FBI nominee characterizes
waterboarding as torture


President Barack Obama’s nominee to be America’s next FBI director says the interrogation technique known as waterboarding is torture and therefore illegal. Former assistant attorney general James Comey faced intense questioning on law enforcement and national security matters during his Senate confirmation hearing Tuesday.

Comey is known for having taken part in a heated debate over waterboarding that divided the former Bush administration in the years after the 2001 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. 

Waterboarding simulates drowning and causes extreme panic and duress. It was employed for a time to interrogate terror suspects held by the CIA. In 2004, Comey and FBI Director Robert Mueller rushed to the bedside of then-hospitalized former Attorney General John Ashcroft to argue against the continued use of waterboarding.

If confirmed, Comey would succeed Mueller as the U.S. government’s top cop. He told the Senate Judiciary Committee his views on waterboarding have not changed.

“When I first learned about waterboarding, my reaction as a citizen and a leader was: This is torture. It is still what I think,” he said.

Later, however, Comey agreed with a Bush administration legal finding that so-called enhanced interrogation techniques are lawful. Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy sought to clear up the matter.

“Do you agree that waterboarding is torture and illegal?” asked Leahy.

“Yes,” replied Comey.

Comey said the FBI has never conducted waterboarding and would not do so if he were confirmed as director.

Comey also was asked about the federal government’s extensive domestic data collection abilities, and concerns that have been raised about Americans’ right to privacy.

Once again, Leahy led the questioning.

“When government is collecting data on millions of totally innocent Americans on a daily basis, when is enough enough?”

Comey did not address the domestic surveillance revelations leaked by fugitive former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden. But he spoke about the need for data collection in general.

“I am not familiar with the details of the current programs. Obviously I have not been cleared for anything like that, and I have been out of government for eight years. I do know as a general matter that the collection of metadata and the analysis of metadata is a valuable tool in counterterrorism,” said Comey.

Comey also defended the independence and integrity of special judicial bodies, known as FISA courts, that approve wiretapping and other surveillance operations against suspected foreign agents, including terror suspects. When asked if drones may be used to kill U.S. citizens on American soil, he said no.

If confirmed by the full Senate, Comey would serve a 10-year term as FBI director.


Jury selection begins in trial
of accused Army terrorist


Jury selection has begun in the murder trial of Major Nidal Hasan, the Army psychiatrist accused of opening fire at Fort Hood, Texas in November 2009, leaving 13 people dead.  Many commentators and families of victims have complained about legal wrangling that delayed the trial for three-and-a-half years, but now that the trial is under way, it could go swiftly.

Prospective jurors have arrived from various posts around the United States to be part of the pool from which panel members will be chosen to hear the Hasan case.  In military courts, juries are referred to as panels.

Military legal system expert Geoffrey Corn, who teaches at the South Texas College of Law, says the prospective jurors were brought in from outside Fort Hood to avoid any possibility of prejudice and ensure a panel of proper rank.

“In the military, every juror, every panel member, must outrank the accused.  So there will be nobody of equal or lower rank than Major Hasan in this case.  That means it is going to be a highly educated, highly experienced jury," said Corn.

In most cases, prosecutors and defense attorneys spend the first few days questioning prospective jurors.  Once the panel is selected, the prosecution is called on to present evidence and then the defense presents its case, just as in civilian courts.  But Corn says there can be no undecided, or hung, juries in military trials because a unanimous decision is required on each separate count, and the voting is done on paper ballots, anonymously.

"When that panel, that jury, gets to the point of voting on each offense, if one member votes not guilty, then the verdict is not guilty.  So it is a much more difficult burden for a military prosecutor," he said.

The burden he refers to is the burden of proof, by which a defendant is considered innocent until proven guilty.  Since there are capital murder charges against Hasan, he was not allowed to plead guilty, and Corn says in order for the death penalty to be applied in this case, the prosecutors have to prove that Hasan planned the attack on fellow soldiers.

"What they can do is offer this evidence of what he was adhering to, what he was viewing on his computer, the messages he was receiving and sending, in order to show the jury that this was not a spur of the moment killing.  This was something he planned and thought about in order to produce an effect," he said.

