Thursday, October 23, 2014
U.S. ANNOUNCES EXTRADITION OF HAROON ASWAT FROM THE U.K. IN ORDER TO FACE TERRORISM CHARGES
FROM: U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Haroon Aswat Extradited from the United Kingdom to the Southern District of New York to Face Terrorism Charges
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Carlin, United States Attorney Preet Bharara for the Southern District of New York, Assistant Director-in-Charge George Venizelos of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and Commissioner William J. Bratton of the New York City Police Department (NYPD), announced the extradition of Haroon Aswat from the United Kingdom to face charges of conspiring to provide and providing material support to al Qaeda and terrorists for attempting to establish a terrorist training camp in the United States.
Aswat was arrested in Zambia in July 2005, and in August 2005, Aswat was deported from Zambia to the United Kingdom, where he was arrested pursuant to a provisional warrant that was issued in response to a request by the U.S. government in connection with this case. On Sept. 4, 2014, the United Kingdom ordered Aswat extradited to the United States on the charges described below. In coordination with British authorities, Aswat was extradited from the United Kingdom to the Southern District of New York on Oct. 21, 2014. Aswat will make his first court appearance later today before U.S. District Judge Katherine B. Forrest.
According to the allegations contained in the Indictment, statements made at related court proceedings, and evidence presented at prior trials:
In late 1999, Aswat, along with co-defendants Mustafa Kamel Mustafa, aka Abu Hamza (Abu Hamza), Ouassama Kassir, and Earnest James Ujaama, attempted to create a terrorist training camp in the United States to support al Qaeda, which has been designated by the United States Secretary of State as a foreign terrorist organization. Aswat conspired with Abu Hamza, Kassir and Ujaama to establish the terrorist training camp on a rural parcel of property located in Bly, Oregon. The purpose of the Bly, Oregon, camp was for Muslims to receive various types of training – including military-style jihad training – in preparation to fight jihad in Afghanistan. As used by the conspirators in this case, the term “jihad” meant defending Islam against purported enemies through violence and armed aggression, including, if necessary, by using murder to expel non-believers from Muslim holy lands.
In a letter faxed from Ujaama, in the United States, to Abu Hamza, in the United Kingdom, the property in Bly was described as a place that “looks just like Afghanistan,” and the letter noted that the men at Bly were “stock-piling weapons and ammunition.” In late 1999, after transmission of the faxed letter, Abu Hamza directed Aswat and Kassir, both of whom resided in London, England, and attended Abu Hamza’s mosque there, to travel to Oregon to assist in establishing the camp. On Nov. 26, 1999, Aswat and Kassir arrived in New York, and then traveled to Bly.
Aswat and Kassir traveled to Bly for the purpose of training men to fight jihad. Kassir told witnesses that he supported Usama Bin Laden and al Qaeda, and that he had previously received jihad training in Pakistan. Kassir also possessed a compact disc that contained instructions on how to make bombs and poisons. After leaving Bly, Aswat and Kassir traveled to Seattle, Washington, where they resided at a mosque for approximately two months. While in Seattle, Kassir, in Aswat’s presence, provided men from the mosque with additional terrorist training lessons – including instructions on different types of weapons, how to construct a homemade silencer for a firearm, how to assemble and disassemble an AK-47, and how an AK-47 could be altered to be fully automatic and to launch a grenade. On another occasion, with Aswat sitting by his side, Kassir announced to the men in Seattle that he had come to the United States for martyrdom and to destroy, and he informed his audience that some of them could die or get hurt.
In September 2002, special agents from the FBI recovered a ledger, among other items, from an al Qaeda safe house in Karachi, Pakistan. The ledger listed a number of individuals associated with al Qaeda, including Aswat. The al Qaeda safe house was used by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, al Qaeda’s chief operational planner and the alleged planner of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
The maximum potential sentences are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.
On May 12, 2009, after a four-week jury trial in the Southern District of New York, Kassir was found guilty of charges relating to his efforts to establish the terrorist training camp in Bly, and his operation of several terrorist websites. On Sept. 15, 2009, U.S. District Judge John F. Keenan sentenced Kassir to life in prison.
On May 19, 2014, after a four-week jury trial in the Southern District of New York, Abu Hamza was found guilty of charges relating to his role in the conspiracy to establish the terrorist training camp in Bly, as well as his role in a hostage-taking in Yemen in 1998 that resulted in four deaths, and his support of violent jihad in Afghanistan in 2000 and 2001. Abu Hamza is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 9, 2015, before U.S. District Judge Katherine B. Forrest.
U.S. Attorney Bharara praised the outstanding efforts of the FBI’s Manhattan-based Joint Terrorism Task Force, which principally consists of agents and detectives of the FBI and the NYPD, the United States Marshals Service, and the Metropolitan Police Department of London, England. U.S. Attorney Bharara also thanked the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Security Division and Office of International Affairs, and the United States Department of State for their ongoing assistance.
This case is being handled by the Office’s Terrorism and International Narcotics Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys John P. Cronan and Ian McGinley are in charge of the prosecution.
The allegations contained in the Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
U.S. UNITED NATIONS REP. SAMANTHA POWERS MAKES REMARKS
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Samantha Power
U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations
New York, NY
October 21, 2014
AS DELIVERED
Thank you, Madam President. I’d also like to thank the Secretary-General for joining us today and for briefing us on his recent trip to the region.
