Saturday, October 5, 2013

Kenya military names Westgate mall attack suspects

Kenya military names Westgate mall attack suspects

CCTV footage shows armed men carrying weapons and searching areas leading off a storeroom

Kenya attack

Four men believed to have carried out the deadly shopping centre attack in Nairobi last month have been named by the Kenyan military.
The men were named as Abu Baara al-Sudani, Omar Nabhan, Khattab al-Kene and Umayr.
No more details have been given about the suspects, but Kenya said previously 10-15 militants were involved.
The al-Shabab group said it carried out the attack on the Westgate mall on 21 September, leaving at least 67 dead.
The al-Qaeda-linked group said the attack was in retaliation for Kenya's military involvement in Somalia.
Kenya Defence Forces spokesman Maj Emmanuel Chirchir told news agencies: "I confirm these were the terrorists."
The naming of the men came as CCTV footage was aired showing four attackers calmly walking through a room in the mall holding machine guns.
Kenya had earlier said that nine people were in custody in relation to the attack.
It was not immediately clear if the four named men had been killed in the security operation.
Graphic: Final phase
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Bill Eppridge, US photojournalist who captured Robert Kennedy assassination, dies

Bill Eppridge Eppridge began working for Life magazine in 1964

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Photojournalist Bill Eppridge - who took images of the aftermath of Robert Kennedy's assassination - has died aged 75.
Eppridge died in hospital in Connecticut from a blood infection caused by a fall.
His image of Kennedy lying on the floor of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles is widely considered one of the greatest news photos of all time.
He worked for Life Magazine at the time of the shooting in 1968.
Friend and fellow photographer David Hume Kennerly said: "He extended a helping hand and a bushel of inspiration to me, and his kindness shaped the course of my career.
Born in Buenos Aires, Eppridge moved to the US with his family as a young boy.
Working as a staff photographer for Life Magazine from 1964, he covered a wide variety of stories from revolutions in Latin America to the Beatles' arrival in the US.
AP - courtesy of Monroe Gallery Eppridge covered Robert Kennedy's campaign trail (Photo courtesy of Monroe Gallery)
Eppridge followed Kennedy from a campaign event at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles into the back kitchen where a 24-year-old Palestinian Christian, Sirhan Sirhan, shot and killed the 42-year-old presidential hopeful.
Eppridge took several black and white images that night, but the most enduring and haunting depicted Kennedy lying on the floor, with a halo of light in the background, with a hotel worker at his side.
"You are not just a photojournalist, you're a historian," he once explained when asked how he could keep snapping pictures while someone was lying injured in front of him.
Commenting on his unforgettable image of Kennedy, he said: "I never hung it on my wall."
His 1965 photo essay about a drug-addicted New York couple inspired the Al Pacino film The Panic in Needle Park.
After leaving Life in 1972, Eppridge worked for other magazines including Time and Sports Illustrated.
Before his death, he and his wife, Adrienne Aurichio, had been putting the finishing touches to a book on the Beatles, to mark next year's 50th anniversary of their arrival to the US
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Swiss regulator investigates banks over foreign exchange deals

Swiss regulator investigates banks over foreign exchange deals

Swiss flag Banks around the world could be affected by the Swiss probe

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Switzerland's financial regulator is investigating possible manipulation of foreign exchange rates at several Swiss financial institutions.
The regulator, FINMA, said several banks, including some from outside Switzerland, could be implicated.
It is coordinating the investigation closely with authorities in other countries.
It would give no further details on the investigations or the banks potentially involved.
Swiss Banking, the group that represents the nation's banks, said it had no further information.
The Swiss announcement follows reports in June that the British regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), was looking into whether traders manipulated benchmark foreign-exchange rates to increase profits.
This followed an investigation by Bloomberg News that found that dealers shared information and used client orders to move the rates.
The FCA, which does not announce its investigations, only its enforcement actions, said: "We are aware of the allegations and we have been speaking to relevant parties."
London is by far the world's biggest market for foreign currency trading, with 41% of global turnover, according to the Bank for International Settlements.
New York has a 19% share, followed by Singapore, Tokyo and Hong Kong.
Switzerland accounts for 3.2% of foreign exchange trading.
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Twitter wants to raise $1bn in its stock market debut


Social networking company Twitter has said it plans to raise $1bn (£619m) in its stock market debut in documents filed with US regulators.
In the filing, revealed on Thursday, the seven-year-old company said that it now has 218 million monthly users and that 500 million tweets are sent a day.
It made a loss of $69m in the first six months of 2013, on revenues of $254m.
It will be the largest Silicon Valley stock offering since Facebook's listing in 2012.
Analysts said that the offering was likely to get a good response.
"Social media is red hot," said Internet analyst Lou Kerner. "Twitter is front and centre benefiting from market enthusiasm for all things social, and remarkably strong metrics."
Financial details
The filing also revealed Twitter's finances for the first time.
While the company has never made a profit, its revenue has grown from just $28m in 2010 to $317m by the end of 2012.
Around 85% of Twitter's revenue last year came from ad sales; the rest was from licensing its data.
The company takes in a significant portion of its ad revenue from mobile devices, an important metric often tracked by analysts.
As of 2013, over 65% of the company's advertising revenue was generated from mobile devices. More than 75% of Twitter users accessed the site from their mobile phone during that same time period.
Some analysts said that the decision by the firm to raise capital indicated that it was keen on improving the way people enjoy content on its platform and how advertisers connect with its users.

