Posts
| Aftermath of rocket strike from Lebanon into northern Israel At least three rockets have been fired into northern Israel from Lebanon, raising fears the Israeli offensive against militants in Gaza may spread. Israel replied with artillery, but called the attack an "isolated event". The incident followed Israel's heaviest bombardment so far on Gaza, with 60 air strikes targeting Hamas facilities. Meanwhile, Israel has begun a three-hour pause in fighting to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza. The first of what is promised to be a daily ceasefire - on Wednesday - allowed aid agencies into the territory for the first time in days. The International Committee of the Red Cross accused Israel of failing in its international obligations after its staff were met with "shocking" scenes. One medical team found 12 bodies in a shelled house, and alongside them four very young children, too weak to stand, waiting by their dead mothers, the ICRC said. Nursing home At least three Katyusha rockets were fired from southern Lebanon into the northern Israeli area of Nahariya early on Thursday. One of the rockets hit a nursing home were some 25 elderly residents were eating breakfast in a nearby dining hall, the Jerusalem Post reports. At least two people were slightly wounded and a number of others were suffering from shock, Israeli officials said.
Israel immediately responded with five artillery shells into Lebanon, calling it a "pinpoint response at the source of fire". Correspondents say this is a dangerous moment in the current conflict. The rocket attacks from Lebanon have raised concerns about a wider war in the region, says the BBC's Middle East Editor Jeremy Bowen. But the Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora was swift to condemn the attack, and called for the army and the UN to investigate. Information Minister Tarek Mitri told the AFP news agency he had been "assured" by the militant group Hezbollah they were not involved in the rocket attacks. Israeli cabinet minister Raif Eitan said he believed Palestinians in Lebanon, not Hezbollah, were behind the attack. On Wednesday, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah spoke openly about the possibility of a renewed conflict with Israel, saying its fighters were on high alert along the Lebanese-Israeli border. Northern Israel came under attack from rockets fired by Hezbollah during the brief war with Lebanon in the summer of 2006. Air attacks In Gaza, Israel continued its offensive overnight with 60 airstrikes targeting police sites, 10 Hamas tunnels, weapons storage facilities, launching pads "and a number of armed gunmen", the Israeli army said. Naval and artillery units "continued to support the ground forces" with one soldier lightly wounded, the army added.
Advertisement Shopping for 'basic needs' in Gaza market The bombardment followed a three-hour pause in fighting on Wednesday to allow vital humanitarian aid into Gaza. Aid agencies report that Gazans rushed into the streets to buy essential supplies and visit relatives in hospital during the lull. But the traditionally neutral ICRC accused Israel of failing to honour its obligations under international law to treat and evacuate the wounded in Gaza. It said the Israeli military was in the neighbourhood and must have been aware of the incident involving the four starving children but did nothing to help. "Neither did they make it possible for us or the Palestinian Red Crescent to assist the wounded," the ICRC's Pierre Wettach said. About 700 Palestinian and 11 Israeli lives are said to have been lost since the offensive began 12 days ago. Casualty claims in Gaza have been difficult to independently verify. While the BBC has had Palestinian producers reporting from Gaza, Israel only allowed Western TV crews to enter on Wednesday, embedded with its army. Efforts have continued to broker a ceasefire, as a senior Israeli official travelled to Cairo to hear details of a plan put forward by Egypt and France. A Hamas delegation is expected in the Egyptian capital at some stage for parallel "technical" talks, Egyptian diplomats said. | ||
Friday, January 9, 2009
Rockets hit Israel from Lebanon
Barack Obama vows to keep Blackberry despite hacking fears
George W Bush was forced to give up email when he was sworn in as President in case hackers broke into his system and worries all documents would have to be kept as presidential records.
But Obama told CBNC he is struggling to keep the Blackberry so he can maintain contact with the outside world.
"They're going to pry it out of my hands," he said, "This is a concern, I should add, not just of Secret Service, but also lawyers."
Obama said keeping in touch by email was a way of escaping the trappings of power and staying in touch with the electorate.
"I've got to look for every opportunity to do that – ways that aren't scripted, ways that aren't controlled, ways where, you know, people aren't just complimenting you or standing up when you enter into a room, ways of staying grounded," he said.
During the interview, he described his frustration at being trapped in the White House bubble, citing examples from a recent holiday in Hawaii where he said he was discouraged from going bodysurfing.
He said his wife, Michelle, was amused at the hubbub over photographs showing him on the beach without wearing a shirt.
"It was silly, but, you know, silliness goes with this job," he said.
The President-elect also promised a substantial overhaul of US financial market regulations as a result of the global economic crisis and said he expected to unveil plans to fight home foreclosures in the next month or two.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Madoff Remains Free as Judge Considers Prison Request
Bernard Madoff, awaiting trial for securities fraud, remained free on bail while a federal judge considered a request by prosecutors to send him to prison for mailing $1 million of valuables in violation of an asset freeze.
Madoff disposed of five items including “very valuable jewelry,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc Litt said today in Manhattan federal court. The government has three of the items, Litt told U.S. Magistrate Judge Ronald Ellis. Defense lawyer Ira Sorkin said the objects, including watches and cuff links, were heirlooms innocently sent to Madoff’s relatives. Sorkin said he told his client to retrieve them and alerted the government.
