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Fatal shooting of black teen in US city sparks protests

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Crowds come out on streets of St Luis in Missouri state against killing of 18-year-old teenager by white policeman.

Arrests were made during the protests that followed the fatal shooting [Reuters]

Arrests were made during the protests that followed the fatal shooting [Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

Police in the US state of Missouri have fatally shot a black teenager, who they say pointed a gun at them, and later faced angry crowds, reigniting racial tensions in the country.

Sam Dotson, the police chief of the city of St Louis, said the shooting took place on Wednesday when young black men ran out of the back door of a house where two officers were carrying out a search warrant.

Officers ordered the pair to stop in an alley behind the house. One suspect pointed a gun at officers who then fired four times, killing him, Dotson said.

“Detectives were looking for guns, looking for violent felons, looking for people that have been committing crimes in the neighbourhood,” he said.

Police identified the slain suspect as Mansur Ball-Bey, 18. The second teenager fled.

Both officers, who are white, were unharmed, police said, adding that they were on administrative leave.

Following the incident, crowds gathered at a nearby intersection shortly after the shooting and then again in the evening. Three people were arrested for blocking traffic, police said.

NBC television affiliate KSDK reported that some in the crowd threw rocks at officers, who responded with what appeared to be tear gas.

Unrest after shooting

St. Louis television station Fox 2 showed officers in riot gear lined up across a street, a burning mattress and clouds of smoke or tear gas.

St. Louis Alderman, Antonio French, posted on Twitter that a vacant house and a car were set on fire, and that firefighters were working under heavy police guard.

Dotson the police chief told reporters that Ball-Bey’s gun was stolen and said officers recovered crack cocaine at the scene.

The city police said the officers involved in the shooting were white, aged 33 and 29, each with about seven years on the force.

The shooting came 10 days after the city was flooded with protesters marking the anniversary of the killing of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown by a white police officer on August 9 last year in Ferguson, not far from St Louis.

Brown’s death helped spark a nationwide movement against what protesters say is police violence against minorities.

Wednesday’s shooting also came as activists were in the area to mark the anniversary of the police shooting of another black man in St. Louis, Kajieme Powell. Police say officers shot Powell when he approached them with a knife.

Revealed: Pentagon blocking release of cleared Guantánamo detainees

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Exclusive reporting by the Guardian reveals that the U.S. government is intentionally “dragging its feet” on allowing Shaker Aamer, others to go home

Demonstrators call for the release of cleared Guantanamo Bay detainee Shaker Aamer. (Photo: Justin Norman/flickr/cc)

Demonstrators call for the release of cleared Guantanamo Bay detainee Shaker Aamer. (Photo: Justin Norman/flickr/cc)

by Nadia Prupis, Common Dreams

The U.S. Pentagon is blocking the release of Guantánamo Bay detainees who have been cleared to return home through diplomatic deals between the U.S. and UK governments, the Guardian revealed on Thursday in an exclusive report.

Among those detainees is Shaker Aamer, a Saudi citizen and UK resident who has been held at the U.S. military base in Cuba for more than 13 years without charge and has twice been cleared for release. In 2010, the Pentagon itself participated in a federal review of Aamer’s case, as well as that of another detainee, both of whom were deemed to pose no threat to national security and cleared to go home.

But as one official told the Guardian, the U.S. government’s defense secretaries have been playing “foot-dragging and process games” to keep the diplomatic deals that secured his release from going through.

The Guardian reports:

Pentagon chief Ashton Carter, backed by powerful US militaryofficers, have withheld support for sending Aamer back to the UK. The ongoing obstruction has left current and former US officials who consider the detainees a minimal threat seething, as they see it undermining relations with Britain and other foreign partners while subverting from the inside Obama’s long-stifled goal of closing the infamous detention facility.

[….] The transfers have the backing of the US Justice Department, the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

But since White House rules depend on full administration consensus, Aamer remains at Guantánamo until Carter and the Pentagon say otherwise.

