U.S.'s Lew talks to rich nations' ministers on pressuring Russia

WASHINGTON Tue Jul 29, 2014 10:15am EDT

U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew stops for a question from a reporter during a cybersecurity-related tour of a Verizon network operations center at their facility in Ashburn, Virginia July 15, 2014.

Credit: Reuters/Jonathan Ernst

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew spoke by phone with top ministers from Germany and other rich nations about pressuring Russia to stop its military support of Ukrainian separatists, the Treasury Department said on Tuesday.

U.S. and European leaders agreed this week to impose wider sanctions on Russia's financial, defense and energy sectors.

Lew spoke individually by phone with the ministers from Germany, Netherlands, Australia, Canada, Britain and Singapore, the Treasury said in a statement.

"They discussed the international community’s continued and coordinated responses to Russia’s destabilizing actions and the need to continue to press Russia to choose a diplomatic path," the Treasury said.

(Reporting by Jason Lange; Editing by Paul Simao)

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U.S. Senate bill proposes sweeping curbs on NSA surveillance

By Doina Chiacu

WASHINGTON Tue Jul 29, 2014 10:09am EDT

Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont turns his camera on reporters in Havana February 20, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Desmond Boylan POLITICS)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senator Patrick Leahy will introduce legislation on Tuesday to ban the U.S. government's bulk collection of Americans' telephone records and Internet data and narrow how much information it can seek in any particular search.

The bill, which has White House backing, goes further than a version passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in reducing bulk collection and may be more acceptable to critics who have dismissed other versions as too weak.

Revelations last year by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden prompted President Barack Obama to ask Congress in January to rein in the bulk collection and storage of records of millions of U.S. domestic telephone calls.

Many American technology companies also have been clamoring for changes after seeing their international business suffer as foreign governments worry they might collect data and hand it over to U.S. spy agencies.

The legislation is not expected to come up for a vote in the Senate before Congress leaves for a five-week break on Friday.

Leahy, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, proposed greater limits on the terms analysts use to search databases held by phone companies such as Verizon Communications Inc or AT&T Inc.

The bill, called the USA Freedom Act, would prohibit the government from collecting all information from a particular service provider or a broad geographic area, such as a city or area code, according to a release from Leahy's office.

The USA Freedom Act would expand government and company reporting to the public and reform the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which reviews NSA intelligence activities.

The House passed its version in May.

Both measures would keep information out of NSA computers, but the Senate bill would impose stricter limits on how much data the spy agency could seek.

The Senate bill would end the bulk collection authorized by Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act, which was enacted in the George W. Bush administration after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. It instead would authorize searches for telephone call records "two hops" from a search term, with a hop indicating connections between people suspected of links to foreign terrorism.

The NSA has had legal authority to collect and hold for five years metadata for all telephone calls inside the United States. Telephone metadata documents the numbers involved, when the calls were made and how long they lasted, but not their content.

Leahy's bill would require the government to report the number of individuals - including Americans - whose information has been collected. It gives private companies four options to report on the number of government requests they get.

The bill would require the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to appoint a panel of legal advocates to address privacy and civil liberties issues.

National Security Council spokesman Ned Price praised Leahy on Monday for having done "remarkable work" balancing security and privacy concerns in the bill.

(Reporting by Doina Chiacu, Roberta Rampton, Joseph Menn in San Francisco; Writing by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)

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U.S. says Russia violated nuclear treaty, urges immediate talks

By Roberta Rampton

WASHINGTON Tue Jul 29, 2014 4:37am EDT

U.S. President Barack Obama (L) meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the G8 Summit at Lough Erne in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland June 17, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In another sign of deteriorating relations between the United States and Russia, the U.S. government said on Monday that Moscow had violated the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces treaty, and urged immediate bilateral talks on the issue.

The Cold War treaty, ratified in 1988, was designed to eliminate ground-launched cruise missiles with ranges of 500 to 5,500 km (310 to 3,400 miles).

"This is a very serious matter which we have attempted to address with Russia for some time now," an administration official said in a statement.

"We encourage Russia to return to compliance with its obligations under the treaty and to eliminate any prohibited items in a verifiable manner," the official said.

The official did not describe how Russia violated the treaty. But the New York Times had reported in January that Washington informed its NATO partners that Russia had tested a ground-launched cruise missile.

