Exclusive: Arms ship seized by Yemen may have been Somalia-bound: U.N.

By Louis Charbonneau and Michelle Nichols

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - An Iranian ship laden with arms seized by Yemeni authorities in January may also have been bound for Somalia, according to a confidential U.N. report seen by Reuters on Monday.

Yemeni forces intercepted the ship, the Jihan 1, off Yemen's coast on January 23. U.S. and Yemeni officials said it was carrying a large cache of weapons, including surface-to-air missiles, being smuggled from Iran to insurgents in Yemen.

The confidential U.N. report, by the U.N. Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea, cited Yemeni officials as saying that it was possible diesel carried aboard the ship could have been intended for shipment to Somalia.

The group, which tracks compliance with Security Council sanctions, raised concerns in the report about the flow of weapons to Islamist al-Shabaab militants since the U.N. Security Council eased an arms embargo on Somalia's fragile Western-backed government earlier this year.

The report did not explicitly say that weapons on the ship were headed for Somalia, but one U.N. Security Council diplomat said that if it was true that the diesel was intended for Somalia, it could not be ruled out that other items on the ship, including weapons, might also have been intended for there.

Alireza Miryousefi, a spokesman for Iran's U.N. mission, rejected the suggestion that Iran could be connected in any way with arms supplies to al-Shabaab.

"These are some baseless allegations and ridiculous fabrications about the Islamic Republic of Iran," he said. "This alleged report by the Monitoring Group on Somalia on arms shipments from Iran carries no basis or the minimum rationality."

A Western diplomat said that the fact that there were 16,716 blocks of C4 explosive on the Jihan 1 suggested a potential connection between Iran and al-Shabaab in Somalia, as Huthi rebels, unlike al-Shabaab, were not known to use C4.

The U.N. mission for Somalia did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

The U.N. experts wrote that according to Yemeni security officials, the arms and ammunition were well-packed in small containers concealed inside several large compartments filled with diesel fuel.

"Yemeni officials indicated that this arms consignment was to be delivered to the Huthi rebellion in north Yemen," the report to the Security Council's sanctions committee said. "However the Monitoring Group investigated if some of the Jihan 1 cargo could have been intended for delivery in Somalia."

"When asked about this, security officials confirmed that the diesel could have been bound for Somalia," the report said. "Members of the crew have also divulged to a diplomatic source who interviewed them in Aden that the diesel was bound for Somalia."

The potential Somalia connection was not raised in a recent report by the U.N. Panel of Experts on Iran that monitors compliance with the U.N. sanctions regime against Tehran.

That report said five of the Iran panel's eight members found that all available information clearly placed Tehran at the center of the Jihan arms smuggling operation. But three panel members - who U.N. diplomats said were from Russia, China and Nigeria - said the Jihan incident was a "probable", not definite, violation of the U.N. ban on Iranian arms exports.

AL-SHABAAB REMAINS STRONG

The latest experts' report said Yemen was the top source of arms in Somalia.

The group wrote that authorities in Puntland - a semi-autonomous region of Somalia which has a fractious relationship with Mogadishu - had said that one reason they had passed a law banning Yemeni petroleum imports the ease with which arms were smuggled in diesel containers like the ones on the Jihan 1.

"Additional evidence indicates the involvement of an individual entity based in Djibouti as part of a network that supplies arms and ammunition to al-Shabaab in Somalia," it said.

The report said that al-Shabaab remained strong, even though it had been driven out of a number of cities and towns.

"The military strength of al-Shabaab, with an approximately 5,000-strong force, remains arguably intact, in terms of operational readiness, chain of command, discipline, and communication capabilities," it said. "At present, al-Shabaab remains the principal threat to peace and security in Somalia."

The monitoring group said it was concerned about the possible export from Somalia of know-how in the manufacture of suicide vests and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to Kenya and Uganda. It said it had analyzed a suicide vest discovered in Kenya in March, which was similar to ones used by al-Shabaab.

