Underwear Bomb, but is not as sophisticated as has been suggested.

Bomb plot revealed day after alleged planner killed

The FBI's Terrorist Explosive Device Exploitation Center will examine the new device and try to develop information that can be shared with airport screeners around the world.

"What the FBI is doing is taking a look at the IED construction, to see what type of refinements and modifications might have been made since then," John Brennan, assistant to the president on Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, said on "CBS This Morning."

This marks the third uncovered plot by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula targeting U.S. soil. It is believed to be the handiwork of Ibrahim Hassan al Asiri, who designed the original underwear bomb and was also behind the attempted cargo bomb plot, where explosives were hidden in printer cartridges bound for Chicago two years ago. Both the printer devices and the underwear bomb used a powerful industrial explosive.

FBI analyzing bomb, sees signature of al Qaeda's Arabian affiliate

"Making bombs is not that difficult," Miller said. "It's the creative touch he adds, how they're concealed, how they're conceived. The printer bomb, for instance, was considered by bomb technicians around the world to be a brilliant stroke. So it boils down to one person, but one very dangerous person."

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has targeted Saudi Arabia, the U.K. , Yemen and the United States. Miller said the discovery of the plot and apprehension of the intended bomber shows cooperation among four intelligence agencies which have each been following AQAP for a period of years. "When those notes all come together that something is afoot, they combine resources. I think what we saw yesterday is the result of an effort involving multiple intelligence agencies," Miller said on "CBS This Morning."

President Barack Obama had been monitoring the operation since last month, the White House said Monday evening.

White House spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said the president was assured the device posed no threat to the public. Sources told CBS News they had enough controls to ensure the attack would not go forward.

Brennan wouldn't confirm whether the would-be bomber was in custody, but said that U.S. authorities are "confident that this device and any individual that might have been designed to use it are no longer a threat to the American people."

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NC votes on constitutional ban on gay marriage - The Associated Press

NC votes on constitutional ban on gay marriageBy EMERY P. DALESIO, Associated Press – 25 minutes ago 

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The national debate over gay marriage focused Tuesday on North Carolina, as voters decided whether to make it the 29th state to pass a constitutional amendment defining marriage as solely between a man and a woman.

In the final days before the vote, members of President Barack Obama's cabinet expressed support for gay marriage and former President Bill Clinton recorded phone messages urging voters to reject the amendment. Opponents also held marches, put up television ads and gave speeches, including one by Jay Bakker, son of late televangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker.

Meanwhile, supporters ran their own ad campaigns and church leaders urged Sunday congregations to vote for the amendment. The Rev. Billy Graham, who remains influential even though his last crusade was in 2005, was featured in full-page newspaper ads supporting the amendment.

Both sides spent a combined $3 million on their campaigns.

Experts expect the measure to pass, despite the state's long history of moderate politics.

North Carolina law already bans gay marriage, like nine other states, but an amendment would effectively slam the door shut on same-sex marriages.

Six states — all in the Northeast except Iowa — and the District of Columbia allow same sex marriages.

The North Carolina amendment was placed on the ballot after Republicans took over control of the state legislature after the 2010 elections, a role the GOP hadn't enjoyed for 140 years.

Joe Easterling, who described himself as a devout Christian, voted for the amendment at a polling place in Wake Forest.

"I know that some people may argue that the Bible may not necessarily be applicable, or it should not be applicable, on such policy matters. But even looking at nature itself, procreation is impossible without a man and a woman. And because of those things, I think it is important that the state of North Carolina's laws are compatible with the laws of nature but, more importantly, with the laws of God."

Linda Toanone, who voted against the amendment, said people are born gay and it is not their choice.

"We think everybody should have the same rights as everyone else. If you're gay, lesbian, straight — whatever," she said.

North Carolina is the latest presidential swing state to weigh in on gay marriage. Florida, Virginia and Ohio all have constitutional amendments against gay marriage, and Obama's election-year vagueness on gay marriage has come under fresh scrutiny.

Obama, who supports most gay rights, has stopped short of backing gay marriage. Without clarification, he's said for the past year and a half that his personal views on the matter are "evolving."

Education Secretary Arne Duncan broke ranks with the White House on Monday, stating his unequivocal support for same-sex marriage one day after Vice President Joe Biden said he is "absolutely comfortable" with same-sex married couples getting the same rights at heterosexual married couples.

One fault line that could determine the result is generational. Older voters, who tend to be more reliable voters, are expected to back the amendment.

State House Speaker Thom Tillis, a Republican from a Charlotte suburb, said even if the amendment is passed, it will be reversed as today's young adults age.

"It's a generational issue," Tillis told a student group at North Carolina State University in March about the amendment he supports. "If it passes, I think it will be repealed within 20 years."

The amendment also goes beyond state law by voiding other types of domestic unions from carrying legal status, which opponents warn could disrupt protection orders for unmarried couples.

"Also, that amendment is against women, I believe, because also underneath the amendment, other laws are saying that people who aren't married at all, they can't file for domestic abuse cases, if they're living with their significant other. Which is wrong," Toanone said.

In North Carolina, more than 500,000 voters had cast their ballot before Tuesday, which was more than the 2008 primary when Obama and Hillary Clinton were fighting for the Democratic presidential nomination. Both sides said that bodes well for them.

Associated Press writers Gary D. Robertson and Allen Breed contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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Lugar's Fate in Hands of Indiana Voters - Wall Street Journal

Indiana voters will decide Tuesday whether one of the nation's longest-serving senators keeps his seat. The result could have an impact on Congress, the parties, and the fight for control of the Senate.

Republican Sen. Richard Lugar has been in the Senate for 36 years, establishing himself as one of his party's leading voices on foreign affairs and as a centrist figure willing to work on occasion with Democrats.

Despite this record, or because of it, Mr. Lugar has faced a withering onslaught this year from Indiana treasurer Richard Mourdock, who is supported by an array of tea-party groups and ...

Indiana voters will decide Tuesday whether one of the nation's longest-serving senators keeps his seat. The result could have an impact on Congress, the parties, and the fight for control of the Senate.

Republican Sen. Richard Lugar has been in the Senate for 36 years, establishing himself as one of his party's leading voices on foreign affairs and as a centrist figure willing to work on occasion with Democrats.

Despite this record, or because of it, Mr. Lugar has faced a withering onslaught this year from Indiana treasurer Richard Mourdock, who is supported by an array of tea-party groups and ...

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China dissidents fear things will get 'worse and worse' after Chen case - msnbc.com

Carlos Barria / Reuters

Men guarding building G of Chaoyang Hospital, where blind rights activist Chen Guangcheng was reported to be staying, eat ice-cream at the entrance of the hospital in Beijing Saturday.

No matter whether China makes a rare concession to allow legal activist Chen Guangcheng to leave the country with his family, other dissidents say they don't expect a broader easing of controls.

Authorities may choose to tighten the screws on prominent critics to prevent them from taking encouragement from Chen's case to challenge the leadership. 

On Saturday, Chen, who fled house arrest and took refuge in the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, was believed to be still in the hospital, where he was taken to get medical care joined by his wife and two children.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton -- in Beijing this past week for annual talks -- left China Saturday, leaving Chen behind despite his reported comments that he wanted to leave the country on her plane. She apparently did not meet him in person.

A symbol in China's civil rights movement, Chen may be able to leave to study in the United States in the coming days or weeks under still-evolving arrangements announced Friday by Washington and Beijing to end a weeklong diplomatic standoff over his case. 

If negotiations are successful, Chen Guangcheng's family will come to the U.S. on a student visa where he would study at NYU. NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports.

It was unclear if the Chens submitted passport applications, as the Chinese Foreign Ministry said they could Friday, to enable them to travel. His cell phone constantly rang unanswered. 

The blind activist's flight to safety in the embassy has provided a much-needed morale boost for a dissident community that over the last year has been debilitated by the government's massive security crackdown aimed at preventing Arab-style democratic uprisings. Dozens of activists, rights lawyers, intellectuals and others have been detained, questioned and even in some cases, tortured. 

Blind activist: What did he do to rile Beijing? 

