Libya against EU migrant plan, ‘won’t accept any boots on the ground’ – country’s UN envoy

Illegal migrants who attempted to sail to Europe, sit in a boat carrying them back to Libya, after their boat was intercepted at sea by the Libyan coast guard, at Khoms, Libya May 6, 2015. (Reuters/Aymen Elsahli)

EU has failed to get a green light from Libya’s government about its migrant crisis plan, the nation’s envoy to the UN, Ibrahim Dabbashi, told AP. Libya is against the destruction of illegal migrant boats and the union’s ground troops on its territory.

"They never asked anything of us. Why should we send them this letter?

" Dabbashi asked, referring to Libya’s approval to the request for EU ground forces to get involved.

“We will not accept any boots on the ground,

” he added.

Libya has been largely lawless since the toppling of longtime strongman Muammar Gaddafi four years ago, with which the EU and US assisted the opposition forces. Since then a wave of migrants fleeing the internal conflict has increased and the EU has been facing a growing wave of criticism for not doing enough to save those fleeing to Europe.

The problem of illegal migration has been a growing concern in Europe, as more and more people are choosing the dangerous path of crossing the Mediterranean to escape conflict in the Middle East. This year alone, around 1,800 migrants have been killed while trying to cross the Mediterranean, the UN refugee agency said. About 51,000 succeeded in coming to Europe.

EU officials have been putting together a draft Security Council resolution, which would authorize EU forces to seize suspected boats believed to be used for smuggling illegal migrants. The EU wants the have the authority to confiscate the boats in international and Libya’s territorial waters as well as the country’s coast.

However, before any of that can happen, the western-backed Libyan government must send a request, especially if the EU troops are to be involved.

READ MORE: 6,800 migrants recovered from Mediterranean in 48 hours

Dabbashi clarified on Friday that Libya is against the destruction of the migrant smuggling boats because it would be too easy to mistake an illegal boat with other kinds of vessels.

In terms of sending more boats near Libya to improve migrants rescue operations, Dabbashi said that it is a "completely stupid decision

" since it would only inspire more migrants to make their way down to the Libyan coast.

The best solution to this problem is to supply the "legitimate" government with weapons, the UN envoy argued. Libya’s government is fighting with rival groups led by Islamist-allied militias, who have gained control of the capital, Tripoli.

“Once the government retakes the capital, Tripoli, and controls the whole western area of Libya, I think it would be very easy to stop this flow of illegal immigrants to Europe because we know everyone who is involved in this business

,” he said.

Russia has also spoken out against the EU plan to destroy the illegal boats carrying migrants, stating the move goes “too far

.”

“We think that we should stay within the scope of what we have, roughly what we have for the piracy situation off the coast of Somalia. We have a good precedent, so why not use it,

” Russian Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin told reporters on Thursday.

Physically destroying the boats could lead to legal problems, Churkin added. “For instance, if you lease a boat to somebody and then that somebody is using it to transport migrants illegally and then the boat is destroyed, what about the owner of the boat?

” he said.

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Record number of Americans living abroad renounce citizenship

A record number of Americans gave up their US citizenship in the first quarter of 2015, according to IRS data. This is blamed on the taxation of income earned outside the US, along with laws expanding offshore bank account and asset reporting.

A total of 1,335 people renounced US citizenship during the first three months of the year, topping the previous record by 18 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The new figure puts 2015 on track to exceed last year's 3,415 renunciations, which is an all-time record.

READ MORE: New tax law pushes record number of Americans to renounce US citizenship

The data released by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) includes the names of those who renounced their citizenship, but not their reasons for doing so. However, it comes as the US government is becoming more aggressive when it comes to the assets of the estimated 6 million Americans who live abroad.

The United States is the only country within the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development that taxes citizens wherever they reside.

American citizens who live abroad can exclude as much as $100,800 in earned income and can receive tax credits for payments to foreign governments. However, US tax liabilities can apply to children born to Americans abroad. In many cases, there are only partial offsets available for double taxation.

The paperwork involved for US citizens living abroad can be so complex that it requires professional help from accountants and lawyers – resulting in incredibly high fees for a relatively simple tax return.

READ MORE: 400% rise: Fee to renounce US citizenship goes up fourfold to $2,350

Although these laws were rarely enforced in the past, scrutiny of US citizens abroad has intensified due to the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), passed by Congress in 2010.

The law, which took effect in July, requires US citizens with foreign assets in excess of $50,000 to report those assets every year. It also requires foreign financial institutions to report the incomes of their US customers to the IRS.

