Elite Emergency Data - Lindsey Williams

Moscow pulls away from Kerry-Lavrov deal on Syrian chemical disarmament. Assad gets to keep his WMD

Russian leaders finally picked apart the Kerry-Lavrov understanding for Syria’s chemical disarmament - less than a week after it was unveiled in Geneva last Saturday. Thursday, Sept. 19, they slapped down a string of coordinated obstructions. One knockout blow came from President Vladimir Putin, who commented dryly that he could not be 100 percent certain that the plan for the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons would succeed. “But everything we have seen so far in recent days gives us confidence that this will happen. I hope so,” he said.

To dispel that hope, Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu followed up with a denial of any plans to destroy the Syrian chemical stocks on Russian soil.
Then, in an interview to Fox News, Syrian President Bashar Assad, in sync with Moscow, asked mockingly: “It [the destruction of poison chemicals] is very detrimental to the environment. If the American administration is ready to pay this money and take the responsibility of bringing toxic materials to the United States, why don’t they do it?”

Since Russia and the US are the only countries with the industrial-scale capacity to destroy chemical munitions, and their import is banned under US law, Assad’s chemical arsenal is safe.

In fact, Germany alone has offered to send a small number of chemical experts to Syria, No one else is ready to oversee the complicated dismantling and removal of an estimated 10,000 tonnes of dangerously poisonous materials, pay for the operation or accept the materials on its soil.

US Secretary of State John Kerry, seeing his understanding with Sergey Lavrov slipping away, made a desperate attempt to save it. He called a news conference at the State Department Thursday to declare that it was essential the deal be enforced with a binding resolution and that the UN Security Council act on it next week, when the UN General Assembly holds its annual meeting in New York.

Kerry did not indicate how the US administration would react if the deal fell through or whether the US military option would be revived.

But it was already clear that his deal with Lavrov was going nowhere, even to the few Obama sympathizers who had hailed the president for finally managing to get Moscow on board for a solution of the Syrian war and the removal of Assad’s chemical arsenal.

The Syrian ruler calmly told Fox meanwhile that his government was willing to get rid of its chemical weapons but it would be a very complicated operation that would take about a year or more and cost around $1 billion.

After analyzing his comments, Western intelligence experts told DEBKAfile they had reached two conclusions:

1. That Assad drew a distinction between his operational chemical arsenal and the stockpiles of those weapons. He is apparently willing to let the first category go, but determined to keep the stocks.

2. His manner was confident verging on cocky, showing he felt certain that he would not be deprived of his chemical capabilities for coming out on top of the Syrian civil war.

He had no qualms about denying his forces were responsible for the Aug. 21 attack on districts east of Damascus, fully backed by the perseverance of Russian officials in pinning the blame on the rebels.
As excerpts of his Fox interview were aired, Assad received Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov in Damascus at the head of a large Russian delegation of military and intelligence officers. He used the occasion to complain that he was caught in a cruel vice between al Qaeda and US pressure and expressed the hope that Moscow would be able to “draw a new map of global balance.”

As the Kerry-Lavrov deal falls apart, it turns out to have been less an agreement and more a loose compilation of limited understandings on the Syrian chemical question, which left unresolved sharp, fundamental disagreements between Washington on Moscow on how it should be handled, particularly at the UN Security Council.

None of this has stopped President Obama from selling the proposition to the American public and the world that the US-Russian accord for the disposal of Syria’s chemical weapons was a triumphant breakthrough for his administration’s diplomacy, which opened the door to an agreement for resolving the Iranian nuclear issue as well.




Credit To DEBKA file

Strongest Storm on Earth En Route to Hong Kong

Super-Typhoon Usagi became the strongest storm on Earth on Thursday. Though it’s weakened since then, the storm is still churning toward Hong Kong and could create major disruptions with a likely landfall as early as Sunday.

On Thursday, Usagi measured sustained wind speeds of 160 mph. Those winds made it the strongest storm on Earth this year, besting Utor, which recorded wind speeds of 150 mph prior to making landfall in the Philippines in mid-August according to the Capital Weather Gang. NASA created a 3D satellite image of Usagi at its peak, showing an extremely well-developed eyewall.

Credit to Climate Central

Stocks are about to plunge, Wells Fargo warns

Gina Martin Adams is sticking to her guns.

