Party of the democratic left of Greece plans to leave the Coalition State of envelope close TV

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By Harry Papachristou and Karolina Tagaris

Athens, June 21 (Reuters) - the smallest party in the Coalition ruler of Greece was established in remove the Government on Friday after a row over the abrupt closure of the State broadcaster, leaving the Prime Minister Antonis Samaras sharply reduced majority in Parliament.

Democratic left most of the party's legislators were in favor of pulling his ministers from the Government of Samaras who held emergency talks, said a party official.

In a defiant speech to the Greeks after midnight, Samaras said he was willing to move forward without the leftists.

"I want us to continue together as we started but I'm going to spend in any way," Samaras said in a statement televised after the collapse of three talks on the future of the radio station and television ERT.

"Our goal is to conclude our effort to save the country, always with a term of four years in our eyes. We hope for the support of the democratic left.

Officials of the party, said Democratic left leader Fotis Kouvelis had advised lawmakers of 14 of the party to pull its two Ministers and two Deputy Ministers in the Cabinet. At least one of the legislators was in favor of staying in the Government.

The row coincided with a hitch again in Greece international bailout, with the discovery of a potential gap due to the reluctance of some euro-area central banks refinance their holdings of Greek Government bonds.

Greek Government bonds 10 years yield rose to its highest since the end of April, in the course of its further rise daily from July 2012, while Greek stocks fell 4 percent.

Conservative Party of new democracy of Samaras and his PASOK Socialist ally together have 153 members, a majority in the Parliament's 300 members of the country.

That means that they could manage without the democratic left, but a departure from the party would be a blow, which is more difficult to pass unpopular reforms demanded by foreign lenders and emboldening the left hard opposition waiting in the wings.

"The Government may not last long in its new form." It will start the give-and-take, there will be more crises, they may not make reforms, '' said John Loulis, a political analyst.

"At some point we will have early elections whose outcome cannot be predicted."

Officials of the three parties ruled out for now, snap elections that would derail strengthening bailout program.

A continuous inspection visit to Greece by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund should be completed as planned in July to avoid problems of financing lenders said Thursday. Require new cost-saving measures to plug the gap.

At least two independent legislators have suggested support Government of Samaras, who came to power a year ago in an uncomfortable Coalition pro-bailout to ensure that Greece stayed in the euro zone, after spending almost in bankruptcy.

The coalition has discussing a range of issues policy of austerity to immigration, and Samaras parties lawmakers have accused Democratic left block reforms of the public sector needed to guarantee bailout funds.

UNDER PRESSURE

The latest crisis began 10 days ago when Samaras abruptly yanked, stretching, ERT public radio and television air station and fired its 2,600 workers, causing an outcry from its two allies, unions and journalists.

Calling it a "sin" and "waste" hotbed of political patronage, Samaras said that the movement was necessary to hit objectives dismissals Greece public sector lenders from the EU and the IMF.

After initially refusing to restart the ERT, Samaras said Thursday it had offered during talks with allies to hire some 2,000 workers at a new station, a compromise accepted by PASOK, but rejected by the democratic left.

"We no longer have black screens on TV channels from the State but we are not going to return to the regime of sin," he said.

But Kouvelis stressed on behalf of the democratic left that all workers be rehired, saying the subject matter was much larger than that of State television broadcasts.

"This issue is... fundamentally a problem of democracy," Kouvelis said. "We are not responsible for the fact that there was not any common ground".

Evangelos Venizelos, PASOK, the Socialist Party leader who has been decimated by the Greece debt crisis and would probably lose more ground in a new election, also called in Kouvelis to remain in the coalition.

"The situation for the country, the economy and its citizens is particularly serious," said Venizelos. "We want the Government to continue as a tripartite Government."

PASOK would continue backing the Government even without the democratic left, the party spokesman, said Dimitris Karydis.

Greece administrative High Court, on Thursday upheld a previous ruling suspends closure of ERT and asking for a temporary station, reduced to go on the air immediately.

ERT is off air despite the ruling on Monday ordering return to even if workers have continued issuing a pirate version of 24 hours on the Internet from its headquarters.

