Homeland nominee defends self as GOP boycotts

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama's choice to be the No. 2 official at the Department of Homeland Security on Thursday strongly denied allegations that he had helped a politically connected company obtain a foreign investor visa, as his nomination got a White House vote of confidence. Republican senators boycotted the hearing on Alejandro Mayorkas' nomination.

Mayorkas, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, told the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee that suggestions of impropriety on the visa matter were "unequivocally false" and that he had overseen the program "based on the law and the facts and nothing else."

"I have never, ever in my career exercised undue influence to influence the outcome of a case," he said. "I have never based my decisions on who brings a case but rather on the facts and the law."

The Associated Press obtained a letter from White House counsel Kathryn Ruemmler to the committee stating that the administration has no concerns about Mayorkas' "suitability" for the post. She said the White House followed standard procedures in checking out Mayorkas for the job and urged the Senate to swiftly confirm him.

Mayorkas' nomination hit a snag this week when the AP reported that the Homeland Security Inspector General's Office was investigating his role in helping secure a foreign investor visa for Gulf Coast Funds Management, a company run by former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's brother Tony Rodham. The efforts on behalf of Gulf Coast allegedly occurred even after the application had been denied and an appeal rejected.

The hearing played out with an empty bank of chairs for the committee's Republicans. Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, the ranking Republican on the panel, released a statement saying he wouldn't participate because it would be unfair to do so until the allegations are resolved and there is no pending investigation.

"We believe the committee must wait until these allegations against Mr. Mayorkas are resolved before deciding whether to move forward with his nomination," Coburn said.

Other Republicans stayed away as well.

The committee's chairman, Sen. Thomas Carper, D-Del., acknowledged questions surrounding Mayorkas' qualifications but said it was important to move forward with the hearing to ensure the department has "strong and stable leadership."

"At this point in time, we do not have all the facts," Carper said of the investigation. He also said it was his understanding that Mayorkas had not yet been interviewed by the inspector general's office.

Despite the controversy surrounding Mayorkas, Carper expressed confidence in his nomination.

"I have also taken the opportunity to review Mr. Mayorkas' FBI file, not once, but twice. Nothing in my conversations with Mr. Mayorkas or in my review of his FBI file has convinced me that we should not be holding this hearing today," Carper said.

The nomination took on new importance earlier this month when Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced she would be leaving the massive department in September to take over as president of the University of California. Should Mayorkas be approved by the Senate, he almost certainly would lead the department until a permanent replacement for Napolitano is named.

With Napolitano's departure, 15 of the department's 45 top positions will either be filled with an acting official or vacant altogether.

Congressional officials briefed on the Mayorkas investigation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release details of the case publicly, said the visa was for a Chinese executive. Homeland Security and Citizenship and Immigration Services have not commented on the investigation.

In an email to lawmakers Monday, the inspector general's office said that "at this point in our investigation, we do not have any findings of criminal misconduct."

Rodham's company said Tuesday it was not aware of the investigation or of any investor visa application being denied.

According to the inspector general's office email to lawmakers, the FBI's Washington Field Office was told about the Mayorkas investigation in June after it inquired about Mayorkas as part of the White House background investigation for his nomination.

The investigation does not appear to have any direct ties to Clinton's tenure as secretary of state. Nonetheless, any hint of scandal or even the most tangential connection to Clinton, who is a possible 2016 Democratic presidential candidate, is likely to become fodder for Republican super PACs, which have sought to discredit her record while she maintains a lower profile with private speeches and work on a new book.

The international investor visa program run by USCIS, known as EB-5, allows foreigners to get visas if they invest $500,000 to $1 million in projects or businesses that create jobs for U.S. citizens. The amount of the investment required depends on the type of project. Investors who are approved for the program can become legal permanent residents after two years and can later be eligible to become citizens.

Even before the inspector general's investigation became public, two other congressional officials said several Republican members on the committee had planned to ask Mayorkas for more details about his role in the 2001 commutation by President Bill Clinton of the prison sentence of the son of Horacio Vignali, a Democratic Party donor in Los Angeles.

