Posted today at 9:36am
 (NEW YORK) -- Blind dissident Chen Guangcheng and his immediate family have left China on a flight to the United States. They are expected to arrive in Newark, N.J., Saturday evening.
State Department Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland confirmed that Chen and his family left China so he can pursue studies at an American university.
"We are looking forward to his arrival in the United States later today. We also express our appreciation for the manner in which we were able to resolve this matter and to support Mr. Chen's desire to study in the U.S. and pursue his goals," Nuland said.
Their departure caps off three weeks of roller coaster diplomacy that reached the very highest levels of Chinese government and the White House.
The human rights activist is best known for his fight against forced abortions and sterilizations under the One Child Policy.
He served a four year prison sentence for what are widely believed to have been trumped up charges before being placed under a brutal, extra-judicial house arrest in his hometown province of Shandong.
Several media outlets, as well as human rights supporters in the U.S., cited late May as a potential departure date if all rules for passport applications were strictly adhered to.
But on Saturday, social media reports surfaced that said Chen had left the hospital. By midday, Chen spoke to the AFP to say he was at the airport with his family and while he had no details, he believed they would be leaving that day.
His departure is in some ways bittersweet. His supporters by and large agree the only way he will be truly safe is outside China.
But for Chen, and dissidents before him, leaving is a compromise; he may be safer but he is also farther away from his cause.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio
Posted yesterday at 8:15pm
 JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/GettyImages(WASHINGTON) -- Leaders of eight of the world’s largest economies are meeting at Camp David Friday evening for the G-8 Summit, marking the biggest gathering of heads of state at the president’s country retreat in history.
The rustic estate in Maryland’s Catoctin Mountains, however, presents something of a logistical challenge for the White House as it seeks to accommodate all of the leaders and their staffs.
Before your mind wanders to those summer camp memories of bunk bed-filled cabins, the Obama administration assures there are “adequate facilities” for each delegation. But who sleeps where? And how were the arrangements decided?
“The allocation system, of course, is classified,” National Security Advisor Tom Donilon jokingly told reporters Thursday.
“The summit is intended to be small and intimate, and the President made a conscious decision to host the G8 meeting at Camp David for this reason. Each head of state or government will have his or her own cabin and they’ll have the opportunity, obviously, to meet informally on the margins of the meetings and to take full advantage of the grounds at Camp David,” he said.
President Obama was originally slated to host the summit in his hometown of Chicago, but announced in March that he was moving the meetings to Camp David.
The country retreat, known formally as the Naval Support Facility Thurmont, is a large complex, but not all of the buildings are the same size. Several of the scattered cabins are just one room and a bathroom.
Donilon assured reporters that the delicate arrangements were carefully planned. White House deputy chief of staff Alyssa Mastromonaco and George Mulligan of the White House Military Office were enlisted to help with the details, he said.
“There are adequate facilities there for each delegation, each head of state to have his or her cabin, as I said, and for each to be accompanied by a key staff person and in some cases two or three staff people,” Donilon said.
“Maybe we could get … a deeper briefing on this stuff,” he added laughing. “I’m as interested in it as you are.”
The president himself does not visit his country home often. Friday will mark his 23rd visit to Camp David, according to unofficial White House historian CBS’ Mark Knoller.
Camp David, named after President Eisenhower’s grandson, has hosted foreign dignitaries in the past. The 1978 summit that President Jimmy Carter held for Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin resulted in what are now known as the Camp David Accords.
Asked if it was a little rustic for heads of state, Donilon quipped “I grew up in Providence, Rhode Island. I never had a lawn bigger than three feet in front of my house, so … I’m not really the one to comment on rustic.”
While the G-8 leaders are busy tackling global issue like the European debt crisis at Camp David, First Lady Michelle Obama will host their spouses at the White House for a tour and “intimate lunch” catered by famed celebrity chef Jose Andres, according to the White House.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio
Posted yesterday at 6:36pm
 TOBY MELVILLE/AFP/Getty Images/iStockphoto/Thinkstock(BELFAST) -- Six alleged members of a dissident Irish Republican network have been arrested on terrorism charges in Northern Ireland since last Saturday in a joint operation by the Police Service of Northern Ireland and MI5, the U.K.'s Security Service.
