Around the World: February 26, 2015

 

 

NEW YORK (AP) — Two men arrested on charges of plotting to help the Islamic State group were vocal both online and in personal conversations about their commitment and desire to join the extremists, with one of them speaking of shooting President Barack Obama to "strike fear in the hearts of infidels," federal authorities said.

 

The men were among three charged Wednesday with attempt and conspiracy to provide material support to a terrorist organization.

 

Akhror Saidakhmetov, 19, was arrested at Kennedy Airport, where he was attempting to board a flight to Istanbul, with plans to head to Syria, authorities said. Another man, 24-year-old Abdurasul Hasanovich Juraboev, had a ticket to travel to Istanbul next month and was arrested in Brooklyn, federal prosecutors said. The two were held without bail after a brief court appearance.

 

A third defendant, Abror Habibov, 30, is accused of helping fund Saidakhmetov's efforts. He was ordered held without bail in Florida.

 

If convicted, each faces a maximum of 15 years in prison.

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate is moving forward on legislation to fund the Homeland Security Department, but the House is in limbo two days away from a partial agency shutdown as conservatives angrily reject the Senate plan.

 

Many House Republicans say they aren't ready to admit defeat and approve spending for the department without demanding concessions from President Barack Obama on immigration. They are pressuring House Speaker John Boehner to hold firm against that approach, even as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell argues that it's the best way out of the GOP's dilemma.

 

No other options are apparent, aside from a partial shutdown of the agency charged with protecting the U.S. against terrorism. Without congressional action, that will happen at midnight Friday — and polls show Republicans likely to take the political blame.

 

Boehner met privately with McConnell on Wednesday afternoon, their first meeting in two weeks, but he gave no indication during the day of how he might resolve what has become a high-stakes leadership test two months into full Republican control of Congress.

 

"I'm waiting for the Senate to act. The House has done their job," Boehner said at a news conference where he repeatedly sidestepped questions about his plans.

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration's commitment to take in potentially thousands of Syrian refugees is raising national security concerns among law enforcement officials and some congressional Republicans who fear clandestine radicals could slip into the country among the displaced.

 

The administration has vowed to help those who fled the civil war by providing homes, furniture, English classes and job training in the United States. It says they'll be subject to intensive screening before entering the country, and that the overwhelming majority are vulnerable women and children.

 

"These are people I think that if most Americans met them, their instinct would immediately be, 'We have to help these people,'" Anne Richard, the assistant secretary of state for population, refugees and migration, said in an interview with The Associated Press.

 

But without reliable intelligence within Syria, some argue that it's impossible to ensure that someone bent on violence or supporting a militant cause doesn't come in undetected.

 

The issue came to the fore at a House Homeland Security Committee hearing earlier this month, when Michael Steinbach, the FBI assistant director for counterterrorism, said the information the intelligence community would normally rely on to properly vet refugees doesn't exist in a failed country like Syria.

 

BEIRUT (AP) — The number of Christians abducted by the Islamic State group in northeastern Syria has risen to 220, as militants have rounded up more hostages from a chain of villages along a strategic river in the past three days, activists said Thursday.

 

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the militants have picked up dozens more Christian Assyrians from 11 communities near the town of Tal Tamr in Hassakeh province.

 

The province, which borders Turkey and Iraq, has become the latest battleground in the fight against the Islamic State group in Syria. It is predominantly Kurdish but also has populations of Arabs and predominantly Christian Assyrians and Armenians.

 

IS began abducting the Assyrians on Monday, when militants attacked a cluster of villages along the Khabur River, sending thousands of people fleeing to safer areas.

 

Younan Talia, a senior official with the Assyrian Democratic Organization, said IS had raided 33 Assyrian villages, picking up as many as 300 people along the way. It was not possible to reconcile the numbers, and the fate of the hostages remained unclear.

 

 

JERUSALEM (AP) — When Israelis go to the polls next month, tens of thousands of Jewish settlers in the West Bank will also be casting votes, even though they do not live on what is sovereign Israeli territory.

 

This exception in a country that doesn't allow absentee voting for citizens living abroad is a telling reflection of Israel's somewhat ambiguous and highly contentious claim to the territory, which has been under military occupation for almost a half century.

 

Over the years, Israel has cultivated a separate legal system there. The Palestinians are ultimately governed by Israeli military rule — while Israel's own criminal and civilian laws apply to more than 350,000 Jewish settlers in a way they cannot apply to Israeli expats.