We are living in a time of tremendous turmoil in the Middle East; a time that demands brave and decisive leadership by both regional leaders and the international community. Across the region, we see the need for hard choices. In Syria, the international community must summon the collective resolve to stop the Assad regime’s monstrous atrocities, as well as the horrors of ISIL, and find a political solution to the conflict. In Lebanon and Iraq, political leaders must strengthen the institutions necessary to honor the aspirations of their people and to defeat violent extremist threats. And Israeli and Palestinian leaders must recognize that there is no alternative to a negotiated peace and invest the political will to build it. I will discuss each of these critical issues today, in turn.
We have seen how failures in leadership can help foster the conditions in which extremist groups thrive. By failing to make the hard choices necessary to address the grievances of its Sunni population, Iraq’s former leaders helped to create conditions that ISIL exploited. The consequences have been horrifying. To cite just one example: earlier this month, ISIL announced strict rules on what can be taught in universities in Mosul, one of the cities it now controls. When Iraqi university professors rejected these restrictions and boycotted, ISIL declared that any professor who did not return to work would be executed.
More than three years ago, Bashar al-Assad lost legitimacy to lead when he responded to peaceful protests with brutal violence. Atrocities committed by his regime – atrocities of the kind and scale this world has rarely seen – played a key role in spurring the emergence of ISIL and other terrorist groups, and Assad’s indiscriminate attacks on his own people continue to this day.
Last month, the OPCW released its second report, which found “compelling confirmation that a toxic chemical was used as a weapon, systematically and repeatedly,” in three opposition-held villages in northern Syria. The OPCW concluded with confidence that chlorine was used. Witnesses described the attacks as being carried out by helicopters, which only the Assad regime possesses.
The consequences of Assad’s actions have been staggering. More than 200,000 Syrians killed. Nearly 11 million Syrians in need of humanitarian assistance. And yet, despite the valiant efforts of international humanitarian groups, UN agencies, and others, the Assad regime is deliberately obstructing the delivery of crucial assistance to millions of people in dire need. The regime declares itself the antidote to the horrors of ISIL, but its chemical and barrel bomb attacks, its use of starvation as a tool of war, are every bit as indifferent to the fate of innocents and every bit as grotesque.
One community subjected to the Assad regime’s merciless attacks has been Palestinians in the refugee camp of Yarmouk, which the regime has sealed since July 2013. The 18,000 residents who remain there have been relying on untreated groundwater and a single well for drinking water for nearly a month. Just yesterday, a spokesman for UNRWA issued a statement that began: “UNRWA was not cleared to distribute humanitarian assistance in Yarmouk today, 20th of October.” The day before, UNRWA’s statement began: "UNRWA was not cleared to distribute humanitarian assistance in Yarmouk today, 19 October.” UNRWA notes that since July this year, there has been a steady and significant decline in the quantity of food and other essential items, such as medicine, that the Agency has been able to offer to the Palestinians in Yarmouk. That on any day – let alone so many days – the Assad regime is not allowing aid to flow to the Palestinians suffering in Yarmouk shows extreme cruelty. The international community must be more vocal in its condemnation of these unspeakable tactics. And when the Syrian government hails its leadership on behalf of the Palestinian people, they should be reminded by all of us of the people living in Yarmouk.
Three million Syrians have fled to neighboring countries to escape the regime’s and extremist groups’ violence – up to 80% of them women and children. The threat posed by ISIL is felt across the region, but especially in Iraq and Syria. And foreign fighters and Syrian nationals who have been recruited and trained to fight in ISIL and other terrorist groups pose a threat to countries far from the battlefield.
Among the countries most severely impacted are Iraq and Lebanon. For example, 180,000 Iraqis fled the city of Heet, in Anbar province, as it fell to ISIL in recent weeks. They are among an estimated 1.8 million Iraqis displaced just this year. Lebanon has taken in 1.2 million Syrian refugees – over a quarter of the country’s population – placing immense pressure on its already strained resources.
We know what we must do: we must defeat ISIL and other terrorist groups. We must hold accountable all those in the Assad regime responsible for its widespread atrocities. And we must mitigate the suffering of the Syrian people. But we wholeheartedly agree with the Secretary-General that a political solution is absolutely essential to address the root causes of extremism in Syria, and to address the legitimate aspirations and grievances of its people. A political solution is not an enshrinement of the status quo. The majority of Syrians will not accept being ruled by a regime that has used sarin and chlorine to suppress its own people.
We commend the efforts of UN Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, who is working urgently to build support for a political solution by engaging multiple stakeholders. The Special Envoy met with Iran over the weekend and is meeting with Russia today – countries whose influence will be critical to reaching this long-sought solution.
Given the massive suffering that Syria’s crisis is causing, and the threat it poses to our collective security, leaders in the region must be part of these efforts to forge a political solution. But regional leaders also must address problems closer to home, which impact the rights of their people and are a source of the suffering, disenfranchisement, and intolerance that feeds groups like ISIL.
Yet, some leaders still choose to put short-term interests ahead of the tough decisions needed to best serve their people. Others take divisive steps when they could instead build consensus. The international community stands ready to help address the region’s challenges, but we need partners to exert the political will and courage to seek real solutions.
In Iraq, newly elected leaders must break from the sectarian style of leadership that defined the tenure of the Maliki government, and build institutions that represent the whole nation, rather than advancing one group’s interest at the expense of another’s.
In Lebanon, the position of president has been vacant for nearly five months, during a time when the country faces considerable security, economic, and humanitarian challenges. Lebanon’s political leaders must come together urgently to select a president.
