Obama Confident Trade Deal With Panama Can Proceed
President Barack Obama says he is confident that a free trade agreement between the United States and Panama can move ahead in the U.S. Congress. The president discussed the issue Thursday with Panama’s President, Ricardo Martinelli.
President Obama says Panama has made significant reforms in banking and taxation, removing barriers to U.S. approval of the trade deal.
"We are confident now that a free trade agreement would be good for our country, would create jobs here in the United States, open up new markets with potential for billions of dollars of cross-border trade," he said.
The U.S. and Panama reached agreement on the deal this month, after Panama approved a provision to discourage the use of its banks by those seeking to evade taxes in other countries.
Mr. Obama thanked President Martinelli for his leadership on the issue, and the Panamanian president also expressed confidence that the agreement can move ahead.
"Panama has completed all the necessary steps in order to have a free trade agreement with the U.S. This new agreement will bring jobs for both countries. It will also bring growth for the United States and for Panama," he said.
The Obama administration is talking with lawmakers about the U.S.-Panama Trade Promotion Agreement, as well as free trade deals with Colombia and South Korea.
White House officials have not discussed a specific timeline for having Congress approve those pacts.
The deals with Panama and South Korea are ready to be considered on Capitol Hill.
The agreement with Colombia can move forward when the administration is satisfied that the government in Bogota is meeting specific goals as part of an “action plan,” which mostly relates to workers’ rights and protection of labor union activists.
Some lawmakers oppose including all three trade agreements in a single legislative package.
President Obama said he and Mr. Martinelli also discussed a regional security deal, in which Panama would play a key role in stopping the flow of illegal drugs from Central and South America.
"We discussed how we can cooperate together, not only in the interdiction side, but also in helping other countries in the region to build up their capacity. And we think that Panama is going to be critical to the Central American Security Partnership that I have announced previously," Mr. Obama said.
That partnership, announced in March, is intended to protect citizens in the Americas from organized crime, gangs and drug-fueled violence.
Mexican Authorities Still Uncovering Bodies in Mass Graves
Mexican Attorney General Marisela Morales says 183 bodies have been uncovered so far from mass graves in the northeastern part of the country, near the U.S. border.
Morales made the comment Tuesday as she announced that 74 people, among them 17 police officers, have been arrested in connection with the investigation. The corpses were discovered recently around the community of San Fernando, in Tamaulipas, the state where 72 Central American migrants were found shot to death last August.
Authorities have linked Mexico's Zetas drug gang to these incidents. The Zetas started as a Mexican military unit that defected and began working with the Gulf cartel, based in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, just across the border from El Paso, Texas. The Zetas split from the Gulf cartel last year. The two groups are now fierce rivals.
Elsewhere, investigators also have uncovered bodies from a mass grave in the northern state of Durango. They say that, to date, they have pulled the remains of 75 people from that site.
More than 35,000 people have been killed in Mexico's drug-related violence since the end of 2006, when President Felipe Calderon took office and ordered a crackdown on the country's drug cartels.
In a separate development, Mexican police Monday rescued 51 people, including 18 Central Americans and six Chinese, who were kidnapped in northeastern Mexico. Officials say 27 Mexicans were among those rescued.
Earlier this month, police freed 68 kidnapped people in Mexico's Reynosa area, across from McAllen, Texas. Authorities have taken four police officers into custody in connection with the abduction of the 68 individuals.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.
Protest Crackdowns Leave Almost 62 Dead in Syria
Witnesses and activists in Syria say at least 62 people were killed when security forces opened fire in a crackdown on anti-government protests. Tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets nationwide on Friday, declared by young protesters to be a "day of rage" against the authoritarian government of President Bashar al-Assad.
Most of the deaths occurred in the southern city of Daraa, where the six-week-old uprising against President Assad began. Deaths were also reported in the central city of Homs.
Earlier Friday, the government said four of its soldiers were killed and two captured in what it described as a "terrorist" attack in Daraa. State-run media quoted a military spokesman as saying gunmen attacked a military post in the southern town at dawn.
In Damascus, more than 10,000 opposition activists were on the streets - the largest demonstration in the capital since the start of the protests.
Thousands more joined protests in dozens of other cities and towns, including Banias, Latakia and Qamishli. They marched in solidarity with the besieged residents of Daraa, which has felt the military crackdown the hardest. In addition to the bloodshed, Daraa's water, electricity and communications have been cut.
Syrian authorities blame armed gangs and infiltrators supplied with weapons from Lebanon and Iraq for inciting weeks of anti-government protests. The Assad regime claims the military action launched this week was intended to protect citizens.
President Assad has previously lifted the state of emergency in effect in Syria for decades, and promised political reforms, but that has had no visible effect on the protesters.
Syrian activist Rami Nakhle, who now lives in Beirut, said Friday's demonstrations were the biggest since the uprising began, and show that the Syrian people are no longer afraid to call for the government's ouster.
