US government in shutdown as midnight deadline passes

WASHINGTON - The United States government officially shut down on Saturday, the first anniversary of President Donald Trump's inauguration, after lawmakers failed to agree on a stop-gap spending deal.

Senators were still negotiating on the Senate floor as the clock turned midnight, but Trump's office issued a statement blaming opposition Democrats for the crisis.

Spokesperson Sarah Sanders said the Democrats' insistence that the interim measure include protection for undocumented immigrants who arrived as children killed the deal.

"Senate Democrats own the Schumer Shutdown," she declared, referring to the minority leader, New York Senator Chuck Schumer, who met with Trump earlier Friday.

"Tonight, they put politics above our national security, military families, vulnerable children, and our country's ability to serve all Americans.

"We will not negotiate the status of unlawful immigrants while Democrats hold our lawful citizens hostage over their reckless demands," she warned.

US federal services and military operations deemed essential will continue, but thousands of government workers will be sent home without pay until the crisis is resolved.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

With tough words for Wall St, O'Malley launches White House bid

BALTIMORE, Maryland - Former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley blasted social injustice and Wall Street excesses as he launched a White House bid on Saturday, casting himself as a younger, more liberal alternative to Democratic Party frontrunner Hillary Clinton.

"Powerful, wealthy special interests here at home have used our government to create, in our own country, an economy that is leaving a majority of our people behind," said O'Malley, opening his 2016 presidential campaign with a rally at a waterfront park in downtown Baltimore.

O'Malley, who has aggressively courted his party's liberal wing, began his political career in Baltimore, first as a member of city council and then as mayor.

Decrying big banks as having been behind the financial crisis of 2008, O'Malley singled out Goldman Sachs for particular criticism. He said Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein recently told his employees that "he'd be just fine" with either Republican Jeb Bush or Hillary Clinton as president after the November 2016 election.

"Well, I've got news for the bullies of Wall Street," O'Malley said. "The presidency is not a crown to be passed back and forth by you between two royal families."

Hillary Clinton is the wife of former President Bill Clinton while Jeb Bush, who has not yet formally announced his candidacy but is already considered a leading contender among Republican hopefuls, is son and brother of former Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush.

Signs at O'Malley's rally promised he would provide "new leadership," but in fact he faces an uphill battle against former secretary of state Clinton, who consistently tops opinion polls to be the party's nominee, and who enjoys national name recognition.

Beth Whitmer, a 62-year-old Baltimore resident who called herself a social liberal, said she felt she knows Clinton's stances better than O'Malley's.

"I would've liked it to have been a little fuller," she said of the speech.

O'Malley now goes on to campaign in Iowa and New Hampshire, the states holding the earliest party nominating contests.

O'Malley, 52, joins a short list of candidates for the Democratic nomination. Alongside Clinton, 67, only Vermont's independent Senator Bernie Sanders has entered the race, and he is viewed as having a marginal shot at success.

So far, eight Republicans are officially competing for their party's nomination, with more likely candidates waiting in the wings.

"Welcome to the race, Gov. O'Malley. Looking forward to discussing strong families and communities. -H," Clinton tweeted soon after the rally.

CAMPAIGN LAUNCH IN TROUBLED CITY

O'Malley launched his campaign at an uneasy time for Baltimore, which was rocked by riots last month over the death of Freddie Gray, a young black man, from injuries sustained while in police custody. Many residents have said the former mayor's "zero tolerance" crime policies led to increased police brutality.

O'Malley cast the violence in economic terms, saying rioting "was not only about race, not only about policing in America."

"Conditions of extreme and growing poverty, create conditions for extreme violence," he said.

Progressive Change Campaign Committee, a group trying to push Democratic candidates to the left, praised his speech, saying he was so far "the only candidate to be outspoken about accountability for Wall Street bankers who committed crimes and crashed our economy."

O'Malley honed his liberal credentials over two four-year terms as governor of a state with a long history of voting for Democratic presidential nominees.

He signed legislation that raised Maryland's minimum wage, repealed the death penalty for future offenders, legalized same-sex marriage, and granted in-state tuition rates for undocumented immigrants attending Maryland's universities.

He was born in Washington, D.C., and raised there and in Maryland. He attended the Catholic University of America in Washington and received his law degree from the University of Maryland. He lives in Maryland with his wife, a judge, and their four children.

(Reporting by Amanda Becker; Writing by Lisa Lambert; Editing by Crispian Balmer and Frances Kerry)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Clinton launches White House bid to champion 'everyday Americans'

WASHINGTON, United States - Casting herself as a champion of "everyday Americans," Hillary Clinton on Sunday finally launched her campaign to become the first female tenant of the White House.

Long assumed to be the front-runner for her Democratic Party's presidential nomination, Clinton's formal entry into the race unleashes her fundraising machine and empowers her to parry Republican attacks.

Seven years after her bitter nomination defeat to Barack Obama, the former secretary of state and first lady jumps into the race still the overwhelming Democratic favorite, as her Republican rivals gird for a bruising primary.

"I'm running for president," a beaming Clinton said in a slickly produced video that quickly went viral after it was posted on her revamped campaign website Sunday.

"Everyday Americans need a champion, and I want to be that champion," she said in a two-minute clip featuring, upbeat middle-class families from a variety of backgrounds sharing their aspirations.

Her nascent campaign said Clinton will spend the next six to eight weeks in a "ramp up" period, building a grass-roots organization and "engaging directly with voters."

Her first major rally and the speech that kicks off her campaign will not take place until May, her team said.

But Clinton stressed that "I'm hitting the trail to earn your vote."

Her camapign said she will head to Iowa on Tuesday for small roundtable conversations "about how to make the economy work so everyday Americans and their families can actually get ahead and stay ahead."

The announcement will no doubt trigger a donation deluge from supporters who have long waited for her to officially enter the race, a move that would allow them to contribute directly to her 2016 election effort.