The Pentagon is also blocking the release of Ahmed Ould Abdel Aziz of Mauritania and Abdul Shalabi of Saudi Arabia. Carter has yet to sign the diplomatic deals already brokered between the U.S. and the men’s home countries which would enable their release.

Aamer’s case has drawn widespread support from human rights groups and peace activists. A campaign for his release, which operates under the banner Save Shaker Aamer, stages regular actions and protests to call attention to his continued illegal detention. According to legal charity Reprieve, which represents Aamer, he has been subject to force-feedings, solitary confinement, and beatings by guards up to eight times a day while in custody at Guantánamo Bay.

No death penalty for Colorado theatre massacre gunman

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Jury fails to agree on capital punishment, meaning James Holmes will serve life in prison without parole for 12 murders.

Prosecutors argued Holmes deserved to die because he methodically planned the 2012 assault [File: Reuters]

Prosecutors argued Holmes deserved to die because he methodically planned the 2012 assault [File: Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

United States theatre gunman James Holmes will be sentenced to life in prison without parole after a jury failed to agree on whether he should get the death penalty for his murderous attack on a packed movie premiere in Colorado in 2012.

The nine women and three men said on Friday that they could not reach a unanimous verdict on each of the murder counts. That automatically eliminates the death penalty for the failed neuroscientist, who blamed his calculated murders of 12 people on mental illness.

Prosecutors argued Holmes deserved to die because he methodically planned the 2012 assault at a midnight screening of a Batman movie, even blasting techno music through ear phones so he wouldn’t hear his victims scream.

The same jury had rejected his insanity defence, finding Holmes capable of understanding right from wrong when he murdered 12 people and tried to kill 70 others.

But the defence countered that his schizophrenia led to a psychotic break, and that powerful delusions drove him to carry out one of the nation’s deadliest mass shootings.

There was never any question during the gruelling, four-month trial as to whether Holmes was the killer.

Holmes surrendered outside the theatre, where police found him clad head-to-toe in combat gear.

The trial hinged instead on the question of whether a mentally ill person should be held legally and morally culpable for an act of unspeakable violence.

It took jurors only about 12 hours of deliberations to decide the first part – they rejected his insanity defence and found him guilty of 165 felony counts.

The defence then conceded his guilt, but insisted during the sentencing phase that his crimes were caused by the psychotic breakdown of a mentally ill young man, reducing his moral culpability and making a life sentence appropriate.

The jury’s final decision came after days of tearful testimony from relatives of the slain.

Prayers held as Hiroshima marks 70 years since bomb

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Japanese city marks the 70th anniversary of the world’s first atomic bombing that killed 140,000 people in 1945.

NukeHiroshima

by Al Jazeera

Bells tolled and thousands bowed their heads in prayer in Hiroshima at ceremonies in the Japanese city marking the 70th anniversary of the world’s first atomic bombing.

On Thursday at 8:15am (23:15 GMT, Wednesday), the exact time when the bomb, dropped by the US B-29 aircraft, the Enola Gay, exploded on August 6, 1945, the crowd stood for a moment of silence.

In the heavy summer heat, cicadas shrilled, the Peace Bell rang and hundreds of doves were released into the sky.

Many of those gathered for the ceremony renewed their calls for peace, while survivors recalled agonising memories that continue to haunt them 70 years on.

Eighty-nine-year-old Keigo Miyagawa spoke to Al Jazeera of the terror and the trauma his 19-year-old self went through.

“It felt like lightning. I saw this strong flash, and it was followed by this sound, and it swept me off my feet. I lost consciousness,” he recalled. “When I woke up … I was injured and bleeding.”

For the last five decades, Miyagawa has been committing images imprisoned in his mind to canvas. Read his story here .

The Hiroshima bombing, which killed 140,000 by the end of the year, was followed three days later by the bombing of Nagasaki on August 9, which killed about 40,000 instantly. The war ended on August 15.

Al Jazeera has drawn a timeline of the events from the day German chemist Otto Hahn discovered nuclear fission, through to the day the Nobel prize winner saw his discovery used to instigate the attack.

The effects of the bomb blast outlived its survivors.

The cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki became known for cancers, premature births and malformed babies.

