Kerry Warns Iraq on Iranian Flights to Syria

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Just days after the 10th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry confronted Baghdad for continuing to grant Iran access to its airspace and said Iraq’s behavior was raising questions about its reliability as a partner.

Speaking to reporters during a previously unannounced trip to Baghdad, Kerry said that he and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki had engaged in “a very spirited discussion” on the Iranian flights, which U.S. officials believe are ferrying weapons and fighters intended for the embattled Syrian government.

Kerry said the plane shipments – along with material being trucked across Iraqi territory from Iran to Syria – were helping President Bashar Assad’s regime cling to power by increasing their ability to strike at Syrian rebels and opposition figures demanding Assad’s ouster.

“I made it very clear that for those of us who are engaged in an effort to see President Assad step down and to see a democratic process take hold … anything that supports President Assad is problematic,” Kerry said at a news conference at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad after meeting separately with Maliki at his office. “And I made it very clear to the Prime Minister that the overflights from Iran are, in fact, helping to sustain President Assad and his regime.”

The overflights in Iraq have long been a source of contention between the U.S. and Iraq. Iraq and Iran claim the flights are carrying humanitarian goods, but American officials say they are confident that the planes are being used to arm the support the Assad regime. The administration is warning Iraq that unless action is taken, Iraq will be excluded from the international discussion about Syria’s political future.

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So Much For Sequester: Obama Quietly Releases $500 Million to Palestinians (+video)

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The United States has quietly unblocked almost $500 million in aid to the Palestinian Authority which had been frozen by Congress for months, a top US official said Friday.

The news that the funds had finally been freed up came after US President Barack Obama met top Israeli and Palestinian leaders in a landmark visit to Israel and the West Bank earlier this week.

“To date, we have moved $295.7 million in fiscal year 2012 money… and $200 million in fiscal year 2013 assistance,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters.

The Obama administration also notified Congress in late February that it was seeking a further $200 million to fund US Agency for International Development (USAID) programs for the Palestinians, she said.

The first sum comprises some $195.7 million, allocated under the 2012 fiscal year budget for USAID economic, development and humanitarian assistance, as well as a further $100 million earmarked specifically for narcotics control

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Justifying Another War: Head of Intel Committee Says Syrian “Red Line” Crossed (+video)

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There’s mounting evidence that over the last two years the Assad regime has used “at least a small quantity” of chemical weapons against rebel forces in Syria’s raging civil war, House Intelligence Committee chair Mike Rogers, R-Mich., said today on “Face the Nation,” adding that the time is now for U.S. intervention.

Amid debate over an alleged chemical weapons attack out of Syria last week, President Obama during a visit to Israel doubled down on his claim that such an attack would be considered a “game changer” for his administration, but qualified that it’s important to find out “precisely whether or not this red line was crossed” before making a decision that could lead to an act of war.

“I think that it is abundantly clear that that red line has been crossed,” Rogers said. “There is mounting evidence that it is probable that the Assad regime has used at least a small quantity of chemical weapons during the course of this conflict.”

Though a senior administration official has said intelligence this week suggests weaponized chemicals were not used in the recent strike, Rogers said the fact that President Bashar al-Assad has ordered scud missile attacks on civilians “in and of itself should prompt action.” The “wholesale slaughter” of Syrian rebels and civilians, he said, “is now spilling up to the doorstep of Israel.”

“This is a growing, destabilizing event in the Middle East,” Rogers continued. “Our Arab League allies talk to us frequently, and they are as frustrated as I have seen them because of the lack of U.S. leadership at the time table.” Senior Arab diplomats this morning announced the Arab League has decided to transfer Syria’s seat away from Assad and to opposition forces.

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Senate Refuses to Ban Former Illegal Aliens from Healthcare Benefits

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The Senate rejected an amendment to the budget that would have banned illegal immigrants from qualifying for “ObamaCare” and Medicaid during the period of legal status.

Senate Budget Committee ranking member Jeff Session (R-Ala.) introduced the amendment, which failed on a 43-56 vote. His amendment would have prohibited illegal immigrants, who later gain citizenship, from getting healthcare coverage under the Affordable Care Act or through Medicaid.

“My amendment would simply say if you are here illegally and then get lawful status, you do not qualify for ObamaCare and Medicaid,” Sessions said ahead of the vote early Saturday morning.

Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) offered a counter amendment that restated current law, which says undocumented people cannot receive federal benefits. His amendment passed by voice vote.

“Current law already explicitly excludes undocumented people from receiving benefits,” Menendez said. “This is not a great way to do your outreach to the Hispanic and immigrant community.”

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News Editor’s Note: Both of Alaska’s Senators, RINO Lisa Murkowski and liberal Democrat Mark Begich voted to allow former illegal aliens medical benefits.

UK Police Probe Death of Exiled Russian Oligarch Berezovsky

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British police said Saturday they have launched an investigation into the “unexplained death” of Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky, who was found dead at his home in southeast England on Saturday.

“His death is currently being treated as unexplained and a full inquiry is under way. The area around the property has been cordoned off in order to allow the investigation to take place,” police said in a statement obtained by Reuters.

The statement did not directly identify the 67-year-old businessman, but Thames Valley police said they were investigating the death of a man of the same age at a property in Ascot, a town 25 miles west of London.

Boris Berezovsky, a self-exiled and outspoken oligarch, had a bitter falling out with Russian President Vladimir Putin. In recent years, the one-time Kremlin powerbroker-turned-thorn in Putin’s side fended off verbal and legal attacks in cases that often bore political undertones — and bit into his fortune.