But it also triggered a harsh Republican reposnse, including from the Republican National Committee which said Clinton "has left a trail of secrecy, scandal, and failed policies that can't be erased from voters' minds."

"We must do better than Hillary," tweeted former Florida governor Jeb Bush, just one minute after Clinton posted her own announcement to her 3.2 million Twitter followers, in a foreshadowing of the intense back-and-forth expected to play out on social media in the run up to the November 2016 election.

Humble beginning

Clinton's campaign-in-waiting has quietly organized for months, bringing on key staffers and advisors, plotting outreach operations and strategizing.

On Saturday she earned praise from Obama, who said she would be "an excellent president."

But experts warn she will have to tread a fine line in how closely she aligns herself with the incumbent, whose approval ratings have lingered below 50 percent for two years.

The soft rollout -- a folksy but up-beat video, low-key small gatherings with heartland voters -- marks a deviation from the Clinton Inc. juggernaut that ultimately failed in 2008.

The one-time senator and wife of former president Bill Clinton leads opinion polls among Democrats, some 60 percent of whom say they would vote for her in the primaries, according to website RealClearPolitics.

A humble approach may ease doubts about Clinton raised in recent weeks, after it was revealed she used a private email account while secretary of state from 2009 to 2013 and that her family philanthropic foundation accepted millions of dollars from foreign governments.

But she will have to brace for uncomfortable questions about the issues, as well as the various scandals in the Clintons' past, from voters.

'Arrogance of power'

Clinton, who has been in America's political spotlight for a quarter-century, has endured heavy criticism from Republicans, and launching her campaign gives her a platform to counter their punches.

Senator Rand Paul, who announced last week he is running for president, released on Sunday what is perhaps the first attack ad of the 2016 cycle, saying Clinton "represents the worst of the Washington machine: the arrogance of power, corruption and cover-up, conflicts of interest and failed leadership with tragic consequences."

Conservative Senator Ted Cruz made a splashy presidential campaign launch last month, while fellow Senate Republican Marco Rubio is scheduled to make his own all-but-certain campaign declaration Monday.

Jeb Bush teased his own expected campaign rollout, with the son and brother of two former presidents releasing a video Sunday saying he would present his policy proposals "in the coming weeks and months."

On the Democratic side, Vice President Joe Biden and former Maryland governor Martin O'Malley have openly expressed interest in running, but the Clinton announcement has met no substantial challenge yet from within her party.

Democratic Senators Barbara Boxer, Barbara Mikulski and Tim Kaine immediately endorsed Clinton, herself a former senator.

"She is going to break that glass ceiling once and for all," Mikulski said.

Clinton, who has highlighted her status as a new grandmother, leads against her GOP rivals in nearly all polls, but famed political prognosticator Nate Silver on Sunday called the 2016 election a "toss-up."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Kin of Fallen 44 won't get US reward: official

WASHINGTON DC - Who will get the US$5 million reward for the death of Malaysian bomb-maker Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan?

According to the police attache at the Philippine Embassy in Washington DC, only civilian informants are eligible for the bounty offered by the US government.

"It is not the [Special Action Force]. As a general rule, wala pong government employee katulad ng SAF or Philippine National Police or the Philippine Army or any member of Armed Forces of the Philippines...is eligible to receive any bounty because it's part of their job to arrest a wanted person," Senior Superintendent Jose Gentiles said.

"Ang binibigyan po ng bounty are those who gave the information. It's an incentive para po ma speed up yung paglocate ng isang wanted person."

Gentiles said the identity of the informant will remain confidential.

No bounty will be given to an ineligible informant if the person turns out to be a government employee or official, he said.

A total of 44 elite police commandos from the Philippine National Police Special Action Force were killed in the January 25 operation to take out Marwan in Mamasapano, Maguindanao. The operation also claimed the lives of more than a dozen MILF rebels and civilians.

SAF troopers who killed Marwan severed his right index finger and took photos of his body because they couldn't carry it amid heavy fighting.

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation later said the DNA sample provided by Philippine authorities belongs to Marwan.

"Although the results of the DNA examinations do not provide absolute identification, the results do support that the biological sample provided by Philippine authorities came from Marwan. Further testing and analysis will be conducted by laboratory examiners in an effort to fully identify the subject of DNA provided to the FBI," said David Bowdich, assistant director in charge of the Los Angeles field office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

A source familiar with the testing process said there is believed to be a sibling connection between the sample and DNA from bin Hir's brother, Rahmat bin Hir, who is in US custody.

Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Cuisia Jr. said the sacrifice of the 44 police commandos was not in vain as he expressed his condolences to their family members.

The ambassador said he is also pleased that the FBI quickly confirmed the DNA samples provided by the PNP were that of the Malaysian terror suspect.

"We are thankful to the FBI that they have come back very quickly to us confirming that the DNA results show the person who was killed by the 44 by the Special Forces Commandos was Marwan himself. That should dispel any doubts that people have that it was Marwan of course we lost 44 heroes unfortunately but I think we are, of course gratified to know that this very dangerous, very much sought after terrorist has finally been eliminated

Gentiles said he coordinated the DNA testing of Marwan's sample at an FBI laboratory in Quantico, Virginia.

"So yung result nung preliminary testing indicate na yung tissues na sinubmit na kay Marwan matches yung tissues ng kapatid niya na nanduduon sa Guantanamo Cuba nakakulong. It appears that based dun sa findings nila that they are siblings, that they come from the same father. So yun po yung result na nung DNA analysis," he said.

He said the results are preliminary only and that further testing and analysis will be conducted to fully identify the subject of the DNA provided by the PNP.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

US government warns on bug in Apple's iOS software

The U.S. government warned iPhone and iPad users on Thursday to be on the alert for hackers who may exploit a vulnerability in Apple Inc's iOS operating system that would enable them to steal sensitive data.