This, the group said, "suggests a transfer of know-how between al-Shabaab in Somalia and al-Shabaab members or its sympathizers operating in Kenya."

Although piracy off Somalia's coast had decreased, it said some of the demobilized pirates were providing private security services to unlicensed fishing vessels off Somalia's coast.

"Puntland officials estimate that tens of thousands of metric tons (1 metric ton = 1.1023 tons) of illegal catch has been fished from Puntland's coastline between 2012 and 2013 by hundreds of illegal fishing vessels," the report said.

"The vessels are predominantly Iranian and Yemeni owned and all use Somali armed security," it said.

The Monitoring Group said it was investigating reports that illegal fishing vessels were also being used to smuggle weapons.

While the reports were unconfirmed, the group had established "other connections between the illegal fishing networks and networks involved in the arms trade and connected to al-Shabaab in northeastern Somalia," the report said.

The Monitoring Group said Puntland officials estimated that as many as 180 illegal Iranian and 300 illegal Yemeni vessels were fishing in Somali waters, along with a small number of Chinese, Taiwanese, Korean and European-owned vessels.

(Reporting by Louis Charbonneau; Editing by David Brunnstrom)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/exclusive-arms-ship-seized-yemen-may-somalia-bound-011556213.html

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Oil near $98 as protests rock Egypt government

BANGKOK (AP) ? Oil hovered near $98 a barrel Tuesday, underpinned by political unrest in Egypt that raised fears of disruption to global crude supplies.

Benchmark crude for August delivery was down 3 cents to $97.96 a barrel at early afternoon Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract jumped $1.43 to close at $97.99 in New York on Monday.

After massive weekend protests in Egypt that continued Monday, the country's military issued an ultimatum to President Mohammed Morsi that gives him 48 hours to meet the demands of the millions who have taken to the streets seeking his ouster.

The ultimatum, rebuffed by Morsi, raised worries on both sides the military could outright take over, as it did after the 2011 ouster of autocrat Hosni Mubarak. It also raised the risk of a backlash from Morsi's Islamist backers, including his powerful Muslim Brotherhood and hard-liners, some of whom once belonged to armed militant groups.

Traders were concerned that the protests in Egypt and the civil war in Syria could affect the production and transport of oil supplies in the Middle East and North Africa.

"Egypt may not be an oil producer, but they are an important passageway for everything from the Middle East to the rest of the world," said Carl Larry of Oil Outlooks in a commentary.

Brent crude was up 12 cents at $103.12 a barrel on the ICE futures exchange in London.

In other energy futures trading on Nymex:

? Natural gas was up 0.2 cent at $3.579 per 1,000 cubic feet.

? Heating oil added 0.3 cent to $2.876 per gallon.

? Wholesale gasoline rose 1.1 cent to $2.745 per gallon.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/oil-near-98-protests-rock-egypt-government-062224300.html

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Microsoft to sell 256GB Surface Pro in the US, but only through certain resellers (updated)

Did you look on Japan with envy as Microsoft launched a 256GB Surface Pro in the country, leaving other countries with modest storage? If you're American, you won't have to fret any more: Microsoft has confirmed to Engadget that there will be "limited availability" of the 256GB model in the country through its new commercial reseller program. While the company didn't say exactly which stores will carry the Surface Pro, Windows Phone Central has already spotted the new version on sale at CDW for $1,200. New orders will still take a few days to ship, but it could be worth the wait for the ultimate version of Microsoft's official tablet.

Update: Microsoft has clarified its earlier statement in an FAQ -- at least at present, you'll have to be in business, education or the public sector to get the 256GB Surface Pro.

Filed under: Tablets, Microsoft

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Via: Windows Phone Central

Source: CDW

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/07/01/microsoft-to-sell-256gb-surface-pro-in-us/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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'Glee' star Matthew Morrison engaged

Celebs

Randee Dawn TODAY contributor

10 hours ago

Dave M. Benett / Getty Images Contributor

Matthew Morrison and Renee Puente.

