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“They are trying to micromanage this whole thing,” he said, drawing on briefings on National Security Council debates over which targets to strike, from Iraq and Syria to Libya, Somalia, and Yemen.
A fire that he insists is only picking up pace, according to top-secret intelligence briefings.
“The threat streams to U.S. interests and Western interests are off the chart,” he said. “Of 21 al Qaeda affiliates, you have half of them now talking about supporting ISIS,” he added, including providing logistical help to launch attacks on Western targets.
“At this rate and pressure of threats on the security matrix, I don’t know how it’s reasonable to expect that they are going to stop every single incident before it happens here,” he added.
One senior U.S. military official said that while there had been some initial unease at the start of the American-led campaign to bomb ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria, that had given way to giving U.S. commanders in the region full autonomy.
Other U.S. officials echo some of Rogers’ concerns, saying that when the target is something other than ISIS, like the al Qaeda offshoot in Syria, the so-called Khorasan Group, the administration requires an interagency review to assess the impact, possible blowback, and approve the strike.
“The process of getting the approval is too slow and is too cumbersome,” Rogers said. “To be fair, that’s always a debate,” as to when enough intelligence is enough to act upon, as in the case of launching a raid to rescue U.S. journalist Luke Somers. He was killed by his captors during the U.S. rescue attempt in Yemen in December.
“But when you see a pattern of taking too long and missing the target, that tells you they are being overly cautious,” Rogers added.
Rogers’ broadside as he departs office is a likely preview of some of the critiques Republican candidates will lob at Democrats in the coming presidential race—though Rogers coyly said he didn’t expect to be running, in 2016 anyway.
The White House insists it coordinates, but doesn’t get into the weeds of who fires what and when.
“Tactical targeting decisions remain the purview of the operational agencies to ensure their agility and effectiveness,” said NSC spokesman Ned Price by email Tuesday. “The NSC staff’s primary role… is to work with departments and agencies on the overall policy framework governing such operations and to ensure visibility and coordination,” and to ensure that whatever actions are being considered are legal, Price said.
Rogers wants to see more autonomy and a greater expansion of the U.S. intelligence and paramilitary effort—both the CIA and Special Operations forces—on the ground in Syria and beyond, unleashing them on the irregular extremist forces with more autonomy than the current White House allows.
“If we don’t want 101st Airborne Division fighting all over the world, and I don’t, then we need a capability to leverage up these other countries’ counterterrorism capabilities,” he said. “So I believe in that regard, our paramilitary division needed to have more resources,” something he has supported as intelligence chairman but wants to see continue.
The White House has been reluctant to step up its CIA paramilitary involvement in Syria, relying instead on aerial strikes supplemented mostly by intelligence from local forces, while betting on a fledgling U.S. training program in Saudi Arabia that could produce some 5,000 Western-friendly Syrian fighters by some time late in the coming year.
In the meantime, ISIS and al Qaeda’s offshoot al Nusra hold much of the key territory especially along the Syrian border, such that even aid groups find they have to negotiate with Islamic militants to reach pockets of moderate Syrians, one Western official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity so as not to harm future access to those embattled communities.
ISIS controls most of the access points between Syria and Iraq, while al Nusra has increased its overt presence in northwestern Syria, especially along Turkish-Syrian border, according to Syrian analyst Jennifer Cafarella from the Washington, D.C.-based Institute for the Study of War.
“That’s conferred a lot of control along the defacto supply routes,” she said in an interview Monday. So working with the militants in order to deliver aid “becomes a requirement,” she said.
Moderate rebel groups have had to work with al Nusra in particular in their fight against Bashar Assad’s regime. “The level of outside support… has not been sufficient enough for them to distance themselves from al Nusra,” Cafarella said.
While the Western-friendly rebels wait for those U.S. trained reinforcements, al Nusra and ISIS both become more entrenched, Rogers said.
And the more established they are, he said the more likely they are to succeed in hitting the U.S.—especially as ISIS has lowered its expectations on how complex the attack needs to be.
“Al Qaeda still has a strong interest in a spectacular event,” but ISIS considers a “high-profile media, terrifying event” like the plot they pushed in Australia, where they urged followers to randomly kidnap people and film their decapitations, and upload it onto YouTube.
