Caribbean Nationals among 69 convicted criminal immigrants arrested in US
The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) agency says a number of Caribbean nationals have been arrested among 69 convicted criminals during a three-day “targeted enforcement effort” in New Jersey.
ICE said officers from its Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) arrested the immigrants in a sweep of major New Jersey cities, such as Lakewood, Jersey City, Newark, Trenton, Cherry Hill, Paterson, Secaucus and Elizabeth.
Without identifying them, ICE said the arrestees were from the Bahamas, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago.
The other nationalities were Afghanistan, Albania, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, South Korea, Mexico, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Slovenia, Spain, Tunisia, United Kingdom and Uruguay.
Of the 69 taken into custody by ERO, ICE said 51 met the agency’ highest priority level due to felony convictions or participation in a criminal street gang.
An additional 18 arrestees met the second level of priorities for enforcement due to serious or multiple misdemeanor convictions, ICE said.
It said many of the criminals taken into custody had prior convictions for serious or violent offenses, including child sexual assault, child abuse, aggravated assault, battery, driving under the influence (DUI), weapons and “significant drug possession or distribution convictions.
“The results of this targeted enforcement operation underscore ICE’s ongoing commitment to public safety and the enforcement of priorities set by DHS (Department of Homeland Security) Secretary Jeh Johnson in November 2014,” said John Tsoukaris, field office director of ERO Newark, New Jersey.
“When we focus on the arrest and removal of convicted criminal aliens we contribute immediately to making our communities safer. Because of the tireless efforts and teamwork of ICE officers, along with our law enforcement partners, there are 69 fewer criminal aliens in our neighborhoods.”
ICE said all 69 were “arrested administratively for being in violation of immigration law,” adding that all are being held in ICE custody pending immigration removal proceedings or removal from the United States.
Some of those arrested during this operation included a Dominican Republic man convicted of attempted criminal sexual contact of a minor; another Dominican Republic man convicted of aggravated assault and promoting prostitution; and a Haitian man convicted of felony burglary, felony theft, and two felony drug convictions.
In fiscal year 2014, ICE said it conducted 315,943 deportations nationwide. It said 85 per cent of individuals removed from the interior of the United States had previously been convicted of a criminal offense.
Source-CMC
Greek Vote on Austerity Measures Is a Tossup
It remains unclear whether Greeks will vote for more economic austerity to get crucial European bailout funds or reject EU demands and risk being thrown out of the eurozone.
Surveys going into Sunday's referendum showed the vote was too close to call.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras urged voters to reject the conditions, which include more tax hikes and spending cuts. He said a "no" vote would give Greeks a better negotiating position with European Union finance ministers.
He and many Greek citizens said they had suffered enough from earlier EU demands that have cost them jobs and sharply lowered their standard of living.
Greek cabinet members and Syriza party officials met Tsipras in Athens Saturday afternoon.
Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis told the Spanish El Mundo newspaper that what the creditors were doing with Greece "has a name — terrorism." He said they wanted a "yes" vote on accepting more austerity measures "so they could humiliate the Greeks."
Varoufakis said he was sure an agreement with the creditors would be reached because "failing to agree would be too costly for both sides."
"If Greece crashes, a trillion Euros [the equivalent of Spain's gross domestic product] will be lost," he said. "It's too much money, and I don't believe Europe could allow it."
But those in the "yes" camp said Greece had no choice but a European future. Being forced out of the eurozone means Greece would have to go back to using the old currency, the drachma — money that some outside Greece could refuse to accept.
Austria's Finance Minister Hans Joerg Schelling said in an interview posted Saturday in online newspaper Die Presse that Europe would hardly suffer if Greece left the eurozone, but Greece would feel consequences.
"For Europe, this would be easy to manage economically. For Greece, it would indeed be considerably more dramatic," Schelling said, adding fears of widespread poverty sweeping Greece were overstated.
He said Greece would have to negotiate a new aid program, no matter the outcome of the referendum.
Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble of Germany, Greece's biggest creditor, said in a newspaper interview that a Greek exit from the Eurozone might only be temporary.
The week leading up to Sunday's referendum was a miserable one for most Greeks.
Banks put strict limits on withdrawals to avoid running out of funds, although ATMs ran out of cash several times. Supermarkets were fast running out of basic foods. Storekeepers were reluctant to restock shelves because of the uncertainty of how they would be able to pay for the supplies.
Greece defaulted on a $1.8 billion loan payment to the International Monetary Fund on June 30 when European finance ministers refused to extend its economic bailout.
