US leaker Snowden faces hard choices while hiding

Employees stand at the entrance of the Mira Hotel in Hong Kong Tuesday, June 11, 2013. Edward Snowden, an American defense contractor who said he leaked information on classified U.S. surveillance programs, checked out of the hotel on Monday and has not been seen in public in the territory. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

A woman uses her smartphone at the waterfront in Hong Kong Tuesday, June 11, 2013. Edward Snowden, an American defense contractor who said he leaked information on classified U.S. surveillance programs, could benefit from a quirk in Hong Kong law that would ensure a lengthy battle to deport him. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

HONG KONG (AP) — Edward Snowden, the former CIA employee who leaked top-secret documents about U.S. surveillance programs, has few options to stay one step ahead of the authorities while in apparent hiding.

One possibility is to seek asylum in a place that does not have an extradition pact with the United States -- there are a few in Asia a short flight away from Hong Kong where he was last spotted, but none where he is guaranteed refuge.

On Tuesday the 29-year-old Snowden's whereabouts were unknown, a day after he checked out of a trendy hotel in the Chinese territory of Hong Kong. But large photos of his face were splashed on most Hong Kong newspapers with headlines such as "Deep Throat Hides in HK," and "World's Most Wanted Man Breaks Cover in Hong Kong."

The coverage is likely to increase the chances of him being recognized although he could still blend with the city's tens of thousands of expatriates from the United States, Britain, Australia and Europe.

If and when the Justice Department charges him — and it's not certain when that will be — its next step will likely be to ask the International Criminal Police Organization, or Interpol, for a provisional request to arrest him pending extradition to the United States.

Assuming that Snowden is still in Hong Kong, the judicial proceedings for an extradition requestcould take a year, and once completed it would be up to Hong Kong's leader, known as the chief executive, to decide on handing over Snowden, said Michael Blanchflower, a Hong Kong lawyer with three decades of experience in extradition cases.

"Ultimately it is his decision," he said.

But even if the chief executive allows the extradition, the fugitive can request a judicial review and those decisions could be appealed up through three court levels, Blanchflower said.

Although a semiautonomous part of China, the former British colony has an independent justice system based on the British legal structure.

One option for Snowden would be to claim he is the object of political persecution, and fight the issue in the courts to avoid extradition. He could argue that he would be subject to cruel and humiliating treatment in the United States. Hong Kong changed its regulations six months ago to require that a court consider cruel and humiliating treatment and not simply torture when considering extradition requests.

It's up to "the Chief Executive to determine whether the offence is one that's of a political character, in which case the extradition is blocked," said Hong Kong-based lawyer, Tim Parker.

However, the strategy carries considerable risk because the U.S. could simply provide diplomatic assurances that he would not be subject to cruel or humiliating treatment.

"At that point it would be difficult for Hong Kong to resist deporting him," said Patricia Ho, a Hong Kong lawyer who specializes in asylum and refugee claims.

But as things stand now, there is nothing to prevent Snowden from traveling to a destination of his choice -- to one of the handful of nearby jurisdictions or countries that do not have extradition treaties with the United States.

One of the Asian countries without an American treaty is China, though there is no guarantee Beijing would want to risk a confrontation with the United States by taking Snowden in, even if it gained a windfall of sensitive American intelligence information in the process. Snowden himself has given no indication that he is prepared to cooperate with any foreign intelligence service, including China's.

China's state media has confined its coverage of the Snowden affair to factual reports, and on online social media, China's relatively unfettered venue for public discourse, comments have been largely muted.

"People in China are used to not having security and privacy on the internet, so this does not come as a big surprise," Peking University journalism professor Hu Yong said in an interview. Official media, Hu said, would "try not to focus too much on how wrong the practice is, or whether the leaker is right or wrong. They will use the news to highlight that China is not the only country with such practices."

Another Asian flight possibility for Snowden is the self-governing island of Taiwan, which split from China in 1949 after a protracted civil war, and since 1979, has not had formal diplomatic relations with the U.S.

In lieu of a formal extradition treaty, American extraction requests to Taiwan are examined on a case by case basis.

An official at the de facto U.S. Embassy in Taipei — the American Institute in Taiwan — said Taiwan has generally been cooperative on the extradition issue.

"Taipei has so far been pretty good on responding to our requests," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Also, any attempt by Snowden to come to Taiwan could prove extremely embarrassing to the government of Ma Ying-jeou, which while doing its best to improve relations with China, also seeks to maintain close ties with the United States, its major security backer. An official at the Justice Ministry said Tuesday there were no indications at all that Snowden would make any attempt to land on the island.

Aside from numerous flights from Hong Kong's busy international airport, Snowden could take an hour-long high speed ferry ride to Macau, also a semiautonomous region of China. From Macau he could hop over to Guangdong province in mainland China.