NEW ORLEANS, April 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Plaintiffs' Steering Committee (PSC) leading the litigation surrounding the 2010 BP Gulf Oil Spill today announced that it has finalized its settlement with BP.
The PSC has filed for Class certification, and the Parties have jointly filed for preliminary Court approval for two separate Class settlement agreements – one resolving certain economic and property damage claims; the other resolving certain medical claims stemming from the response effort.
Generally, there is no cap on the amount BP will pay to the proposed economic and property damages Class. As a result, all eligible proposed Class members will be fully and fairly compensated for their losses. In addition, the PSC has obtained a commitment from BP to pay $2.3 billion to participants in the seafood industry including Seafood Crew, Commercial Fishermen, Oyster Leaseholders and Seafood Vessel Owners.
"The people and businesses of the Gulf Coast stand to reap great benefits from these settlements," said Plaintiffs' Co-Liaison Counsel, James P. Roy and Stephen J. Herman. "We have held BP fully accountable for the Deepwater Horizon tragedy less than two years after the spill. Through extensive arms-length, good faith negotiations, hundreds of thousands of Gulf Coast residents and businesses will be made whole."
The economic and property damages settlement (E&PD), which is consistent with the agreement-in-principle announced last month, will compensate businesses and individuals in the proposed Class area for the following types of losses suffered as a result of the Gulf Oil Spill: Individual and Business Economic Losses, Coastal Real Property Damage, Wetlands Real Property Damage, Real Property Sales Loss, Vessels Property Damage, Loss of Subsistence Use, Vessels of Opportunity Underpayment (VoO), and; a program to compensate harvesters of Gulf seafood.
The methodologies and protocols implemented by the Court Supervised Oil Spill Settlement Program are agreed to by the proposed Class and BP. The frameworks for compensation are transparent and and provide proposed Class members with great flexibility in determining the amount of their damages. The frameworks are designed to allow proposed Class members to calculate their claims in a manner that provides the best result for them or their business. Further, the Claims Administrator has a duty to work with proposed Class members to ensure that they are receiving the entirety of what they are owed.
The E&PD Class Settlement also includes Risk Transfer Premiums (RTP). For most claims, the RTP enhances compensation for claimants whose damages could be recurring, and to account for the risk of future damages. The applicable RTP is generally applied to an eligible proposed Class member's 2010 losses and serves as a multiplier on those losses. RTPs will be uniquely calculated for each category of claim.
Unlike a simple multiplier, the RTP enhancement is a formula that calculates the product of an RTP number and base compensation amount, and then adds that product back to the base compensation amount. For example, an RTP of 2 does not just double the base compensation amount, as a simple multiplier would -- it doubles the base compensation amount and then adds that doubled number to the original base compensation amount -- thus an RTP of 2 would be comparable to a multiplier of 3.
The E&PD settlement provides greater flexibility by allowing claimants to choose their benchmark period of pre-spill revenues against which their losses will be measured. (Claimants may use 2009; the average of 2008-2009; or the average of 2007-2009 -- whichever is most favorable). This will allow for the most accurate reflection of pre-spill revenues, and will reduce distortion related to the general economic downturn or other extraneous factors.
Additionally, claimants may also choose any three or more consecutive months between May and December 2010 as their loss period, which enables claimants to exclude outlier months that might unfairly dilute the true severity of losses. Growth trends will be considered as well.
The medical benefits settlement, which is also consistent with the agreement in principle, will provide compensation to Clean-Up workers and Gulf Coast residents suffering from a wide range of Specified Physical Conditions; establish a twenty-one (21) year periodic medical consultation program, and; create a Gulf Region Health Outreach Program through a $105 million grant.
Claimants eligible for the medical settlement include Clean-Up Workers and residents living in certain "Zone A" (beachfront areas within one-half mile of the water) or "Zone B" (wetlands areas within one mile of the water) residents.
"The medical settlement will provide hundreds of thousands with the care they so desperately need, and through the Gulf Region Health Outreach Program, bolster the region's healthcare infrastructure for years to come," said Roy and Herman.
The medical settlement contains a back-end litigation provision, whereby claimants with later manifesting illnesses retain their right to sue BP for compensation at a later date.
The Court will, in the near future, rule on whether to grant preliminary approval for the settlement. The Court Supervised Oil Spill Settlement Program will begin processing claims within thirty (30) days of the Court granting preliminary approval.