There was the potential for hacks using a newly identified technique known as the "Masque Attack," the government said in an online bulletin from the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center and the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Teams.

The network security company, FireEye Inc, disclosed the vulnerability behind the "Masque Attack" earlier this week, saying it had been exploited to launch a campaign dubbed "WireLurker" and that more attacks could follow.

Hackers could potentially steal login credentials, access sensitive data stored on iOS devices and remotely monitor activity on those devices, the government said.

Such attacks could be avoided if iPad and iPhone users only installed apps from Apple's App Store or from their own organizations, it said.

Users should not click "Install" from pop-ups when surfing the web. If iOS flashes a warning that says "Untrusted App Developer," users should click on "Don't Trust" and immediately uninstall the app, the bulletin said.

Representatives of Apple could not immediately be reached for comment.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Hyundai, Kia to pay record fine in US for overstating mileage

WASHINGTON/DETROIT - Korean carmakers Hyundai Motor Co and affiliate Kia Motors Corp will pay $350 million in penalties to the U.S. government for overstating fuel economy ratings in what officials said on Monday was the biggest settlement of its kind.

The deal comes on top of $395 million the automakers agreed to pay last December to resolve claims from the owners of the vehicles, bringing the companies' total cost for the mileage overstatements to more than $700 million.

Monday's settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Justice and the California Air Resources Board resolves an investigation of the South Korean carmakers' 2012 fuel economy ratings.

The penalties were the largest ever under the Clean Air Act.

"This will send an important message to automakers around the world that they must comply with the law," said Attorney General Eric Holder.

Under the accord, which involved the sale of 1.2 million cars and SUVs, the South Korean car firms will pay a $100 million penalty, spend around $50 million to prevent future violations and forfeit emissions credits estimated to be worth more than $200 million.

The greenhouse gas emissions that the forfeited credits would have allowed are equal to the emissions from powering more than 433,000 homes for a year, the EPA said.

"Businesses that play by the rules shouldn't have to compete with those breaking the law," said EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy.

McCarthy said Hyundai and Kia had committed the most egregious violation of the reporting standards. She declined to say whether other violators may also be fined.

"Every automaker will be looking carefully at its current testing procedure to avoid a similar penalty in the future," said Karl Brauer, senior analyst at Kelley Blue Book's KBB.com, who noted "frustration in the gray area between automakers' stated MPG numbers and the real-world results experienced by car owners".

In November 2012, Hyundai and Kia conceded they overstated fuel economy by at least a mile per gallon on vehicles after the EPA found errors for 13 Hyundai and Kia models from the 2011 to 2013 model years. Hyundai said at the time that the affected cars' reported fuel economy would be adjusted by 1 to 2 miles per gallon.

Hyundai Motor shares fell as much as 4.4 percent in Seoul trading on Tuesday, extending a slide that has dragged them to their lowest in over four years.

The decline knocked Hyundai from its perch as South Korea's second-most valuable company after Samsung Electronics Co Ltd , according to exchange data on common shares, a spot it had held since March 29, 2011.

Hyundai and Kia both increased their shares of the U.S. new-vehicle market in the past decade, particularly during the economic downturn of 2008 to 2010 when consumers craved fuel-efficient and relatively low-priced vehicles.

However, Hyundai has lost U.S. market share in the past couple of years, as U.S. and Japanese rivals made a comeback.

Hyundai said on Monday that its U.S. vehicle sales fell 7 percent in October from a year earlier, lagging the market's 6 percent gain, with weaker sales of the Sonata sedan offsetting demand for its Santa Fe sport utility vehicles. Kia's U.S. shipments rose 12 percent in October.

"We are pleased to put this behind us," said Hyundai U.S. chief David Zuchowski. The company added that it believes its process for testing vehicle fuel economy meets U.S. guidelines, and the overstatement was a result of a data processing error.

Hyundai's U.S. chief at the time, John Krafcik, stepped down after his contract expired at the end of 2013.

Kia in a statement said its priority "remains making things right for our customers through our fair and transparent reimbursement program".

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

US official warns Assad not to target US planes

WASHINGTON - US forces will target Syrian anti-aircraft systems if they take aim at American planes conducting strikes inside Syria against Islamic State rebels, a senior US official warned Monday.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said that Washington had a good sense of where hostile Syrian batteries were located and US pilots would be tasked with rules of engagement that would allow them to protect themselves.

Last week, President Barack Obama announced that he would expand air strikes against IS in Iraq and was prepared to strike at the militant group in Syria.

In response, Syrian National Reconciliation Minister Ali Haidar said that any action against the jihadist group on Syrian territory without the consent of the Damascus government would be viewed as an attack on Syria.

The senior US official said that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would have a choice to make in the event of US strikes against IS.

If Assad used military capabilities to interfere with the US capacity to strike at IS in Syria, he would put units involved in such action at risk, the official said.

Obama has ruled out the idea that his government could cooperate with Assad's forces to go after a common enemy in the Islamic State, which has overrun large areas of northern Iraq and Syria.

The US government sees Assad as tantamount to a war criminal who has turned the horror of civil war on his own people. Washington has consistently said that he should leave power.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Texas tycoons hid $550 M in profits offshore, U.S. tells jury

NEW YORK -- Texas tycoons Sam and Charles Wyly employed a labyrinthine system of offshore trusts to conceal stock trades in four companies on whose boards they sat, netting themselves more than $550 million in undisclosed profits, a U.S. government lawyer told a federal jury on Thursday.

"This is a case about lies, deception and fraud," said Bridget Fitzpatrick, a lawyer for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, at the start of a civil trial in New York against Sam Wyly and the estate of his late brother, Charles.

The SEC has accused the Wylys of concealing stock trading from 1992 to 2004 in Sterling Software Inc, Michaels Stores Inc, Sterling Commerce Inc, and Scottish Annuity & Life Holdings Ltd through the use of more than a dozen trusts and 40 different entities in the Isle of Man.

