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Showing posts with label us. Show all posts

Obama Signs Landmark US Military Gay Law


President Obama has signed a landmark measure ordering the US armed services to allow gay men and women to serve openly for the first time.

Approval of the measure by Congress this month was a victory for Mr Obama after he made the repeal of the so-called 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy a campaign issue.

At the signing ceremony in Washington the president said that valour and sacrifice in the armed forces are no longer defined by sexual orientation.

Mr Obama said he was proud to fulfill his campaign pledge and sign a bill which he believes will "strengthen national security".

Since 1993, when the Pentagon introduced the policy allowing gays and lesbians to join the armed forces if they did not reveal their sexuality, at least 13,000 people have been expelled from the armed forces for violating the rules.

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The Pentagon will now have to draft a plan for implementing the altered rules, deciding how troops will be educated about the new policy.

Decisions will also have to be made about disciplinary procedures and the status of those who were fired for violating "Don't Ask" in the past.

Some top military figures have opposed the repeal and believe it is too risky to make such a change when the armed services are already stretched fighting wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

A recent study found about 30% of troops expressed negative views or concerns about the repeal.

But the signing is a victory for America's gay community and for Mr Obama who had been criticised for not acting swiftly enough.

He hailed the courage and vision of defence secretary Robert Gates and praised Gates and Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Admiral Mike Mullen, who advocated changing the 17-year-old policy.

"No longer will tens of thousands of Americans in uniform be asked to live a lie, or look over their shoulder in order to serve the country they love," Obama said.
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Accused pastor crusaded against homosexuals


Atlanta, Georgia (CNN) -- As Bishop Eddie Long poked through a salad in his church office one summer day in 1999, he shot a weary look at a person ticking off his ministry's successes.

His Atlanta megachurch had already reached 25,000 members. He had been invited to the White House, built a global television ministry and drove around town in a luxury automobile.

But Long told the visitor who had come to write about him that the pressures of being a high-profile pastor could be brutal.

"You don't want any of this," he said in a raspy baritone as he shook his head. "You don't want any of this ..."

Long didn't get more specific about those pressures.

Today, the 57-year-old minister, known for his public crusades against homosexuality, faces serious allegations.

On Tuesday, two young men who were members of Long's New Birth Missionary Baptist Church filed lawsuits claiming he used his position as their spiritual counselor to coerce them into sexual relationships.

The men -- Anthony Flagg, 21, and Maurice Robinson, 20 -- allege Long used a private spiritual ceremony to mark a "covenant" between them, with both becoming his "spiritual son."

Flagg alleges that Long then used that relationship to take him on overnight trips where they shared a bedroom and engaged in kissing, masturbation and "oral sexual contact."

Robinson, who claimed Long engaged in oral sex with him, said the pastor would cite Scripture to justify their relationship.

"We categorically deny the allegations," Art Franklin, Long's spokesman, said in a written statement. "It is very unfortunate that someone has taken this course of action."

Franklin said "our law firm will be able to respond once attorneys have had an opportunity to review the lawsuit."

The men's lawyer, Brenda Joy (B.J.) Bernstein, would not make them available for comment.

Long's crusades against homosexuality

The allegations against Long run contrary to his public image.

He is a celebrity preacher in the black church world and a star in the evangelical world as well. His church is one of the largest in the country.

In the pulpit, Long seamlessly blends muscle and ministry.

He wears tight shirts that display his weight-lifter arms. He writes books such as "Gladiator, the Strength of a Man," that teach men how to be warriors for God. He says he has a special calling to reach out to men.

He's a married man who preaches about the sanctity of the union between a man and a woman. He denounces homosexuality. In 2004, he led a march in Atlanta against gay marriage. He once declared that his church had created a ministry that "delivered" people from homosexuality.

His public statements about gays and lesbians have helped reinforce homophobia in the black church, says Shayne Lee, a sociologist and author of "Holy Mavericks: Evangelical Innovators and the Spiritual Marketplace."

"The homophobic atmosphere he helped perpetuate," Lee said, could "come back to possibly harm him."

Long's controversial ministry

Long has been the center of public controversy before.

In 2005, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that a charity Long created to help the poor and spread the Gospel had made him its biggest beneficiary.

An examination of the nonprofit's tax returns and other documents revealed that the charity provided him with at least a million dollars in salary over four years, and the use of a $1.4 million home and the $350,000 Bentley.