 

The settlers' voting rights stem from Israel's 1969 election law that stipulates "there will only be voting on Israeli land," with exceptions made for diplomats and soldiers serving on naval vessels.

 

The law was amended the following year — when the settlement movement was in its infancy — to allow voting by Israelis "whose address is listed in the population registry located in territory held by the Israel Defense Forces."

 

Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war and began settling the territory soon after — first halfheartedly, then in greater waves, especially after the nationalist Likud first came to power in 1977. The Palestinians, backed by most of the international community, claim the area as part of a future independent state, along with Gaza and east Jerusalem.

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — Let's say, for a moment, that America has given you the job of picking the perfect candidate for president. Good luck, Mr. or Ms. Voter, deciding what they've got to have — and what they can do without.

 

There are all sorts of things to start the list: leadership, vision, charisma, communication skills and foreign policy cred. And more: fundraising prowess, authenticity, empathy, a keen understanding of the presidency and maybe a little familiarity with running for the office.

 

And even more: good looks are always a plus, even if people don't want to admit it. For many, being an "outsider" is a must at a time when "Washington" is on the outs with a lot of people.

 

Where do you even start? For Republicans, you can't do much better than this week's Conservative Political Action Conference. There are as many as two dozen GOP hopefuls eyeing the party's nomination in 2016, and many of them will be offering themselves at CPAC as the perfect prom date for conservatives in search of a winning candidate.

 

Can anyone claim the total package? Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union, which runs CPAC, sees a strong lineup of potential candidates and says that now, "they're going to preen and strut and we're going to see a president emerge."

 

 

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Almost every Pakistani citizen has a cellphone, but from now on, Big Brother is checking to make sure their name, number and fingerprints are on record. The measures are meant to tighten control of cellphones and avert their use for militant attacks after the Taliban massacre two months ago at a school in Peshawar.

 

Since the new measure was announced earlier this year, Pakistanis have been lining up at cellphone stores and in front of mobile vans and kiosks around the country to scan their fingerprints and verify their identities in order to keep their phones.

 

They have to show their IDs and fingerprints. If the scanner matches their print with the one in a government database, they can keep their SIM card. If not, or if they don't show up, their cellphone service is cut off.

 

In a country where many people get by without electricity, heat or running water, cellphones are one of the few technological advances that are so ubiquitous that most people cannot imagine their lives without one.

 

The Dec. 16 Pakistani Taliban attack on the school in Peshawar, which killed 150 people, most of them schoolchildren, shocked the nation.

 

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — In the ever-complicated debate over labeling of genetically modified foods, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says he has an idea: use your smart phone.

 

Vilsack told members of Congress on Wednesday that consumers could just use their phones to scan special bar codes or other symbols on food packages in the grocery store. All sorts of information could pop up, such as whether the food's ingredients include genetically modified organisms, or GMOs.

 

"Industry could solve that issue in a heartbeat," Vilsack said.

 

The Food and Drug Administration handles most food-package labeling, so Vilsack's idea isn't an official proposal. But the agriculture secretary suggested it could head off the debate between the food industry and those who have pushed for package labels that identify GMOs.

 

At least one labeling advocate disagreed. Scott Faber, head of the national Just Label It campaign, says most consumers don't have the know-how to use their phones to scan a bar code or so-called QR code, a commonly used scannable image.

 

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — For all the talk of Republican House Speaker John Boehner being trapped by the quarrel over funding the Homeland Security Department, he holds a potential escape key, if he's willing to use it: cooperative Democrats.

 

Aides say he doesn't like it, but Boehner sometimes relies on Democrats to help pass measures that many — and sometimes most — Republicans oppose. They include the January 2013 resolution to the "fiscal cliff" showdown, which 151 House Republicans opposed. The Democrats' 172 "yes" votes saved the measure, averting tax increases on most U.S. workers.

 

And last year the House raised the federal debt ceiling with 193 Democratic votes and only 28 Republican votes.

 

House Democrats also supplied crucial votes for big budget deals in 2011 and 2014, when 66 and 67 Republicans voted nay. And they provided most of the votes to send federal aid to Superstorm Sandy victims and to renew the Violence Against Women Act.

 

The bipartisan strategy carries political risks. A House speaker who defies his party's wishes too often can lose his post.