Though dissident Republican groups are often characterized as splinter operations with little public support, the arrests occurred in cities across Northern Ireland. British authorities also invoked two criminal charges rarely used in Northern Ireland, "directing" terrorism and "acts preparatory" to terrorism.
The arrests come just weeks before Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee visit to Northern Ireland, and two months before up to 900,000 visitors converge on London for the 2012 Summer Olympics. Security preparations for the summer games have included a stepped-up police presence and surface-to-air missile batteries atop residential buildings.
Three men were arrested on Saturday, May 11, and three more were arrested on Monday, May 13. The three men arrested Monday morning, aged 41, 42 and 47, were charged with conspiracy to murder, conspiracy to cause an explosion, preparation of terrorist acts and collecting information of use to terrorism. The 47-year-old was also charged with directing terrorism. They are due to appear in court tomorrow morning, at which time their names will be made public.
"Police have charged three men with a number of serious offences linked to a proactive investigation into dissident Republican terrorist activity in Northern Ireland," said the PSNI in a statement. "Officers have worked closely with colleagues in the Security Service and, latterly, with the Public Prosecution Service to reach a point where charges have been brought." The Security Service, also known as MI5, is the lead agency in terrorism investigations in Northern Ireland.
In recent years, dissident Republican groups have mounted both bombing attacks aimed at law enforcement and so-called "punishment" attacks against alleged drug dealers and criminals. Splinter groups have improved their bombmaking skills and now have the capability to detonate devices by remote control, say police.
According to U.K. press accounts, a 600-lb device found on the outskirts of Newry, Northern Ireland on April 26 "could have been set off by someone in the area with a transmitter." Police said that the device, which was left in a white Citroen Berlingo van, was "ready to go." They added that it was designed to kill and was to be detonated with a remote transmitter.
Earlier this month, the dissident Republican group Óglaigh na hÉireann is believed to have left a milk-churn bomb found on an island in Phoenix Park, Dublin. Anti-terrorist officers told the media that they believe the bomb "was hidden there in a panic as Gardaí [Irish police] carried out a major search and disrupt operation following the discovery of the Newry van bomb."
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio
Posted yesterday at 5:12pm
 Wikimedia Foundation(MONMOUTH, Wales) -- The world’s first “Wikipedia town” will launch on Saturday in the small town of Monmouth in Wales.
The town now has more than 1,000 ceramic plaques on every important building, school and on hundreds of shops. The plaques each have a unique QR bar code -- a square, black-and-white bar code that can be scanned with a smartphone that will be directed to a web page.
When users scan these codes, they will be taken to a Wikipedia article about the place they are visiting in whatever language their phone is programmed to.
The project, called “Monmouthpedia,” has been in the works for six months. The whole town has a free wireless Internet network and on Saturday, the “the entire town will be bedecked with banners declaring Monmouth as the first Wikipedia Town in the world,” according to its website.
The town’s residents contributed by writing and editing stories about Monmouth, and volunteers have been translating them to dozens of languages including Hungarian, Indonesian and Hindi.
“I started Monmouthpedia because I think that knowledge can give us context and allow us to appreciate the things around us more,” John Cummings, the Monmouthpedia project leader, said in a video on the project’s website.
“The project is a collaboration between Wikimedia UK, Monmouth City Council, the museums, the library, the University of Wales and Cardiff Met [Cardiff Metropolitan University], but, most importantly, it’s the individual contributors -- the local community groups and people not just from Monmouth but all over the world that correct the content and are making this happen,” he said.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio
Posted yesterday at 3:10pm
 JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/GettyImages(WASHINGTON) -- In his first meeting with President Obama, newly minted French President Francois Hollande stood by his campaign pledge to withdraw French troops from Afghanistan by the end of the year.
