Obama official sacked over tweets

23 October 2013 Last updated at 09:36 ET

A senior White House official has been sacked after being unmasked as the man behind a widely read Twitter account that provided an abrasive commentary on his colleagues for more than two years.

A government official said Jofi Joseph, 40, was fired from his job on the National Security Council nuclear non-proliferation team.

Mr Joseph posted under the now defunct Twitter name @NatSecWonk.

He apologised for his "inappropriate and mean-spirited comments".

In his tweets, Mr Joseph gave a lacerating commentary on anything from policy to personal appearance.

"Was Huma Abedin wearing beer goggles the night she met Anthony Weiner," he tweeted, referring to the scandal-hit former New York mayoral candidate and his wife, a former aide of Hillary Clinton.

"Almost as bad a pairing as Samantha Powers and Cass Sunstein," he added, referring the US envoy to the UN and her husband, who is a former White House official.

'Well-known wonk'

This month, Mr Joseph joined Republican attacks on Mrs Clinton for perceived failings of her handling of last year's attack on the US diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya.

He tweeted that Mrs Clinton "had few policy goals and no wins" in the Middle East.

He said Chelsea Clinton was "assuming all of her parents' vices" and targeted figures such as Republican commentator Liz Cheney and Mitt Romney's wife Ann for their looks and weight.

Mr Joseph also turned his caustic commentary on Republicans.

"So when will someone do us the favor of getting rid of Sarah Palin and the rest of her white trash family?" he tweeted last October. "What utter useless garbage."

Mr Joseph's wife is reportedly a staff member for Republicans on the Senate foreign relations committee.

The Daily Beast website broke the news of his sacking, describing it as a shock and saying Mr Joseph was "well known among policy wonks".

But it said that "inside the administration, there was little sympathy for the man who they feel had betrayed their confidence while taunting them all the while".

The website Politico said White House officials had worked over months to discover the identity of Mr Joseph - a key member of the team negotiating over Iran's nuclear programme.

It said his travel and shopping habits had been profiled by parsing over 2,000 tweets.

Politico said his tweets had been "obsessively and angrily followed" by Washington officials, even though the messages had been "barely noticed" outside the capital.

In an apology emailed to Politico, Mr Joseph said: "It has been a privilege to serve in this administration and I deeply regret violating the trust and confidence placed in me.

"What started out as an intended parody account of DC culture developed over time into a series of inappropriate and mean-spirited comments. I bear complete responsibility for this affair and I sincerely apologise to everyone I insulted."

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US crash video confessor sentenced

23 October 2013 Last updated at 12:06 ET

A judge has sentenced an Ohio man who confessed in an online video to a fatal drink-driving crash to six years in prison.

Matthew Cordle, 22, had faced up to eight years for the crash that killed Navy veteran Vincent Canzani in June.

In a video posted to YouTube in September, he confessed to the crime and promised to plead guilty.

Franklin County Judge David Fais revoked Cordle's driving privileges for life as required by state law.

In Wednesday's sentencing, the judge read a letter from Vincent Canzani's ex-wife, who said she believed her former husband would not have wanted a maximum sentence. She said she believes Cordle's promise never to drink and drive again.

Cordle's father, Dave Cordle, did not ask for leniency as he told the judge he was "disappointed, disgusted and heartbroken" at his son's actions on the night of the crash.

In the video, Cordle said he was confessing and accepting responsibility in order to discourage others from drinking and driving.

"I'm begging you," he said towards the end of the three-and-a-half minute video, "please don't drink and drive. Don't make the same excuses that I did".

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US boy charged in death of teacher

23 October 2013 Last updated at 15:03 ET

A 14-year-old boy has been charged in the death of a teacher whose body was found in woodland behind her school.

Philip Chism was ordered to be held without bail as he was arraigned in a Massachusetts state court for the murder of Colleen Ritzer.

The 24-year-old, who taught maths at a high school in the town of Danvers, was found by searchers early on Wednesday.

Essex County District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett said she had been a "very respected, loved teacher".

The accused has been charged as an adult and is scheduled to appear back in court on 22 November.

'Terrified'

All Danvers schools were closed on Wednesday. Officials said there was no reason to believe there were any other suspects.

