Protesters close Libyan oil terminal, halt exports

BENGHAZI, Libya (AP) — Protesters and disgruntled job seekers forced the closure of an eastern Libyan oil terminal on Wednesday for the second time in six months, disrupting exports, said an oil ministry official.

Deputy Oil and Gas Minister Omar al-Shakmak said dozens demonstrated at Zueitina terminal, demanding the Libyan National Oil Corporation make good on pledges to hire 340 people.

This is the second time protesters have closed the terminal, through which flows 20 percent of Libya's 1.6 million barrels a day of exports.

Zueitina is located 870 kilometers (540 miles) east of Tripoli. The first closure took place in December.

Libya is going through a rocky transition after its bloody 2011 civil war. The central government remains weak and has been challenged by powerful militia groups, initially formed of ex-rebels who fought dictator Moammar Gadhafi's forces during the war. Successive governments have relied on them to maintain security, but they have been blamed for ongoing violence.

Also Wednesday, a Libyan man was shot and mortally wounded during a clash with security forces at a police station in the eastern city of Benghazi while trying to free an acquaintance, witnesses said. They say that after he died in hospital, a group of angry relatives returned to torch the station and ransack its offices.

Much of Libya's turmoil in recent weeks has taken place in the capital Tripoli, where militias besieged government buildings to force the resignation of top officials and pressure the country's parliament to pass a contentious law that could push Gadhafi-era officials from senior government posts. Parliament passed the law on May 5. Subsequent demonstrations against militias have been attacked.

Benghazi, the birthplace of Libya's revolution, has also seen unrest. A car exploded in the Mediterranean port city on Monday, killing at least three people. Initially, officials described the blast as an attack but a day later, authorities said it was an accident but gave conflicting reports. Salah al-Ubaidi, a top commander of the Libya Shield pro-government militias in charge of security, said it belonged to a fisherman carrying explosives used in fishing. Abdel-Salam al-Barghathi, a senior security official, said it belonged to an arms dealer transporting weapons.

A series of assassinations and bombings of police stations in Benghazi have prompted diplomatic missions to leave over the past year. On Sept. 11, suspected Islamic militants attacked the U.S mission there, killing U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

View the original article here

Senate negotiators close in on immigration deal

By Charles Abbott and Richard Cowan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate negotiators on Tuesday were putting the finishing touches on a bipartisan immigration bill as labor and agriculture groups argued about restrictions on immigrant farmworkers and their pay, lawmakers and officials involved in the negotiations said.

"We're making progress. We're trying to get it done this week," Senator John McCain told reporters.

The Arizona Republican is one of eight Democrats and Republicans in the Senate trying to cobble together a complicated bill that would update immigration laws for the first time since 1986.

In recent weeks, labor unions and the Chamber of Commerce reached tentative agreement on the handling of low-skilled workers from foreign countries who would work as construction laborers, maids and waiters.

That left one big unresolved matter: the rules for bringing foreign farmworkers into the United States to harvest crops, milk cows and work on poultry and cattle operations.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack recently estimated that of the 1.1 million workers in agriculture, 500,000-700,000 are undocumented.

At a speech this week to agriculture journalists, Vilsack said that assuring a strong labor supply is a matter of importing workers versus importing food. "We risk the possibility of some of the work we do in this country moving to other nations," he said.

The agriculture industry and farmworker groups have been haggling over the cap that would be set under the Senate bill for foreign farm labor, whether those already in the United States would be allowed to stay and pay levels for the temporary workers.

"We want to make sure farmworkers are making at least as much money as they are today, not less," Diana Tellefson Torres, a United Farm Workers vice president, told the North American Agricultural Journalists meeting.

Craig Regelbrugge, co-chair of an agriculture industry coalition, said labor can account for one-third of the cost of production of fruits and vegetables, so wage rates are important. Noting the need for a high cap on farmworker visas compared to other sectors, he said, "what's different about agriculture is it's the nation's food supply."

But some labor groups fear that too many foreign workers would depress U.S. wages or kill some American jobs.

Regelbrugge said there are discussions of a new visa that would run more than 12 months so immigrant laborers do not have to routinely exit the U.S. for brief periods, leaving farms short-handed. While some growers need help only at harvest, dairies and livestock feeders need workers all year.

