• Egypt's Coptic Christians say they are 'no longer safe'

    Amr Nabil / AP file

    Egyptian Muslim women hold a cross in support of Christians during a memorial march in Cairo for Christians who were killed during deadly clashes with Muslims in April.

    By Charlene Gubash, Producer, NBC News

    CAIRO – Thousands of Egypt’s Coptic Christians are fleeing to Europe, the United States and elsewhere rather than face mounting discrimination at home.

    Copts, Egypt’s ancient Christian community, are the country’s largest minority, making up nearly 10 percent of its 85 million people. 

    But clashes between Christians and Muslims have become more frequent since the ouster of longtime authoritarian ruler Hosni Mubarak in the 2011 uprising – some say due to a breakdown of government security. Many Copts feel Egypt's Islamist-led government is not doing enough to protect them from religious hate crimes and inflammatory rhetoric – so many are leaving.

    “My sister in California wanted a better life for her and her two daughters,” explained Marianne Aziz, a 25-year-old pharmacist. “There was a big fight between us and our Muslim neighbors over our parking place ... . They cut my brother-in-law’s face with a knife.”

    Aziz said that after that incident, “My sister felt she was no longer safe anymore. She got a hospital report on her husband’s injuries and a police report and when they went to the U.S., she immediately [applied for] asylum.” 

    Egyptian now ranks as the second highest nationality to receive asylum in the United States – although it is uncertain how many are Copts because immigration statistics do not include religious affiliation, many of the asylum seekers are believed to be Christian.

    The number of Egyptians receiving asylum in the U.S. has jumped more than five-fold in recent years. In 2010, the year before the revolution, just 531 Egyptians received asylum in the U.S.; in 2012, that number jumped to 2,882, according to the Department of Homeland Security’s statistical data for 2012. 

    Georgia, the former Soviet republic, has also become a popular destination for Egyptians because it’s relatively easy to obtain residence. A Georgian consular officer said that about 150 Egyptians apply for asylum every week.

    And the Netherlands has made it easier for Copts to claim asylum by no longer demanding proof that asylum seekers have sought official protection from persecution. The Dutch ambassador said in a TV interview that his government was prompted to make the process easier because of reports of persecution of Copts and a lack of adequate government protection.

    Eight people were killed in sectarian violence between Christians and Muslims in April, including attacks on Cairo’s St. Mark’s Cathedral, prompting rare criticism of President Mohammed Morsi by the Coptic Pope Tawadros II for not protecting the church.

    Khaled Elfiqi / EPA file

    Pope Tawadros II, head of the Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Church, leads the Easter Mass at the Coptic Cathedral of Saint Marcos in Cairo on May 4.

    Heba Morayef, Regional Human Rights Watch director, worries that extremists are now free to encourage discrimination on TV. “It’s very scary because of the sudden uptick in violence, compounded by the fact that the Muslim Brotherhood has in no way tried to reign it back and has at times participated.”

    Controversy ensued earlier this year after the Muslim Brotherhood’s leading cleric advised Muslims to refrain from wishing Christians a Happy Easter, saying the holiday is un-Islamic.

    Brotherhood leaders have also continued to be promoted in the government, despite clearly anti-Coptic rhetoric.   

    “You share this country with us,” Brotherhood stalwart Safwat Hegazi threatened Copts after anti-Morsi demonstrations turned violent last December. “But there are red lines, and one red line is the legitimacy of Dr. Morsi. Whoever splashes water on that, we will spill his blood.”

    Despite his provocative language, Hegazi was recently appointed to Egypt’s National Council on Human Rights.

    The government has also halted any spread of Christianity. Only the president has the right to grant permits to build churches in Egypt, yet Morsi has given permission for just one new church to be built during in his first year in office. By comparison, in 2010, former President Hosni Mubarak allowed 16 new churches to be built. 

    Ishaq Ibrahim researches religious freedom for the well-respected Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights organization. He warned of a growing trend where Christians are brought to trial for insulting Islam because there is a lack of clarity around the laws. As a result, he pointed out, “There were 36 cases during 2011 and 2012: 35 for insulting Islam and one for insulting Christianity.”   

    The latest U.S. Report on Religious Freedom admonished the government for failing to provide security to Copts. 

    “While…religious minorities mostly worshiped without harassment, the government generally failed to prevent, investigate or prosecute crimes against members of religious minority groups, especially Coptic Christians.” 

    Marianne Aziz has drawn the same conclusion. She looks forward to the day when she can join her sister in the California. Aziz turned down a good job with a pharmaceutical company because it would have required travel to remote areas and she feared kidnapping, a growing phenomenon according to Coptic activists.

    “If I had to work in a far-away place, I might not come home again. I can’t live in a country that is not safe,” Aziz said.

