US rejects Crimea vote, cites Russian intimidation

Ukrainian soldiers man a check point in the village of Strilkove, Ukraine, Sunday, March 16, 2014. Russia raised the stakes Saturday when its forces, backed by helicopter gunships and armored vehicles, took control of the Ukrainian village of Strilkove and a key natural gas distribution plant nearby— the first Russian military move into Ukraine beyond the Crimean peninsula of 2 million people. The Russian forces later returned the village but kept control of the gas plant. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Ukrainian soldiers man a check point in the village of Strilkove, Ukraine, Sunday, March 16, 2014. Russia raised the stakes Saturday when its forces, backed by helicopter gunships and armored vehicles, took control of the Ukrainian village of Strilkove and a key natural gas distribution plant nearby— the first Russian military move into Ukraine beyond the Crimean peninsula of 2 million people. The Russian forces later returned the village but kept control of the gas plant. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. rejected the Crimea secession referendum Sunday as illegal and readied retaliatory penalties against Russia, while shifting sights to deterring possible military advances elsewhere in Ukraine that could inflame the crisis.

Even before official results were announced, the White House denounced the vote on Crimea joining Russia, saying it violated Ukraine’s constitution and international law and was held under “threats of violence and intimidation from a Russian military intervention.”

It said “no decisions should be made about the future of Ukraine without the Ukrainian government” and noted that Russia had rejected the deployment of international monitors in Crimea to ensure the rights of ethnic Russians there were protected.

“Russia has spurned those calls as well as outreach from the Ukrainian government and instead has escalated its military intervention into Crimea and initiated threatening military exercises on Ukraine’s eastern border,” the White House said.

“Russia’s actions are dangerous and destabilizing,” the White House said.

U.S. officials reaffirmed that the Obama administration will, along with the European Union, impose penalties on Russia if it annexes the strategic region. They also warned that any Russia moves on east and south Ukraine would be a grave escalation requiring additional responses.

Secretary of State John Kerry called on Moscow to return its troops in Crimea to their bases, pull back forces from the Ukraine border, halt incitement in eastern Ukraine and support the political reforms in Ukraine that would protect ethnic Russians, Russian speakers and others in the former Soviet republic that Russia says it is concerned about.

In a call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Kerry urged Russia “to support efforts by Ukrainians across the spectrum to address power sharing and decentralization through a constitutional reform process that is broadly inclusive and protects the rights of minorities,” the State Department said.

It was their second call since unsuccessful talks Friday in London.

Kerry expressed “strong concerns” about Russian military activities in the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson, just north of Crimea where Russian troops appeared Saturday, and about “continuing provocations” in cities in east Ukraine, the department said.

Kerry “made clear that this crisis can only be resolved politically and that as Ukrainians take the necessary political measures going forward, Russia must reciprocate by pulling forces back to base and addressing the tensions and concerns about military engagement,” the department said.

A senior State Department official said Lavrov’s willingness to discuss Ukraine political reforms was positive. But the official stressed that the Russian military escalation was of “greatest concern” and must be reversed. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private conversation.

White House senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer said that Russia faces penalties that would hurt its economy and diminish its influence in the world if President Vladimir Putin didn’t back down. Pfeiffer said the administration was committed to supporting the new Ukrainian government in Kiev “in every way possible.”

“President Putin has a choice about what he’s going to do here. Is he going to continue to further isolate himself, further hurt his economy, further diminish Russian influence in the world, or is he going to do the right thing?” Pfeiffer said.

U.S. and European officials have said they plan to announce sanctions against Russia, including visa bans and potential asset freezes, on Monday if Putin does not shift course.

But Putin and other Russians have shown no sign they are willing to back down. They insist they will respect the results of the Crimean referendum in which voters in the largely pro-Moscow peninsula are expected to choose joining Russia by a wide margin.

Members of Congress said they were prepared to enact tough sanctions on various Russian leaders, but $ 1 billion in loan guarantees to help the Ukrainian economy is on hold while Congress is on a break.

“President Putin has started a game of Russian roulette, and I think the United States and the West have to be very clear in their response because he will calculate about how far he can go,” said Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The top Republican on the committee, Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, said the U.S. and Europe were entering a “defining moment” in their relationship with Russia.

“Putin will continue to do this. He did it in Georgia a few years ago. He’s moved into Crimea, and he will move into other places unless we show that long-term resolve.”

Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, just back from meetings in Ukraine, said Ukrainians he talked to said war could occur if Russia attempts to annex more territory. They indicated that “if Russia really does decide to move beyond Crimea, it’s going to be bloody and the fight may be long,” Murphy said.

Pfeiffer spoke on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Menendez and Corker appeared on “Fox News Sunday.” Murphy was on ABC’s “This Week.”

