AlterNet.org: Breaking News

Ban says Madagascar rivals should withdraw

, Agence France-Presse — Mon, 20 May 2013 18:32:05 -0700

UN leader Ban Ki-moon backed African calls for Madagascar strongman Andry Rajoelina, pictured (C) at a ceremony in Antananarivo Town Hall, on May 13, 2013, and two rivals to withdraw from the country's presidential election in July

UN leader Ban Ki-moon backed African calls for Madagascar strongman Andry Rajoelina and two rivals to withdraw from the country's presidential election in July.

Ban criticized a decision by Madagascar's electoral court to accept the candidacies of Rajoelina, Lalao Ravalomanana, wife of the leader ousted by Rajoelina, and another former president Didier Ratsiraka.

"The secretary general shares the concerns expressed by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the African Union over the latest developments in the electoral process in Madagascar," said the UN spokesman Martin Nesirky.

SADC has called on the three to withdraw from the election, which it spent years trying to mediate between rival political factions. The African Union said Friday it would not recognize the result if Rajoelina was declared winner.

Ban believes the move by Rajoelina, Ravalomanana and Ratsiraka to enter the election race their acceptance by the electoral court "is in violation of the spirit of the SADC-mediated road map," said Nesirky.

"United Nations assistance to the electoral process is conditional upon strict adherence by all parties to the road map as the sole framework for a restoration of the full legitimacy of the government of Madagascar," the spokesman added.

Ban called upon all sides to comply with the SADC and African Union decisions to keep the UN-endorsed plan for elections on track, Nesirky said. The first round of the vote is scheduled for July 24.

Madagascar has been in deadlock since Rajoelina, a former disc jockey, ousted arch-rival Ravalomanana in a 2009 coup.

The electoral court accepted the three candidacies even though Rajoelina registered outside the deadline and neither Lalao Ravalomanana nor Ratsiraka have lived in Madagascar for the past six months as the election law demands.

Rajoelina has already rejected the SADC's call for him to withdraw. "The Malagasy people must be left to decide who they will choose to lead the country," he said on May 13.

The Madagascar election is to be discussed by Ban during his current tour of Africa.

North Korea releases Chinese sailors: Xinhua

, Agence France-Presse — Mon, 20 May 2013 22:58:01 -0700

Local residents rest on a pier in a fishing village at Dalian Bay port in northeast China's Liaoning province on May 20, 2013. North Korea has released 16 Chinese fishermen and their boat, Chinese state-run media said Tuesday, after reports that armed ass

North Korea released 16 Chinese fishermen and their boat Tuesday, Chinese state media said, after reports that armed assailants had taken the sailors hostage fuelled strains between the neighbours.

"All the fishermen with the boat are safe on their way back," China's Xinhua news agency said, citing a Chinese embassy official in Pyongyang it said had heard the news from the ship's owner.

Xinhua said the fishermen had been detained "by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea side", using the North's official name, without giving further details.

The vessel's owner Yu Xuejun told AFP that armed North Koreans seized the boat in waters between the two countries on May 6 and demanded 600,000 yuan ($98,000) for the men's release, adding they were probably from Pyongyang's military.

The incident is the latest strain in the relationship between the neighbours.

Beijing is Pyongyang's sole major ally and its key provider of aid and trade, but China said it "firmly opposed" the nuclear-armed North's atomic test in February.

North Korea has for years done most of its banking through China, but with the imposition of stronger UN sanctions after the nuclear test, Beijing has come under greater pressure to tighten its control on Pyongyang's financial flows.

Graphic showing the area where 16 Chinese fishermen and their vessel were seized by armed men on May 6 in the waters between North Korea and China, according to the boat's owner.

The state-owned Bank of China in early May shut the account of a North Korean bank accused by the United States of supporting the atomic programme.

Reports said the boat's captors had asked Yu to pay the ransom into a bank account in the northeastern Chinese city of Dandong, a major hub for trade between China and the North.