Former military attorney Lisa Windsor, who now works for the Tully Rinckey law firm in Washington, says proving Hasan guilty of capital murder may not be difficult, given the amount of evidence.

But she says the panel considers sentencing separately and does so fairly soon after producing the verdict.

“You may have a pretty extended period of time between verdict and sentencing in a civilian case. In a military case you generally go right into sentencing.  They might have a break in order to allow family members and people to be present, but they are not going to have too long a break," said Ms. Windsor.

Both she and Corn say the trial will probably last until August because of the time needed just to present all the evidence and question the many witnesses.

They say witnesses would include some of the people wounded in the attack and could be questioned by Major Hasan, since he has opted to defend himself.

The judge, Col. Tara Osborn, has required Hasan's court-appointed attorneys to remain on standby in the courtroom, however, and Corn says they are likely providing him with some assistance.

"They are not telling him what to do, but they are trying to make sure that he understands his options.  The ethical instinct of a lawyer is to never give up, so those defense attorneys are still going to help him avoid the death penalty if they can do it," said Corn.

Corn says there are more than a dozen prisoners on the U.S. military's death row currently, but that the military has not executed anyone for more than 40 years.  Still, he says, given the nature of this case and the number of people killed, the death penalty very well could be imposed and carried out.


Monetary Fund reins in
its projections for the year


The International Monetary Fund says the global economy is expanding slower than it expected and has trimmed its projections for this year and next.

The Washington-based agency said Tuesday it now is predicting global growth of 3.1 percent this year and 3.8 percent in 2014. Both figures are down two-tenths of one percent from IMF's April predictions.

In its quarterly review of the world economy, the IMF said its declining forecasts stem from continuing growth disappointments in such developing countries as China and Brazil, a deeper recession in Europe's 17-nation euro currency bloc and a slower advance in the United States than expected. By contrast, the IMF said Japanese growth has been more robust than first thought.

The IMF said it expects that the world's economic conditions to improve, but only gradually. It said new financial market volatility has hit emerging markets the hardest, with rising interest rates and depreciating currencies.

The agency said that the world's major economies, such as the U.S., with the biggest global economy, need to promote policies for near-term growth while also cutting long-term debt. IMF chief Christine Lagarde has criticized the U.S. for cutting government spending too much too fast.


Earlier fire may have caused
fatal derailment in Quebec


Canadian investigators are looking at what role an earlier fire might have played in the derailment of an oil tanker train and deadly explosions in a small Quebec town last week.
 
Canadian transportation safety official Donald Ross said the earlier fire in one of the train's five locomotives is the focal point of the investigation. The fire, quickly doused by firefighters, occurred after the train's engineer parked the train late Friday outside Lac Megantic and set its brakes.
 
The chairman of the Montreal, Maine & Atlantic rail line, Ed Burkhardt, said the firefighters, in extinguishing the small blaze, also shut down the first locomotive's engines, releasing its brakes.
 
Burkhardt said that is what led to the disaster.
 
The train started to roll downhill toward the lakeside town, derailing on a curve and setting off massive explosions. The death toll stands at 13, with another 37 people missing. Much of Lac Megantic's downtown area was flattened as several tanker cars erupted in towering flames.
 
Ross outlined the sequence of events, saying there was about an hour between the time the locomotive's engine was shut down and the train started to move again.
 
"The engine was shut down at about midnight," he said. "The fire was extinguished. And the train starts to move at approximately 00:56, after midnight, after the crew and the MMA employee left."
 
Authorities on Tuesday said about 1,200 of the 2,000 people evacuated in the disaster may return home.


Evita bills facing some hurdles
in Argentina commercial sector


Argentina's central bank has warned businesses to stop rejecting commemorative bank notes bearing the image of Eva Perón to mark the 60th anniversary of the iconic former first lady's death.
 
President Cristina Fernández, whose fiery speaking style often prompts comparisons with that of Evita, unveiled the 100 peso bills emblazoned with her profile a year ago.
 
But publicity surrounding the newly-minted notes was not wide enough to overcome doubts from small businesses where cashiers have rejected the bills for being unfamiliar.
 