But Stephen Susman, a defense attorney for the Wylys, told the jury that the brothers relied on an "army of lawyers" to tell them what they were legally required to do and never intended to violate any securities law.

"The Wylys acted in complete good faith - the exact opposite of being a liar and fraudster, as charged by the SEC," he said during his opening statement.

The trial, which follows years of litigation and investigation of the Wylys by the SEC, is the latest test of the regulator's ability to win verdicts against individuals, following a recent series of losses in fraud and insider trading cases.

The jury of eight women and four men will be asked to decide whether the Wylys controlled the securities held in the offshore system, as the government claims, or whether trustees had sole power to sell the stock, as the Wylys contend.

In her opening statement to the jury, Fitzpatrick argued that every transaction in the offshore entities originated as a "recommendation" from the Wylys that was effectively a command.

"The Isle of Man trustees were not independent," she said. "They did everything the Wylys wanted."

Susman, however, pointed to language in the trust contracts that granted the trustees authority over stock sales.

According to the government, the brothers sold more than $750 million of stock in the four companies, while failing to disclose that such transactions had occurred. They used the proceeds to buy everything from jewelry for their wives to a horse ranch in Dallas, Fitzpatrick said.

Susman told the jury he did not dispute that the trades occurred and that they used the profits to buy various items. But, he said, the trusts were created to protect assets and reduce tax liabilities, not to hide anything from the SEC.

The trial will feature testimony from several people involved in operating the offshore system, including the Wylys' former lawyer, Michael French. French will appear as a government witness after reaching a deal this month to settle charges against him by paying $794,609 and admitting to aiding in the Wylys' alleged scheme.

The 79-year-old Wyly will also take the stand, though his lawyers have indicated he will only testify for up to two hours at a time due to unspecified medical issues. Charles Wyly died in a 2011 car crash.

The SEC has also accused the Wylys of earning $31.7 million from insider trading of Sterling Software.

The jury will not consider those charges. Once the jury phase is over, U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin will preside over a second proceeding on the insider trading claims.

The trial comes after several recent upsets for the SEC in other fraud and insider trading cases, most prominently in October when a jury cleared Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team, of insider trading.

The case is SEC v. Wyly et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 10-05760.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

US spy satellites find no blast on missing Malaysian jet

WASHINGTON - US spy satellites detected no sign of a mid-air explosion when a Malaysian airliner lost contact with air traffic controllers, American officials said Wednesday.

The US government in the past has used its satellite network to identify heat signatures linked to exploding aircraft but in this case, nothing was found, according to US officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The absence of evidence of any mid-air explosion has added to the mystery surrounding the fate of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, which disappeared at about 1730 GMT Friday after taking off from Kuala Lumpur bound for Beijing.

NBC News first reported the lack of satellite results.

With no specific area identified by satellites, US naval ships that joined the search effort in the South China Sea were not sent to a particular location to look for debris, officials said.

"If they had picked up something (by satellite), our ships would have been sent to that spot,"one official told AFP.

The hunt for the missing Boeing 777 now covers a vast area of nearly 27,000 nautical miles (over 90,000 square kilometers).

Organizers said Wednesday an international pool of satellites from different countries has joined the search effort for the missing airliner, with plans to share images from orbiting satellites.

According to author and intelligence historian Jeffrey Richelson, the US government's space infrared satellite system detected the blast that brought down TWA Flight 800 in 1996 in the Atlantic Ocean, shortly after take-off from JFK airport in New York City.

In his book "America's Space Sentinels," Richelson describes the satellite network that was initially set up to relay instant warning of an imminent Soviet missile launch.

Although the "Defense Support Network" satellite system was created to detect the infrared signals from missile launches, it "proved to be valuable in a number of other ways -- such as detecting aircraft flying on afterburner, spacecraft in orbit, and terrestrial/atmospheric explosions, if of sufficient intensity," Richelson said by email.

"Thus, DSP data was examined after a number of air crashes," he said.

The satellites have detected a mid-air collision over the Grand Canyon, the crash of a stealth fighter jet, the crash of an A-10 aircraft and the collision of US and German military planes off the coast of Africa in 1997, he said.

Investigators examined DSP satellite data after the disappearance of Air France Flight 447 in 2009, which went missing after taking off from Rio de Janeiro en route to Paris, he said. But it's not clear any clues were found, he added.

The spy satellites also have been used to track forest fires and detect meteorites, according to the book.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

US exits General Motors in $10-B loss for taxpayers

WASHINGTON - The U.S. government sold its last shares of automaker General Motors Co on Monday, marking an end to a historic bailout of one of America's most storied companies.

The sale leaves taxpayers short about $10 billion of the funds that the Treasury sank into the automaker in 2009.

Washington came to the rescue of the U.S. auto sector during the darkest days of the country's 2007-09 financial crisis, as the nation was sinking further into what would become its deepest recession since the Great Depression.

"This important chapter in our nation's history is now closed," Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said.

The money pumped into the industry came from a $700 billion pool of funds Congress had assembled to shore up the banking system and fight a growing panic on Wall Street.

Taxpayers could still turn a profit from those rescue efforts, despite losses on programs to help housing and autos.

The government took a loss of more than $1 billion on its investments in Detroit automaker Chrysler, while taxpayers remain intertwined with GM's former lending arm, Ally Financial Inc.

But the auto bailout helped Detroit's carmakers return to profitability, and a study released on Monday by the Center for Automotive Research said it saved 1.5 million U.S. jobs and preserved $105.3 billion in personal and social insurance tax collections.

"When things looked darkest for our most iconic industry, we bet on what was true: the ingenuity and resilience of the proud, hardworking men and women who make this country strong," President Barack Obama said.

America's largest automaker, General Motors was seen for generations as a symbol of the country's industrial prowess. The crisis, however, humbled the firm and it briefly entered bankruptcy in 2009.

