Renovated terminal to be unveiled at LA airport

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? A newly renovated terminal at Los Angeles International Airport could make it tough to remember there's a plane to catch.

When it opens in August, the cavernous Tom Bradley International Terminal will highlight the excesses of Los Angeles, with a lineup of duty-free shops featuring luxe boutiques such as Hermes and Gucci. Its Parisian bar features champagne and caviar that passengers can carry onto a plane.

Liquor is a key fixture for travelers with expensive taste, with one shop offering a $20,000 bottle of cognac.

The terminal is part of a $4.1 billion upgrade at the nation's third-busiest airport that seeks to elevate the reputation of the facility from a place some travelers try to avoid to one they don't want to leave. The new terminal's 150,000-square-foot Great Hall will be named Villaraigosa Pavilion after the city's outgoing mayor.

Michael Lawson, president of the Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners, said Asian travelers are among those expected to be attracted by the terminal that will eventually include 18 gates, nine of which can accommodate the double-decker Airbus A380, the world's largest passenger plane that holds more than 800 people.

Meanwhile, a destination board features two side screens that show images and information on destinations when flight information changes for a particular city. People traveling to Hong Kong, for example, would see their departure time alongside a ship with red sails floating on the South China Sea or a map with factoids about Hong Kong's history.

There's an 80-foot "Welcome Wall" that greets arriving passengers with a series of visual cascades, ranging from a flowing cloudscape to an LA shoreline. Throughout the 50,000-square-foot lobby are 60 retailers and restaurants.

Although it's behind schedule and still two years from full completion, the $1.9 billion terminal is being showcased in advance with media tours and open houses for the public. Three new gates are in operation, with five more to be opened by the end of summer.

Curtis Fentress, the project's architect, said one of the biggest challenges was translating the multifaceted identity of Los Angeles into physical forms.

"We spent a lot of time trying to understand the culture and what really makes this place unique," Fentress said. "What did people want the airport to be?"

At meetings around the city, the public was asked to tell designers what they thought reflected the city. Hollywood and the ocean were common responses. And so, for example, the terminal roof was built to look like ocean waves, a nod to the city's beach lifestyle.

While construction continues, there is a legal fight over other aspects of the project, notably moving a runway closer to neighboring homes. Opponents of the expansion raised concerns over the effects of noise, traffic and air-quality from modernizing the airport.

Los Angeles World Airports, which operates and manages the airport, said the project is built in a way that minimizes environmental harm to surrounding areas, including the designation of specific routes for construction vehicles to and from the site, and using equipment with emission and noise reduction devices.

___

Follow Sarah Parvini at www.twitter.com/parviniparlance

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/renovated-terminal-unveiled-la-airport-171820487.html

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Zimmerman portrayed as vigilante in Fla. shooting

George Zimmerman waits for his defense counsel to arrive in Seminole circuit court for his trial, in Sanford, Fla., Monday, June 24, 2013. Zimmerman has been charged with second-degree murder for the 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin. (AP Photo/Orlando Sentinel, Joe Burbank/Pool)

George Zimmerman waits for his defense counsel to arrive in Seminole circuit court for his trial, in Sanford, Fla., Monday, June 24, 2013. Zimmerman has been charged with second-degree murder for the 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin. (AP Photo/Orlando Sentinel, Joe Burbank/Pool)

Assistant State Attorney John Guy gestures during his opening statement in George Zimmerman's trial, in Seminole circuit court, in Sanford, Fla., Monday, June 24, 2013. Zimmerman has been charged with second-degree murder for the 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin. (AP Photo/Orlando Sentinel, Joe Burbank, Pool)

FILE - This June 20, 2013 file photo, George Zimmerman listens as his defense counsel Mark O'Mara questions potential jurors during Zimmerman's trial in Seminole circuit court in Sanford, Fla. Judge Debra Nelson said Saturday, June 22, 2013, that prosecution audio experts who point to Trayvon Martin as screaming on a 911 call moments before he was killed won't be allowed to testify at trial. Nelson reached her decision after hearing arguments that stretched over several days this month on whether to allow testimony from two prosecution experts. (AP Photo/Orlando Sentinel, Gary Green, Pool, file)

Don West, a defense attorney for George Zimmerman describes the shooting of Trayvon Martin to the jury while holding an evidence photo of a gun during opening statements in Zimmerman's trial in Seminole circuit court, in Sanford, Fla., Monday, June 24, 2013. Zimmerman has been charged with second-degree murder for the 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin. (AP Photo/Orlando Sentinel, Joe Burbank,Pool)

George Zimmerman, left, arrives in Seminole circuit court, with his wife Shellie, in Sanford, Fla., Monday, June 24, 2013. Zimmerman is accused in the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman has been charged with second-degree murder for the 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin. (AP Photo/Orlando Sentinel, Joe Burbank/Pool)

SANFORD, Fla. (AP) ? George Zimmerman was fed up with "punks" getting away with crime and shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin "because he wanted to," not because he had to, prosecutors argued Monday, while the neighborhood watch volunteer's attorney said the killing was self-defense against a young man who was slamming Zimmerman's head against the pavement.

