Foreign Vote-Count Firm Partners with Big Government Contractor

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Photo Credit: WNDScytl, the Spanish-based electronic elections firm, has partnered with a leading online security and access provider to state and federal government clients.

The partnership could help safeguard the election programs of Scytl’s U.S. division.

In January 2012, Scytl acquired 100 percent of SOE Software, the leading software provider of election management solutions in the United States. The sale garnered national attention after it was spotlighted by the popular Drudge Report.

Reads an SOE press release: “SOE is now partnering with VASTEC, a leading accessibility access provider to state and federal government clients. VASTEC currently provides Section 508 compliance services at the highest government levels, including the Social Security Administration, U.S. Department of Defense, and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.”

“VASTEC offers accessibility services and remediation tailored to the client’s needs,” said Shelby Tudor, VASTEC’s program manager for accessibility services.

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Capture of Mexican Drug Lord ‘El Chapo’ Guzman Ignites Fight Over Trial Location

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Photo Credit: Fox News After narrow escapes from the military, law enforcement and rivals over 13 years on the run, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman is back in Mexican custody. Now, what is likely to be a lengthy and complicated legal process to decide which country gets to try him first will begin.

In Mexico, Guzman is likely to face a host of charges related to his role as the head of the Sinaloa Cartel, the country’s most powerful drug organization and a key player in the yearslong violence that has claimed tens of thousands of lives since 2006.

Grand juries in at least seven U.S. federal district courts have handed up indictments for Guzman on a variety of charges, ranging from smuggling cocaine and heroin into the United States to participating in an ongoing criminal enterprise involving murder and racketeering.

Mexico convicted the man whose nickname translates to “Shorty” on drug trafficking and murder charges in 1993. Guzman had served less than half of his 20-year prison sentence when he escaped from jail in 2001. The Mexican government is almost certain to levy a host of new charges related not only to his escape but also to his role in running the global drug-empire that the Sinaloa Cartel has become.

Calls for his extradition to the United States started just hours after word spread of his arrest Saturday morning at a condominium in Mazatlan, a beach resort town on Mexico’s Pacific Coast.

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Ukraine Crisis: Opposition Asserts Authority in Kiev

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Photo Credit: Reuters MPs have replace the parliamentary speaker and attorney general, appointed a new pro-opposition interior minister and voted to free jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko.

Police appear to have abandoned their posts across the capital.

Protesters in Kiev have walked unchallenged into the president’s official and residential buildings.

President Viktor Yanukovych and opposition leaders signed a peace deal on Friday after several days of violence in which dozens of people died in a police crackdown on months of protest.

But the deal failed to end the protests and huge crowds remain in Independence Square, the Maidan.

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Ukraine on Edge after Deadly Clashes Between Protesters, Security Forces (+video)

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Photo Credit: CNNProtests. Talks. Violence. Protests. Talks. Violence.

By early Friday morning, the lone positive point was that — for the time being — Ukraine’s cycle of political and physical infighting was not then at its bloodiest point, as it had hours earlier. Prodded by foreign diplomats, the key players were then talking about not just a bandage for the violence but also a more long-term political solution and maybe the beginnings of healing.

Yet the facts of the last three months and, particularly, the last week show that it’s way too early to celebrate or savor any peace. There have been two truces since Sunday. Each of them collapsed suddenly into carnage centered in Kiev’s Maidan, or Independence Square.

The latest bloodshed was also the worst since the unrest began.

CNN crews at the scene reported that as security forces were moving away from the area after the latest truce, a group of protesters pursued them throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails.

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Afghanistan Newspaper Warns: Missionaries are Promoting Christianity in Country

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Photo Credit: APBy Michael W. Chapman.

Although U.S. troops have been in Afghanistan for 13-plus years fighting terrorists and aiding the government to a more stable rule, the Afghanistan newspaper Cheragh complained in a recent editorial that “Western democracy” has produced “negative effects” there and specifically cited missionaries who “fearlessly promote Christianity.”

As BBC Worldwide Monitoring reported, the independent newspaper Cheragh published an editorial on Jan. 27 entitled, “Promoting Islamophobia in the Islamic state of Afghanistan.”