"Glee" star Matthew Morrison is engaged to his girlfriend Renee Puente, a fact he confirmed with a simple tweet, saying he was going to "marry my best friend!"

The news initially came out during Elton John's White Tie and Tierra Ball on Thursday, an event the couple often attend. Coldplay singer Chris Martin dedicated John's "Your Song" to the couple, according to The Hollywood Reporter, and then sang the tune with John himself.

The proposal appears to have been done earlier; E! Online reported that the couple arrived at the event with her already wearing a "huge sparkler" in the appropriate left-hand finger.

Morrison tweeted the news Thursday morning.

They reportedly began dating in 2011, and this will be a first marriage for both.

Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/glee-star-matthew-morrison-engaged-6C10480930

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American-US Airways merger: Feds investigate possible antitrust issues

Airlines

Reuters

5 hours ago

LARRY DOWNING / Reuters

A U.S. Airways jet takes off from Washington's Reagan National Airport outside Washington, passing an American Airlines plane, February 25, 2013. Reuters reports the Justice department is probing the proposed American-US merger for antitrust issues.

The U.S. Justice Department is taking depositions as part of a probe into a planned merger of American Airlines and US Airways that would create the world's largest airline, three sources close to the discussions told Reuters.

The sticking point in talks between the Justice Department and the companies is whether the airlines will agree to sell slots -- take-off and landing rights -- to reduce their dominance at Reagan National Airport outside Washington, D.C., according to one source.

The three sources spoke privately to protect business relationships.

US Airways announced on February 14 that it planned to merge with American, which is emerging from bankruptcy, to create an $11 billion airline. The deal requires the approval of the Justice and Transportation Departments. The companies hope to wrap up the merger by the end of September.

American Airlines and US Airways declined comment. Justice Department spokeswoman Gina Talamona said only that the agency's investigation was continuing.

The fact that the Justice Department is taking sworn testimony in the form of depositions indicates it has concerns that the proposed merger creates antitrust problems. Depositions will be needed if the agency approves the deal with conditions or, in rare cases, if it decides to try to stop it. The department could also decide to approve the merger without requiring asset sales.

Depositions preserve testimony if the department decides to challenge the merger, said Robert Doyle, an antitrust expert with Doyle, Barlow and Mazard PLLC.

If the deal is approved, the new airline would have 68 percent of the slots at Reagan National, far more than Delta Air Lines with 12 percent, United Airlines with 9 percent and the 11 percent held by other airlines, according to a report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

The companies have pushed back hard against any suggestion that takeoff and landing slots at Reagan National be sold.

US Airways CEO Doug Parker told lawmakers in congressional testimony last week that requiring the combined company to surrender slots could mean fewer flights to small and medium-sized cities.

Antitrust experts have said the Justice Department could request divestitures of some slots at Reagan National and a small number of other airports. Outside these hubs, the carriers fly different routes for the most part.

In late May, more than 100 members of Congress asked U.S. regulators to allow the new American to keep all the slots at Reagan National. The airport is used by many members of Congress to travel to and from their home districts.

The U.S. airline industry has undergone five years of rapid consolidation. Delta acquired Northwest Airlines in 2008, United merged with Continental in 2010 and Southwest Airlines Co bought discount rival AirTran in 2011.

With fewer carriers competing, ticket prices have risen. The average fare rose about 8 percent to $375 in the third quarter of 2012, compared with $346 in 2008, according to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/663286/s/2def37a2/l/0L0Snbcnews0N0Cbusiness0Camerican0Eus0Eairways0Emerger0Efeds0Einvestigate0Epossible0Eantitrust0Eissues0E6C10A480A485/story01.htm

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Nelson Mandela and the qualities 'within easy reach of every soul'

President Obama shouted him out today. Only recently has Mandela's private thinking during his darkest days come to light: ?'Never forget that a saint is a sinner who keeps on trying.'