The prosecution began opening statements in the long-awaited murder trial with shocking language, repeating obscenities Zimmerman uttered while talking to a police dispatcher moments before the deadly confrontation.

The defense opened with a knock-knock joke about the difficulty of picking a jury for a case that stirred nationwide debate over racial profiling, vigilantism and Florida's expansive laws on the use of deadly force.

"Knock. Knock," said defense attorney Don West.

"Who is there?"

"George Zimmerman."

"George Zimmerman who?"

"All right, good. You're on the jury."

Zimmerman, 29, could get life in prison if convicted of second-degree murder for gunning down Martin on Feb. 26, 2012, as the unarmed black teenager, wearing a hoodie on a dark, rainy night, walked from a convenience store through the gated townhouse community where he was staying.

The case took on racial dimensions after Martin's family claimed that Zimmerman had racially profiled Martin and that police were dragging their feet in bringing charges. Zimmerman, whose mother is Hispanic and whose father is white, has denied the confrontation had anything to do with race.

Prosecutor John Guy's first words to the jury recounted what Zimmerman told a dispatcher in a call shortly after spotting Martin: "F------ punks. These a-------. They always get away."

Zimmerman was profiling Martin as he followed him, Guy said. He said Zimmerman viewed the teen "as someone about to a commit a crime in his neighborhood."

"And he acted on it. That's why we're here," the prosecutor said.

Zimmerman didn't have to shoot Martin, Guy said. "He shot him for the worst of all reasons: because he wanted to," he said.

The prosecutor portrayed the watch captain as a vigilante, saying, "Zimmerman thought it was his right to rid his neighborhood of anyone who did not belong."

West told jurors a different story: Martin sucker-punched Zimmerman and then pounded the neighborhood watch volunteer's head against the concrete sidewalk, and that's when Zimmerman opened fire.

Showing the jury photos of a bloodied and bruised Zimmerman, the defense attorney said, "He had just taken tremendous blows to his face, tremendous blows to his head."

West said the story that Martin was unarmed is untrue: "Trayvon Martin armed himself with a concrete sidewalk and used it to smash George Zimmerman's head."

The prosecutor, however, disputed elements of Zimmerman's story, including his claim that Martin put his hands over Zimmerman's mouth and reached for the man's gun. Guy said none of Zimmerman's DNA was found on Martin's body, and none of the teenager's DNA was on the weapon or the holster.

But West said that doesn't prove anything, arguing that crime-scene technicians didn't properly protect Martin's hands from contamination.

Two police dispatch phone calls that could be important evidence for both sides were played for the jury by the defense. Martin's mother, Sybrina Fulton, left the courtroom before the second recording, which has the sound of the gunshot that killed Martin.

The first was a call Zimmerman made to a nonemergency police dispatcher, who told him he didn't need to be following Martin.

The second 911 call, from a witness, captures screams in the distant background from the struggle between Zimmerman and Martin. Martin's parents said the screams are from their son, while Zimmerman's father contends they are his son's.

Circuit Judge Debra Nelson ruled last weekend that audio experts for the prosecution won't be able to testify that the screams belong to Martin, saying the methods used were unreliable.

On Monday, one of the first witnesses for the prosecution was a custodian of police dispatch calls. During the witness' testimony, prosecutors started playing police calls Zimmerman had made in the months before he shot Martin. The defense objected, arguing the calls were irrelevant.

The judge said she would address the matter Tuesday and sent the jurors to the hotel where they are being sequestered for the duration of the trial, which could last several weeks

Other witnesses who testified Monday included a convenience store clerk and the 911 dispatcher who took Zimmerman's call when he was following Martin. Martin had gone to the convenience store to buy Skittles and a can of iced tea.

The 911 dispatcher, Sean Noffke, testified that he had advised Zimmerman not to follow Martin.

Randy McClean, a criminal defense attorney in Florida with no connection to the case, called the prosecution's opening statement "brilliant" in that it described Zimmerman's state of mind. But he described the knock-knock joke as less than stellar.

"If you're defending your client for second-degree murder, you probably shouldn't start your opening with a joke," McClean said.

___

Follow Kyle Hightower on Twitter at http://twitter.com/KHightower

Follow Mike Schneider on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MikeSchneiderAP

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-06-24-Neighborhood%20Watch/id-dd3a7b5d186e48bfb0744436119ad638

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Berlusconi faces verdict in sex-for-hire trial

MILAN (AP) ? A Milan court was considering Silvio Berlusconi's fate in his sex-for-hire trial Monday, with the former Italian premier risking an end to his two-decade political career and a prison term if found guilty.