So the central bank this week launched a hotline for people to report those who refuse to accept the bills, threatening to fine those who keep turning them away.
 
“The 100-peso bills with the image of Maria Eva Duarte de Perón are legal tender and must be accepted by all retailers and financial institutions,” the central bank said in a statement this week.
 
Each is worth about $18.5 according to the official exchange rate.
 
Even if the bills are not widely accepted, Evita's image is very much alive in Argentina's political life six decades after she died of cancer at the age of 33.
 
Ms. Fernández has increased the role of the state in Latin America's No. 3 economy and is roundly criticized by business for imposing heavy trade and foreign currency market regulations that hurt investor confidence. The 60-year-old president often invokes Evita's memory in speeches.
 
Just before the president's 2011 re-election she unveiled a huge portrait of Evita on the side of the Health Ministry building.
 
Evita was married to late President Gen. Juan Perón and is adored by many Argentines for helping women get the vote, advocating for workers' rights and founding orphanages.
 
Ms. Fernández belongs to the Perónist party that has dominated Argentine politics since the late 1940s heyday of Perón and Eva.
 
Financial management has not been the strong suit of the Perónists. Inflation exploded under the general's rule and consumer prices in Argentina today are rising by about 25 percent annually, while the peso currency's black market rate is 48 percent weaker than the official rate.
 
Some cashiers have snubbed the Evita notes because they did not recognize them as legal tender. Others turned their backs on the bills for political reasons.
 
“There are always people who don't like Fernández and Evita and just don't want to touch them,” said a cash register worker in Buenos Aires, declining to give his name.
 
“But the problem is mostly that people are not sure whether this is real money or not because the design is unfamiliar.”


China's trade takes a dip
as officials seek solutions


China has released unexpectedly poor trade data for June, in a further sign of weakness in the world's second largest economy.

Government figures showed exports fell 3.1 percent from a year earlier. That is well below market expectations of around four percent growth. Imports also dropped 0.7 percent, a figure much weaker than forecast.

Customs spokesperson Zheng Yuesheng told reporters China's foreign trade is facing grave challenges. He said weak foreign demand for Chinese products, rising labor costs, and a stronger yuan currency are to blame.

Some slowdown in China's trade growth was expected in June because of a government crackdown on faulty data by exporters, which led to inaccurate trade figures earlier in the year.

China's government has expected slower growth as it attempts to shift its economy away from a reliance on exports and toward domestic consumption. But some analysts say the latest figures could prompt it to temporarily reverse course and stimulate growth.

China's economy is attempting to rebound from a prolonged slowdown, which follows three decades of staggering growth. Its economy grew 7.8 percent last year, its worst performance in 13 years. Beijing has set a modest growth target of 7.5 percent for 2013.


Biden praises dead fire fighters
as men of uncommon valor


U.S. Vice President Joe Biden says the 19 Arizona fire fighters killed June 30 in a wildfire were men of uncommon valor who died trying to save a town.

Biden led a delegation of federal and state leaders Tuesday at a memorial service in a packed 6,000-seat arena in Prescott Valley, Arizona. He called the highly trained young firemen who died in a wind-swept inferno some of the most disciplined and tenacious men in the world.

Thousands of firefighters and public safety personnel from across the country were in attendance, along with Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer and the state's U.S. congressional delegation.

Gov. Brewer eulogized the victims, calling each one a son of the state.  She also praised people from across the country for their outpouring of support, and said it remains the duty of all Americans to help and protect the victims' families.

Precise circumstances of the deaths remain under investigation.

But authorities say the men, most of them in their 20s, apparently became trapped in a matter of seconds as a burst of gale-force winds shifted, pushing flames in their direction before they could take cover.

The tragedy marked the greatest loss of life from a U.S. wildfire in 80 years, and the highest number of firefighters killed in action since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York City.


Video made by Snowden gives
his explanation of actions


Former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden explained his disclosure of clandestine American surveillance programs in a newly released segment of a video recorded last month.

Britain's Guardian newspaper released the video Tuesday of a June 6 interview conducted in Hong Kong, where Snowden fled last month.  Later he flew to Russia,  where he has been in the transit zone of a Moscow airport while trying to find a country to grant him asylum.

