Prosecutors urging 60 years for Manning
FORT MEADE, Md. – Army Pfc. Bradley Manning should spend 60 years in prison because he betrayed the U.S. by giving classified material to WikiLeaks, a prosecutor said Monday.
The soldier’s defense attorney didn’t recommend a specific punishment, but suggested any prison term shouldn’t exceed 25 years because the classification of some of the documents Manning leaked expires in 25 years.
Defense attorney David Coombs said Manning, who was 21 when he enlisted in 2007, had limited experience in life and in the military. His youthful idealism contributed to his belief that he could change the way the world viewed the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and all future wars, by leaking the secret files, Coombs said.
“He had pure intentions at the time that he committed his offenses,” Coombs said. “At that time, Pfc. Manning really, truly, genuinely believed that this information could make a difference.”
Approve new rules for banks, Obama says
WASHINGTON – Three years after President Barack Obama signed a sweeping overhaul of lending and high-finance rules, execution of the law is behind schedule with scores of regulations yet to be written, let alone enforced. Meeting privately with the nation’s top financial regulators on Monday, Obama prodded them to act more swiftly.
The president’s push comes as the five-year anniversary of the nation’s financial near-meltdown approaches. The law, when passed in 2010, was considered a milestone in Obama’s presidency, a robust response to the crisis that led to a massive government bailout to stabilize the financial markets.
But the slow pace of implementation has prompted administration concern that banks could still pose potentially calamitous risks to the economy and to taxpayers. Obama hoped to convey “the sense of urgency that he feels,” spokesman Josh Earnest said before the president convened the meeting with the eight independent regulators in the White House Roosevelt Room.
U.N. chief seeking access to Syrian sites
UNITED NATIONS – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is calling for U.N. experts to have “full access” to the sites of alleged chemical weapons use in Syria.
He told reporters Monday access must include interviews and examination of witnesses, victims, medical personnel and post-mortem examinations.
The U.N. team arrived in Damascus over the weekend and will investigate three sites where chemical weapons attacks allegedly occurred.
Ban said the serious security situation in Syria “will undoubtedly affect the mission’s activities,” and he stressed that the government and others must ensure their safety.
The mandate for the investigation is limited. The team will report on whether chemical weapons were used, and if so which ones, but it will not determine the responsibility for an attack. This has led some commentators to question the value of the investigation.
Syria’s Kurd refugees flooding into Iraq
BAGHDAD – Tens of thousands of Syrian Kurds swarmed across a bridge into neighboring Iraq’s northern self-ruled Kurdish region over the past few days in one of the biggest waves of refugees since the rebellion against President Bashar Assad began, U.N. officials said Monday.
The sudden exodus of around 30,000 Syrians amid the summer heat has created desperate conditions and left aid agencies and the regional government struggling to accommodate them, illustrating the huge strain the 2½-year-old Syrian conflict has put on neighboring countries.
The mostly Kurdish men, women and children who made the trek join some 1.9 million Syrians who already have found refuge abroad from Syria’s relentless carnage.
“This is an unprecedented influx of refugees, and the main concern is that so many of them are stuck out in the open at the border or in emergency reception areas with limited, if any, access to basic services,” said Alan Paul, team leader for the Britain-based charity Save the Children.
Associated Press