The detention caused outrage online in China, with Internet users calling on Beijing to take a tough stance against Pyongyang, and accusing authorities of not making sufficient efforts to secure the men's release.

China has stayed in "close communication" with North Korea over the incident, foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said at a regular news briefing on Monday.

In an editorial Tuesday before the release was announced, the state-run Global Times, which often reflects nationalist opinion in China, said that Beijing should "should let the North Korean side know we are angry".

Fishing boats at Dalian Bay port in northeast China's Liaoning province on May 20, 2013.

"If North Korea continues to go rogue, China should take actions to push it toward a more measured response," it said, adding: "If we don't set rules for North Korea, our whole government's image may be seen as being too weak."

The incident came a year after the return of 29 Chinese fishermen also kidnapped by unidentified North Koreans who had demanded a 1.2 million yuan ransom.

Those sailors were returned without ransom after the foreign ministry said it had contacted North Korea in an effort to resolve the case, Xinhua reported at the time.

"There is no clear demarcation of the sea border between China and North Korea," the Global Times quoted Lu Chao, a Chinese maritime researcher, as saying.

"Whenever North Korean coastal troops lack money, they cross the line and detain Chinese vessels to extort money. And most ship owners choose to pay the ransom if the amount is not too high," he said.

Thousands protest after gay man's murder in New York

, Agence France-Presse — Mon, 20 May 2013 22:37:39 -0700

Marchers make their way through the West Village to protest against a gay man's murder in New York, May 20, 2013. Thousands of New Yorkers took part to protest the shooting death in the neighborhood that was the cradle of the modern US gay rights movement

Thousands of New Yorkers -- including mayoral candidate Christine Quinn -- marched to protest the shooting death of a gay man in the neighborhood that was the cradle of the modern US gay rights movement.

"Homophobia's got to go," protesters chanted as they rallied Monday waving signs to honor the memory of "the gay angel Mark Carson" and "hate no, gun control yes."

Mark Carson, 32, was killed with a bullet to the head Friday night in Greenwich Village, allegedly by a 33-year-old man who shouted homophobic slurs at him and also threatened to kill the friend walking with him.

"You want to die tonight?" was among the cries from suspect, Elliot Morales, witnesses said.

Graphic showing current legal status of same-sex marriage in the US. Thousands of New Yorkers marched on Monday to protest the shooting death of a gay man in the neighborhood that was the cradle of the US modern gay rights movement.

"It is clear that the victim here was killed only because, and just because, he was thought to be gay," New York City police chief Ray Kelly said Sunday, emphasizing the victim did nothing to provoke the attacker.

The murder has sparked a strong response from New York's gay community, not least because it happened in a neighborhood known for its tolerance and where the so-called "Stonewall riots" in 1969 sparked the modern gay rights movement.

"A lot of people thought when (same-sex) marriage laws passed in this state that everything would automatically get better, but changing people minds takes longer," said writer Marissa Higgins, 23, who wed her wife Danielle in February. "Until then, unfortunately there is going to be violence."

More than 25 gay rights groups, including GLAAD, the New York Anti-Violence Project and the Human Rights Campaign pledged to join the rally, as did local officials, including mayoral candidate Quinn, who also heads the city council.

Quinn, 46, is gay and invited many New York celebrities to her wedding a year ago.

Demonstrators will march to the site of the shooting, on the corner of 6th Avenue and 8th Street, where flowers and candles continued to be left Monday.

The murder comes as several US states passed laws in recent weeks to legalize same sex marriage, bringing the total to 12 states and Washington, that now allow the practice. New York approved same sex marriage in 2011.

Some have expressed concern over an increase in homophobic incidents in New York, with 22 counted so far in 2013, up from 13 during the same period last year.

Morales, the suspect in the killing, was arrested shortly after the incident and charged Sunday.