Another of Hillary Rodham Clinton's brothers, Hugh Rodham, had been hired by Horacio Vignali to lobby for the commutation for his son, Carlos, who was serving a 15-year sentence for his conviction on three federal drug charges.

Mayorkas, who was a U.S. attorney in California at the time, told lawmakers during his 2009 confirmation hearing to head USCIS that "it was a mistake" to have talked to the White House about the request. The congressional officials said Mayorkas acknowledged in recent answers to his questionnaire that he also had telephoned a U.S. attorney in Minnesota at the time to check on the Vignali commutation matter.

___

Associated Press writers Julie Pace and Stephen Braun contributed to this report.

___

Follow Alicia A. Caldwell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/acaldwellap

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/homeland-nominee-defends-self-gop-boycotts-164547911.html

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Violence Mars Montenegro's First Gay-Pride Parade

Police have clashed with antigay protesters trying to disrupt the first gay-pride parade to be held in Montenegro.

Several hundred protesters shouting "Kill the gays!" threw stones, bottles, and other objects at police and several dozen activists marching in support of gay rights in the coastal town of Budva on July 24.

Police said at least 10 protesters were arrested and several marchers were injured.

"We will not stop, we will not give up, we will organize gay-pride parades in Montenegro, just because of this, of what you can hear them shouting that we should be killed," Zdravko Cimbaljevic, one of the parade's organizers, told Reuters.

"We should not be killed, we have to live together, as a people that should live together, and fight together against discrimination and against inequality in our society."

Ahead of the march, several newspapers had published mock obituaries of gay activists.

Previous attempts to organize pride events in the staunchly conservative country have failed over threats of violence.

The Balkan nation of 600,000 is in talks to join the European Union, and the government had urged tolerance.

Based on reporting by Reuters and AP

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/montenegro-gay-pride-attacked/25055771.html

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Video Find: Watch Hackers Hack into Toyota Prius, Ford Escape

Like it or not, more and more computers are making their way into our cars. Depending on what car you drive, a computer could control everything from your infotainment system, your throttle, and even your steering. An alarmist new Forbes story shows what could happen if someone hacked into your car and took control while you were driving.

The video starts off with a noble purpose: to show that with cars increasingly reliant on computers, they become more vulnerable to hackers (we assume Forbes means 4Chan, Anonymous, and North Korea). In this case, the two hackers, Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek, are most certainly not North Korea. They?re two middle-aged web security engineers who have modified a 2010 Ford Escape and 2010 Toyota Prius to be hackable, with the help of a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) grant that has a goal of rooting out security vulnerabilities in modern cars.

The duo has torn apart the dashboard of their project Prius and Escape, and plugged their laptop into the OBD-II port. From there, as the video demonstrates, they can control anything from the seatbelts, to the horn, to even the car?s brakes and steering.

Though the tone is a bit inflammatory (the apparent purpose of the Forbes story and accompanying video is to ?pressure car companies to secure their products?to show exactly what can be done with a multi-ton missile on wheels?), the video is nonetheless interesting, worth a watch, and dare-I-say ? funny.

For those worried that they may be driving a ?multi-ton missile on wheels,? relax. Though some scientists claim to have hacked into cars wirelessly, the only way to really get into your car?s ECU is by plugging directly in to your car. For those still scared, buy a classic. We hear those are hack-proof.

Check out the Forbes video below.

Source: Forbes, YouTube

Source: http://wot.motortrend.com/video-find-watch-hackers-hack-into-toyota-prius-ford-escape-389065.html

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Auto theft on rise; California a "hotbed for hot cars"

Crime

Michael Strong The Detroit Bureau

8 hours ago

David McNew / Getty Images

LOS ANGELES, Morning traffic fills a freeway on April 25, 2013 in Los Angeles. Latest insurance figures show California is the leading state for car theft in the United States.

Car thefts across the nation rose 1.3 percent last year, after declining for the previous eight and eight of the Top 10 ?hot spots? for stealing cars were in California, where the financial crunch has reduced police manpower in some areas.

According to the Des Plaines, Ill.-based National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), Modesto, Calif., was the car theft capital of the U.S. last year, replacing Fresno, which finished second this time.

California was a ?hotbed for hot cars,? said the NCIB report, which suggested a number of reasons why. Among the biggest problems: a cutback in police staffing levels at a time of serious financial problems at both the state and local community levels.