Mr Blodgett said investigators had found blood in a second-floor toilet at Danvers High School and soon located Ritzer, who lived in the nearby town of Andover.

The suspect had also been reported missing after not returning from school.

He was spotted by police walking along a road in neighbouring Topsfield at about 00:30 local time on Wednesday (04:30 GMT).

On Wednesday morning, students were shaken by the death.

"We are all terrified," Caitlin McBride, a student at Danvers High School, told the Boston Globe.

"It's very scary. No-one will ever look at this school the same way anymore."

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New murder trial for Kennedy cousin

23 October 2013 Last updated at 19:10 ET

A relative of the prominent US Kennedy family has been granted a new trial in the 1975 beating death of a girl.

Michael Skakel, whose aunt Ethel was the widow of Robert Kennedy, was found guilty in 2002 of killing his teenage neighbour with a golf club.

On Wednesday a judge in the US state of Connecticut found Mr Skakel's lawyer had failed to represent him adequately.

Mr Skakel was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison. He has maintained his innocence.

"We're very, very thrilled,'' Mr Skakel's lawyer Hubert Santos told reporters.

Mr Santos said he planned to seek Mr Skakel's release on Thursday, the Associated Press news agency reported.

Bridgeport State's Attorney John Smriga told the Associated Press he planned to appeal against the decision overturning the conviction.

'Triggered rage'

Mr Skakel, 52, appealed his 2002 conviction on the grounds that his trial attorney was negligent in defending him in the death of 15-year-old Martha Moxley.

But prosecutor Susann Gill has said the state has compelling evidence of motive as well as three confessions and other incriminating statements made by Mr Skakel.

"His drug-addled mental state, coupled with the infuriating knowledge that his hated brother Tommy had a sexual liaison with Martha, and the fact that Martha spurned his advances, triggered the rage which led him to beat her to death with a golf club,'' Ms Gill wrote.

The battered body of Moxley, who lived near the Skakel family in wealthy Greenwich, Connecticut, was found on the lawn of her parents' house.

She had been bludgeoned with a golf club - later traced to a set owned by Mr Skakel's mother - and stabbed in the neck with the shaft of the club.

There were no witnesses or forensic evidence, but several people later testified that they had heard Mr Skakel confess to the crime.

One witness previously quoted him as saying: "I'm going to get away with murder, because I'm a Kennedy."

The Kennedys were one of the most prominent families in 20th Century US politics.

Joseph Kennedy was US ambassador to Britain under President Franklin Roosevelt. His son John Kennedy was president 1961-63, and his other sons Robert and Edward were senators.

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Democrats lament 'Obamacare' flaws

23 October 2013 Last updated at 21:50 ET

President Barack Obama's Democratic allies have begun voicing frustration with widespread problems with aspects of his signature healthcare law.

House Democrats have complained that technical issues with the insurance enrolment websites had overshadowed the law's current and future benefits.

Some demanded Mr Obama find and sack those responsible for the glitches.

Mr Obama has said technical problems with the site are "unacceptable" and pledges they will soon be fixed.

He assured Americans on Monday that technical experts from both inside and outside the government were working around the clock to fix the website and its underpinnings.

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On Monday, President Obama gave what critics derided as a sales pitch for the health law

The health law, known formally as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and informally as Obamacare, was passed in 2010 and is Mr Obama's foremost domestic policy initiative.

Among its central provisions are an expansion of the Medicaid public health programme for poor people, a requirement that Americans who do not have insurance from their employers or the government buy it on their own - with subsidies to aid the purchase, and a rule allowing children to remain on their parents' insurance until age 26.

Mr Obama and the law's supporters say it will eventually reshape America's costly and inefficient healthcare system and provide insurance to most of the estimated 46 million Americans who lack it.

Plagued with problems

At issue currently are websites run by the federal government and some states that serve as online marketplaces where individuals can compare private insurance plans, learn about available public subsidies, and sign up for a plan.

The sites, known as exchanges, opened on 1 October. The White House aims to enrol as many as seven million people through the exchanges by the 31 March end of the enrolment period.

The central site run by the federal government, healthcare.gov, has been plagued with problems, notably extremely long wait times. Websites run by individual states have not performed as poorly.

