Cameron urges action from eurozone

Europe's leaders must be ready to take tough political decisions to resolve the eurozone crisis, or face the threat of "perpetual stagnation" or a hugely damaging break-up of the single currency,David Cameron is to warn.

Speaking a day after crucial re-run elections in Greece, the Prime Minister will put the crisis in the euro area at the top of a list of "five big threats to the global economy" and step up pressure on Germany and the European Central Bank to respond decisively.

He will urge the leaders of the world's biggest economies, gathering in Mexico for the G20 summit, to take "bold steps" to restore growth, and will warn against "backsliding" on trade protectionismand reforms to financial regulation.

A failure to follow through on pledges made at previous summits to reform the banks would leave the world exposed to a repeat of the 2008 financial crash, he will warn. No corner of the world is safe from the threats of the eurozone instability, sovereign debt, low growth, protectionism and failure to regulate the banks, the PM will say. "These five threats are very real. And let's be clear - in a global economy, they threaten us all."

Eurozone leaders including German chancellor Angela Merkel, French president Francois Hollandeand Italian PM Mario Monti were expected to delay their departure until the morning in order to be in place as the shape of the new political landscape in Athens becomes clear.

Speaking to the B20 business summit in Los Cabos shortly after his arrival, Mr Cameron is expected to renew his call on the 17 eurozone states to take the steps towards closer fiscal and financial integration which he believes are necessary to restore stability.

He will call on "core" members like Germany, as well as the ECB, to "do more to support demand and share the burden of adjustment", warning that central banks cannot afford to "stand on the sidelines" in the current crisis.

Mr Cameron will say that the UK has a "clear vision" of the "stable, growing, competitive and dynamic" world economy, powered by trade and financed by strong banks, which it wishes to create.

But he will warn of five threats to this vision: instability and contagion in the eurozone; debt and the "muddle-headed" belief that indebted countries can spend their way out of crisis; the failure to deliver the monetary activism and structural reform needed to deliver sustainable growth; 1930s-style protectionist barriers to trade; and the failure to complete long-term banking reforms.

With its members representing 90% of the world economy, the G20 is "the right forum to work together to deal with these threats", he will say.

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9:32 PM | 0 comments

Brotherhood claims victory in Egypt president vote

The Muslim Brotherhood declared early Monday that its candidate, Mohammed Morsi, won Egypt's presidential election, even as the military handed themselves the lion's share of power over the new president, enshrining their hold on the state and sharpening the possibility of confrontation with the Islamists.

With parliament dissolved and martial law effectively in force, the generals made themselves the country's lawmakers, gave themselves control over the budget and will determine who writes the permanent constitution that will define the country's future.

But as they claimed victory over Hosni Mubarak's last prime minister Ahmed Shafiq in the election, the Brotherhood challenged the military's power grab. The group warned that it did not recognize the dissolution of parliament or the military's interim constitution — or its right to oversee the drafting of a new one.

That pointed to a potential struggle over spheres of authority between Egypt's two strongest forces. The Brotherhood has campaigned on a platform of bringing Egypt closer to a form of Islamic rule, but the military's grip puts it in a position to block that. Instead any conflict would likely center on more basic questions of power.

At a pre-dawn press conference Monday declaring their win, officials from the fundamentalist group that was banned for decades and repeatedly subjected to crackdowns under Mubarak's rule were ebullient and smiling, as supporters chanted, "Down with military rule."

"Thank God who guided the people of Egypt to this right path, the path of freedom and democracy," Morsi told the crowd at his campaign headquarters in his first appearance since the victory claim. He promised to "to Egypt in all its factions, Muslims and Christians" to "be a president for all Egyptians ... a servant to them" and seek a "civil, democratic, constitutional and modern state."

Final official results are not expected until Thursday. The Brotherhood's declaration was based on results announced by election officials at individual counting centers, where each campaign has representatives who compile the numbers and make them public before the formal announcement. The Brotherhood's early, partial counts proved generally accurate in last month's first round vote.

The group said Morsi took 51.8 percent of the vote to Shafiq's 48.1 percent out of 24.6 million votes cast, with 98 percent of the more than 13,000 poll centers counted.

Morsi "is the first civilian, popularly elected Egyptian president," the group proclaimed on its website. There was no immediate comment from the Shafiq campaign.