"The first persons who went to the streets in the beginning of this events, they want to topple this regime, but they cannot say it at the beginning. But now they start to say it. Now they start to say it, [and] they are protected by the crowd. The barrier of fear [has] start[ed] to fall. So people [are] not afraid anymore," Nakhle said.
For the first time Friday, Syria's banned Muslim Brotherhood urged people to join the protests. The group said the authorities' accusations that militant Islamists were behind the unrest were aimed at causing a civil war and undermining demands for political freedoms.
Activist Nakhle said even those Syrians who supported Mr. Assad are unconvinced by the government's claims.
"To fight Salafist armed groups, why to cut electricity? Why to cut medical aid? Why to cut water?," Nakhle said.
In Geneva, the U.N. Human Rights Council condemned the violence and called for an investigation, while in Washington, President Barack Obama imposed sanctions freezing property controlled by three top Syrian officials, the Syrian intelligence agency and Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps. The Iranian entity is blamed for providing material support to Syria's crackdown on protesters.
Human-rights groups say more than 500 demonstrators have been killed since the uprising began on March 15. Most foreign media have been banned from the country, so independent verification of those reports has been difficult.
US to Freeze Assets of Syrian Intelligence Agency and al-Assad Relatives
The United States is imposing new sanctions on three top Syrian officials, the country's intelligence agency and Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for their roles in a Syrian crackdown on anti-government protesters.
U.S. President Barack Obama issued an executive order imposing the sanctions Friday. They call for freezing any assets the five targets may have in the United States, and declare it illegal for Americans to do business with them.
The White House also called for a “strong international response” to Syria's “deplorable actions toward its people.”
The practical effect of the sanctions, however, may be mostly symbolic — a statement that the U.S. opposes the crackdown by the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that has led to the deaths of hundreds of protesters. None of the targets of the sanctions is believed to have substantial assets in U.S. institutions.
The three Syrian officials named in the sanctions included two relatives of President Assad. One was identified as his brother, Mahir al-Assad, a brigade commander in the Syrian Army's 4th Armored Division. The other relative of the president is one of his cousins, Atif Najib, former head of the Political Security Directorate for Daraa, the center of the protest movement against the government.
The sanctions also target Syria's General Intelligence Directorate and its director, Ali Mamluk. The U.S. has accused them of repressing dissent and killing protesters in Daraa.
The U.S. has already sanctioned the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for supporting militant groups around the world. The Obama administration believes the Quds Force is the conduit for Iran's support for the Syrian crackdown.
2 Killed, 100 Wounded in Uganda Riots
Riots in Uganda's capital have left at least two people dead and at least 120 wounded after police fired at protesters with live ammunition, rubber bullets and tear gas.
Government officials say police arrested at least 360 people in a bid to quell the unrest.
Rioters burned tires and set up blockades in parts of Kampala to protest the latest arrest of opposition leader Kizza Besigye.
Besigye was arrested on Thursday for the fourth time this month after security forces stopped his car in Kampala. Video showed police smashing the car window and spraying the opposition leader with tear gas.
He was later released on bail and late Friday arrived in Kenya for medical treatment.
The opposition leader has led a series of “walk to work” demonstrations to protest high food and fuel prices.
President Yoweri Museveni has warned that such protests will not be tolerated.
The president has blamed soaring food and fuel prices on poor weather and global economic factors.
Besigye has led Uganda's opposition for a decade. He has lost three straight presidential elections to Mr. Museveni, who has ruled Uganda since 1986.
Dionne Warwick sues Broadway show Baby, It's You!
US singer Dionne Warwick has taken legal action against the producers of a new Broadway musical, claiming it uses her name and likeness without consent.
Beverly Lee, the only surviving member of 1960s girl group The Shirelles, and the estates of two other members have also complained about Baby, It's You!
The show tells the story of Florence Greenberg, the music executive who discovered The Shirelles.
The musical opened at New York's Broadhurst Theatre on Wednesday.
Legal papers filed in New York accuse Warner Bros Theatre Ventures, Warner Bros Entertainment and Broadway Baby of "cashing in on plaintiffs' stories and successes".
They are also alleged to have used "plaintiffs' names, likenesses and biographical information without their consent and in violation of the law".
The complaint was filed by Warwick, R&B singer Chuck Jackson and the estates of three of the four original Shirelles - including Ms Lee, who owns the trademark to the group's name.
The quartet had hits in the 1960s with records like Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow, Dedicated to the One I Love and Soldier Boy.
Like many other recording artists in the 1960s, their lawyer said, his clients were not treated well even as they achieved widespread popularity.
"These national treasures were taken advantage of at the infancy of their careers," Oren Warshavsky continued.
"Now they have to watch it done to them again on stage and once more not get paid."
Warner Bros has not commented on the legal action.
Sergeant Claims Police Escort 'Wasn't To Benefit P. Diddy'
A lawyer for an NYPD sergeant accused of ordering a police escort for Sean "Diddy" Combs after his concert at the Hammerstein Ballroom last week, insists that there was a safety risk due to a large crowd gathered around the world famous rap mogul.