The Republicans, who have opposed the law from the beginning and have sought to undermine it at every turn, are now calling for the rollout to be delayed and for deadlines for enrolment to be pushed back.

The Republicans have also loudly demanded an investigation into the exchanges' shortcomings.

"It is our job to hold them accountable, and when it comes to Obamacare clearly there is a lot to hold accountable," House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner said on Wednesday.

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What is "Obamacare", and why are Republicans against it?

In light of the technical difficulties, some Democrats have also said Mr Obama should consider extending the enrolment period beyond 31 March.

But House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi advised against that.

"I think we should try to fix what we have, move forward with the deadline we have," she said. "What we want to do is fix it and go forward with it, not make policies that are predicated on its not working."

Complaints from Mr Obama's fellow Democrats are a relatively new part of the debate.

'Fire them'

Democratic members of the House of Representatives left a briefing provided by the administration on Wednesday saying they had resolved not to let the problems with one part of the rollout overwhelm the law's benefits.

"The president needs to man up, find out who was responsible, and fire them," Minnesota Congressman Richard Nolan said. "You don't get many second chances to get a good first impression."

The White House has sought to reassure political allies and Americans at large that the government is working to resolve the issues.

The Obama administration has launched what senior officials called a "tech surge", with senior economic aide Jeffrey Zients tasked with analysing and repairing the problems.

On Wednesday, executives from top health insurance companies agreed to form technical teams to help the Obama administration fix the website and the systems underlying it.

"We are collaborating closely with the insurers to address problems we have witnessed," the White House said in a statement, after executives from 14 insurance companies met Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and other senior administration officials.

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Bank of America liable in fraud trial

23 October 2013 Last updated at 23:12 ET

Bank of America's Countrywide Financial unit has been found liable for defrauding two US government-backed mortgage companies by a federal jury.

Countrywide, which was acquired by Bank of America in 2008, was accused of selling thousands of defective loans to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The ruling is a major win for the US government, which launched the case in the wake of the financial crisis.

The Justice Department is seeking as much as $848m (£523m) in penalties.

The judge who presided over the trial said a civil penalty will be decided at a later date.

A former Countrywide executive Rebecca Mairone was also found liable on a civil fraud charge. She was the only individual to be sued by the government in the case.

'High-speed swim lane'

The month-long trial focused on a Countrywide programme that was internally called "Hustle" or "high-speed swim lane" which allowed loans to be processed quickly without checking their quality.

Continue reading the main story

Bank of America purchased Countrywide, thinking it had gobbled up a cash cow... That profit, however, was built on fraud."

End Quote Preet Bharara Manhattan US Attorney

The wrongdoing, which mostly took place before Countrywide was acquired, was discovered after a whistleblower filed a lawsuit against the firm.

Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara welcomed the ruling.

"In a rush to feed at the trough of easy mortgage money on the eve of the financial crisis, Bank of America purchased Countrywide, thinking it had gobbled up a cash cow," he said in a statement.

"That profit, however, was built on fraud, as the jury unanimously found.

"In this case, Bank of America chose to defend Countrywide's conduct with all its might and money, claiming there was no case here. The jury disagreed," he said.

Mr Bharara added that US authorities would "never hesitate to go to trial to expose fraudulent corporate conduct and to hold companies accountable, particularly when it has caused such harm to the public".

Subprime investigations Continue reading the main story

AAA-rating

The best credit rating that can be given to a borrower's debts, indicating that the risk of borrowing defaulting is minuscule.

The US economy witnessed a big boom in its housing market in the lead up to the 2007-08 global financial crisis.

As house prices continued to rise, many banks looked to cash in on the boom by creating complex financial products that grouped together home loans.

However, a collapse in the housing market saw the value of those investments plummet as the underlying mortgage holders became unable to repay their debts.

This snowballed into something called the subprime crisis, which hurt investors globally and caused billions of dollars in losses.

Since then, banks have been under pressure to resolve claims on potentially faulty mortgages.

The US Department of Justice is investigating at least nine banks over their sales of mortgage-backed securities.