State Department officials had hinted that a formal determination that Russia had violated the treaty could be forthcoming, said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association, a Washington-based research and advocacy group.

He said the violation would not represent a new military threat to the United States and its European allies, given Russia's existing missile arsenal.

But in an interview, Kimball called the infraction "disturbing."

"It suggests that Russia is moving away from a long U.S.-Russia tradition of restraining the most dangerous weapons even as they have serious disagreements on all sorts of issues," he said.

The United States notified Russia of its determination and called for senior-level talks "with the aim of assuring the United States that Russia will come back into compliance" with the treaty. "The United States will, of course, consult with allies on this matter to take into account the impact of this Russian violation on our collective security if Russia does not return to compliance," the official said.

(Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Editing by Peter Cooney)

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Italy to 'help douse' Libya fire

29 July 2014 Last updated at 10:53 Footage shows rescuers attempting to quell the huge flames at the fuel depot - Rana Jawad reports

Italy has offered to help extinguish a huge blaze that has engulfed the biggest fuel depot in the Libyan capital, Libya's government says.

It would send aircraft and a team of experts to contain the blaze which has hit two tanks, the government added.

Libyan officials blame clashes between rival militias for starting the fire, described as "out of control".

Many residents of Tripoli are staying indoors, amid fears that the violence is spiralling out of control.

At least 97 people have been killed in fighting between rival militias battling for control of Tripoli's main airport in the past week.

The depot is about 10km (six miles) from Tripoli on the road to the international airport.

The BBC's Rana Jawad in Tripoli says that the mood among residents is grim, and it feels as though the city is being strangled because of the violence.

Many people have been to flee areas affected by the violence Fighting between rival militias has intensified in recent weeks Dozens of planes have been destroyed in fighting around Libya's main airport

People are angry, scared and mostly in disbelief at the recklessness of the militias and disregard for the potential wide-scale damage, she says.

'Ignited by shrapnel'

A lot of families who live on the road to the airport or other areas affected by stray rockets have fled their homes, our correspondent adds.

In a statement, the Libyan prime minister's office appealed to "all sides to stop fighting and allow the experts and planes to successfully put out the blaze as soon as possible".

Both the Italian government and Italian oil company ENI would assist in extinguishing the fire, the statement said.

Fire-fighters almost managed to put out the blaze when it took hold of the first tank but had to withdraw after fighting resumed in the area, Libya's National Oil Company (NOC) spokesman Mohamed Al-Harrai told the BBC on Monday.

He said shrapnel hit the second fuel tank, igniting it.

The fuel storage site, which belongs to the Brega oil and gas company, is the main hub for distribution of petrol in the city.

The government has been unable to disarm the numerous armed groups controlling large parts of the country, which are behind Libya's worst violence since the 2011 uprising that toppled Col Muammar Gaddafi.

It has led some Western governments to urge their nationals to leave and withdraw foreign staff from their embassies in Tripoli.

Libyan government officials have warned of the possibility of a break-up of the country if clashes over Tripoli airport continue.

Members of the Islamist Libya Revolutionaries Operations Room (LROR) are trying to seize control of the airport, which has been in the hands of the Zintan militia since the overthrow of Col Gaddafi.

In Benghazi, at least 38 people were killed in clashes between between troops loyal to the Libyan government and Islamist fighters on Sunday.

Are you in Libya? Are you in Tripoli or Benghazi? Do you have friends and family in the country? Please share your experiences, photos and videos by contacting haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk using the subject 'Libya fighting'. Please include contact details if you feel it is safe to do so.

Send your pictures and videos to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to 61124 (UK) or +44 7624 800 100 (International). If you have a large file you can upload here.

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EU widens sanctions against Russia

29 July 2014 Last updated at 16:52 US Secretary of State John Kerry: "President Putin can make a huge difference here, if he chooses too"

The EU has adopted new economic sanctions against Russia over the conflict in Ukraine, targeting the oil sector, defence equipment and sensitive technologies, EU sources say.

Russian state banks' access to capital is also likely to be restricted.

The aim is to increase the cost to Russia of its continued support for pro-Moscow rebels in eastern Ukraine.

Moscow denies charges by the EU and US that it is supplying heavy weapons to the rebels.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said Washington was also preparing further sanctions against Russia.

Details of the EU move are still coming in. The full sanctions statement is expected on Wednesday, when the EU is also set to name more Russian officials facing asset freezes and travel bans in Europe.