We have seen leaders within these countries willing to choose unity over division and to make great sacrifices for their people. In August, the Lebanese Armed Forces and Internal Security Forces fought bravely to defend the city of Arsal from extremists. They served and died for their country – not for any one religious sect. In Iraq, Prime Minister Abadi is taking steps to form a more inclusive government, establishing the country’s first complete cabinet since 2010. He is also moving toward decentralizing power and granting greater authority to provinces.
Real leadership is also required to advance Israeli-Palestinian peace. The most recent wave of violence was devastating, both in terms of its enormous human toll and because it was avoidable. Preventing another round of violence requires leaders who are willing to make difficult choices and commit to the hard work of negotiations.
We commend Egypt for helping broker a ceasefire agreement. The Gaza reconstruction conference raised $5.4 billion and reaffirmed the international community’s commitment to rebuilding the lives of Palestinians in Gaza who have suffered so much during and since the recent crisis. The United States is providing $212 million in assistance to the Palestinian people for relief and reconstruction, atop the $118 million announced in September.
Of course, as has been said, aid and assistance cannot produce peace in the Middle East – leadership and compromise are needed. For reconstruction not to be required again in the future, there must be a real change on the ground. Even the most durable of ceasefires is not a substitute for real security for Israel or for an independent state for the Palestinians.
This is only more difficult to achieve when both sides continue to take actions that may be politically popular with domestic constituencies, but that come at the expense of advancing the cause of peace. We continue to urge all parties to refrain from such actions, including unilateral steps at the United Nations, Israeli settlement activity, and provocations at the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif, where we urge all sides to respect the status quo of this holy site.
The United States remains fully committed to achieving a negotiated final-status agreement allowing two states to live side-by-side in peace and security. This is the only viable way forward, and if the parties are willing to go down this path – and are genuinely dedicated to the hard work of peace – we stand ready to support them.
Together, we can and we must support those taking the courageous steps to strengthen the Middle East in these immensely troubling times. The cause of peace in the region and the dignity of its people depend on it.
Thank you.
MAKING MATERIALS FOR FUTURE ELECTRONICS
FROM: NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Materials for the next generation of electronics and photovoltaics
MacArthur Fellow develops new uses for carbon nanotubes
One of the longstanding problems of working with nanomaterials--substances at the molecular and atomic scale--is controlling their size. When their size changes, their properties also change. This suggests that uniform control over size is critical in order to use them reliably as components in electronics.
Put another way, "if you don't control size, you will have inhomogeneity in performance," says Mark Hersam. "You don't want some of your cell phones to work, and others not."
Hersam, a professor of materials science engineering, chemistry and medicine at Northwestern University, has developed a method to separate nanomaterials by size, therefore providing a consistency in properties otherwise not available. Moreover, the solution came straight from the life sciences--biochemistry, in fact.
The technique, known as density gradient ultracentrifugation, is a decades-old process used to separate biomolecules. The National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded scientist theorized correctly that he could adapt it to separate carbon nanotubes, rolled sheets of graphene (a single atomic layer of hexagonally bonded carbon atoms), long recognized for their potential applications in computers and tablets, smart phones and other portable devices, photovoltaics, batteries and bioimaging.
The technique has proved so successful that Hersam and his team now hold two dozen pending or issued patents, and in 2007 established their own company, NanoIntegris, jump-started with a $150,000 NSF small business grant. The company has been able to scale up production by 10,000-fold, and currently has 700 customers in 40 countries.
"We now have the capacity to produce ten times the worldwide demand for this material," Hersam says.
NSF supports Hersam with a $640,000 individual investigator grant awarded in 2010 for five years. Also, he directs Northwestern's Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC), which NSF funds, including support for approximately 30 faculty members/researchers.
Hersam also is a recent recipient of one of this year's prestigious MacArthur fellowships, a $625,000 no-strings-attached award, popularly known as a "genius" grant. These go to talented individuals who have shown extraordinary originality and dedication in their fields, and are meant to encourage beneficiaries to freely explore their interests without fear of risk-taking.
"This will allow us to take more risks in our research, since there are no 'milestones' we have to meet," he says, referring to a frequent requirement of many funders. "I also have a strong interest in teaching, so I will use the funds to influence as many students as possible."
The carbon nanotubes separation process, which Hersam developed, begins with a centrifuge tube. Into that, "we load a water based solution and introduce an additive which allows us to tune the buoyant density of the solution itself," he explains.
"What we create is a gradient in the buoyant density of the aqueous solution, with low density at the top and high density at the bottom," he continues. "We then load the carbon nanotubes and put it into the centrifuge, which drives the nanotubes through the gradient. The nanotubes move through the gradient until their density matches that of the gradient. The result is that the nanotubes form separated bands in the centrifuge tube by density. Since the density of the nanotube is a function of its diameter, this method allows separation by diameter."
One property that distinguishes these materials from traditional semiconductors like silicon is that they are mechanically flexible. "Carbon nanotubes are highly resilient," Hersam says. "That allows us to integrate electronics on flexible substrates, like clothing, shoes, and wrist bands for real time monitoring of biomedical diagnostics and athletic performance. These materials have the right combination of properties to realize wearable electronics."
He and his colleagues also are working on energy technologies, such as solar cells and batteries "that can improve efficiency and reduce the cost of solar cells, and increase the capacity and reduce the charging time of batteries," he says. "The resulting batteries and solar cells are also mechanically flexible, and thus can be integrated with flexible electronics."