All claimant information that has been filed with the GCCF will be transferred to the new program; claimants do not need to start over.
BP will continue to process and pay interim claims as required by law under the Oil Pollution Act.
Once preliminary approval is granted, a Court-approved notice program will inform all class members of their rights through television, radio, print and online media.
The Court will set a fairness hearing, after which it will rule on whether to grant final approval of the settlements. In the meantime, eligible claims will continue to be processed and paid.
Scattered across the planet and covering topics as diverse as the Ukrainian crisis and eco-friendly scooters, RT reporters have to think on their feet and are always ready for their next mission, wherever it may be. Peter Oliver files his last report from Kiev's turbulent Independence square returning to Berlin. He has little time to sort out domestic problems though because he’s already been assigned his next mission, this time he’s off to Paris. Back at RT headquarters Maggie discusses work and personal life with Egor. She used to watch his on air reports to prepare for her new job. Meanwhile Thabang gets geeky at a gadget expo, trying out the latest inventions and getting to grips with 3D printing.
For a moment last year, they were Florida's favorite political underdogs.
If not hip, Libertarians were at least funky. They sided with conservatives on shrinking the government and owning guns, and stood with liberals on marriage equality and ending the war on drugs.
Palm Harbor's Adrian Wyllie went on to have the most successful third-party finish anyone could recall in a Florida governor's race, and Clearwater's Lucas Overby had the second-best showing of any Libertarian candidate for Congress in the nation in 2014.
At last, Florida Libertarians were hopeful of being taken more seriously.
Then along came the goat blood-drinking, eugenics-talking, civil war-promoting U.S. Senate hopeful from Orlando named Augustus Sol Invictus.
"All the good, hard work so many people have done in the party, and what does the press run with? Goat blood," said Stacey Selleck, membership chair for the Libertarian Party of Pinellas. "(Invictus) does not represent our party at all, and it's shattering our world to have people think he does.
"We're too small to have a kook this big."
Unfortunately for the Libertarians, they may have created this monster. Not because their views align with Invictus' more outlandish claims, but because they drew unwanted attention to such a minor political character.
In case you haven't run across his story previously, Invictus (his full name is Latin for "majestic unconquered sun" and is not his birth name) is a 32-year-old lawyer with an outrageous sense of self-importance.
He claims to have once walked from Orlando to the Mojave Desert, sacrificed a goat as a gift to the gods of wilderness and renounced his citizenship (though not officially). He wrote a paper in law school basically extolling the virtues of a master race (he now says his thinking has changed), was expelled from a satanic church because of his politics and has prophesied he is destined to be a leader in a soon-to-come civil war in America.
In other words, he was easily dismissed.
That is until Wyllie announced he was resigning as Florida's Libertarian Party chairman because the state's executive committee declined to disavow Invictus.
The candidate went from being a cartoonlike character to having stories about him appear in GQ and the New York Daily News. Within days, the Seminole County Libertarian Party disbanded over the rift, and Pinellas Libertarians called for Invictus to disassociate himself from the party.
Overby, who lost to David Jolly in the U.S. House race last year, had already left the party before Invictus came along. Now a no-party-affiliation voter, Overby said Libertarians were starting to swing too far to the right, and Invictus is simply a gross example of the type of over-the-top rhetoric he was starting to hear.
"There are still a lot of activists, a lot of good people, in the party, and this is going to hurt them. This is going to hurt their recruiting efforts," said Overby, who said he plans to run for another office in the future. "Crackpots exist in all parties, but the bigger parties have the resources to control someone like that by grabbing a better candidate and throwing their money and support behind them. Libertarians don't have that option.
"It's sad, because he's pretty much the antithesis of what Libertarians stand for."
Invictus, who says he is under the watchful eye of the FBI and federal marshals, seems to understand his candidacy is a long shot. Still, based on his campaign website's "Call for Total Insurrection," he seems confident in his ultimate direction.
"Do you know why I am dangerous?" Invictus wrote on the website. "It is not because anyone actually believes that I'm going to lose my mind and go on a shooting rampage. … It is because I am an artist who has wandered like a black wolf into the 'real' world. It is because I have the power to turn the System against itself."
From New York to Florida, dog-whistle politics are showing up in ads and attacks from outside groups and, in some cases, GOP candidates. It’s playing out against the backdrop of President Donald Trump.