A frequent critic of black preachers (he once said they "major in storefront churches"), Long responded by saying he was a CEO of a global business who deserved his lifestyle.

"You've got to put me on a different scale than the little black preacher sitting over there that's supposed to be just getting by because the people are suffering," Long said, explaining the compensation he received from his charity.

In 2007, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, of the Senate Finance Committee, sent a letter to Long asking detailed questions about his financial operations. Long was one of six televangelists whom Grassley targeted.

After an initial flurry of publicity following Grassley's request, the investigation appeared to peter out.

In recent years, Long seemed to become more humble, says the Rev. Tim McDonald, senior pastor of First Iconium Baptist Church in Atlanta.

In private talks, McDonald said, Long told him about the pressures of leading a megachurch. He said he no longer had as many close friendships and yearned to return to the more intimate relationships that McDonald seemed to have with his much smaller congregation.

"He said, 'Tim, I may have the numbers, but you have the love,' '' McDonald said.

God's 'scarred leader'

For all his outward confidence, Long also displayed a vulnerable side.

He built an intimate bond with many members of his church by talking about his private failings: his divorce from his first wife; being rejected by his father; and being fired from a job in corporate America.

He called himself God's "scarred leader."

He also became known for his generosity. He would give out cars and money to strangers at church services. He built ministries to help the poor, AIDS patients and young people.

He talked proudly about his ability to reach young men. He called himself a "spiritual daddy" to many of the young men he mentored at New Birth.

He would pay the college tuition for some men, give business suits to others and play basketball and lift weights with his male ministers.

Once, he even boasted to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that some mothers at New Birth trusted him enough to bring their wayward teenage boys to him for paddling.

"When I say bend over, even on Sunday, they bend over," he said, referring to the boys he paddled. "Why? Because they respect me. Because I first died for them ..."

The two men who filed suit against Long, though, said he used their relationships to instruct them, as "spiritual sons," to follow their "master."

They also say Long enticed them "with cars, clothes, jewelry, and electronics." Robinson claims the pastor paid for his college tuition.

In Flagg's suit, he claimed that when some young men found girlfriends, Long would attempt to block those relationships by "increased contact and spiritual talk" about "the covenant between the Spiritual Son and himself."

In addition to Long, the lawsuits name as defendants his church and a youth academy where Long was pastor and mentor. Both suits seek unspecified punitive damages on counts ranging from negligence to breach of fiduciary duty.

Lee, the sociologist who has written about Long, says he expects him to mount a fierce counterattack.

"He'll demonize the accusers," Lee said, "and couch it in terms of how the enemy Satan is trying to hurt the ministry."
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Helicopter and plane in NY crash


A tour helicopter and a light aircraft have collided near New York City and crashed into the Hudson River, the US Coast Guard says.

The collision occurred between Hoboken, in New Jersey, and Manhattan, just across the river.

Divers are searching for survivors. Reports suggest one person has been found; their condition is unknown.

Television footage showed rescue craft heading to the site from both sides of the Hudson River.

"It hit the water like a stone," a woman told local television station NY1.

"I saw a piece of metal, I saw a helicopter, the helicopter went down, and that was it. I heard no noise, and no smoke or fire."

Other witnesses described seeing debris - including the plane's wing - falling into the water.

"We saw the helicopter propellers fly all over," said Hoboken resident Katie Tanski.

The helicopter was operated by Liberty Helicopters, a sightseeing company that flies tourists around sites such as the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

Six people were believed to be on board, US media reports said.

The light plane took off from Teterboro Airport in New Jersey, aviation officials said. It is not known how many people were on the plane.

The weather at the time of the collision, noon local time (1600 GMT), was said to be clear and mild.

In January, a passenger plane with 155 people aboard ditched into the Hudson River without loss of life, after apparently hitting a flock of geese.

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Dealer Ran Cocaine Ring From Prison Cell

A convicted drug smuggler has admitted continuing to run an international cocaine ring by using a mobile phone from his prison cell.

Prisoner George Moon and the package which brought down his cocaine operation

The intercepted package which rumbled Moon's international operation

George Moon orchestrated the importation of drug packages from Panama and Venezuela into the UK and Ireland.

The 62-year-old ran the operation while serving 15 years at HMP Lindholme, near Doncaster, for supplying Class A substances.

Moon and five side-kicks pleaded guilty at Liverpool Crown Court. They were among 13 people arrested in November 2008.

Two men are already serving sentences in Ireland and another, Leo Morgan, has just begun a 10-year prison term in Panama, also for cocaine offences.