Iran to list approved presidential candidates

Cyril Julien, Agence France-Presse — Mon, 20 May 2013 20:39:22 -0700

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (R) and Esfandyar Rahim Mashaie wave during a press conference after Mashaie registered his candidacy for the upcoming presidential election at the interior ministry in Tehran on May 11, 2013. Iran's June 14 president

Iran's June 14 presidential election steps up a gear on Tuesday when the Guardians Council releases the approved list of candidates who have passed muster under the vetting process.

The unelected council, controlled by religious conservatives appointed by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, must ensure that all candidates meet certain conditions before being allowed to stand.

These conditions include being faithful to the principles of the Islamic republic and its official religion.

Most of the 686 men and women who registered to stand are expected to be disqualified.

Under Iranian presidential election law the Guardians Council will submit the names of those approved to the interior ministry, which organises the poll.

The ministry then has until Thursday to announce the names and campaigning begins the next day.

This year's poll comes four years after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's disputed re-election for a second term sparked months of violent street protests.

Among the well-known figures who have registered are the moderate former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, and Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie, a close Ahmadinejad ally.

A selection of daily Iranian newspapers mainly fronted by an image of former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, are seen on May 12, 2013, in Tehran.

Both have been targeted by ultra-conservatives calling for their disqualification.

Ahmadinejad himself is constitutionally barred from seeking a third consecutive term.

Rafsanjani, who will be 79 in August, polarised Iran's complex political spectrum when he said he was considering standing again.

He has been isolated by ultra-conservatives since the massive street protests in 2009 sparked a heavy-handed regime crackdown and the arrest of hundreds of journalists, activists and reformist supporters.

At the time Rafsanjani called for those rounded up during the demonstrations to be released.

"If someone who wants to deal with the country's macro issues can only work a few hours per day, then it is natural that he will not be qualified," Guardians Council spokesman Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei was reported as saying in the media on Monday.

Rafsanjani's two consecutive presidential terms (1989-1997) were marked by reconstruction after the eight-year Iran-Iraq war and a relative openness to the West.

Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili (R) registers his candidacy for the upcoming presidential election at the interior ministry in Tehran on May 11, 2013.

According to a Western diplomatic source, Rafsanjani is the main "proxy" candidate for the reformists.

He played an important role in the election of the reformist Mohammad Khatami, who succeeded him as president (1997-2005).

Khatami has repeatedly said he favours Rafsanjani's candidacy which should garner the support of moderate leaders and reformists.

A Western diplomat told AFP that Rafsanjani could also carve away votes from Mashaie as people prefer "their votes to be useful and not be considered just a vote," given Mashaie's slimmer chance of winning.

Mashaei has been targeted by hardliners for emphasising Persian civilisation rather than focusing on Islamic values.

In 2009, Khamenei overturned Mashaei's appointment as first vice president, sparking a rift between Ahmadinejad and conservatives loyal to Khamenei.

Mashaie cannot boast any economic success, since Ahmadinejad's second term has been marred by international sanctions over Tehran's controversial nuclear programme.

Iranian Nasser Jamshidpour gestures as he registers his candidacy for the upcoming presidential election at the interior ministry in Tehran on May 11, 2013.

However, another Western diplomat said Mashaie can rely on Ahmadinejad's popularity among lower-income Iranians and on the support of a generation of civil servants who owe him their jobs.

Among potential conservative candidates, three names stand out: former foreign minister Ali Akbar Velayati, Tehran Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili.

Velayati, 67, was foreign minister for 16 years from 1981 but appears to lack popular support, unlike the 51-year-old Qalibaf, who succeeded Ahmadinejad as mayor in 2005.

Iran-Iraq war veteran Qalibaf commanded the elite Revolutionary Guards air force and later became national police chief.

He has overseen huge projects in the capital, despite being denied government financing. However, some of Qalibaf's projects are deemed too Western for ultra-conservatives.

Jalili is close to the all-powerful Khamenei. His unexpected candidacy is supported by ultra-conservatives for his firmness in discussions with the great powers over Tehran's controversial atomic activities.