His Democratic opponent, Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, could become the state’s first black governor. Gillum went on offense at the debate, blaming DeSantis for fostering an environment that promotes racism.
“I’m not calling Mr. DeSantis a racist — I’m simply saying the racists believe he’s a racist,” Gillum said during a debate.
The exchange is a snapshot of how candidates from both parties are grappling with race less than two weeks before the midterms. From New York to Florida, dog-whistle politics are showing up in ads and attacks from outside groups and, in some cases, GOP candidates. It’s playing out against the backdrop of President Donald Trump, who has tapped into racial anxiety with warnings of rampant violence in urban areas, voter fraud, a caravan of migrants and unknown “Middle Easterners” threatening the U.S. southern border.
“In the final days, you throw out stuff that you had, that you weren’t sure how it would work, that may be inflammatory,” he said.
DeSantis denounced the call. In a telephone interview, Gillum said he listened to the beginning of the audio but didn’t play all of it.
On the stump and on Twitter, Trump continued to hammer the theme of immigration. This week, he told reporters that there “very well could be” people in the migrant caravan from the Middle East — a veiled nod to a possible terrorist threat — mixed in with migrants fleeing violence and seeking asylum.
Immigration was also a theme in Texas, where Trump started the week at a rally to boost former rival Sen. Ted Cruz’s numbers in the state. The president also labeled himself a “nationalist,” sticking to his “America First” mantra, though some pointed to history and questioned whether the title had racial overtones.
Associated Press writer Terry Spencer in Davie, Fla., contributed to this report.
Saxton and her mother, Sisca Lukman, will be among dozens of cooks preparing food native to their homelands on Saturday at the 34th annual Asian Festival, an event that fills Century II with more than 30 food vendors serving food from 12 countries.
The festival has become a favorite for local foodies, but it’s also intended to showcase other aspects of Asian culture. In addition to the deliciousness, the event will include art vendors and stage shows featuring a traditional Chinese Lion Dance, Tai Chi and kung fu demonstrations, Indian Bollywood-style dancing, and traditional songs and dances from Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines and more. The event also includes the Miss Asian Festival Scholarship Pageant.
Admission is free, and the event usually draws between 5,500 and 6,000 people, Kambampati said.
Some of the food venders that will be at the Asian Festival are restaurants. This year, Passage to India, Zaytun, Malaysia Cafe, Boba Zone, Teriyaki House and Beard Papa’s all will be serving at the festival. La Galette, a Lebanese restaurant with French bakery items, will be the only non-Asian restaurant there and will serve desserts.
Others vendors will be home cooks or student groups serving food native to countries including China, Japan, Vietnam, Korea, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and India.
They’ll be offering dishes that are familiar to Wichita – egg rolls, spring rolls, banh mi sandwiches, boba tea – as well as food that’s not commonly available. Wichita, for example, doesn’t have any Sri Lankan or Bangladeshi restaurants, and food from both will be sold at the festival. Another popular draw is dosa, an Indian dish that features a crepe-like shell made from soaked and ground rice and lentils that’s stuffed with a spicy potato curry filling and dipped in chutney. It’s not served in local Indian restaurants, mainly because it’s time-consuming to prepare, but Indian cooks will be making it on-site at the Asian Festival.
Dishes are served a la carte and cost about $8 each.
The two have attended the Asian Festival in the past and always wanted to serve their food there, too.
They’ll be cooking a dish called rendang, a spicy beef stew made with curry and coconut milk and served with steamed rice, as well as spicy chicken, an Indonesian-style stir fry seasoned with coconut milk, chile and lemongrass. The cooks will tame the spice to accommodate Western palates, Saxton said.
They’ll also serve a couple of traditional desserts, including one called teler. It’s made with avocado, coconut and jack fruit topped with ice and condensed milk.
Saxton said she is eager to introduce her food to the crowd, but she also is eager to scope out neighboring booths. Saxton is a big fan of Vietnamese and Thai food, she said.
Tickets: Admission is free. Donations will be accepted. Food and crafts are available for purchase.
Revenue from wireless LAN settlements have boosted the financial fortunes of the Commonwealth Science Information and Research Organisation (CSIRO) to the tune of $205 million in the year to June 2009.