The Europeans accused Athens of refusing to make any more economic reforms, while the Greeks said they felt enslaved by their creditors.
Tsipras said Friday a "no" vote would give Greece a chance to "live in dignity in Europe." He addressed a rally of 25,000 people supporting a "no" vote in central Athens, with one poster reading, "On July 5, We Are Writing History / No Vote."
Source-VOA
Clinton Accuses China of Stealing US Government Information
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Saturday accused China of stealing commercial secrets and "trying to hack into everything that doesn't move in America."
Speaking at a campaign event in the northeastern state of New Hampshire, the former U.S. secretary of state and U.S. senator from New York said China is "stealing huge amounts of government information" as it looks for advantages.
She said the United States needs to remain fully "vigilant" about China, which she said is establishing military installations that threaten countries the United States has treaties with, such as the Philippines. She was referring to Chinese construction projects in the contested South China Sea.
After speaking at the event, Clinton marched in a Fourth of July parade in nearby Gorham, New Hampshire.
In late June, the U.S. director of national intelligence said China was the "leading suspect" in the investigation into the massive cyber theft of U.S. federal employee data.
The comments by James Clapper marked the first time a U.S. official had pointed a finger at China in connection with the data breach.
"You have to kind of salute the Chinese for what they did," Clapper told an intelligence conference in Washington, referring to the difficulty of the operation.
A later statement by Clapper's office confirmed the comments, while stressing "the U.S. government continues to investigate" the hack.
The U.S. has not openly accused the Chinese government of being behind the digital attack on the Office of Personnel Management, but various officials have said they are increasingly convinced this is the case.
The U.S. has blamed China for a series of high-profile cyber attacks on U.S. government and business entities in recent years. China has strongly rejected the allegations.
Federal Bureau of Investigation officials believe as many as 18 million current, former and prospective federal employees were affected by the data breach.
The hackers are believed to have accessed not only basic personnel information but also extremely sensitive data found in federal background checks.
Source-VOA
Taylor Swift Buys Fans Tickets to Her Dublin Concert
Taylor Swift once again made her fans' dream come true. The "Shake It Off" singer offered two disappointed fans from South Africa free tickets to her Dublin concert after they missed her Hyde Park show at British Summer Time in London on Sunday evening, June 28.
The fans, DJ Stephanie and her boyfriend Joe Crann missed the concert after their British Airways flight from Amsterdam to Heathrow was delayed. They made it to London but only managed to enjoy the last three songs.
Stephanie later took to Twitter to voice her disappointment over the mishap. "There's nothing like flying halfway across the world to see @taylorswift13 & then @British_Airways delaying the flight so I miss it," so she wrote.
In a follow-up post, she tweeted, "Just landed at Heathrow and @taylorswift13 is about to walk on stage at Hyde Park. Im beyond devastated. There are no words."
When British Airways wrote to offer an apology, Stephanie replied, "@panascape @BritishAirways made the last 3 songs. Plenty of tears were shed today. Absolutely broken. Horrific. Just horrific."
After noticing the tweets, Taylor wrote to her, "@StephanieBe I'm really sorry you missed it but if you can get to Dublin I'll buy you tickets! Sorry to hear about the travel nightmare. :(."
Surprised Stephanie then replied, "Thank you a million times over @taylorswift13 - I need you to know that I am trying everything I can to change my flights & buy new ones."
On the following day, after the couple arrived in Dublin, they shared a snap of some welcome cakes and prosecco along with caption, "In Dublin! Even the staff at @thegibsonhotel are rooting for me. Swifties are the best & they're everywhere."
Source-AceShowbiz
Apple aims for bigger bite of music market
If record companies had their way, the internet would never have been invented. For much of the second half of the 20th Century, music fans who wanted to listen to the latest release from their favourite artist had to make a trip to their local record store to buy an album or single on vinyl, cassette or CD.
However, the mass adoption of broadband in the developed world at the start of the last decade soon destroyed what was a very cosy - and highly profitable - business model.
A generation has grown up illegally downloading music - and many music fans are content to use advertising-funded websites such as YouTube to hear almost any track you can think of.
In 1999 the global recorded music industry raked in $26.6bn - buoyed mostly by sales of highly profitable CDs. But as pirating took off the total slipped to less than $20bn in 2007 and last year was down to just under $15bn, according to industry body IFPI.
The arrival of Apple's iTunes music download store in 2003 made it much easier to legally buy music online, but its growth has stalled as more music fans switch to streaming services such as Spotify.
