Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/117686
Tuesday, March 26, 2013 ��� Daily News 5B WORLD BRIEFING Kerry, Karzai show rare USAfghan unity KABUL (AP) ��� Eager to overcome a bout of bickering, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Afghan President Hamid Karzai made a show of unusual unity between their two nations on Monday. The friendly display came as the U.S. military ceded control of its last detention facility in Afghanistan, ending a longstanding irritant in relations. Kerry arrived in the Afghan capital of Kabul on an unannounced visit amid concerns that Karzai may be jeopardizing progress in the war against extremism with anti-American rhetoric. After a private meeting, Kerry said he and Karzai were ������on the same page������ on security and reconciliation issues and brushed aside suggestions that relations were in peril. Karzai infuriated U.S. officials earlier this month by accusing Washington of colluding with Taliban insurgents to keep Afghanistan weak even as the Obama administration pressed ahead with plans to hand off security responsibility to Afghan forces and end NATO���s combat mission by the end of next year. At a joint news conference after their talks, Karzai told reporters that his comments in a nationally televised speech had been misinterpreted by the media. Kerry demurred on that point but said people sometimes say things in public that reflect ideas they have heard from others but don���t necessarily agree with. ������I am confident the president (Karzai) does not believe the U.S. has any interest except to see the Taliban come to the table to make peace and that we are completely cooperative with the government of Afghanistan with respect to the protection of their efforts and their people,������ Kerry said. He noted that he had specifically raised the comment in question with Karzai and was satisfied with the response. ������We���re on the same page,������ Kerry said. ������I don���t think there is any disagreement between us and I am very, very comfortable with As democratic change rises in Myanmar, so does drug trade the president���s explanation.������ For his part, Karzai said that he had been trying to make the point in his speech that if the Taliban really wanted foreign troops out of Afghanistan they should stop killing people. In the March 9 speech, he berated the Taliban for deadly bombings in Kabul and the city of Khost that he said ������showed that they are at the service of America and at the service of this phrase: 2014,������ ��� the withdrawal date set for most international forces. Karzai suggested in the speech that the U.S. and the Taliban were working together ������trying to frighten us into thinking that if the foreigners are not in Afghanistan, we would be facing these sorts of incidents.������ Standing beside Kerry on Monday, Karzai said ������today was a very good day,������ citing the turnover of the detention facility at the U.S.-run Bagram military base north of Kabul. He also expressed gratitude for the sacrifices made for his country by Americans. At the same time, he defended allegations he has made about American troops or their local contractors abusing Afghan civilians. He said his complaints and criticism were not meant to ������offend������ anyone but rather to protect his people. $338M Powerball jackpot winner validates NJ ticket PASSAIC, N.J. (AP) ��� The lone winning ticket for a $338.3 million Powerball jackpot was validated Monday at the liquor store where it was purchased, but lottery officials said they don���t yet know the winner���s name. The ticket holder went to Eagle Liquors in Passaic and had the ticket validated at around 4:30 p.m. for the fourth-largest jackpot in Powerball history, the New Jersey Lottery said. The numbers drawn Saturday were 17, 29, 31, 52, 53 and Powerball 31. A lump sum cash payout would be $221 million, or about $152 million after taxes. Liquor store employee Pravin Mankodia, 67, who has worked at Eagle for seven years, sold the ticket. ������It feels awesome, we feel so lucky,������ he said. The store will get $10,000. The owner said he���ll probably use some of the money to fix up the store and also share some with employees. THON MIN YAR, Myanmar (AP) ��� Deep in the lawless mountains of the Golden Triangle, sloping fields of illegal poppies have just been scraped dry for opium. This is the peak season for producing drugs here, and in Myanmar���s nascent era of democratic change, the haul has only increased. Opium, its derivative heroin and methamphetamines are surging across Myanmar���s borders in quantities that the United Nations and police in neighboring countries say are the highest levels in years. Two years after replacing a long-ruling military junta, the civilian government is still struggling to get a foothold in its war against drugs. The trade is centered in a remote, impoverished area where the government has little control and where ethnic armies have waged civil wars for decades ��� wars financed with drug money. The Associated Press was granted rare access to Myanmar���s drug-producing hub in the vast, jungle-clad mountain region of northeastern Shan state, deep in a cease-fire zone that was closed to foreigners for decades. It���s a land dotted with makeshift methamphetamine labs and tiny, poor villages where growing opium is the only real industry. The trip was part of a U.N. mission allowed only under armed police escort. President Thein Sein has signed cease-fire agreements with a patchwork of rebel groups in the region, but the peace is extremely fragile and sporadic fighting continues. Cracking down on drug syndicates or arresting poor opium farmers risks alienating the ethnic groups he is co Official says US seeks Arab states for peace push RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) ��� The U.S. is HOME SERVICES DIRECTORY Online: Publishes 24/7 $ 109 Print and Online Per Month No early cancellation, non-refundable www.redbluffdailynews.com Three additional online locations at no extra cost! In Print Every Tues. - Thurs.- Sat. 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Officials: US training Syrians forces in Jordan WASHINGTON (AP) ��� The United States is training secular Syrian fighters in Jordan in a bid to bolster forces battling President Bashar Assad���s regime and stem the influence of Islamist radicals among the country���s persistently splintered opposition, American and foreign officials said. The training has been conducted for several months now in an unspecified location, concentrating largely on Sunnis and tribal Bedouins who formerly served as members of the Syrian army, officials told The Associated Press. The forces aren���t members of the leading rebel group, the Free Syrian Army, which Washington and others fear may be increasingly coming under the sway of extremist militia groups, including some linked to al-Qaida, they said. The operation is being run by U.S. intelligence and is ongoing, officials said, but those in Washington stressed that the U.S. is providing only nonlethal aid at this point. Others such as Britain and France are involved, they said, though it���s unclear whether any Western governments are providing materiel or other direct military support after two years of civil war that according to the United Nations already has killed more than 70,000 people. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren���t authorized to speak publicly about the program. Officially, the Obama administration has been vague on the subject of what type of military training it may be providing, while insisting that it is doing all it can ��� short of providing weapons to the rebels or engaging in its own military intervention ��� to hasten the demise of the Assad family���s four-decade dictatorship. Building Construction R. G. 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Also Monday, the Israeli government said it would resume regular transfers of millions of dollars in tax revenues it collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority, a step bound to ease the selfrule government���s protracted cash crisis. The decision came just days after President Barack Obama met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during a visit to the region. Obama has said stabilizing the Palestinian Authority, which has buckled under mounting debt, is key to U.S. peace efforts. However, there are wide gaps on the terms of renewing talks. The Palestinians say Israel must freeze settlement building on lands it captured in 1967 before any negotiations can resume. Israel says the issue of settlements can be addressed during negotiations. Obama has sided with the Israeli view, and it is not clear how the U.S. can bring the Palestinians back to the table without a settlement freeze. Arab countries are now being asked to help, said Yasser Abed-Rabbo, a top official in the Palestine Liberation Organization. ������U.S. efforts will increase in coming weeks and will include other Arab parties, such as Jordan and Egypt,������ Abed-Rabbo told Voice of Palestine radio, adding that an Arab League delegation is to visit Washington as part of these efforts. However, he said there would be no flexibility on Palestinian demands for a settlement freeze. ������For us, the important thing is the substance, such as the full settlement freeze and the recognition of the 1967 borders,������ he said. The Palestinians want a state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem ��� territories Israel captured in 1967 ��� but are ready to negotiate border changes, provided the 1967 frontier is the baseline. 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