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  • Brazil officials reverse subway, bus fare hike

    Andre Penner / AP

    Protestors line a highway barrier in front of a burning barricade of tires near the Castelao stadium in Fortaleza, Brazil, Wednesday, June 19, 2013. Protesters cut off the main access road to the stadium where Brazil goes up against Mexico in the Confederations Cup soccer tournament. Beginning as protests against bus fare hikes, demonstrations have quickly ballooned to include broad middle-class outrage over the failure of governments to provide basic services and ensure public safety.

    By Bradley Brooks, The Associated Press

    Leaders in Brazil's two biggest cities said Wednesday that they have reversed an increase in bus and subway fares that ignited protests across the nation. 

    However, many doubted the move would help abate the demonstrations that have moved well beyond the outrage over the fare hikes into communal cries against poor public services in Latin America's biggest nation. 

    "This will represent a big sacrifice and we will have to reduce investments in other areas," Sao Paulo Mayor Fernando Haddad said. He didn't give details on where other cuts would occur. 

    Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes also confirmed that the fare increase would be rescinded in that city. 

    Scattered street demonstrations continued in some parts of Brazil, including Rio's sister city of Niteroi, as protesters demand improvements of the public services they receive in exchange for high taxes and rising prices. 

    In one of several protests, about 200 people blocked the Anchieta Highway that links Sao Paulo, the country's biggest city, and the port of Santos before heading to the industrial suburb of Sao Bernardo do Campo on Sao Paulo's outskirts. Another group of protesters later obstructed the highway again. 

    In the northeastern city of Fortaleza, 15,000 protesters clashed with police trying to prevent them from reaching the Castelao stadium before Brazil's game with Mexico in the Confederations Cup soccer tournament. 

    Andre Penner / AP

    A protestor takes aim with a bottle at riot police as others take cover near the Castelao stadium in Fortaleza, Brazil, Wednesday, June 19, 2013. Street demonstrations resumed around Brazil Wednesday as protesters continued their collective cry against the low-quality public services they receive in exchange for high taxes and high prices.

    Riot police used gas bombs and pepper spray to keep protesters from advancing past a barrier some 1.8 milesfrom the stadium. A police car was burned by demonstrators, who also threw rocks and other objects at officers. The protest disrupted fans' efforts to get in the stadium for Brazil's second match at the World Cup warm-up tournament. 

    "We are against a government that spends billions in stadiums while people are suffering across the country," said Natalia Querino, a 22-year-old student participating in the protest. "We want better education, more security and a better health system." 

    Earlier, hundreds of protesters cut off the main access road to the stadium, and police responded by diverting traffic away from the road. Official vehicles of the international soccer organization, FIFA, were among those struggling to reach the stadium. 

    In the city of Belo Horizonte, some 2,000 protesters took to the streets in a peaceful demonstration, while protesters were reported gathering in Niteroi, across Guanabara Bay from Rio de Janeiro. 

    The actions followed another night of mass marches around Brazil and nearly a week of unrest that has shocked the country's leaders ahead of a papal visit next month and next year's World Cup soccer tournament. 

    Beginning as protests against bus fare hikes, the demonstrations have quickly ballooned to include broad middle-class outrage over the failure of the government to provide basic services and ensure public safety, even as Brazil's economy modernizes and tax rates remain some of the highest in the world. 

    Protest organizers, who have widely employed social media, called for mass demonstrations Thursday in Sao Paulo and Rio, the country's two biggest cities. The Rio action promised the most volatility, with protesters planning to march to Maracana stadium where Spain and Tahiti are to play in a Confederations Cup match. Police said they would not allow protesters to interrupt the game. 

    Soldiers from Brazil's elite National Force have been sent to Fortaleza, Rio, Belo Horizonte, Salvador and Brasilia to bolster security during tournament games. 

    FIFA President Sepp Blatter urged protesters to stop linking their anger against the government to the Confederations Cup. The cost of building stadiums for the FIFA tournaments has been a regular complaint at marches. 

    In an interview with Brazil's Globo TV network, Blatter said he could "understand that people are not happy, but they should not use football to make their demands heard." 

    "We did not impose the World Cup on Brazil," he said. 

    On Tuesday night, tens of thousands of Brazilians flooded central Sao Paulo, with the protest following the rhythm of mobilizations that drew some 240,000 people across Brazil the previous night. Though mostly peaceful, small bands of radicals split off in Sao Paulo to fight with police. 

    Fernando Grella Vieira, head of the Sao Paulo state public safety department, said 63 people were detained during Tuesday's protests. He told Globo TV that police would guarantee the right to demonstrate but would "repress all forms of vandalism." 

    Police said those arrested had looted stores during the protest in downtown Sao Paulo and were caught running away with clothing, TV sets, microwave ovens and computers. 

    TV footage showed protesters breaking into shuttered newsstands and stealing cigarettes and candy. Other images showed demonstrators smashing windows of banks and stores. 

    Beyond complaints about transit fares, protesters haven't produced any concrete demands even as they've waved signs, gone on social media and chanted their anger at the entire governing system. A common cry at the rallies: "No parties!" 