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Guerra of Afghanistan: NATO Coalition to transfer security responsibilities to Afghan forces

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KABUL, Afghanistan - Afghan forces have taken over the lead from the U.S.-led NATO coalition for security nationwide, President Hamid Karzai announced Tuesday in a significant milestone in the 12-year war.

The announcement came amid a grim reminder of Afghanistan completo daily violence. A few miles from where Karzai was speaking a bomb targeted a prominent lawmaker, missed him but killed three civilians.

In another key announcement, Karzai said he will soon send representatives to the Gulf state of Qatar to discuss peace with the Taliban. The talks in Doha would follow the planned opening of political Taliban office in the Arab country.

The handover of responsibility marks a turning point for American and NATO military forces, which will now move entirely into a supporting role. It also opens the way for their full withdrawal in 18 months.

"This is a historic moment for our country and from tomorrow all of the security operations will be in the hands of the Afghan security forces," Karzai said at the ceremony, held at the new National Defense University built to train Afghanistan completo future military officers.

On the ground, this means U.S. and other foreign combat troops will not be directly carrying the fight to the insurgency, but will advise and back up as needed with air support and medical evacuations.

The transition also comes at a time when violence is at levels matching the worst in 12 years, fueling some Afghans' concerns that their forces aren't ready.

Karzai said that in the coming months, coalition forces will gradually withdraw from Afghanistan completo provinces as the country's security forces to replace them.

In announcing the fifth and final phase of a process that began at a November NATO summit in Lisbon, Portugal, 2010 Karzai said "transition will be completed and Afghan security forces will lead and conduct all operations."

He also said he would send representatives of his High Peace Council to Doha for meetings with Taliban representatives once their office is open.

"We are hopeful that if the opening of the office is today or if tomorrow the negotiation for peace starts sooner between the High Peace Council and the Taliban," Karzai told reporters after the ceremony.

Karzai visited Qatar last week and discussed his country's stalled peace process and the possible opening of the Taliban office. Both Afghanistan and the United States support the opening as part of an effort to rekindle talks with the insurgent group. But first, Kabul and Washington say, the Taliban must renounce all ties to al - Qaida and other terrorist groups and accept Afghanistan completo constitution.

"We are hopeful that after starting negotiations in Qatar, immediately the negotiations and all peace process should move into Afghanistan. "Afghanistan shouldn't be center of the discussions outside of the country," Karzai said.

The Taliban have for years refused to speak to the government or the Peace Council, set up by Karzai three years ago, because they considered them to be American "puppets." Taliban representatives have instead talked to American and other Western officials in Doha and other places, mostly in Europe.

But there are indications the Taliban sent a message to Karzai late last month through the United States that they were now willing to talk to the peace council, and that American officials were trying to find ways to facilitate how the talks would take place.

"We don't have any immediate preconditions for talks between the Afghan peace council and the Taliban, but we have laid down principles," Karzai said, adding that they include bringing an end to violence and for talks to be moved to Afghanistan so they are not exploited by other countries.

Karzai also lauded the work of NATO to help Afghan forces reach the point where his military is ready to take responsibility for the country's security.

"This has been one of my greatest desires and pursuits." And I'm glad that I as an Afghan citizen and president have reached this objective today. "To have the Afghan forces in command of themselves and in service of the country," Karzai said.

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the coalition will help militarily if and when needed but will no longer plan, execute or lead operations.

Alliance training since 2009 dramatically increased the size of the Afghan National Security Forces, bringing them up from 40,000 men and women six years ago to about 352,000 today. After transition, coalition troops will move entirely into a supporting role - training and mentoring, and in emergency situations providing the Afghans backup in combat, mainly in the form of airstrikes and medical evacuation.

"Ten years ago, there were no Afghan national security forces." Five years ago, Afghan forces were a fraction of what they are today. Now you have 350,000 Afghan troops and police. A formidable force. And time and again, we have seen them dealing quickly and competently with complex attacks. "Defeating the enemies of Afghanistan, and defending and protecting the Afghan people," Fogh Rasmussen said.

Afghans will now have the lead for security in all 403 districts of Afghanistan completo 34 provinces. Until now, they were responsible for 312 districts nationwide, where 80 percent of Afghanistan completo population of nearly 30 million lives. Afghan security forces were now carrying out until 90 percent of military operations around the country.

