Kansas is now in a budget shortfall after a wave of dramatic tax cuts championed by Republican Gov. Sam Brownback. In response, more than 100 former GOP office holders in the state have endorsed Paul Davis, Brownback's opponent in the gubernatorial race this fall. NPR's Kelly McEvers talks with Steve Kraske of KCUR and the Kansas City Star.
Sunday, 20 July 2014
Hezbollah condemns Shejaiya massacre
BEIRUT: Hezbollah condemned the hours-long Israeli “massacre” on Shejaiya near Gaza City Sunday, slamming the Israeli forces for preventing medical teams from entering the ravaged area to rescue the wounded.
“This horrific massacre which did not distinguish between young and old, or [spare] children and women, is a continuation of the Zionists’ racist and criminal approach by committing the crime of genocide,” said the statement.
Hezbollah slammed Israeli forces for preventing medical personnel from entering the neighborhood to save the wounded and evacuate the bodies of the victims, saying that such restrictions “increases the horror of the massacre, and reveals the amount of hatred harbored in the hearts of those criminal Zionists.”
The statement also condemned the “criminal silence” of international and Arab organizations, arguing that the absence of a clear response implied “dangerous justification” for the crimes committed by Israel.
“This reminds us of the complicity of international and Arab organization during the resistance’s war in July 2006, and this is what places the responsibility for these crimes on international organizations, major powers and the Arab regimes which are participating in the global war on Gaza and its people,” added the statement.
Most of Sunday's Palestinian victims were killed in a blistering hours-long Israeli assault on Shejaiya near Gaza City, which began before dawn and has so far claimed 62 Palestinian lives.
With ambulances unable to reach the area, the International Committee of the Red Cross called for an urgent temporary ceasefire to allow paramedics to evacuate the dead and wounded, which was agreed on by the two sides.
Following a night of terror in Shejaiya, thousands began fleeing for their lives at first light after heavy shelling left casualties lying in the streets, an AFP correspondent reported.
At least 87 Gazan Palestinians and 13 soldiers were killed Sunday as Israel ramped up a major military offensive in the bloodiest single day in the enclave in five years.
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Salam: no discrimination in security crackdown
BEIRUT: Prime Minister Tammam Salam justified the security crackdown in Tripoli Sunday, stressing that security forces operate in accordance with the law and do not discriminate between citizens.
“We refuse any imbalance in the implementation of the security plan and the instructions given to security apparatus stress respect for the state in all areas and upholding the rule of law above all, without discrimination or exclusion,” said Salam to a delegation of religious figures from the northern city.
With respect to the arrest of militiaman Hussam al-Sabbagh, Salam stressed that security forces do not discriminate between Lebanese citizens, referring to allegations from local community members that security forces are targeting the Sunni’s of Tripoli.
Salam said the state does not target one group at the expense of another and security forces operate in line with the law.
“If a person is detained and then proved innocent he will surely be released” said Salam, emphasizing that “the goal is not retribution, but a movement in the direction of law and security in order to stabilize security in Tripoli.”
Salam pointed out that mistakes or shortcomings in the practices of security forces could be resolved wisely.
The Prime Minister stressed on the need to combine efforts to restrain reactions to the recent arrests in Tripoli.
"I count on your wisdom and your foresight and invite you to help in controlling the exaggerated reactions that may bear more harm than benefit,” said Salam, addressing the delegation.
With respect to Sheikh Hussein Atwi, who was arrested after firing a rocket from the town of al-Marri toward occupied Palestine, Salam vowed to issue instructions calling for better treatment and care for his case.
Tensions ran high in Lebanon’s second largest city Sunday after a terror suspect was killed and Hussam al-Sabbagh was arrested overnight during raids carried out by Lebanese authorities, security sources told The Daily Star.
The Army arrested Sabbagh at the Al-Manar checkpoint in Tripoli along with Mohammad Ali Ismail Ismail and transferred the pair to the concerned judiciary for interrogation.
Supporters of militiaman Hussam al-Sabbagh – who is believed to have orchestrated clashes linked to the Syria crisis - took to the streets and blocked roads in Tripoli as the Lebanese Army worked on clearing the streets and restoring calm, the sources said.
The Army blocked the road near the Abu Ali roundabout over fears of sniper fire from Bab al-Tabbaneh, where around 150 men brandished their weapons again and deployed heavily inside the impoverished neighborhood that has long served as Sabbagh’s main quarters, the sources added.