“I reminded President Obama that I made a promise to the French people to the effect that our combat troops would be withdrawn from Afghanistan by the end of 2012. That being said, we will continue to support Afghanistan in a different way,” Hollande told reporters. Obama welcomed his French counterpart to the White House ahead of the G-8 and NATO summits this weekend.
The new president expressed confidence that France could “find the right means” to “continue and comply” with its international obligations in Afghanistan.
Obama, who plans to remove U.S. combat troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2014, said they agreed that “even as we transition out of a combat phase in Afghanistan that it's important that we sustain our commitment to helping Afghans build security and continue down the path of development.”
Much of Friday’s discussion also centered on the debt crisis in Europe, which both leaders agreed is “an issue of extraordinary important not only to the people of Europe, but also to the world economy,” Obama said.
“We're looking forward to a fruitful discussion later this evening and tomorrow with the other G-8 leaders about how we can manage a responsible approach to fiscal consolidation that is coupled with a strong growth agenda,” Obama said.
Hollande shared the same view “that Greece must stay in the eurozone and that all of us must do what we can to that effect. There will be elections in Greece, and we wanted to send a message to that effect to the Greek people,” he said.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio
Posted yesterday at 3:00pm
 ANDREAS SOLARO/AFP/Getty Images(ROME) -- Work to remove the ill-fated Costa Concordia cruise ship from the coast of Italy is set to start within days.
The American Titan Salvage will lead the $300 million removal project by first building an underwater platform and righting the ship with cranes and air-filled balloons before towing it away.
Titan Salvage Spokesperson Captain Rich Habib calls the removal project unprecedented.
"It's the largest re-float in history, but we think it's entirely possible and we think we're going to be successful," he said.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio
Posted yesterday at 2:00pm
 Hemera/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) -- Announcing a $3 billion private sector pledge to support agriculture and help feed Africa’s starving populations, President Obama said Friday that the U.S. has a “moral obligation to lead the fight.”
“When tens of thousands of children die from the agony of starvation, as in Somalia, that sends us a message we still got a lot of work to do. It's unacceptable. It's an outrage. It's an affront to who we are,” the president said at the Symposium on Global Agriculture and Food Security in Washington.
Arguing that food security is a moral, economic, and security imperative, Obama urged the world’s biggest economies to fulfill their promises to aid the cause financially. The president said additional nations, organization and non-governmental organizations also need to “step up and play a role” because government cannot solve the problem alone.
The new shared commitment, which Obama outlined Friday, aims to raise 50 million people out of poverty over the next 10 years.
Obama also pushed back against criticisms that the new private sector alliance is a way for governments to shift the burden. “As president, I can assure you that the United States will continue to meet our responsibilities so that even in these tough fiscal times, we will continue to make historic investments in development,” he said.
The president spoke to an eclectic crowd, including singer and activist Bono, celebrity chef Jose Andres and a host of African leaders, in his speech kicking off this weekend’s G8 summit.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio
Posted yesterday at 12:40pm
 iStockphoto/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) -- Just as America’s latest breed of super jet fighters are being reigned in due to a mystery safety problem, a new Pentagon report released Friday notes that China’s own version of a next-generation fighter appears to be designed to have similar capabilities.
“The January 2011 flight test of China’s next-generation fighter prototype, the J-20, highlights China’s ambition to produce a fighter aircraft that incorporates stealth attributes, advanced avionics, and super-cruise engines,” said the Pentagon’s 2012 annual assessment of the Chinese military.
The report comes a month after a second prototype of the J-20 was reportedly spotted rolling around a Chinese airfield, more than a year and a half since China’s only other known prototype made its first public flight.
The three attributes described by the Pentagon are among the advanced capabilities of the F-22 Raptor, the stealth fighter jet billed by the U.S. Air Force and its manufacturer, Lockheed Martin, as the most sophisticated fighter on the planet. But currently the entire fleet of F-22s, which cost the U.S. government an estimated $79 billion, has been slapped with strict flight restrictions due to safety concerns for pilots.