About 90 percent of the city was destroyed, which is why it looks so new today.

The black-and-white photo gallery reveals a glimpse of the suffering.

The US demonstrated unprecedented power when it dropped the atomic bombs. Days later, Japan surrendered and World War II was over.

The bombings remain the only use of nuclear weapons for warfare in history.

Seventy years on, many with memories of the war and its aftermath are scathing about Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s efforts to pass security bills that could send troops into conflict for the first time since World War II, sparking massive protests around the country.

Critics who see the measures as a derailment of Japan’s pacifist constitution lambasted Abe at a meeting after the commemoration ceremony. Abe said the legislation was essential to ensure Japan’s safety.

An excerpt of former US president Harry Truman’s announcement that the US had dropped an atomic bomb for the first time in history is shown in this video below.

Hundreds of civilians credibly reported killed in first year of coalition airstrikes, airwars study finds

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Scene of a devastating Coalition strike at Hawijah, Iraq on June 3rd 2015 which reportedly killed up to 70 civilians. (Photo: via Iraqi Spring)

Scene of a devastating Coalition strike at Hawijah, Iraq on June 3rd 2015 which reportedly killed up to 70 civilians. (Photo: via Iraqi Spring)

by Chris Woods, Airwars

A six-month investigation into alleged civilian and ‘friendly fire’ deaths from Coalition airstrikes in Iraq and Syria has identified more than 120 incidents of concern to June 30th according to an Airwars report published today – three times more problem events than the Coalition itself was aware of.

Airwars believes that for 57 of these incidents, there is sufficient publicly-available evidence to indicate Coalition responsibility for civilian and friendly forces deaths. Between them these events account for 459-591 alleged civilian fatalities, and the reported deaths of 48-80 allied forces.

In stark contrast, the Coalition has investigated just ten incidents – and has so far conceded just two civilian deaths in thousands of airstrikes across Iraq and Syria since August 2014.

1,000 alleged fatalities

Since February Airwars has been examining claims totaling more than 1,000 alleged civilian fatalities. Many of these incidents remain difficult to verify. Some are contested, with counterclaims that Iraqi or Syrian forces carried out an attack. Other events are poorly reported. On occasion claims of civilian fatalities have turned out to be false, researchers found.

Even so, the public record clearly suggests a significant under-reporting of civilian deaths by the Coalition.

Airwars is publishing its own full findings online, with detailed descriptions of each event and links to every known source. The database features hundreds of photographs and videos, along with the names of more than 260 alleged victims.

‘The international Coalition has boasted that its air war against Islamic State is “the most precise and disciplined in the history of aerial warfare.” Yet facts from the ground suggest a very different story,’ says Chris Woods, Director of Airwars.

‘With more than 5,800 airstrikes so far and over 18,000 bombs and missiles dropped on the cities and towns of Iraq and Syria, all indications are that hundreds of civilians have already died in Coalition strikes.’

Airwars also reports a troubling lack of accountability among the twelve Coalition members. Only Canada has consistently reported where and when its aircraft strike.

In contrast other nations have released almost no information about their actions, with Australia claiming that it ‘will not release information that could be distorted and used against Australia in ISIL propaganda.’ With Coalition nations individually liable when civilians are killed in Iraq or Syria, those affected on the ground presently have almost no recourse to justice or compensation.

Key findings

  • Between August 8 2014 and June 30th 2015, 53 incidents of concern were reported for Iraq, with claims of between 578-732 civilians killed by the Coalition. Most reports are focused on cities and towns – scene of the heaviest bombings. Of these events, Airwars believes 17 Iraqi cases in particular (involving 233-311 alleged fatalities) warrant urgent further investigation.
  • Coalition airstrikes began in Syria on September 23rd 2014, and to June 30th 2015 Airwars has identified 65 alleged incidents in which civilians died. Of these, we believe 35 cases demonstrate a fair level of public reporting – with Coalition airstrikes also confirmed in the near vicinity for that date. An estimated 226-280 civilians died in these Syrian events.
  • Nine claimed ‘friendly fire’ incidents have occurred since Coalition operations began – eight in Iraq. These allege that up to 185 allied forces (mostly Shia militia) have been killed. Airwars believes there is reasonable evidence to support five of these claims – which killed an estimated 48 to 80 friendly forces between them.
  • Although overall the Coalition does a fair job of informing where and when it strikes, it remains almost impossible to hold any of the 12 individual members accountable in the event of civilian deaths. Only Canada consistently reports where and when its aircraft attack.