“Western democracy, given to us as a gift by foreigners in our country, has had negative effects on our country, 99 per cent of whose population are Muslim,” reads the editorial. “One of the effects of this type of democracy is the presence and activities of Christian missionaries who have entered Afghanistan under the banner of humanitarian aid and social work.”

“Supported by foreign forces, these missionaries fearlessly promote Christianity,” says Cheragh. “They are particularly active in Kabul, Bamian, Paktia, Nurestan, Konduz, Ghazni, Badakhshan and Mazar-e Sharif. No churches have publicly been built in these provinces yet but they perform their religious rites inside rented houses which are protected by the Afghan police.”

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Photo Credit: AP‘Windfalls of war’: Companies with spotty records making billions off Afghanistan

By Kelley Beaucar Vlahos.

The United States government has paid a company based in Switzerland more than $5 billion to feed the troops in Afghanistan, and thanks to a succession of no-bid contract extensions, the company, Supreme Foodservice, overcharged American taxpayers as much as $757 million, officials say.

The U.S. has appropriated more than $100 billion for Afghan reconstruction, which includes not only building and development, but training and arming the Afghan security forces — and the dispute over the massive payments to this single company is just one example of how, more than 12 years into the war, America is struggling to account for how its money has been spent.

So who’s getting rich off the war?

A review conducted by FoxNews.com shows several companies with questionable track records have been able to snag a sizable piece of the pie.

While Supreme Foodservice, a foreign firm, has profited immensely, several American companies have also made out like kings despite delays, accusations of shoddy construction and prolonged contract disputes over the last dozen years.

Read more this story HERE.

Obama: Ukraine, Syria are Not Pieces on ‘Some Cold-War Chessboard’

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Photo Credit: AP Photo/Jacquelyn MartinPresident Barack Obama denied late Wednesday that Russian-US tensions over Syria and Ukraine were playing out on “some Cold-War chessboard” even as he acknowledged deep divisions between Moscow and Washington.

Obama, speaking at a joint press conference after a North American leaders’ summit, also flatly denied that the United States had played a role in stirring up the people against their government, saying that the uprisings “arose organically from within those countries.”

“I do think it is worth noting that you have, in this situation, one country that has clearly been a client state of Russia, another whose government is currently being supported by Russia,” he said.

But “our approach in the United States is not to see these as some Cold-War chessboard in which we’re in competition with Russia,” the president continued.

“Our goal is to make sure that the people of Ukraine are able to make decisions for themselves about their future, that the people of Syria are able to make the decisions without having bombs going off and killing women and children, or chemical weapons, or towns being starved because a despot wants to cling to power,” he said.

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Egyptian Militants Warn Tourists to Leave or Face Attack

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Photo Credit: YahooA militant Islamist group has warned tourists to leave Egypt and threatened to attack any who stay after February 20, raising the prospect of a new front in a fast-growing insurgency in the biggest Arab nation.

The Sinai-based Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis group, which claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing that killed two South Korean tourists and an Egyptian on Sunday, made the statement on an affiliated Twitter account.

“We recommend tourists to get out safely before the expiry of the deadline,” read the tweet, written in English, which Egypt’s prime minister said on Tuesday aimed to undermine the political process begun after an army takeover in July.

Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis has said that it does not post statements on social media sites, but statements that appeared on the Twitter account in the past have afterwards surfaced on jihadist websites which the group says it does use.

Islamist militants have killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers since the army deposed Islamist president Mohamed Mursi seven months ago, but Sunday’s attack on a tourist bus marks a tactical shift to soft targets that could devastate an economy already reeling from political turmoil.

Read more this story HERE.

Riot Police in Ukraine Move in Against Protest Camp

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Photo Credit: Fox News By Fox News.

Ukranian riot police armed with stun grenades and water cannons moved in against a protest camp in Kiev’s center Tuesday night as defiant crowds shouted “Glory to Ukraine” while their tents were engulfed in flames around them.