They likely even will prove waterproof. "It turns out that carbon nanomaterials are hydrophobic, so water will roll right off of them," he says.
Materials at the nanometer scale now "can realize new properties and combinations of properties that are unprecedented," he adds. "This will not only improve current technologies, but enable new technologies in the future."
-- Marlene Cimons, National Science Foundation
Investigators
Mark Hersam
Monica Olvera
Related Institutions/Organizations
Northwestern University
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
SECRETARY KERRY'S REMARKS WITH GERMAN CHANCELLOR MERKEL
FROM: THE STATE DEPARTMENT
Remarks With German Chancellor Angela Merkel Before Their Meeting
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Chancellery
Berlin, Germany
October 22, 2014
CHANCELLOR MERKEL: (In German.)
Well, ladies and gentlemen, allow me to say that I am delighted to have the Secretary of State John Kerry here for the third time ever since he assumed office. And yesterday I understand the Secretary of State had the opportunity to have a lengthy discussion over dinner with the German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, and today too we have our work cut out for us. There are a number of international issues that will be on the agenda of our talks today – indeed, international issues that are on the agenda for all of us in this year 2014. There are many of those tasks, many of those issues, many very demanding issues, and all of these can only be mastered by us if we act together, if we act in close partnership and coordination with our partners and friends in the United States of America.
Let me mention the issues as we see them today. First of all, we want to discuss our fight against Islamic State, countermeasures that are to be taken against this terrorist threat that IS presents to all of us. Secondly, the Iranian nuclear program will be on the agenda; and third, the catastrophe that is Ebola; and fourth, we will also discuss the future of Afghanistan. We have a very short time, that is true, available to us, and as you can see, we have more than enough on our plate to fill this very short time.
So once again, let me say that I’m delighted to have the Secretary of State here, and let me use this opportunity to thank him for the excellent cooperation that we have always enjoyed with our American partners and friends on all of these areas. And let me also mention that I forgot one very important issue, obviously – namely, Ukraine-Russia. There too there is quite a lot on our plate, and so quite a lot of things to discuss. Again, all of these crises we can only tackle, we can only master if we act in concert, if we act together. Only then will be able to bring them, hopefully, towards a solution.
SECRETARY KERRY: Well, thank you, Madam Chancellor. Thank you very, very much for making the time today to be able to meet. I know you’re very busy and I greatly appreciate the chance to sit down with you. President Obama, our administration, the American people have great respect for your leadership, and we appreciate enormously what Germany is doing on every single issue of critical importance today. I’m also mindful that I’m coming here today where I visited the old wall and met with some of your young kids who were asking questions about the future, none of whom had been born during that period of time. They were all post-Cold War.
And so even as we celebrate the fall of the wall and all that it symbolizes, it was very clear to me today, as it is to America, that the story of Germany is not the past – it’s the future, and what you are doing to define that future, leading Germany on so many issues to be a global leader. And I want to thank you, because on Ebola, you are contributing people, expertise, medivac capacity now, money, and Germany is one of the leaders in the effort to deal with this challenge.
On Ukraine, you and your foreign minister have been on the forefront of diplomacy. And your efforts with President Poroshenko, your personal interventions with President Putin, have been critical to helping to define the Minsk Agreement and to put us on a ramp to de-escalate and hopefully move away from conflict.
On ISIL, likewise, you made a very significant decision. Germany has stepped up, changed its own policy, and is helping to cooperate globally in law enforcement, as we’ve seen in the last days, but also to help to be at the forefront of fighting with the foreign fighters issue and ISIL itself.
On Iran, Germany is a critical partner in the P5+1 talks. And Foreign Minister Steinmeier and I talked at length yesterday about how we can hopefully seize this historic moment to be able to reduce that conflict and prove to the world that we can move towards a world without nuclear weapons, ultimately.
On Afghanistan, as you mentioned a few minutes ago, likewise, Germany is a key partner in the ongoing efforts to empower the people of Afghanistan to define their own future and to respect the sovereignty of the country. So all of these things, on every major challenge today, we are partnering. And we now need to obviously deal with economy, with growth. We hope that the Transatlantic Trade Investment Partnership can move forward, because all of our countries can benefit from the economic stimulation and growth that will come from that.
So we have a lot to talk about, as you said, a very little amount of time. But the time I spent last night was well spent, and I appreciate your making time today to have a personal exchange. I bring you President Obama’s great greeting, and again, our respect and gratitude for the strength of our relationship. Thank you.
READOUT: PRESIDENT'S CALL REGARDING SHOOTINGS IN CANADA
FROM: THE WHITE HOUSE
October 22, 2014
Readout of the President’s Call to Prime Minister Harper of Canada
President Obama spoke by phone with Prime Minister Stephen Harper to express the American people’s solidarity with Canada in the wake of attacks on Canadian Forces in Quebec on October 20 and in Ottawa on October 22. President Obama condemned these outrageous attacks, and reaffirmed the close friendship and alliance between our people. The President offered any assistance Canada needed in responding to these attacks. Prime Minister Harper thanked the President and the two leaders discussed the assault and agreed to continue coordination between our governments moving forward.
SECRETARY KERRY'S STATEMENT ON DEATH OF FORMER WASHINGTON POST EDITOR BEN BRADLEE
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
On the Passing of Ben Bradlee
Press Statement
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
October 22, 2014
Ben Bradlee was America’s Editor-in-Chief. He was courageous and fearless, gutsy and gritty, and as much as we remember his big laugh and his love of politics and people, his legacy defines great journalism: he found the facts and he let the facts tell the story, no matter where they led.