    "What I hope comes from these protests is that the governing class comes to understand that we're the ones in charge, not them, and the politicians must learn to respect us," said Yasmine Gomes, a 22-year-old squeezed into the plaza in central Sao Paulo where Tuesday night's protest began. 

    President Dilma Rousseff, a former leftist guerrilla who was imprisoned and tortured during Brazil's 1964-85 dictatorship, has hailed the protests for raising questions and strengthening Brazil's democracy. "Brazil today woke up stronger," she said in a statement Tuesday. 

    Yet Rousseff offered no actions that her government might take to address complaints. 

    The protests have raised troubling questions about the country's ability to provide security ahead of it playing host to some of the world's biggest events, including the 2016 Olympics in Rio. 

    Mass protests are rare in this 190 million-person country, with demonstrations generally attracting small numbers of politicized participants. 

    Many now protesting in Brazil's streets hail from the country's growing middle class, which government figures show has ballooned by some 40 million people over the past decade amid a commodities-driven economic boom. 

    The protesters say they've lost patience with endemic problems such as government corruption and inefficiency. They're also slamming Brazil's government for spending billions of dollars to host the World Cup and Olympics while leaving other needs unmet. 

    A November government report raised to $13.3 billion the projected cost of stadiums, airport renovations and other projects for the World Cup. City, state and other local governments are spending more than $12 billion on projects for the Olympics in Rio. 

    Attorney Agatha Rossi de Paula, who attended Tuesday's protest in Sao Paulo along with her mother, called Brazil's fiscal priorities "an embarrassment." 

    "We just want what we paid in taxes back, through health care, education and transportation," said the 34-year-old. "We want the police to protect us, to help the people on the streets who have ended up with no job and no money." 

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    © 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

  • Kerry calls Afghanistan's Karzai to ease anger over Taliban office

    EPA

    A security guard stands outside the Afghan Taliban Political Office after the official opening, in Doha, Qatar, Tuesday.

    By Sohel Uddin, Akbar Shinwari, Catherine Chomiak and Alastair Jamieson, NBC News

    KABUL, Afghanistan -- Secretary of State John Kerry assured Afghan President Hamid Karzai that the government of Qatar took down a sign board under the name of "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan," adding that the United States is committed to all its agreements with the Afghan government.

    The Taliban office "must not be treated as or represent itself as an embassy or other office representing the Afghan Taliban, as an emirate government or sovereign," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. 

    Kerry called Karzai twice in the past 24 hours to ease his anger, Psaki said.

    His assurances came hours after peace talks between the United States and the Taliban were thrown into doubt Wednesday – less than 24 hours after they were announced – when Karzai angrily suspended his involvement.

    In a statement, Karzai accused the U.S. of “a contradiction” over its decision to meet Taliban representatives and said Afghanistan would not take part “until the peace process is totally under Afghan control.”

    Obama administration officials announced Tuesday that U.S. and Taliban representatives will meet for the first time and hold talks in the Qatari capital, Doha.

    President Obama says he welcomes Afghan President Hamid Karzai's announcement that Afghan forces would take the lead on security for their country, stressing that it's important to see "Afghans talking to Afghans about how they can move forward."

    Government sources in Kabul said Karzai was unhappy over the Taliban's decision to open an office in Doha under the name of the "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan" - the country's title during the Taliban regime of the 1990s – and fly its own flag outside.

    The sources said the Afghan government was angry that U.S. backing for the talks would effectively endorse the Taliban's self-appointed status.

    "The Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a statement clarifying that the name of the office is the Political Office of the Afghan Taliban and not the Political Office of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, and that it had the sign with the incorrect name in front of the door taken down," Psaki said. 

    Mirwais Yasini, deputy speaker of the Afghanistan parliament, said earlier the Taliban’s attempt to style itself as representing the country in peace talks was “undermining the whole government.”

    “It is as if they are setting up their own government,” Yasini said. “Whatever we have achieved in the past 12 years means nothing. This will pave the road to another huge rift between the government and the Taliban.”

    Fazal Rahman Orya, a spokesman for the opposition National Coalition of Afghanistan, said the Taliban should not have used the word “emirate” because “this is a problem for Afghan government, for the U.S. and for the Taliban.”

    However he said Karzai had acted childishly in pulling out of the talks and should have accepted the situation, even though it showed Karzai’s government was weak.

    Karzai’s office also announced the suspension of separate talks between Kabul and Washington, which began late last year, to decide how many U.S. troops should remain in Afghanistan beyond 2014, and what their exact role should be.

    Psaki said the U.S. remains "committed to peace and reconciliation and remain prepared to negotiate with Afghanistan to conclude a BSA (bilateral security agreement) that supports our shared objectives." 

    The Taliban has not confirmed the date for the Doha negotiations and there was no immediate word if the talks would be affected by the Afghan government's objections.

    "Because we're working with the Afghans on what the next appropriate step is, there isn't a meeting," Psaki said regarding the United States' planned talks with the Taliban. "I know there were reports of it, but reports of a meeting being scheduled or on the books aren't accurate."