Associated Press

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US rejects Crimea vote, cites Russian intimidation

Quant macro fund QFS shuts down, cites tough conditions

Quant macro fund QFS shuts down, cites tough conditions
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BOSTON Tue Jan 14, 2014 2:50pm EST

BOSTON Jan 14 (Reuters) – QFS Asset Management, which used a quantitative approach to global macro investing, said that it is shutting down after 26 years in the business, citing difficult market conditions.

The Greenwich, Connecticut-based firm, founded by economist Sandy Grossman, said in news release on Tuesday that it will return nearly $ 1 billion to clients by the end of the month.

“The current market environment does not offer adequate risk adjusted opportunities for fundamentally-driven quant macro strategies, and that is unlikely to change for the foreseeable future,” QFS Chief Executive Officer Karlheinz Muhr said in a statement. Muhr joined the firm as part of a merger in 2011.

QFS becomes one of the new year’s first hedge fund industry casualties after a difficult 2013 marked by generally lackluster returns. The Hedge Fund Research Inc’s Macro index dipped 0.3 percent last year, making for a third consecutive year of declines. Macro funds bet on interest rate movements, currencies, and broad economic trends.

At its heyday just before the financial crisis, QFS oversaw $ 3.6 billion in assets. Assets have shrunk despite some strong returns, people familiar with the fund said.

QFS isn’t alone in complaining about uncertain economic conditions and what managers perceive as a more difficult investing environment.

A number of large hedge funds, including Seth Klarman’s Baupost Group and Daniel Loeb’s Third Point, have given back some money to clients last year to guard against becoming too large and running out of investment ideas. (Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss; Editing by Nick Zieminski)

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Court Cites Past Racism to Argue Polygamy Ban Unconstitutional

A Utah district court ruled in favor of a polygamous family this past Friday. Oddly, the ruling relied heavily on arguing that a reason the United States outlawed bigamy was a distaste for practices of Eastern cultures–despite the Mormon Church being native to the United States.

The case, Brown v. Buhman (full legal opinion here), resolves a series of claims and counterclaims between the Brown family–stars of the reality show Sister Wives–and the state of Utah. As a District Court case that also resolves who rightfully belongs in the suit and why it should move forward logistically (and never mind the bizarre aside about Edward Said), following the legal procedure and getting to the real meat of this decision can be complicated for the layman. The trick is to follow what precedent the plaintiffs cite, and how seriously the court takes each.

The Browns argue that because of their prominence as reality TV celebrities, their living arrangement has been especially vulnerable to government intrusion. They claim they should be allowed to practice polygamy on a number of First Amendment grounds (free speech, free association, free exercise of religion), which allows them to also sue under the statute that creates a civil remedy for someone whose constitutional rights have been violated by the state (42 U.S.C. §1983). They also claim that they have not been given equal protection as a protected minority under the law and that the state has violated their due process.

The state did not address these concerns in responding to the suit and, according to the court, provided no admissible evidence of the “social harms” of polygamy. 

This in some ways left the court to figure out their argument for themselves, hence the bizarre emphasis on Said’s “Orientalism” used to make the fundamental claim that the United States waged a “war” against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, one in which banning polygamy played a prominent role. The court argues, essentially, that racism was behind the banning of polygamy: “the social harm was introducing a practice perceived to be characteristic of non-European people—or non-white races—into white American society.” 

In other words: banning polygamy was a way to get deviant white people to start “acting” white. The court goes on to cite a previous case upholding polygamy bans as a prevention of a “return to barbarism,” and condemns such “derisive societal views about race and ethnic origin.”

The accusations of racism form a major part of the beginning of the opinion, but the court ultimately incorporates them into a bigger legal argument. Because religious groups are protected under the Due Process Clause, the state has to have a rational basis on which to curb their freedom. The basis the court cites is that the state is racist, as noted above. Because the ban on multiple legal marriages regulates behavior that is actually sanctioned legally, polygamy, narrowly defined, remains illegal.

The key to the case is that the Browns are seeking only the legality of their living situation, not of all of their marriages. The facts of the case note that they do not have multiple marriage licenses–only one male/female couple is legally married–and that Utah has especially strict polygamy laws because of its history as a Mormon state (Washington required these laws to allow Utah into the Union). In exact terms, the “strictness” of the law comes from its ban on “cohabitation,” not just marriage. This is the provision the court has found unconstitutional.

The lawyers defending the Browns appear to see the case as something greater than a step forward for the freedom of fundamentalists to marry, however. The Browns’ attorney, Jonathan Turley, called the case a “victory not for polygamy but privacy in America.” It is an issue, the argument goes, that affects everyone’s right to live how they choose and with whoever they choose. It is another front in the fight against big government, as Turley’s affidavit argues.