Shared concerns

Other monitoring groups tracking the violence in Iraq and Syria are also raising concerns, with each reporting hundreds of civilian fatalities from Coalition strikes to June 30th.

Iraq Syria Totals
Airwars [total range] 233-732 226-354 459-1,086
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights – 173
Syrian Network for Human Rights – 198
Syria Violations Documentation Center – 276
Iraq Body Count 487* –
Averaged fatality estimates 360-641 218-250 578-891*

Monitoring groups in Syria accept that the Coalition generally tries to limit civilian fatalities – particularly when compared with other actors in the brutal civil war.

Yet as Bassam al-Ahmad of VDC notes to Airwars, the Coalition still has its own obligations when it pursues Daesh amid civilian populations: ‘We know that ISIS is taking civilians as human shields, and is building all its military bases in civilian neighborhood. But according to the Laws of War, the Coalition also has to take into account the general principles of international humanitarian law when conducting its strikes.’

As the international air war against Islamic State enters its second year, there is little sign of the risk to civilians on the ground abating.

As Airwars published its report July 2015 was emerging as the most intensive month yet of Coalition bombings, with 371 strikes reported in Syria alone. Civilian casualty claims also peaked, with 14 new alleged events reported for Syria and eight for Iraq – a new and grim record.

Read The Guardian’s comprehensive report on our investigation here.

Iranian Foreign Minister: Time for US, other nuclear powers to disarm

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Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif calls on US, Israel, and other atomic weapons nations to begin ‘new era’ of non-proliferation

"I sincerely believe that the nuclear agreement between my country—a non-nuclear-weapon state—and the P5+1 (which control almost all nuclear warheads on Earth) is symbolically significant enough to kickstart this paradigm shift and mark the beginning of a new era for the non-proliferation regime," said Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. (Photo: Marc Muller/Wikimedia/cc)

“I sincerely believe that the nuclear agreement between my country—a non-nuclear-weapon state—and the P5+1 (which control almost all nuclear warheads on Earth) is symbolically significant enough to kickstart this paradigm shift and mark the beginning of a new era for the non-proliferation regime,” said Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. (Photo: Marc Muller/Wikimedia/cc)

by Sarah Lazare, Common Dreams

In the wake of the historic agreement between Iran and world powers, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Friday called on known nuclear weapons states, including the United States and Israel, to walk the walk and begin disarming their own atomic arsenals.

Writing in the Guardian, Zarif declared: “I sincerely believe that the nuclear agreement between my country—a non-nuclear-weapon state—and the P5+1 (which control almost all nuclear warheads on Earth) is symbolically significant enough to kickstart this paradigm shift and mark the beginning of a new era for the non-proliferation regime.”

“One of the many ironies of history is that non-nuclear-weapon states, like Iran, have actually done far more for the cause of non-proliferation in practice than nuclear-weapon states have done on paper,” Zarif noted.

There is no public evidence that Iran has a nuclear weapons program, and assessments by multiple U.S. government agencies have concluded the country has no plans to develop one.

“Meanwhile, states actually possessing these destructive weapons have hardly even ‘talked the talk,’ while completely brushing off their disarmament obligations under the non-proliferation treaty (NPT) and customary international law,” Zarif declared, referring to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

“That is to say nothing of countries outside the NPT, or Israel, with an undeclared nuclear arsenal and a declared disdain towards non-proliferation, notwithstanding its absurd and alarmist campaign against the Iranian nuclear deal,” Zarif added.

All of the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council—the U.S., Russia, France, the U.K., and China—are known to possess nuclear weapons. Israel, India, Pakistan, and North Korea also posses nuclear arsenals but have not signed onto the NPT treaty.