The transition is similar to the way that many consumers now rent movies online or through subscription services such as Sky or Netflix rather than buying a DVD.
Spotify's jukebox-like service lets users play millions of songs for free with ads in between, or pay £9.99/$9.99 a month without those annoying interruptions.
It will offer users a three-month free trial, after which it will cost the same as market leader Spotify, but with no free tier.
Apple Music will have a crucial advantage over the likes of competitors such as Spotify: it will be pre-loaded on the hundreds of millions of iPhones and iPads being used globally via a software update.
That saves Apple from having to do much marketing to promote the service, says Andrew Sheehy, lead analyst at Generator Research.
Rather than aiming to make a profit from music, he says Apple's main aim is to give iPhone users another reason to keep buying its highly profitable devices.
However, the company will use its might in the music business to persuade some big artists to offer some exclusive content - with Pharrell Williams being the first.
His latest song, Freedom, will only be available on Apple Music. Similarly, Taylor Swift will make her music available on the service after pulling it from Spotify last year.
Puerto Rico governor says US territory 'can't pay $72bn debt'
Puerto Rico's governor has said the US territory cannot pay its $72bn (£45bn) debt and is close to defaulting ahead of emergency talks with legislators.
In a TV address on Monday, Alejandro Garcia Padilla said he would seek a moratorium on repayments and form a team to restructure public debts.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest says the US government has ruled out a federal bailout for the US island.
The self-governing US commonwealth has been in a recession since 2006.
Legislators have to approve a $9.8bn budget on Tuesday, which calls for $674m in cuts and sets aside $1.5bn to help pay off the debt.
Speaking on Monday evening, Mr Garcia Padilla urged the central authorities to grant Puerto Rico the ability to file for bankruptcy, enabling a postponement of debt payments for several years.
"Even if we increase revenues and cut costs, the magnitude of the problem is such that we would not resolve anything given the weight of the debt we're dragging," the governor warned in a TV address.
"The only way we'll get out of this hole is to join forces and agree, including bondholders, to assume some of the sacrifices."
Puerto Rico is currently not eligible to restructure its debts under US bankruptcy code because it is not a municipality.
According to Reuters, the White House said on Monday it would urge Congress to consider a change in the law that would allow the island to declare bankruptcy.
Mr Garcia Padilla earlier admitted the island was close to an economic "death spiral", in an interview with the New York Times.
A report released by international economists hours before the governor's address gave a blunt assessment of Puerto Rico's fiscal problems, saying its debts were unsustainable and needed to be restructured.
Greece debt crisis: 'Last-minute talks after new offer'
Last-minute talks are taking place in Athens over whether to accept an offer by creditors allowing Greece to repay part of its debt, Greek media say.
Greece is hours away from a deadline to repay a €1.6bn (£1.1bn) loan to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) - one it may miss.
One of Greece's creditors made a last-minute proposal of reforms on Monday, reports say.
If Athens accepts the deal, it will free up cash to repay the €1.6bn.
Greek media say the government is in talks over the offer, made by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker late on Monday.
One of the main points in the new offer is a change in terms to Ekas - a top-up given to poorer Greek pensioners. Athens does not want it scrapped before 2020, but Europe wants it phased out earlier.
The Ekathimerini newspaper initially said Greece's government "listened with interest to what was being proposed" but rejected the offer.
But Greece's national broadcaster ERT said on Tuesday morning that discussions about the proposals were taking place "at the highest level" in Athens.
If a deal is not agreed, Greece will almost certainly not be able to repay the IMF, and would be in arrears.
Talks between Greece and its creditors broke down last week, leading to Greek banks having to shut this week.
A referendum is due to take place in Greece on Sunday over whether the country should accept the creditors' proposals
EU leaders have warned that a rejection of the proposals would mean Greece leaving the eurozone - though Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras says he does not want this to happen.
Greek PM Hints He Won't Pursue Further Austerity
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras says he will respect the outcome of an upcoming referendum on his country's economic future if voters back a new round of European austerity measures that he opposes.
But Tsipras said his far-left government will not be the one to carry out those new reforms, which European creditors are demanding from Athens in exchange for billions of dollars in new bailout money.
Tsipras spoke late Monday on national television, as anti-austerity protesters marched in Athens and speculation grew that the government will formally default Tuesday on a $1.8 billion loan repayment due to the International Monetary Fund. A default would set the stage for a possible Greek exit from the 19-nation euro currency bloc.