President Putin has urged the Russian defence sector to rely less on foreign components

Calls for the EU to act have been fuelled by the downing of flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine. All 298 people on the Malaysia Airlines jet were killed, many of them Dutch citizens.

An international team has again failed to access the crash site, amid heavy fighting between government forces and rebels there.

Western governments believe the rebels shot the plane down on 17 July with a Russian missile.

Ukraine's military has been on the offensive, seeking to encircle the pro-Russian separatist rebels in Donetsk region. In the latest developments:

Several shells are said to have struck buildings in the separatist stronghold of Donetsk cityUkraine says its troops have entered the towns of Shakhtarsk and Torez in Donetsk region, and Lutuhyne in Luhansk regionTen Ukrainian soldiers and at least 22 civilians have reportedly been killed in the last 24 hoursThe dead civilians are said to include three children and five people at a home for the elderlyA group of hackers sympathetic to the rebels says it has disabled the website of the Ukrainian president.

On Monday Russian President Vladimir Putin urged his country's defence industry chiefs to rely less on foreign military components and source more equipment in Russia.

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Israel steps up bombardment of Gaza

29 July 2014 Last updated at 16:01 The BBC's Chris Morris reports from the ruins of a Gaza mosque, where he says the mood is one of "defiance"

More than 100 Palestinians are said to have been killed after Israel intensified its bombardment of Gaza and warned of a long conflict ahead.

Gaza's only power plant caught fire as Israel carried out 60 air strikes, targeting sites associated with Hamas, the Islamist group which controls Gaza.

UN staff members are said to be among those killed.

An Israeli military spokesman said the strikes signalled a "gradual increase in the pressure" on Hamas.

Power plant destroyed

Gazans get power from just one local plant, as well as some supplies from Israel and Egypt.

On Tuesday morning a huge plume of smoke rose over the strip's only power plant after one of its fuel tanks was reportedly set alight by Israeli tank shells, and the facility was forced to shut down.

At the scene: Martin Patience, BBC News, Gaza A fuel depot supplying Gaza's only power station has been hit, as Martin Patience and Chris Morris report

For the last three weeks, most Gazans have been living with just a few hours of electrical supplies - now the situation will almost certainly get worse.

After a brief lull in the fighting earlier this week, the violence has returned with a renewed intensity.

In Gaza City you can hear the constant bombardment of areas close to the Israeli border. There have also been large explosions in the city throughout the morning.

Any sign that a patchwork of truces would lead to more a sustainable ceasefire has been dashed for now.

View from Israel: Bethany Bell, BBC News, Jerusalem The Israeli military is stepping up its offensive to find and destroy Hamas tunnels, as Bethany Bell reports

More than three weeks on there is in general very widespread support among Israelis for the Gaza offensive. Recent polls say almost 90% of Israelis are in favour.

Some are beginning to ask whether the army and the government underestimated the tunnel threat from Gaza. Targeting the tunnels is one of Israel's main objectives in this campaign, but destroying them is complicated.

Israel says it has identified more than 30 tunnels - but the army was taken off guard last night when five soldiers were killed by Palestinian militants who came up through a tunnel into Israel.

Military sources say these aren't just single shafts but a labyrinth of underground passageways, some booby-trapped with explosives.

The government says it will not stop the offensive until the tunnels are destroyed.

Truce confusion

In a televised address on Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stressed the need to destroy tunnels dug under the Gaza-Israel border, to prevent militants infiltrating Israel.

After Tuesday's loss of life in Gaza a Palestinian official in the West Bank said rival Palestinian factions had agreed to a unilateral truce lasting 24 hours.

Yasser Abed Rabbo of the Palestine Liberation Organization said he spoke for Hamas, but a spokesman for the group, Sami Abu Zuhri, quickly denied that.

"Hamas gave no approval to anything Abed Rabbo said," Reuters reported him saying.

Palestinian officials now say 1,156 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed in the fighting since 8 July. Some 6,700 have been injured.

Israel has lost 53 soldiers and three civilians - two Israelis and a Thai worker.

Palestinian youths grieve for people killed in Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip Rescue workers in Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip

Fifty-five houses were destroyed in overnight bombing, with people buried under rubble in at least three of them, Palestinian security sources told the BBC.

The unoccupied house of former Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh was destroyed.