The turn of events for Chen, while welcomed by most activists and dissidents, is seen only as an individual victory and not likely to pave the way for improvements in China's attitude toward its critics. 

"I think that after the Chen Guangcheng incident, the situation for us will just become worse and worse, because in today's society government power has no limits," said Liu Yi, an artist and Chen supporter who was assaulted Thursday by men he thinks were plainclothes police while he attempted to visit Chen in hospital. 

Carlos Barria / Reuters

A woman argues with a police officer outside Chaoyang Hospital Saturday.

Liu Feiyue, a veteran activist who runs a rights monitoring network in the central province of Hubei, noted the importance of U.S. involvement in Chen's case. "This is only an individual case. Because it turned into a China-U.S. incident, the U.S. put a lot of pressure on China, which is why the authorities made a concession to allow Chen Guangcheng to study overseas," he said. 

"Not all dissident cases can become international issues," Liu Feiyue said. 

Chen, a self-taught legal activist, is best known for exposing forced abortions and sterilizations in his community in a scandal that prompted the central government to punish some local officials. His activism earned him the wrath of local authorities who punished him with nearly seven years of prison and house arrest. 

Bill Richardson, former New Mexico governor and former United Nations ambassador, talks with Rachel Maddow about the diplomatic challenge the Obama administration faces with dissident Chen Guangcheng, and why Mitt Romney should cease politicizing the situation.

If Chen leaves, the officials who mistreated him and his family will likely not be held accountable — something Chen asked for in a video statement he made while in hiding in Beijing before entering the U.S. Embassy. 

"Chen's story is not a triumph for China's human rights, unfortunately," said Wang Songlian, a Hong Kong-based researcher with the Chinese Human Rights Defenders. "Although Chen and his immediate family might gain freedom, his extended family is likely to be retaliated against. ... None of those whose violence Chen exposed, or those who beat and detained Chen and his family, have been punished." 

There are concerns China would exact retribution on Chen's supporters who aided his escape, as well as friends who later tried to get the message out about his fears for his safety or publicly urged him to flee to the United States. Two supporters who helped him escape were detained, then released, but placed under gag orders and close monitoring. 

Others, like Chen's friend Zeng Jinyan, who — at great risk to herself — publicized Chen's worries about leaving the embassy Wednesday, have since been barred from speaking to the media and placed under house arrest. Under similar restrictions is Teng Biao, a rights lawyer who repeatedly called Chen imploring him to flee the country, then published a transcript of their phone conversations online. 

"They (the authorities) will certainly settle scores with them later," Teng told Chen, referring to the two supporters who aided Chen's escape. 

Activist: I want to leave China 'on Clinton’s plane'

Some activists say local officials who have been watching dissidents in their own jurisdictions might beef up monitoring and restrictions on them to prevent them from attempting copycat escapes into diplomatic compounds. 

"One guess is that they will learn a lesson from this experience and be stricter in guarding and monitoring similar key figures and take even harder measures against them," said Mo Zhixu, a liberal-minded author and Chen supporter. 

Meanwhile, Clinton faced a fresh test on Saturday as she moved on to Bangladesh where the disappearance of an opposition leader has fueled growing tensions. 

Clinton will meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her opposition rival, Begum Khaleda Zia, and will also pay a call on Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, whose removal from the pioneering micro-lender Grameen Bank has been criticized by Washington. 

A senior State Department official said Clinton's visit would highlight growing cooperation between Washington and Dhaka on everything from counter-terrorism and U.N. peacekeeping to global health and food security. 

"Her visit is an opportunity to show Bangladesh's government and 160 million citizens that America is truly Bangladesh's partner," the official said. 

But the trip will also likely put fresh focus on the Obama administration's commitment to human rights after the standoff in Beijing over Chen.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

More world news from msnbc.com and NBC News:

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9/11 families prepare for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed arraignment - USA TODAY

NEW YORK (AP) – It has been a year of milestones for the families of those killed on Sept. 11, with the death of Osama Bin Laden followed by the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks. Now another painful chapter is set to begin: the prosecution of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of 9/11.

By Seth Wenig, AP

Retired firefighter Jim Riches poses for a picture near his home in New York.

By Seth Wenig, AP

Retired firefighter Jim Riches poses for a picture near his home in New York.

Victims' relatives will gather at military bases along the East Coast on Saturday to watch on closed-circuit TV as Mohammed and four co-defendants are arraigned at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where they will eventually be tried in front of a U.S. military tribunal. The trial is probably at least a year away.

For some, the arraignment is a long-awaited moment in a case fraught with years of frustrating delays. For others, watching the proceedings holds no appeal at all. They simply want to move on with their lives.

Jim Riches, a retired firefighter from Brooklyn who pulled his firefighter son's body out of the rubble at ground zero, said he plans to watch from New York City's Fort Hamilton.

"I think it will give the whole world a look at how evil these men are and that they deserve what they get," he said. "I think it's going to be very upsetting for some families who haven't seen their act before. I'm sure they'll be walking out crying."

The vast majority of victims' families have never seen Mohammed, aside from a widely disseminated photograph of a disheveled-looking Mohammed in a white T-shirt immediately after his arrest. A small number of them have traveled to Guantanamo and seen him there. Five of them, chosen by lottery, will fly there on Friday to see the arraignment in person.

Mohammed and the others are expected to be arraigned on charges that include terrorism and murder. They could get the death penalty if convicted in the attacks that sent hijacked airliners slamming into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania. Nearly 3,000 people were killed.

AP

In this March 1, 2003, file picture, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is seen shortly after his capture during a raid in Pakistan

"I just hope for the sake of the 3,000 families that they get what they deserve," Riches said. "Because it's not enough. They were broken into pieces."

It's unclear exactly how many families will watch at military bases. At Fort Meade, between Baltimore and Washington, organizers are preparing for about 150 members of the public. A spokesman for Joint Base McGuire Dix in Lakehurst, N.J., said very few people were planning to go, though he declined to give a number.

Barbara Minervino of Middletown, N.J., whose husband, Louis, an executive at an insurance and investment firm, died in the twin towers, said she will be attending a happy occasion on Saturday instead: a Communion party for a member of the family.

"We're looking toward living," she said. "We're looking toward the future and not the past."

Mary Fetchet, who lost her son Brad at the trade center and founded the support group Voices of Sept. 11, said she has a prior engagement and can't watch arraignment but will be closely following the trial.

Fetchet surveys the 9/11 survivors every year and said she found that they are dealing with the tragedy in vastly different ways, even within the same family.

"Some people will follow it on media reports, and some people just want to put it behind them," she said. "I think the trial is another roadblock in them being able to move forward. I think the thing you have to realize is that everybody goes through it differently, and you just have to respect what the needs of each individual are."

There's a sense of bitterness among many that it took more than 10 years just to get to this point in the case.

"We've had him in custody for so many years, and now we're finally getting to it," said Jim Ogonowski, the brother of John Ogonowski of Dracut, Mass., the pilot of one of the jetliners that crashed into the World Trade Center.

Ogonowski will not join other families on Saturday at Fort Devens, Mass., though he said he might watch later developments, which the Pentagon also plans to show to the public.

"The reality is it's been over 10 years since the 9/11 tragedies. This is not going to bring my brother back or any other victims of that day," he said. "I do want to see justice done, but the fact is, to go watch an arraignment isn't going to bring them back."

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

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Egypt army deploys to ward off fresh protests - euronews

Reuters, 05/05 11:39 CET

By Yasmine Saleh

CAIRO (Reuters) – The army deployed around Cairo’s Defence Ministry on Saturday to deter protesters after a soldier died and 373 people were wounded in clashes during demonstrations against Egypt’s ruling generals, less than three weeks before a presidential vote.

Cleaners swept up debris after Friday’s violence in the Abbasiya district where streets were calm but strewn with rocks and other projectiles hurled by protesters at troops, who fired teargas and charged the crowd to drive them from the ministry.