Other factors cited by Frank Scafidi, NICB?s director of public affairs, included:

???? California?s proximity to ports, as well as the Mexican border, making it easier to get rid of hot cars;

???? Weather that keeps popular older models in good shape; and

???? Drug use that spurs theft by addicts seeking fast cash.

While California had eight of the Top 10 auto theft hot spots, the state of Washington laid claim to the other two. The West region of the country saw an overall increase of 10.6 percent year-over-year, while the Midwest, Northeast and Southern regions reported reductions of 3.1 percent, 7.9 percent and 2.9 percent, respectively, according to the NICB.

Countering the western theft centers, Midland, Mich., and the Kahului-Wailuku-Lahaina, Hawaii, areas were bottom of the list for auto theft.

The NICB's list reviews vehicle thefts from the nation's metropolitan statistical areas; its data mirrors preliminary FBI vehicle-theft data for the same period. FBI statistics won?t be released until this fall.

The Top 10 list, with last year?s place on the list in parenthesis, is:

1.? Modesto, Calif. (2)

2.? Fresno, Calif. (1)

3.? Bakersfield-Delano, Calif. (3)

4.? Stockton, Calif. (7)

5.? Yakima, Wash. (5)

6.? San Francisco/Oakland/Hayward, Calif. (6)

7.? San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif. (20)

8.? Vallejo-Fairfield, Calif. (9)

9.? Spokane-Spokane Valley, Wash. (4)

10. Redding, Calif. (40)

California has routinely led the list of auto theft hot spots but the surge in the Western region during 2012 led to an overall upturn in U.S. car sales for the first time in eight years.

The NICB is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to preventing, detecting and defeating insurance fraud and vehicle theft through data analytics, investigations, training, legislative advocacy and public awareness.

The organization advises drivers to take precautions against vehicle theft starting with common-sense measures like removing keys from the ignition, locking doors and closing windows and parking in well-lit areas.

Beyond that, bigger and better anti-theft measures include installing a warning device such as a car alarm, using immobilizing devices such as a smart key or fuse cutoffs and using a tracking device that emits a signal to authorities if the vehicle is stolen.

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Copyright ? 2009-2013, The Detroit Bureau

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Obama suggests spying on nations' allies is common

FILE - This June 17, 2013 file photo shows President Barack Obama meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland. President Barack Obama brushed aside sharp European criticism on Monday, suggesting all nations spy on each other, as the French and Germans expressed outrage over alleged U.S. eavesdropping on European Union diplomats. American analyst-turned-leaker Edward Snowden, believed to be stranded for the past week at Moscow?s international airport, applied for political asylum to remain in Russia. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

FILE - This June 17, 2013 file photo shows President Barack Obama meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland. President Barack Obama brushed aside sharp European criticism on Monday, suggesting all nations spy on each other, as the French and Germans expressed outrage over alleged U.S. eavesdropping on European Union diplomats. American analyst-turned-leaker Edward Snowden, believed to be stranded for the past week at Moscow?s international airport, applied for political asylum to remain in Russia. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) in the Kremlin in Moscow, Monday, July 1, 2013. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev, Pool)

In this photo taken on Monday, June 24, 2013, shows a view of Moscow's Airport Sheremetyevo, terminal E, with a hotel for transit passengers at the transit zone inside. Leaker Snowden has been caught in legal limbo in the transit zone of Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport since his arrival from Hong Kong on June 23. The U.S. has annulled his passport, and Ecuador, where he has hoped to get asylum, says it may take months to rule on his case. Russia's President Vladimir Putin said Monday, July 1, 2013, that Snowden will have to stop leaking U.S. secrets if he wants to get asylum in Russia, but added that Snowden has no plan to stop leaking. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko Jr)