This type of argument–which also rears its head slightly in the case with the citations to Lawrence v. Texas, the case that overturned all sodomy bans–will make the case lend itself to the “slippery slope” argument against same-sex marriage. Some will argue, the legalization of same-sex marriage indicates we are already seeing a move towards accepting polygamy. And, yes, Lawrence plays a prominent role in the argument in favor of unofficial polygamy: American adults have a right to do whatever they want to each other consensually in the privacy of their own bedrooms. 

But even then, the court finds that “religious cohabitation does not qualify for heightened scrutiny under the substantive due process” (in other words, religious cohabitation is not as worthy a behavior of protection as sodomy). That argument obscures the true absurdity of this decision, however: the fact that it essentially argues that opposing polygamy is racist, even if all parties involved are white.

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Court Cites Past Racism to Argue Polygamy Ban Unconstitutional

Hagel cites "troubling lapses" among nuke forces

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel speaks at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), in Washington, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2013. Hagel said the projected defense budget cuts of nearly $ 1 trillion over 10 years is too much, too fast, and will cause a dangerous erosion of U.S. military power. In a speech about U.S. defense priorities, Hagel said Tuesday that it would be a mistake to let these cuts happen. But he also said officials are not assuming the government’s budget crisis will be resolved soon. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel speaks at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), in Washington, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2013. Hagel said the projected defense budget cuts of nearly $ 1 trillion over 10 years is too much, too fast, and will cause a dangerous erosion of U.S. military power. In a speech about U.S. defense priorities, Hagel said Tuesday that it would be a mistake to let these cuts happen. But he also said officials are not assuming the government’s budget crisis will be resolved soon. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told Air Force members Friday there is “no room for error” within America’s nuclear forces, commenting publicly for the first time on what he called “troubling lapses” in professionalism within the ranks.

Speaking at the headquarters of the military’s nuclear war-fighting command in Omaha, Neb., Hagel alluded to a series of missteps revealed by The Associated Press, including lapses among those who operate and support the Air Force’s nuclear missile force. Last month, two senior nuclear commanders were fired amid misconduct investigations, and in August, service members working at a nuclear-missile base in Montana failed a safety and security inspection.

“You have chosen a profession where there is no room for error,” Hagel said, directing his remarks to the hundreds gathered at U.S. Strategic Command for a change-of-command ceremony. “That’s what the American people expect from you, from all of us. And you must deliver.”

Hagel said the failures had been exposed by what he called “close scrutiny” and the Pentagon’s most rigorous evaluations. But while he credited the retiring head of the command, Gen. Robert Kehler, for enforcing tough standards, he also insisted that “perfection must be the standard of our nuclear forces.”

Hagel and Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, were at Offutt Air Force Base for the ceremony, as Kehler steps down and Navy Adm. Cecil D. Haney takes the helm.

Last month, Maj. Gen. Michael Carey was fired as commander of 20th Air Force, which is responsible for all 450 of the Air Force’s Minuteman 3 nuclear missiles. Carey was fired for behavior that officials have said is linked to alcohol abuse.

His firing and the removal of a Navy admiral for alleged misconduct related to gambling came amid a series of disclosures by the AP about serious security and leadership lapses, morale problems, training flaws, and an assertion by one midlevel nuclear officer that he had found “rot” inside his nuclear missile unit at Minot Air Force Base, N.D.

Air Force and Pentagon officials insist that despite these issues, the nation’s nuclear arsenal is being operated and maintained safely.

___

Associated Press writer Lolita C. Baldor contributed to this report.

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Hagel cites "troubling lapses" among nuke forces

Oldest Living Veteran Cites Whiskey, Cigars, ‘Staying Out Of Trouble’ As Key To Longevity

Posted on November 11, 2013 by Angel – NYC

Huffington Post

Richard Overton, who at 107-years-old is America’s oldest living veteran on record, was honored last week at a Veterans Day ceremony in Austin, Texas. In addition to a standing ovation, Overton received a box of cigars — a vice that he cites as a key ingredient in his recipe for longevity.

Overton takes no medicine, except for aspirin. Instead, he smokes cigars — up to 12 a day, he told Fox News this spring — and drinks whiskey with his morning coffee. The secret to living long, he told the Houston Chronicle, is “staying out of trouble.”  

“I also stay busy around the yards, I trim trees, help with the horses,” he told Fox. “The driveways get dirty, so I clean them. I do something to keep myself moving. I don’t watch television.”

Overton served in the Army during World War II in Hawaii, Guam, Palau and Iwo Jima. He now lives in Austin.