    Twelve years after the Taliban were toppled from power in Afghanistan, international troops have handed over responsibility for security to the country's army. But as the ceremony took place, a suicide bomb killed three people, a reminder of the constant challenge that lies ahead. ITN's Nick Thatcher reports.

    Obama on Tuesday cautioned against expectations of rapid progress in talks with the Taliban, saying the peace process would not be easy or quick.

    "This is an important first step towards reconciliation; although it's a very early step," Obama said after a G-8 meeting in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland. "We anticipate there will be a lot of bumps in the road."

    Although Karzai was installed with the backing of the U.S., he has been forced to distance himself from Washington in order to maintain a local consensus around Afghanistan's long path towards independence from the West.

    Mati Ullah Mjadidi, a village elder in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province, backed Karzai’s stance and said talks should not go ahead without Afghanistan’s presence.

    “The U.S. … should not make problems,” he said, adding that the Taliban’s self-styled emirate state and flag “do not represent Afghanistan.”

    It is the second time this year that Karzai has been at the center of a public diplomatic spat with the U.S. In March, he marred the debut visit to Kabul by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel by criticizing the U.S. position over troop levels.

    Peace talks between Afghanistan and the Taliban were announced by Karzai early Tuesday at a ceremony to mark the complete handover of security from U.S.-led forces to Afghan army and police.

    Hours later, a briefing from Obama administration officials said U.S. representatives would be present at the talks, which were expected to take place in Doha within a matter of days.

    Reuters and NBC's Ian Johnston contributed to this report.

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    This story was originally published on Wed Jun 19, 2013 4:47 PM EDT

  • Fashion designers Dolce and Gabbana guilty of tax evasion in Italy

    Filippo Monteforte / AFP - Getty Images, file

    Italian fashion designers Domenico Dolce (L) and Stefano Gabbana in this 2007 file image.

    By Claudio Lavanga, Correspondent, NBC News

    MILAN, Italy - Fashion designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana were given a suspended jail sentence of one year and 8 months Wednesday after being found guilty of hiding $1.3 billion in income from tax authorities.

    The men were convicted by a court in Milan but given a suspended sentence, which means they will avoid prison as long as they commit no other crimes for five years.

    The conviction is the culmination of efforts by tax authorities to prosecute the pair. Two years ago, a court threw out charges of fraud.

    The designers, whose creations have earned them celebrity friends including Madonna, were not present in court in Milan and have always denied the charges.

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  • Alleged child rapist nabbed hours after being added to FBI's 'Most Wanted' list

    FBI via AP

    The FBI had offered a $100,000 reward for information leading directly to the arrest of Walter Lee Williams, 65.

    By Isela Serrano and Gabriel Stargardter, Reuters

    CANCUN, Mexico -- Mexican authorities arrested a former University of Southern California professor who faces sex crimes charges in the Philippines on Tuesday, just hours after he was added to the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted Fugitives" list.

    The FBI named the 499th and 500th fugitives to the new edition of its 'Ten Most Wanted' list. NBC's Mike Kosnar reports on how the FBI uses media and public support to capture the world's most dangerous criminals.

    Walter Lee Williams, 64, was arrested in the southern beach resort of Playa del Carmen. The FBI said he was an anthropology and gender studies professor at the University of Southern California until 2011.

    Using academic research as a guise, Williams traveled in the Philippines and elsewhere in Southeast Asia to have sex with underage boys, according to the FBI. The bureau said it had identified 10 victims between ages 9 and 17.

    The Quintana Roo state attorney general's office said police found Williams at a cafe on Tuesday night in Playa Del Carmen, a short drive from Cancun.

    "He was sitting in a cafe," said state attorney general Armando Garcia. "It's not known what he was up to but he had a home in Cancun."

    The FBI added Williams to its most-wanted list on Monday. The bureau was offering a $100,000 reward for information leading directly to his arrest.

    This story was originally published on Wed Jun 19, 2013 7:29 AM EDT

    Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

  • 50,000 take to Sao Paolo's streets as Brazil protests spread

    Alex Almeida / Reuters

    Demonstrators gather in the Praca da Se in Sao Paolo on Tuesday night.

    By Bradley Brooks, The Associated Press

    SAO PAULO, Brazil - Tens of thousands of Brazilians flooded the streets of the country's biggest city Tuesday in a widening protest against a slew of problems from bus fares to government corruption.

    More than 50,000 people massed in front of the city's main cathedral. While mostly peaceful, the demonstration followed the rhythm of protests that drew 240,000 people across Brazil the previous night, with small bands of radicals splitting off to fight with police and break into stores.

    Mass protests have been mushrooming across Brazil since demonstrations called last week by a group angry over the high cost of a woeful public transport system and a recent 10-cent hike in bus and subway fares in Sao Paulo, Rio and elsewhere.