The Israeli air strikes destroyed the house of ex-Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, as Chris Morris reports

A neighbour, Um Hani Abu Ryalah, told AP news agency the experience had terrified her family: "Our children... can't hear because of the loud explosions and they are shaking."

Israeli fire is also said to have damaged the Hamas TV and radio stations, three mosques, four factories and government buildings.

Gaza's port was also destroyed, Palestinian security sources told the BBC, and two schools and a kindergarten were on fire after being hit.

Among the 100 people killed on Tuesday were seven families, the Palestinian health ministry said.

UN Relief and Works Agency spokesman Chris Gunness said in a tweet that a number of staff members had reportedly been killed. The UN is currently caring for 182,604 Palestinians in its 82 shelters in Gaza, he said.

Targeting tunnels

Rockets fired from Gaza continued to hit Israel on Tuesday.

Lt-Col Peter Lerner, an Israeli military spokesman, told AP pressure was being increased on Hamas.

"Israel is determined to strike this organisation and relieve us of this threat," he said.

An Israeli soldier prays on top of a tank near the Gaza border Israeli soldiers on a tank near the border with Gaza

On Monday, five Israeli soldiers were killed when militants infiltrated the border, while a mortar bomb killed four earlier and a tenth died in a clash in southern Gaza, the Israeli army said.

In his address on Monday night, Mr Netanyahu said Gaza had to be demilitarised in order to protect Israel.

"We will not finish the operation without neutralising the tunnels, which have the sole purpose of destroying our citizens, killing our children," he said.

Israel's Operation Protective Edge began on 8 July after a surge in militant rocket attacks.

A rally in support of the operation is planned for Tuesday evening in Tel Aviv.

Are you in Israel or Gaza? How are you affected by the situation? Email your experiences to haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk using the subject 'Israel Gaza'.

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Microsoft in China anti-trust probe

29 July 2014 Last updated at 11:55 Earlier this year China banned government purchases of Microsoft Windows 8 An anti-monopoly investigation into US technology giant Microsoft has been launched by Chinese authorities.

China's State Administration for Industry and Commerce - the body responsible for enforcing business laws - said it was looking into "alleged monopoly actions" by the company.

The announcement came after officials from the regulator visited some of Microsoft's local offices.

The company said it "will address any concerns the government may have".

It has not yet been accused of any specific wrongdoing.

Any potential investigation in China would be a fresh setback for Microsoft in the country, a key growth market for global technology firms.

Earlier this year, China said it would ban government use of Windows 8, Microsoft's latest operating system.

Increased scrutiny?

The visits to Microsoft offices come just days after the China's anti-trust regulator said that Qualcomm, one of the world's biggest mobile chipmakers, had used monopoly power in setting its licensing fees.

The anti-trust case has already seen some local handset makers hold back on signing licences for Qualcomm products, hitting its revenues.

Another technology firm, Interdigital - which specialises in wireless technology - has also faced a similar investigation.

Chinese regulators suspended that investigation earlier this year after Interdigital agreed to change its pricing structure.

However, some have alleged that China is using anti-trust probes to protect domestic firms.

"It has become increasingly clear that the Chinese government has seized on using the [anti-monopoly] law to promote Chinese producer welfare, and to advance industrial policies that nurture domestic enterprises," the US Chamber of Commerce said earlier this year.

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Bomber kills Hamid Karzai's cousin

29 July 2014 Last updated at 09:34 Hashmat Karzai, seen here with his pet lion A suicide bomber has killed a cousin of President Hamid Karzai in the southern city of Kandahar, officials say.

Hashmat Karzai was greeting a well-wisher to his house when the man blew himself up. One report said explosives were hidden in the bomber's turban.

Mr Karzai had been receiving guests on the festival of Eid marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

He was a campaign manager for Ashraf Ghani, one of two presidential hopefuls vying to replace Hamid Karzai.

There was no immediate claim for the assassination.

It follows a series of attacks carried out by the Taliban and their allies as votes are rechecked in the bitterly disputed election.

Hashmat Karzai was influential and a key backer of Ashraf Ghani.

The BBC's David Loyn in Kabul says he had emerged as a significant power-broker in the politics of Kandahar, the most important city in the south of Afghanistan.

The Karzai family had been split by a long running feud, our correspondent reports.

Hashmat, who had a pet lion, was the head of a security company with major US contracts, and had been implicated by some family members in the killing of a cousin - a charge he denied.