On Sunday, Overton was set to be honored in Washington, D.C. by President Barack Obama as part of the White House’s Veterans Day festivities. According to KEYE TV, Overton was scheduled to have breakfast with the president and Vice President Joe Biden, and then attend a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Ceremony.

“The president wants me to come with him,” Overton said. “I’m surprised he called me.”

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Oldest Living Veteran Cites Whiskey, Cigars, ‘Staying Out Of Trouble’ As Key To Longevity

Global travel warning: US cites al-Qaida threat

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States issued an extraordinary global travel warning to Americans Friday about the threat of an al-Qaida attack and closed down 21 embassies and consulates across the Muslim world for the weekend.

The alert was the first of its kind since an announcement preceding the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. This one comes with the scars still fresh from last year’s deadly Sept. 11 attack on a U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya, and with the Obama administration and Congress determined to prevent any similar breach of an American Embassy or consulate.

“There is a significant threat stream and we’re reacting to it,” said Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He told ABC News in an interview to be aired Sunday that the threat was “more specific” than previous ones and the “intent is to attack Western, not just U.S. interests.”

The State Department warning urged American travelers to take extra precautions overseas, citing potential dangers involved with public transportation systems and other prime sites for tourists and noting that previous terrorist attacks have centered on subway and rail networks as well as airplanes and boats. It suggested travelers sign up for State Department alerts and register with U.S. consulates in the countries they visit.

The statement said that al-Qaida or its allies might target either U.S. government or private American interests. The alert expires on Aug. 31.

The State Department said the potential for terrorism was particularly acute in the Middle East and North Africa, with a possible attack occurring on or coming from the Arabian Peninsula.

U.S. officials pointed specifically to Yemen, the home of al-Qaida’s most dangerous offshoot and the network blamed for several notable terrorist plots on the United States, from the foiled Christmas Day 2009 effort to bomb an airliner over Detroit to the explosives-laden parcels intercepted the following year aboard cargo flights.

“Current information suggests that al-Qaida and affiliated organizations continue to plan terrorist attacks both in the region and beyond, and that they may focus efforts to conduct attacks in the period between now and the end of August,” a department statement said.

The alert was posted a day after the U.S. announced it would shut many diplomatic facilities Sunday. Spokeswoman Marie Harf said the department acted out of an “abundance of caution” and that some missions may stay closed for longer than a day. Sunday is a business day in Muslim countries, and the diplomatic offices affected stretch from Mauritania in northwest Africa to Afghanistan.

“I don’t know if I can say there was a specific threat,” said Rep. Eliot Engel of New York, the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s top Democrat, who was briefed on the State Department’s decision. “There is concern over the potentiality of violence.”

Although the warning coincided with “Al-Quds Day,” the last Friday of the Islamic month of Ramadan when people in Iran and some Arab countries express their solidarity with the Palestinians and their opposition to Israel, U.S. officials played down any connection. They said the threat wasn’t directed toward a specific American diplomatic facility.

The concern by American officials over the Yemen-based al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula is not new, given the terror branch’s gains in territory and reach during Yemen’s prolonged Arab Spring-related instability.

The group made significant territorial gains last year, capturing towns and cities in the south amid a power struggle in the capital that ended with the resignation of Yemen’s longtime leader, Ali Abdullah Saleh. A U.S.-aided counteroffensive by the government has since pushed the militants back.

Yemen’s current president, Abdo Rabby Mansour Hadi, met with U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House on Thursday, where both leaders cited strong counterterrorism cooperation. Earlier this week, Yemen’s military reported a U.S. drone strike killed six alleged al-Qaida militants in the group’s southern strongholds.

As recently as June, the group’s commander, Qasim al-Rimi, released an Arabic-language video urging attacks on U.S. targets and praising the ethnic Chechen brothers accused of carrying out the Boston Marathon bombings. “Making these bombs has become in everyone’s … reach,” he said, according to the English subtitles on the video, reposted by private U.S. intelligence firm the IntelCenter.

“The blinking red intelligence appears to be pointing toward an Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula plot,” said Seth Jones, counterterror expert at the Rand Corp., referring to the branch of al-Qaida known as AQAP.

Britain also took action Friday in Yemen, announcing it would close its embassy there on Sunday and Monday as a precaution.

Britain, which closely coordinates on intelligence matters with Washington, stopped short of releasing a similar region-wide alert but added that some embassy staff in Yemen had been withdrawn “due to security concerns.” British embassies and consulates elsewhere in the Middle East were to remain open.

Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., the House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman, said the embassy threat was linked to al-Qaida and concerned the Middle East and Central Asia.

“In this instance, we can take a step to better protect our personnel and, out of an abundance of caution, we should,” Royce said. He declined to say if the National Security Agency’s much-debated surveillance program helped reveal the threat.