"We will always be grateful for the second chance extended to us and we are doing our best to make the most of it," GM Chairman and Chief Executive Dan Akerson said in a statement.

The bailout was hugely controversial. During the 2012 presidential campaign, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney called it "crony capitalism."

The company is currently benefiting from rising consumer demand in the United States. Across the U.S. auto market last month, Americans bought vehicles at their fastest pace in more than six years.

GM recorded a profit of $4.3 billion for the first nine months of this year. Shareholders have also profited, although gains in the company's shares since its 2010 public offering have trailed far behind a broader stock market rally.

With the government's exit, GM will now be allowed to pay dividends for the first time since the IPO. GM also may be able to offer a more generous and competitive compensation package if its board elects to search for outside candidates to succeed Akerson.

And over the coming years, the closing of the bailout chapter might help the company lose some of the stigma from taking $49.5 billion in government money.

"They can finally put 'Government Motors' in the rear view mirror," said Matthew Stover, an auto analyst at Guggenheim Securities. "That's an important step for consumers and for the company."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Obama seeks to renew Asia role with rescheduled trip

WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama will visit Asia in April to push closer ties, an aide said Wednesday, after his earlier cancellation of a trip raised questions about US staying power.

Susan Rice, Obama's adviser for national security, acknowledged disappointment after Obama called off a trip in October to negotiate with Republican lawmakers who shut down the US government to stop his health care reforms.

Rice said Obama would make up with a trip in April, saying: "Our friends in Asia deserve and will continue to get our highest-level attention."

"No matter how many hotspots emerge elsewhere, we will continue to deepen our enduring commitment to this critical region," Rice said in an address at Georgetown University.

Rice said US assistance to the typhoon-hit Philippines, which includes the deployment of more than 1,000 Marines, represented a "broader pledge" to all of Asia.

"America's commitment won't expire a few months or a few years from now. The United States of America will be there -- reliable, constant, strong and steady -- for the long haul," she said.

Rice did not specify Obama's itinerary in April. In October, he planned stops in the Philippines, Malaysia and, for international summits, Indonesia and Brunei.

Even US allies quietly voiced concern over Obama's no-show, which offered an outsized role to Chinese President Xi Jinping at the meetings.

Obama, who spent part of his childhood in Indonesia, pledged in his first term to "pivot" US foreign policy toward Asia where the regional order is being transformed by the rapid growth of China's economy and military.

But in his second term, Obama has focused on Syria's civil war and easing hostility with Iran and the United States has put a priority on taming its debt after two wars and a recession.

Rice said that Secretary of State John Kerry, who has invested the most time in the Middle East since taking office, would return to Asia in December.

China welcome in trade pact

Rice said that the United States would stay true to its pledge to shift most of its navy toward Asia by 2020 and would pursue the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade pact that Obama hopes will shape the coming order in Asia.

Rice reached out to China, which in the past has called the trade pact -- which is also unpopular with much of Obama's labor base -- an effort to encircle it.

"We welcome any nation that is willing to live up to the high standards of this agreement to join and share the benefits of TPP -- and that includes China," Rice said.

But Rice also called on China to take action on US concerns including cyber-espionage. Earlier Wednesday, the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, a government advisory panel, urged the United States to consider tougher actions including possible sanctions to stop spying.

Rice also voiced alarm over China's disputes with its neighbors including US allies Japan and the Philippines, calling the tensions a "growing threat to regional peace and security and to US interests."

Rice urged all sides to "reject coercion and aggression" and renewed the US call for a code of conduct to govern disputes in the South China Sea.

In a potential indication that White House is thinking of its legacy, Rice hailed democratic reforms in Myanmar and tied them to Obama's outreach to the longtime pariah state since the start of his presidency.

"If progress continues, by the end of President Obama's second term we hope to have helped Burma re-establish itself as a regional leader and as a thriving, if nascent, prosperous democracy," Rice said, using Myanmar's former name.

But Rice said that Myanmar needed to do more to protect minorities including the mostly Muslim Rohingya and to ensure free elections in 2015.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

White House Security Council staffer axed for spewing snark and secrets in parody Twitter account

Senior White House official Jofi Jospeh has been fired for leaking internal information using the anonymous Twitter account, @NatSecWonk.

Turns out that a tweeter spouting sarcasm and snark at the Obama administration was actually a member of the ranks.

A National Security Council director, Jofi Joseph, has been fired from his plum White House gig after the administration found out he has been running @NatSecWonk, a Twitter profile that mocked D.C. insiders and even leaked vital security information.

He is reportedly under investigation by the Department of Justice for leaking sensitive information in his social media stunt, according to Foreign Policy's blog Situation Report.



Since February 2011, Joseph has used the social media moniker to poke fun of administration colleagues, mock the media, and at times launch embittered personal attacks against political friends and foes — priding himself in his Twitter bio on saying what "everyone else only thinks…I'm abrasive and bring the snark."

Now that Joseph's identity has been revealed, it's fair to say Joseph has pretty much burned bridges with everyone in Washington.

He called the President's most trusted adviser Valerie Jarrett a "vacuous cipher" and chided Obama loyalists he deemed hangers on.



"Growing problem for the Administration — too many 1st term holdovers not getting the hint that it's time to move on and get the f-ck out,” he noted.

He joked that Hillary Clinton's longtime aide Huma Abedin, a devout Muslim who doesn't drink, must have been "wearing beer goggles the night she met Anthony Wiener."

He slammed conservative pundit Sarah Palin and her "white trash family," calling them "useless garbage."



And in a shocking tirade against former Bush press spokesman Ari Fleischer, spewed nastiness against the Republican, mocking him for marrying "a woman a decade younger than him — and she's as ugly as he is! #jackass."

Fleischer married Rebecca Elizabeth Davis, an Office of Management and Budget staffer, in 2002. He was 42 at the time of the marriage, she was 26.