In Paris, European Central Bank board member Benoit Coeure told the French financial daily Les Echos that a Greek exit from the eurozone "can, unfortunately, not be excluded anymore."
World markets tumbled Monday as the Greek public awakened to shuttered banks and sharp new limits on withdrawals from sidewalk cash machines. The Athens stock exchange, like the cash-strapped banks, is closed for six days until referendum results are tallied.
Stocks in Asia, Germany and France plunged 3 percent or more, while the New York Stock Exchange was down almost 2 percent near the end of trading.
Additionally, the Standard & Poor's financial services company cut Greece's credit rating further into "junk" status. It also said there is a 50 percent chance the country will become the first to exit the eurozone in the 16-year history of the currency.
European Union chief executive Jean-Claude Juncker and British Prime Minister David Cameron both warned Monday that a Greek vote against austerity would mean that Greece wants to divorce itself politically from Europe.
"A 'no' [vote] would mean, regardless of the question posed, that Greece had said 'no' to Europe," Juncker said in Brussels. Cameron said he would "find it hard to see" how a negative vote "is consistent with staying in the euro."
Greece broke off negotiations with its creditors over the weekend and there was no sign of new talks. Tsipras then called on voters to reject more European austerity demands on July 5.
At ATMs across Athens, there are long lines to withdraw cash. The doors to the banks will remain firmly closed for the rest of the week. Arguments broke out as the waiting crowds debate their economic fate.
Pensioners lined up early at bank branches, hoping they would be able to access their funds through the cash machines, but they were not successful. The Finance Ministry said pensions were exempted from the new restrictions and said it would explain later how pension payments would be disbursed.
Eurozone leaders hopeful of deal in the Greek Debt Crisis
Eurozone leaders have broadly welcomed new proposals for Greek reforms amid hopes a deal can be struck within days to stop Greece defaulting on its debt.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Greece's latest offer constituted "some progress". But she said more work was needed and "time is short".
Greece must repay €1.6bn (£1.1bn) to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by the end of the month.
If it fails to do so, it risks crashing out of the euro and possibly the EU.
Although no deal has been struck, key obstacles appear to have been cleared, the BBC's Damian Grammaticas reports from Brussels.
The deal being formed is believed to include: New taxes on businesses and the wealthy Selective increases in VAT Savings in pensions linked to curbing early retirement and increasing pension contributions No further reductions in pensions or public-sector wages - "red lines" for Greece's Syriza government The move was received with cautious optimism by leaders of 18 other eurozone nations gathered for an emergency summit in Brussels.
There is a script which seemingly all eurozone leaders are urged to learn, which is that if the currency union is in the grips of crisis, no solution can or should be found till markets and economy are on the verge of a heart attack.
With almost no time left before a de facto default - and, more frighteningly perhaps, with a Greek banking system on the brink of total collapse because savers had lost all confidence that a rescue for their state could be found - Mr Tsipras has come up with a plan that his fellow eurozone leaders see, at last, as the basis for a deal.
So subject to technical talks, an actual deal to release life-saving additional loans for Greece may be reached at the end of the week.
The European Central Bank (ECB) approved additional emergency funding for Greek banks to cover withdrawals, allowing banks to stay open and providing breathing space for a deal to be reached.
It has acted repeatedly after anxious savers withdrew more than €4bn in recent days.
The Greek banking system is on the verge of collapse due to savers' loss of confidence.
Eurozone finance ministers meet again on Wednesday. They hope to approve a package to be put to eurozone leaders for final endorsement on Thursday morning.
Even if eurozone finance ministers and the European Council agree to a deal, it still needs to be approved by the Greek parliament and eurozone governments by next Tuesday.
Source-BBC
US, China to Hold 'Very Direct' Talks
U.S. officials are promising a "very direct" conversation with Chinese officials during a high-level, annual dialogue that continues Tuesday in Washington.
Cybersecurity, China's disputed maritime claims and bilateral efforts to combat climate change are among the main topics expected to be raised during the meetings.
The talks opened Monday with a series of wide-ranging Strategic Security Dialogue meetings, which a senior State Department official described as frank.
"They've been candid and to the point in dealing with issues where we disagree and are very good for trying to find ways to narrow our differences on these most sensitive issues in the relationship," the official said.
China's official Xinhua news agency said the two sides held an "in-depth exchange of views on issues of common concern" and said they agreed to continue working to promote trust and improve relations.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew will join Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang and State Councilor Yang Jiechi at Tuesday's broader U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue.
Source-VOA