FILE - In this file photo taken Friday, June 28, 2013, a Russian supporter of National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden holds a poster outside Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow. Leaker Snowden has been caught in legal limbo in the transit zone of Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport since his arrival from Hong Kong on June 23. The U.S. has annulled his passport, and Ecuador, where he has hoped to get asylum, says it may take months to rule on his case. Russia's President Vladimir Putin said Monday, July 1, 2013, that Snowden will have to stop leaking U.S. secrets if he wants to get asylum in Russia, but added that Snowden has no plan to stop leaking. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits, File)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Bolivian President Evo Morales, second right, attend the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) in the Kremlin in Moscow, Monday, July 1, 2013. (AP Photo/Maxim Shemetov, Pool)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama brushed aside sharp European criticism on Monday, suggesting that all nations spy on each other as the French and Germans expressed outrage over alleged U.S. eavesdropping on European Union diplomats. American analyst-turned-leaker Edward Snowden, believed to still be at Moscow's international airport, applied for political asylum to remain in Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a statement he acknowledged sounded odd, told reporters in Moscow that Snowden would have to stop leaking U.S. secrets if he wanted asylum in Russia ? and he added that Snowden seemed unwilling to stop publishing leaks of classified material. At the same time, Putin said that he had no plans to turn over Snowden to the United States.

Obama, in an African news conference with Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, said the U.S. would provide allies with information about new reports that the National Security Agency had bugged EU offices in Washington, New York and Brussels. But he also suggested such activity by governments would hardly be unusual.

"We should stipulate that every intelligence service ?not just ours, but every European intelligence service, every Asian intelligence service, wherever there's an intelligence service ? here's one thing that they're going to be doing: They're going to be trying to understand the world better, and what's going on in world capitals around the world," he said. "If that weren't the case, then there'd be no use for an intelligence service."

The latest issue concerns allegations of U.S. spying on European officials in the German news weekly Der Spiegel. French President Francois Hollande on Monday demanded that the U.S. immediately stop any such eavesdropping and suggested the widening controversy could jeopardize next week's opening of trans-Atlantic trade talks between the United States and Europe.

"We cannot accept this kind of behavior from partners and allies," Hollande said on French television.

German government spokesman Steffen Seibert told reporters in Berlin, "Eavesdropping on friends is unacceptable." He declared, "We're not in the Cold War anymore."

Even before the latest disclosures, talks at the upcoming free-trade sessions were expected to be fragile, with disagreements surfacing over which items should be covered or excluded from an agreement. The United States has said there should be no exceptions. But France has called for exempting certain cultural products, and other Europeans do not appear eager to give up longtime agricultural subsidies.

Obama said the Europeans "are some of the closest allies that we have in the world." But he added, "I guarantee you that in European capitals, there are people who are interested in, if not what I had for breakfast, at least what my talking points might be should I end up meeting with their leaders. That's how intelligence services operate."

Nonetheless, Obama said he'd told his advisers to "evaluate everything that's being claimed" and promised to share the results with allies.

Meanwhile, the Interfax news agency said a Russian consular official has confirmed that Snowden had asked for asylum in Russia.

Interfax cited Kim Shevchenko, the duty officer at the Russian Foreign Ministry's consular office in Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport, as saying that Snowden's representative, Sarah Harrison, handed over his request on Sunday.

Snowden, in legal limbo, is believed to have been in the airport's transit zone since his arrival from Hong Kong on June 23. The U.S. has annulled his passport, and Ecuador, where he has hoped to get asylum, has been giving off mixed signals about offering him shelter.

"If he wants to go somewhere and there are those who would take him, he is welcome to do so," Putin said. "If he wants to stay here, there is one condition: He must stop his activities aimed at inflicting damage on our American partners, no matter how strange it may sound coming from my lips."

Obama said "there have been high-level discussions with the Russians" about Snowden's situation.

"We don't have an extradition treaty with Russia. On the other hand, you know, Mr. Snowden, we understand, has traveled there without a valid passport, without legal papers. And you know we are hopeful that the Russian government makes decisions based on the normal procedures regarding international travel and the normal procedures regarding international travel and the normal interactions that law enforcement has. So I can confirm that."

Putin didn't mention any Snowden effort to seek asylum in Russia, and spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to say what the Russian response might be. Putin insisted that Snowden wasn't a Russian agent and that Russian security agencies hadn't contacted him.

Three U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to publicly discuss the Snowden case, said Washington's efforts were focused primarily on persuading Russia to deport Snowden either directly to the United States or to a third country, possibly in eastern Europe, that would then hand him over to U.S. authorities.