It was the second time in a week that clashes had erupted near the ministry where protesters had gathered to vent their anger over the army’s handling of Egypt’s troubled transition from army rule to civilian government. Eleven people were killed on Wednesday.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said at least 18 journalists had been assaulted, injured or arrested while covering the clashes.

“We call on the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces to identify the attackers and bring them to justice immediately, as well as to release journalists in custody,” Mohamed Abdel Dayem, CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa programme coordinator, said in a statement issued late on Friday.

A presidential election, which starts on May 23-24, will choose a replacement for Hosni Mubarak, who was toppled in February last year. Generals have governed since then but their rule has been punctuated by violence and political bickering.

Many protesters who gathered near the ministry were ultra-orthodox Salafi Muslims furious that a sheikh they backed for president was disqualified from the race. Liberals and others were also there, accusing the army of seeking to manipulate or delay the vote.

The military has dismissed those allegations, insisting it will stick to its timetable of handing over power to a new president by July 1, or even earlier in the unlikely event of an outright winner in the first round of voting this month.

“Our mission ends with a successful handover of power, and we will not let anyone change the declared schedule,” an army source told the website of the state-owned Al-Ahram daily.

RISING FRUSTRATION

The authorities detained more than 170 people in connection with Friday’s violence after the army warned protesters a day earlier it would not tolerate threats to any of its installations. The funeral for the soldier killed was scheduled for later on Saturday, state media reported.

Troop carriers and soldiers formed cordons protecting the area around the ministry and deployed at nearby installations belonging to the army, which for the first time in six decades faces the prospect of a president who has not been plucked from its senior ranks.

Mubarak, like his predecessors since the king was toppled in 1952, had been a top military officer before becoming president.

Many of the protesters have called for the army to step aside sooner than planned. Scenes of troops beating protesters with sticks in anti-army demonstrations in recent months have angered many Egyptians, who expect the generals to wield their influence from behind the scenes even after a formal handover.

But many other Egyptians are equally frustrated at the protesters, accusing them of stirring up trouble on the streets and helping drive the economy to the brink of a balance of payments crisis. The nation’s foreign reserves have plunged.

“The army is our leader in this period and they said a million times that they don’t want to stay in power. We have elections in a few days, so I don’t understand what all yesterday’s fuss and violence was all about,” said Essam Mohamed, 51, a government office worker in the Abbasiya area.

The presidential race broadly pits Islamists against more liberal-minded candidates who at one time or another served in Mubarak’s administration.

The two-front runners are Abdel Moneim Abol Fotouh, an Islamist who has won the backing of a broad range of voters ranging from liberals to hardline Salafi Islamists, and Amr Moussa, the former head of the Arab League and one-time foreign minister. The Muslim Brotherhood is also fielding a candidate.

(Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Andrew Osborn)

euronews provides breaking news articles from Reuters as a service to its readers, but does not edit the articles it publishes.

Copyright 2012 Reuters.

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In weekly address, Senator Corker says Obama "punts" on major issues - CBS News

By Leigh Ann Caldwell Topics Domestic Issues Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn.,

(Credit: CBS) (CBS News) On the same day President Obama officially takes his reelection campaign to the public, the Republicans said in their weekly address that President Obama "punts" on major issues.

"The President punts on almost every tough decision," Tennessee Senator Bob Corker said in the video address. "His Administration is robbing ... young people of their American inheritance, spending their money on my generation and engaging in nothing short of generational theft."

In the video address, Corker called for "pro-growth" policies that includes tax reform and changes to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. He said reforming those two areas of the economy would "cause our economy to just take off."

Corker offered no details on how to ensure the entitlement programs are financially sustainable for the long-term. As for the tax code, which has also proven a difficult issue to tackle in Washington, Corker proposed general changes that include closing loopholes and tax expenditures.

"At present, our inability to deal with these issues is our greatest enemy. In other words, we are our greatest enemy. But I also believe it can be our greatest opportunity," Corker said.

The Tennessee senator also criticized the Democratic-controlled Senate for not introducing a budget for the third consecutive year.

"Failing to accomplish even the most basic responsibility of government is a total failure of leadership and represents everything the American people hate about Washington," Corker said.

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23 dead, 9 found hanging from bridge, in Nuevo Laredo - CBS News

By Crimesider Staff Topics Daily Blotter Mexico flag over Handguns

(Credit: CBS/AP) (CBS) - The bodies of nine people were found hanging from a bridge just south of Laredo, Texas in the Mexican town of Nuevo Laredo early Friday morning. Five men and four women were among those dead.

Around 9 a.m., according to a statement from the Proscutor's office in Tamaulipas State, the bodies of 14 men were found beheaded in a vehicle in Nuevo Laredo. The heads were later found in abandoned coolers near a government building.

According to CNN, a message to a drug gang was found along with the bodies of the people founding hanging. The message reportedly alleged that the victims were members of a drug cartel that had perpetrated a car bombing outside a police station last month.

"We are investigating. We think it is related to an organized crime group, but we cannot speculate," a military official told CNN.

The official reportedly said that the bodies were beaten and showed signs of torture.

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Marriage amendment vote puts national focus on North Carolina - Los Angeles Times

Backers of North Carolina's proposed marriage amendment pray during a rally at the state Capitol in Raleigh. It would strictly define marriage as between one man and one woman. (Allen Breed, Associated Press / April 20, 2012)

PITTSBORO, N.C. — With voting already underway for Tuesday's primary in this moderate Southern state, the discourse has been dominated not by candidates, but by a bitterly contested measure known as Amendment 1.

If approved, it would be among the most restrictive of the marriage amendments passed in 30 states. It would amend the state's constitution to specify: "Marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this state."

The battle over the measure has turned North Carolina into a national political flash point. Opponents say the amendment is so broadly worded that it would discriminate not only against gays, but also unmarried heterosexual couples.

The outcome could offer an early hint of the state's leanings in November's presidential election: North Carolina, home to the 2012 Democratic National Convention, is an important swing state.

The debate has been fierce. Pro- and anti-amendment activists have held rallies to vie for voters. Ministers have strived to influence their congregants. Lawn signs have been stolen and defaced. And the state NAACP has accused proponents of trying to divide gays and blacks.

Opponents of the amendment have raised $2.2 million, and proponents $1.2 million, mostly for TV and radio ads; a third of the money has come from out of state.

The Rev. Billy Graham has weighed in, preparing a full-page ad expected to appear in newspapers over the weekend. In it, he urges fellow Tar Heels to vote for the amendment, saying: "At 93, I never thought we would have to debate the definition of marriage.''

President Obama has called the Republican-backed Defense of Marriage Amendment divisive, saying it would discriminate against gays.

"It's a hot issue — you hear people talking about it everywhere," said amendment supporter Ray McEntee. He was manning a booth outside a Pittsboro polling place next to a sign that read: "One Man. One Woman."

Early voting started April 19, with turnout running about 30% higher than in the primary four years ago and with especially large numbers of young people voting.

"It's almost entirely driven by interest in the amendment," said David McLennan, a political science professor at William Peace University in Raleigh. He predicts turnout will reach 40% to 45%, unusually high for a primary.

Like amendments in Michigan, Idaho and South Carolina, North Carolina's act would severely limit protections for same-sex and heterosexual unmarried couples, said Maxine Eichner, a family law professor at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.

The measure would threaten domestic partnership health benefits for local government workers and strip unmarried couples of their rights to make decisions for an incapacitated partner, Eichner said.

Supporters of Amendment 1 say unmarried couples would be protected by language that permits private contracts and court actions "pursuant to such contracts.''

**

In North Carolina, the issue does not always break along party lines. The National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People opposes the amendment, but numerous black churches support it, as do many other churches and some conservative Democrats. The state's Libertarian Party opposes the amendment, along with the head of the conservative John Locke Foundation.

More than 75 chief executives have signed a letter against the amendment. Jim Rogers, chief executive of Duke Energy, told a business forum last month: "If this passes, we're going to look back 20 years from now, or 10 years, and think of it like Jim Crow laws.... You're sending a message to the world that we're not inclusive.''

North Carolinians have long considered their state the most progressive in the South. Opposition to the amendment is centered in urban enclaves, such as the Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill area, where support for gay rights is strong.