The question now will be how a Brotherhood president will get along with the military generals who have ruled since Mubarak fell on Feb. 11, 2011 and who will still hold powers that can potentially paralyze Morsi. The Brotherhood has reached accommodations with the generals at times over the past 16 months, as it struck deals with Mubarak's regime itself — gaining it a reputation among critics as willing to sell out for a taste of authority.

But after a highly polarized presidential election and the miltary's arrogation of powers to itself, the Brotherhood presented itself as willing to get into a confrontation with the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, the body of top generals headed by Field Marshall Hussein Tantawi, Mubarak's defense minister for 20 years.

Just before the election, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which has ruled since Mubarak's fall, slapped de facto martial law on the country, giving military police and intelligence agents the right to arrest civilians for a host of suspected crimes, some as secondary as obstructing traffic. Then came Thursday's ruling by the Supreme Constitutional Court dissolving parliament, followed by the interim constitution declaration just after polls closed Sunday following two days of voting.

According to a copy of the document obtained by The Associated Press, the generals would be the nation's legislators and control the budget. They also will name the 100-member panel tasked with drafting a new constitution, thus ensuring the new charter would guarantee them a say in key policies like defense and national security as well as shield their vast economic empire from civilian scrutiny.

The president will be able to appoint a Cabinet and approve or reject laws.

Under the document, new parliament elections will not be held until a new constitution is approved, meaning an election in December at the earliest. In the constitution-writing process, the military can object over any articles and the Supreme Constitutional Court — which is made up of Mubarak-era appointees — will have final say over any disputes.

Earlier Sunday, the Brotherhood's speaker of parliament Saad el-Katatni met with the deputy head of the military council, Chief of Staff Gen. Sami Anan and told him the group does not recognize the dissolution of parliament, according to a Brotherhood statement that pointedly referred to el-Katatni by his title.

El-Katatni insisted the military could not issue an interim constitution and that the constituent assembly formed last week would meet in the "coming hours" to go ahead with its work in writing the permanent charter.

Still, the Brotherhood has no power to force recognition of the parliament-created constituent assembly, which already seems discounted after parliament's dissolution and is likely to be formally disbanded by a pending court ruling. Lawmakers are literally locked out of parliament, which is ringed by troops.

The generals, mostly in their 60s and 70s, owe their ranks to the patronage of Mubarak. All along, activists from the pro-democracy youth groups that engineered the anti-Mubarak uprising questioned the generals' will to hand over power, arguing that after 60 years of direct or behind-the-scenes domination, the military was unlikely to voluntarily relinquish its perks.

The presidential race was a bitter one.

Shafiq, a former air force commander and an admirer and longtime friend of Mubarak, was seen by opponents as an extension of the old regime that millions sought to uproot when they staged a stunning uprising that toppled the man who ruled Egypt for three decades.

Morsi's opponents, in turn, feared that if he wins, the Brotherhood will take over the nation and turn it into an Islamic state, curbing freedoms and consigning minority Christians and women to second-class citizens.

Trying to rally the public in the last hours of voting, the Brotherhood presented a Morsi presidency as the last hope to prevent total control by the military council of Mubarak-era generals.

"We got rid of one devil and got 19," said Mohammed Kanouna, referring to Mubarak and the members of the military council as he voted for Morsi after night fell in Cairo's Dar el-Salam slum. "We have to let them know there is a will of the people above their will."

But the prospect that the generals will still hold most power even after their nominal handover of authority to civilians by July 1 has deepened the gloom, leaving some feeling the vote was essentially meaningless.

"Things have not changed at all. It is as if the revolution never happened," Ayat Maher, a 28-year-old mother of three, said as she waited for her husband to vote in Cairo's central Abdeen district. She said she voted for Morsi, but did not think there was much hope for him.

"The same people are running the country. The same oppression and the same sense of enslavement. They still hold the keys to everything."

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9:28 PM | 0 comments

Pentagon to mark gay pride month

WASHINGTON (AP) — Last summer, gays in the military dared not acknowledge their sexual orientation. This summer, the Pentagon will salute them, marking June as gay pride month just as it has marked other celebrations honoring racial or ethnic groups.