Beyond Taiwan and China, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and North Korea are also theoretical destinations for Snowden, because they lack extradition treaties with the U.S. But the communist or authoritarian systems they share make them unlikely destinations for a man who has gone to considerable lengths to portray his decision to reveal National Security Agency surveillance programs as an act of conscience.

Outside of Asia, Snowden might also consider seeking asylum in countries like Iceland and Russia. According to the Kommersant Daily, Moscow has said it might provide asylum. But Russia is also an authoritarian nation, so there is no guarantee that Snowden would accept any offer that Moscow rendered.

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Enav reported from Taipei, Taiwan. Christopher Bodeen in Hong Kong and AP video-journalist Isolda Morillo in Beijing contributed to this report.

Unusually massive line of storms aim at Midwest

FILE - In this June 29, 2012, file photo, Pete Michel, crew member for Jimmie Johnson, tries to hold down a tent as a storm blows through prior to the scheduled start of the NASCAR Nationwide Series auto race at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Ky. A gigantic line of powerful thunderstorms with tree-toppling winds is likely to threaten one in five Americans Wednesday is as it rumbles from Iowa to Maryland, meteorologists warn. The massive storms may even spawn an unusual weather event called a derecho, which is a massive storm of strong straight-line winds spanning at least 240 miles.(AP Photo/James Crisp, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — A gigantic line of powerful thunderstorms could affect one in five Americans on Wednesday as it rumbles from Iowa to Maryland packing hail, lightning and tree-toppling winds.

Meteorologist are warning that the continuous line of storms may even spawn an unusual weather event called a derecho (duh-RAY'-choh), which is a massive storm of strong straight-line windsspanning at least 240 miles. Wednesday's storms are also likely to generate tornadoes and cause power outages that will be followed by oppressive heat, said Bill Bunting, operations chief at theNational Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla.

The risk of severe weather in Chicago, Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio, is roughly 45 times higher than on a normal June day, Bunting said. Detroit, Baltimore, Washington, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh and Louisville, Ky., have a risk level 15 times more than normal. All told, the area theweather service considers to be under heightened risk of dangerous weather includes 64 million people in 10 states.

"It's a pretty high threat," Bunting said, who also warned that the storms will produce large hail and dangerous lightning. "We don't want to scare people, but we want them to be aware."

Wednesday "might be the worst severe weather outbreak for this part of the country for the year," said Jeff Masters, meteorology director at Weather Underground.

You can have tornadoes and a derecho at the same time, but at any given place Wednesday the straight-line winds are probably more likely.

Last year, a derecho caused at least $1 billion in damage from Chicago to Washington, killing 13 people and leaving more than 4 million people without power, according to the weather service. Winds reached nearly 100 mph in some places and in addition to the 13 people who died from downed trees, another 34 people died from the heat wave that followed in areas without power.

Derechoes, with winds of at least 58 mph, occur about once a year in the Midwest. Rarer than tornadoes but with weaker winds, derechoes produce damage over a much wider area.

Wednesday's storm probably won't be as powerful as 2012's historic one, but it is expected to cause widespread problems, Bunting said.

The storms are the type that will move so fast that "by the time you see the dark sky and distant thunder you may have only minutes to get to safe shelter," Bunting said.

The storms will start late morning or early afternoon in eastern Iowa, hit Chicago by early afternoon and move east at about 40 mph, Bunting said. If the storm remains intact after crossing the Appalachian Mountains, which would be rare for a derecho, it should hit the Washington area by late afternoon or early evening, he said.

For Washington, Philadelphia and parts of the Mid-Atlantic the big storm risk continues and even increases a bit Thursday, according to the weather service.

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Online:

The Storm Prediction Center: www.spc.noaa.gov

Seth Borenstein can be followed at http://twitter.com/borenbears

Ban on Palestinians living with spouses in Israel

JERUSALEM (AP) — When Israeli Arabs search for a spouse, they don't just worry about looks, job prospects or future in-laws. They must think about whether their partner will be allowed to live with them.

The problem is — many Israeli Arabs, who are ethnically Palestinians, want to marry Palestinians from the West Bank or Gaza Strip. But relations between the Palestinian territories and Israel are testy at best and violent at worst, resulting in limits that even love can't overcome.

For the past decade, Israel has largely restricted Palestinians from joining their spouses inside the Jewish state, citing security concerns like Palestinian militants using entry permits gained through marriage to carry out attacks in Israel.

For ordinary people, though, the restrictions have undone countless romances, created stressful living arrangements and frayed family ties.

About 1.6 million Arabs are Israeli citizens. About 4.4 million Palestinians live in the West Bank and Gaza. They are linked by ethnic and family ties, but the lines between Israel and Palestinian areas divide them.

There are no official statistics, but thousands of Palestinians are believed to be living illegally with their Israeli Arab spouses inside Israel, threatened with deportation.

Israel's Interior Ministry did not say how many have actually been deported, if any, and no one volunteered stories of relatives or acquaintances who had been arrested or expelled.

Still, the perceived threat hanging over them compels the Palestinians in Israel to stay near their homes.