FATCA also requires US financial institutions to impose a 30 percent withholding tax on payments made to foreign banks which don't agree to identify and provide information on US account holders.

More than 140,000 banks and other firms have signed up to comply with FATCA. However, the law has prompted some banks to decline doing business with people who have ties to the US. If a bank mistakenly fails to report accounts held by US citizens, they can face steep penalties.

The Obama administration has praised the law as the “global standard”

in battling tax evasion, though it has come under fierce criticism from many, particularly from Americans living abroad.

Washington's tax policies for those living abroad have also put two high-profile personalities in the spotlight.

READ MORE: US Treasury pressures overseas banks with ‘financial imperialism’ over tax evader

Eduardo Saverin, a Brazilian-born co-founder of Facebook, gave up his US citizenship in 2012. The billionaire moved to Singapore, where top earners are taxed only 20 percent on their earnings, and where capital gains taxes are not be imposed.

At the time, it was estimated that Saverin's move would save him $67 million in US federal taxes. However, it was never officially confirmed that his citizenship renunciation was for tax purposes.

Meanwhile, London Mayor Boris Johnson – who was born in New York – said earlier this year that he would give up his US citizenship. The statement followed his settlement of a US tax bill which he described as “absolutely outrageous.”

However, his name was not on the list released Friday.

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Climate change is UN-led hoax to create 'new world order' – Australian PM's adviser

Published time: May 08, 2015 11:25 Maurice Newman, the Australian PM's business adviser (Reuters/Daniel Munoz)

The Australian prime minister's chief business adviser says that climate change is a ruse led by the United Nations to create a new world order under the agency's control. The statement coincided with a visit from the UN's top climate negotiator.
Maurice Newman, chairman of Prime Minister Tony Abbott's business advisory council, said the UN is using false models which show sustained temperature increases because it wants to end democracy and impose authoritarian rule.
"It's a well-kept secret, but 95 percent of the climate models we are told prove the link between human CO2 emissions and catastrophic global warming have been found, after nearly two decades of temperature stasis, to be in error,"
he wrote in an opinion piece published in The Australian newspaper on Friday, without providing evidence.
"The real agenda is concentrated political authority. Global warming is the hook,”
he said, adding that the UN is against capitalism and freedom and wants to create a “new world order.”

The adviser's inflammatory comments coincided with a visit from UN climate chief Christiana Figueres.
According to Newman, Figueres is “on record saying democracy is a poor political system for fighting global warming. Communist China, she says, is the best model.”
Figueres was in Australia to discuss practical climate change action, urging the country to move away from heavily polluting coal production. She also urged Australia to play a leading role at the climate summit in Paris in December.
But that call is unlikely to be heeded. During November's G20 meeting in Brisbane, Abbott warned that the Paris summit would fail if world leaders decided prioritize the cutting of carbon emissions over economic growth.
Abbott, who called the science behind climate change “crap”
in 2009, also repealed a tax on carbon pricing and abolished the independent Climate Commission advisory body in Australia.
The prime minister has been reluctant to take part in climate change politics, trying but failing to keep it off the agenda at last year's G20 summit.
Both Abbott's office and the United Nations have so far declined to comment on Newman's statements.
A well-known climate change skeptic, Newman has made similar provocative comments in the past, calling the notion a “myth”
and a “delusion.”

In February, he criticized renewable energy policies. Citing British charity Age UK, he stated that elderly citizens in Britain often die of “winter deaths”
because they can't afford power. He blamed renewable energy policies which drive up the price of energy.
However, when asked about his claim by The Guardian, the charity sent back a statement which referenced high energy costs, but failed to mention anything about renewable energy.
Just a few months earlier, in November 2014, Newman cited a Scottish government-commissioned study which allegedly said that for every job in the renewable sector, 3.7 jobs were lost elsewhere. However, the report itself made no mention that it was commissioned by the government. In fact, the government called the study “misleading,”
adding that the industry would actually have the opposite effect on jobs.
According to the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the global mean temperature could rise by up to 4.8° Celsius (40.6° Fahrenheit) this century alone. The prediction is seen as a recipe for droughts, floods and rising seas.