FAST-TRACK IN SENATE

The linchpin of the immigration bill would end deportation fears for most of the approximately 11 million people who are living in the United States illegally, many from Central America and Asia. The legislation would eventually put many of them on a path to citizenship, if further progress was made in securing the southwestern border with Mexico.

The eight senators outlined their proposal in late January and have been struggling to fill in the details of a bill that could move quickly through the Senate once it is unveiled.

If a bill is introduced by Monday, Senate aides said it could be debated, and possibly amended, in the Senate Judiciary Committee by April 18, with a committee vote by April 25, just before the start of a week-long Senate recess.

Under this accelerated timetable, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid would try to schedule a full Senate debate in May.

However, delays are possible at any point in the process.

Republicans, who have opposed any moves to grant citizenship to undocumented residents, began taking an active interest in immigration changes after Hispanic-Americans voted against them in droves in the November 2012 election.

With the 2014 congressional elections around the corner, immigration reform advocates are hoping Congress can handle this issue in 2013, before campaign rhetoric heats up and possibly spoils chances for a bipartisan deal.

Supporters also want a strong, bipartisan showing in the Senate for legislation, which they think will propel it through the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, where there are more conservatives lawmakers who could reject a pathway to citizenship for the undocumented.

The House might try to pass immigration bills in a piecemeal fashion that could be merged with a Senate-passed bill. Some aides have said the House bill might require a longer wait time than the Senate bill for undocumented residents to earn citizenship - as long as 15 years, versus 10 to 13 years in the Senate bill.

(Additional reporting by Rachelle Younglai; Editing by Stacey Joyce)

View the original article here

Malaysia's Najib calls election, close race expected

PARIS, April 2 (Reuters) - Paris St Germain 2 Barcelona 2 - Champions League quarter-final, first leg result At Parc des Princes Scorers: Paris St Germain: Zlatan Ibrahimovic 79, Blaise Matuidi 90+4 Barcelona: Lionel Messi 38, Xavi 89 penalty Halftime: 0-1; Teams: Paris St Germain: 30-Salvatore Sirigu; 26-Christophe Jallet, 13-Alex, 2-Thiago Silva, 17-Maxwell; 29-Lucas, 32-David Beckham (24-Marco Verratti 70), 14-Blaise Matuidi, 27-Javier Pastore (19-Kevin Gameiro 76); 18-Zlatan Ibrahimovic, 11-Ezequiel Lavezzi (7-Jeremy Menez 66) Barcelona: 1-Victor Valdes; 2-Daniel Alves, 3-Gerard Pique, ...

View the original article here

Nations close to deal on U.N. arms trade treaty: envoys

By Louis Charbonneau

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - United Nations members on Wednesday were close to a deal on the first international treaty to regulate the $70 billion global conventional arms trade, though delegates and rights groups said India, Iran or others could still block agreement.

Arms control campaigners and human rights groups say one person dies every minute worldwide as a result of armed violence and a treaty is needed to halt the uncontrolled flow of arms and ammunition they say fuels wars, atrocities and rights abuses.

United Nations member states began meeting last week in a final push to end years of discussions and hammer out a binding international treaty to end the lack of regulation over cross-border conventional arms sales.

The world body's 193 member states received the last revision of the draft treaty ahead of the final day of the drafting conference on Thursday. Reuters questioned delegates from over a dozen countries who said they were cautiously optimistic that the treaty would be adopted unanimously.

"India, Syria and Iran are countries that could still cause trouble," a European diplomat told Reuters on condition of anonymity. "But I'll wager the treaty will pass by consensus."

Iran, which is under a U.N. arms embargo over its nuclear program, is eager to ensure its arms imports and exports are not curtailed, diplomats say. Syria is in a two-year-old civil war and hopes Russian and Iranian arms keep flowing in, they added.

But they are under pressure to back the draft, envoys said.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a U.S. official declined to say whether Washington would support the draft treaty.

"We are continuing to review the text with an eye toward ensuring that it accomplishes all of our goals, including that it protect the sovereign right of states to conduct legitimate arms trade and, of course, that it not infringe upon the constitutional right of our citizens to bear arms," he said.

Several U.N. diplomats predicted Washington would vote yes.