“Start Quote

It looks like Twitter is looking at how to enrich the experience and it understands that to build a successful service, they have to create something people like and want to come back to and spend time on”
Zachary Reiss-Davis Analyst
"Users should be happy about this," said Zachary Reiss-Davis, an analyst with Forrester.
"It looks like Twitter is looking at how to enrich the experience and it understands that to build a successful service, they have to create something people like and want to come back to and spend time on."
Peter Esho from Sydney-based Invast Financial Services, added that Twitter's ease to use had seen it increase its user base, making it an attractive option for advertisers.
"I think what Twitter has working in its favour is that it's very easy to use: it doesn't eat up too much bandwidth for the average user in places where broadband penetration is low," he said.
The filing also revealed that two of the company's co-founders, Evan Williams and Jack Dorsey, own significant stakes in Twitter, and could stand to take in significant sums from the company's stock market listing.
Mr Williams owns 12% of shares in the company, while Mr Dorsey owns 4.9%.
Benchmark Capital's Peter Fenton, an early investor in the company, is the second-biggest shareholder, with 6.7% of shares.
Advantage Nasdaq? Twitter indicated three weeks earlier that it had filed for a public stock market offering.
However, under a new law passed by Congress in 2012, it did not have to reveal its financial documents because it had revenue of less than $1bn.
Nasdaq sign Facebook Facebook's share sale last year generated a lot of interest among investors
But by releasing the documents publicly, it gave an indication that it hopes to complete its stock sale soon.
The company plans to list under the stock symbol TWTR, but it did not reveal which stock exchange, the Nasdaq or New York Stock Exchange, it had chosen.
However, Mr Esho said that the listing was likely to be on the Nasdaq.
"I was to speculate, I think it would have to be Nasdaq," he said. "That really is the exchange that has seen so many tech names come to the market."
Goldman Sachs is the lead bank taking the company public, a coveted position that is often fought for amongst the nation's biggest banks.
The other banks helping with the offering are Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, BofA Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank Securities and CODE Advisors.
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US shutdown: Kerry warns on foreign policy impact

Federal workers at a rally to demand a vote to end the government shutdown, outside the Capitol in Washington DC on 4 October Federal workers have been protesting to demand and end to the shutdown

US budget row

US Secretary of State John Kerry has warned that any prolonged shutdown of the government could affect the US internationally.
But, speaking at the APEC forum in Indonesia, he said any impact was "momentary" and Washington's commitment to Asia was "undiminished".
President Barack Obama cancelled his Asia visit because of the shutdown.
The US government closed non-essential operations on Tuesday after Congress failed to agree a new budget.
John Kerry: Shutdown "an example of the robustness of our democracy"
Thousands of federal employees have been sent home. Some are working but not paid.
US-EU trade negotiations have also been postponed because of the crisis.
'Robust democracy' As world leaders headed for the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) summit in Bali, Mr Kerry sought to allay concerns that Washington was reducing its global engagement.
"None of what is happening in Washington diminishes one iota our commitment to our partners in Asia," he said.
He said the dispute with the Republicans in the US Congress was "an example of the robustness of our democracy".

Analysis

Anthony Zurcher BBC News, Washington
This is the most recent example of the ongoing problem Mr Boehner has controlling the Republican caucus, especially a rebellious faction hailing from solidly conservative, mostly rural areas across the country.
They've been called the "suicide caucus" in reference to their disregard for their party's survival. In national security debates, immigration reform, disaster relief, defence authorisations, and even agriculture funding, Mr Boehner has found his position undermined by these rebellious legislators.
But these representatives reflect the will of the voters who sent them to Washington, a decidedly different demographic than America at large.
This has forced Mr Boehner to operate more like the tolerant head of a coalition government than an iron-fisted speaker of a past era, who could make or break a politician's career at will.
Republican 'suicide caucus'
But at the same time, he urged Congress to think about how the US was perceived internationally when "we can't get our own act together".
Mr Kerry said areas where the shutdown was affecting US foreign policy funding included:
  • delays in security assistance for Israel
  • nearly all staff suspended at the treasury department's Office of Foreign Asset Control, which monitors sanctions on states like Iran
The Secretary of State warned of the consequences if the shutdown became longer term.
"This is a momentary impact. Obviously if it were prolonged or repeated people would begin, I think, to question the willingness of the United States to stay the course or its ability to, but that's not the case and that will not be the case."
Mr Obama had been due to begin a four-nation Asian trip on Saturday, heading to Bali and Brunei before travelling on to Malaysia and the Philippines.
He used the APEC summit two years ago to announce a rebalancing of American naval power towards the Pacific.
House Speaker Boehner: "This isn't some damn game"
The White House said Mr Obama's decision to cancel his Asia trip was made due to the "difficulty in moving forward with foreign travel in the face of a shutdown".
Republicans who control the House of Representatives refused to approve a budget, saying they would only do so if Mr Obama's healthcare reform law was delayed or stripped of funding.
Mr Obama and the Democrats have refused, noting the law was passed in 2010, subsequently approved by the Supreme Court, and was a central issue in the 2012 election which Mr Obama won comfortably.
On Friday, Democrats and Republicans appeared no closer to finding a way out of the impasse.
Republican House Speaker John Boehner insisted Mr Obama and Democratic Senate leaders open negotiations on the shutdown.
"All we're asking for is to sit down and have a discussion," he said. "This isn't some damn game."
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The 'Devil's advocate': French lawyer Jacques Verges' infamous clients