But wide swaths in the state's east and west are dominated by small towns and rural communities, where conservative Christian values predominate. Those areas vote solidly Republican on social issues such as gun control, abortion and same-sex marriage.

Democrats pushed to have the vote in the May primary instead of the November general election because they feared that a November vote would attract more conservatives, boosting the Republican presidential candidate. The website for Protect All NC Families, which opposes the amendment, says: "A 'For' vote will eliminate healthcare, prescription drug coverage and other benefits for public employees and children receiving domestic partner benefits [and] threaten protections for all unmarried couples in North Carolina."

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Panetta tells troops misconduct hurts morale, mission - CNN

Defense secretary speaks to deploying soldiersHe tells them misconduct threatens Afghan missionPast incidents include photos of troops posing with or urinating on corpses

(CNN) -- The enemy may be losing on the battlefield in Afghanistan, but he is trying to win the public relations war with the help of misconduct among a few U.S. military personnel, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told soldiers Friday.

Panetta, speaking at Fort Benning, Georgia, acknowledged the first anniversary of the killing of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and the accomplishments of troops serving across Afghanistan.

But he told members of the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division preparing for deployment that they must live up to high standards of personal conduct and integrity -- and avoid mistakes and scandal.

"I know that you are proud to wear the uniform of your country and that you strive to live up to the highest standards that we expect of you," Panetta said. "But the reality is we are fighting a different kind of war and living in a different kind of world than when I was a lieutenant here at Fort Benning. "

"These days, it takes only seconds -- seconds -- for a picture, a photo to suddenly become an international headline. And those headlines can impact the mission that we are engaged in," Panetta said. "It can put your fellow service members at risk. It can hurt morale. It can damage our standing in the world and they can cost lives."

A report issued this week by the Pentagon noted several "significant shocks" in Afghanistan from October to March, including the release of a video of U.S. Marines urinating on corpses, the inadvertent burning of religious materials by U.S. personnel and the alleged killing of 17 civilians by a lone U.S. soldier.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai last month condemned photos of U.S. soldiers posing with bodies of suspected insurgents.

Karzai, who described the images as "inhumane and provocative," said "the only way to put an end to such painful experiences" was to end the presence of foreign forces in Afghanistan.

Panetta has condemned the photos, reportedly taken in 2010 and published by the Los Angeles Times, saying they depict behavior that "absolutely violates" U.S. regulations and values.

"I know that none of you deliberately acts to hurt your mission or to put your fellow soldiers at risk," Panetta told GIs on Friday. "You are the best, and that's why I am here today to tell you that ... I need your leadership, I need your courage, I need your strength to make sure that we always abide by the highest standards."

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Beastie Boys' Adam Yauch: Your memories - BBC News

5 May 2012 Last updated at 09:44 GMT Beastie Boys rapper Adam Yauch has died at the age of 47, after a three-year battle with cancer.

Under the alias MCA, he formed part of the band that eventually became the Beastie Boys, selling 40 million albums worldwide with Mike D and Ad Roc.

Here, you share your memories of the musician, director and Tibet activist.

Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys was my first celebrity encounter when I moved to New York City in 1998. He was in front of me in line at the House of Rare Records on Carmine Street; well hardly a line - just he and I in this small shop chatting with the shopkeeper.

I didn't know who he was for most of this encounter - he was just a cool guy buying up tons of classic 45s. He was quiet, modest, and polite.

After explaining how he was buying these for a friend's birthday, he said he was in a band, and that they had been together for a long time. When the shopkeeper asked what the band was called, he answered "The Beastie Boys" like perhaps we had never heard of them. I was floored.

I tried to calmly express my appreciation for him and his music, and he bowed his head and thanked me for the kind words. This meeting solidified what was already a deep and long term admiration.

His death comes as a great shock, and losing one of the Beasties weighs heavier on me than I ever could have imagined.

I started a website and used the name Sir Stewart Wallace (a name used by Yauch in the Sabotage music video) as a pseudonym.

He emailed me to point out I had breached copyright law, but added he'd forgive me and not take it any further - if I sent him a carton of Australia's most premium beer which I did.

People go on about Paul's Boutique being their landmark album but when I was an angry lost teenager Check Yo Head and Ill Communication spoke to me.

I am truly heartbroken that such a talented and noble artist has died. RIP MCA aka Adam aka Nathanial Hornblower aka Sir Stewart Wallace.

My first festival, Lalopalooza 1995 featured the Beastie Boys.

I saw them at least five times and they are by far the best live act I have ever seen.

The way they controlled the tempo - bouncing between hard-core punk riffs, mellow jazz beats, and flowing hip-hop was great and they played their own instruments as well.

They were amazing - "Too sweet to be sour, too nice to be mean." RIP MCA.

Feel like I've lost a friend. I hugged him once onstage at the London Marquee 15 March 1992. Lots of people were stage diving and hugging the band. I got up there and hugged MCA. He gave me the warmest hug back. Loved that man. Simon Rolfe, Southampton, England

I met him for a couple of minutes at an Irish gig in 1994 - we were trying to ring our bus driver at a pay phone and who was standing beside the pay phones only Mike D, Ad Rock and MCA - they signed our tickets and we had a brief chat with them all. Niall Byrne, Arklow, Ireland

I got into the Beastie Boys music in 2004 and became obsessed with them. I was lucky enough to get a ticket to see them at Wembley Arena, a concert I will never forget. The Beastie Boys are and remain one of the greatest bands ever. Jon Pearman, Stansted, England

Many moons ago I worked as a chef at Butlins in Skegness about the time the Beastie Boys released Licensed to Ill, me and a few pals became the Butlins Beastie Boys and carried a ghetto blaster with us on our days off blasting the boys out full tilt! Robbo, London, England

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Furniture dealer adds light touch to John Edwards trial - Chicago Tribune

Prosecutor Robert Higdon asked interior decorator Bryan Huffman if he had sold heiress Rachel "Bunny" Mellon a $65,000 table.

He had not. Nor had he sold her a $200,000 bookcase. Or a $100,000 antique Charles-ton table.

Huffman was in the furniture business.

But he was not peddling furniture -- at least not in his dealings with presidential candidate John Ed-wards or campaign staffer Andrew Young.

On Thursday, Huffman took the stand in Edwards' trial.

He told prosecutors how he had served as an intermediary between Mellon and Young, passing along checks to help hide an affair Edwards was having with campaign videographer Rielle Hunter.

Edwards, 58, is charged with campaign finance violations in connection with nearly $1 million from Mellon and Texas trial lawyer Fred Baron that went toward covering up the affair.

In 2007, Edwards conceived a baby with Hunter and talked Young into claiming paternity. Young, his family and Hunter went into hiding just as the National Enquirer was about to break news of Hunter's pregnancy.

Evidence presented last week indicated that Young kept much of the money intended for the cover-up.

Huffman took the stand wearing a yellow and blue plaid suit jacket, blue shirt, yellow tie and yellow handkerchief, along with charcoal gray pants.

The 48-year-old Monroe resident provided a much-needed bit of comic relief after emotional testimony the day before about Ed-wards' wife, Elizabeth, having a breakdown, and Thursday morning's dry recounting of campaign events and run-ins with Hunter.

Even Edwards himself chuckled a few times as Huffman talked about his friendship with Mellon.

In 2004, Huffman attended services at an Episcopal church while visiting his sister in northern Virginia and noticed Mellon's name. She and her husband had given money to build it.

He wrote her a letter, saying he was impressed with the church, and they soon became close, with Mellon asking if she could call him at night because she needed "an evening friend."

Mellon also gave him some blankets.

"She doesn't want her friend cold in the mountains," Huffman said, much to the amusement of those in the courtroom.

Mellon had mentioned that she was a fan of Ed-wards. Huffman discovered his sister had attended law school with Young and was able to set up a meeting.

In 2007 Mellon, upset about media reports concerning Edwards' $400 haircut, wrote a letter offering to pay for his haircuts in the future.

"She thought he needed to look good," Huffman said on the stand.

Soon after, Young called, asking Mellon to give large sums of money over a six- to nine-month period.