However, in the U.S., opponents of the Iran deal, and even some supporters, have stoked fear about the alleged threat that Iran poses to the world.

“One step in the right direction,” Zarif urged, “would be to start negotiations for a weapons elimination treaty, backed by a robust monitoring and compliance-verification mechanism.”

WikiLeaks: US spied on Japanese government and companies

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WikiLeaks published what it says are four NSA documents showing the US spied on Japan

WikiLeaks published what it says are four NSA documents showing the US spied on Japan

by Independent

The WikiLeaks website has published documents that allegedly show the US government spied on Japanese officials and companies.

The documents include what appear to be four US National Security Agency (NSA) reports marked top secret that reveal internal Japanese discussions on international trade and climate change policy.

A notation on one of the reports indicates it was shared with Australia, Canada, Great Britain and New Zealand.

WikiLeaks also posted an NSA list of 35 Japanese targets for telephone intercepts including the Japanese cabinet office, Bank of Japan officials, Finance and Trade Ministry numbers and fossil fuel departments at Mitsubishi and Mitsui.

The Japanese government had no immediate response.

WikiLeaks has released similar reports of US spying on Germany, France and Brazil.

White House Rejects Petition to Pardon Snowden

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More than 167,000 people signed letter urging Obama administration to drop its prosecution of NSA whistleblower

A petition calling for clemency for NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden was denied on Tuesday. (Photo: August Kelm/flickr/cc)

A petition calling for clemency for NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden was denied on Tuesday. (Photo: August Kelm/flickr/cc)

by Nadia Prupis, Common Dreams

The White House on Tuesday formally rejected a ‘We the People’ petition to pardon Edward Snowden, the National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower who has been living in exile since exposing the U.S. government’s invasive spying operation in 2013.

More than 167,000 people signed the petition urging the government to grant him clemency, stating in their petition that Snowden is “a national hero … [who] should be immediately issued a full, free, and absolute pardon for any crimes he has committed or may have committed related to blowing the whistle on secret NSA surveillance programs.”

Not only will Snowden not be pardoned, the Obama administration said, he should face criminal charges for his actions.

“Mr. Snowden’s dangerous decision to steal and disclose classified information had severe consequences for the security of our country and the people who work day in and day out to protect it,” Lisa Monaco, adviser to President Barack Obama on homeland security and counter-terrorism, said in a statement on Tuesday. The White House issued its rejection two years after the petition was delivered.

The U.S. filed espionage charges against Snowden after he leaked a cache of NSA documents to journalists, revealing the agency’s vast and invasive collection of Americans’ phone and internet activity and prompting an ongoing global debate over the role of government surveillance and the nature of individual privacy.

The revelations also opened the door for surveillance reform, particularly through the passage of the USA Freedom Act and the sunsetting of Section 215 and other controversial provisions in the USA Patriot Act.

Snowden currently lives in political asylum in Russia and has repeatedly expressed his desire to come home—and his doubts that he would get a fair trial if he did.

In many ways, the response by the White House is not unexpected. Despite pledging to protect whistleblowers during his campaign for office, Obama has cracked down more on those who expose government misdeeds than any previous president.

Monaco said on Tuesday that if Snowden “felt his actions were consistent with civil disobedience, then he should do what those who have taken issue with their own government do: Challenge it, speak out, engage in a constructive act of protest, and—importantly—accept the consequences of his actions. He should come home to the United States, and be judged by a jury of his peers—not hide behind the cover of an authoritarian regime. Right now, he’s running away from the consequences of his actions.”

But journalist Glenn Greenwald, who along with Laura Poitras and Ewan MacAskill helped publish the NSA files in 2013, has previously noted that Snowden would be barred under the Espionage Act from publicly arguing that his actions were justified. “[A]nyone who has even casually watched the post-9/11 American judicial system knows what an absurdity it is to claim that Snowden would receive a fair trial,” he wrote in June.

Obama in Kenya: Africa is on the move

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US president says Africa is “one of fastest growing regions in world” as he co-hosts entrepreneurship summit in Nairobi.

