Barack Obama

Around the World: September 2, 2014

Here's what's happening across the United States and around the world today.
 

For Obama, West's inability to stop Russian advances clouds reassurance message in the Baltics

For the second time this year, President Barack Obama will travel to Russia's backyard to assure nervous nations of his ironclad commitment to their security. But his objectives will be clouded by the West's inability to halt the Russian aggression in Ukraine that has stoked fears in other former Soviet republics.

Fighting between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russia rebels continued in eastern Ukraine as Obama prepared to fly to Estonia for meetings with Baltic leaders and to Wales for a NATO summit. The Ukrainian government, NATO and Western nations say Russia has already sent troops, artillery and tanks across Ukraine's southeast border to reinforce the separatists, a claim Russia has denied.

While Obama has warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin could face more economic penalties, he also continues to resist calls for the U.S. to provide military support to help Ukrainian forces push back the Russian incursion.

The president's response to the Ukraine crisis is just one element of a broader foreign policy approach that is drawing criticism from both opponents and allies who fear the White House is being too tentative in the face of global threats.

"I think Putin has sized up the West and figured that the most difficult sanctions against Russia and the arms necessary for the Ukrainians to be able to defend themselves are not coming from the West, and we have to prove him wrong," said Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J.

In an attack that felt like 'an earthquake,' US forces hit Islamic extremists in Somalia

U.S. military forces attacked the extremist al-Shabab network in Somalia Monday, the Pentagon said, and a witness described ground-shaking explosions in a strike that reportedly targeted the group's leader.

Al-Shabab had attacked the upscale Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya, killing at least 67 people a year ago this month and the U.S. had targeted planners of the bloody assault. There was no immediate comment from al-Shabab and U.S. commanders were waiting to determine the attack's outcome.

"U.S. military forces conducted an operation in Somalia today against the al-Shabaab network. We are assessing the results of the operation and will provide additional information as and when appropriate," said Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby.

After the U.S. strike Monday night in a forest south of Mogadishu, masked Islamic militants in the area arrested dozens of residents they suspected of spying for the U.S. and searched nearby homes, a resident said.

"Mass arrests just started, everyone is being detained," said Mohamed Ali, who lives in Sablale district. "They even searched nearby jungles and stopped the nomads transporting milk and grass to the towns for questioning."

Historic bankruptcy trial starting in Detroit; city hopes to wipe out billions in debt

Lawyers for Detroit will attempt to convince a federal judge at the city's bankruptcy trial that its plans to wipe out billions of dollars in debt should be approved.

After some delays, the start of the trial Tuesday in U.S. District Court comes just over 13 months after Detroit became the largest U.S. city to file for bankruptcy.

Detroit expects to cut $12 billion in unsecured debt to about $5 billion, which is "more manageable," according to Bill Nowling, a spokesman for emergency manager Kevyn Orr.

Most creditors, including more than 30,000 retirees and city employees, have endorsed the plan of adjustment put together by Orr and his restructuring team.

The plan includes commitments from the state, major corporations, foundations and others to donate more than $800 million over 20 years to soften cuts to city pensions. In return, pieces in the city-owned Detroit Institute of Arts would be placed into a trust to keep them from being sold to satisfy creditors.

Rights group accuses Islamic State militants of war crimes in Iraq

An international rights group accused the extremist Islamic State group on Tuesday of carrying out a systematic campaign of "ethnic cleansing" in northern Iraq that includes mass killings, abductions and other war crimes.

In a new report, Amnesty International said militants have abducted "hundreds, if not thousands" of women and children who belong to the ancient Yazidi faith. The extremists also have rounded up Yazidi men and boys before killing them, the London-based group said.

The 26-page report adds to a growing body of evidence outlining the scope and extent of the Islamic State group's crimes since it began its sweep from Syria across neighboring Iraq in June. The militants have since seized much of northern and western Iraq, and have stretched as far as the outskirts of the Iraqi capital Baghdad.

On Monday, the United Nations' top human rights body approved a request by Iraq to open an investigation into alleged crimes committed by the Islamic State group against civilians. Its aim is to provide the Human Rights Council with a report and evidence that could shed further light on Iraqi atrocities and be used as part of any international war crimes prosecution.

In its report, Amnesty detailed how Islamic State group fighters expelled Christians, Shiites, Yazidis and others from their homes. It documented several cases where the militants rounded up Yazidi men and boys and killed them in groups after overrunning their ancestral lands in Iraq's far north.

Syrian rebels issue demands for release of captive UN peacekeepers

Al-Qaida-linked Syrian rebels holding 45 Fijian peacekeepers hostage have issued a set of demands for their release, including the extremist group's removal from a U.N. terrorist list and compensation for the killing of three of its fighters in a shootout with international troops, an official said Tuesday.

The Nusra Front seized the Fijians on Thursday in the Golan Heights, where a 1,200-strong U.N. force monitors the buffer zone between Syria and Israel. The rebels also surrounded two Filipino units, but those U.N. troops escaped over the weekend.