    The local governments in at least four cities have now agreed to reverse those hikes, and city and federal politicians have shown signs that the Sao Paulo fare could also be rolled back. It's not clear that will calm the country, though, because the protests have released a seething litany of discontent from Brazilians over life's struggles.

    Tension building for weeks in Brazil finally erupted when an estimated 250,000 took to the streets in more than a dozen cities, complaining about rampant corruption, crime, low wages and a lack of social services. NBC's Mark Potter reports.

    Yet, beyond complaints about the cost for bus and subway rides, protesters haven't produced a laundry list of concrete demands. Demonstrators mainly are expressing deep anger and discontentment — not just with the ruling government, but with the entire governing system. A common chant at the rallies has been "No parties!"

    "What I hope comes from these protests is that the governing class comes to understand that we're the ones in charge, not them, and the politicians must learn to respect us," said Yasmine Gomes, a 22-year-old squeezed into the plaza in central Sao Paulo where Tuesday night's protest began.

    President Dilma Rousseff, a former leftist guerrilla who was imprisoned and tortured during Brazil's 1964-85 dictatorship, hailed the protests for raising questions and strengthening Brazil's democracy. "Brazil today woke up stronger," she said in a statement.

    Yet Rousseff offered no actions that her government might take to address complaints, even though her administration is a prime target of demonstrators' frustrations.

    The protests have brought troubling questions about security in the country, which is playing host this week to soccer's Confederations Cup and will welcome Pope Francis in July for a visit to Rio de Janeiro and rural Sao Paulo.

    Mauricio Lima / Redux Pictures

    Protesters take part in a demonstration organized by the Free Fare Movement outside the governor's palace in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Monday.

    Brazilian demonstrations in recent years generally had tended to attract small numbers of politicized participants, but the latest mobilizations have united huge crowds around a central complaint: The government provides woeful public services even as the economy is modernizing and growing.

    Many protesters hail from the country's growing middle class, which government figures show has ballooned by some 40 million over the past decade amid a commodities-driven economic boom.

    They say they've lost patience with endemic problems such as government corruption and inefficiency. They're also slamming Brazil's government for spending billions of dollars to host next year's World Cup soccer tournament and the 2016 Olympics while leaving other needs unmet.

    Tuesday night's march in Sao Paulo started out peacefully but turned nasty outside City Hall when a small group lashed out at police and tried to invade the building.

    The air was thick with police pepper spray and smoke after demonstrators set a TV satellite truck and a police lookout booth on fire. 

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    This story was originally published on Wed Jun 19, 2013 6:10 AM EDT

    © 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

  • Radioactive Strontium-90 found in groundwater near Fukushima nuclear reactor

    Japan's damaged Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant reports a toxic substance in groundwater as the country's new guidelines for nuclear reactivation are approved. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.

    By Arata Yamamoto, Producer, NBC News

    TOKYO, Japan - High levels of toxic Strontium-90 have been found in groundwater at the tsunami-stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant, its operator said Wednesday.

    Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco), which has been struggling to clean up the plant, said nearly 30 times the permitted level of the radioactive isotope was discovered in a well dug last month outside the turbine hall of Reactor No.2.

    The company said it had not detected any rise in the levels of Strontium-90 in sea water, and that it believed the substance was trapped during the initial 2011 nuclear fallout.

    Journalists have been given a rare glimpse inside Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, which was crippled in the 9-magnitude earthquake and tsunami that hit the country two years ago. NBC News' Arata Yamamoto reports.

    It plans to inject chemicals into the ground between the well and shore to prevent any leaks into the ocean.

    The plant was the site of one of the world's worst nuclear accidents in March 2011 when a magnitude-9.0 earthquake and tsunami knocked out power and cooling to the station, causing meltdowns in three reactors.

    Meanwhile, Japan’s newly-created Nuclear Regulatory Agency on Wednesday announced guidelines for restarting the nation’s nuclear power plants.

    Among the new requirements will be back-up power sources and cooling systems in case of a shutdown.

    Plant operators will be forced to build a sea wall high enough to withstand tsunamis.

    Currently, only two of the country’s 50 nuclear reactors are operational and the agency will begin reviewing proposals submitted by electric power companies to restart their reactors next month.

    Slideshow: Triple tragedy for Japan

    An earthquake, a tsunami, a nuclear meltdown -- residents of Japan's northeast coast suffered through three intertwined disasters after a massive 9.0 magnitude temblor struck off the coast on March 11, 2011.

    Launch slideshow

     

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    This story was originally published on Wed Jun 19, 2013 4:47 AM EDT

  • 50 years after iconic JFK speech, Obama honors 'magic' moment in Berlin

    President Barack Obama talks about the fall of the Berlin Wall to a crowd gathered at the Brandenburg Gate Wednesday.

    By Andy Eckardt, Producer, NBC News

    BERLIN -- For those living on the Cold War's front line, one sentence spoken in German secured John F. Kennedy's place in their hearts forever.