In the latest remarkable sign of change since the military repealed the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, the Defense Department will soon hold its first event to recognize gay and lesbian troops. It comes nine months after repeal of the policy that had prohibited gay troops from serving openly and forced more than 13,500 service members out of the armed forces.

Details are still being worked out, but officials say Defense Secretary Leon Panetta wants to honor the contributions of gay service members.

"Now that we've repealed 'don't ask, don't tell,' he feels it's important to find a way this month to recognize the service and professionalism of gay and lesbian troops," said Navy Capt. John Kirby, a spokesman.

This month's event will follow a long tradition at the Pentagon of recognizing diversity in America's armed forces. Hallway displays and activities, for example, have marked Black History Month and Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month.

Before the repeal, gay troops could serve but couldn't reveal their orientation. If they did, they would be discharged. At the same time, a commanding officer was prohibited from asking a service member whether he or she was gay.

Although some feared repeal of the ban on serving openly would cause problems in the ranks, officials and gay advocacy groups say no big issues have materialized — aside from what advocacy groups criticize as slow implementation of some changes, such as benefit entitlements to troops in same-sex marriages.

Basic changes have come rapidly since repeal; the biggest is that gay and lesbian soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines no longer have to hide their sexuality in order to serve. They can put photos on their office desk without fear of being outed, attend social events with their partners and openly join advocacy groups looking out for their interests.

OutServe, a once-clandestine professional association for gay service members, has nearly doubled in size to more than 5,500 members. It held its first national convention of gay service members in Las Vegas last fall, then a conference on family issues this year in Washington.

At West Point, the alumni gay advocacy group Knights Out was able to hold the first installment in March of what is intended to be an annual dinner in recognition of gay and lesbian graduates and Army cadets. Gay students at the U.S. Naval Academy were able to take same-sex dates to the academy's Ring Dance for third-year midshipmen.

Panetta said last month that military leaders had concluded that repeal had not affected morale or readiness. A report to Panetta with assessments from the individual military service branches said that as of May 1 they had seen no ill effects.

"I don't think it's just moving along smoothly, I think it's accelerating faster than we even thought the military would as far as progress goes," said Air Force 1st Lt. Josh Seefried, a finance officer and co-director of OutServe.

He said acceptance has been broad among straight service members and has put a spotlight on unequal treatment that gays continue to receive in some areas. "We are seeing such tremendous progress in how much the military is accepting us, but not only that — in how much the rank and file is now understanding the inequality that's existing right now," he said.

That's a reference to the fact that same-sex couples aren't afforded spousal health care, assignments to the same location when they transfer to another job, and other benefits. There was no immediate change to eligibility standards for military benefits in September. All service members already were entitled to certain things, such as designating a partner as one's life insurance beneficiary or as designated caregiver in the Wounded Warrior program.

As for other benefits still not approved, the department began a review after repeal with an eye toward possibly extending eligibility, consistent with the federal Defense of Marriage Act and other applicable laws, to the same-sex partners of military personnel.

"The department is carefully and deliberately reviewing the benefits from a policy, fiscal, legal and feasibility perspective," Eileen Lainez, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said Thursday.

Gay marriage has been perhaps the most difficult issue.

Though chaplains on bases in some states are allowed to hold what the Pentagon officials call "private services" — they don't use the words wedding or marriage — such unions do not garner marriage benefits because the Defense of Marriage Act says marriage is between a man and a woman.

The "don't ask, don't tell" policy was in force for 18 years, and its repeal was a slow and deliberate process.

President Barack Obama on Dec. 22, 2010, signed legislation repealing it. Framing the issue as a matter of civil rights long denied, Obama said, "We are a nation that welcomes the service of every patriot ... a nation that believes that all men and women are created equal."

The military then did an assessment for several months to certify that the forces were prepared to implement it in a way that would not hurt military readiness. And it held training for its 2.25 million-person force to inform everyone of the coming change and what was expected.

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2:28 AM | 0 comments

Egypt transition in turmoil on eve of vote

CAIRO (Reuters) - Activists called for a protest on Friday and Islamists warned that the gains of the revolt that toppled Hosni Mubarak could be wiped out after Egypt's supreme court dissolved parliament and ruled to keep his last premier in this weekend's presidential race.

Egypt's already troubled transition was plunged into turmoil by Thursday's court rulings. Islamists, who dominate parliament and have gained most since the uprising that ousted Mubarak last year, called the court ruling a "coup".