The New York Times reported Friday night that American officials said the U.S. had intercepted electronic communications among senior operatives of al-Qaida.

Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence panel, also supported the department’s decision to go public with its concerns.

“The most important thing we have to do is protect American lives,” he said, describing the threat as “not the regular chitchat” picked up from would-be militants on the Internet or elsewhere.

The State Department issued another warning a year ago about potential violence connected to the Sept. 11 anniversary. Dozens of American installations were besieged by protests over reports of an anti-Islam video made by an American resident, and in Benghazi, Libya, the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans were killed when militants assaulted a diplomatic post.

The administration no longer says Benghazi was related to the demonstrations. But the attack continues to be a flashpoint of contention with Republicans in Congress who say Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and others in the government misled the country about the nature of the attack after failing to provide adequate diplomatic protection.

___

Associated Press writers Donna Cassata, Sagar Meghani and Kimberly Dozier in Washington and Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report.

___

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Global travel warning: US cites al-Qaida threat

Global travel warning: US cites al-Qaida threat

File – The Harry S. Truman Building, headquarters for the State Department, is seen in Washington, in this March 9, 2009 file photo. The United States issued an extraordinary global travel warning to Americans Friday Aug. 2, 2013 about the threat of an al-Qaida attack and closed down 21 embassies and consulates across the Muslim world for the weekend. The alert was the first of its kind since an announcement preceding the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

File – The Harry S. Truman Building, headquarters for the State Department, is seen in Washington, in this March 9, 2009 file photo. The United States issued an extraordinary global travel warning to Americans Friday Aug. 2, 2013 about the threat of an al-Qaida attack and closed down 21 embassies and consulates across the Muslim world for the weekend. The alert was the first of its kind since an announcement preceding the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, left, speaks to staff members at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan Thursday, Aug. 1, 2013. The Obama administration hasn’t sent its top diplomat to Pakistan since 2011, and Kerry’s trip is a chance for the former senator to get to know the newly elected prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, who came to power in Pakistan’s first transition between civilian governments.

Map shows U.S. embassies and consulates that will close; 3c x 3 inches; 146 mm x 76 mm;

Secretary of State John Kerry gives policy address on same-sex spouses applying for U.S. visas, Friday, Aug. 2, 2103, at the U.S. Embassy in London. The U.S. will immediately begin considering visa applications of gay and lesbian spouses in the same manner as heterosexual couples, Kerry said on Friday. (AP Photo/Jason Reed. Pool)

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States issued an extraordinary global travel warning to Americans Friday about the threat of an al-Qaida attack and closed down 21 embassies and consulates across the Muslim world for the weekend.

The alert was the first of its kind since an announcement preceding the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. This one comes with the scars still fresh from last year’s deadly Sept. 11 attack on a U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya, and with the Obama administration and Congress determined to prevent any similar breach of an American Embassy or consulate.

“There is a significant threat stream and we’re reacting to it,” said Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He told ABC News in an interview to be aired Sunday that the threat was “more specific” than previous ones and the “intent is to attack Western, not just U.S. interests.”

The State Department warning urged American travelers to take extra precautions overseas, citing potential dangers involved with public transportation systems and other prime sites for tourists and noting that previous terrorist attacks have centered on subway and rail networks as well as airplanes and boats. It suggested travelers sign up for State Department alerts and register with U.S. consulates in the countries they visit.

The statement said that al-Qaida or its allies might target either U.S. government or private American interests. The alert expires on Aug. 31.

The State Department said the potential for terrorism was particularly acute in the Middle East and North Africa, with a possible attack occurring on or coming from the Arabian Peninsula.

U.S. officials pointed specifically to Yemen, the home of al-Qaida’s most dangerous offshoot and the network blamed for several notable terrorist plots on the United States, from the foiled Christmas Day 2009 effort to bomb an airliner over Detroit to the explosives-laden parcels intercepted the following year aboard cargo flights.

“Current information suggests that al-Qaida and affiliated organizations continue to plan terrorist attacks both in the region and beyond, and that they may focus efforts to conduct attacks in the period between now and the end of August,” a department statement said.

The alert was posted a day after the U.S. announced it would shut many diplomatic facilities Sunday. Spokeswoman Marie Harf said the department acted out of an “abundance of caution” and that some missions may stay closed for longer than a day. Sunday is a business day in Muslim countries, and the diplomatic offices affected stretch from Mauritania in northwest Africa to Afghanistan.

“I don’t know if I can say there was a specific threat,” said Rep. Eliot Engel of New York, the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s top Democrat, who was briefed on the State Department’s decision. “There is concern over the potentiality of violence.”