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US boy with fake gun shot by police

24 October 2013 Last updated at 04:15 ET

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"The deputies said they repeatedly ordered him to drop the rifle", reports Alastair Leithead

A 13-year-old boy carrying a replica assault rifle has been shot dead by police in the US state of California.

Officers in the city of Santa Rosa say they opened fire after the boy refused orders to drop the rifle, which they believed to be real.

The shooting on Tuesday is now being investigated.

It comes a day after a 12-year-old boy in Nevada shot dead a maths teacher at his school and wounded two fellow pupils before taking his own life.

In the latest incident, two sheriff's deputies saw the teenager "with what appeared to be some type of rifle", a news release from the Sonoma County Sheriff's office said.

The deputies called for backup and repeatedly ordered the boy to drop the gun before firing several rounds from their handguns, police said.

The boy, who was pronounced dead at the scene, was later identified by his family as Andy Lopez.

"He was holding the weapon in his left hand. He began to turn toward his right in the direction of the deputy, and in so doing he moved the gun toward the deputy, and the deputy's mindset was that he was fearful he would be shot," Lt Paul Henry of Santa Rosa police said.

But the boy's father, Rodrigo Lopez said the shooting made no sense. "My son lost his life. He's not alive any more just because of the mistake of somebody."

The replica gun had belonged to a friend, he said.

The sheriff's office said a plastic handgun had also been found in the boy's waistband.

Witness Brian Zastrow told the Santa Rosa Press Democrat he heard seven shots.

"First, I heard a single siren and within seconds I heard seven shots go off, sounded like a nail gun," he said.

One man who saw the events unfold said the shooting was over in an instant.

"He pulled over to the kid walking and he just opened the door and shot him, three shots," Ismael Mondragon told KGO-TV.

Police Lt Dennis O'Leary said the deputies had been placed on administrative leave pending the inquiry.

Sheriff Steve Freitas described the shooting as a "tragedy" and promised the investigation would be thorough and transparent.

"As a father of two boys about this age, I can't begin to imagine the grief this family is going through," he said.

A spokeswoman for the boy's school described him as "a very loved student, a very popular, very handsome young man, very smart and capable".

Linsey Gannon, assistant principal at Lawrence Cook Middle School, said he played trumpet in the school band.

"Our community has been rocked by his loss," she said.

Candles, teddy bears and flowers have since been left at the scene of the shooting.

"He was a good kid, he was 13 years old. He didn't look like a man, Andy, he was a boy," one friend told local media.

On Monday, a 12-year-old boy who has not been named opened fire at a school in Sparks, Nevada, killing maths teacher and Afghanistan veteran Michael Landsberry.

Police said Mr Landsberry had tried to coax the boy to drop the gun, enabling children in the playground to flee.

The boy then shot and injured two fellow pupils, before taking his own life on the outdoor basketball court.

President Barack Obama has recently renewed calls for changes to US gun laws following a series of deadly shootings. However, the BBC's Alastair Leithead in Los Angeles says the proposals face fierce resistance.

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N Korea detainee reunion 'emotional'

24 October 2013 Last updated at 05:19 ET

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Myunghee Bae: "It was heavenly to see, hold and comfort Kenneth"

The mother of American Kenneth Bae, who is imprisoned in North Korea, told the BBC his health had improved following two months of medical treatment.

But Myunghee Bae said her worst fear was that he would get sent back to a labour camp.

The Korean-American was arrested last November and sentenced to 15 years' hard labour in May.

Mr Bae, described as a tour operator and Christian missionary, was accused of plotting sedition.

Mrs Bae was allowed to visit her son - who is reportedly suffering from a series of ailments including diabetes, an enlarged heart and back pain - on 11 October

'Very emotional'

In an interview with the BBC, Ms Bae said she was not initially worried when she first heard the news that her son was arrested.

"He always told me he was welcomed in North Korea. He brought tourism over there that helps the economy," she said, adding her son wanted to change the perception of North Korea to the outside world.

Kenneth Bae was transferred from a labour camp to hospital earlier this year as his health deteriorated.

Mrs Bae said she was trying to hold back tears when they met, and both of them were very emotional.

"But my heart was aching when I saw him in a hospital garment, confined in a small space," she says. "How can I describe my heartache to leave him behind as a prisoner over there?"