Madoff, 70, was charged last month for allegedly directing a $50 billion Ponzi scheme out of his New York investment firm. He is free on $10 million bail while under house arrest and electronic surveillance. Litt said the transfer of valuables is a “changed circumstance” allowing the revocation of bail.
Ellis declined to immediately rule on the government request, asking for legal briefs from both sides by Jan. 7. As Madoff fought today to stay out of jail, his alleged victims continued to detail their losses with him and regulators sought to identify assets they could use to repay customers.
Disclosed Today
Bard College’s president disclosed today that the Annandale- on-Hudson, New York liberal-arts school had lost about $3 million in investments related to Madoff. Harley International Ltd., a hedge fund run by Cayman Islands-based Euro-Dutch Management Ltd., invested all of its assets with Madoff, a person familiar with the matter said. The fund managed $2.76 billion as of Oct. 31.
Last week, Rosenman Family LLC, managed by Martin Rosenman, president of Bronx-based Stuyvesant Fuel Service Corp., sued Irving Picard, the trustee appointed to supervise the unwinding of Madoff’s firm, seeking return of a $10 million investment.
Picard has identified $830 million in liquid assets in Madoff’s defunct brokerage firm, Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, according to the Securities Investor Protection Corp. The assets may be subject to recovery by Madoff’s customers, SIPC Chief Executive Officer Stephen Harbeck told a congressional committee today in prepared testimony.
Picard sent 8,000 claim forms Jan. 2 to people who appeared to have invested with Madoff, and published a notice telling them how to recover lost money. The forms were sent to people “who appear to have been customers” of Madoff’s firm “with open accounts within the past 12 months,” according to a statement. Madoff’s advisory business was estimated to have had more than 4,000 customers, people familiar with the matter said last month.
Bail Hearing
At today’s bail hearing, Litt argued that the mailing of the valuables by Madoff and his wife Ruth, which Sorkin said began Dec. 24, violated an agreement to freeze Madoff’s assets as part of a Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit.
“The bail conditions that were originally set by this court haven’t been violated one iota,” Sorkin responded in court, adding that he learned of the government revocation bid today.
Litt argued that the dispersal of the valuables constituted a risk to investors and the public that justified imprisonment before trial. He said that the likelihood that Madoff would be eventually imprisoned increased his risk of flight.
“The case against the defendant is strong, and it’s getting stronger,” the prosecutor said, making it more likely Madoff will flee. The transfer was an “obstruction of justice.”
Janice Oh, a spokeswoman for Interim Manhattan U.S. Attorney Lev Dassin, declined to comment on how prosecutors first learned of the asset transfers or the break down of their alleged $1 million value.
Pair of Mittens
The items included cuff links, watches, a pin and a pair of mittens, Sorkin said. The cuff links are worth $25 and the watches are worth more, he added, without being more specific. He told the Madoffs on Dec. 30 to get the items back, Sorkin said.
The items were mailed to his brother Peter Madoff, his two sons, a daughter-in-law and an unnamed New York City couple now vacationing in Florida, Sorkin and Litt said.
The mittens were given to Madoff by his granddaughter, Sorkin said. Peter Madoff’s lawyer, John Wing, didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment.
Some of the items belong to Madoff and some to his wife, Ruth. On Dec. 26, Ruth Madoff agreed with the government not to dispose of her assets, Litt said. She hasn’t been charged and is also represented by Sorkin’s firm.
“There was no attempt by Mr. Madoff or Mrs. Madoff to violate the terms of bail,” Sorkin told the judge. “Nothing has changed.”
Legal Issue
In declining to rule today, Ellis said the legal issue is whether the dissipation of assets constitutes a risk of harm to the community that would warrant a change in Madoff’s bail status.
The judge asked both sides to file briefs on the matter. Prosecutors will deliver their brief by tomorrow. The defense response is due Jan. 7.
Litt is the prosecutor who convinced a federal judge to jail Amerindo Investment Advisors Inc. cofounder Alberto Vilar last month pending his sentencing in March. Vilar, convicted Nov. 12 of stealing as much as $20 million from clients, had asked to remain free on $10 million bail.
Madoff’s firm collapsed in December after he told his sons it was a fraud, according to a criminal complaint by the FBI and a lawyer for the brothers. Madoff was placed under 24-hour house arrest in his $7 million New York City apartment last month after prosecutors warned of his “harm or flight.”
Original Order
He was originally ordered to have electronic monitoring and a 7 p.m. curfew. He is now barred from leaving his Upper East Side Manhattan apartment except for court appearances, and his building is monitored by security guards and video surveillance.
Madoff’s wife, Ruth, agreed to give up homes in Montauk, New York, and Palm Beach, Florida, if her husband flees. Bernard Madoff was arrested Dec. 11 after telling his sons that his firm was “one big lie,” the SEC said. U.S. Magistrate Judge Gabriel Gorenstein in Manhattan also ordered the Madoffs to surrender their passports.