Obama attends a private dinner in Nairobi with his Kenyan family members including his step-grandmother Sarah and half-sister Auma [Reuters]

Obama attends a private dinner in Nairobi with his Kenyan family members including his step-grandmother Sarah and half-sister Auma [Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

US President Barack Obama has praised Africa for its economic advancements, calling it “one of the fastest growing regions in the world”, while co-hosting a summit on global entrepreneurship with his Kenyan counterpart, Uhuru Kenyatta, in Nairobi.

Obama declared on Saturday that “Africa is on the move”, in his first official engagement since arriving in the Kenyan capital a day earlier.

“People are being lifted out of poverty, incomes are up, the middle class is growing and young people like you are harnessing technology to change the way Africa is doing business,” he told the summit.

Sharing the stage with Obama, Kenyatta also voiced optimism towards a brighter future for the continent.

“The narrative of African despair is false, and indeed was never true,” Kenyatta said. “Let them know that Africa is open and ready for business.”

The summit is aimed at promoting businesses that promise to lift many more Africans out of poverty and help insulate societies against radicalisation.

As Obama arrived in Kenya, the birthplace of his father, throngs of Kenyans lined the route of his convoy, cheering, whistling and waving as the motorcade passed by and a helicopter circled overhead.

Al Jazeera’s Andrew Simmons, reporting from Nairobi, said there was “overwhelming euphoria” when Obama arrived, adding that the US president is the “most popular” politician in Kenya.

The visit is Obama’s first as president, and is also the first time a sitting US president will visit Ethiopia and the African Union’s headquarters in Addis Ababa.

The first African-American president of the US is expected to address regional security issues and trade, and also touch on matters relating to democracy, poverty, and human rights in the region.

A previous planned trip to Kenya was delayed by Kenyatta’s indictment for war crimes by the International Criminal Court.

Those charges were suspended last year – in part, prosecutors say, because the Kenyan government thwarted the investigation.

Obama’s trip has also come under fire by rights groups, and more than 50 African and global human rights organisations have called on him to publicly meet democracy activists on the ground.

They voiced concerns about “grave and worsening” rights challenges in both Kenya and Ethiopia.

The charges against Kenyatta, and the fact that Ethiopia’s government won 100 percent of parliamentary seats in a recent disputed election, has raised questions about whether Obama should have made the trip at all.

In Addis Ababa, Obama is expected to address leaders of the African Union.

He spent Friday evening reuniting with about three dozens of Kenyan family members.

Obama has said he had “never truly known” his father, who was born in Kenya’s far west, in Kogelo village near the shores of Lake Victoria.

An economist, he walked out when Obama was just two and died in a car crash in Nairobi in 1982, aged 46.

Obama has previously made personal visits to Kogelo, the home of many of his Kenyan relatives, most recently in 2006.

US air strike kills top Al Qaeda commander in Afghanistan

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Al Qaeda commander in Afghanistan

Baghdad: A US air strike in Afghanistan killed a senior Al Qaeda commander in charge of suicide bombing and two other militants, the Pentagon said Friday.

The attack, which occurred in Paktika province on July 11, killed Abu Khalil al-Sudani, a “high-ranking Al-Qaeda operational commander”, the Pentagon said in a statement released to reporters in Iraq who were travelling with US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter.

“Al-Sudani was one of three known violent extremists killed in the strike. The death of al-Sudani will further degrade Al Qaeda operations across the globe,” the statement said.

The Pentagon described Sudani as a senior shura member and head of Al Qaeda’s suicide and explosive operations, and said he was directly linked to plotting attacks against the United States.

“He also directed operations against Coalition, Afghan and Pakistani forces, and maintained a close association with Aymar al-Zawahiri, Al Qaeda’s leader,” the statement said.

In the statement, Carter said the killing of Sudani underscored the work done by General John Campbell, the commander of Nato forces in Afghanistan, and his troops “to take the fight to Al Qaeda”.

“We will continue to counter violent extremism in the region and the world,” Carter said

(AFP)

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