Lawyer Alexander Dobrovinsky told Russian state TV that his client — who had survived assassination attempts in the past — lately had been in “a horrible, terrible” emotional state.

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Bolton: Iran Planning ‘Whole Arsenal’ Of Nukes

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President Obama went to great lengths to convince Americans and Israelis that we stand should-to-shoulder with Israel but the private talks were just another round of demands for Israeli concessions, according to former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton.

“This is a trip that’s very rare in the sense that the public opportunities that the president has are about as divorced from the real substance of the private conversations as you can imagine,” Bolton told WND. “Publicly, there’s no doubt that the president wanted the photo opportunities and the appearance of smoothing over the difficulties that he’s had in his personal relationship with Prime Minister Netanyahu and also trying to smooth over some of the difficulties in the bilateral relationship between the two countries.”

According to Bolton, the president still favors returning to pre-1967 borders and agreeing with the Palestinians that settlement construction in the disputed territories must stop before any peace talks are renewed. He also says the fact Obama never publicly called for a new round of peace talks shows how futile that is in the current climate.

“I think where Obama is really tilting is toward both reality and his own reputation. You don’t want to call for a new round of peace talks that are destined to run into to the ground, said Bolton.

Another telling development from the trip is Obama’s repeated assessment that Iran is at least a year away from a nuclear bomb. Bolton says the message behind that estimate is crystal clear.

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In First Diplomatic Address, Pope Francis Decries ‘Tyranny Of Relativism’

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In his first address on the world’s affairs to diplomats accredited to the Holy See, Pope Francis was very clear about one thing: no one should assume that because he is devoted to the poor and the goal of peace in the world, that he deviates from the substance of the message of his predecessor, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.

On Friday, the newly elected pontiff expressed serious concern for the “spiritual poverty” of the world as represented by a rejection of both God and objective standards of morality.

Borrowing a phrase from Benedict, Pope Francis told representatives from 180 nations that he rejects the “tyranny of relativism,” which, he said, “makes everyone his own criterion and endangers the coexistence of peoples.” Francis said that while he praised the efforts of those who “dedicate themselves to helping the sick, orphans, the homeless and all the marginalized,” he was equally concerned about the “spiritual poverty of our time, which afflicts the so-called richer countries particularly seriously.”

The pontiff asserted that the world cannot attain the goal of his namesake, St. Francis of Assisi, to build world peace, without truth. Referring to the “dictatorship of relativism,” and the importance of clear moral standards, Francis said, “There cannot be true peace if everyone is his own criterion.”

Francis said that in choosing his new name he was evoking St. Francis of Assisi, a familiar figure to Catholics and non-Catholics alike. Reminding the diplomats that the word “pontiff” means “bridge-builder,” the pope said that he hoped to create “real spaces of authentic fraternity” between peoples and cultures. “In this work, the role of religion is fundamental,” Francis said.

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Number Of Dead Pigs Found In Chinese Rivers Rises To 16,000

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The number of dead pigs recovered in the last two weeks from rivers that supply water to Shanghai has risen to more than 16,000.

The government in China’s financial hub said 10,570 carcasses had been pulled from its Huangpu river. That is in addition to 5,528 pigs plucked from upstream tributaries in the Jiaxing area of Zhejiang province.

Authorities give daily updates, telling the public that tests show Shanghai’s water is safe, but no official has given any full explanation about the massive dumping of pig carcasses.

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Kerry Wishes ‘Prosperity’ For This Islamic Regime

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Secretary of State John F. Kerry exchanged pleasantries with Iran, wishing “health and prosperity” even though it was revealed at virtually the same time that the rogue Islamic regime has a secret plant where scientists are working on nuclear weapons that could be aimed at the U.S.

The United States, Kerry said in a statement issued this week, is “strongly committed to resolving” differences with Iran.

“Despite the difficult history of the last decades between the United States and Iran, there is an opportunity to work diplomatically to reduce tensions and address the mistrust between our two countries, to the mutual benefit of both of our people,” Kerry said in a statement reported by the Washington Times.

The statement was released Wednesday, the same day WND reported Iranian scientists are working on nuclear warheads at an underground site previously unknown to the West.

The source is a high-ranking intelligence officer of the Islamic regime, according to the report by Reza Kahlili, an Iranian insider turned CIA spy who has written “A Time to Betray.” Kerry’s comments, on the occasion of the Iranian-Persian new year, were a continuation of a traditional statement to the Iranian people.

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China ‘To Overtake America By 2016’

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China’s economy expanded last year at 7.8pc – its slowest pace in more than a decade – and recent data has fuelled concerns that any rebound in the country’s growth is losing steam.

However, the OECD was upbeat, predicting in a new survey of China’s prospects that the country’s economy could expand by 8.5pc this year and by 8.9pc in 2014.

While the OECD noted the slowdown in China’s aggressive expansion, it nonetheless predicted that growth should average 8pc in this decade at current rates of investment and reform.

After allowing for price differences, it forecast that China could become the world’s largest economy, overtaking America, around 2016.

Fuelling the OECD’s positive prediction was an optimistic outlook for investment spending in the world’s second-biggest economy. It pointed to substantial deficits in rail and road capacity relative to other major economies at similar stages of development, as well as to sub-standard housing as offering scope for more profitable spending on infrastructure.

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