By Robert Marquand,?Staff writer / June 27, 2013

Giant photographs of former president Nelson Mandela are displayed at the Nelson Mandela Legacy Exhibition at the Civic Centre in Cape Town, South Africa, Thursday, June 27.

AP

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Standing in Africa today, the first black American president called the first black South African president an inspiration and a "hero."?

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By Melanie Stetson Freeman

Whether Nelson Mandela did open his eyes and smile in the hospital room when he was told days back that Barack Obama was coming for a visit isn't verified. It is what his daughter said.

But while such a scene might seem a little too perfect or scripted, in fact that itself is not out of keeping with much of Mr. Mandela's actual life.?

His life reads like an endless?series of firsts: the first in his family to go to school, the first black man to open a law firm in South Africa, the nation?s first black president.

For many of us, Mandela arrived on the world stage in 1990 as history turned a corner no one could imagine: China was asking itself about democracy in the tragedy of Tiananmen Square. The Soviet Union was falling like a domino, shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall. In South Africa, decades of apartheid were ending.

It was a time of miracles, rainbows, unseen hopes, and new fears. Even though it all arrived together, no one predicted it.

Mandela emerged from prison with a smile like perpetual summer and a light touch. He seemed filled with history and humility, and he waved to the world just as video and celebrity culture were hitting a peak. He bespoke the globalizing times ? articulated racial equality in a way that penetrated to the heart.

?I stand here before you not as a prophet but as a humble servant of you, the people,? he said. ?Your tireless and heroic sacrifices have made it possible for me to be here today. I therefore place the remaining years of my life in your hands."

Before that moment, the last time we had heard from Mandela was the year after Martin Luther King gave his ?Dream? speech at the Lincoln Memorial. It was 1964: Mandela was in the dock, on trial, facing a death sentence, saying,??I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. It is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.?

Then he disappeared, and in many ways had died to the world.

During the 1960s, '70s, and '80s, he sat in Robben Island prison; it might as well have been the dark side of the moon. Those years had little silver lining: no flowers, meetings with world leaders, plaudits, cameras, attention. No one expected the Soviet Union to collapse, for China to become the workshop of the world, or for a black man named after Britain's Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson to help peaceably end apartheid.

Only recently has Mandela?s thinking at this time come to light. His many public speeches are known. But his interior self during the depths of prison have not been. Yet they bespeak a man who found the strength not to hate, and who, while savvy to the world, also had a separate ?spiritual life.?

In 1975,?he could write:

Honesty, sincerity, simplicity, humility, pure generosity, absence of vanity, readiness to serve others ? qualities which are within easy reach of every soul ? are the foundations of one?s spiritual life.

Development in matters of this nature is inconceivable without serious introspection, without knowing yourself, your weaknesses and mistakes. At least, if for nothing else, the cell gives you the opportunity to look daily into your entire conduct, to overcome the bad and develop whatever is good in you. Regular meditation, say about 15 minutes a day before you turn in, can be very fruitful in this regard. You may find it difficult at first to pinpoint the negative features in your life, but the 10^th ?attempt may yield rich rewards. Never forget that a saint is a sinner who keeps on trying.?

That letter (which is included in his book "Conversations with Myself") was sent to his then-wife, Winnie Mandela, who had just been incarcerated in Kroonstad Prison. At the time, many of Mandela?s friends were being arrested, beaten, killed. The warden of Robben Island took to urinating in the cells and gathering places of inmates.?

Yet Mandela does not talk about malice or feelings of revenge, at least in the letters. He takes a wholly different line:

The cell is an ideal place to learn to know yourself, to search realistically and regularly the process of your own mind and feelings. In judging our progress as individuals we tend to concentrate on external factors such as one?s social position, influence and popularity, wealth and standard of education. These are, of course, important in measuring one?s success in material matters and it is perfectly understandable if many people exert themselves mainly to achieve all these. But internal factors may be even more crucial in assessing one?s development as a human being.?