At least 18, including seven police officers and 11 protesters, were reported dead in the violence by early Wednesday morning, with hundreds more injured, the Associated Press reported.

Thousands of protesters had filled Independence Square just hours before, sensing that Ukraine’s political standoff was reaching a critical turning point after the deadliest violence yet in nearly three months of protests that have paralyzed the capital and the nation.

Opposition leader Vitali Klitschko urged the protesters to defend the camp.

“We will not go anywhere from here,” Klitschko told the crowd, speaking from a stage in the square as fires burned around him, releasing huge plumes of smoke into the night sky. “This is an island of freedom and we will defend it,” he said.

Read more this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: Reuters Ukraine crisis: Police storm main Kiev ‘Maidan’ protest camp

Police are storming the main protest camp in Ukraine’s capital, Kiev, which has been occupied since November.

Explosions are taking place, fireworks are being thrown and large fires have broken out in Independence Square.

On Tuesday at least 18 people were killed, including seven policemen, in the worst violence seen in weeks.

President Viktor Yanukovych blamed the violence on opposition leaders, but said it was still “not too late to stop the conflict”.

He was speaking after a late-night meeting with opposition figures Vitaly Klitschko and Arseniy Yatsenyuk.

Read more this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: WNDReagan official: Obama should support Ukraine Protesters

By Greg Corombos.

Recent Ukrainian unrest reached its deadliest levels yet Tuesday, as protesters and police officers were killed, fires raged in Kiev and a nation divided moved closer to a national tipping point.

Ukraine is closely divided between Russian-speaking residents largely loyal to Moscow and native-speaking western Ukraine, which identified with Europe and largely despises Russia for its decades of control during the days of the USSR.

The latest volatility stems from Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych rejecting an opportunity to establish closer economic ties with the European Union and subsequently accepting bailout assistance from Russia. Protests that followed were met with new laws restricting protest rights and even a ban on citizens wearing helmets.

Former Reagan administration Pentagon official Frank Gaffney told Radio America the people have very good reasons to be in the streets.

“There’s obvious frustration on the part of the people of Ukraine with their government, with the policies it’s been pursuing, particularly to the degree to which it is acceding to what can only be described as domination by Russia. I think there’s also a growing restiveness about the growing repression at home and the corruption of their government,” Gaffney said.

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Kremlin Party Youth Protest Disallowed Goal in US-Russia Match

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Photo Credit: Fox NewsAfter a heated U.S.-Russia hockey match at the Sochi Olympics on Saturday, many Russian spectators have decided the cold war is back — and not just on the ice.

Demonstrators gathered in Moscow on Monday to protest a referee’s call disallowing a Russian goal in the match that Russia ultimately lost in a penalty shootout.

The protesters, organized by the Kremlin party’s youth group, donned Russian hockey jerseys and shouted, “Make soap out of the ref!” — a common expression among Russian soccer fans.

Wielding a banner with a photograph of the American referee, Brad Meier, the protesters used a cheese grater to grate soap into buckets.

The goal, which would have given Russia to a 3-2 lead with less than five minutes on the clock, was disallowed after officials ruled that the net had come loose from the ice before the goal was scored. Russian fans, who had leapt to their feet in celebration, howled with rage as the call was announced.

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Cuba Shuts Down US Travel Visas

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Photo Credit: flippinyank/flickrThe government of Cuba announced late Friday that it will no longer process visas for U.S. travel to Cuba.

Cuba said travel will end until a new U.S. bank can be found to process visa fees that are collected and routed to Cuba.

Cuba’s decision means only humanitarian travel will be permitted to the island nation from the United States, and that the “people-to-people” visas and other educational travel will be shut off. Cuba said it would cut off “family visits, academic, cultural, educational, scientific, sports” and other exchanges.

The decision is a blow to the goals of the Obama administration, which sought to expand travel opportunities to the island. It will also have an immediate impact on Cuba’s access to hard currency, on which many of its citizens rely.

M&T Bank of Buffalo, New York, had long handled these transactions, but decided last year to terminate all of its embassy accounts. M&T had said it would continue processing visa deposits for Cuba until next Monday.

Read more from this story HERE.