Sabbagh is considered a militant commander of Salafists in Tripoli and his arrest is likely to spark a wave of anger within Islamist circles
Kicking The Can Down The Road: A Habit That's Hard To Kick
hide captionPresident Obama speaks in front of the Interstate 495 bridge near Wilmington, Del., on Thursday. Obama said he supports the temporary highway bill passed by the House last week — but he doesn't like it.
Patrick Semansky/AP
President Obama speaks in front of the Interstate 495 bridge near Wilmington, Del., on Thursday. Obama said he supports the temporary highway bill passed by the House last week — but he doesn't like it.
Patrick Semansky/AP
The Senate is expected to vote on a temporary transportation spending bill later this week — with an emphasis on the word temporary.
The bill would keep highway funding flowing through May of next year, and avert a looming infrastructure crisis. Without congressional action, the highway trust fund would run out of cash in August.
The short-term fix follows a familiar pattern. It goes something like this:
First, panic erupts because the government is going to shut down — or a program is going to run out of money — or a tax will automatically rise. Whatever it is, without congressional action, something really terrible will happen.
Then, just when it seems like there's no hope, a deal emerges. Often it's a bipartisan solution, not a big one, and not a permanent fix. A temporary one, for a few weeks or a few months.
Then when the next deadline draws near, the countdown clocks come out once again.
Wash, rinse, repeat.
"We've become sort of addicted to artificial crises," says Joe Thorndike, a historian with the publisher Tax Analysts.
By "we," Thorndike means Congress and the president, who have become adept at rolling from crisis to crisis with one temporary extension after another. There's a phrase for this that everyone in Washington uses.
"When you 'kick the can down the road,' you're not just solving the immediate problem," Thorndike says. "You are guaranteeing the arrival of a new problem. You kick the can down the road, you will get to the can again. There's no question about that."
When it comes to the highway bill, many say these temporary fixes are problematic, because big road projects require lots of advanced planning. Members of the House from both sides of the aisle said as much — right before they voted overwhelmingly to hit the snooze button on a larger debate over how to fund road repairs and construction in the future.
Said Rep. Thomas Petri, R-Wisc., "Today is about doing what Congress does too often: Kicking the can down the road, avoiding one crisis while setting up another."
Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., added, "I appreciate that we have a bipartisan, bicameral bill, but I think that for all concerned, it expressed bipartisan disappointment."
President Obama stood in front of a bridge in Delaware on Thursday that's closed for repairs and pushed for a long-term transportation funding bill — and in the same breath, endorsed the short-term fix.
But he said he doesn't like it.
"We don't need unhelpful and unnecessary deadlines that crunch a few months from now, and we shouldn't have been this close to the deadline in the first place," he said.
Obama quoted Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, saying to call this bill a Band-Aid is an insult to a Band-Aid.
So why, if everyone hates operating this way, does it happen again and again? The farm bill was extended repeatedly over two years before finally passing. Since 2010, some 20 continuing resolutions have kept the government open for business in the absence of a funding bill. And don't forget the temporary extensions of the debt ceiling.
"No party wants to take any risks right now," says Frances Lee, a political science professor at the University of Maryland.
Lee says the close balance of power between the two parties, and the chance that Republicans could take over the Senate after the fall election, mean no one really wants to raise taxes or make unpalatable cuts elsewhere in the budget.
"It's hard to make tough choices at any time, and it's especially hard when you hope that if you can just stay popular a little bit longer, you might get a big electoral victory," she says.
When it comes to transportation, the next deadline would be May 2015. As crazy as it sounds, by that point the presidential election will be casting a shadow over Congress. Some are already predicting that means they'll put the issue on layaway one more time.
Sidon funnels financial Jihad
BEIRUT: Hamas’ politburo in Lebanon thanked Sidon residents Sunday for LL60 million in financial donations to fund the resistance’s jihad in the occupied territories.
“We don’t want this money to go to food or drink, instead we want this money for Jihad, for logistics and military gear,” said Hamas representative in Lebanon Ali Barakeh, thanking donors from Sidon’s Rawdah mosque.
The campaign, which was launched last Friday, called for $100 donations from those financially capable and a $1 donation from those who can’t afford more.
Donations accrued LL60 million from Sidon residents and donors from the Rawdah mosque, and the money was transferred to an organization responsible for military operations in Palestine.
“They fight with their blood, and you exercise Jihad through your money,” said Barakeh, pointing out that the financial jihad assists the Qassam brigades in achieving great feats in their fight against occupation.
“This money will go into war manufacturing, and this money will become bombs and rockets targeting the Zionist enemy,” he added.
Barakeh called on the Arab league and the Islamic Cooperation Council to press for lifting the siege on Gaza, pointing out that the resistance needs to be supported financially and militarily.