The West fears Iran's uranium enrichment is aimed at developing a military capacity, but Tehran denies this.

Jalili, 47, is also a veteran of the 1980s war with Iraq in which he lost his lower right leg. But political circles say he lacks both administrative experience and public support.

20 children among 91 dead in US tornado

Robert Macpherson, Agence France-Presse — Tue, 21 May 2013 00:39:03 -0700

Flipped vehicles are piled up outside the heavily damaged Moore Medical Center on May 20, 2013 in Moore, Oklahoma. Twenty children were among at least 91 people killed when a powerful tornado swept through the Oklahoma City suburb, tearing down blocks of

Twenty children were among at least 91 people killed when a powerful tornado swept through an Oklahoma City suburb, tearing down blocks of homes and two schools, local officials said.

The state medical examiner's office released the latest death toll but the number was climbing rapidly, as emergency crews combed through smashed homes and the collapsed remains of an elementary school in Moore, Oklahoma.

Stunned weather forecasters reported a two-mile (three-kilometer) wide swath of vicious winds and television news helicopters tracked a dark funnel plowing through densely-packed suburbs.

"We've had a massive tornado, a huge one that has passed through this community," Oklahoma's Governor Mary Fallin told a news conference.

"We know there are a lot of injuries. We know we've lost a tremendous amount of structures throughout this community and throughout the state," she said, as the Moore police chief urged people to leave the area.

Graphic showing the US suburb of Moore in Oklahoma City which was struck by a powerful tornado that left at least 91 people killed including 20 children.

"There are a lot of safety issues, gas lines, power lines, things of that nature, that we have to take into consideration and there's just not much else that can be done there at this time," police chief Jerry Sillings said.

The 51 dead included at least 20 children, most of them under the age of 12, Amy Elliott, of the state medical examiner's office, told AFP. CNN reported that at least 145 people had been hospitalized.

Reporters for local broadcaster KFOR-TV saw children as young as nine being pulled out of the Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, a residential community of 55,000 just south of Oklahoma's state capital.

Anxious parents were being kept at a distance while search-and-rescue workers scrambled to free the students.

A second elementary school, Briarwood, was also hit but did not appear to have sustained casualties.

A resident looks at the debris from her house destroyed by a powerful tornado that ripped through the area on May 20, 2013 in Moore, Oklahoma.

From its news helicopter, KFOR's cameras captured scenes of widespread destruction, with street after street of single-story homes in Moore stripped of their roofs and cars piled atop each other like toys.

Utility lines were down and gas lines exposed, triggering localized fires. The Moore Medical Center was evacuated after it sustained damage, and state authorities called out the National Guard to help rescue efforts.

US President Barack Obama meanwhile declared a "major disaster" in Oklahoma and ordered federal aid to supplement local recovery efforts.

On Twitter, the National Weather Service gave the tornado a preliminary rating of EF-4, indicating that it packed winds of 166 to 200 miles per hour (267-322 km/h) -- more severe than a category five hurricane.

In downtown Oklahoma City, tornado sirens went off at least three times and the Interstate 35 highway -- a busy north-south artery through the American heartland -- was closed to all but emergency vehicles.

People walk through a damaged area near the Moore Warren Theater on May 20, 2013 in Moore, Oklahoma.

In Moore, live images from KFOR showed people wandering among the debris and even a couple of untethered horses from a local stable that somehow managed to survive the punishing storm.

"I had no idea it was coming," said a stable worker, who told how he survived the "unbearably loud" twister by taking cover in one of the stalls.

Monday's tornado followed roughly the same track as a May 1999 twister that killed 44 people, injured hundreds more and destroyed thousands of homes.

Tornadoes frequently touch down on Oklahoma's wide open plains, but Monday's twister struck a populated urban area and raised fears of a high casualty toll.

Because of the hard ground, few homes are built with basements or storm shelters in which residents can take cover.