The restrictions, which keep the planes in close proximity to potential landing strips in case of a mid-air emergency, were announced two weeks after an ABC News Nightline investigation found that the advanced $420 million-a-pop fighter jets have been plagued by a rare, but potentially deadly oxygen problem for years. Despite multiple investigations -- including a four-month full-fleet grounding last year -- the Air Force has been unable to pinpoint the cause.
The concept of the F-22 itself has also been long debated. Officials at the Air Force and Lockheed Martin have said the jets are essential to the future of American war power. However, funding for new super jets was cut by Congress in 2009 after powerful critics from across the political spectrum, from Sen. John McCain (R.-Ariz.) to then Defense Secretary Robert Gates to President Barack Obama, all called on lawmakers to halt F-22 orders at 187 planes, saying that the plane was designed to fight fleets of other, rival next-generation fighters — an enemy that does not exist.
Despite going combat operational in late 2005, the jets have yet to go into combat, from Iraq and Afghanistan to the “no-fly zone” over Libya last March. In all cases, the Air Force said the sophisticated fighters simply weren’t needed.
Just before funding for the F-22 was cut in 2009, President Obama received a letter from more than a dozen Congressmen and local lawmakers in support of the F-22. In the letter, the supporters claimed the full force of a 600-plus F-22 fleet would be needed to counter future rivals like Russia and China.
Since, both Russia and China appear to have developed prototypes for their own next generation fighters. The Russian variant, the Sukhoi T-50, was shown off to the public during an air show last August. Russian news reports compared the jet’s capabilities directly with those of the F-22. Though China is not believed to have more than a couple J-20s, a U.S. government report on Chinese weapons systems released last month said U.S. intelligence estimated that at least some J-20s could go combat operational as soon as 2018.
That document, from the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, revealed that some U.S. analysts doubt the Chinese are very far along in developing the “key components for designing a fifth-generation fighter” such as effective stealth technology and high-performance engines.
“We’ve got to continue to watch as it develops. It’s still in the prototype phase,” David Helvey, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for East Asia and Asia Pacific Security, told reporters Friday. “We’d like to be able to continue to monitor developments on that to understand exactly what China may intend to use it for and I wouldn’t want to speculate at this point for what those specific missions might be.”
In a speech in 2009, Gates noted that other nations were developing next-generation fighters, but said America is already way ahead in the numbers game and that gap “only widens” as the Air Force begins receiving hundreds of the F-22-s companion fighter, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter - a plane that has had its share of cost overruns and delays in development.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio
Posted yesterday at 11:51am
 Zoonar/Thinkstock(CANBERRA, Australia) -- Most people would feel plenty accomplished if they could finish a half-marathon, and even more so if they trekked the 13 miles for charity. But that's child's play for Aussie Rob Ginnivan.
On Thursday, Ginnivan finished a half marathon while on board a treadmill -- which had been loaded onto a hot air balloon.
Ginnivan told the U.K. Telegraph it took him longer than he thought. "What I didn't count on was that the basket actually tilted, so it was like running up a hill. Every time I took a step the basket would sway from left to right so I kind of had this sea type motion being in the air. It was quite bizarre and made it very difficult."
Ginnivan is hoping the stunt will help him raise around $70,000 for a heart foundation.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio
Posted yesterday at 10:20am
 Stockbyte/Thinkstock(LONDON) -- The Nevada brothel owner who became famous as the star of an HBO reality show says he wants to start a new and fully legal brothel in London during the upcoming summer Olympics -- not just because he could make "a couple million pounds," he says, but because legal brothels would stop human trafficking by international criminal gangs.
Dennis Hof, the 65-year-old owner of the Moonlite Bunny Ranch and star of Cathouse, promoted legal prostitution during a Thursday night debate at the Oxford Union, and told ABC News that while he's in the U.K. he's on a mission to sell London authorities on legal brothels.
"These illegal brothels are disgusting," said Hof. "The girls are not tested for diseases and they're trafficked and forced into it. I'm saying it's not always like that and it doesn't have to be like that. We can provide the client with a clean, safe and fun experience."