The Hamas representative said that the resistance would lead the nation towards a forthcoming liberation battle that would free Jerusalem from occupation, stressing that relations with Israel would not calm until the ground, naval and economic siege is lifted.
More than four hundred Palestinians have been killed in the 13-day conflict – more than 150 in the last 72 hours alone. On the Israeli side, three soldiers and two civilians have died.
Israel says more than 1,500 rockets have been fired out of Gaza during this month's fighting, and between 3,000-4,000 others destroyed in military strikes - together almost half of the militants' original estimated arsenal.
Hamas says it is continuously replenishing its stock of weapons and is ready for a prolonged conflict.
Hostilities between the two sides escalated following the killing last month of three Jewish students that Israel blames on Hamas, despite the organization's denials. The apparent revenge murder of a Palestinian youth in Jerusalem, for which Israel has charged three Jews, further fueled tensions.
Protest in support of Gaza outside US embassy
BEIRUT: Leftist Lebanese parties and Palestinian groups staged a protest outside the U.S. embassy in Awkar north of Beirut Sunday, denouncing Israel’s 12-day offensive on Gaza in which more than 400 Palestinians, including children, have been killed.
The protesters, led by Lebanese and Palestinian party officials, raised banners denouncing Israel’s “brutal aggression,” and burned the American and Israeli flags, as they chanted slogans in support of Palestinian armed resistance against Israel.
Lebanese Communist Party leader Khaled Hadadeh praised the “heroic” Palestinian resistance in Gaza, while blasting Arab leaders for their apathy in confronting the new Israeli aggression.
Hadadeh also called on Arab peoples to stand up jointly in support of Gaza’s children and resistance fighters.
For his part, Palestinian leftist leader Ali Faisal stressed that armed resistance against Israeli occupation should be the common strategy of all Palestinian factions, including those who signed treaties and agreements with Israel.
“There is no solution outside a common Palestinian strategy based on resistance and armed struggle on one hand, and on diplomacy which is aimed at joining international bodies for sanctioning Israel on the other,” Faisal said, calling for the abrogation of all treaties restricting the Palestinian people, including the 1993 Oslo Agreement, under which Palestinians, represented by Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), acknowledged Israel’s right to exist.
Faisal also lashed out at the international community, which he accused of indifference and indolence.
“The international community should act quickly and not be content with the visit of Ban Ki-moon who is covering up for the shame and equalizing between the victim and the slaughterer,” Faisal told the angry protesters.
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Fadlallah: Hezbollah not waiting for consensus
BEIRUT: Hezbollah MP Hasan Fadlallah said Sunday during an honorary Hezbollah celebration that the party stands firm in its fight against Takfiri groups in Syria, pointing out that Hezbollah’s defense strategy would not be swayed by concerns over negotiations or consensus.
“The resistance is at the forefront of defending its country, people, towns and villages from the threat of Takfiri groups,” he said, adding that the resistance “would not wait for local or defensive strategies nor would [it wait] for agreements or consensus, nor the satisfaction of one bloc or the other, because when we are subject to attack, occupation and killing, no strategies would do.”
Fadlallah expressed his belief that the wave of Takfiri groups taking over Iraq and Syria are a part of common arrangement that also targets Lebanon.
The Hezbollah MP lauded the resistance’s martyrs as well as the Lebanese Army for disrupting the Takfiri project that “if left alone would not have stopped at what it accomplished in Syria, but would have moved to Lebanon, in a bid to occupy it.”
“The Islamic Caliphate project [targeting] Lebanon is not a myth, as some forces from March 14 would [like] to think. Because at the precise moment when they [ISIS] can control and remove borders, then they would declare their state,” said Fadlallah, adding that Hezbollah’s intervention in Syria is what prevented the formation of an Islamic State across the Lebanese-Syrian borders.
“If others have abandoned their responsibility in fighting this wave and preventing Lebanon’s fall, we will not relieve ourselves from this duty,” he added.
Fadlallah also condemned the political stalemate in the country, pointing out that the political deadlock would expose the interests of March 8 and March 14 political blocs to risks.
With respect to the vacancy in the presidential post, the Hezbollah MP pointed out that "one group is negotiating with another and we are waiting for the results, in light of which ministers would head down to Parliament and elect a president who truly represents his constituency and his nation."
Clashes raging between Hezbollah and Nusra Front gunmen along the northeastern border continued throughout the week, as the party’s fighters carried on with efforts to eliminate remaining pockets of Syrian rebels in the area.
Earlier this week, seven Hezbollah fighters and 32 Syrian rebels died in clashes in the area.
