US cleric: American jailed in Cuba in good spirits
A US government subcontractor jailed for nearly two years for bringing restricted communications equipment to Cuba has lost a lot of weight but seems in good humour, a prominent US religious leader said after visiting the prisoner yesterday.
The Reverend Michael Kinnamon, the general secretary of the National Council of Churches who is leading a 15-person delegation to the island, gave few details of his interview with Alan Gross.
"Two of us went to see him today. ... We had a good conversation, and we're grateful for the government for enabling us to have that visit," Kinnamon told reporters.
Kinnamon echoed reports from previous visitors who said Gross, 62, had dropped more than 100 pounds (45 kilograms) and suffered from other ailments.
"We have concerns for his health, but he's in good spirits," Kinnamon said. He said he hoped Gross may be freed on humanitarian grounds, but had no knowledge of when or whether that may happen.
Gross, a native of Maryland, was arrested December 4, 2009, while working as a subcontractor on a democracy-building project funded by the US Agency for International Development.
Cuba considers such programmes an affront to its national security, and last March he was sentenced to 15 years under a statute governing crimes against the state.
Gross has said he was working to help the island's small Jewish community improve its Internet access and was not a threat to the Cuban government.
On Monday, his wife, Judy, said Gross had sought reassurance that what he was doing was legal, but was told by his company not to ask Cuban officials.
Kinnamon is the latest in a string of visitors allowed to meet with Gross this year, including former US President Jimmy Carter, a delegation of US women leaders and a Washington-area rabbi.
Judy Gross visited her husband earlier this month for the third time since his arrest, and officials at the US Interests Section in Havana have also had periodic consular access to the man.
Kinnamon said he would meet today with Interests Section diplomats to report on his group's trip. He said he would also note the National Council of Churches' view that US-Cuban relations should be normalised and lobby for change in US policy toward Cuba.
"It's very clear there are issues we have to discuss between our countries," Kinnamon said. "But the way to address those issues is in the context of mutual respect between nations, and 50 years of animosity and embargo simply must stop."
The New York-based National Council of Churches, an umbrella group of US Protestant and Orthodox Christian denominations, has long been a critic of the US economic and financial embargo against Cuba.
Supporters of the embargo argue that it pressures for democratic opening on the communist-run island by choking off revenue to the government led for decades by Fidel Castro and more recently by his younger brother Raul.
Aruba suspect Gary Giordano freed
A US businessman held since August over the presumed death of an American woman in Aruba has been released.
Gary Giordano, who is now free to leave the Dutch Caribbean island, says 35-year-old Robyn Gardner was swept out to sea while snorkelling.
Prosecutors still consider the 50-year-old Maryland man a suspect, but they have no body or murder weapon.
Police said there were inconsistencies in his story and it emerged he took out a life insurance policy on Ms Gardner.
Mr Giordano left jail with his lawyers on Tuesday.
The employment agency owner and Ms Gardner reportedly met on a swingers' website.
Family's agony
Ms Gardner's boyfriend, Richard Forester, said last week he hoped the FBI would pursue the case.
If he returns to the US, Mr Giordano could still face a grand jury indictment.
Ms Gardner's family spoke of their unhappiness in a statement to ABC News on Tuesday.
"Needless to say, our family is very disappointed that even after all this time, we are no closer to finding out what happened to our Robyn," it said.
"We trust that the FBI and the Aruban authorities will continue their fervent efforts to investigate her disappearance."
Mr Giordano was detained at the airport on 5 August as he was about to leave Aruba.
His detention was extended several times, but an Aruban judge last week refused prosecutors' requests to hold him for another 30 days.
US to reward further Burma reform
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has pledged to improve ties with Burma if current reforms continue.
After meeting Burmese President Thein Sein, Mrs Clinton said the US would reward Burma's leaders if they kept "moving in the right direction".
The president hailed a "new chapter" in relations during talks with Mrs Clinton - the most senior US official to visit Burma in half a century.