Snowden said he knew the United States would accuse him of espionage in alerting the country's enemies of the surveillance.  But he said the United States is also at fault for monitoring the phone records of its citizens and keeping track of Internet connections with possible terrorists.

"They are going to say I have aided our enemies in making them aware of these systems, but that argument can be made against anybody who reveals information that points out mass surveillance systems, because, fundamentally, they apply equally to ourselves as they do to our enemies," the accused leaker said.

Snowden said he does not "want to live in a world where everything I say, everything I do, everyone I talk to, every expression of creativity or love or friendship is recorded."

He said he released details of the surveillance being conducted by the clandestine National Security Agency because he felt government officials were not reining in the extent of the spying.

"I have watched and waited and tried to do my job in the most policy-driven way I could, which is wait and allow other people, you know, wait for our leadership, our figures, to sort of correct the excesses of government if we go too far but as I've watched I have seen that is not occurring," Snowden said.  "In fact, we are compounding the excesses of prior governments and making it worse and more invasive and nobody is really standing to stop it.''

The United States is seeking Snowden's extradition on espionage charges, but Russia has refused, while urging him to depart for another country.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said his country has received Snowden's official asylum request, as has Nicaragua.  Maduro said Snowden will have to decide if and when he wants to fly to Venezuela.  But Snowden's exit from Moscow is complicated because the U.S. revoked his passport.

The NSA says the information it has collected helped foil terrorist attacks.


Retailers set up plan to keep
close watch on Bangladesh


More than 70 global retailers are moving forward with plans to inspect clothing factories in Bangladesh, just months after at least 1,100 people were killed in a collapse in Dhaka. A new agreement looks to improve labor safety standards in Bangladesh.

For more than a decade, Kalpona Akter has made it her mission to give a voice to many of the 3.5 million Bangladeshi workers who spend hours in cramped and often unsafe conditions churning out T-shirts and accessories for global fashion giants.

Since the April disaster in which hundreds of garment workers were buried under the rubble of the Rana Plaza, the executive director of the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity now spends her days trying to win compensation for victims and their families, while also encouraging laborers to speak out.

“We are in contact with them on a daily basis to know how their factories are, whether they feel safe or what needs to be done and how they should raise their voices when they see there is a crack in the factory,” she said.

She said her efforts are being helped by the attention and pressure on global retailers since the deadliest incident to hit Bangladesh’s $20 billion garment industry.

This week, nearly 70 mainly European retailers who have signed a five-year accord announced the next steps to raising fire and building safety standards in Bangladeshi factories where their clothes are made.

The plan, led by global unions IndustriALL and UNI, includes inspecting every factory within nine months to identify grave safety hazards, publicly report the findings and implementing a remediation plan that would compensate workers in factories that have to be shut down for repairs. Money for the safety improvements would come from the retailers who signed the agreement.
 
IndustriALL’s Health, Safety and Sustainability Director Brian Kohler said this type of legally binding contract to raise standards is unprecedented.
 
“I think it really is a game-changer in terms of how these things can go," Kohler said. "It’s not just another voluntary agreement, it’s not like a typical corporate social responsibility initiative. It’s a real agreement with real commitments.”
 
Bangladeshi activist Kalpona Akter welcomes the plan but wishes more American retailers had signed on.
 
Some including U.S. retail giant Walmart and Gap, having announced their own plans, are also pursuing a separate effort aimed at improving fire and safety standards in Bangladeshi factories. The effort is being led by two prominent U.S. lawmakers, but critics believe the plan will fall short of the transparency and oversight of the European-led effort.
 
“I think the U.S. retailers, who did not sign the accord, really do not care about these workers," the activist said."They are just still thinking about their profits. Because of the profits, they are not signing it.”
 
Still, she is quick to point out that the responsibility for maintaining safe conditions for garment workers falls not just on global retailers - but also on factory owners and authorities in Dhaka.
 
Following talks this week in Geneva, European Union and Bangladeshi officials launched a joint initiative that calls on the government to strengthen workers’ bargaining rights and hire 200 additional factory inspectors.