It's hard to explain the era of the Pentagon Papers to those who didn't live it. The magnitude and consequences of the choices Ben Bradlee and Katharine Graham were making are almost impossible to convey adequately. It required bravery. It exposed the truth. It saved lives. That's a rare thing today. There aren't many journalists who can say that they decided to say no to the most powerful people in the world and do what was right, not what was easy. But that's exactly what Ben Bradlee did in publishing the Pentagon Papers and he did it again on Watergate.
Ben put his own brand on journalism and it was big, bold, and unapologetic. He invented the modern newsroom. He cared about the Post as an institution and he cared about its people. He made independence in reporting the norm, not the exception. He was a Washington institution born and bred in Boston.
Ben and Sally have been friends and neighbors to Teresa and me for many years now. We've both been in awe of the remarkable way Sally cared for Ben these last difficult years, and we send Sally all our love now that Ben's at rest.
DOD REPORTS ON SITUATION IN SYRIAN CITY OF KOBANI
FROM: U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
Airstrikes Help Ground Forces Take Fight to ISIL, Spokesman Says
By Jim Garamone
DoD News, Defense Media Activity
FORT MEADE, Md., Oct. 21, 2014 – Kurdish forces are in control of the majority of the Syrian city of Kobani despite efforts by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant to take the town, Pentagon Press Secretary Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby said today.
Coalition airstrikes in and around the city on Syria’s border with Turkey have been augmented by an airdrop of arms to Kurdish forces fighting the terror group. Air Force planes dropped 27 of 28 pallets to Kurdish Peshmerga fighters in Kobani, Kirby said at a Pentagon news conference.
“ISIL forces continue to threaten [Kobani],” Kirby said. “We’re continuing to hit targets in and around there to help the Kurdish forces as they continue to fight against ISIL. So it’s still a very mixed, contested environment.”
Credit to Kurdish forces
Kirby gave credit to the Kurdish forces that have fought ISIL to a standstill.
ISIL is presenting more targets to coalition aircraft and to Iraqi forces, Kirby said. Coalition forces launched seven airstrikes yesterday, and with the weather in the region improving, Kirby said he expects more attacks on the terror group in the coming days. With better weather, “intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platforms are able to fly a little bit more now,” he explained.
Iraqi forces make advances
In Iraq, there have been strikes in support of forces on the ground in Fallujah, at the Mosul Dam complex and in Bayji. All three are areas ISIL wants to take and hold, and at all three locations, Iraqi security forces are contesting the group. Near Bayji – the location of a massive oil refinery -- Iraqi security forces are advancing.
“Their advances over the last few days have been slowed by the weather, which is clearing, and so they're moving again, but it also has been slowed by [improvised explosive devices] -- almost 30 IEDs that they found and cleared,” Kirby said. “They are taking the fight to the enemy, and those strikes last night are indications that we're trying to support them, too.”
DOD PARTICIPATES IN OPERATION UNITED ASSISTANCE TO HELP EBOLA STRICKEN REGIONS
FROM: U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
Above Photo: A group of 30 U.S. military personnel board a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III at Leopold Sedar Senghor International Airport in Dakar, Senegal, Oct. 19, 2014. The personnel flew to Monrovia, Liberia, where U.S. troops will construct medical treatment units and train health care workers to respond the the Ebola outbreak in West Africa as part of Operation United Assistance. The personnel include Marines, airmen and soldiers assigned to the 101st Airborne Division. U.S. Air National Guard photo by Maj. Dale Greer.
Above Photo: Aerial porters from the Kentucky Air National Guard’s 123rd Contingency Response Group load a pallet of red blood cells and frozen plasma onto a C-130 Hercules aircraft at Leopold Sedar Senghor International Airport in Dakar, Senegal, Oct. 10, 2014. U.S. Air National Guard photo by Maj. Dale Greer.
SECRETARY KERRY ANNOUNCES THAT SENATOR GARY HART TO PLAY ROLE AT STATE DEPARTMENT
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Senator Gary Hart To Play Diplomatic Role for State Department
Press Statement
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
October 21, 2014
I have asked Senator Gary Hart, one of our country's most respected and accomplished senior statesmen, creative and strategic thinkers, and my longtime friend who has been working with the State Department for close to two years, to also play a direct, on-the-ground diplomatic role.
Whether it's through his 12 years in the Senate, or his work on the U.S. Commission on National Security in the 21st Century, Gary is known as a problem-solver, a brilliant analyst, and someone capable of thinking at once tactically, strategically, and practically. He's been engaged already in the intellectual side of our government's foreign policy during this Administration, whether as chairman of the State Department's International Security Advisory Board, or as chairman of the Threat Reduction Advisory Council at the Department of Defense. Now we're fortunate that he's agreed to devote some additional time to engage in the tough and patient work of diplomacy as my Personal Representative, including on issues related to Northern Ireland. He does so with my confidence and trust.
Senator Hart has spent many weeks in Ireland and Northern Ireland over the past 30 years. He has listened and spoken to the people of Northern Ireland, and he knows many of the leaders. I’ve asked Senator Hart to support the parties in Northern Ireland as they enter a new round of talks to achieve a lasting peace. We welcome these new talks, supported by the United Kingdom and Ireland. I am confident Senator Hart will help the parties strengthen the institutions and economy of Northern Ireland, as well as reinvigorate efforts to promote a shared society. Our Consul General in Belfast Greg Burton will serve as Senator Hart’s deputy for his Northern Ireland work. Senator Hart expects to visit Belfast before the end of the month.