The US maintains tight sanctions on senior leaders in Burma's hierarchy.
But a series of reforms this year has led to speculation that decades of isolation could be about to end.
"The United States is prepared to walk the path of reform with you if you keep moving in the right direction," Mrs Clinton said.
"These are incremental steps and we are prepared to go further if reforms maintain momentum. In that spirit, we are discussing what it will take to upgrade diplomatic relations and exchange ambassadors," Mrs Clinton told reporters.
"Over time, this could become an important channel to air concerns, monitor and support progress and build trust on both sides," she said.
However, US officials have stressed that there is unlikely to be any major announcements on sanctions during Mrs Clinton's trip.
Analysts say the US is more likely to consider symbolic gestures such as upgrading its mission in Burma to a full embassy.
After talks with Thein Sein in the remote capital, Nay Pyi Taw, Mrs Clinton is due to head to the main city, Rangoon, to meet pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Ms Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy recently re-registered as a political party, and she is expected to stand for parliament in forthcoming by-elections.
The NLD had operated outside the political system for two decades, and Ms Suu Kyi spent much of that time in detention. She was freed shortly after the current government came to power.
Mrs Clinton's talks with Burma's leadership got under way on Thursday when she met Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin before the talks with President Thein Sein.
"I am here today because President Obama and myself are encouraged by the steps that you and your government have taken to provide for your people," Mrs Clinton told Thein Sein as the two sat down for talks.
Thein Sein said her visit would prove to be a "milestone".
"Your excellency's visit will be historic and a new chapter in relations," he said before the start of the closed-door meeting.
BBC state department correspondent Kim Ghattas, travelling with Mrs Clinton, says the top US diplomat's visit is both a reward for the reforms that have already taken place and an incentive for Burma's government to do more.
The US secretary of state said before the trip she was quite hopeful that "flickers of progress" could transform into a real movement for change.
'No resistance'
Mrs Clinton is the first secretary of state to visit Burma since John Foster Dulles in 1955.
The country was taken over by the military in 1962 and ruled by a brutal and unpredictable junta until last year, when the army ceded power to a nominally civilian government.
Although the government is still dominated by figures from the previous military regime, it has introduced several important reforms, and released groups of political prisoners.
The visit comes weeks after President Barack Obama toured Asia and made a series of announcements bolstering American commitments in the region.
Observers have portrayed the new US focus on Asia as an attempt to counter China's attempts to become the pre-eminent power in the area.
And Chinese state media has reacted furiously to Mrs Clinton's visit to Burma.
The Global Times, which often runs bombastic nationalistic editorials, warned the US not to impinge on China's interests.
"China has no resistance toward Myanmar [Burma] seeking improved relationship with the West, but it will not accept this while seeing its interests stamped on," said a comment piece in the paper.
China has invested heavily in Burma, particularly in the energy sector.
But big Chinese-funded projects such as a hydroelectric dam in the north have provoked resentment among Burmese and led to an upsurge in fighting between ethnic rebels and the army.
Source-BBC
Britain Ratcheting Up the Pressure on Iran
Britain wants to further isolate Iran's financial sector, accusing Tehran of suppressing human rights within its own borders and helping to suppress human rights in Syria.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague Thursday accused Iran of helping Syrian President Bashar al-Assad suppress anti-government protesters.
Speaking outside a meeting of European Union foreign ministers in Brussels, Hague said there is a link between Tehran's crackdown on opposition groups and Syria's violent crackdown on protesters. He said Britain is pushing for an EU agreement to intensify economic sanctions against Iran.
Britain on Wednesday expelled all Iranian diplomats from the country and shut its embassy in Tehran after it was attacked by an angry mob a day earlier.
The tense relations between Britain and Iran have been deteriorating in recent weeks. The Iranian parliament voted earlier this week to downgrade diplomatic relations with London. The vote followed Britain's decision to strengthen sanctions against Iran by cutting all links with its banks.