Oklahoma City lies inside the so-called "Tornado Alley" stretching from South Dakota to central Texas, an area particularly vulnerable to tornadoes.

On Sunday, a powerful storm system churning through the US Midwest spawned tornadoes in Iowa, Kansas and Oklahoma, destroying homes and killing at least two people, US media reported.

Fallin had already declared a state of emergency for 16 Oklahoma counties due to the tornado threat on Sunday, and added five more on Monday after the storms hit her capital.

In Washington, a White House official said Obama was getting regular updates and that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) stood ready to provide assistance.

"The administration continues to urge all those in affected or potentially affected areas to follow the direction of state and local officials as this severe weather continues," the official added.

Obama speaks to Italian PM

, Agence France-Presse — Mon, 20 May 2013 18:24:58 -0700

US President Barack Obama, pictured in the Oval Office, May 20, 2013, called new Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta, to congratulate him after taking office after a prolonged period of political uncertainty

US President Barack Obama called new Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta, to congratulate him after taking office after a prolonged period of political uncertainty.

"The president expressed support for Prime Minister Letta's focus on reducing youth unemployment and looked forward to further discussions about promoting economic growth at the June G8 Summit," a White House statement said.

"The two leaders also discussed, as allies and as friends, mutual cooperation on North African security and addressing the conflict in Syria, and they affirmed their mutual support for moving forward with the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership."

Obama and Letta are due to meet with other leaders of developed states at the G8 summit in Northern Ireland, when issues including Europe's debt woes and the slaughter in Syria will be high on the agenda.

Letta was sworn in at the head of a coalition government last month.

Top White House officials knew in April of tax probe

, Agence France-Presse — Mon, 20 May 2013 18:50:53 -0700

Outgoing interim Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner Steve Miller arrives to testify before a House Ways and Means committee hearing on the IRS targeting conservative groups in Washington,DC on May 17, 2013. Top White House aides knew of the scand

Top White House aides knew of a scandal over tax officials targeting conservative groups in April, but did not tell President Barack Obama, in a possible bid to insulate him from political damage.

In a new twist to the drama, the White House revealed on Monday that knowledge over a report into the affair by a government watchdog was more widespread among top officials than previously thought.

Spokesman Jay Carney said that White House Counsel Kathy Ruemmler learned on April 24 that an inspector general was finalizing an audit into Internal Revenue Service actions towards conservative grass roots groups.

Ruemmler then informed White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough and other senior staff, Carney said, though stressed that the Obama aides, as is proper with an investigation, made not attempt to intervene or influence findings.

"Our whole point, has been that knowing that this was coming does not change the fact that there was nothing we could have or should have done about it, because it was an independent Inspector General report," Carney said.

Carney said that Ruemmler made a judgment that the matter was not one that should be raised directly with the president.

Obama said last week that he first learned about the affair when the inspector general's report was leaked to the media earlier this month.

"He believes it's entirely appropriate that some matters are not appropriate to convey to him, and this is one of them," Carney said.

Republicans have however questioned whether Obama, or other senior officials, may have tried to suppress knowledge of the probe into IRS activities at the height of his re-election campaign last year.

When senior officials argue that Obama was unaware of the goings on at the IRS, an independent agency within the Treasury, his political opponents accuse the president of negligent leadership of his own administration.

Carney's comments on Monday are not likely to end the saga, one of a string of domestic dramas threatening Obama's momentum at the beginning of his second term.

When asked about the issue last week, he did not disclose that senior White House staff had been told about the issue by Ruemmler after she found out about it.

Also Monday, in an evolving White House accounting of the scandal, Carney said that a member of Ruemmler's staff had in fact learned about the inspector general's impending report on April 16.

Under fierce pressure over the IRS drama, Obama last week forced the resignation of the agency's interim chief Steven Miller.

The IRS has acknowledged that in 2010 employees subjected conservative groups, including those with "Tea Party" and "Patriots" in their names, to increased scrutiny when they applied for non-profit status.