Joseph is also believed to be behind the Twitter profile @DCHobbyist.

Yes, it's fair to say that Joseph, 40, and his wife Carolyn Leddy, a staff member for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and former fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, might now find it incredibly difficult to mingle in D.C. circles.



In addition to committing social suicide in the Beltway, Joseph, who was director of nuclear nonproliferation on the White House National Security Council staff, also leaked sensitive information relating to his work negotiating with Iran on their nuclear program.

Though journalists appreciated the insider-y information, the account was reviled for going to painstaking efforts to correct typos in stories, correcting mocking story angles (based on confidential information he gleaned thanks to his security clearance) and dishing out his personal disdain for media starlets.

"Me thinks @peggynoonannyc and @chrismatthews should get together and swap stories, share some drinks and discuss why they are irrelevant," he tweeted on one occasion, in regards to the conservative WSJ columnist and MSNBC host.


In yet another disgusting jab, he took aim at conservative Washington Post blogger Jennifer Rubin, writing, "I feel sorry for the husband of @jrubinblogger He has to have sex with her every five years."

Though a keen grammar expert and stickler for details, Joseph had no qualms disregarding the social media policy of his employer — which has landed him without a job.

The White House revealed it had terminated Joseph last week and the former official came clean about his Twitter alter ego. The Twitter account has been shut down.

Calling it a "privilege" to serve the President, Joseph says he now regrets "violating the trust and confidence placed in me," according to a mea culpa statement released to Politico.

"What started out as an intended parody account of D.C. culture developed over time into a series of inappropriate and mean-spirited comments. I bear complete responsibility for this affair and I sincerely apologize to everyone I insulted."

White House bosses put two and two together and identified the owner of the Twitter handle after an extensive probe, according to Politico.

Given Obama has a little outfit called the National Security Agency at his disposal, it was really only a matter of time.

Officials also say they believe Joseph could be behind another Twitter handle, @dchobbyist, which includes illicit postings about State Department staffers.

source: nydailynews.com

Hillary Clinton hits campaign trail, endorses McAuliffe

FALLS CHURCH, Va. - Hillary Clinton returned to the campaign trail on Saturday to endorse old friend Terry McAuliffe in the Virginia governor's race, urging voters to reject the "scorched earth" politics that led to the recent government shutdown.

At her first overtly political appearance since leaving her post as secretary of state in February, the former Democratic senator and first lady said the outcome of the bitter governor's battle would show whether voters were ready to choose common sense over ideology.

She received a hero's welcome from the packed crowd in a theater in Falls Church, a Washington suburb, during an appearance certain to heighten speculation about a possible 2016 presidential bid.

Clinton focused on praising McAuliffe, the former national Democratic party chairman and a longtime friend, as a strong leader who could rise above the divisive politics of the federal shutdown and debt ceiling fight.

While she never mentioned McAuliffe's Republican opponent, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, a staunch anti-abortion and social conservative, Clinton said the Republican agenda was being driven by its most conservative members.

"When politicians choose scorched earth over common ground, when they operate in what I call the evidence-free zone with ideology trumping everything else, we see that families in Virginia and across the country have felt the consequences," Clinton said.

"The whole country is watching this election, watching to see whether the voters of Virginia lead the way of turning from divisive politics and getting back to common sense and common ground," she said.

McAuliffe, a close ally of Clinton's husband, former President Bill Clinton, and co-chairman of Hillary Clinton's failed 2008 presidential campaign, holds a solid lead over Cuccinelli in recent polls before the Nov. 5 election.

That lead has been fueled by a commanding double-digit advantage among women - an edge that Clinton's appearance at a 'Women for McAuliffe' rally in the politically moderate northern Virginia suburbs was designed to exploit.

The free tickets to the rally were snapped up quickly and the crowd of more than 700, many wearing "Ready for Hillary" buttons, began lining up hours before the event.

'A ROLE MODEL'

"It's been my dream to see Hillary," said Kerry Tousignant, a recent college graduate and a volunteer coordinator at a domestic violence non-profit in Alexandria, Virginia. "She's a role model for all women, no matter your politics."

Attorney Ali Anwar obtained the tickets for his wife, Tara McCluskey, whom he described as "a huge Hillary fan."

"Hillary has faced a lot of adversity, politically and personally, and she's handled it very well," McCluskey said. "She's a leader."

For his part, McAuliffe was happy to take a back seat and introduce the headliner, calling Clinton an "inspiration" and saying he was "proud to call her a friend."

Campaign aides for Cuccinelli, who has portrayed McAuliffe as an ethically challenged political huckster, called McAuliffe "the booking agent for the Lincoln Bedroom" during his days as a fundraiser for Bill Clinton.

"If there was any doubt that Terry McAuliffe would bring Washington D.C., big-government politics to Richmond, today is your proof," said Richard Cullen, the communications director for Cuccinelli.

Clinton has said she is not ready to start thinking about a possible White House bid in 2016. While she has appeared in public frequently since leaving the State Department, she had not hit the campaign trail for political rallies until Saturday.

She enthusiastically pitched in on McAuliffe's message of the day, holding up a card and encouraging supporters to fill it out to help the campaign turn out voters.

"I've been in a lot of elections," Clinton said, drawing cheers. "I know at the end of the day it all comes down to who takes the time to show up and vote."

She added, "Terry has always been there for me and I'm pleased to be here for him."

(Editing by Peter Cooney)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Uncertainties in US debt deal worrisome, says expert

MANILA, Philippines – Despite the last-minute debt deal to avoid a default in the United States, economic uncertainties surrounding the debt ceiling are worrying, Security Bank EVP for Financial Markets Rafael Algarra said on Thursday.

Algarra warned that by early 2014, US will face the same problem as the deal only funds the US government until January 15 and raises the debt ceiling until February 7.