China on Thursday expressed concern about the potential for the situation to spiral out of control.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters Thursday all sides needed to “remain rational, calm and restrained, and avoid emotional moves to escalate the conflict.”
Hundreds of students gathered outside the British embassy in Tehran Tuesday, chanting “Death to Britain.” Several protesters scaled the fence before ransacking the compound. Embassy staff was forced to flee through a back door.
The United States and Canada also tightened sanctions in response to Iran's pursuit of a nuclear program that U.N. experts say appears intended to build weapons. Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful.
China’s Image Still Tarnished By Corruption,Despite Efforts to Curb Graft
An index of global perceptions of corruption indicates China is still viewed as corrupt despite efforts to curb official graft.
The Berlin-based group Transparency International scored 183 countries on a 10-point scale, with zero being very corrupt and 10 being the least corrupt.
China ranked 75th on the corruption index, scoring 3.6 on the ten-point scale.
Cobus de Swardt, Transparency International's managing director, told VOA that authorities in Beijing view corruption as a major handicap to China's future development, and thus have attempted to curb official corruption at home. But he said it does not appear China has made the same effort in how it operates in the rest of the world.
New Zealand ranked 1st in the index — meaning it was perceived as the world's least corrupt country — followed by Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland. The United States ranked 24th.
De Swardt says North Korea and Somalia tied for last because they are both dictatorships with no checks-and-balances, no elections, no independent judiciary and no civil society.
De Swardt says corruption remains a major contributor to social and policy problems. In the Middle East, he attributes the popular uprisings called the “Arab Spring” with widespread demands for greater public accountability.
New, Deadly Attacks Rattle Iraqi Province
Iraqi militants are making their presence felt in the country's northeast, killing at least 17 people in two separate attacks.
Officials in Diyala province say a car bomb went off early Thursday as shoppers were starting to arrive at a market in the town of Khalis, 80 kilometers north of Baghdad. The blast killed 10 people and wounded more than 20.
In a separate attack in Diyala province later Thursday, gunmen killed at least seven people, including at least one commander of the Sahwa, or “Awakening Council,” an anti-al-Qaida militia.
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden has met with Iraqi leaders in Baghdad this week for talks ahead of the final U.S. troop pullout.
During a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki Wednesday, Biden said the two countries are embarking on a “new path.”
The U.S. military has about 13,000 troops remaining in Iraq, but they are scheduled to leave by the end of the month. Biden told Mr. Maliki that the completion of that pullout is in the best interests of both the United States and Iraq.
The pullout will end a military presence that began with the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled former dictator Saddam Hussein.
Violence in Iraq has declined from the peak of sectarian fighting in 2006 and 2007, but insurgent attacks remain common.
On World AIDS Day, UN Urges Continued Support for Initiatives
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says the world is finally in a position to eradicate AIDS, but says funding will be critical to future progress in fighting the epidemic.
In a statement to commemorate World AIDS Day on Thursday, Mr. Ban urged international donors to meet the estimated $24 billion needed annually to fully fund global AIDS initiatives.
Many observers worry that global AIDS efforts may face serious cut backs as governments in Europe and the U.S. try to make up for large budget deficits.
Kumar Chandiramani of the medical charity group Doctors Without Borders says his organization is worried about a potential lack of funding.
A U.N. report released Wednesday said domestic and international funding for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, decreased from $15.9 billion in 2009 to $15 billion in 2010, well below the threshold it says is needed for a comprehensive, global response.
The report found the number of new HIV infections has dropped by 15 percent in the past decade. But it also found that new infections increased by 250 percent in the past decade in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
The U.N. estimates that 34 million people around the world are living with HIV.
World AIDS day was first observed in 1988 as a way to increase awareness of the disease and support those affected by it.
This year's theme, which runs until 2015, is “Getting to Zero,” which focuses on eliminating new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths, as well as descrimination against people with the disease.