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Ed Miliband resigns as Labour Party leader after general election defeat

Published time: May 08, 2015 08:43
Edited time: May 08, 2015 12:23 Britain's opposition Labour Party leader Ed Miliband. (Reuters/Darren Staples)

Ed Miliband has stood down as Labour Party leader after his party suffered a crushing defeat in the UK General Election, accepting “full responsibility” for his party’s defeat.
In an emotionally-charged address, interspersed with repeated applause from supporters, he lauded what he termed the most “united, cohesive, enjoyable campaign I’ve ever been involved in.”
He reserved particular thanks for “all those people who’ve pounded the streets” for the party.
“Britain,” he argued, “needs a strong Labour Party,” and that it was “time for someone else to take leadership of the party.”
READ MORE: UK General Election 2015 LIVE UPDATES
He praised his deputy Harriet Harman, saying she would take over while that “open, honest debate” took place.
To those he met during the campaign, he said: “Thank you for sharing your stories with me ... thank you for the selfies, and the most unlikely cult of the 21st century… Milifandom!”

DID ED MILIBAND SERIOUSLY THANK THE MILIFANDOM WHAT A BAE

— nina (@caramellester) May 8, 2015
“While we may have lost the election, the argument of our campaign will not go away,” he said.
To his party he said: “I am truly sorry I did not succeed.”
“Thank you for the privilege, I joined this party aged 17, I never dreamed I would lead it … it will be a force for change again.”
“Pick yourself up and continue the fight. We’ve come back before and we’ll come back again.”
“When we see injustice, we must tackle it,” he said.

I'm very sad about Ed Miliband resigning. There goes a politician who genuinely cared about young people and actively tried to involve us

— izzie (@_is4belle) May 8, 2015
“It is people that make change happen, I will never give up on that cause. I will never give up fighting for the Britain I believe in. I will always be there in that cause with all of you.”
In light of Labour’s abysmal performance in Scotland, and amid rumors of another Scottish independence referendum, he reiterated his commitment to the Union.
“I believe in our United Kingdom, because it is the best way of serving our country,” Miliband said. “All of us in the months ahead must rise to the challenge of keeping our country together.”
Despite Miliband’s expression of confidence in his deputy, it took Harriet Harman little over an hour to announce that she would also be stepping down once a new leader is elected by the party membership.

This has clearly been a very disappointing and difficult night for the Labour party. To every member and supporter, I want to say thank you.

— Ed Miliband (@Ed_Miliband) May 8, 2015
Labour suffered a humiliating defeat in Scotland, after the SNP won 56 out of 59 contested seats.
Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls is among senior Labour politicians to lose their seat. In a surprise outcome, contrary to pre-election polls, the Conservatives emerged with the largest share of seats. David Cameron is well on his way to securing a majority, while Labour and the Liberal Democrats have suffered humiliating losses.
Projections say Cameron will win 328 seats in total – enough to command a majority in the House of Commons.
Speaking earlier today after winning his Doncaster North seat, Miliband said: “This has clearly been a very disappointing and difficult night for the Labour Party.
“We have not made the gains we wanted in England and Wales, and in Scotland we have seen a surge of nationalism overwhelm our party,” s
aid Miliband, after comfortably securing his own seat with an increased majority.

Defeats are hard, but we’re a party that will never stop fighting for the working people of this country.

— Ed Miliband (@Ed_Miliband) May 8, 2015
“I want to say to all the dedicated and decent colleagues in Scotland who have lost their seats that I am deeply sorry for what has happened.
“And I also want to say that the next government has a huge responsibility. It has a huge responsibility in facing the very difficult task of keeping our country together.”
“Whatever party we come from, if we believe in the United Kingdom we should stand up for people in every part of our United Kingdom because I believe that what unites us is much, much more than what divides us.”
In the early hours after the poll results came in, some Labour Party members had said it wasn’t the time to replace Miliband and that the blame for Labour’s defeat, most notably in Scotland, couldn’t be pinned on him alone.

.@Ed_Miliband: To every Labour member and supporter, I want to say thank you https://t.co/3tq2wjOtMi

— The Labour Party (@UKLabour) May 8, 2015
Labour will now face a leadership contest, with Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham, Shadow Justice Minister Dan Jarvis, Shadow Care Minister Liz Kendall and Shadow Business Secretary Chuka Umunna considered potential successors.
The Liberal Democrats under Nick Clegg have been decimated in the election. Clegg called it a “cruel and punishing night”
for his party.

I am grateful to the people who worked on our campaign and for the campaign they ran. The responsibility for the result is mine alone.

— Ed Miliband (@Ed_Miliband) May 8, 2015

The next government has a huge responsibility to bring our country together. What unites us is much, much more than what divides us.

— Ed Miliband (@Ed_Miliband) May 8, 2015

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Int’l flight chaos feared if US stops managing Afghan airspace

The US is expected to stop managing Afghan airspace once its contract with the government in Kabul expires at the end of June, but international airliners are worried that development could create a no-flight zone over Afghanistan.