“I think that’s where most of the worry of the market is. The problem is that every time they do this, it starts to affect the economy in general and another shutdown will further affect the economy,” he told ANC’s “News Now” on Thursday.

“I think the bigger worry is the long-term effect of what has happened. As we've seen, they estimated that the GDP would be affected by around 6%, that’s around $24 billion. This should probably effect US economy and they’ll have worries of ongoing problems like this in the future. We’ll probably see the Federal Reserve be conscious of the fact that they might withhold tapering and move it at a much later date,” he added.

The 11th-hour deal ended a 16-day US government shutdown and averted a historic debt default that could have brought financial calamity.

According to Algarra, the forecast for the Philippine financial market is still positive for the rest of the year.

He said the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) is seen to hit 6,800-6,850 level by yearend.

“We expect the PSEi to move up before the yearend,” he said.

Algarra also said the Philippine peso is expected to strengthen against the US dollar, with the peso-dollar exchange rate seen to range between P42.50-P43 to a $1.

“With the uncertainty of the US dollar it may even be more pronounced this time,” he said.

He added that prospects for the country’s financial market are promising with remittances and balance of payments surplus.

“On a risk aversion scenario, you buy US dollar. But the problem is the US dollar is causing all the uncertainty. So on taking out risk, you should be selling local currency and buying another currency, but if the US dollar is not the one, in a cross basis it cancels off. But the prospects for the Philippines are quite good,” he said. -- With Reuters

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Pinoy's legal status in jeopardy due to US govt shutdown

NEW YORK- Despite President Barack Obama’s meeting with congressional leaders Wednesday night, there’s still no deal in sight to end the historic government shutdown.

This is bad news for an overseas Filipino worker from La Union, Philippines.

Joel Cruz (not his real name), who requested ABS-CBN News not to reveal his identity, said he could lose his legal status because of the shutdown.

Cruz, who came to the US in January on a temporary H1B work visa, is in the process of switching to a new employer after his previous contract expired last September 30.

Labor and immigration lawyer Felix Vinluan said, “It’s very difficult doing transfer nowadays, considering the shutdown, because a requirement for the H1B petition to be filed would be to secure an LCA or Labor Condition Application… with the shutdown, the Department of Labor is not doing any LCA’s.”

Cruz’s new employer filed an LCA on September 24 but the shutdown has prevented him from filing an H1B transfer petition without the LCA.

"It normally takes the Department of Labor 7 days to approve an LCA application," Vinluan said, "Next Thursday, with the shutdown, the new employer won’t have the LCA so magiging out of status na yung H1B beneficiary by Friday next week, yung I-94 card niya expires next week."

"Dahil sa shutdown, walang pasok yung mga taga Department of Labor kaya pending yung pag approve ng certified na LCA ko," Cruz said, "Malaking epekto kasi siyempre dahil nga sa magiging out of status na ako, wala akong trabaho, hindi ako pwedeng magtrabaho unless mai-transfer nila yung H1B ko."

The clock is ticking for Cruz’s legal status and he may even lose the field engineer job that he was offered.

Vinluan said Cruz is only one of his several clients affected by the shutdown.

With 70% of court employees, including judges, furloughed nationwide as a result of the shutdown, Vinluan said he is expecting further delays in immigration hearings.

Vinluan said his Filipino clients, who are victims of human trafficking were scheduled to be interviewed by the US Attorney General Wednesday, has been postponed indefinitely.

"Last Friday, I got a call from the US Attorney General’s Office, they told me don’t bring your’ clients because we are anticipating — we are going to have a shutdown , so there won’t be an office yesterday so hindi natuloy ang aming investigation," said Vinluan.

Vinluan said as the shutdown lingers, case backlogs in the nation’s 59 immigration courts are expected to experience further delays until the US government re-opens.

“Wala naman talagang koneksiyon yung Obamacare sa pag promulgate ng budget for this new fiscal year, sana they come to their senses and come up with the solution very soon," Vinluan said.

Cruz said, "Siguro tapusin na nila yan, at ayusin na lang nila para mag-open na lahat ng mga offices para lahat ng mga pending applications ay maituloy na at maipasa na nila."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

What happens with a US gov't shutdown?

The U.S. federal government was due to start partially shutting down on Tuesday after lawmakers failed to compromise on an emergency spending bill before a midnight deadline.

With a partial government shutdown, there will be far-reaching consequences for everything from National Park admissions to economic data.

Much of the impact or relative lack of disruption is determined by whether agencies are partly funded by industry user fees or deemed to be essential services.  













Here is a roundup of some of the impact that would be felt:

FEDERAL WORKERS: As many as 1 million federal employees could face unpaid furloughs or missed paydays, according to the president of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents 670,000 union members.

THE WHITE HOUSE: The Executive Office of the President will furlough about 1,265 staff and retain 436 as excepted workers. Among the staff retained will be 15 to provide "minimum maintenance and support" for the White House. Executive agencies will be reduced to skeleton staff, including four at the Council of Economic Advisors.

ECONOMIC DATA: The United States will stop publishing much of its economic data if the government shuts down, including the closely watched monthly employment report.

U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION: The SEC would continue reviewing applications for initial public offerings (IPOs) and monitoring markets as normal in the early weeks of a government shutdown, and can continue operating fully for a few weeks, a spokesman said.

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: Signup for the new U.S. health exchanges under the Affordable Care Act due to start on Oct. 1 will proceed. Across the vast department and its sub-agencies, about 52 percent of staff will be furloughed - some 40,512 workers. Among the programs shuttered would be the Centers for Disease Control's annual seasonal flu influenza program. The National Institutes of Health would not admit new patients in most circumstances.