Although the warning coincided with “Al-Quds Day,” the last Friday of the Islamic month of Ramadan when people in Iran and some Arab countries express their solidarity with the Palestinians and their opposition to Israel, U.S. officials played down any connection. They said the threat wasn’t directed toward a specific American diplomatic facility.

The concern by American officials over the Yemen-based al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula is not new, given the terror branch’s gains in territory and reach during Yemen’s prolonged Arab Spring-related instability.

The group made significant territorial gains last year, capturing towns and cities in the south amid a power struggle in the capital that ended with the resignation of Yemen’s longtime leader, Ali Abdullah Saleh. A U.S.-aided counteroffensive by the government has since pushed the militants back.

Yemen’s current president, Abdo Rabby Mansour Hadi, met with U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House on Thursday, where both leaders cited strong counterterrorism cooperation. Earlier this week, Yemen’s military reported a U.S. drone strike killed six alleged al-Qaida militants in the group’s southern strongholds.

As recently as June, the group’s commander, Qasim al-Rimi, released an Arabic-language video urging attacks on U.S. targets and praising the ethnic Chechen brothers accused of carrying out the Boston Marathon bombings. “Making these bombs has become in everyone’s … reach,” he said, according to the English subtitles on the video, reposted by private U.S. intelligence firm the IntelCenter.

“The blinking red intelligence appears to be pointing toward an Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula plot,” said Seth Jones, counterterror expert at the Rand Corp., referring to the branch of al-Qaida known as AQAP.

Britain also took action Friday in Yemen, announcing it would close its embassy there on Sunday and Monday as a precaution.

Britain, which closely coordinates on intelligence matters with Washington, stopped short of releasing a similar region-wide alert but added that some embassy staff in Yemen had been withdrawn “due to security concerns.” British embassies and consulates elsewhere in the Middle East were to remain open.

Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., the House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman, said the embassy threat was linked to al-Qaida and concerned the Middle East and Central Asia.

“In this instance, we can take a step to better protect our personnel and, out of an abundance of caution, we should,” Royce said. He declined to say if the National Security Agency’s much-debated surveillance program helped reveal the threat.

The New York Times reported Friday night that American officials said the U.S. had intercepted electronic communications among senior operatives of al-Qaida.

Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence panel, also supported the department’s decision to go public with its concerns.

“The most important thing we have to do is protect American lives,” he said, describing the threat as “not the regular chitchat” picked up from would-be militants on the Internet or elsewhere.

The State Department issued another warning a year ago about potential violence connected to the Sept. 11 anniversary. Dozens of American installations were besieged by protests over reports of an anti-Islam video made by an American resident, and in Benghazi, Libya, the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans were killed when militants assaulted a diplomatic post.

The administration no longer says Benghazi was related to the demonstrations. But the attack continues to be a flashpoint of contention with Republicans in Congress who say Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and others in the government misled the country about the nature of the attack after failing to provide adequate diplomatic protection.

___

Associated Press writers Donna Cassata, Sagar Meghani and Kimberly Dozier in Washington and Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report.

___

State Department alerts: travel.state.gov

Smart Traveler Enrollment Program: step.state.gov

Associated Press

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Politics Headlines

Global travel warning: US cites al-Qaida threat

Global travel warning: US cites al-Qaida threat

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States issued an extraordinary global travel warning to Americans Friday about the threat of an al-Qaida attack and closed down 21 embassies and consulates across the Muslim world for the weekend.

The alert was the first of its kind since an announcement preceding the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. This one comes with the scars still fresh from last year’s deadly Sept. 11 attack on a U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya, and with the Obama administration and Congress determined to prevent any similar breach of an American Embassy or consulate.

“There is a significant threat stream and we’re reacting to it,” said Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He told ABC News in an interview to be aired Sunday that the threat was “more specific” than previous ones and the “intent is to attack Western, not just U.S. interests.”

The State Department warning urged American travelers to take extra precautions overseas, citing potential dangers involved with public transportation systems and other prime sites for tourists and noting that previous terrorist attacks have centered on subway and rail networks as well as airplanes and boats. It suggested travelers sign up for State Department alerts and register with U.S. consulates in the countries they visit.

The statement said that al-Qaida or its allies might target either U.S. government or private American interests. The alert expires on Aug. 31.

The State Department said the potential for terrorism was particularly acute in the Middle East and North Africa, with a possible attack occurring on or coming from the Arabian Peninsula.

U.S. officials pointed specifically to Yemen, the home of al-Qaida’s most dangerous offshoot and the network blamed for several notable terrorist plots on the United States, from the foiled Christmas Day 2009 effort to bomb an airliner over Detroit to the explosives-laden parcels intercepted the following year aboard cargo flights.