Foreign forces will continue to support Afghans on the battlefield when they require it, but the Afghan army and police will be responsible for planning and leading military operations against the insurgency.

"As your forces step forward across the country, the main effort of our forces is shifting from combat to support." We will continue to help Afghan troops in operations if needed. But we will no longer plan, execute or lead those operations. And by the end of 2014, our combat mission will be completed. "At that time, Afghanistan will be fully secured by Afghans," Fogh Rasmussen said.

The handover paves the way for coalition forces - currently numbering about 100,000 troops from 48 countries, including 66,000 Americans - to leave. By the end of the year, the NATO force will be halved. At the end of 2014, all combat troops will have left and will replaced, if approved by the Afghan government, by a much smaller force that will only train and advise.

President Barack Obama has not yet said how many soldiers he will leave in Afghanistan along with NATO forces, but it is thought that it would be about 9,000 U.S. troops and about 6,000 from its allies.

"From 2015, a new chapter will begin. We need to sustain, and build on, the progress we have made. And NATO is ready to play its part, Fogh Rasmussen said.

Called "Resolute Support," Fogh Rasmussen said the goal of the new mission "is to train, advise and assist Afghan forces."

"Afghanistan does not stand alone, now or in the future," he added.

The U.S. and its allies have already pledged to fund the Afghan forces in the immediate years after 2015.

Miles from Tuesday's ceremony, a bomb attack targeted Afghan politician Mohammed Mohaqiq, a Hazara ethnic prominent lawmaker who is a former Cabinet member. He escaped the assassination attempt but the blast killed three civilians, the police said.

___

Associated Press writers Amir Shah, Rahim Faiez and Kay Johnson, David Rising contributed to this report from Kabul.

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Campaign Finance Reform Coalition In New York Steps Up Efforts In Legislature's Last Weeks

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Protesters chant outside the window of a Senate conference room during a hearing highlighting abuses in the public financing of campaigns in New York City, on Tuesday, May 7, 2013, in Albany, N.Y. Senate Republicans are opposed to using tax dollars to create a voluntary statewide system of publicly financed campaigns. (AP Photo/Mike Groll)

WASHINGTON -- Fake hundred dollar bills rained down on the New York State Senate in Albany on Wednesday as protesters called for the passage of campaign finance overhaul measures. Just one week earlier, hundreds of protesters from around New York state came to Albany to rally in the Capitol's Million Dollar Staircase in support of campaign finance reform.

With two weeks remaining in the 2013 legislative session, the largest and most active coalition in the state's history is increasingly staging actions such as these in an effort to overhaul New York's notorious campaign finance system.

"It's definitely a much bigger effort than it's ever been before," said Karen Scharff, executive director of Citizen Action of New York, one of the co-leaders of the pro-reform coalition under the Fair Elections For New York banner.

Reformers are seeking to lower contribution limits and introduce a public financing system based on the one used by New York City, which matches every dollar in small donor contributions with six dollars in public funds. They are also looking to send a signal nationally that campaign finance reform is possible in the wake of the Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United decision.

Environmental, labor, housing and business groups have all joined in the effort, some lending their voice for the very first time. Democratic campaign donors sent a letter to Gov. Andrew Cuomo to express their support for reform. And national organizations have empowered their state chapters to get involved, as they see New York as the best hope to fight back against the big money they see blocking their issues in state capitals across the country and in Washington, D.C.

State organizations with a history of supporting reform decided that with a supportive governor, a Democratic Assembly, a numerical majority of supportive Democrats in the Senate and a bevy of corruption scandals, "the time was right for a full-out, 'throw everything we've got at it' kind of campaign," according to Dan Cantor, executive director of the Working Families Party, a main coalition partner.

And to achieve its goal, the coalition is pulling out all the stops in the final weeks of the legislative session.

Paid media on television and radio are ramping up with help from financier Jonathan Soros and his Friends of Democracy super PAC. Mail is going out to 25,000 "independent-minded" voters who were identified using data in the Catalist voter file. Earned media, from editorial placement to op-eds by well-known figures like former New Jersey Sen. Bill Bradley, is increasing. Billboards and banner drops can be seen along highways around the state. Organizers have been sent out to canvass in targeted Senate districts. The coalition is also pushing its efforts on social media from Twitter to Tumblr.