His own father was murdered by another family member 25 years ago.

In 2011 Hamid Karzai's brother, Ahmad Wali Karzai, was murdered in his home in Kandahar in an attack claimed by the Taliban.

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Saudi activist calls for abuse law

13 February 2013 Last updated at 09:05 GMT A Twitter campaign to criminalise violence against women and children has been launched in Saudi Arabia A Saudi Arabian human rights activist has called for a child abuse law in the kingdom after a five-year-old girl was allegedly killed by her father.

Writing in a Saudi paper, Prof Fawziah al Bakr said existing laws needed "to catch up with Saudi society."

Fayhan al-Ghamdi, an Islamic cleric, is on trial, charged with beating to death his daughter, Lama.

Erroneous reports that he was freed after paying "blood money" drew outrage in the kingdom and around the world.

"The absence of laws [to protect women and children] produce cases like Lama, who die waiting for justice, and this absence of legislation will keep producing others like Lama we may or may not know about," Prof al Bakr wrote in Al Jazirah.

The Saudi Ministry of Justice denied reports that Mr al-Ghamdi had been released after paying 200,000 riyals ($50,000; £31,500) to Lama's mother, saying the case against the cleric was continuing and he remained in jail.

But for Professor al Bakr, Lama's story underlined the urgent need for legislation in a country where women's rights campaigners say that domestic violence is a growing but rarely acknowledged issue, says the BBC's Gulf analyst Bill Law.

Writing of changes to Saudi society, she argued that "in the past, it was acceptable to address similar cases within the context of the family and neighbourhood" but that was no longer true.

"It is time to wake up," she wrote, adding: "our modern times have seen a shift in how we define and view terms like childhood, abuse, neglect and other terms relating to rights in modern social institutions."

"There is an immediate need to call for a draft law that clearly defines all forms of abuse including verbal, psychological, physical, and sexual abuse. [These] behaviours should be clearly identified by lawmakers and sharia [Islamic] laws and codified."

Professor al Bakr's article adds weight to a Twitter campaign launched by the women's rights activist Manal al-Sharif.

That campaign is using the hashtag "Ana Lama" (Arabic for "I am Lama") to demand legislation criminalising violence against women or children.

With concern over the issue growing, the Saudi authorities have recently said a 24-hour hotline will be set up to take calls about child abuse.

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SA university closed after protests

13 February 2013 Last updated at 13:34 GMT Students barricaded the campus entrance and blocked staff from getting to work South Africa's Fort Hare University has shut down its main campus following violent student protests over a 90% rise in residence fees.

University officials said the intimidation of staff and the destruction of property had resulted in the campus' closure until next Tuesday.

Police fired rubber bullets to disperse students burning tyres on Monday.

Fort Hare was once a famous university, where African leaders such as Nelson Mandela and Robert Mugabe studied.

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Four students cannot be expected to share a room, which has been originally created for two students”

End Quote Athol Trollip Democratic Alliance Twenty-one students were arrested for public violence and released on warning after Monday's protest at the university's campus in the town of Alice in Eastern Cape province.

Students barricaded the campus entrance and blocked staff from getting to work.

Mvuyo Tom, the university 's vice-chancellor, says they may be forced to close the 97-year-old institution if the violent protest continued.

The university obtained an interdict to stop students from further disrupting activities and vandalising property on Monday.

Student Representative Council (SRC) leader at the university, Andile Gama, denied that the students protested in defiance of the court order.

"We are planning to appeal the interdict because the management has not answered to our grievances."

Students have been demanding a reversal of a 90% rise in the university's residence fees.

The opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) party has condemned the closure of the campus.

African leaders like Robert Mugabe and Nelson Mandela got their first taste of politics at Fort Hare

"The 90% increase in residence fees is unacceptable as most of the students are from poor family backgrounds," said DA regional leader Athol Trollip.

Mr Trollip said they were also shocked to hear of the living conditions of the students.

"Four students cannot be expected to share a room, which has been originally created for two students," he said.

Fort Hare University is one South Africa's oldest learning institutions and carries a great deal of history.

Many anti-apartheid activists, as well as regional leaders who fought colonial rule, got their first taste of politics decades ago as students studying there.

Mr Mandela, who became South Africa's first black president, was expelled from Fort Hare in 1940 for political activism and Mr Mugabe, Zimbabwe's president, won a scholarship to study there in 1949.

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