SEC ALLEGES CFO OF CHINA-BASED CO. SIGNED OFF ON NON-EXISTENT BUSINESS
FROM: U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Litigation Release No. 23116 / October 21, 2014
Securities and Exchange Commission v. Subaye, Inc. and James T. Crane, Civil Action No. 13 CIV 3114 (S.D.N.Y.)
Judgment Entered Against Former Chief Financial Officer of China-Based Company in Fraudulent Scheme Involving Purported Web Services Business
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced today that on October 20, 2014, a federal court in New York entered a final judgment, in an enforcement action filed by the Commission in May 2013, against James T. Crane, the former Chief Financial Officer of Subaye, Inc., a company based in China whose stock traded in the U.S. Among other things, the judgment orders Crane to pay a civil penalty of $150,000 and bars Crane from serving as an officer or director of a public company for a period of ten years.
The Commission's complaint, filed on May 8, 2013, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleged that Subaye began promoting itself during 2010 as a provider of cloud computing services to Chinese businesses. According to the complaint, Subaye claimed to have over 1,400 sales and marketing employees in 2010, with reported revenues of $39 million that fiscal year and projected revenues of more than $71 million for 2011. However, by May 2011, according to the complaint, Subaye was revealed to be a company with no verifiable revenues, few, if any, real customers, and no infrastructure to support its claimed cloud computing business. The complaint alleges that the business that Subaye had presented to investors and described in filings with the Commission was imaginary and non-existent.
The complaint further alleged that Crane signed Subaye's materially misleading filings with the Commission that contained false statements about Subaye's revenues, business, number of employees, and number of paying customers. According to the complaint, Crane also falsified the books, records, and accounts of Subaye and provided false information to Subaye's outside auditors. The Commission's complaint also charged Crane with violating a bar from the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB). According to the complaint, in January 2011, Crane and his Cambridge, Massachusetts-based accounting firm were sanctioned by the PCAOB, which permanently revoked his firm's registration and barred him from being associated with a registered accounting firm or being associated with any public company in an accounting or financial management capacity. The complaint allege that, in violation of the January 2011 PCAOB order, Crane remained as the CFO of Subaye until March 2011, even after the PCAOB denied his request to remain as Subaye's CFO for those two months.
Crane consented to the injunction and penalty components of the final judgment. The court determined the length of the officer and director bar after considering the filings in the case. The final judgment permanently enjoins Crane from violating Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Exchange Act) and Rules 10b-5, 13a-14, 13b2-1 and 13b2-2 thereunder, and Section 105(c)(7)(B) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, and from aiding and abetting any violations of Sections 13(a), 13(b)(2)(A) and 13(b)(2)(B) of the Exchange Act and Rules12b-20, 13a-1, 13a-11, thereunder, and orders Crane to pay a civil penalty of $150,000. The final judgment also prohibits Crane from serving as an officer or director of a public company for a period of ten years.
The Court previously entered a final judgment by consent against Subaye on May 16, 2013.
The Commission acknowledges the assistance of the Ontario Securities Commission and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.
ACTING ASSISTANT AG MORAN MAKES REMARKS AT U.S. ATTORNEY PARTINEZ'S INVESTITURE CEREMONY
FROM: U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Remarks by Acting Assistant Attorney General Molly Moran for the Civil Rights Division at Investiture Ceremony for U.S. Attorney Damon P. Partinez for the District of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NMUnited States ~ Friday, October 17, 2014
Remarks as Prepared for Delivery
Thank you for those kind words. It is a pleasure to be here in Albuquerque with you today as we celebrate the latest step in Damon Martinez’s remarkable career. It is an honor to join such a distinguished group in marking his official swearing-in as United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico. I’d like to extend a special welcome to Damon’s family and friends – including his wife Holly and his mother Carmen – along with exceptional leaders and dedicated public servants like Senator Udall, Chief Judge Armijo and other members of the federal bench here in New Mexico, Mayor Berry, former U.S. Ambassador to Spain Ed Romero, former Chief Justice Serna and Justice Chavez of the New Mexico Supreme Court, and Jim Marquez, Damon’s uncle who is a former U.S. Attorney for the District of Kansas. Thank you all for helping to make this event so special.
Damon has devoted his career to serving the people of his home state of New Mexico. From his earliest days in the offices of U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman and Congressman Tom Udall, to his work as Assistant Attorney General in the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office, to his service in the New Mexico National Guard, he has always stood ready to support, protect, defend, and advance the lives and livelihoods of his fellow citizens, both in this state and throughout the country. With his years of outstanding work as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Office he now leads, he expertly managed sensitive national security and anti-terrorism matters for the District of New Mexico. And today, he builds on that rich experience and steadfast commitment by formally taking on his biggest professional responsibility yet.
As someone who has worked with U.S. Attorneys throughout the country, I can tell you that Damon has the expertise, the good judgment, and the integrity to be a U.S. Attorney of terrific distinction in New Mexico and across the nation. As we have already seen over the last several months, he is well-prepared to serve as this state’s top federal law enforcement official. And it doesn’t hurt that he’s one of the nicest guys working in public service today.