The run-off election on Saturday and Sunday was billed as the culmination of a transition before the military generals who have ruled Egypt for 16 months since Mubarak's overthrow formally hand power to a new president.

The new leader will now be elected without a parliament, whose election has been one of the few substantive gains, and without a new constitution to outline the extent of his permanent powers, a process delayed by political bickering.

Officials campaigning in the race ends a midday on Friday.

The April 6 movement, which helped galvanised Egyptians against Mubarak, called for a protest march on Friday that would head to Cairo's Tahrir Square "against the soft military coup." It called for the protest to start at 5 p.m. (1500 GMT).

"We will save our revolution. We will save Egypt from military rule," the group said in a statement sent out early in the morning on Friday.

The main target of the group's opposition is presidential contender Ahmed Shafik, a former air force commander who was appointed prime minister in Mubarak's last days in office.

They fear he will seek to rebuild Mubarak's repressive state and reverse the gains of the revolt, although he denies this.

He is pitted in the race against Mohamed Morsy of the Muslim Brotherhood, whose group secured the biggest bloc in parliament and with other Islamists forms a majority in the assembly.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the United States, long wary of Islamists and which provides $1.3 billion a year in military aid to Egypt, expected the military to fully transfer power to a democratically elected civilian government.

The Brotherhood said on Thursday that the court rulings indicated Egypt was heading into "very difficult days that might be more dangerous than the last days of Mubarak's rule".

"All the democratic gains of the revolution could be wiped out and overturned with the handing of power to one of the symbols of the previous era," it said.

WARNING AGAINST FORGERY
Morsy pledged to press ahead with his presidential bid regardless and warned against foul play of the type that was typical of elections in Mubarak's days.

"If there is any forgery, there will be a huge revolution against the criminals ... a huge revolution until we realise the complete goals of the January 25 revolution," he said, referring to start of the uprising against Mubarak on February 11, 2011.
Shafik told his jubilant supporters at a rally at a hotel on the outskirts of Cairo that the court rulings were "historic" and said the "era of political score settling has ended."

"The army and the people are on one hand," his backers chanted.

Outside the court, protesters chanted "Down, down with military rule" and threw stones at troops lined up around on the building on the banks of the Nile. A few hundred demonstrators also gathered in Tahrir, though nothing like the hundreds of thousands that packed the square during and after Mubarak fell.

"Shafik is from the old regime. We can't have him back. We need to give Morsy a chance. The court rulings were wrong," Salah Sayed Mahmoud, a 43-year-old carpenter who had joined those in the square on Thursday evening.

Shafik's backers include Egyptians who may have been happy to see the back of Mubarak but are tired of turmoil and see Shafik having the military experience to restore order. Morsy has the broad grass-roots network of his 84-year-old group.

Yet for many Egyptians, who voted for centrist candidates in the first round, the choice could not be worse. They worry about handing power back to a military man like Mubarak as much as about giving it to a conservative Islamist.

For them, the vote has reproduced the same battle lines that dominated Egypt's stale politics for years, pitting a man who like every president for six decades came from military ranks against their perennial antagonist, the Brotherhood.

"We are back to the political dynamic of secular versus Islamist, of a civil state versus an Islamist state," said Mona Makram Ebeid, a political scientist and member of a body that advises the military council, speaking before the rulings.

"That is what we as political forces are confronted with today, causing almost a gridlock," she said, referring to the months of wrangling between the army, Islamists, liberals and other parties seeking to carve a new course for the nation.

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2:26 AM | 0 comments

Brown slams Afghanistan coverage

Former Labour prime minister Gordon Brown has criticised newspaper coverage of UK involvement in Afghanistan.

Mr Brown told an inquiry into press standards how "one newspaper in particular" had not taken on "difficult issues" but adopted the line that he "did not care" about British troops.

He was speaking while giving evidence to the Leveson Inquiry in London.

"What I think one newspaper in particular decided to do is it didn't want to take on the difficult issues," he said.

"It reduced coverage to 'we were doing something wrong'."

He added: "The whole focus of their coverage was not what we had done ... but that I personally did not care about our troops."

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4:25 AM | 0 comments

Undoing health law could have messy ripple effects

It sounds like a silver lining. Even if the Supreme Court overturns President Barack Obama's health care law, employers can keep offering popular coverage for the young adult children of their workers.