But Miller argued at a tense congressional hearing that the "mistakes" were symptomatic of "horrible customer service" rather than partisanship.

Dozens dead as tornado hits US city

Robert Macpherson, Agence France-Presse — Mon, 20 May 2013 20:49:36 -0700

Flipped vehicles are piled up outside the heavily damaged Moore Medical Center after a powerful tornado ripped through the area tearing down blocks of homes and at least two schools and leaving at least 51 people dead on May 20, 2013 in Moore, Oklahoma.

A powerful tornado swept through an Oklahoma City suburb, tearing down blocks of homes and at least two schools and leaving at least 51 people dead, local officials told US media.

Stunned weather forecasters reported a two-mile (three-kilometer) wide swathe of vicious winds and television news helicopters tracked a dark and deadly funnel plowing through densely-packed suburbs.

"We've had a massive tornado, a huge one that has passed through this community," Oklahoma's Governor Mary Fallin told a news conference.

Graphic showing the US suburb of Moore in Oklahoma City which was struck by a powerful tornado that left at least 51 people killed.

Anxious parents were being kept at a distance while search and rescue workers scrambled to free the students. According to KFOR, as many 24 could be trapped under the rubble and at least seven children died at the school.

A second elementary school, Briarwood, was also hit but did not appear to have sustained casualties.

People walk through a damaged area near the Moore Warren Theater after a powerful tornado ripped through the area on May 20, 2013 in Moore, Oklahoma, tearing down blocks of homes and at least two schools and leaving at least 51 people dead

In Moore, live images from KFOR showed people wandering among the debris and even a couple of untethered horses from a local stable that somehow managed to survive the punishing storm.

"I had no idea it was coming," said a stable worker, who told how he survived the "unbearably loud" twister by taking cover in one of the stalls.

Monday's tornado followed roughly the same track as a May 1999 twister that killed 44 people, injured hundreds more and destroyed thousands of homes.

Tornadoes frequently touch down on Oklahoma's wide open plains, but Monday's twister struck a populated urban area and raised fears of a high casualty toll.

Because of the hard ground, few homes are built with basements or storm shelters in which residents can take cover.

Oklahoma City lies inside the so-called "Tornado Alley" stretching from South Dakota to central Texas that is particularly vulnerable to tornadoes.

On Sunday, a powerful storm system churning through the US Midwest spawned tornadoes in Iowa, Kansas and Oklahoma, destroying homes and killing at least two people, US media reported.

Fallin had already declared a state of emergency for 16 Oklahoma counties due to the tornado threat on Sunday, and added five more on Monday after the storms hit her capital.

In Washington, a White House official said President Barack Obama was getting updates "as information come in from the ground" and that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) stood ready to provide assistance.

"The administration continues to urge all those in affected or potentially affected areas to follow the direction of state and local officials as this severe weather continues," the official added.

Obama to take first major Africa trip in late June

Stephen Collinson, Agence France-Presse — Mon, 20 May 2013 17:29:38 -0700

US President Barack Obama returns to the White House in Washington on May 19, 2013. Obama will leave on a first African tour next month, visiting Senegal, Tanzania and South Africa, but his itinerary released on Monday bypasses Kenya, an ancestral homelan

President Barack Obama will leave on a first African tour next month, visiting Senegal, Tanzania and South Africa, but his itinerary bypasses Kenya, an ancestral homeland.

Obama disappointed many Africans by spending only a few hours in sub-Saharan Africa -- in Ghana -- during his first term, but is keen to implement a sweeping new regional strategy, prioritizing democracy and economic reform.

Speculation will center on whether America's first black president will see ailing 94-year-old South African anti-Apartheid icon Nelson Mandela, on a trip on which he will be accompanied by First Lady Michelle Obama.

The White House said the long-awaited visit was intended to underscore Obama's "commitment to broadening and deepening cooperation between the United States and the people of sub-Saharan Africa" to advance peace and prosperity.