The arrests followed an investigation by the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), which managed to intercept a two-kilo package of cocaine being couriered through Caracas International Airport, destined for an address in Cork.

Officers raided Moon's cell to find a mobile phone on which he had made hundreds of calls to Panama and Ireland, as well as a notebook containing the numbers of co-conspirators.

They believe he had been involved in organising the importation of at least 12 packages of cocaine, all sent via postal couriers.

Moon is currently serving a 15-year sentence for smuggling £3.5m worth of heroin and amphetamines into the UK from Holland by hiding it in a sport holdall in the back of a Heavy Goods Vehicle.

Moon and another man were also charged with smuggling contraband into a prison, in the form of sim cards and heroin.

It is thought that SOCA will now apply for a special order to be placed on Moon, which would make it a criminal offence for him to have possession of a mobile phone in prison.

Last year 4,000 mobile phones were seized from inmates of the UK's prison estate.

George Moon, 62, Lee Standeven, 24, Bilaal Khan, 27, Anthony Parry, 39, Harminder Singh, 25, and Abid Latif Hussain, 22, all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import Class A controlled drugs.

Moon and Standeven also pleaded guilty to smuggling contraband into a prison.

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Obama hails unity over al-Qaeda

US President Barack Obama has said after meeting his Afghan and Pakistani counterparts that they are united in the goal of defeating al-Qaeda.

Da BBC

Speaking in Washington, Mr Obama said the goal was to "disrupt, dismantle and defeat al-Qaeda" and its allies.

He also pledged greater resources to help civilians in both countries and try to avoid civilian casualties.

Dozens of civilians are thought to have died in US air strikes on Taleban targets in Afghanistan on Tuesday.

Earlier, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she "deeply, deeply" regretted the deaths, adding that the US would work hard to avoid such "loss of innocent life".

Meanwhile, Pakistan's army was engaged in bloody operations to reverse a Taleban advance in its northern provinces on Wednesday.

The bottom line at the summit was more American troops for Afghanistan and more aid for Pakistan, with the Obama administration deepening its involvement in the search for stability, the BBC's Kevin Connolly reports from Washington.

'Solid support'

Mr Obama said his counterparts fully appreciated the gravity of the security threats posed by militants.

America, he said, was on the side of people in Pakistan and Afghanistan and had a comprehensive strategy for the region, with civilian and military components.

He said he expected more setbacks and violence to come, but there was a lasting commitment to defeat al-Qaeda.

The US would, he added, offer unwavering support to the governments of both Pakistan and Afghanistan.

"We have learned time and again that our security is shared," Mr Obama added. "It is a lesson that we learned most painfully on 9/11, and it is a lesson that we will not forget."

Senior US officials have expressed uncertainty over the commitment of the military in Pakistan, a nuclear power, to defeating militants based in its border region.

Speaking earlier after talks with Mrs Clinton, President Asif Ali Zardari said Pakistan would help Afghanistan and the US to fight the threat posed by the Taleban and al-Qaeda.

"For no matter how long it takes and what it takes, democracies will deliver, my democracy will deliver," he told reporters.

"People of Pakistan stand with the people of the United States and the people of Afghanistan."

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Cuba: US embargo 'still standing' despite new law

Cuba's state-controlled media on Monday downplayed eased U.S. rules on family ties with Cuba, calling the measure a defeat for the communist government's foes that still left Washington's 47-year-old trade embargo intact.

The article in the Communist Party newspaper Granma was the first official mention of the Cuba clauses in a package signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 11 _ nearly two weeks prior.

The law rolled back limits on family travel and remittances imposed by the Bush Administration, effectively allowing Americans with relatives in Cuba to visit once a year, stay as long as they wish and spend up to $179 a day. The changes only remain in effect until the fiscal year ends Sept. 30.

Granma said the changes "represent the first setback for the anti-Cuban mafia and its representatives in Congress," but added that "in practice, they don't affect the siege that successive administrations have maintained against our people."

U.S. law still bars most trade with and travel to Cuba.

"These steps don't restore the rights of Cuban residents of the United States to travel freely to Cuba or approve the rights of citizens of that country to visit a neighboring island," it said.

President Barack Obama has said he is open to talks with Cuban leaders, though he said he does not yet favor lifting the U.S. embargo. Cuban officials have sometimes criticized Obama, but have been far less hostile than they were toward ex-President George W. Bush.

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