The NYPD has confirmed that Diddy received a police escort from officers with Midtown South precinct, who allegedly took the rap mogul one block, from 34th Street to nearby Dyer Ave, which leads to the Lincoln Tunnel.
"A sergeant has been identified as having directed an officer to provide an unauthorized escort, which was for a distance of one block," a police spokesman confirmed.
Attorney Andrew Quinn told the New York Post that the sergeant was simply attempting to clear a growing crowd that was gathering around Combs, who was heading to an after party in West Orange, New Jersey.
"This wasn't to benefit P. Diddy. It was to ameliorate a crowd situation," attorney Andrew Quinn said of the growing brouhaha on the street.
According to the New York Post, NYPD officers are even more upset because the Midtown South precinct is the same precinct where Diddy was arrested in 1999.
The mogul was busted for allegedly shooting a gun inside of a club while out with former girlfriend and current American Idol judge, Jennifer Lopez.
Combs was defended by late defense attorney Johnny Cochran and acquitted of all the charges.
Source:Allhiphop
Ja Rule Gets Jail Advice
Ja Rule sat down with MTV Host Sway yesterday (April 27th) to discuss his career and his pending 2 1/2 year prison sentence for attempted possession of a weapon, stemming from an arrest after a concert in Manhattan in 2007.
According to Ja, who is due to begin his prison bid in June, he has been in touch with Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff, a Murder Inc. affiliate and street legend from Queens, New York. Ja and Murder Inc.'s association with Supreme led to a federal trial that accused Irv and Chris Gotti of helping the former drug baron launder his illicit proceeds through the label. McGriff, who is serving a life sentence at the ADX Florence super-max prison in Colorado for ordering two murders, gave Ja Rule some advice before he begins his stint on Rikers Island. "He told me about my bid going in, how to 'bid.' He said 'Don't go in there flashy. That breeds jealousy and envy off the grip,'" Supreme told an amused Ja Rule.
Pitbull On American Idol
Rapper Pitbull will make a high profile appearance on American Idol tonight (April 28th). Pitbull will hit the stage with American Idol judge Jennifer Lopez during a performance as the last six remaining contestants compete on the show. Pitbull and J. Lo were supposed to perform on American Idol on May 5th, but the performance was moved up. Tonight, the six remaining contestants will sing songs by legendary songwriter/singer Carol King. One of the six will be eliminated from the show tonight, which airs at 8:00PM EST on FOX.
Royal wedding: William and Kate set for Abbey service
Crowds are gathering in central London for the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton at Westminster Abbey.
The first of the 1,900 guests will arrive from 0815 BST, with the ceremony itself getting under way at 1100.
Thousands of people have camped out overnight on the procession route the couple will take to Buckingham Palace.
William will wear the red tunic of an Irish Guards colonel - his most senior honorary appointment - but the bride's dress design is being kept secret.
On Thursday night, Prince William went on an impromptu walkabout to meet royal watchers who had thronged to The Mall, near the palace.
He spent several minutes shaking hands, chatting and posing for pictures telling well-wishers: "All I've got to do is get the lines right."
William spent Thursday evening with the Prince of Wales, Duchess of Cornwall and Prince Harry, while Miss Middleton and her family gathered at the Goring Hotel, in Belgravia, a short distance from Westminster Abbey.
BBC reporters at the scene estimated between 3,00-5,000 people had been camping overnight in The Mall and around Wewstminster Abbey, with more than 600,000 expected to line the streets by the time of the service. About two square miles of central London have been closed to traffic.
Scotland Yard says 5,000 officers will be on duty, with more than 900 along the wedding route. Most will be in uniform, but some will be in plain clothes, mixing with the crowd.
Elsewhere in the UK more than 5,500 street parties are taking place - including one hosted by Prime Minister David Cameron at Downing Street and another by the anti-monarchy campaign group Republic.
After the service, five carriages drawn by mounted troops of the Household Calvary will carry the newlyweds, the Royal Family and the Middleton family on the 15-minute journey from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace.
The route will take them past the Houses of Parliament and Downing Street and, under rows of Union Jacks, along The Mall, to Buckingham Palace, where the couple will appear on the balcony at about 1325 BST.
Royal officials said William and Kate have been involved in planning their wedding day, from the music at the ceremony to the flowers and the cake.
Inside Westminster Abbey itself, six field maples and two hornbeams will line the aisle leading up to the altar.
Some 650 guests have been invited to the palace for a buffet lunch and about 300 close friends and relatives will stay on for formal black tie dinner and disco in evening.
But the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh will leave for a weekend away after hosting the lunchtime reception and will miss Prince Harry's best man speech and Michael Middleton's father of the bride address.
The Archbishop of Canterbury will conduct the wedding ceremony, which will see Miss Middleton vow to "love, comfort, honour and keep" Prince William but not to obey him.