Snowden drops Russia asylum request

Snowden has requested asylum from 21 countries.

MOSCOW — NSA leaker Edward Snowden's prospects for political asylum

abroad narrowed rapidly Tuesday after he withdrew his request to

Russia and almost half of the 21 countries on his request list have

turned him down.



The former National Security Agency contractor abandoned his request

for asylum in Russia after President Vladimir Putin said Monday that

he must stop his anti-American activity.



Russian news agencies Tuesday quoted Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov

as saying that Snowden, unhappy with the conditions Russia has set,

had taken back his application to Moscow.



"It's true, Snowden did express a request to remain in Russia. But

having found out yesterday about Russia's position, voiced by

President Putin, about the conditions for theoretically doing so, he

rejected his intention and request to stay in Russia," RIA Novosti

quoted Peskov as saying.



Putin said Monday that Snowden would have to stop leaking U.S. secrets

if he wanted to be granted asylum in Russia, where Snowden has been

hiding out for eight days since his arrival from Hong Kong. Putin said

that while Moscow "never hands over anybody anywhere," Snowden needed

to stop harming Russia's "American partners."



Peskov added Tuesday that "handing over Snowden to a country like the

U.S., where the death penalty can be applied, is not possible."



Snowden fled to the Chinese territory of Hong Kong in May with

top-secret documents and court orders on government surveillance

operations. He has also signaled his intention to leak more of those

documents at a later date.



The U.S. government has revoked his passport and issued an arrest

warrant on charges of violating the federal Espionage Act.



From Snowden's initial list of 21 countries, at least 10 have either

turned him down flatly or said his request was invalid because he was

not physically on their territory.



Snowden broke almost a week of silence on Monday by issuing a

statement on the WikiLeaks website that said his "continued liberty

has been owed to the efforts of friends new and old, family, and

others who I have never met and probably never will."



That was followed Tuesday by a statement detailing the number of

countries, in addition to Russia, to which he had applied for asylum:

Austria, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Cuba, Finland, France, Germany,

India, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Poland,

Spain, Switzerland and Venezuela.



Brazil and India have turned him down. Austria, Finland, Germany,

Ireland, Norway, Poland, Spain and Switzerland said a request would be

invalid because it was not made from their own territory.



"We haven't received a visit or any sort of application from Snowden,"

Valentina Anufrieva of the Embassy of Switzerland in Moscow told USA

TODAY.



She added that Swiss asylum claims can only be filed from within

Switzerland itself.



"Only when the person's life is in danger can we make an exception,"

she said, "but that doesn't appear to be the case here."

Educator, which has given asylum to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange

at its embassy in London, has been giving mixed signals about offering

him shelter, and increasingly distancing itself from the case.



Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who is visiting Moscow, said

Tuesday that Snowden had "done something very important for humanity"

and deserved the "world's protection." But Maduro said that Venezuela

had not received a request from Snowden for asylum.



Earlier, a Russian security official said that Russia's Federal

Security Service and the American FBI were in talks over Snowden.



"Of course they (President Obama and Putin) don't have a solution that

would suit both sides, that is why they have ordered FSB Director

(Alexander) Bortnikov and FBI Director (Robert) Mueller to be in

contact and look for options," RIA Novosti quoted Russia's Security

Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev as saying Monday.

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Firefighters look for weather break in deadly Arizona wildfire

Firefighters look for weather break in deadly Arizona wildfire

By Tim Gaynor



PRESCOTT, Arizona (Reuters) - Weary crews on Tuesday looked for a

break in the weather to gain ground against a fierce Arizona wildfire

that has already killed 19 of their fellow firefighters in the worst

wildland fire tragedy in 80 years.



Fire managers say the so-called Yarnell Hills fire, which has already

charred nearly 8,400 acres of tinder-dry chaparral and grasslands

northwest of Phoenix, was zero percent contained as darkness fell on

Monday evening.



The lightning-sparked blaze, which broke out on Friday afternoon near

the community of Yarnell, has torched some 200 structures, most of

them homes.