In a sign of the distrust the latest report had revealed, the German government said it had launched a review of its secure government communications network and the EU's executive, the European Commission, ordered "a comprehensive ad hoc security sweep."

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday he didn't know the details of the allegations, but he still played them down, maintaining that many nations undertake various activities to protect their national interests. Kerry failed to quell the outrage from allies, including France, Germany and Italy.

A spokesman for Herman Van Rompuy, the president of the European Council, said, "The European Union has demanded and expects full and urgent clarification by the U.S. regarding the allegations."

According to Der Spiegel's report, which it said was partly based on information leaked by Snowden, NSA planted bugs in the EU's diplomatic offices in Washington and infiltrated the building's computer network. Similar measures were taken at the EU's mission to the United Nations in New York, the magazine said.

It also reported that NSA used secure facilities at NATO headquarters in Brussels to dial into telephone maintenance systems that would have allowed it to intercept senior officials' calls and Internet traffic at a key EU office nearby.

As for Snowden, White House national security spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said the White House won't comment on specific asylum requests but reiterated its message to all countries that he "needs to be expelled back to the U.S. based on the fact that he doesn't have travel documents and the charges pending against him."

Regarding possible effects on U.S. interactions with Russia, she said it remains the case "that we don't want this issue to negatively impact the bilateral relationship."

___

Associated Press writers Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow, Sarah DiLorenzo in Paris, Frank Jordans and Geir Moulson in Berlin, Elena Becatoros in Athens, Raf Casert in Brussels, Deb Riechmann in Brunei, Nicole Winfield in Rome, Julie Pace in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-07-01-NSA%20Surveillance/id-ff817bc0d87a40a99ea29de9675766a9

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President's son says Uganda not a monarchy after succession row

KAMPALA (Reuters) - The son of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has said he would not inherit power like a monarch, after a general accused Uganda's veteran leader of grooming his son to take over.

But son Muhoozi Kainerugaba, who commands an elite military unit, did not rule out standing for election for the post in the future in comments published by his spokesman on Facebook.

Speculation has been growing that Museveni, in office since 1986 and one of Africa's longest serving leaders, is lining up his son to take power at the end of his term in 2016, although some say that, aged 68, the president could continue for years.

The issue, often a subject of private discussion, erupted into a public debate last month when a newspaper published a confidential letter by General David Sejusa referring to a plot to kill those opposing a plan to hand power from father to son.

Now in London, Sejusa accused Museveni of creating a "political monarchy" in a BBC interview.

"He says that he has not declared that he wants to stand for presidency," spokesman to Kainerugaba, Edison Kwesiga, wrote on Facebook. "He says that Uganda is not a monarchy where leadership is passed on from father to son."

"However, he is a Ugandan who qualifies to stand for any elective position of his choice. This would require him to retire from the army, offer himself to the electorate who would either vote him in or choose not to," the spokesman added.

Museveni won international accolades during his early years in office for stabilizing the nation and introducing a raft of economic measures that delivered strong growth.

Critics say he has turned into the kind of African strongman many hoped he had replaced and was cracking down on dissent.

In what critics said was part of another move to silence them, opposition leader Kizza Besigye, repeatedly detained in recent years, was briefly arrested on Thursday over accusations he had held an unsanctioned a rally, a charge an aide denied.

(Reporting by Elias Biryabarema; Editing by Edmund Blair and Alison Williams)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/presidents-son-says-uganda-not-monarchy-succession-row-190942113.html

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Start spamming your friends today for an early shot at Jay-Z's new album

Samsung is teaming up with rapper Jay-Z to bring 1 million copies of his upcoming album "Magna Carta Holy Grail" a few days before it goes on sale, and the Android app that'll do it for you is now available for download.

You'll need to have the Samsung Galaxy S3, Galaxy S4 or Galaxy Note 2 to participate. And then you'll need to log in using either Facebook or Twitter. And then you'll have to spam share content from the app with your friends. At 12:00:01 a.m. July 4, 1 million lucky fans will get the record that might or might not leak early anyway, a full three days before the official July 7 release.

read more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/YyYKOds1NZ8/story01.htm

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