She agreed, even though Young did not say what the money was for.

In order to avoid drawing the attention of her lawyer, Alex Forger, and to distance the money from the Edwards campaign, she made the checks out to Huffman and wrote "chairs," "tables" and the like in the memo line.

Mellon ended up writing $725,000 worth of checks, which Young's wife, Cheri, deposited in her account.

Forger found out about the checks, and in May 2008 while attending the funeral for Mellon's daughter Eliza, he confronted Huffman.

Huffman recalled Mellon's reaction when told Forger was onto the scheme: "Oh dear."

Soon after, plans for an anti-poverty organization, for which Young had hoped to work in exchange for taking part in the cover-up, fell apart.

Huffman said Mellon balked at mortgaging her farm in Upperville, Va., to get the $40 million to pay for it.

Contact Robert C. Lopez at 691-5091 or robert.lopez@news-record.com

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EPA region head resigns after crucifixion comment - Reuters

WASHINGTON | Mon Apr 30, 2012 2:34pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A regional Environmental Protection Agency chief based in Dallas resigned on Monday after a 2010 comment surfaced in which he compared his enforcement of energy companies with crucifixion.

Al Armendariz, who was the chief of EPA's Region 6 office, sent a letter of resignation to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson late on Sunday, which she accepted on Monday.

"I have come to the conclusion that my continued service will distract you and the agency from its important work," Armendariz said in the letter.

A link to a video of a talk Armendariz had given in May 2010, in which he compared his strategy on energy companies that had broken the law to that of Romans taking over towns, had been circulated by lawmakers including Senator James Inhofe, a Republican.

The conquerors would "find the first five guys they saw and they'd crucify them," he could be heard saying in the video. "And that town was really easy to manage for the next few years."

The comment was made at a town council meeting in a small Texas town.

Republicans in the House of Representatives have battled the EPA this year, introducing bills that would slow or stop agency rules on pollution from power plants and oil and natural gas drilling.

The Republicans say the rules will lead to shutdowns and higher energy costs for consumers as they struggle to recover from the weak economy. The measures have faced an uphill battle in the Democratic-led Senate.

Still, as businesses and Republicans have complained, the EPA has delayed several of its rules. This month the EPA delayed until 2015 part of a rule that requires natural gas drillers that do hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, to add equipment to tackle air pollution.

The Sierra Club, an environmental group that has fought the building of new coal plants, was unhappy with the resignation.

"The only people who will celebrate this resignation are the polluters who continue to foul Texas air and the politicians who serve those special interests," said Ken Kramer, the director of the Sierra Club in Texas.

(Reporting By Timothy Gardner; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick and Maureen Bavdek)

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Depressed Bin Laden thought about 'al-Qaida' name change, White House says - ABC News

Ever wish you could escape your troubles by changing your name and moving away? Well, according to President Barack Obama's top counterterrorism adviser at the White House, Osama bin Laden knew the feeling.

Hunkered down in his Abbottabad compound, bin Laden anguished as al-Qaida suffered "disaster after disaster," encouraged its operatives to flee to areas "away from aircraft photography and bombardment" and even thought about changing the name of his notorious international terrorist network, John Brennan said in a speech on Monday.

Brennan, Obama's Assistant for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, told the World Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington that bin Laden's pessimism was on full display in documents seized from his fortified home in the Pakistani garrison city. West Point's Combating Terrorism Center will display the papers this week.

Bin Laden worried about recruiting terrorist talent as U.S. strikes killed some of his veterans, fretting that "the rise of lower leaders who are not as experienced" would "lead to the repeat of mistakes," said Brennan. Al-Qaida's American-born public relations officer, Adam Gadahn, "admitted that they were now seen 'as a group that does not hesitate to take people's money by falsehood, detonating mosques [and] spilling the blood of scores of people,'" Brennan said in his prepared remarks.

Bin Laden himself "agreed that 'a large portion' of Muslims around the world 'have lost their trust' in al-Qaida," he continued.

"So damaged is al-Qaida's image that bin Laden even considered changing its name. And one of the reasons? As bin Laden said himself, U.S. officials 'have largely stopped using the phrase 'the war on terror' in the context of not wanting to provoke Muslims,'" said the U.S. official.

The core of Brennan's speech was a ringing defense of drone strikes at suspected terrorists, including American citizens abroad, which he called "legal, ethical and wise." Critics have called for greater judicial oversight of the process by which the U.S. government carries out targeted assassinations of Americans overseas.

And the United States reserves the right to pursue such attacks at any time and in any country in the world, he said. The attacks have drawn sharp criticisms from people in countries like Pakistan who regard them as outrageous violations of national sovereignty.

"As a matter of international law, the United States is in an armed conflict with al-Qaida, the Taliban and associated forces, in response to the 9/11 attacks, and we may also use force consistent with our inherent right of national self-defense," he said. "There is nothing in international law that bans the use of remotely piloted aircraft for this purpose or that prohibits us from using lethal force against our enemies outside of an active battlefield, at least when the country involved consents or is unable or unwilling to take action against the threat."

Brennan's remarks came as some Republicans ramped up criticisms of Obama's decision to use the raid that killed bin Laden as an argument for his own re-election.

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Want more of our best political stories? Visit The Ticket or connect with us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or add us on Tumblr. Handy with a camera? Join our Election 2012 Flickr group to submit your photos of the campaign in action.

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Running blind: China activist's dramatic escape - The Associated Press

Running blind: China activist's dramatic escapeBy ALEXA OLESEN, Associated Press – 5 minutes ago 

BEIJING (AP) — Chen Guangcheng's blindness was a help and a hindrance as he made his way past the security cordon ringing his farmhouse.

He knew the terrain — he had explored his village in rural China as a blind child and moved as easily in darkness as in daylight. He was alert for the sounds of people, cars and the river he would have to cross.

But he stumbled scores of times, arriving bloody at a meeting point with a fellow dissident — the first of an underground railroad of supporters who eventually escorted him to safety with U.S. diplomats.

A self-taught lawyer who angered authorities by exposing forced abortions, Chen is now presumed to be under U.S. protection, most likely in the fortress-like American Embassy in Beijing. Details of his improbable escape — making his way last week through fields and forest, then being chased by security agents in Beijing — are emerging in accounts from the activists who helped him.

Chen and his family had been harassed and kept under house arrest since the summer of 2005, except for a four-year period when Chen was jailed on charges of disrupting traffic and restrictions were eased on his wife and daughter. The couple's young son lives with his mother's sister.

After Chen's release in September 2010, the family was again placed under house arrest, their movements severely restricted, with even 6-year-old daughter Kesi subjected to searches when she came home from school. Chen and his wife, Yuan Weijing, were beaten several times.

The 41-year-old activist hatched his escape plan months ago with a simple idea — he would just lie still, said Bob Fu, founder of the Texas-based rights group ChinaAid and one of a handful of people to speak to Chen since he fled his village.

For weeks on end, Chen stayed in bed, saying he was too feeble to rise.

In fact, Chen wasn't well; his stomach was bothering him as it had for years. But he exaggerated his condition to lull the guards into a sense of complacency.

The ruse worked. The guards didn't look in on him constantly, assuming he was still bedridden, and when he escaped under cover of darkness, it took three days for them to notice.

"He did a darn good job. ... He prepared for months, at least two months," Fu said. "He didn't really move much, just laying in bed and making the impression that he couldn't move."

The night was cool with just a sliver of crescent moon in the sky on April 22 when Chen slipped out of his farmhouse in eastern China's Shandong province. Blinded by fever as a child, Chen grew up exploring the nearby cornfields and dirt paths sightless, so he had his bearings.

It wasn't the first time he had run away from Dongshigu village and his bitter, nearly decade-long feud with local officials.

In 2005, Chen, his wife and a friend made a dash out of the village, running through a cornfield to evade guards. He and his friend got all the way to Beijing, where they met with diplomats and journalists, but his wife was captured. Days later, Chen was seized by security guards on the streets of the capital and returned to house arrest.

On that brief escape he had been helped by his sighted friend; this time Chen was alone.