The National Rifle Association, a powerful U.S. pro-gun lobbying group, opposes the treaty and has vowed to fight to prevent its ratification if it reaches Washington. The NRA says the treaty would undermine domestic gun-ownership rights.

The American Bar Association, an attorneys' lobby group, has said that the treaty would not impact the right to bear arms.

'DEFICIENCIES'

Other major arms producers like Russia and China, which had initially resisted the treaty, along with Germany, France and Britain were also expected to support the draft, diplomats said.

The chief British delegate, Ambassador Joanne Adamson, said the new draft treaty has many improvements over earlier drafts.

"These (improvements) include inclusion of ammunition in the scope of the treaty, a new article on preventing diversion of arms, and strengthened section on exports which are prohibited," she said. "Human rights are at the heart of this text."

The main reason the arms trade talks are taking place at all is that the United States - the world's biggest arms exporter - reversed U.S. policy on the issue after President Barack Obama was first elected and decided in 2009 to support an arms treaty.

The point of an arms trade treaty is to set standards for all cross-border transfers of conventional weapons. It would also create binding requirements for states to review all cross-border arms contracts to ensure arms will not be used in human rights abuses, terrorism or violations of humanitarian law.

Several human rights groups and arms control advocates, including Amnesty International, Oxfam and Control Arms, praised the new draft. They said it had shortcomings, but was a major improvement over an earlier draft that had too many loopholes.

"While there are still deficiencies in this final draft, this treaty has the potential to provide significant human rights protection and curb armed conflict and violence if all governments demonstrate the political will to implement it," Brian Wood of Amnesty International said.

But he made clear that there were problems with the text, including an overly narrow scope of types of arms covered. It covers tanks, armored combat vehicles, large-caliber artillery systems, combat aircraft, attack helicopters, warships, missiles and missile launchers and small arms and light arms.

Predator drones and grenades are among the weapon categories that are not covered explicitly in the draft treaty.

Anna Macdonald of Oxfam said there were "some improvements" in the draft, though some problems remained that she wanted fixed in the final hours before a decision is made by U.N. member states.

"We need a treaty that will make a difference to the lives of the people living in Congo, Mali, Syria and elsewhere who suffer each day from the impacts of armed violence," she said.

Daryl Kimball, head of the Arms Control Association, predicted that "over time, the treaty will help tip the scales in favor of human rights and human security when states consider arms sales in the future."

Rights groups complained about one possible loophole in the current draft involving defense cooperation agreements. Several diplomats who also oppose this loophole said it could exempt certain weapons transfers from the treaty.

Three delegates dubbed that provision the "India clause," because it was something India pushed hard for, they said.

(Reporting By Louis Charbonneau; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Stacey Joyce)

View the original article here

WHITE HOUSE NOTEBOOK: Up close, Obama the tourist

JERUSALEM (AP) — President Barack Obama has permitted TV crews with live microphones to accompany him at virtually every stop in Israel, giving a rare and fascinating glimpse at the joking and small talk that takes place on the sidelines of official visits.

In Jerusalem on Thursday, Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the Israel Museum, where they examined the Dead Sea Scrolls. Reading a passage from Isaiah from a facsimile of a scroll, Netanyahu explained: "It says, 'Nations should not lift swords unto nations and they shall know war no more."

The phrase forms the lyrics to a popular Hebrew folk song often used as a rallying call for peace.

Obama marveled that the Hebrew language had not changed much over the centuries.

Minutes later, during a tour of a technology exhibit, the two leaders stopped by a display of a robotic snake that can burrow into rubble during rescue operations. The three-foot contraption wriggled and separated and reared up. "Let me just say, my wife would not like this," Obama said, grinning.

At a brain imaging display, a scientist explained that the first step in studying brain function is taking accurate measurements of the brain. "That presupposes there is something to measure, right?" Netanyahu joked.

Developers of a driver assistance device that detects road obstacles described how their Mobileye protected passengers by sensing a car's proximity to other cars.

"Pedestrians, too?" Obama asked. "Pedestrians, cars...," one of the developers replied.

"Dogs?" Obama wondered. "Not dogs," came the reply.

___

For Obama, this was personal. The president reflected repeatedly on his experience as a father and an African American as he contemplated the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.