The Lebanese Army deployed heavily Saturday along the Lebanese-Syrian border in the northern Bekaa valley region, hours after a report emerged that a major terrorist attack was thwarted.
The attackers were planning a massacre in the villages – the majority of which are Shiite – with the aim of drawing retaliation and plunging the northern Bekaa Valley area into sectarian fighting.
The attackers were also planning to kidnap Lebanese soldiers in a bid to swap them with Islamists held at the Roumieh prison.
Since July 12, Hezbollah fighters, backed by Syrian aerial and ground bombardment targeting rebel hideouts in the mountainous outskirts of Arsal, have engaged in fierce fighting with members of the Nusra Front and the Free Syrian Army as part of the resistance party’s attempts to root out rebel groups from border areas with Lebanon.
Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri Friday outlined a road map to safeguard Lebanon’s stability and protect it from the reverberations of the turmoil in Syria and Iraq, by calling for the election of a new president and the withdrawal of Hezbollah from the war in Syria.
In his blueprint, Hariri called for a comprehensive national plan to confront terrorism in all its forms and designations. He stressed that confronting terrorism is a national responsibility that lies on the shoulders of the state.
Schumer: Let pharmacies fill pet prescriptions
ALBANY, N.Y. -- U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer says pet owners could save millions of dollars on prescriptions for their animals if they could buy the drugs at ordinary pharmacies.
The New York Democrat says Sunday that he's working with U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut on legislation that would require veterinarians to write prescriptions to allow owners to buy the medication at a pharmacy or online.
Schumer says many owners pay too much for pet medications because veterinarians don't provide prescriptions unless asked, and sell the drugs themselves at much higher prices than pharmacies.
He says pet owners in the U.S. spend $10 billion each year on pet medications and other health-related products.
Prayers across Netherlands for Ukraine crash dead
THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- Worshippers at church services across the Netherlands are praying for the victims of the Ukraine air disaster and their next of kin, as anger builds over the separatist rebels' hindering of the investigation into the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.
The chairman of the Dutch Bishops Conference, Cardinal Wim Eijk, has called on church-goers to "pray for strength and courage for the relatives" at services Sunday.
Amid the grieving, Prime Minister Mark Rutte is pushing for Russian President Vladimir Putin to use his influence over the rebels in eastern Ukraine to ensure a full investigation into the tragedy that killed 298 passengers and crew, including 193 Dutch citizens.
Malaysia Airlines retires MH17 flight number
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- Malaysia Airline says it is retiring the flight number of the plane that was shot down over Ukraine.
The carrier said in a statement Sunday that beginning Friday, it will no longer use MH17 to identify any of its Amsterdam-Kuala Lumpur flights. It said it is doing so "out of respect for our crew and passengers" who were aboard the plane.
The airline said the new flight number replacing MH17 would be MH19.
It also said there would be no changes to the frequency of its Amsterdam-Kuala Lumpur service, and that it would continue to operate daily flights between the cities.
Flight 17 was shot down over Ukraine on Thursday with 298 people onboard.
Ukraine: Rebels have taken all plane crash bodies
MOSCOW -- A top Ukrainian official says the government and the pro-Russia separatists it is fighting have reached a preliminary agreement to remove the bodies from the site of the Malaysian plane crash.
Reports Saturday of how the bodies were decaying in the summer sun drew strong outrage worldwide, especially from the Netherlands, home to over half the victims.
The Ukrainian government and the separatists accuse each other of firing a surface-to-air missile Thursday at Malaysian Airlines Flight 17, killing all 298 people onboard.
Deputy Prime Minister Volodymyr Groisman said the "preliminary" accord would let Ukrainian emergency services and international observers remove the bodies and transport them to a safe place. He did not reveal where that would be. He said 192 bodies have been recovered from the crash site so far.
Orlando MLS franchise sells 7,500 season tickets
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Orlando City Soccer Club says it is halfway to selling its anticipated season ticket capacity for its first Major League Soccer season in 2015.
Officials from Orlando's incoming MLS franchise say that it sold 7,500 season tickets during special ticket pricing that started at the beginning of the World Cup and ended July 15.
The team expects to cap its season ticket sales at 14,000 seats as the teams prepares for a transition from the Florida Citrus Bowl to a new downtown stadium in 2016. Season ticket holders will have priority seating in the new stadium.
Tickets for the 2015 season are still available and can be purchased by calling 855-ORL-CITY or by visiting http://bit.ly/1lhXFsq .