“Current information suggests that al-Qaida and affiliated organizations continue to plan terrorist attacks both in the region and beyond, and that they may focus efforts to conduct attacks in the period between now and the end of August,” a department statement said.

The alert was posted a day after the U.S. announced it would shut many diplomatic facilities Sunday. Spokeswoman Marie Harf said the department acted out of an “abundance of caution” and that some missions may stay closed for longer than a day. Sunday is a business day in Muslim countries, and the diplomatic offices affected stretch from Mauritania in northwest Africa to Afghanistan.

“I don’t know if I can say there was a specific threat,” said Rep. Eliot Engel of New York, the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s top Democrat, who was briefed on the State Department’s decision. “There is concern over the potentiality of violence.”

Although the warning coincided with “Al-Quds Day,” the last Friday of the Islamic month of Ramadan when people in Iran and some Arab countries express their solidarity with the Palestinians and their opposition to Israel, U.S. officials played down any connection. They said the threat wasn’t directed toward a specific American diplomatic facility.

The concern by American officials over the Yemen-based al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula is not new, given the terror branch’s gains in territory and reach during Yemen’s prolonged Arab Spring-related instability.

The group made significant territorial gains last year, capturing towns and cities in the south amid a power struggle in the capital that ended with the resignation of Yemen’s longtime leader, Ali Abdullah Saleh. A U.S.-aided counteroffensive by the government has since pushed the militants back.

Yemen’s current president, Abdo Rabby Mansour Hadi, met with U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House on Thursday, where both leaders cited strong counterterrorism cooperation. Earlier this week, Yemen’s military reported a U.S. drone strike killed six alleged al-Qaida militants in the group’s southern strongholds.

As recently as June, the group’s commander, Qasim al-Rimi, released an Arabic-language video urging attacks on U.S. targets and praising the ethnic Chechen brothers accused of carrying out the Boston Marathon bombings. “Making these bombs has become in everyone’s … reach,” he said, according to the English subtitles on the video, reposted by private U.S. intelligence firm the IntelCenter.

“The blinking red intelligence appears to be pointing toward an Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula plot,” said Seth Jones, counterterror expert at the Rand Corp., referring to the branch of al-Qaida known as AQAP.

Britain also took action Friday in Yemen, announcing it would close its embassy there on Sunday and Monday as a precaution.

Britain, which closely coordinates on intelligence matters with Washington, stopped short of releasing a similar region-wide alert but added that some embassy staff in Yemen had been withdrawn “due to security concerns.” British embassies and consulates elsewhere in the Middle East were to remain open.

Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., the House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman, said the embassy threat was linked to al-Qaida and concerned the Middle East and Central Asia.

“In this instance, we can take a step to better protect our personnel and, out of an abundance of caution, we should,” Royce said. He declined to say if the National Security Agency’s much-debated surveillance program helped reveal the threat.

The New York Times reported Friday night that American officials said the U.S. had intercepted electronic communications among senior operatives of al-Qaida.

Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence panel, also supported the department’s decision to go public with its concerns.

“The most important thing we have to do is protect American lives,” he said, describing the threat as “not the regular chitchat” picked up from would-be militants on the Internet or elsewhere.

The State Department issued another warning a year ago about potential violence connected to the Sept. 11 anniversary. Dozens of American installations were besieged by protests over reports of an anti-Islam video made by an American resident, and in Benghazi, Libya, the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans were killed when militants assaulted a diplomatic post.

The administration no longer says Benghazi was related to the demonstrations. But the attack continues to be a flashpoint of contention with Republicans in Congress who say Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and others in the government misled the country about the nature of the attack after failing to provide adequate diplomatic protection.

___

Associated Press writers Donna Cassata, Sagar Meghani and Kimberly Dozier in Washington and Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report.

___

State Department alerts: travel.state.gov

Smart Traveler Enrollment Program: step.state.gov

Associated Press

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Global travel warning: US cites al-Qaida threat

Global travel warning: US cites al-Qaida threat

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States issued an extraordinary global travel warning to Americans Friday about the threat of an al-Qaida attack and closed down 21 embassies and consulates across the Muslim world for the weekend.

The alert was the first of its kind since an announcement preceding the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. This one comes with the scars still fresh from last year’s deadly Sept. 11 attack on a U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya, and with the Obama administration and Congress determined to prevent any similar breach of an American Embassy or consulate.

“There is a significant threat stream and we’re reacting to it,” said Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He told ABC News in an interview to be aired Sunday that the threat was “more specific” than previous ones and the “intent is to attack Western, not just U.S. interests.”