"I'm living on my nerves," said Sahar Kabaha, a 33-year-old Palestinian woman. After her Israeli Arab husband died last year, she was denied the right to remain in the country, even though her four children are Israeli citizens. She now lives without legal papers in the Israeli Arab town of Bartaa. She does not take her children to a doctor, fearing arrest if she's discovered.

"All I want is permission to be with my children. They don't have anybody else to care for them," Kabaha said.

Critics argue the restrictions discriminate against Israel's Arab citizens. Israeli Jews marrying fellow Jews living in West Bank settlements do not face such restrictions. Critics say it also discriminates against Palestinians, since foreign spouses of Israelis are eligible for citizenship.

The difference is security aspect.

Israel "sees Palestinians and Arabs as forming a threat to Israel's security without an individual check, or any ability to prove his or her innocence," said attorney Sawsan Zaher of Adalah, a legal organization fighting the restrictions.

According to official Israeli figures, some 130,000 Palestinians acquired Israeli citizenship in the decade before the restrictions took effect. Of them, five were imprisoned for security-related crimes.

In 2002, a Palestinian spouse of an Israeli killed 15 people in a suicide bombing in the Israeli city of Haifa. In another case, a Palestinian spouse drove a suicide bomber who killed seven people riding a Jerusalem bus.

Israel's Interior Ministry introduced the restrictions in 2003, saying they were a temporary measure to combat the violent Palestinian uprising against Israel in progress at the time.

Israel's parliament has renewed the restrictions each year since. The Supreme Court upheld the measure in 2006 and 2012.

The restrictions have been eased in stages, allowing Palestinian men over 35 and women over 25 from the West Bank to apply for temporary permits to live and work in Israel. Even so, they may not drive, access health care, welfare or apply for citizenship.

Palestinians from Gaza, ruled by the Islamic militant Hamas, are banned from living in Israel.

The Interior Ministry said 8,000 Palestinian spouses hold temporary permits. It wouldn't say how many others applied or estimate how many Palestinian spouses are living illegally in Israel.

Critics say the violence was quelled years ago, and the number of Palestinian spouses involved in militant attacks is small. They claim the real aim is preventing Palestinians from obtaining citizenship in a country obsessed with maintaining its Jewish majority.

"The security argument and the term 'temporary measure' are merely a deception aimed at 'koshering' discriminatory legislation for demographic reasons," wrote Amos Shocken, publisher of liberal Israeli daily Haaretz, in an April editorial.

Government spokesman Mark Regev insisted security was the only reason. "It's too dangerous," he said. "The idea that you could have enemy nationals having blanket residency is a bridge too far."

Few Israeli Arabs want to join spouses in the Palestinian areas, where unemployment is rampant. Israeli law bars its citizens, including Arabs, from living there.

Israeli Arabs continue to bring their spouses home, because many have family relations with Palestinians that predate the Jewish state, particularly in towns like Bartaa that straddle the line with the West Bank. Even so, such marriages are dropping off because of the difficulties involved, residents said.

A Jerusalem taxi driver meets his Palestinian wife from Gaza in neighboring Egypt every few weeks. The couple, both previously divorced, met when the woman came to Jerusalem with an Israeli permit for medical care for her daughter in 2010. They married before she returned to Gaza. Nightly Skype sessions bind their long-distance marriage.

An Israeli Arab woman lives illegally in the West Bank city of Ramallah with her 32-year-old husband and daughter. Her husband is too young to apply for a permit to live in Israel, and she risks losing social welfare benefits if Israel discovers she's living in a Palestinian city.

They requested anonymity, worried that identification would affect their ability to obtain future permits.

Palestinian Nujoud Kabaha, 32, a mother of three, married her Israeli Arab relative a decade ago, but obtained permission to live in his hometown of Bartaa only in 2011.

In 2009, in labor with her third child, she said a hospital guard tried to evict her from the maternity ward because she didn't have a permit.

A decade ago, Israeli Arab Rim Badran, 32, of the village of Beir el-Sikkeh married a Palestinian man who worked in her uncle's restaurant. For the first eight years of their marriage, her husband lived without papers in Israel. He rarely left their home, fearing arrest. He began obtaining permits four years ago, after he turned 35.

"He is scarred from the experience," Badran said. "To this day he lives in fear."

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Associated Press writer Mohammed Daraghmeh contributed to this report.

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A ‘no signal ‘ sign appears on the public ERT, NET and ERT3 broadcasters channels. Source: AFP

Stephen: This is a major decision by any government: to close down an entire state-run public television, radio and online broadcasting corporation. Greeks awoke Wednesday to find the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation or Elliniki Radiofonia-Teleorasi (ERT), which began broadcasting in 1938 and was the official broadcaster for the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, is no longer broadcasting due to austerity implications. Expect to see a new chapter in Greek protests.

Greek TV Fades to Black as Austerity Bites

From AP – June 12, 2013

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