Feds OK testing for oil and gas in the Atlantic
Just as expected, the Obama administration is opening the waters off the East Coast to oil and gas exploration, approving a plan on Friday to allow seismic tests from Delaware to Florida’s Cape Canaveral.
The decision is a first step to what could be the first Atlantic offshore drilling in decades, with the energy industry mostly interested in waters off Virginia and the Carolinas.
The industry is going to use seismic air guns to find out how much oil and gas lies along the Atlantic seabed. There’s sharp debate over the use of the air guns, which environmental groups and some members of Congress say deafens whales and dolphins.
The Interior Department endorsed the plan in February http://bit.ly/1lhXEVn. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management made it official on Friday by issuing the record of decision to start considering applications from companies that want to explore.
Father behind shocking child on child attack video arrested
BEIRUT: The Internal Security Forces arrested the father and cousin of a two-year-old for giving him orders to brutally beat up a Syrian refugee, the police said in a statement released Sunday.
The ISF said that investigations led the Cybercrime Combating Bureau to the arrest in the Beirut southern suburbs of the father of two-year-old Abbas -- of whom a video went viral Saturday showing him beating up a nine-year-old Syrian refugee identified as Khaled N.
Abbas’ father A.A. was arrested in the van he owned in Raml al-Ali. The ISF also arrested Abbas’ 17-year-old cousin H.T. who filmed the incident.
Khaled N’s abuse at the hands of Abbas was taped and widely shared online Saturday, spreading waves of controversy across the country.
“Hit him Abbas, hit him on the head with the stick,” were the orders shouted by Abbas’ relatives, who were responsible for the footage taken on a mobile phone.
The video shows Abbas swiping a thick stick back and forth toward a passive nine year old boy dressed in ragged pants, a shabby shirt and flapping sandals.
The victim then crumpled to the floor, kneeling before Abbas who then continued beating him with the heavy rod.
The victim guarded his face with his hands saying “please not the face” after one of Abbas’ relatives ordered the child to strike in that direction.
Behind the camera an orchestra of voices yelled out orders to the little boy, some of them from a man some from an unknown female observer.
“Slap him in the face. Ok now kick him on the stomach,” they yelled out, “punch him on the head, come on punch him.”
At this point, the abused child began crying out in pain, wailing at every new strike. Meanwhile the observers behind the camera laughed and giggled as Abbas double punched the child with both fists before going back for the stick.
The video concludes with a heavy cry from the victim as Hussam [another boy identified in the video] slaps the back of the child’s neck and Abbas throws one last blow at the kneeling body.
The video was first released on yassour.org news website and then quickly circulated around various social network platforms.
Terrorist killed, militiaman arrested overnight in Tripoli
TRIPOLI, Lebanon: A terror suspect was killed and a Salafist militiaman with dozens of outstanding warrants against him was arrested overnight Sunday during raids carried out by Lebanese security forces in the north Lebanon city of Tripoli, security sources told The Daily Star on Sunday.
Tensions ran high in Tripoli after the news spread with supporters of the militiaman Hussam al-Sabbagh taking to the streets and blocking roads. The Lebanese Army is still working on clearing the streets and restoring calm.
Suspected terrorist Monzer al-Hassan, accused of providing a terror cell with explosives, was killed during a raid of his apartment at 1 a.m. in the City Complex building in Tripoli.
Security forces had intelligence that Hassan had provided explosive belts and material to a terrorist cell that was planning to carry out major attacks in Lebanon. Late in June, a Saudi suicide bomber blew himself up at the capital’s Duroy Hotel during a raid by General Security personnel. A would-be suicide bomber survived the blast and is undergoing interrogation. Hassan is suspected of being the main supplier of the two Saudi bombers.
The sources said Hassan was killed during clashes with security forces at his apartment. The 24-year-old was wearing an explosives belt and threatened to blow himself up.
Meanwhile, the army arrested Sabbagh, who is wanted for dozens of outstanding arrest warrants for his pivotal role in fighting this year between the Tripoli neighborhoods of majority Sunni Bab al-Tabbaneh, where pro-Syrian revolution sentiments prevail and the predominately Alawite Jabal Mohsen.
The sources said the Army arrested Sabbagh at the Al-Manar checkpoint in Tripoli. A meeting was held at the residence of a top Salafist sheikh, Salem al-Rafei, to discuss “escalatory measures,” they added.
On April 1, the Lebanese Army launched a security plan in the northern city, which resulted in the arrest of dozens of gunmen and militia commanders from both Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen neighborhoods. The security crackdown largely brought calm to Tripoli, which had witnessed numerous rounds of violence over the last several years, linked to the civil war in Syria.
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