He followed a path to a field and from there took a road he knew would lead him to a narrow river. After crossing it, he entered a wooded area that gave way to less familiar territory, ground that continually tripped him up. He fell at least 200 times, he would tell his supporters.

He walked for hours, trying to put as much distance between himself and his heavily guarded home as possible before daring to slip a battery into his mobile phone and call He Peirong, a Nanjing-based English teacher-turned-activist who had promised to help. She was waiting with a car.

When she finally found him, Chen was wet, covered in mud and blood, and had numerous cuts and bruises.

"He was in very unbelievable shape when he was picked up," said Fu, citing a conversation with He. Chen "was trembling, was physically weak. ... But he was determined to escape from that miserable condition."

Fu said Chen took a few days to recuperate before making a video appeal.

Uploaded to YouTube and Boxun.com five days after Chen's escape, it showed the blind activist wearing a Nike wind breaker and his trademark black sunglasses, looking relaxed and sounding strong. In it, he pleaded with Premier Wen Jiabao to punish the local authorities who had subjected Chen and his family to 20 months of house arrest, repeatedly beating them.

It was apparently taped in Beijing after He drove Chen north and handed him off to another activist, who brought him to the capital.

He herself was detained Friday by police. Hours before, she told The Associated Press she had been in contact with Chen's relatives, who told her that when the local village chief discovered Chen was gone, "he was furious."

They beat Chen's wife, his brother and his adult nephew, she said.

In Beijing, Chen was mainly aided by Guo Yushan, founder of a think tank set up in 2007 in the capital's university district.

He also met with prominent activists Hu Jia and Zeng Jinyan, posing for smiling snapshots with the couple — pictures they later posted to Twitter. They discussed Chen's plan, saying he wanted "justice and freedom," and insisted he had no intention of leaving China.

Zeng said he seemed thinner and his hair was grayer than she remembered it, but that he was full of conviction.

"He was very certain and very clear," Zeng said. "He wants justice for his case and his family and he doesn't want to go abroad, doesn't want exile."

Despite his desire to stay in China, Fu now says China and the U.S. are close to a deal that would see Chen and his family given asylum in the United States. It could be announced within days, he said Monday.

Several others besides Guo helped Chen in Beijing, but Zeng and Fu declined to name them for fear they would be rounded up by security agents.

He, the former school teacher, has not been heard from since her detention Friday; Guo was detained and released but did not respond to a request for an interview. Colleagues said it wasn't "convenient" for him to talk, suggesting he is under pressure from authorities to stay silent.

Zeng and her husband also were questioned, with Hu spending 24 hours in custody.

The only tidbit Fu dared to offer about Chen's experience in Beijing was that he was involved in a car chase by security officials while being driven by a fellow dissident. But the agents were after the driver and didn't even know Chen was in the car.

"If they had known Chen was there, they probably would have shut down all of Beijing's traffic," Fu said.

Copyright © 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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Obama campaign defends bin Laden ad, as Romney adviser slams 'divisive' video - Fox News

President Obama's reelection campaign on Sunday stood by its controversial web video which questioned whether Mitt Romney would have approved the Usama bin Laden raid -- as a top Romney adviser accused the president of twisting a unifying moment into a "divisive, partisan, political attack." 

That video, released Friday, featured Bill Clinton touting Obama's role in directing the raid that resulted in bin Laden's death last May. But it went a step further, and suggested Romney would not have made the same call. 

Obama campaign adviser Robert Gibbs, the former White House press secretary, said Sunday the ad was "fair game." 

"I don't think it's clear that (Romney) would," Gibbs said, when asked whether Romney would have green-lighted the mission. 

"Usama bin Laden no longer walks on this planet today because of that brave decision (by Obama) and the brave actions by the men and women in our military -- and quite frankly Mitt Romney said it was a foolish thing to do a few years ago," Gibbs said, in an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press." 

"Maybe the comments he made a few years ago he admits are wrong, or he's flip-flopped on yet another issue," Gibbs added. 

The Obama campaign is referring to a quote from Romney who once said, "it's not worth moving heaven and earth spending billions of dollars just trying to catch one person." 

But Republicans describe the new web video as preposterous. 

"I think most Americans will see it as a sign of a desperate campaign," Romney adviser Ed Gillespie said, speaking on the same program as Gibbs. 

Gillespie said it's legitimate for Obama to say he's "proud" of the bin Laden raid -- with the one-year anniversary of that raid approaching this week. But Gillespie objected to the implication that Romney would not have made the same decision, calling the move "divisive." 

"I can't envision, having served in the White House, any president having been told 'we have him, he's here, you know, should we go in,' saying, 'no we shouldn't'," Gillespie said. "This is an attack on something that might have not happened." 

The campaign video was no outlier in the Obama campaign's emerging reelection message. 

Vice President Biden, in a speech Thursday, suggested a new bumper sticker read: "Usama bin Laden is dead and General Motors is alive." 

He went on to question Romney's strength as a leader in that context, a day before the campaign released the web video. 

"You have to ask yourself, if Gov. Romney had been president, could he have used the same slogan -- in reverse? People are going to make that judgment. It's a legitimate thing to speculate on," Biden said. 

Democratic strategist Jehmu Greene told Fox News on Sunday that the question "highlights" what she described as Romney's shortcomings on decisive leadership. 

"This proves President Obama does have a lot more weight and carries a lot more weight in this area," she said. 

But GOP strategist Nancy Pfotenhauer told Fox News the video "politicizes something that shouldn't have been politicized" and signals how "nasty" the 2012 campaign will become.

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Supreme Court moves to center of presidential race - Albany Times Union

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court, suddenly at the heart of presidential politics, is preparing what could be blockbuster rulings on health care and immigration shortly before the fall election.

The court, sometimes an afterthought in presidential elections, is throwing a new element of uncertainty into the campaign taking shape between President Barack Obama and presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney.

Sharply divided between four conservatives, four liberals and one conservative-leaning swing justice, the court already is viewed as being nearly as partisan as Congress. Within weeks it will rule on the contentious 2010 Democratic-crafted health care overhaul and a Republican-backed Arizona law that's seen as a model for cracking down on illegal immigrants.

Obama sometimes seems to be running against the court, or at least its conservative members. Whether that will sway voters in November is unclear. The public receives far less information and visual imagery of the Supreme Court than it does of the White House and Congress.

An anti-court strategy by Obama "will fire up his base, but I doubt it will make any bigger impact on swing voters," said Republican consultant John Feehery.

Meanwhile, strategists in both parties are hoping they can turn the upcoming decisions to their advantage — for instance, possibly boosting Democratic turnout among Hispanic voters unhappy with GOP immigration policies or emboldening the Republican base if Obama's landmark health care law is ruled unconstitutional.

The Supreme Court already has played a huge and direct role in U.S. presidential politics. Its 5-4 ruling in Bush v. Gore settled the bitter 2000 contest by barring a Florida ballot recount, which Democrats hoped would prevent George W. Bush's election.

And the 2010 Citizens United case, also decided 5-4, greatly eased political spending restrictions on corporations and unions. It gave birth to the "super PACs" that are reshaping campaigns by raising millions of anonymously donated dollars for TV ads attacking Obama, Romney and targeted congressional candidates.

By holding well-publicized hearings on the health care and immigration cases — and now writing keenly awaited decisions — the court is stirring passions on key issues in this year's elections. Less clear, however, is how the politics might play out.

Many court-watchers expect the justices to throw out most or all of the health law, which Republicans derisively call "Obamacare." During public oral arguments, the most conservative justices questioned Congress' authority to require all Americans to obtain health insurance.

Romney may be poorly positioned to exploit such a ruling, however. The similar "individual mandate" that he successfully pushed as Massachusetts governor was a model for Obama's federal plan.

"I don't think the Romney campaign will want to make health care a major issue," said Democratic strategist Doug Hattaway. "Every time Romney criticizes the president's health care reform, he opens himself up to the Etch A Sketch attack."

Hattaway was referring to claims that Romney switches back and forth on important policies, erasing and redrawing pages when convenient.