The 'Devil's advocate': French lawyer Jacques Verges' infamous clients

Jacques Verges, the French lawyer who earned the nickname 'Devil's advocate' by defending a series of high-profile criminals from Klaus Barbie to Carlos the Jackal, has died in Paris aged 88.
Jacques Verges made headlines around the world thanks to a client list that includes some of the most infamous names of modern times. Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie appeared in court in Lyon in 1987. Barbie was in charge of the Gestapo in Lyon in 1942-44 where he earned the title of "the Butcher of Lyon". Verges had a reputation for attacking the French political system, particularly in the historic French colonial empire. His strategy was to use the trial to expose war crimes committed by France since 1945. The prosecution dropped some of the charges against Barbie due to French legislation that had protected people accused of crimes under the Vichy regime and in French Algeria. Verges argued that Barbie's actions were no worse than the ordinary actions of colonialists worldwide, and that his trial was selective prosecution.Picture: Sipa Press / Rex Features
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Iran's Khamenei backs Rouhani's New York talks


Comments (65)
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (centre) at the UN in New York, 26 September President Rouhani (centre) broke new diplomatic ground in New York

Iran under Rouhani

The supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has endorsed overtures to the US made last month by President Hassan Rouhani in New York.
"We support the diplomatic initiative of the government and attach importance to its activities in this trip," he said on his website.
But he added that some of what had occurred "was not appropriate".
Mr Rouhani had spoken to US President Barack Obama by phone in a bid to ease tension over Iran's nuclear programme.
They were the first talks between Iranian and US leaders in more than three decades.

“Start Quote

Some of what happened on the New York trip was not appropriate”
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
Iran wants the lifting of UN sanctions, which were imposed over concerns that it is seeking to build nuclear weapons clandestinely - an allegation Tehran denies.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the leading advocate of a hard line against Iran over its nuclear programme, has dismissed Mr Rouhani as a "wolf in sheep's clothing".
'No trust' When Mr Rouhani returned from New York he was greeted at Tehran airport by hardline protesters chanting "Death to America".
BBC World Affairs Editor John Simpson explained Ayatollah Khamenei's hold on power during the election in June
In his comments on Saturday, Ayatollah Khamenei said that "some of what happened on the New York trip was not appropriate", without being specific.
"We are pessimistic towards the Americans and do not put any trust in them," he said.
"The American government is untrustworthy, supercilious and unreasonable, and breaks its promises."
Substantive nuclear negotiations between Iran and international powers are due to take place on 15 October and Mr Rouhani has promised to bring a plan to the meeting.
He said he wanted to reach a deal over the nuclear issue in three to six months.
Iran's key nuclear sites
Key nuclear sites map
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  • +2

    Comment number 65.

    To the hardliners and ultra-conservatives of Israel, a progressive U-turn of Iran towards democracy, moderate Islam and democracy, is their worst nightmare.
    To the US is the best case scenario. And it is exactly the same for the Europeans and the rest of the world.
    Also, this is the only way for a solution to the Middle East problem.
  • +4

    Comment number 64.

    I think even Khamenei knows/realises the pointlessness of Ahmadinejad's uneducated rhetoric which got Iran nowhere. Rouhani is educated, a thinker and I believe (hope) will prove himself to the relief of all, particularly the Iranians themselves who have suffered a lot through sanctions. What we don't need now is Netanyahu stirring things up (at which he is ignominiously adept at any time).

  • Comment number 63.

    This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.
  • +4

    Comment number 62.

    The Iranians have no reason to trust the USA and the American government imposed sanction after sanction over the years not because there was evidence the Iranians were trying to gain a nuclear weapon but because politicans didn't have any accomplishments so they used a promise of santions for their campaign and that was one of the few campaign promises the neo cons could follow though on.
  • -7

    Comment number 61.

    The holy Willies are running scared and looking for an exit strategy, now that it looks like their nuclear aims are going to get them hammered either by the US or even better by the Israelis , whose patience must be running out and who don't take kindly to threats from Jihadists.
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