According to the organisation’s annual report the WLAN settlement helped turn a budgeted deficit of $34.2 million over the same period into a surplus of $122.0 million. Total external revenue was $634.8 million exceeding the budget of $420.6 million by $214.2 million.
According to chief executive Megan Clark, the organisation’s performance had in large part been driven by its Information and Communication Sciences and Technology Group which combines the disciplines of ICT, mathematics and radio astronomy.
In April the organisation settled out of court a claim that 14 companies, including HP, Microsoft, Intel, Dell, Netgear, Toshiba, 3Com, Nintendo, D-Link and Buffalo Technologies, had infringed a US patent held by the CSIRO over its IEEE 802.11a and 802.11g Wi-Fi products.
The CSIRO is currently pursuing similar claims against Sony, Acer and Lenovo, a CSIRO spokesperson confirmed.
Clark added that the CSIRO had also performed strongly in the face of significant challenges, delivering substantial scientific impact and a strong financial result in the current climate, as well as transitioning to a new chief executive following Geoff Garrett’s departure after two terms as chief executive in January this year.
“CSIRO astronomers at the Australia Telescope Compact Array have revealed the face of an enormous galaxy called Centaurus A, which emits a radio glow covering an area 200 times bigger than the full moon,” she wrote.
“We also celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing and the role of teams at Tidbinbilla Tracking Station in Canberra and Parkes Observatory in relaying images of this moment.
On top of these achievements other ICT-related highlights during the financial year included the commercialisation of CSIRO’s smart sensor network technology – CSIRO FLECK with Australian company The Powercom Group, which now manufactures CSIRO’s patented smart wireless sensor network technology.
FLECK sensor nodes gather environmental data independently, then cooperate to wirelessly send the data to a database. The technology is currently being used to monitor the quality of Brisbane’s drinking water.
In November 2008 analysis technology jointly developed by CSIRO and Boeing had been licensed to Australian company Semantic Sciences to develop software for protecting Australia’s security with a whole-of-situation analysis capability. The software enables counter-terrorism agencies to analyse, cross-link and query large datasets.
The Australian e-Health Research Centre (AEHRC), a joint venture between the CSIRO and the Queensland Government, which went national in July 2008 after securing $20 million in funds from the Federal and Queensland governments, has since expanded establishing nodes in Queensland, South Australia and Victoria.
In March 2009 the CSIRO launched with the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications the Australia-China Research Centre for Wireless Communications. The centre aims to put both countries at the forefront of research into future wireless communications technologies.
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Vedomosti publishes a poll suggesting most Russians approve of their country's policy towards Belarus and do not want a unified state. According to the figures, the vast majority don't think the recent oil crisis was politically motivated, chalking it down simply to market relations. However, one third of Russians accept Belarus has a right to make similar business related moves, in response.
With one year left before elections in the Chechen Republic, Rossiyskaya Gazeta takes a look at who could become the next President. Alu Alkhanov says he won't run for a second term, and there's uncertainty over Ramzan Kadyrov's ambitions. Despite apparent antipathy, the acting Prime Minister seems to hold absolute popularity among Chechens. The paper says the situation in the Republic has become more stable in recent years, with many putting it down to Kadyrov.
Meanwhile, Nezavisimaya gazeta reports on a school headmaster in the Russian region of Perm facing up to 6 years in prison, for allegedly using pirated Microsoft software on school computers. The paper says it could be a wake-up call in a country where illegal software is used not only in homes and schools, but also in governmental bodies. The paper suggests a precedent could be created for similar cases across the country. However, the report says Russian schools cannot afford to buy licensed software, at ten times the price.
Nezavisimaya gazeta also focuses on the winter weather that has finally reached the European part of Russia. Heavy snowfall affected Moscow airports, with almost 30 planes forced to land elsewhere. Forecasts say next week, temperatures may fall to minus 20. However, the paper says farmers aren't worried, with the frost unlikely to affect the harvest. The gradual change from warm to cold has preserved the crop. Agricultural experts say the most dangerous period could still be the end of February.
And finally, the new Moskva hotel is nearly finished and it will be the spitting image of the old soviet building according to Izvestia. Situated in the heart of Moscow, right next to Red Square, the old Moskva was torn down in 2004, despite mass protests. The paper says the construction company has kept its promise and built an exact copy on the outside, leaving all the modern refurbishment on the inside. The hotel is set to open in June 2007.