The Wells Fargo strategist has been bearish on stocks all year, even as she watched the S&P 500 (^GSPC) add 21 percent. And on Thursday's " Futures Now ," Adams reiterated her call that the index would close out the year at 1,440.

"Our target is based on fundamentals," Adams insisted. "We're basing our target on typical valuation measures, given the level of interest rates and also on earnings forecasts. And that's why our target is relatively low."

In fact, "low" is somewhat of an understatement. Adams' target implies that the market will drop 16 percent in little more than three months, erasing everything that stocks gained after the year's first day of trading. This makes her one of the lone bears on the Street.

So what could produce such a dismal fourth quarter for stocks? First of all, Adams is highly skeptical about the rally that the market has enjoyed thus far.

"It's all about emotion at this point. The entirety of the S&P 500's increase this year has come via the multiple," Adams said. "It's been simply through the amount that investors are willing to bid up the value of the future earnings stream."

Indeed, the S&P 500's price-earnings multiple has risen from 17 on Jan. 1 to nearly 20. That means the market has largely been rising due to investors' willingness to pay more for those earnings.

Adams goes on to argue that the recent rise in Treasury yields could put an end to this inclination.

"The multiple is one of the most valuable components" of the rally, and "typical drivers of the multiple are interest rates." So despite the fact that yields have cooled off recently, "simply the fact that we moved from 1.6 [percent] on the 10-year Treasury rate to now the 2.7 [percent] range is a potential tremendous shock over the next six months," Adams contended.

Adams believes that stocks haven't yet digested the rate rally. "Stocks tend to follow rates over time," she said. "Typically, when you get a 100 basis point [or 1 percent] move in Treasury rates, you get a contraction on the P/E multiple on stocks of about a full turn. That, by itself, implies you get something of a 10-percent-plus correction in stocks."

And while the Fed's decision that it wouldn't slow its rate of asset purchases has driven the market to yet another all-time high this week, Adams doesn't believe the surprising announcement will ultimately make a difference.

"Unless bonds can actually rally substantially with the so-called Fed bid, and the Fed is able to manipulate yields significantly lower, the damage has been done, and I think the cat is quite frankly out of the bag."

Couple the rise in rates with slow earnings growth, and Adams believes the market is in for a very tricky fall.

"We're going to have to face the music come October," she said.


Credit Yahoo News

Biometric ID coming to a government office near you

Biometric systems are increasingly found across government for personal identification/authentication applications, being used for homeland security, identity management, border crossing, electronic commerce and the prevention of ID theft. This week’s Biometric Consortium Conference in Tampa, Fla., showcases a wide range of hardware and software solutions to identity management challenges, such as fingerprint, earlobe, hand geometry and gait recognition, as well as PC/network access, point-of-sale authentication and surveillance.

The new biometric products and services aimed at government include:

The SEEK Avenger from Crossmatch Technologies, a rugged, mobile, fully certified biometric enrollment and credential reading device. It combines forensic-quality fingerprint, stand-off dual iris capture, high-resolution facial and evidence imaging, and multiple-format credential reading. The SEEK Avenger’s optional 3G/4G wireless connectivity and an onboard watch list of up to 250,000 records allows enrollment or verification in the field, which can be valuable in remote locations, conditions where connectivity has been compromised or when virtually instantaneous confirmation is required.

Lumidigm’s multispectral imaging sensor offers multifactor authentication on a single sensor. It can natively read two different authentication factors, a fingerprint and a new optical barcode credential. Multispectral imaging can overcome the fingerprint capture problems that conventional imaging systems have in less-than-ideal conditions. It uses multiple spectrums of light and advanced optical techniques to extract unique fingerprint characteristics from both the surface and subsurface of the skin. The technology can also be used to authenticate factors beyond fingerprints, such as copy-resistant optical credentials.

SecuGen Biometric Solutions’ USB fingerprint reader comes in a stand-alone (peripheral) model and an OEM sensor version that can be integrated into hardware products where space is at a premium, such as access control systems, kiosks, ATMs, safes and industrial equipment. Both are FAP 20 Mobile ID and PIV certified by the FBI.

At the show, EyeVerify and Fixmo will demo their biometric solution for mobile security that delivers password-free mobile authentication by using the cameras on smartphones to image and pattern-match the blood vessels in the whites of the eye. Fixmo will integrate EyeVerify’s Eyeprint Verification into Fixmo Safezone, a mobile, defense-grade secure workspace that is encrypted, contained and managed by IT independent of the device itself.