The highly coordinated campaign has organized a handful of progressive groups, often with unconnected interests, for the common purpose of passing campaign finance reform. It has also been a campaign in which non-campaign finance reform groups have taken an uncommon leading role.

"This issue is too important to leave to just the reform community," said David Donnelly, executive director of Public Campaign Action Fund, a leading member of the Fair Elections For New York coalition. "I think that membership organizations that represent millions of Americans, most of whom are not making large contributions [to political campaigns], are not doing their members a good service unless they engage on this issue at some level."

The organizations that are now prioritizing reform have both local and national reasons for their involvement. The Sierra Club, NAACP and the Communications Workers of America are among the progressive groups collaborating on a new national effort to advance a set of issues called the Democracy Initiative.

Campaign finance reform has emerged as a priority for these groups because they contend that their issues are blocked across the country by the influence of money in politics. This is a sentiment shared by their local arms, as well.

"For us, the toxic money in politics and our inability to pass legislation to keep toxins out of the environment -- they are just so related right now," said Roger Downs, the conservation program manager for the Sierra Club's Atlantic Chapter.

"We've had the experience of, time and time again, of going up against Verizon, Time Warner and Cablevision, the big television communications companies in New York, and they vastly outspend us in campaign donations," CWA New York State Legislative Political Director Pete Sikora said. "Consequently we find it extremely difficult to beat them on public policy issues."

The 14 environmental groups with a lobbying presence in Albany decided, for the first time, to branch out and include the non-environmental issue of public financing of elections in their list of priority legislation. The groups did this after the state legislature failed to pass any of their priority environmental bills in 2012 -- the first time in seven years. None of their bills even made it out of a Senate committee.

The involvement of national groups, and potentially their state chapters, would not be taking place if it were not for the already fertile environment for reform in the state made possible by the efforts of state-level groups like Citizen Action and the Working Families Party, said Donnelly.

"If it weren't for the competency of the groups in the state and the prospects of what they've done, those national groups wouldn't spend a dime," Donnelly said.

While the reform coalition in New York has never been larger, the state has seen efforts to enact public financing in the past. A 1981 New York Times letter to the editor in favor of public financing of elections bears the signature of then-Lt. Gov. Mario Cuomo, the father of the current governor. It echoes current themes, stating that, "The influence of special-interest spending is greater than ever ... the need for public financing of elections has never been more urgent."

Previous reform efforts have come close, without success. In 2009 Democrats briefly controlled the governor's mansion and both chambers of the legislature, but didn't have enough votes in the Senate. That is where the current effort is stalled, as an uneasy alliance between the breakaway Independent Democratic Conference runs the chamber in concert with the Republicans, who almost universally oppose public financing and the reform effort.

Under the current ruling agreement, the IDC and the Republicans must agree to bring any bill to the floor for a vote. The reform coalition's main focus in these final weeks is to show them that they can and should bring their bill to a vote.

"Our job is to persuade the IDC that there will be an upside to doing this, and the downside to not doing it is also substantial," Cantor said.

Success, reformers argue, could provide a national jolt and an organizing model for supporters of public financing in other states -- and in Congress.

"A win in a place like New York opens up major avenues and major opportunities in other places, simply because it is on the map that you can do something to push back on Citizens United in a legislative arena that makes a real difference and is possible," Donnelly said.

If the Senate fails to act, however, and the bill remains stalled, reformers are considering a handful of options. Cantor suggests calling for a special session to focus solely on campaign finance reform. Failure could also have electoral consequences for some senators.

"If it doesn't pass this session, then we've got to figure out: How do we make sure that the people who opposed it pay a cost and come back and do it next year?" Scharff said.

Cantor noted that a legislative loss rarely puts an issue to sleep for good. "As is often said, politics is not a sprint, it's a marathon. Citizens United isn't going away; probably politics isn't going away, [2012 top political donor] Sheldon Adelson isn't going away -- much as we wish he would -- so we can't go away, either."

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Coalition to protect religious freedoms fractured by differences in Gay rights

By Lauren markoe download
Religion news service

WASHINGTON (RNS) at a Conference full of people who defend the traditional religious values, Amardeep Singh knew that not everyone could appreciate his account of the "uncomfortable" taxi that had taken the previous day.