    While wrapping up one of the most famous addresses of his presidency, Kennedy told a huge crowd in the German capital that he was one of them: "Ich bin ein Berliner."

    Germans are set to commemorate the 50 anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's celebrated "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech. The historic address ended with Kennedy expressing his solidarity with the citizens of Berlin, electrifying an immense crowd. NBC News' Andy Eckardt reports.

    The June 26, 1963 speech served as a sign of solidarity that provided hope and comfort to beleaguered residents of the recently divided city, who suddenly found themselves with communist East Germany on their doorstep.

    This month, Berlin will pay tribute to Kennedy -- who remains adored by many Germans -- by marking the 50th anniversary of the famed speech with a series of events. 

    The JFK commemorations kick off just days after President Barack Obama's speech on Wednesday in front of the Brandenburg Gate. Obama's visit comes at the invitation of German Chancellor Angela Merkel to honor Kennedy's speech. 

    Obama proposed reducing the American nuclear arsenal by as much as a third during his first state visit to the German capital. However, Berlin hosted a major foreign policy address during his presidential campaign in 2008.

    Alina Heinze, director of Berlin's The Kennedys museum, said JFK verbalized what many people in West Berlin were thinking and feeling at the time.

    "During my childhood, my parents, who both stood in the streets to watch Kennedy drive by in 1963, repeatedly told me about the emotions of that day and the impact of his speech," Heinze said. "The magic of that moment lives on here in Berlin."

    July 24: Speaking before a massive crowd in Berlin, Sen. Barack Obama said America has made "our share of mistakes," but promised to bring the U.S. and Europe closer together if he were elected president. NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports.

    Obama received a "rock star welcome" when he addressed an estimated 200,000 people at Berlin's Victory Column in 2008. One local newspaper even hailed Obama as "The New Kennedy."

    Ahead of the JFK festivities, 83-year-old New York native Jerry Gerber is hoping to be among those in the crowd to witness Obama's speech.

    In 1963, Gerber stood among tens of thousands of West Berliners to witness Kennedy's historic address. Many companies had given their employees the day off for the occasion, the first visit by an American president since the Berlin Wall was erected two years earlier.

    Crowds spilled the side streets in anxious anticipation of Kennedy's words.

    "I personally didn't expect much, I wanted to see my president and only went because I lived close by," Gerber recalled. "But when I stood among this tremendous crowd that seemed to be expecting something special, it became quite infectious."

    Kennedy's message resonated with the throng who packed the square in front of the city's Schoeneberg town hall.

    "All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin," the president proclaimed. "Therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words: Ich bin ein Berliner."

    Der Spiegel

    Germany's Der Spiegel magazine looks ahead to Barack Obama's visit and back to John F. Kennedy's speech with the headline "The Lost Friend."

    Looking back on that day, Gerber said Kennedy's oration played a role in his decision to call the city home permanently.

    "He encouraged the Berliners to continue their stand for freedom and that kept them alive until things got better in the 1970s," Gerber said.  "I wasn't a Berliner at the time and I never became a German citizen, but I decided to stay and maybe am a Berliner now."

    Henning Riecke, head of the US and trans-Atlantic relations program at the German Council of Foreign Affairs, said Kennedy's comments "showed that he saw West Berlin as part of the Western world, a city to be defended."

    Among the events on the agenda to mark the anniversary are photo exhibits, lectures and panel discussions, including commemorations at Berlin's John F. Kennedy School, which is home to more than 1,700 German, American and other international students.

    Like JFK, Obama remains popular in Germany. A survey conducted in January by Germany's Allensbach Institute showed that 78 percent of those polled have "a positive opinion" of the president. However, that statistic stood at 87 percent in 2008.

    Paris has the Eiffel Tower, London has Big Ben and Berlin has the Brandenburg Gate. Modeled on the entrance to the Parthenon in Athens, the lankmark has come to symbolize German unity. NBC News' Andy Eckardt tours the attraction and visits Berlin's understated book burning memorial.

    "Obama is still much more favorable to the Germans than George W. Bush was," Riecke said. "But for Germans, part of his charisma has vanished as people here start to realize that the American president cannot and will not bring about major shifts in controversial U.S. policies."

    Speaking ahead of Obama's address, Gerber suggested the president would struggle to captivate and inspire in the same way Kennedy did 50 years ago this month.

    "Germans will be interested in what Obama has to say, but his speech should not be compared to Kennedy's remarks because those were different times," he added. "For Berliners, the visit of an American president will be no less than the meeting of an old friend."

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    This story was originally published on Wed Jun 19, 2013 3:20 AM EDT

  • Four U.S. service members killed in attack on Bagram Air Base

    By Courtney Kube, Jim Miklaszewski and Andrew Rafferty, NBC News

    Four American service members were killed in a mortar attack on Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan on Tuesday, a senior defense official confirmed to NBC News.

    The four International Security Assistance Force service members died after an indirect fire attack in eastern Afghanistan, the ISAF said in a statement.