On Sunday, an elite squad of 19 firefighters died in the fire after

they were outflanked and engulfed by wind-whipped flames in seconds,

before some could scramble into cocoon-like personal shelters.



Details of Sunday's deaths of all but one member of the specially

trained, 20-man Granite Mountain Hotshots were still sketchy as an

investigation was launched into how the disaster unfolded. Information

about the survivor, including his identity and how he escaped death,

was not immediately released.



The remains of his co-workers were borne away on Monday in a cortege

of 19 white coroner's vans to Phoenix for autopsies. The solemn

procession from the team's home base in the town of Prescott was

received by a police and firefighter honor guard.



A memorial service on Monday drew at least 1,800 people to a sports

hall at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University on the outskirts of

Prescott. A lone piper played Amazing Grace, as friends and relatives

wept and hugged.



Fire officials said the fallen men, most in their 20s were victims of

a highly volatile mix of erratic, gale-force winds, low humidity, a

sweltering heat wave and thick, drought-parched brush that had not

burned in some 40 years.



They were trapped as a wind storm kicked up and the fire suddenly

exploded on Sunday, said Peter Andersen, a former Yarnell fire chief

who was helping the firefighting effort.



"The smoke had turned and was blowing back on us," Andersen said. "It

looked almost like a smoke tornado, and the winds were going every

which way."



'NOTHING THEY COULD DO'



The powerful gusts abruptly split the fire, driving it in two

directions, then pushing flames back in on the hotshot crew, who were

working on one flank of the fire front, he said.



Sunday's disaster in Arizona marks the highest death toll among

firefighters from a U.S. wildland blaze since 29 men died battling the

Griffith Park fire of 1933 in Los Angeles, according to the National

Fire Protection Association.



Wildfires have grown more intense in recent years at a time when U.S.

firefighting resources have diminished. Since 2000, U.S. wildfires

have burned an average of 7 million acres (2.8 million hectares) a

year, up from an average of 3.3 million acres (1.3 million hectares)

in the 1990s, according to data from the National Interagency Fire

Center (NIFC).



Meanwhile, the U.S. Forest Service's Fire and Aviation Management

Budget was cut by 5 percent in fiscal 2013, reducing the number of

firefighters to 10,000 from 10,500, NIFC spokeswoman Jennifer Jones

said. And the budget for eliminating dry brush and other types of fuel

has fallen each of the last three years, from $350 million in 2010 to

$301 million in 2013, she said.



In Sunday's deadly blaze, the firefighters deployed their personal

shelters, capsule-like devices designed to deflect heat and trap

breathable air, in a last-ditch effort to survive, officials said.



Andersen said some of the men on the ground made it into their

shelters, according to an account relayed by a ranger helicopter crew

flying over the area.



"There was nothing they (helicopter crew) could do to get to them," he said.



The deaths brought an outpouring of tributes from political leaders,

including U.S. President Barack Obama, who is on an official trip to

Africa. Arizona Governor Jan Brewer called the deaths "one of our

state's darkest, most devastating days" and ordered state flags flown

at half staff through Wednesday.



Authorities who ordered the evacuation of Yarnell and the adjoining

town of Peeples Valley say they were proceeding cautiously following

Sunday's tragic events and hoped that strong winds that have driven

the blaze would diminish on Tuesday.



"We need the winds to not pick up enough so we can safely move crews

around," fire spokeswoman Carrie Templin said.



The Yarnell Hills blaze was one of dozens of wildfires in several

western U.S. states in recent weeks in what experts say could be one

of the worst fire seasons on record.



The fallen firefighters were identified as Andrew Ashcraft, 29; Robert

Caldwell, 23; Travis Carter, 31; Dustin Deford, 24; Christopher

MacKenzie, 30; Eric Marsh, 43; Grant McKee, 21; Sean Misner, 26; Scott

Norris, 28; Wade Parker, 22; John Percin, 24; Anthony Rose, 23; Jesse

Steed, 36; Joe Thurston, 32; Travis Turbyfill, 27; William Warneke,

25; Clayton Whitted, 28; Kevin Woyjeck, 21; and Garret Zuppiger, 27.