The State Department warning urged American travelers to take extra precautions overseas, citing potential dangers involved with public transportation systems and other prime sites for tourists and noting that previous terrorist attacks have centered on subway and rail networks as well as airplanes and boats. It suggested travelers sign up for State Department alerts and register with U.S. consulates in the countries they visit.

The statement said that al-Qaida or its allies might target either U.S. government or private American interests. The alert expires on Aug. 31.

The State Department said the potential for terrorism was particularly acute in the Middle East and North Africa, with a possible attack occurring on or coming from the Arabian Peninsula.

U.S. officials pointed specifically to Yemen, the home of al-Qaida’s most dangerous offshoot and the network blamed for several notable terrorist plots on the United States, from the foiled Christmas Day 2009 effort to bomb an airliner over Detroit to the explosives-laden parcels intercepted the following year aboard cargo flights.

“Current information suggests that al-Qaida and affiliated organizations continue to plan terrorist attacks both in the region and beyond, and that they may focus efforts to conduct attacks in the period between now and the end of August,” a department statement said.

The alert was posted a day after the U.S. announced it would shut many diplomatic facilities Sunday. Spokeswoman Marie Harf said the department acted out of an “abundance of caution” and that some missions may stay closed for longer than a day. Sunday is a business day in Muslim countries, and the diplomatic offices affected stretch from Mauritania in northwest Africa to Afghanistan.

“I don’t know if I can say there was a specific threat,” said Rep. Eliot Engel of New York, the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s top Democrat, who was briefed on the State Department’s decision. “There is concern over the potentiality of violence.”

Although the warning coincided with “Al-Quds Day,” the last Friday of the Islamic month of Ramadan when people in Iran and some Arab countries express their solidarity with the Palestinians and their opposition to Israel, U.S. officials played down any connection. They said the threat wasn’t directed toward a specific American diplomatic facility.

The concern by American officials over the Yemen-based al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula is not new, given the terror branch’s gains in territory and reach during Yemen’s prolonged Arab Spring-related instability.

The group made significant territorial gains last year, capturing towns and cities in the south amid a power struggle in the capital that ended with the resignation of Yemen’s longtime leader, Ali Abdullah Saleh. A U.S.-aided counteroffensive by the government has since pushed the militants back.

Yemen’s current president, Abdo Rabby Mansour Hadi, met with U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House on Thursday, where both leaders cited strong counterterrorism cooperation. Earlier this week, Yemen’s military reported a U.S. drone strike killed six alleged al-Qaida militants in the group’s southern strongholds.

As recently as June, the group’s commander, Qasim al-Rimi, released an Arabic-language video urging attacks on U.S. targets and praising the ethnic Chechen brothers accused of carrying out the Boston Marathon bombings. “Making these bombs has become in everyone’s … reach,” he said, according to the English subtitles on the video, reposted by private U.S. intelligence firm the IntelCenter.

“The blinking red intelligence appears to be pointing toward an Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula plot,” said Seth Jones, counterterror expert at the Rand Corp., referring to the branch of al-Qaida known as AQAP.

Britain also took action Friday in Yemen, announcing it would close its embassy there on Sunday and Monday as a precaution.

Britain, which closely coordinates on intelligence matters with Washington, stopped short of releasing a similar region-wide alert but added that some embassy staff in Yemen had been withdrawn “due to security concerns.” British embassies and consulates elsewhere in the Middle East were to remain open.

Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., the House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman, said the embassy threat was linked to al-Qaida and concerned the Middle East and Central Asia.

“In this instance, we can take a step to better protect our personnel and, out of an abundance of caution, we should,” Royce said. He declined to say if the National Security Agency’s much-debated surveillance program helped reveal the threat.

The New York Times reported Friday night that American officials said the U.S. had intercepted electronic communications among senior operatives of al-Qaida.

Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence panel, also supported the department’s decision to go public with its concerns.

“The most important thing we have to do is protect American lives,” he said, describing the threat as “not the regular chitchat” picked up from would-be militants on the Internet or elsewhere.

The State Department issued another warning a year ago about potential violence connected to the Sept. 11 anniversary. Dozens of American installations were besieged by protests over reports of an anti-Islam video made by an American resident, and in Benghazi, Libya, the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans were killed when militants assaulted a diplomatic post.

The administration no longer says Benghazi was related to the demonstrations. But the attack continues to be a flashpoint of contention with Republicans in Congress who say Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and others in the government misled the country about the nature of the attack after failing to provide adequate diplomatic protection.

___

Associated Press writers Donna Cassata, Sagar Meghani and Kimberly Dozier in Washington and Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report.

___

State Department alerts: travel.state.gov

Smart Traveler Enrollment Program: step.state.gov

Associated Press

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Global travel warning: US cites al-Qaida threat