    The attack came just hours after the White House announced that the U.S. will soon meet with Taliban representatives for the first time to negotiate a peaceful settlement to end the war in Afghanistan. 

    Slideshow: Afghanistan: Nation at a crossroads

    Anja Niedringhaus / AP

    More than ten years after the beginning of the war, Afghanistan faces external pressure to reform as well as ongoing internal conflicts.

    Launch slideshow

    U.S. officials said the negotiating conditions will require the Taliban to cut all ties to al Qaeda, end the violence and accept the Afghan constitution. 

    The negotiations will take place in Doha, Qatar, where the Taliban opened an office for the purpose of negotiating directly with the Afghan government. 

    The attack also came on the same day international forces handed over control for security of the entire country to Afghan security forces, the milestone the United States and its allies had been working towards during the almost 12-year conflict. 

  • G-8 leaders call for peace talks to end Syria's civil war

    By Alexei Anishchuk and Andrew Osborn, Reuters

    ENNISKILLEN, Northern Ireland - Global leaders at the G-8 summit called for peace talks to resolve Syria’s civil war Tuesday, but made no mention of arming the rebels or what should happen to President Bashar Assad.

    “We remain committed to achieving a political solution to the crisis based on a vision for a united, inclusive and democratic Syria,” said a final communique.

    The document made no mention of Assad, whom Western leaders have said in the past said must step down as part of a resolution.

    However, in an indication of some agreement, it did call on both sides to commit to “destroying and expelling” al-Qaeda-affiliated groups and removing “any other non-state actors linked to terrorism.”

    President Barack Obama echoed that concern, saying it was important to build a strong opposition in Syria that could function if Assad loses power.

    On Monday in Northern Ireland, President Obama spoke with Vladimir Putin in a meeting that was more cordial than expected. Regarding Syria, seven of the G-8 countries find themselves on one side while Russia is on the other. NBC's Chuck Todd reports.

    Isolated at the G-8, Russia's Vladimir Putin had clashed with other leaders over the conflict and resisted their attempts to get him to agree to anything that would imply Assad should step down or that Russia should tone down its support for Assad.

    Obama and U.S. allies want Assad to cede power while Putin, whose rhetoric has become increasingly anti-Western since he was re-elected last year, believes that would be disastrous at a time when no clear transition plan exists.

    Russia has been Assad's most powerful supporter as his forces struggle to crush an uprising in which an estimated 93,000 people have been killed since March 2011. He can also count on backing from Iran.

    The United States, Turkey, and European and Gulf Arab states support the rebels, who have lost ground to Assad's troops in recent weeks.

    Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, speaking on the summit sidelines, said earlier that Russia had refused to accept any mention of Assad's fate in the communique.

    "This would be not just unacceptable for the Russian side, but we are convinced that it would be utterly wrong, harmful and would completely upset the political balance," Ryabkov said.

    Slideshow: Syria uprising

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    A look back at the conflict that has overtaken the country.

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    Russia and the United States agree the warring sides should be brought together to discuss Syria's future at a peace conference possibly as soon as July. 

    Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said the leaders’ talks on the issue had been more successful than anticipated, given the strong differences between Russia and the West.

    "We have a very different outcome and much better outcome than I thought we were going to have," Harper told reporters. Before the summit, Harper had said he feared Putin's support for Syria would make a G-8 agreement difficult.

    "I think this was a very significant move on the part of Mr. Putin and the Russians," he said.

    The United Nations says 93,000 people have been killed in Syria and 1.6 million Syrians have fled abroad. Lebanon, the smallest of Syria's neighbors, has taken in more than half a million Syrian refugees.

    Related:

    This story was originally published on Tue Jun 18, 2013 12:18 PM EDT

    Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

  • A fortune in severed bear paws found being smuggled into China

    Police discover 213 severed bear paws hidden in a van's tires as smugglers tried to cross the border from Russia into China. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.

    By Le Li and Ian Johnston, NBC News

    BEIJING -- More than 200 bear paws were discovered being smuggled into China in the tires of a van, Chinese officials told local media.

    Video footage showed customs officers removing the 213 severed paws, which included large, adult ones and smaller ones from younger bears, from inside the tires.

    They were laid out in rows in front of news cameras.

    There were varying estimates of the value of the haul – said to be the biggest by Chinese authorities – but China Central Television reported it would have been worth about 2.8 million yuan (about $460,000) on the black market.

    Reuters

    The bear paws were found hidden inside the tires of a van driving across the border from Russia to China last month.

    CCTV said that two Russian suspects were detained when the paws were discovered in Manzhouli, Inner Mongolia, in May and they were awaiting trial. It said bear paws were believed by some people in China to have high nutritional value.

    "This case is quite special as it occurred in May, which is not a peak time for smuggling bear paws as the weather is too warm to keep the paws fresh," Sun Rongxin, an official from Manzhouli customs, told the People's Daily.