The potent fears of a bloody civil or racial war in South Africa never materialized. Apartheid at the time had come under terrific opprobrium?in much of the world. It is probably going too far to say Mandela preached the idea of Martin Luther King Jr. in the segregated American South, of a love for the oppressor so serious that it loved in order to wipe away the self-harm done to them who act out of hatred.

But Mandela?s idea certainly was to reconcile differences on the basis of nonviolence, and to honor the other:

I detest white supremacy and will fight it with every weapon in my hands. But even when the clash between you and me has taken the most extreme forms, I should like us to fight over our principles and ideas and without personal hatred, so that at the end of the battle, whatever the result might be, I can proudly shake hands with you, because I feel I have fought an upright and worthy opponent who has observed the whole code of honor and decency.

What distance the man born in 1918 had come. In a fragment of his unfinished autobiography that appears in ?Conversations,? he remembers his early days with some ruefulness:

As a young man I ? combined all the weaknesses, errors and indiscretions of a country boy, whose range of vision and experience was influenced mainly by events in the area in which I grew up and the colleges to which I was sent. I relied on arrogance in order to hide my weaknesses. As an adult my comrades raised me and other fellow prisoners ? from obscurity ? although the aura of being one of the world?s longest serving prisoners never totally evaporated. One issue that deeply worried me in prison was the false image that I unwittingly projected to the outside world of being regarded as a saint. I never was one?.

Yet something remarkable develops in the self-described young black man, who joins the Methodist church, and does have an interest in the Bible.

From prison, Mandela describes to his wife a novel he read in 1964 called ?Shadows of Nazareth.? It is about the trial of Christ Jesus. The narrative voice in the novel is that of Pontius Pilate, the Roman procurator who is asked by the Sanhedrin to judge Jesus.

Mandela, who in 1964 had just been recently sentenced in court, writes that though the trial of Jesus ?occurred about 2000 years ago, the story contains a moral whose truth is universal and which is as fresh and meaningful today as it was at the height of the Roman Empire.?

He goes on, reciting from memory, and actually adopts the voice of Pilate in the first person, as he remembers it:

But this trial [of] Christ I shall never forget!

I looked at the prisoner and our eyes met. In the midst of all the excitement and noise, he remained perfectly calm, quiet and confident as if he had millions of people on his side?. Christ had become a mighty force in the land and the mass[es] of the people were fully behind him. In this situation the priests felt powerless?

Mandela describes how Pilate agreed to judge Jesus, then offered the public a choice that freed not Jesus but the zealot Barabbas, and then how he, Pilate, finally ordered Jesus brought into the Roman court:?

For the first time in my experience, I faced a man whose eyes appeared to see right through me, whereas I was unable to fathom him. Written across his face was a gleam of love and hope; but at the same time he bore the expression of one who was deeply pained by the folly and suffering of mankind as a whole.

He gazed upwards and his eyes seemed to pierce through the roof and to see right beyond the stars. It became clear that in that courtroom authority was not in me as a judge, but was down below in the dock where the prisoner was.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/amoNcSGUFBs/Nelson-Mandela-and-the-qualities-within-easy-reach-of-every-soul

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Portuguese trade unions strike over austerity

LISBON, Portugal (AP) ? Public transport and government offices are expected to be the worst-hit services as Portugal's two trade union confederations stage a national 24-hour strike against austerity measures.

Unions representing about 1 million workers are protesting Thursday against debt-cutting measures Portugal was compelled to adopt by creditors in return for a 78 billion euros ($102 billion) bailout two years ago.

Public sector pay cuts and hikes in taxes on sales and private and corporate income have contributed to the economy's downward spiral, with the jobless rate growing to 17.8 percent and a third straight year of recession forecast in 2013.

The General Confederation of Portuguese Workers and the General Workers' Union want the center-right government to ease off the austerity measures and take more steps to create jobs and growth.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/portuguese-trade-unions-strike-over-austerity-075848250.html

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