Speaking in the Fijian capital of Suva, military commander Brig. Gen. Mosese Tikoitoga said the Nusra Front has made three demands for the peacekeepers' release: to be taken off the U.N. terrorist list; the delivery of humanitarian aid to parts of the Syrian capital of Damascus; and payment for three of its fighters it says were killed in a shootout with U.N. officers.

Tikoitoga did not say whether the rebels' demands would be seriously considered. He said the U.N. had sent hostage negotiators to Syria to take over discussions from military leaders.

"Negotiations have moved up to another level with the professional negotiators now in place," he said.

Aide: Putin's statement about ability to take over Kiev in 2 weeks quoted out of context

A Kremlin aide on Tuesday sharply criticized EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso for breaching confidentiality when he quoted President Vladimir Putin as saying Moscow could take over Kiev in two weeks, if it wished.

Yuri Ushakov, the Russian leader's foreign policy adviser, told reporters that Putin's statement was "taken out of context and carried a completely different meaning."

Ushakov lashed out at Barroso, saying it was a breach of diplomatic practices and "unworthy of a serious politician" to speak publicly about a private conversation.

Several European publications earlier this week cited diplomats quoting Barroso as saying that Putin had said in a private conversation that Russian forces could take over Ukraine's capital in two weeks' time, if they wished.

Putin's comment reportedly came in response to Barroso pointing out Ukrainian and Western claims that Russia had sharply escalated the conflict in eastern Ukraine by sending regular army units into Ukraine. NATO has estimated that at least 1,000 Russian soldiers have entered Ukraine, helping turn the tide in favor of pro-Russian insurgents.

A Thai surrogate's story offers clues to the mystery of a Japanese man and his 16 babies

When the young Thai woman saw an online ad seeking surrogate mothers, it seemed like a life-altering deal: $10,000 to help a foreign couple that wanted a child but couldn't conceive.

Wassana, a lifetime resident of the slums, viewed it as a nine-month solution to her family's debt. She didn't ask many questions.

In reality, there was no couple. There was instead a young man from Japan named Mitsutoki Shigeta, whom she met twice but who never spoke a word to her. This same man — reportedly the son of a Japanese billionaire — would go on to make surrogate babies with 10 other women in Thailand, police say, spending more than half a million dollars to father at least 16 children for reasons still unclear.

The mystery surrounding Shigeta has riveted Thailand and become the focal point of a growing scandal over commercial surrogacy. The industry that catered to foreigners has thrived on semi-secrecy, deception and legal loopholes, and Thailand's military government is vowing to shut it down.

Wassana's story, which she shared with The Associated Press on condition that her last name not be used to protect her family and 8-year-old son from embarrassment, offers clues into an extraordinarily complex puzzle that boils down to two questions: Who is Shigeta and why did he want so many babies?

7 years later, the memory of death and destruction in Baghdad's Nisoor Square fades

The summer-long trial of four Blackwater security guards in the shootings of more than 30 Iraqis has been a grim retelling of lives snuffed out and the daily life-and-death decisions amid the chaos of war.

Wrapping up almost 6,200 miles from Baghdad, the trial is the best hope the survivors and the families of the victims have for accountability for the violence at Nisoor Square on Sept. 16, 2007. After 10 weeks of arguments and testimony, the case goes to the jury Tuesday.

One of the guards, Nicholas Slatten, faces up to life imprisonment if convicted of first-degree murder. The other three — Paul Slough, Dustin Heard and Evan Liberty — face mandatory minimum sentences of 30 years in prison each if convicted on a gun charge and one other felony.

In the seven years of legal proceeding it took to get the case to trial, the world has largely moved on. But for federal prosecutors seeking prison terms — and for the accused and their defense lawyers looking for the jury's understanding — the case comes down to a question of justice.

To drive home the horror of permanently disabling gunshot wounds, prosecutors had one Iraqi witness partially disrobe to show his injuries to the jury of eight women and four men. The 12-person panel includes a few military veterans and government employees.

As states liberalize marijuana laws, risks of smoking pot before driving remain hazy

New York teenager Joseph Beer smoked marijuana, climbed into a Subaru Impreza with four friends and drove more than 100 mph before losing control. The car crashed into trees with such force that the vehicle split in half, killing his friends.

Beer, who was 17 in October 2012 when the crash occurred, pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicular homicide and was sentenced last week to 5 years to 15 years in prison.

As states liberalize their marijuana laws, public officials and safety advocates worry there will be more drivers high on pot and a big increase in traffic deaths. It's not clear, though, whether those concerns are merited. Researchers are divided on the question. A prosecutor blamed the Beer crash on "speed and weed," but a jury that heard expert testimony on marijuana's effects at his trial deadlocked on a homicide charge and other felonies related to whether the teenager was impaired by marijuana. Beer was convicted of manslaughter and reckless driving charges.

Studies of marijuana's effects show that the drug can slow decision-making, decrease peripheral vision and impede multitasking, all of which are important driving skills. But unlike with alcohol, drivers high on pot tend to be aware that they are impaired and try to compensate by driving slowly, avoiding risky actions such as passing other cars, and allowing extra room between vehicles.

On the other hand, combining marijuana with alcohol appears to eliminate the pot smoker's exaggerated caution and to increase driving impairment beyond the effects of either substance alone.


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