Hof said he wouldn't mind making some money out of a pop-up mini-Bunny Ranch during the Olympic Games, which begin July 27 and are projected to draw as many as 900,000 visitors to London. He estimates he would make "a couple million pounds" during the three-week event, which he said is "much more than the average" he would make during a similar period at his Nevada brothel, where he employs 500 girls.
But he said his main concerns are the health and safety of both sex workers and their clients, and stopping a short-term epidemic of human trafficking.
"I expect 1,000 girls to be trafficked in by Southeast Asian, Albanian and African gangs, violent gangs involved in crime and drugs," said Hof, who based his prediction on what he said he witnessed at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada.
He also thinks authorities are making an economic mistake. The traffickers, Hof said, "stand to make a billion pounds that won't be taxed and that will be stolen away from London."
While prostitution is legal in the U.K., operating a brothel, pimping and streetwalking are all illegal, as is paying for sexual services from someone who has been coerced into prostitution.
Hof believes that establishing legal brothels around metropolitan London for the duration of the games would provide safe sex for both tourists and prostitutes, as well as much-needed tax revenue.
The Oxford Union, however, seemed unconvinced by Hof's reasoning. During his Thursday speech, Hof told listeners legal brothels would "sort out all your problems. It would be a good thing for your country, I'm telling you." According to the debating society's website, after Hof spoke a motion in which the Union would support "recogniz[ing] prostitution as a legitimate business" was defeated.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio
Posted yesterday at 8:22am
 Hemera/Thinkstock(DUBAI, United Arab Emirates) -- A new hotel in the Mideast is about to go under the sea.
Dubai is planning to build a luxury underwater hotel that would be surrounded by a coral reef and feature rooms submerged 32 feet below the surface.
The Water Discus Hotel is designed at a cost of up to $120 million -- no word yet on the room rate per night.
The plans are reminiscent of Dubai's heyday. Another underwater hotel was announced in 2006, but was never built. The city is still working through a debt pile of over $100 billion from construction boom.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio
Posted yesterday at 3:47am
 MIGUEL MEDINA/AFP/Getty Images(LONDON) -- At the opening ceremonies of this year's Summer Olympics in London, the Israeli government wants everyone to observe a minute of silence for its 11 athletes and coaches slain during the 1972 Olympic by Palestinian terrorists.
However, the International Olympic Committee has said no to the request.
Even while saying the IOC "sympathizes with the victims’ families and understands their lasting pain," President Jacques Rogge told the deputy foreign minister of Israel, Danny Ayalon, that the Olympics "has officially paid tribute to the memory of the athletes on several occasions and will continue to do so in close coordination with the National Olympic Committee of Israel."
Ayalon made the proposal on behalf of widows of two of the slain athletes, who've urged the IOC to observe a minute of silence for the dead Israelis since the attack 40 years ago.
The Israeli official called Rogge's response "unacceptable," adding, "The terrorist murders of the Israeli athletes were not just an attack on people because of their nationality and religion; it was an attack on the Olympic Games and the international community."
Two New York Democratic lawmakers, Eliot L. Engel and Nita M. Lowey, also requested Rogge to commemorate the anniversary of the slayings with respectful silence.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio
Posted yesterday at 3:45am
 Alessio Romenzi/AFP/Getty Images(DAMASCUS, Syria) -- With the united front against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad showing cracks, the chief of the leading opposition group said he would quit Thursday in an effort to revive the mission to change the government in Damascus.
Burhan Ghalioun, viewed as a divisive figure by some, said he would leave as head of the Syrian National Council (SNC) as soon as a replacement could be found.
Ghalioun had only led the SNC for six months but other activists accused him of trying to consolidate power by marginalizing them.
The movement against al-Assad is less than 15 months old and has been beset by infighting and inexperience.
Western countries that support the opposition's attempt to bring down al-Assad's regime have been discouraged by the lack of cohesion among the president's political enemies.
The timing of Ghalioun's exit is probably right since the Local Co-ordination Committees, a network of Syrian activists, have complained that "we've seen nothing in the past months except political incompetence in the SNC and a total lack of consensus between its vision and that of the revolutionaries."