US confidence, tensions in Iran push oil up
A rebound in US consumer confidence and escalating tensions in Iran pushed oil to US$100 ($8,565) a barrel yesterday.
The price of benchmark crude rose US$1.58 to end the day at US$99.79 per barrel in New York. It rose as high as US$100.15 a barrel earlier in the session.
Oil prices jumped early in the day after a private survey found that US consumer confidence rose this month to the highest level since July. The Conference Board survey followed robust retail sales over the Thanksgiving weekend. The US is the world's largest oil consumer, and its economy is driven by consumer spending.
A surge of violence in Iran also helped boost oil prices. Students angered by sanctions against Iran for its nuclear programmed stormed the British embassy in Teheran and other British diplomatic sites before police restored order. Iran is the world's third-largest oil exporter. While analysts say it's unlikely that Western nations would impose an embargo on Iranian oil, the potential for more violence in the country could keep prices up.
"It's a little frightening, especially for anyone who remembers the Iranian revolution," said Tom Kloza, publisher and chief oil analyst at Oil Price Information Service. From November 1979 until January 1981, 52 American were held hostage after students overran the US embassy in Iran.
Meanwhile, European leaders continued to work on a last-minute strategy to save the euro and prevent a eurozone collapse that could send the region into recession.
While traders kept a wary eye on Europe and Iran, analysts said the consumer confidence numbers in the US show the American economy is on stronger footing. That bodes well for future oil demand.
"Everyone's really focused on the holiday shopping," independent analyst and trader Stephen Schork said. "It's pushed the European situation to the back seat."
Growing consumer spending should boost energy demand for shipping companies and other major US industries. But motorists are still conserving fuel, according to a study released yesterday by MasterCard SpendingPulse. Its analysis of gasoline purchases shows that American drivers have cut way back this year.
Kourtney Kardashian states in US Mag: I’m Pregnant!
Get ready for one more member of the extended Kardashian family to keep up with! Kourtney Kardashian and beau Scott Disick are expecting their second child together, they tell the new Us Weekly in an exclusive cover story.
The E! reality star, 32, took a pregnancy test about five weeks ago — and woke up Disick, 28 (not a morning person!), around 7.a.m. to tell him the positive results.
“Now I’m nine weeks along,” Kardashian tells Us. “You’re supposed to wait 12 weeks to tell people, but I feel confident.”
The son or daughter-to-be will be the second child for the couple of five years, whose son Mason, nearly 2, was a bit of a surprise.
Not so much for baby number two, the happy couple tells Us.
“It wasn’t like we weren’t trying,” Disick, 28, says. “We kind of just said, ‘If it’s meant to be, it’ll be.’”
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No escape for Vybz Kartel
POLICE have thrown cold water on claims that embattled Deejay Vybz Kartel has escaped from the New Horizon Adult Remand Centre early this morning.
Reports have gone viral on the internet and on social networks that the Deejay and seven other inmates held guards hostage at gunpoint minutes after 1:00 am and stole uniforms and a vehicle belonging to the Correctional Services Department before escaping.
he police have also dispelled rumours that a guard died from a heart attack and 12 others were injured.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Les Green told the Observer early this morning that he had no knowledge of the reported jail break.
"I know nothing about that. If that had taken place I would would certainly have known," Green said.
Police at Denham Town Police station, the closest police station to the remand centre were also unaware of the reports as was the Constabulary Communication Network who also claimed ignorance of any jail break.
"It may be an attempt by his cronies to keep him in the news but they don't need to spread rumours to do that because he will be in the news for quite some time," one cop told the Observer.
Vybz Kartel, whose real name is Adijah Palmer, is facing two murder charges, conspiracy to murder, illegal possession of a firearm and possession of ganja charges.
He was arrested on October 1 and has repeatedly been denied bail when he appeared in court.
Source: jamaicaobserver