Continue reading the main story

• Eddie Jun Yong-su: Businessman detained for six months in 2011, freed after a visit led by US envoy Robert King
• Aijalon Mahli Gomes: Teacher and Christian jailed in 2010 for eight years over illegal entry via China - freed after ex-US President Jimmy Carter visited Pyongyang
• Robert Park: US activist crossed into North Korea via China in late 2009 - freed in 2010 by North Korea
• Laura Ling/Euna Lee: Jailed in 2009 for 12 years over illegal entry via the Chinese border - freed after ex-US President Bill Clinton met former NK leader Kim Jong-il

When asked if she had hope of seeing him released soon, she said: "That's really uncertain because as a family, we don't have any power to bring him home. We feel really helpless."

But she said her family had faith and hope that the US government would bring him home.

Known in North Korea as Pae Jun-ho, Mr Bae was arrested in November 2012 as he entered the north-eastern port city of Rason, a special economic zone near North Korea's border with China.

His trial and conviction came at a time of high tension between the US and North Korea, in the wake of the communist state's third nuclear test on 13 February.

Tensions have since eased somewhat. In August, North Korea issued and then revoked an invitation for US envoy Robert King to travel to Pyongyang to seek Mr Bae's release.

North Korea has arrested several US citizens in recent years, including journalists and Christians accused of proselytising.

They were released after visits to Pyongyang by high-profile officials, including former Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter.

The US accuses North Korea of using detained citizens as bargaining chips.

Meanwhile, North Korea said on Thursday it would allow six detained South Koreans to return home on Friday.

The group will cross over at the truce village of Panmunjom, North Korea's Red Cross said in a statement.

The identities of the six are not clear, but it is possible four are are South Koreans that North Korea said it had detained for illegal entry in February 2010, officials said.

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Award for US pepper-spray cop

24 October 2013 Last updated at 06:05 ET

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John Pike, seen here in the 2011 video, received threats after the footage went viral online

A former US campus policeman who pepper-sprayed peaceful protesters has been awarded $38,000 (£23,400) in compensation for psychiatric damage.

Lieutenant John Pike received threats after footage of the incident went viral on the internet in 2011.

It showed him casually spraying protesters from the Occupy Wall Street movement as they sat on the ground at the University of California.

His award is not much less than that received by the protesters he harmed.

Mr Pike was suspended from his job at University of California Davis after the incident and left the force in July 2012.

An official investigation found that university officials and UC Davis police used poor judgment and excessive force in the confrontation.

In June, Mr Pike filed a worker's compensation claim with UC Davis over the incident, claiming he suffered psychiatric and nervous system damage.

Local reports said Mr Pike had received more than 17,000 angry or threatening emails, 10,000 text messages and hundreds of letters after the video of the pepper-spraying was published.

UC Davis spokesman Andy Fell said on Wednesday that the Division of Workers Compensation Appeals Board agreed on 16 October to resolve his claim by paying him a settlement totalling $38,055, Reuters news agency reported.

The amount of compensation "in line with permanent impairment as calculated by the state's disability evaluation unit," Mr Fell said.

Last year, the university agreed to pay $1 million to settle a lawsuit brought on behalf of the 21 students who got sprayed and later reported suffering panic attacks, trauma and academic problems as a result.

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Pakistan 'endorsed US drone strikes'

24 October 2013 Last updated at 09:14 ET

Secret US documents reveal that senior Pakistani government officials have for years known of and endorsed CIA drone strikes, an American newspaper reports.

The Washington Post said it had obtained CIA documents and Pakistani diplomatic memos which indicated officials were routinely given classified briefings.

Pakistan has responded by repeating its opposition to drone strikes.

Analysts have long suspected Pakistan gave tacit consent for such strikes.

Pakistan's PM Nawaz Sharif has publicly urged US President Obama to halt such attacks.

"I also brought up the issue of drones in our meeting, emphasising the need for an end to such strikes," Mr Sharif said after the two met on Wednesday.

The attacks by unmanned US aircraft have been a critical source of tension in the relationship between the countries and came up amid wide-ranging talks between the leaders in Washington.

They are also deeply unpopular with the Pakistani public, and Pakistan has consistently stated that they violate its sovereignty.