(Additional reporting by David Schwartz and Dan Whitcomb; Writing by

Dan Whitcomb and Steve Gorman; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Sofina

Mirza-Reid)

For more info Visit Here: http://mobile.reuters.com

SF Bay area transit strike snarls commute again

SF Bay area transit strike snarls commute again

AKLAND, Calif. (AP) — San Francisco Bay area commuters endured another

tough morning commute on Tuesday, as a strike on one of the region's

heavily used train systems entered its second day.



Hundreds of thousands of commuters who rely on Bay Area Rapid Transit

— the nation's fifth largest rail system — had to find alternate

routes to work. Traffic heading to San Francisco on the San

Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge was jammed leading to the bridge's toll

plaza.



Lines for ferries and buses appeared even longer than on Monday, and

BART said charter buses it was running at four stations reached

capacity before 7 a.m. and could no longer accommodate additional

passengers.



Workers representing two of BART's largest unions went on strike after

talks with management broke down on Sunday. No new talks have been

scheduled.



The striking unions and management reported being far apart on key

sticking points that included salary, pensions, health care and

safety.



"Our members aren't interested in disrupting the Bay Area, but

management has put us in a position where we have no choice," said

Antonette Bryant, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555.



The unions, which represent nearly 2,400 train operators, station

agents, mechanics, maintenance workers and professional staff, want a

5 percent raise each year over the next three years.



BART said train operators and station agents in the unions average

about $71,000 in base salary and $11,000 in overtime annually. The

workers also pay a flat $92 monthly fee for health insurance.



BART spokesman Rick Rice said the agency had upped its original offer

of a 4 percent pay increase over the next four years to 8 percent. The

proposed salary increase is on top of a 1 percent raise employees were

scheduled to receive Monday, Rice added.



The transit agency also said it offered to reduce the contribution

employees would have to make to pensions, and lower the cost for

health care premiums.



BART, with 44 stations in four counties and 104 miles of lines,

handles more than 40 percent of commuters coming from the East Bay to

San Francisco, said John Goodwin, a spokesman for the Metropolitan

Transportation Commission.



Transit authorities have made accommodations to help, including longer

carpool lane hours, additional ferries, and extra buses. BART doubled

the number of buses serving West Oakland to 36 on Tuesday.



Stuart Cohen, executive director of TransForm, a nonprofit

organization focused on public transportation and walkable communities

in the Bay Area, suggested employers allow workers to telecommute.



"Truth is, on a nice summer day, it's good to telecommute," he said.



"Hopefully this won't go too long. It if continues into a non-holiday

week next week, we're going to find a lot of people settling into new

patterns, finding carpools," he said. "I think this experimentation

could settle in a bit, and if it lasts long enough, I'd expect when

BART service comes back ridership will be down."

Fro more info visit here : http://www.seattlepi.com

Clock ticks for Egypt's Morsi as army ultimatum deadline looms

Clock ticks for Egypt's Morsi as army ultimatum deadline looms

By Charlene Gubash and Ian Johnston, NBC News

CAIRO - The clock is ticking for Egypt's President Mohammed Morsi to

meet the demands of millions of protesters seeking his ouster and

fresh elections after an ultimatum issued to the Islamist leader by

his own armed forces.

If Morsi does not meet the demands by Wednesday, the military has said

it will impose its own "road map" for the future.

Morsi rejected the army's call in a statement issued at 2 a.m. local

time Tuesday (8 p.m. Monday ET) by saying his administration would

continue on its "previously plotted path" toward reconciliation.

Violence during the protests at the weekend saw 16 people killed and

hundreds injured.

Barack Obama and the United Nations have each urged Morsi to listen to

his people, as a vast crowd gathered once again in Cairo's Tahrir

Square Tuesday.

Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the United Nations' High Commissioner

for Human Rights, told a briefing Tuesday that they were following the

"extremely tense situation" in Egypt with "great concern."

"We urge all political parties and social groups to urgently engage in

a serious national dialogue in order to find a solution to the

political crisis and prevent an escalation of violence," Colville

said.

"We call on the president of Egypt to listen to the demands and wishes

of the Egyptian people, expressed during these huge protests over the

past few days, and to address key issues raised by the opposition and

civil society in recent months, as well as to heed the lessons of the

past in this particularly fragile situation," he added.

He welcomed assurances given by the military and law enforcement

agencies that "no measures will be taken that could lead to excessive

use of force against peaceful demonstrators."

The White House said in a statement Tuesday that Obama had called

Morsi on Monday, urging him to listen to "the voices of all

Egyptians."

Obama told Morsi that the United States was "committed to the

democratic process in Egypt and does not support any single party or

group."

But the president also "stressed that democracy is about more than elections."

"It is also about ensuring that the voices of all Egyptians are heard

and represented by their government, including the many Egyptians

demonstrating throughout the country," the statement said.

Obama encouraged Morsi "to take steps to show that he is responsive to

their concerns, and underscored that the current crisis can only be

resolved through a political process," it added.

"President Obama also underscored his deep concern about violence

during the demonstrations, especially sexual assaults against female

citizens," the White House said. "He reiterated his belief that all

Egyptians protesting should express themselves peacefully, and urged

President Morsi to make clear to his supporters that all forms of

violence are unacceptable."

Amid the heightened tensions, the U.S. Embassy in Cairo was closed on

Tuesday with regular consular service suspended. It was also closed on

Sunday. U.S. citizens were advised to "avoid areas where large

gatherings may occur."

On June 28, the State Department allowed a "limited number of

non-emergency U.S. government personnel and family members" to leave

the country "due to the ongoing political and social unrest."

Canada said on Twitter that its embassy in Cairo would be "closed

until further notice for security reasons."

According to an airport security source, a list has been circulated

containing the names of 48 leading members of political parties,

including the Muslim Brotherhood, who must now inform national

security officials before leaving the country. The use of private jets

has also been temporarily banned.

It remains unclear whether the Egyptian army was actually calling for

Morsi to stand down, or whether it would accept some attempted

compromise.

However, a statement issued by Morsi's office complained said that it

was not consulted about the army's ultimatum and said "the presidency

sees that some of the statements in it carry meanings that could cause

confusion in the complex national environment."

It added that his administration was "going forward on its previously

plotted path to promote comprehensive national reconciliation ...

regardless of any statements that deepen divisions between citizens."

Morsi's office, discussing the call with Obama, said the U.S. was

"working with the Egyptian leadership elected by the Egyptian people

and supports peaceful democratic conditions in Egypt."

"The president confirmed that Egypt is moving forward in a peaceful

democratic transition built on constitution and law," Morsi's office

said.

It also said that Egypt's "democratic, civil, modern state" was "the

most important achievement" of the revolution that deposed former

President Hosni Mubarak.

"We will not allow Egypt with all its forces to return backward under

any circumstances," Morsi's office said. "Egypt has paid dearly from

the blood of its sons and its stability and security and its delayed

the path to development, these are the high prices it paid to build a

new state. We all chose democratic means as the only safest way to

manage our differences of opinion."



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them lace trim shorts

My summer go to shorts are totally my black lace-trimmed shorts, so easy to just wear with about everything! I just had to wear my new Zara rose gold heels too and mixed the outfit up with my Misbhv Gang tote and my studded biker jacket (with the studs matching the color of the heels perfectly) The look was really put together quickly because I didn't had much time so I went for black and white! (you can never go wrong with black and white looks)
xoxo

wearing: Zara studded biker, Miss Selfridge lace trim shorts, H&M trend shirt, Misbhv GANG tote, Zara rose gold heels

photos taken by Suz