It's estimated that between 9,000 and 11,000 people have died since al-Assad imposed a crackdown on his political foes, who he has labeled "terrorists."
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio
Posted yesterday at 2:00am
 U.S. Marine Corps/Lance Cpl. Dexter S. Saulisbury(NEW YORK) -- President Obama will take center stage at the NATO summit in Chicago Sunday by urging the alliance to resist deescalating its commitment in Afghanistan.
With the American public having grown weary of the 10-year conflict, leaders from other nations have also seen diminishing support for the war.
For instance, new French President Francois Hollande was elected partly on his promise to pull his forces out of Afghanistan faster than the planned 2014 timetable for withdrawal.
In two years, virtually all coalition forces will have exited the country, 13 years after the U.S.-led effort to destroy al Qaeda training camps and depose the Taliban regime in response to the 9/11 attacks.
While the meeting is expected to be cordial, Obama will likely get hit with hard questions from NATO members on how fast the pullout of military forces will be, how many troops to leave behind and how the financial burden of upkeeping Afghan national forces will be shared.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio
Posted Thursday afternoon
 Soe Than WIN/AFP/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- Declaring a “new chapter in the relationship between the United States and Burma,” President Obama announced Thursday he is rewarding democratic progress by nominating the first U.S. ambassador to Burma in 22 years.
The U.S. will also ease its ban on new investment in Burma, Obama announced.
After her meeting with the foreign minister of Burma, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters that while the U.S. is suspending sanctions, it is not lifting them altogether. “We will be keeping relevant laws on the books as an insurance policy, but our goal and our commitment is to move as rapidly as we can to expand business and investment opportunities.”
Clinton stressed that the emphasis will be in responsible investment, and that U.S. companies will be held to “best practice” standards implementing transparency and worker’s rights. However, in a follow-up conference call senior administration officials admitted that the standards are still being hashed out and they will not be legally enforceable by U.S. law.
Human rights groups have complained that it’s still too early to ease sanctions on Burma, and that the U.S. should have worked out standards of conduct before opening up Burma for American business.
Here is the president's full statement:
Today marks the beginning of a new chapter in the relationship between the United States and Burma. Since I announced a new U.S. opening to Burma in November, President Thein Sein, Aung San Suu Kyi and the people of Burma have made significant progress along the path to democracy. The United States has pledged to respond to positive developments in Burma and to clearly demonstrate America's commitment to the future of an extraordinary country, a courageous people, and universal values. That is what we are doing.
Today, I am nominating our first U.S. Ambassador to Burma in 22 years, Derek Mitchell, whose work has been instrumental in bringing about this new phase in our bilateral relationship. We also are announcing that the United States will ease its bans on the exportation of financial services and new investment in Burma. Opening up greater economic engagement between our two countries is critical to supporting reformers in government and civil society, facilitating broad-based economic development, and bringing Burma out of isolation and into the international community.
Of course, there is far more to be done. The United States remains concerned about Burma’s closed political system, its treatment of minorities and detention of political prisoners, and its relationship with North Korea. We will work to establish a framework for responsible investment from the United States that encourages transparency and oversight, and helps ensure that those who abuse human rights, engage in corruption, interfere with the peace process, or obstruct the reform process do not benefit from increased engagement with the United States. We will also continue to press for those who commit serious violations of human rights to be held accountable. We are also maintaining our current authorities to help ensure further reform and to retain the ability to reinstate selected sanctions if there is backsliding.
Americans for decades have stood with the Burmese people in their struggle to realize the full promise of their extraordinary country. In recent months, we have been inspired by the economic and political reforms that have taken place, Secretary Clinton’s historic trip to Naypyidaw and Rangoon, the parliamentary elections, and the sight of Aung San Suu Kyi being sworn into office after years of struggle. As an iron fist has unclenched in Burma, we have extended our hand, and are entering a new phase in our engagement on behalf of a more democratic and prosperous future for the Burmese people.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio
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