U.S. FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION: Some 55 percent of the FDA's employees will be working. Of those reporting to work, 74 percent will be funded with fees paid to the FDA by the industries it regulates. The FDA's expert advisory committee meetings, which recommend whether the agency should approve new products, will for the most part continue. The next scheduled panel is on Oct. 8 to recommend whether to approve expanded use of certain pacemakers and defibrillators from Medtronic Inc. . The FDA will cease most of its food safety, nutrition and cosmetics activities, such as routine inspections of plants and facilities. It will also be unable to monitor imports, and will cease certain compliance and enforcement activities.

U.S. INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES: Substantial numbers of intelligence personnel could be placed on leave, but those assigned to vital national security missions, including supporting the president, and collecting data from informants or spy devices such as eavesdropping systems or satellites, will generally remain on the job.

Shawn Turner, chief spokesman for National Intelligence Director James Clapper, said: "The immediate and significant reduction in employees on the job means that we will assume greater risk and our ability to support emerging intelligence requirements will be curtailed."

NATIONAL PARKS: National parks would close, meaning a loss of 750,000 daily visitors and an economic loss to gateway communities of as much as $30 million for each day parks are shut, according to the non-profit National Parks Conservation Association.

DEFENSE DEPARTMENT: All military personnel would continue on normal duty status, but half of the Defense Department's 800,000 civilian employees would be placed on unpaid leave. Pentagon has said it will halt military activity not critical to national security.

Officials have said military personnel, who are paid twice a month, would receive their Oct. 1 paychecks but might see their Oct. 15 paychecks delayed if a government shutdown takes place and no funding deal is reached by Oct. 7.

INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE: Most of the federal tax agency's 90,000 employees would be furloughed. Taxpayers who requested an extension beyond the April 15 deadline to file their 2012 taxes must do so by Oct. 15 and will be able to file these returns even if the IRS is still shut down then.

FEDERAL RESERVE AND OTHER FINANCIAL AGENCIES: Bank regulators, including the Federal Reserve and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, would stay open because they do not rely on Congress for funding. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency pay for themselves and would remain open. Loans guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will still be available during the government shutdown. Both firms, which were seized by the U.S. government in 2008 as rising mortgage losses threatened them with insolvency, will continue normal operations. The Federal Housing Administration, which offers mortgage lenders guarantees against homeowner defaults, will have limited operations.

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT: Fewer than 18,000 of the department's 114,486 employees would be furloughed, and if the furlough is prolonged, some of those could be brought back to work. Criminal litigation would continue under a government shutdown, while civil litigation would be curtailed or postponed as much as possible "without compromising to a significant degree the safety of human life or the protection of property," the department said in its contingency plan.

COURTS: The U.S. Supreme Court would probably operate normally, as it has during previous shutdowns, but a spokesman declined to share the high court's plans. Federal courts would remain open for about 10 business days if the government closes on Oct. 1, and their status would be reassessed on or about Oct. 15.

U.S. TRADE REPRESENTATIVE'S OFFICE: Already squeezed by automatic spending cuts imposed by the so-called sequester, the USTR office has reduced travel to the 41 countries where there are concerns about intellectual property, Trade Representative Michael Froman said.

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY: The agency would be one of the hardest hit, with less than 7 percent of its employees exempt from furlough. The broad-based shutdown of all but emergency services would delay rule-making, potentially including finalization of renewable fuel volume requirements for 2014.

AGRICULTURE DEPARTMENT: USDA meat inspectors would stay on the job. Statistical reports would not be published, and the important Oct. 11 U.S. crop report could be delayed depending on how long a shutdown lasts. USDA has said its website, USDA.gov, "will go dark and be linked to a 'splash' page," denying access to historical data and other information.

TRAVEL: Air and rail travelers in the United States should not feel a big impact, since passport inspectors, security officers and air traffic controllers will all continue to work as usual.

WASHINGTON SIGHTS: Most popular tourist spots in the nation's capital would close, including the Lincoln Memorial, the Library of Congress, the National Archives, the National Zoo and all Smithsonian Museums. The zoo's live animal webcams would be disabled. All animals will continue to be fed and cared for.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

PH econ managers unfazed by US govt shutdown

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine economic managers were unfazed by the US federal government's partial shutdown on Tuesday.

Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said it is "highly unfortunate for the rest of the world, as even countries like the Philippines are taken on a wild economic ride because of the political game of chicken in Washington."

"Fortunately for the Philippines, we enjoy a strong fiscal position, a structural current account surplus economy whose growth is led by consumption, and a young, educated population. This will allow the Philippines to ride out this situation better than other emerging markets - whose economic models are exports and extractives-based," he said.

However, the Finance chief expressed concern about the possibility of the US defaulting on its debt.

“What is more worrisome to the Philippines is if the US political stalemate cause America to default on its debt by failing to pass a measure on the debt ceiling. A US default, unimaginable for most of history yet now in the realm of the possible because of current political circumstances, can only lead to unprecedented chaos in the global financial markets," Purisima said.

At the same time, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said the central bank will maintain a presence in the markets if the US government shutdown results in excessive volatility.

"We will continue to watch how the developments in the US will pan out. We will, as is our policy, maintain a presence in the markets if the domestic market reaction leads to excessive volatility," Tetangco said.

"The immediate impact would be on global and domestic financial market volatility, as investors may move away from risk assets to traditional safe haven assets," he added.

Tetangco said the Philippines' macroeconomic fundamentals would cushion any effects from market volatility.

"The domestic economy has sources of resilience owing to the buffers we have built," he said.

The U.S. government began a partial shutdown on Tuesday for the first time in 17 years, potentially putting up to 1 million workers on unpaid leave, closing national parks and stalling medical research projects.

Federal agencies were directed to cut back services after lawmakers could not break a political stalemate that sparked new questions about the ability of a deeply divided Congress to perform its most basic functions.

After House Republicans floated a late offer to break the logjam, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid rejected the idea, saying Democrats would not enter into formal negotiations on spending "with a gun to our head" in the form of government shutdowns. - With Reuters

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com