Obama will meet officials, businessmen, and civil society leaders, including young people, on the trip between July 26 and August 3 -- an unusually long journey for a president who normally dashes across timezones on trips abroad.

But early scrutiny will concentrate as much on where he will not go in Africa, as his planned stops, with Kenya, the land of Obama's late father, where he still has living relatives, a glaring omission.

Obama frequently uses his past and background to connect with foreigners, remembering his childhood stays while in Indonesia, his Irish heritage in Ireland, and as a Hawaii native, posing as America's "first Pacific president."

But politics appears to have scuppered hopes for Obama to reconnect with his roots in Kenya.

It would likely be seen as unseemly for Obama to appear with Uhuru Kenyatta, elected president in March, who will go on trial in July at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity in post-election violence in 2007-08.

US President Barack Obama speaks following a meeting with African leaders including Sierra Leone's President Ernest Bai Koroma (2nd R), Senegal's President Macky Sall (L), Malawi's President Joyce Banda (2nd L), and Cape Verde's Prime Minister José Maria

An administration official said on condition of anonymity that Kenyatta's election had been a complicating factor in setting Obama's schedule in Africa.

Obama did visit Kenya in 2006, shortly after he was elected to the Senate, but before he announced his 2008 run for the White House.

His visit to Africa will follow a similar tour made by his wife Michelle in June 2011, during which she met Mandela.

While the president is yet to mount a full tour of the continent, he did host a meeting at the end of March with recently elected Senegalese counterpart, Macky Sall, along with the leaders of Sierra Leone, Malawi and Cape Verde, lauding them as examples of "the progress that we are seeing in Africa."

In 2011, Obama received four other African leaders at the White House, the presidents of Benin, Guinea, Niger and Ivory Coast. He had promised them the US would remain a "stalwart partner" to democracies in Africa.

In June 2012, Obama unveiled a sweeping new Africa strategy, with the goal of reinforcing security and democracy on a continent facing the threat of Al-Qaeda and a Chinese economic offensive.

The new US blueprint seeks to boost trade, strengthen peace, security and good governance and bolster democratic institutions, declaring that a continent torn by poverty, corruption and discord could be the world's next big economic success story.

The administration touted "successes" from helping to restore democracy in Ivory Coast, nurturing the new state of South Sudan, backing stability efforts in Somalia and engaging young African leaders.

In his speech before Ghana's parliament in 2009, Obama proclaimed that even though the continent now needs international aid, "Africa's future is up to Africans."

Obama's visit will also likely throw a new focus on the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which was the brainchild of his predecessor George W. Bush and is credited with saving millions of lives.

Union slams US Senate immigration reform bill

, Agence France-Presse — Mon, 20 May 2013 15:34:16 -0700

An immigration services officer speaks with an immigrant before a naturalization ceremony held at the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) office on May 17, 2013, in New York City. USCIS on Monday criticized an immigration reform bill currently

A union of federal immigration officers on Monday criticized an immigration reform bill currently under consideration in the US Senate.

In an open letter, the union representing US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) employees said the measure "will damage public safety and national security and should be opposed by lawmakers."

A Senate committee recently began consideration of the vast immigration reform bill backed by President Barack Obama, which would lead to legal status for millions of people in the country without papers.

The process could last weeks before moving to a second stage on the Senate floor, where Democrats hold a slender majority. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives would then take up the legislation. Its prospects, however, remain uncertain.

After its resounding failure to win passage of gun control legislation, the Obama administration is left with immigration as one of its remaining second term priorities.

Under Obama's presidency, "the culture at USCIS encourages all applications to be approved, discouraging proper investigation into red flags and discouraging the denial of any applications," the union alleged. "USCIS has been turned into an 'approval machine.'"

The union also said it was not consulted by the so-called bipartisan Gang of Eight senators who drafted the bill, echoing an argument made by another union representing US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) workers.

"Instead, the legislation was written with special interests -- producing a bill that makes the current system worse, not better," it said.

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