Republican strategist Terry Holt said a court decision overturning the health care law would be an unmistakable setback for Obama.

"It repudiates the singular achievement of this administration," Holt said.

Feehery agreed, saying such a ruling would make Obama "look like a weak president."

But it might help other Democrats, Feehery said. "It takes away a law that is unpopular," he said, "but puts health care back on the agenda for the Democrats, which has been a winning issue in the past."

In the immigration case, the Obama administration opposes Arizona's requirement that police check the legal status of people they stop for other reasons.

The law, pushed by a Republican governor and Legislature, has angered some voters, including Hispanics, in battleground states such as Florida, New Mexico and Colorado.

A number of court analysts predict the justices will uphold parts of the Arizona law but may overturn others. That could energize Americans who want tougher sanctions, including deportation, against millions of illegal immigrants in the country.

"This could prove problematic for Romney," Feehery said, because it would pit his conservative base against much-needed Hispanic voters in targeted states. "If Romney handles it right, by largely ignoring it, it could take out a major source of irritation for Hispanics and maybe help a portion of them see the good side of Romney," Feehery said.

Earlier this month, Obama, a former constitutional law professor, delivered what some considered a misleading warning to the court regarding the health care law.

"I'm confident that the Supreme Court will not take what would be an unprecedented, extraordinary step of overturning a law that was passed by a strong majority of a democratically elected Congress," the president said. "And I'd just remind conservative commentators that for years what we've heard is, the biggest problem on the bench was judicial activism or a lack of judicial restraint — that an unelected group of people would somehow overturn a duly constituted and passed law. Well, this is a good example."

White House spokesmen tried to explain that Obama recognizes the court's power to review laws passed by Congress. His point, said spokesman Jay Carney, is that the Supreme Court traditionally has "deferred to Congress' authority in matters of national economic importance."

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France election: Nicolas Sarkozy forced to deny he received 50 million from ... - Telegraph.co.uk

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Scenes from the 2012 White House Correspondents' Association dinner and afterparty - Baltimore Sun

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Sudan declares state of emergency in border areas - The Associated Press

Sudan declares state of emergency in border areasBy MOHAMMED SAEED, Associated Press – 1 hour ago 

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) — Sudan has declared a state of emergency in areas bordering South Sudan, giving authorities there wide powers of arrest and detention.

A decree carried by the state media on Sunday also included the creation of "special tribunals" to try suspects facing terror and customs offenses.

The move, together with the arrest on Saturday of three foreigners and a South Sudanese in a disputed border area, are signs of spiking tensions along the disputed border, where clashes have raged in recent weeks.

The violence has brought the two nations, already at odds over demarcating the border and dividing oil revenue, to the brink of war.

South Sudan won independence last year as part of a peace deal that ended a long, bloody civil war.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) — Sudan has claimed three foreigners arrested in a disputed area on the border with South Sudan had military hardware and an armored vehicle. But a representative for one of the three said Sunday that they were on a humanitarian mine-clearing mission.

A Briton, a Norwegian, a South African and a South Sudanese were captured by Sudanese troops Saturday in the oil-rich region of Heglig.

The arrests are the latest sign of spiking tensions along the disputed border, where clashes have raged in recent weeks. The violence has brought the two nations, already at odds over demarcating the border and dividing oil revenue, to the brink of war.

Sudanese army spokesman Col. Sawarmi Khalid Saad claimed on state television late Saturday that the four people arrested had military backgrounds. He alleged they were carrying out military activities in Heglig, but did not elaborate. He said the arrests supported claims by the Sudanese government in Khartoum that South Sudan used "foreigners" when it captured Heglig.

South Sudan seceded from the north last year after a referendum held as part of a 2005 peace deal that ended more than 20 years of civil war between the two sides. But unresolved issues, such as the sharing of oil revenues and demarcation of the border, have led to the new flare-up of violence.

South Sudan invaded Heglig earlier this month, saying it belonged to the south. Sudan later retook the town; Sudanese forces say they pushed out the South Sudanese while South Sudan says its troops pulled out to avoid an all-out war. Sudan elevated the tension even further by bombing South Sudan.

In Oslo, a Norwegian humanitarian organization said Sunday that one of its employees, 50-year-old John Soerboe, was detained while on a five-day mine-clearing mission in southern Sudan with the Briton and South African.

The group denied he was on a military mission and said he had been working for more than seven years to clear the region of mines.

The Norwegian People's Aid organization called Soerboe "one of our most experienced aid workers." Per Nergaard, the group's head of emergency preparedness, said Soerboe used to be in the Norwegian military years ago before turning to humanitarian work. He had been working in southern Sudan since 2005.

He said in a statement on the group's website that Soerboe was on a "routine" mission, with the representatives from South Sudan and U.N. anti-mine organizations, in a region that borders Sudan.

Nergaard did not know the names of the others arrested, or have details about the incident. They were taken by Sudanese authorities to Khartoum, he said.

"The circumstance surrounding their arrest and exact location at the time is yet unclear," he said.

"Our main priority now is to ensure that Soerboe and his colleagues are safe and to assure their rapid release. We are working closely with the Norwegian Foreign Ministry and our U.N. partners to assure this," Nergaard said.

The Norwegian organization has been working in the area since 1986, he added.

A spokesman for the Norwegian Foreign Ministry, Frode O. Andersen, said Oslo "had demanded access to the Norwegian citizen."

"We have asked for a clarification on why he was arrested, and we want to find out the charges against him," Andersen said.

Britain's Foreign Office confirmed a British national had been detained and said it was "urgently investigating" the details of the arrests. The ministry said it had requested immediate access to the Briton, but had no other details.

The South African Foreign Ministry said Sunday it is following up on reports of the arrest of a South African man in a mine clearing detail near the South Sudan border.

Associated Press writers Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark, David Stringer in London, and Angus Shaw in Harare, Zimbabwe contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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Head of UN mission in Syria urges halt to violence - Fox News

BEIRUT –  The head of the U.N. observer mission in Syria on Sunday called on President Bashar Assad and the country's opposition to stop fighting and allow a tenuous cease-fire to take hold.

Maj. Gen. Robert Mood spoke after arriving in the Syrian capital, Damascus, to take charge of an advance team of 16 U.N. monitors trying to salvage an international peace plan to end the country's 13-month-old crisis.

Under the plan, a cease-fire is supposed to lead to talks between Assad and the opposition on a political solution to a conflict that has killed more than 9,000 people.

Mood told reporters that the 300 observers the U.N. has authorized for the mission "cannot solve all the problems" in Syria, asking for cooperation from forces loyal to Assad as well as rebels seeking to end his rule.

"We want to have combined efforts focusing on the welfare of the Syrian people," he said, "true cessation of violence in all its forms."

The cease-fire began unraveling almost as soon as it went into effect April 12. The regime has kept up its attacks on opposition strongholds, while rebel fighters have continued to ambush government security forces. Defying a major truce provision, the Syrian military has failed to withdraw tanks and soldiers from city streets.

Despite the violence, the truce still enjoys the support of the international community, largely because it views the plan as the last chance to prevent the country from falling into civil war — and because it does not want to intervene militarily.

Jakob Kellenberger, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, said that while he is still hopeful, "unfortunately, I am also aware how much this plan is at risk."

"That's why it's especially important for this mission to expand quickly," Kellenberger told the Swiss newspaper Der Sonntag. He met with Syrian leaders earlier this month.

Most analysts say the plan has little chance of succeeding, though it could temporarily bring down the level of daily violence.

That has largely been the case in Homs, Syria's third largest city, which has emerged as the heart of the uprising. Regime forces pounded parts of Homs for months, leaving large swaths of the city in ruins, before two U.N. monitors moved into an upscale hotel there last week.

Since then, the level of violence has dropped, although gunbattles still frequently break out. "The shooting has not stopped in Homs," local activist Tarek Badrakhan said Sunday.

An amateur video posted online Saturday showed the observers walking through a heavily damaged neighborhood, where residents collected a body lying in the street and put it in the back of a pickup truck.