The Pakistani government has responded to the report by repeating its opposition to US drone strikes

"Whatever understandings there may or may not have been in the past, the present government has been very clear regarding its policy on the issue," the Pakistani foreign ministry said in a statement.

"We regard such strikes as violation of our sovereignty as well as international law," it said, adding that they were also counterproductive.

'Explicit arrangement'

The documents obtained by the newspaper focus on at least 65 drone strikes in Pakistan over the last few years and were labelled as "talking points" for regular CIA briefings.

Continue reading the main story

The Washington Post story tells us nothing experts didn't already suspect about the American drone programme and Pakistani complicity, but it does get hold of the smoking gun.

Significantly, the details come out when PM Nawaz Sharif is making a populist appeal for an end to the programme, which many believe is the centrepiece of American counter-terrorism strategy.

The revelation may take some of the wind out of Mr Sharif's sails. Earlier in April, Pakistan's former military ruler, Pervez Musharraf, admitted in an interview that his government signed off on drone strikes, albeit "only on a few occasions".

In the Pakistani tribal areas, details of casualties in drone strikes have invariably been provided to the media by intelligence agents posted there. They often display considerable knowledge about the targeted buildings, and give precise numbers and identities of some of the people killed.

In the early days of the drone programme, when such strikes were practically unheard of, these agents actively prevented local journalists from publicising evidence about the attacks.

Although they are marked "top secret" they are cleared for release to Pakistan, the paper reports.

The Washington Post says the documents provide a detailed timeline of the CIA drone programme "tracing its evolution from a campaign aimed at a relatively short list of senior al-Qaeda operatives into a broader aerial assault against militant groups with no connection to the 11 September 2001 attacks".

A spokesman for the Pakistani embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment from the newspaper and the CIA also declined to comment.

Correspondents say the files expose the explicit nature of the arrangement between the countries in the period when neither acknowledged that any drone programme even existed.

In 2010 the controversial whistleblowing site Wikileaks released numerous documents relating to Pakistan which showed the Pakistani military and other arms of the government had "quietly acquiesced" with drone strikes even though they had publicly condemned them.

In August 2008 then Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani is reported to have said: "I don't care if they do it as long as they get the right people. We'll protest in the National Assembly and then ignore it."

But this latest cache includes documents which appear to refer to a direct Pakistani role in the selection of targets, with the newspaper referring to one 2010 entry describing hitting a location "at the request of your government".

There is also a reference to a "network of locations associated with a joint CIA-ISI targeting effort".

Civilian casualties

The number of civilian casualties in drone strikes has long been a source of dispute.

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Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif: "I emphasised the need for an end to such [drone] strikes"

Local claims of civilian deaths are almost impossible to prove. One reason is the restricted media access in the region. The other is the militants' tendency to cordon off the targeted sites and conduct quick burials.

Earlier this week, Amnesty International released a report which said that CIA drone attacks in Pakistan were responsible for unlawful killings, some of which could amount to war crimes. The rights group named several victims who, it says, "posed no threat to life".

Amnesty said it reviewed nine of 45 recent drone strikes in the volatile tribal region of North Waziristan where many strikes have hit, and found a number of victims had been unarmed.

The US has defended its drone strikes in Pakistan and elsewhere. On Tuesday the White House said it took "extraordinary care" to ensure they complied with international law and that they were a "course of action least likely to result in the loss of innocent life".

A recent UN report also found that US drone strikes had killed at least 400 civilians in Pakistan, far more than the US has ever acknowledged. Estimates by other groups such as the Bureau of Investigative Journalism calculate that between 407 and 926 civilians have been killed in Pakistan.

The BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad says that the general impression one gets from talking to elders and correspondents from the tribal area is that drone strikes are for the most part accurate, causing fewer civilian casualties than some reports suggest.

Relations between Islamabad and Washington nosedived more than two years ago when US special forces killed al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden in a raid on his hideout in Abbottabad in north-west Pakistan, without giving the Pakistani government advance warning.

But in their meeting on Wednesday, Mr Sharif said the US and Pakistan "have travelled together as friends and allies in defence of freedom and the pursuit of international peace and security".

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