My colleagues at the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division – and I personally – have had the great fortune of working with Damon and the staff at the U.S. Attorney’s Office. For years as we have collaborated closely on critical civil rights cases and other important priorities. Nowhere has his leadership been more important, or more necessary, than during the Justice Department’s extensive investigation of the Albuquerque Police Department’s practice of using deadly force. Damon was instrumental in ensuring that all individuals who were impacted by our investigation will have a voice in the future of their police department. Since we released our report, Damon’s office and mine have continued to engage with everyone affected in the community – including Mayor Berry and Chief Eden – and we hope soon to announce a forward-looking, comprehensive agreement for reform that we can all get behind.
Damon’s leadership was also vital to advancing the cause of civil rights in the District of New Mexico beyond this very important matter. Damon’s predecessor, Judge Ken Gonzales, began the process of developing a strong partnership between the Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and Damon has not missed a beat in building upon that foundation. As a result of this great partnership, together our offices have filed charges and successfully prosecuted a number of criminal civil rights cases, including cases against corrections officers, probation officers, and law enforcement officers who have abused their authority, and individuals who have committed violent racially-motivated assaults.
The partnership between our two offices has extended to civil enforcement of civil rights by enforcing federal statutes that prohibit discrimination. Together we have successfully resolved civil cases filed under the Fair Housing Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act to the USAO.
In addition to case-related work, attorneys from the Civil Rights Division and U.S. Attorney’s Office have collaborated in community outreach activities by making presentations at civil rights and Indian Country conferences and training programs.
As a result of this good work, and due to Damon’s leadership here, there is a growing sentiment in the District of New Mexico that the community can look to the Department of Justice to seek justice when civil rights have been violated.
In the few short months since he took office, Damon has hit the ground running, stepping forward to address some of the most pressing issues this community faces. He has quickly moved forward with forging and reinforcing the important partnerships necessary to address crime and corruption, and to fight against violence in the community. I know that Damon will bring the same level of professionalism, dedication, and passion to the myriad of complex issues he will face in the months and years to come.
As we administer the oath of office to him, we can all recognize that Damon Martinez is superbly qualified to lead the hardworking men and women who serve this important United States Attorney’s Office; to draw upon his experience and expertise in advancing its critical work; and to extend the tradition of excellence and integrity that has always defined our very best United States Attorneys.
Damon, I’m honored to count you as a colleague and partner, and I’m delighted to share this moment with you. On behalf of the Department of Justice, I congratulate you, once again, on this well-deserved honor.
TRACERS ID HYDRAULIC FRACTURING FLOWBACK SPILLS
FROM: NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
New tracers can identify frack fluids in the environment
Scientists develop new geochemical tracers, tested at sites in West Virginia and Pennsylvania
Scientists have developed new geochemical tracers that can identify hydraulic fracturing flowback fluids that have been spilled or released into the environment.
The tracers have been field-tested at a spill site in West Virginia and downstream from an oil and gas brine wastewater treatment plant in Pennsylvania.
"By characterizing the isotopic and geochemical fingerprints of enriched boron and lithium in flowback water from hydraulic fracturing, we can now track the presence of 'frack' fluids in the environment and distinguish them from wastewater coming from other sources, including conventional oil and gas wells," said Duke University geochemist Avner Vengosh, who co-led the research.
"This gives us new forensic tools to detect if frack fluids are escaping into our water supply and what risks, if any, they might pose."
Using the tracers, scientists can determine where frack fluid contamination has--or hasn't--been released to the environment and, ultimately, help identify ways to improve how shale gas wastewater is treated and disposed of.
The researchers published their findings today in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. Their study, which was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), is the first to report on the development of the boron and lithium tracers.
"With increasing exploitation of unconventional oil and gas reservoirs through the use of hydraulic fracturing, it's important that we are able to assess the extent of hydraulic fracturing fluids entering the environment," said Alex Isern, section head in NSF's Division of Earth Sciences, which funded the research.
"This work is critical as it demonstrates that geochemical fingerprinting provides a powerful tool to differentiate potential sources of contamination and therefore guide efforts to mitigate environmental impacts."
Adds Nathaniel Warner of Dartmouth College, lead author of the paper, "This new technology can be combined with other methods to identify specific instances of accidental releases to surface waters in areas of unconventional drilling.
"It could benefit industry as well as federal and state agencies charged with monitoring water quality and protecting the environment."
Hydraulic fracturing fluids--or frack fluids--typically contain mixes of water, proprietary chemicals and sand. Mixtures can vary from site to site.
Drillers inject large volumes of the fluids down gas wells at high pressure to crack open shale formations deep underground and allow natural gas trapped within the shale to flow out and be extracted.
After the shale has been fractured, the frac fluids flow back up the well to the surface along with the gas and highly saline brines from the shale formation.
Some people fear that toxic frack fluid chemicals in this flowback could contaminate nearby water supplies if they're accidentally spilled or insufficiently treated before being disposed of.
"The flowback fluid that returns to the surface becomes a waste that needs to be managed," Vengosh explained.
"Deep-well injection is the preferable disposal method, but injecting large volumes of wastewater into deep wells can cause earthquakes in sensitive areas and is not geologically available in some states.
"In Pennsylvania, much of the flowback is now recycled and reused, but a significant amount of it is still discharged into local streams or rivers."
It's possible to identify the presence of frack fluid in spilled or discharged flowback by tracing synthetic organic compounds that are added to the fluid before it's injected down a well, Vengosh said, but the proprietary nature of these chemicals, combined with their instability in the environment, limits the usefulness of such tracers.
By contrast, the new boron and lithium tracers remain stable in the environment.
"The difference is that we are using tracers based on elements that occur naturally in shale formations," Vengosh said.