But here's the catch: The parents' taxes would go up.

That's only one of the messy potential ripple effects when the Supreme Court delivers its verdict on the Affordable Care Act this month. The law affects most major components of the U.S. health care system in its effort to extend coverage to millions of uninsured people.

Because the legislation is so complicated, an orderly unwinding would prove difficult if it were overturned entirely or in part.

Better Medicare prescription benefits, currently saving hundreds of dollars for older people with high drug costs, would be suspended. Ditto for preventive care with no co-payments, now available to retirees and working families alike.

Partially overturning the law could leave hospitals, insurers and other service providers on the hook for tax increases and spending cuts without the law's promise of more paying customers to offset losses.
If the law is upheld, other kinds of complications could result.

The nation is so divided that states led by Republicans are largely unprepared to carry out critical requirements such as creating insurance markets. Things may not settle down.
"At the end of the day, I don't think any of the major players in the health insurance industry or the provider community really wants to see the whole thing overturned," said Christine Ferguson, a health policy expert who was commissioner of public health in Massachusetts when Mitt Romney was governor.

"Even though this is not the most ideal solution, at least it is moving us forward, and it does infuse some money into the system for coverage," said Ferguson, now at George Washington University. As the GOP presidential candidate, Romney has pledged to wipe Obama's law off the books. But he defends his Massachusetts law that served as a prototype for Obama's.

While it's unclear how the justices will rule, oral arguments did not go well for the Obama administration. The central issue is whether the government can require individuals to have health insurance and fine them if they don't.

That mandate takes effect in 2014, at the same time that the law would prohibit insurance companies from denying coverage to people with existing health problems. Most experts say the coverage guarantee would balloon costs unless virtually all people joined the insurance pool.

Opponents say Congress overstepped its constitutional authority by issuing the insurance mandate. The administration says the requirement is permissible because it serves to regulate interstate commerce. Most people already are insured. The law provides subsidies to help uninsured middle-class households pay premiums and expands Medicaid to pick up more low-income people.

The coverage for young adults up to age 26 on a parent's health insurance is a popular provision that no one's arguing about. A report last week from the Commonwealth Fund estimated that 6.6 million young adults have taken advantage of the benefit, while a new Gallup survey showed the uninsured rate for people age 18-25 continues to decline, down to 23 percent from 28 percent when the law took effect.

Families will be watching to see if their 20-somethings transitioning to the work world will get to keep that newfound security.

Because the benefit is a winner with consumers, experts say many employers and insurers would look for ways to keep offering it even if there's no legal requirement to do so. On Monday, UnitedHealth Group Inc., the nation's largest insurer, is announcing that it will continue to offer coverage to young adults even if the health care law is struck down.

But economist Paul Fronstin of the Employee Benefit Research Institute says many parents would pay higher taxes as a result because they would have to pay for the young adult's coverage with after-tax dollars. Under the health care law, that coverage now comes out of pre-tax dollars.

Fronstin says there's no way to tell exactly how much that tax increase might be, but a couple of hundred dollars a year or more is a reasonable ballpark estimate. Upper-income taxpayers would have a greater liability.

"Adult children aren't necessarily dependents for tax purposes, but an employer can allow anyone to be on a plan, just like they now allow domestic partners," said Fronstin. "If your employer said, 'I'm going to let you keep this,' it would become a taxable benefit for certain people."
Advocates for the elderly are also worried about untoward ripple effects.

If the entire law is overturned, seniors with high prescription costs in Medicare's "donut hole" coverage gap could lose annual discounts averaging about $600. AARP policy director David Certner says he would hope the discounts could remain in place at least through the end of this year.

Yet that might not be possible. Lacking legal authority, Medicare would have to take away the discounts. Drugmakers, now bearing the cost, could decide they want to keep offering discounts voluntarily. But then they'd risk running afoul of other federal rules that bar medical providers from offering financial inducements to Medicare recipients.

"I don't think anyone has any idea," said Certner.

A mixed verdict from the high court would be the most confusing outcome. Some parts of the law would be struck down while others lurch ahead.

That kind of result would seem to call for Congress to step in and smooth any necessary adjustments. Yet partisan divisions on Capitol Hill are so intense that hardly anyone sees a chance that would happen this year.