Mood, a Norwegian, was appointed head of the observer mission by U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon. One hundred monitors should be in the country by mid-May, said mission spokesman Neeraj Singh. It is unclear when or if the full contingent of 300 monitors will deploy to Syria.

Mood brings a wealth of Middle East experience to the job, including stints with U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon in 1989-1990 and as the head of a U.N. peacekeeping mission known as UNTSO from 2009 to 2011. That mission was the U.N's first-ever peacekeeping operation, starting after the 1948 Arab-Israeli war to monitor a cease-fire. It now watches cease-fires around the Middle East.

The Syrian state news agency said observers visited the embattled Homs neighborhood of Khaldiyeh on Sunday but provided no further information.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said government snipers shot and killed two people in the neighborhood of Joret al-Shayah, which borders Khaldiyeh.

The group, which relies on a network of activists in Syria, also said one civilian was killed and four wounded in random gunfire by security forces in the village of al-Saliha in the central Hama province.

Ban has blamed the regime for widespread violations of the truce — prompting Syria to fire back that his comments were "outrageous" and accuse him of bias.

The spat has further stoked concerns among the Syrian opposition and its Western supporters that Assad is merely playing for time to avoid compliance with a plan that — if fully implemented — would likely sweep him out of office.

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Associated Press writer Albert Aji contributed reporting from Damascus, Syria.

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Los Angeles marks 20th anniversary of riots - AFP

Los Angeles marks 20th anniversary of riotsBy Michael Thurston (AFP) – 1 hour ago 

LOS ANGELES — America on Sunday marked the 20th anniversary of the devastating Los Angeles riots, one of the worst spasms of violence in modern times in this country, sparked by the on-camera police beating of a black motorist.

A series of events were scheduled in Los Angeles were scheduled including speeches by civil rights activist the Reverend Al Sharpton and LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and a community "speakout" at the epicenter of the six-day riots in gritty South LA.

Local radio and other media have hosted wall-to-wall debates about the lessons learned from the unrest, triggered by the acquittal of four police officers over the beating of African American Rodney King.

Fifty-three people died and property damage exceeded $1 billion before the frenzy of burning, looting, assault and murder, much of it caught live on camera, was brought under control.

King -- who has released an autobiography timed with the anniversary -- was 26 years old when a group of white police officers brutally beat him while a bystander videotaped them from his apartment window on March 3, 1991.

A year later, on April 29, 1992, an all-white jury acquitted four police officers over his assault.

Hundreds of thousands of people poured into the streets in anger, igniting a wave of deadly violence and arson that swept through large areas of Los Angeles.

The police seemed powerless to stop it. Order was restored on the fourth day of the rioting, when army troops arrived. By that time, thousands of people had been injured and many had died.

The run-up to the anniversary has seen a surge of reflection on what has changed in the decades since the riots, which were centered on South LA, primarily composed of African and American and Hispanic communities.

"After the riots, we learned it is not our city," Los Angeles Police Department Lieutenant Andrew Neiman told AFP. "We work for the people and it's their city."

The LAPD also became more representative, and is approved of by 70 percent of city residents. "Back in 1992, we had 1,800 Hispanic officers," Neiman said. "Today we have 4,223... we became more diverse to match our community."

Of the West Coast city's four million residents, 48 percent are now Latino, 28 percent white, 13 percent Asian and eight percent black, according to Los Angeles magazine.

But the social problems that fueled the pent-up frustration remain: unemployment in South LA is as high as almost 24 percent -- several points higher than in 1992, according to the report in the LA Times Saturday.

On Sunday, the anniversary is marked in day-long events, including sermons by activist and broadcaster Sharpton, while mayor Villaraigosa will attend a "South L.A. Rises: Community Fair and Rally."

The Korean Churches for Community Development will hold a commemorative event, while a public speakout meeting will be held at the epicenter of the riot -- the junction of Florence and Normandie avenues, at 3:00 pm.

In Long Beach, south of LA, where the riots also raged, an interfaith service will be held by the Long Beach Immigrant Rights Coalition.

Rodney King, who has battled drugs and had a number of brushes with the law since 1992, said racism still has to be challenged.

"There's always going to be some type of racism. But it's up to us as individuals in this country to look back and see all the accomplishments that we have gotten to this far."

"I have much respect for (the police), much respect... some of them went out of their way over the years to try to make it up to me. Not all of them is bad," he added.

In his new memoir, "The Riot Within," King describes his life since the riots, during which he famously appealed for calm, asking "can't we all get along?"

Copyright © 2012 AFP. All rights reserved. More »

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Chen Guangcheng escape overshadows US diplomat's China visit - The Guardian

Kurt Campbell, front, arrives at a hotel in Beijing. Photograph: Ng Han Guan/AP

A senior US diplomat has arrived in Beijing amid political aftershocks following the escape from house arrest of a blind Chinese civil rights activist who is believed to have sought sanctuary in the US embassy.

Kurt Campbell, the assistant secretary of state, arrived in the capital as Chinese police moved to detain activists and relatives suspected of being involved in the dramatic bid for freedom last week by Chen Guangcheng.

After more than six years of jail and house arrest, Chen climbed over the wall of his home last Sunday night and evaded checkpoints and dozens of guards, before meeting a supporter who drove him to Beijing. According to friends and overseas human rights groups, he is now under US diplomatic protection.

Texas-based ChinaAid said on Saturday that "high level talks are currently under way between US and Chinese officials regarding Chen's status".

But neither government has yet spoken publicly about the issue, which could hardly have come at a more politically sensitive moment for the world's two biggest economies. Campbell was originally expected to visit China later this week. The secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, and the treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner, are due to arrive in Beijing on Wednesday night for two days of strategic dialogue.

If Chen is confirmed to be in the embassy, negotiations about his future could overshadow efforts to improve the bilateral relationship. Friends say Chen does not want to leave China, but he will not put himself into the hands of the authorities unless there are guarantees for the safety and liberty of himself, his family and associates.

Diplomatic sources described the situation as messy, with the potential to affect US-China relations for several months. With the US presidential election looming, the White House will not want to hand over a high-profile civil rights campaigner who exposed illegally enforced abortions by officials.

The Chinese government is months away from a transition of power and still struggling to overcome a scandal sparked by the death of the British businessman Neil Heywood that brought down the municipal party leader Bo Xilai.

Jean-Pierre Cabestan, of Hong Kong University, said that if Chen was at the embassy, the two governments would probably try to downplay the issue, at least until the end of this week's bilateral talks.

"Then the Obama administration will try to find a solution that may not be asylum, but an assurance from Beijing that they will stop harrassing Chen; but if that does not work, asylum will eventually be granted," he said.

Nicholas Bequelin, of Human Rights Watch, said it was unlikely the Chinese government would accept Chen's demands for an investigation into his case. In the interim, he said, Washington should offer to take Chen and his family to the US for "medical reasons".

"If Beijing is not ready for that either, they should be ready to shelter Chen for a longer time, until a solution is negotiated," Bequelin said.

Human rights groups emphasise that negotiations should also focus on the plight of Chen's family and supporters. Several were targeted by police at the weekend. He Peirong, who drove Chen to Beijing, was detained on Friday.

Another alleged collaborator, Guo Yushan, not been heard of since Saturday and is thought to have been taken away by police. The activist Hu Jia, who was photographed with Chen after his escape, was held and questioned for more than a day. The whereabouts of Chen's wife and daughter remain unknown. His nephew Chen Kegui has been arrested for allegedly fighting local officials, activists said.

In a separate case, a Chinese writer who fled the country last year alleged that officials had detained a friend for seven months in the mistaken belief that he funded the escape. Liao Yiwu, now living in Germany, urged writers and campaigners to call for Li Bifeng's release.

Liao said a court was likely to consider Li's case on 8 May, although prosecutors had twice rejected attempts to charge him with economic crimes. "The pretext provided this time was too far-fetched even for the Communist party," he wrote.

"I recently learned from several channels that the police arrested Li Bifeng because of me. The police suspect [he] financed my escape – this is a groundless lie." Liao slipped across the border into Vietnam last July after authorities had denied him permission to leave China 17 times.

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