When drillers inject frack fluids into a shale formation, they not only release hydrocarbon, but also boron and lithium that are attached to clay minerals in the formation.
As the fluids react and mix at depth, they become enriched in boron and lithium.
As they're brought back to the surface, they have distinctive fingerprints that are different from other types of wastewater, including wastewater from a conventional gas or oil well, and from naturally occurring background water.
"This type of forensic research allows us to clearly identify possible sources of wastewater contamination," Vengosh said.
Thomas Darrah of The Ohio State University, Robert Jackson of Duke and Stanford Universities and Romain Millot and Wolfram Kloppmann of the French Geological Survey also co-authored the paper, which was partly funded by the Park Foundation.
-NSF-
Media Contacts
Cheryl Dybas, NSF
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
FTC SAYS CLAIMS ABOUT "OXODEGRADABLE" PLASTIC MAY BE DECEPTIVE
FROM: U.S. FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
FTC Staff Warns Plastic Waste Bag Marketers That Their “Oxodegradable” Claims May Be Deceptive
Staff of the Federal Trade Commission has sent letters warning 15 marketers of “oxodegradable” plastic waste bags that their oxodegradable, oxo biodegradable, or biodegradable claims may be deceptive.
Oxodegradable plastic is made with an additive intended to cause it to degrade in the presence of oxygen. Most waste bags are intended to be deposited in landfills, however, where not enough oxygen likely exists for oxodegradable bags to completely degrade in the time consumers expect. Contrary to the marketing, therefore, these bags may be no more biodegradable than ordinary plastic waste bags when used as intended.
“If marketers don’t have reliable scientific evidence for their claims, they shouldn’t make them,” said Jessica Rich, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Claims that products are environmentally friendly influence buyers, so it’s important they be accurate.”
The staff notified 15 marketers that they may be deceiving consumers based on the agency's 2012 revisions to its Guides For the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims (the Green Guides). Based on studies about how consumers understand biodegradable claims, the Green Guides advise that unqualified “degradable” or “biodegradable” claims for items that are customarily disposed in landfills, incinerators, and recycling facilities are deceptive because these locations do not present conditions in which complete decomposition will occur within one year.
The FTC advised marketers that consumers understand the terms “oxodegradable” or “oxo biodegradable” claims to mean the same thing as “biodegradable.” Staff identified the 15 marketers as part of its ongoing review of green claims in the marketplace. It has given them until October 21, 2014, to respond to the warning letters and tell the staff if they will remove their oxodegradable claims from their marketing or if they have competent and reliable scientific evidence proving that their bags will biodegrade as advertised.
The staff notes that marketers who did not receive a letter should not assume that their claims are fine. Staff is not disclosing the recipients of the letters at this time.
OPERATORS OF DIAGNOSTIC CENTERS TO PAY $2.6 MILLION SETTLING ALLEGATIONS OF FALSE CLAIMS ACT VIOLATIONS
FROM: U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Friday, October 17, 2014
Operators of Houston Area Diagnostic Centers Agree to Pay $2.6 Million to Settle Alleged False Claims Act Violations
One group of centers, which operates under the name One Step Diagnostic and is owned and controlled by Fuad Rehman Cochinwala, has agreed to pay $1.2 million. The payment is being made to settle allegations that it violated the Stark Statute and the False Claims Act by entering into sham consulting and medical director agreements with physicians who referred patients to One Step Diagnostic Centers.
The other group of centers, which is owned and controlled by Rahul Dhawan, has agreed to pay $1,457,686. This group consists of Complete Imaging Solutions LLC doing business as Houston Diagnostics, Deerbrook Diagnostics & Imaging Center LLC, Elite Diagnostic Inc., Galleria MRI & Diagnostic LLC, Spring Imaging Center Inc. and West Houston MRI & Diagnostics LLC. The United States alleged that these centers engaged in improper financial relationships with referring physicians and improperly billed Medicare using the provider number of a physician who had not authorized them to do so and had not been involved in the provision of the services being billed.
“The Department of Justice has longstanding concerns about improper financial relationships between health care providers and their referral sources, because such relationships can alter a physician's judgment about the patient's true health care needs and drive up health care costs for everyone,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Branda. “In addition to yielding a recovery for taxpayers, this settlement should deter similar conduct in the future and help make health care more affordable.”
“These settlements totaling more than $2.6 million represent the continuing commitment of our office in combatting health care fraud,” said U.S. Attorney Magidson. “The U.S. takes these accusations seriously. Working within the whistleblower laws, we will continue to bring these cases to public view where tax payer money is being used improperly.”
The settlements announced today arose from a lawsuit filed by three whistleblowers under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act. Under that act, private citizens can bring suit on behalf of the government for false claims and share in any recovery.
This settlement illustrates the government’s emphasis on combating health care fraud and marks another achievement for the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT) initiative, which was announced in May 2009 by the Attorney General and the Secretary of Health and Human Services. The partnership between the two departments has focused efforts to reduce and prevent Medicare and Medicaid financial fraud through enhanced cooperation. One of the most powerful tools in this effort is the False Claims Act. Since January 2009, the Justice Department has recovered a total of more than $22.5 billion through False Claims Act cases, with more than $14.3 billion of that amount recovered in cases involving fraud against federal health care programs.
The case, United States ex rel. Holderith, et al. v. One Step Diagnostic, Inc., et al., Case No. 12-CV-2988 (S.D. Tex.), was handled by the Justice Department’s Civil Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas and Department of Health and Human Services - Office of Inspector General. The claims settled by this agreement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.
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