The US military coalition’s air traffic control contact, first begun in 2001, is scheduled to expire at the end of June. If a new contract is not negotiated with the Afghan government, it could lead to international airliners being forced to cancel flights into and over the country.

READ MORE: Afghan opium cultivation 'grew 40-fold' during US operation - Russian Security Council chief

International airlines that fly into Afghan include Emirates, Air India and Turkish Airlines, with many other airlines flying over Afghanistan. There are no flights from the European Union because it doesn’t recognize the Afghan Civil Aviation Authority, which it can’t certify due to safety concerns.

"The international community does not want to be in a situation where we are continuously stuck with paying for this because they [Afghan authorities] are simply not seriously going to take it over,

" a Western diplomat in Kabul told the Associated Press. "This is causing reluctance with some of the partners who would otherwise bridge the gap."

The AP reported that, according to an internal NATO memo, the US government will not extend its current contract for another six months, to the end of 2015 – an extension that requires $25 million

.” The memo offered no reason why the US wouldn’t extend the contact, and US Embassy officials in Kabul didn’t respond to the AP for comment.

READ MORE: Govt watchdog doubts $400 million USAID program for Afghan women is working

A Japanese official told the AP it might be willing to help fund a “bridging contract

” until the end of 2015, when Kabul would take over managing its own airspace.

Afghanistan’s minister of transport, Daoud Ali Najafi, told the Wall Street Journal in September 2014 that its Aviation Authority lacked qualified air-traffic controllers, so the Afghan government planned to hire a contractor to run its airspace while instructing the Afghans how to manage air traffic.

He told WSJ: “It’s very important to us. Afghanistan can connect the Far East, Middle East and Central Asia

.”

READ MORE: Sorry, what? Afghan president says time to apologize to Taliban

Such a program would also be lucrative, as the government can collect over-flight fees of around $40 million annually from air traffic that crosses the country above 29,000 feet, according to international officials.

The implications of unmanaged Afghanistan airspace are complex and serious, as it would involve changing routes and potentially higher fuel costs for airliners, which could lead to higher prices for customers.

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ISIS sex atrocities: Child rape, forced virginity surgeries exposed in UN report

New evidence has revealed how Islamic State fighters buy children as sex slaves and force them into marriage. Girls from Iraq and Syria told a senior UN official they were stripped, sold, and made to undergo over a dozen virginity reparation surgeries.

“Girls are literally being stripped naked and examined in slave bazaars,”

by Islamic State (IS, previously ISIS/ISIL) fighters, Zainab Bangura, Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict told the journalist during a briefing.

Bangura visited the Middle East between April 16 and 29 to talk to surviving rape victims. During her travels she stopped in Syria, Iraq, Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan. Bangura managed to interview women who had escaped and survived horrific sexual assaults at the hands of IS fighters.

READ MORE: Women and girls recall ‘systematic rape’ by ISIS militants – HRW

The girls and children were treated like cattle, she said. They are “categorized and shipped naked off to Dohuk or Mosul or other locations to be distributed among ISIL leadership and fighters.”

One of the victims was married off over 20 separate times and after each time was forced to get a surgery that would repair her virginity.

“Women and girls are at risk and under assault at every point of their lives,”

Bangura said, adding that this kind of violent treatment of women was actually encouraged as part of jihad.

“ISIL has institutionalized sexual violence and the brutalization of women as a central aspect of their ideology and operations, using it as a tactic of terrorism to advance their key strategic objectives.”

READ MORE: ISIS releases horrifying sex slave pamphlet, justifies child rape

Horror and violence followed the girls “every step of the way…in the midst of active conflict, in areas under control of armed actors, at check-points and border crossings, and in detention facilities,”

according to Bangura.

Militants even use trafficking, prostitution and ransom plots as a way to raise money, she added.

Sexual violence is used by IS as a tactic to punish, humiliate, and demoralize local populations, making it easier to get information from them and displace them.

As a result of these atrocities, these victims of child rape are growing into “a generation of stateless children,”

who will remain vulnerable to IS recruitment tactics.

READ MORE: British women oversee ISIS abuse, sexual slavery of Yazidi girls

There have been reports that doctors have performed illegal abortions on pregnant girls as young as nine.

Many of the child victims are from the Yazidi religious minority in Iraq. Around 40,000 of them were reportedly kidnapped at gunpoint by IS militants last August. Other minorities at risk include Christians, Iraqi Turkmens and Shabaks.

A video surfaced on YouTube in November, showing IS militants laughing and joking while buying Yazidi slaves.

Many of the women have expressed feeling ashamed and are unable to restart their lives after surviving the brutal and humiliating attacks.

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