Singh, Rapporteur highlighted in the second national religious freedom annual Conference in Washington (May 30) Thursday, said the audience of several hundred to your taxi driver D.C. had the radio tuned to a religious commentator mentality, explaining that women become lesbians because they had been abused.

His historia de taxi, their say and the reaction to it - reveals flaws in the coalition of Americans concerned that Government and popular culture are eroding religious freedom and trying to eradicate religion from the public sphere.

"I felt uncomfortable knowing how our community, the Sikh community, is often widely stereotyped and those broad stereotypes are used so literally participate in acts of violence," Singh, director of programs at the Sikh coalition continued. Sikhs, lesbian, no group should be brushed wide, he said.

Below its target, Singh asked the taxi driver to stop, paid the fee and explained that he did not want to hear such prejudice. You have the right to listen, said said the driver, "but also I am going to exercise my right to not give you the business".

Sitting next to Singh on the podium, the Rev. Eugene Rivers III of the Church of God in Christ, listened attentively, narrowing his eyes as Singh spoke.

When he had finished Singh, rivers made it clear that it has different beliefs and draws the line of tolerance in a different place. "What the man said on the radio... really tests on the argument that in some cases the young women, in this case we are talking about lesbians, have arrived that the abuse orientation".

"The radio type can simply exaggerated the case," continued rivers, pastor of Azusa Christian Community and Senior Adviser of policy to the Church of God, Bishop President of Christ in Boston.

The panelists who came to assess the State of religious freedom in the nation accept the point that different beliefs could not occur together in anything beyond the need to protect religious freedom, and that sometimes, coalitions would present major challenges that must be met head on.

Rabbi Abba Cohen, a panelist and Vice President of Federal Affairs of Agudath Israel, an Orthodox Jewish organization, offers several examples of Jews see issues of religious freedom differently than non-Jews.

Orthodox Jews do not believe in abortion on demand, but I think that in some particular cases, Jewish law requires abortion, Cohen said. They support the right of any person to proselytize, but proselytizing may cause damage to the Jewish community, he said.

Still, taking the broader perspective, Cohen agreed with the Conference theme that religious freedom is under threat in the United States and that religious people must unite.

In another panel of the Conference, legislators and activists it spoke of the need for conservatives to court Allied Liberals to help defend religious rights and cited examples when the American Civil Liberties Union and Democrats had worked successfully with conservative religious people of the State.

Among the evidence of a deterioration of the religious rights offered during the one day meeting sponsored by the ethics and public policy Center: rule of the administration of Obama that require employers to provide coverage for contraception; the refusal of State universities several groups of students requiring its leaders to accept certain principles of faith; and companies that are allowed to relegate to the Muslim women with headscarves to jobs where the public does not see.

"We see that the religion is often treated with derision and ridicule," Cohen said. "In these troubled waters, is all hands on deck."

Muslim theologian Shaykha Reima Yosif, who wears a headscarf and he founded an organization to support Muslim women through art and education, said as an easily identifiable follower of Islam, has often been said ' go back where you come. "

The Yosif born in United States, however, said he has hope that religious leaders can set an example for the rest of the nation about the tolerance of traditions other than their own.

"He is not a priest or a Rabbi or a pastor who say those things."It is layman, he said, referring to the insults that have been thrown to her. "These ideals that we are gathered here today because we have to make sure that drain to the average American daily".

As Singh anecdote showed gay rights and same-sex marriage, they may be the most likely cause of friction as religious leaders try to assemble themselves into a force to protect religious freedoms.

Rivers said that its aims of tolerance where people obligated to accept nothing beyond what he knows as Biblical truth, or when opponents threaten their tax exempt status because of their beliefs. He said that he would be willing to go to jail to defend their religious views.

"If you make a mistake with the Bible, go to jail," he told the crowd, to an enthusiastic round of applause.

Elder Lance B. Wickman, legal adviser to the Church of Christ of latter-day Saints, took a softer direction. He had called homosexuality "a secular thing" and recognizes the protection of secular interests. But the secular-minded Americans must understand that religion is also fundamental to the identity of many people.

Too often, he said, religion is now considered a "hobby", in America, a "lifestyle choice" was limited to the home, Church, synagogue or mosque.

"It is building a new wardrobe," he said, "for the religious traditional values about sexuality and the family."

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