Standing alongside Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, Obama contrasted the experience of children growing up amid the conflict to that of his two daughters, who in an earlier period in American history would have been denied the opportunities granted to others.

"Those of us in the United States understand that change takes time, but it is also possible," he said.

Later, in Jerusalem, Obama cited Martin Luther King Jr. and likened the story of the upcoming Jewish holiday of Passover to the experience of blacks in the U.S. who were freed from slavery and persecution.

Of the Passover story, Obama added: "For me personally, growing up in far-flung parts of the world and without firm roots, it spoke to a yearning within every human being for a home."

And the president veered briefly off of his prepared remarks to scores of Israeli students to convey a lesson he took away from meeting earlier in the day with Palestinian students in the occupied West Bank.

"They weren't that different from my daughters. They weren't that different from your daughters or sons," he said. "I honestly believe that if any Israeli parent sat down with those kids, they'd say, 'I want these kids to succeed. I want them to prosper. I want them to have opportunities just like my kids do.'"

___

At the White House, Obama is used to bestowing medals on combat veterans, both living and deceased, as well as famous Americans, scientists, inventors and others.

But on Thursday, it was his turn to bow his head and accept one for himself.

During a state dinner at Israeli President Shimon Peres' official residence, Peres presented his American counterpart with the Medal of Distinction, the highest honor the Jewish state bestows on civilians. An announcer said it was for Obama's "unique and significant" contributions to Israel's security.

"This award speaks to your tireless work to make Israel strong," Peres said during his toast. Then he put the large, round medal dangling from a wide, dark-blue ribbon with a white stripe down the middle around Obama's neck.

The medal features the North Star to symbolize the right path. Also on the medal is a menorah — the emblem of Israel and a symbol of the link between past and present, according to Peres' office. It is inscribed with the words from Samuel 9:2, "from his shoulders and upward."

Obama wore the medal as he delivered his reciprocal toast.

"This is an extraordinary honor for me and I could not be more deeply moved," he said.

___

During portions of the dinner that were open to media coverage, Obama and Netanyahu continued the newfound chumminess they displayed a day earlier.

Seated next to each other at a rectangular head table draped in white cloth and adorned with white tulips and orchids, the two leaders were seen leaning in and whispering to one another, laughing and smiling as they awaited Peres' remarks. At one point, they hid their mouths behind their hands strategically to thwart lip readers and microphones in the room.

Obama and Netanyahu have had a prickly relationship, but they have put on a happier face during Obama's first visit to Israel as president.

Among the 120 dinner guests seated at similarly decorated round banquet tables were Justice minister Tzipi Livni; Avigdor Lieberman, a Netanyahu ally; and U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz of Florida, the chair of the Democratic Party.

The invite list led to some interesting pairings.

Seated together at one table were a rabbi from the Western Wall and a Muslim cleric. At another table sat Michael Oren, Israel's ambassador to Washington; Yair Lapid, the new star of Israeli politics and a leader of the centrist Yesh Atid party; Yuli Eidelstein, a hard-line Likud lawmaker who is a former Soviet political prisoner and the new speaker of Israel's parliament; U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Livni.

What were they served? A fish appetizer, a duet of beef and lamb on a potato tart, salad, and a plate of fruit, éclairs, dates and other pastries and sweets.

___

In the most emotional moment of the tech tour, Obama and Netanyahu encountered a Druze Israeli war veteran and a U.S. army veteran, both paralyzed from the waist down. Both demonstrated how they were able to walk with the help of crutches and a computerized exoskeleton that supported their legs as they moved.

Obama gave both presidential "challenge coins," used to recognize veterans for their service.

The army veteran, Theresa Hannigan, a 60-year-old from Long Island, N.Y., was learning how to use the motorized aides, called the ReWalk, at the Bronx VA hospital. She implored Obama to help the device obtain FDA approval. Her voice breaking, Hannigan stood straight and hugged Obama.

The system is made by an Israeli company called Argo Medical Technologies. Its exoskeleton suit uses computers and motion sensors to allow paraplegics to walk with motorized legs that power knee and hip movement.

Obama offered a personal reflection. "Michelle's father had MS, so he used crutches until he was probably 45, 50, then got a wheelchair."

Netanyahu replied: "This would have given him a different life."

___

Associated Press writer Daniel Estrin contributed to this report.

View the original article here