    China's Global Times reported the paws were believed to be from brown bears, a protected animal in China.

    "The demand is huge because more people can afford them and the country has the tradition to treat bear paw as a rare ingredient for cuisine or as an expensive present," Zhang Xiaohai, director of China's external affairs office for the Animals Asia Foundation, told the paper.

    "Bear farms in China exacerbate the situation as they also sell paws illegally which stimulates the growing trade," he added.

    Animals Asia has been campaigning against the farming of bears in China and other countries for their bile, which is used in traditional medicine. The group says "most farmed bears" are kept in small cages for up to 30 years and that the bile extraction process is painful.

    Last month, 30,000 people took part in events in 20 cities in China to show their opposition to bile farming.

    Related:

  • 'Day of honor': Afghans take over national security from US-led forces

    A deadly explosion in Kabul claimed three lives and injured dozens while, in another part of the city, US-led NATO troops handed control to Afghanistan's local forces. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.

    By Akbar Shinwari and Sohel Uddin, NBC News

    KABUL, Afghanistan – U.S.-led troops handed complete control of security to Afghanistan authorities Tuesday – an act of faith in country’s fledgling police and army in the face of near-constant insurgent attacks.

    The formal transfer of responsibility is major milestone in the process of withdrawal from the country, 12 years after NATO-led mission ISAF began its mission to end Taliban rule.

    However, a botched car bomb that killed at least three civilians just before the official handover ceremony raising renewed questions about how the country’s 352,000-strong security forces will tackle the militant threat.

    Most foreign combat troops will leave the country by the end of 2014, but international funding and humanitarian aid will continue - prolonging the political headache for President Barack Obama over America's involvement in the conflict.

    “Today is a day for all Americans to take pride in the hard work our service members and their civilian counterparts are performing every day in Afghanistan,” Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said in a statement that called Tuesday’s handover a “critical milestone.”

    Ordinary Afghans may be harder to convince.

    “It is a good decision that the Afghan forces are taking the responsibility because it is their own country and they are the one who should be responsible for the security,” said Kabul restaurant owner Mohammad Faried, adding: “I still have doubts. If they do not have good weapons it will be hard for them to keep peace and stability in the country especially in the villages.”

    Jawad Jalali / EPA

    Afghan President Hamid Karzai, left, shakes hands with NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen prior to Tuesday's ceremony in Kabul.

    The U.S. and its allies have yet to decide exactly how long troops will remain in Afghanistan beyond 2014, and what their role should be.

    Earlier this month, retired four-star general John Allen called on the U.S. to keep a larger force in Afghanistan than the 8,000-12,000 reportedly being considered by U.S. officials.

    Among the problems is a high desertion rate in local police forces, meaning thousands of new recruits are needed each month.

    A Congressional research report published in April said the Obama administration was also concerned that “weak and corrupt governance” in Afghanistan would hamper the fight against the Taliban.

    In additional The Afghan army has suffered a sharp rise in casualties since it began slowly assuming greater control of security, the BBC reported.  By comparison, international coalition casualties have been steadily falling since 2010, it said.

    Afghans are now responsible for security in all districts of Afghanistan's 34 provinces, completing a transfer of power from NATO that began in 2011.

    “Is a great day for us, not only for the Afghan government but also for the Afghan nation,” said Janan Mosazai, spokesperson for the country's ministry of foreign affairs. “It is a big day of honor.”

    The U.S. military is by far the single biggest group within ISAF’s steadily-shrinking force of about 100,000 foreign troops [PDF link here.]

    The security handover means the remaining US-led forces will play only a supporting role, providing help if needed but no longer taking the lead in tackling insurgent attacks.

    "We will continue to help Afghan troops in operations if needed,” NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said at Tuesday’s ceremony. “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.”

    As combat troops are scaled down, the U.S. focus will shift to Special Operations forces who will advise the Afghan military on hunting down top insurgent or terrorist leaders.

    On any day in Afghanistan, about 60 Special Operations teams are working with Afghan local police forces to provide security in villages, according to a New York Times report.

    The target of Tuesday's suicide car bomb attack was prominent lawmaker and Shia Muslim cleric Mohammed Mohaqiq, police at the scene told The Associated Press.

    Slideshow: Afghanistan: Nation at a crossroads

    Anja Niedringhaus / AP

    More than ten years after the beginning of the war, Afghanistan faces external pressure to reform as well as ongoing internal conflicts.

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    Gen. Mohammad Zahir, chief of the Kabul Criminal Investigation Division, told the AP three people were killed by the bombing and another 30 were wounded — including six bodyguards. Mohaqiq survived the attack, Reuters reported.

    In March, Karzai publicly criticized the American presence in his country, causing embarrassment to U.S. defense secretary, Chuck Hagel, during his first visit to Kabul in the new role.

    NBC News’ Alastair Jamieson contributed to this report.

    Related:

    This story was originally published on Tue Jun 18, 2013 11:06 AM EDT

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