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4:23 AM | 0 comments

Former President Bill Clinton "Very Sorry" for veering off message on Bush tax cuts

Former President Bill Clinton apologized on Thursday for making comments this week that appeared to be at odds with President Barack Obama's position on extending the Bush tax cuts.

"I'm very sorry about what happened," Clinton said in an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer. "I thought something had to be done on the 'fiscal cliff' before the election. Apparently nothing has to be done until the first of the year."

He said he stands with Obama on the issue.

Talking to CNBC on Tuesday, Clinton seemed to suggest that he thinks the Bush tax cuts, which are set to expire at the end of the year, should be temporarily extended. Obama is opposed to the extension, a point his press secretary emphasized to reporters on Wednesday after Republicans seized on Clinton's comments.

"We should not extend—and he will not extend—the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthiest 2 percent of the American people. It's bad policy, it's bad for the economy, it's bad for our fiscal picture," Jay Carney said aboard Air Force One.

Clinton, who campaigned for his wife, Hillary, when she was competing against Obama in the 2008 Democratic primary battle, defended himself when Blitzer brought up the fact that Clinton's critics are charging that he's undermining Obama's re-election effort with his comments.
"I'm strongly committed to his re-election," Clinton said.

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1:52 AM | 0 comments

Rand Paul Endorses Romney, but My first choice had always been my father

 

Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky endorsed Mitt Romney for president Thursday night, but he made clear he'd prefer someone else.

"My first choice had always been my father. I campaigned for him when I was 11-years-old. He's still my first pick," the tea party favorite told Fox News' Sean Hannity. "But now that the nominating process is over, tonight I'm happy to announce that I'm going to be supporting Gov. Mitt Romney."

Paul's father, Texas congressman Ron Paul, suspended his active campaign operation last month, but is still pursuing delegates so he can have an influence at the GOP nominating convention in August.

Paul noted in the Fox interview that Romney's father, George, also fell short in a presidential bid in 1968.

Romney said in a statement on his campaign website that he was "honored" by the endorsement and called Rand Paul "a leading voice in the effort to scale back the size and reach of government and promote liberty."

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1:49 AM | 0 comments

The Secret Service, Embarrassed By The Colombia Prostitution Scandal

The Secret Service, embarrassed by the Colombia prostitution scandal, moved Friday to avoid a possible repeat incident by toughening its "standards of conduct" with new restrictions on drinking alcohol, a ban on "patronizing of non-reputable establishments," and a prohibition on agents bringing foreign nationals back to their hotel rooms.

Booze is off-limits 10 hours before an agent's shift starts and should be consumed only "in moderate amounts" while off duty. When the official to be protected arrives, the consumption of alcohol is entirely forbidden.

Here is the list of the new rules, which Secret Service spokesman Brian Leary provided to Yahoo News:

The following enhanced standards of conduct are effective immediately.

1. Standards of conduct briefings will be conducted for all protective visits, events and NSSEs, as well as prior to foreign car plane departures.

2. The U.S. Department of State Regional Security Officer will work with the USSS advance team to provide intensified country-specific briefings upon arrival in a foreign country.  The briefings will update personnel on safety issues, off-limit zones and off-limit establishments for USSS personnel, and any country-specific rules imposed by the Ambassador.

3. Foreign nationals, excluding hotel staff and official counterparts, are prohibited in your hotel room.

4. Patronization of non-reputable establishments is prohibited.

5. Alcohol may only be consumed in moderate amounts while off-duty on a TDY assignment and alcohol use is prohibited within 10 hours of reporting for duty.

6. Alcohol may not be consumed at the protectee hotel once the protective visit has begun.

The following measures relating to foreign car plane staffing are effective immediately.

1. Car planes will be staffed with two GS-15 supervisors — one from the Office of Professional Responsibility and one from the field.

2. The car plane supervisors will be responsible for briefing the standards of conduct expectations prior to departure to the destination country, as well as for enforcing these standards while in the foreign country.

3. All personnel traveling will have to have completed relevant LMS-based ethics training in order to be eligible for protective travel.

4. The Security Clearance Division will intensify country-specific briefings covering all pertinent topics prior to departure for the destination country.

5. Laws of the United States shall apply to Secret Service personnel while abroad.

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12:40 AM | 0 comments