Credit To GCN

Europeans into poverty.....

Iran president blames Israel for 'instability,' calls for peace

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani blamed Israel for causing "injustice to the people" of the Middle East during an exclusive interview with NBC News in which he also called for peace, saying Iran is not "looking for war."

Unlike his predecessor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Rouhani struck a moderate tone on many issues, but he deflected a question from NBC News' Ann Curry about whether he believed that the Holocaust was "a myth."

"I'm not a historian. I'm a politician," he replied. "What is important for us is that the countries of the region and the people grow closer to each other, and that they are able to prevent aggression and injustice."

Rouhani's comments came in his first interview with a U.S. news outlet since his June election. The interview was broadcast Thursday on TODAY.

David Lom / NBC News

NBC News' Ann Curry speaks with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday. It was Rouhani's first interview with a U.S. news outlet since being elected.

When asked by Curry about the fact that Ahmadinejad had people believing that Iran wanted to wipe Israel off the map, Rouhani replied: "What we wish for in this country is rule by the will of the people. We believe in the ballot box."

Curry also asked Rouhani to respond to comments by Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu, who has called him a "wolf in sheep’s clothing."

Rouhani described Israel as "an occupier and usurper government" that "does injustice to the people of the region, and has brought instability to the region, with its warmongering policies."

He added Israel "shouldn't allow itself to give speeches about a democratically and freely elected government."

Netanyahu has previously hinted at the possibility of Israeli military strikes on Iran over the country's controversial nuclear program if Western sanctions and diplomacy fail.

However, Rouhani also said it was important that countries across the Middle East learn to peacefully coexist.

"We are not seeking ... and looking for war with any nations. We are seeking peace and stability among all the nations in the region," Rouhani said.

In an exclusive interview with NBC's Ann Curry, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said his country is asking for peace, stability and the elimination of all weapons of mass destruction.

Rouhani replaced Ahmadinejad who had been quoted as describing the Nazi Holocaust as "a myth" while in office. In 2009, Ahmadinejad dropped language from a speech at a U.N. conference on racism that branded the Holocaust "ambiguous and dubious."

Rouhani's comments underscored the shift in tone since he was elected with just over 50 percent of the vote. During his inaugural address, the new president spoke of engagement with the West to end bruising sanctions over his country’s controversial nuclear program.

Rouhani also appeared to pledge his support for increasing Iranians’ access to the Internet and other political and social freedoms.

"We want the people, in their private lives, to be completely free, and in today’s world having access to information and the right of free dialogue, and the right to think freely, is the right of all peoples, including the people of Iran," he said.

When asked whether his government would stop censoring the Internet, Rouhani said "a commission for citizens' rights" would be established.

"Does that mean that people in Iran will have access now to Twitter and to Facebook?" Curry asked.

"The viewpoint of the government is that the people must have full access to all information worldwide," Rouhani replied. "Our opinions on this should based on protection of our national identity and on our morals."

Officials in Washington, D.C., say the time is right for Iran, which wants a deal to get out from sanctions that are crippling its economy. NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports.

In the interview with Curry, Rouhani also said his country will never develop nuclear weapons and that he has the clout to make a deal with the West on the disputed atomic program.

"In its nuclear program, this government enters with full power and has complete authority," he said, adding that Iran has repeatedly pledged that "under no circumstances would we seek any weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons, nor will we ever."

Rouhani, who earned a Ph.D. from a Scottish university, was the only non-conservative in the field during the election to replace Ahmadinejad. He got more than 18 million votes while five conservative candidates combined garnered just under 18 million.

Rouhani also discussed how he and President Barack Obama have exchanged letters in which they traded views on "some issues."

"From my point of view, the tone of the letter was positive and constructive," Rouhani said of the note he got from the White House congratulating him on his election.

The two countries severed diplomatic ties in 1980 after students supporting the Iranian revolutionaries who overthrew the U.S.-backed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi of Iran took 52 Americans hostage for 444 days.

"It could be subtle and tiny steps for a very important future," Rouhani told Curry. "I believe the leaders in all countries could think in their national interest and they should not be under the influence of pressure groups. I hope to witness such an atmosphere in the future."

Rouhani's is due to appear next Tuesday at the U.N. General Assembly — where Western diplomats regularly walked out during Ahmedinejad's fiery speeches.

Credit to NBCNEWS