Berlusconi, 76, is charged with paying an underage Moroccan teen for sex and then trying to cover it up with phone calls to Milan police officials when she was picked up for alleged theft. Berlusconi and the woman deny having had sex with each other.

Prosecutors are seeking a six-year jail term and a lifetime ban from politics for Berlusconi. Even if he is convicted, there are two more levels of appeal before the sentence would become final. The process can take months.

Berlusconi holds no official post in the current Italian government, but remains influential in the uneasy cross-party coalition that emerged after inconclusive February elections.

The charges against the billionaire media mogul stem from his infamous "bunga bunga" parties in 2010 at his mansion near Milan, where he wined and dined beautiful young women while he was premier. He says the dinner parties were elegant soirees; prosecutors say they were sex-fueled parties that women were paid to attend.

Neither Berlusconi nor the woman at the center of the case, Karima el-Mahroug, better known by her nickname Ruby, have testified in this trial. El-Mahroug was called by the defense but failed to show on a couple of occasions, delaying the trial. Berlusconi's team eventually dropped her from the witness list.

El-Mahroug did testify in the separate trial of three Berlusconi aides charged with procuring prostitutes for the parties. She told that court that Berlusconi's disco featured aspiring showgirls dressed as sexy nuns and nurses performing striptease acts, and that one woman even dressed up as President Barack Obama.

Berlusconi was not in court on Monday as the three female judges began deliberating his fate at 9:45 a.m. Outside the courthouse a few people held signs supporting prosecutors, including one reading: "Justice, Legality and Dignity." A pair of Berlusconi supporters was also there.

Asked if Berlusconi was optimistic, defense attorney Piero Longo said outside the courthouse that he was a "realist." Longo turned sarcastic when asked if the Milan courts were biased against his client: "No, Berlusconi has always been treated with great kindness and care in Milan. Having a trial in Milan for Berlusconi is a privilege."

Berlusconi frequently has railed against Milan prosecutors and judges, accusing them of mounting politically motivated cases against him.

El-Mahroug, now 20, said in the other trial that she attended about a half-dozen parties at Berlusconi's villa, and that after each, Berlusconi handed her an envelope with up to 3,000 euros ($3,900). She said she later received 30,000 euros cash from the then-premier paid through an intermediary ? money that she told Berlusconi she wanted to use to open a beauty salon, despite having no formal training.

She was 17 at the time of the alleged encounters but passed herself off as being 24. She also claimed she was related to then-Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Berlusconi's lawyers argued that he ? thinking el-Mahroug was indeed Mubarak's niece ? called police after she was detained in a bid to avoid a diplomatic incident.

El-Mahroug denied that Berlusconi had ever given her 5 million euros ($6.43 million). She said she told acquaintances and even her father that she was going to receive such a large sum "as a boast," but that it was a lie to make her seem more important.

The verdict garnered intense international media attention with half a dozen TV satellite trucks taking positions outside the courthouse. The verdict comes on the heels of Berlusconi's tax-fraud conviction, which along with a four-year prison sentence and five-year ban on public office, have been upheld on a first appeal.

The tax-fraud case is heading to Italy's highest court for a final appeal after Berlusconi's defense failed to derail it last week at the constitutional court.

Berlusconi, who has been tried numerous times relating to his business dealings, has been convicted in other cases at the trial level. But those convictions have always either been overturned on appeal or the statute of limitations ran out before Italy's high court could have its say.

The sex-for-hire case is the first involving his personal conduct.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/berlusconi-faces-verdict-sex-hire-trial-073149630.html

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NBC's Gregory: Why shouldn't Greenwald be charged?

WASHINGTON (AP) ? NBC "Meet the Press" host David Gregory got a rise out of Glenn Greenwald by asking the Guardian reporter why he shouldn't be charged with a crime for having "aided and abetted" former National Security Agency analyst Edward Snowden.

Greenwald replied Sunday that it was "pretty extraordinary" that someone who calls himself a journalist would ask whether other journalists should be charged with felonies.

Gregory said that the question of who is a journalist may be "up to a debate" with regard to Greenwald. The host added that he was asking a question, not taking a position.

Greenwald broke the story of Snowden's disclosure of U.S. government surveillance programs. Snowden was believed to have landed in Russia on Sunday ? possibly as a stopover before traveling to South America.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-06-23-US-Reporters-Treason-/id-dc11a23c6b5a4e9b8eede71bf98babb0

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Wing walker, pilot die in crash at Ohio air show

CINCINNATI (AP) ? A plane carrying a wing walker crashed at an air show and exploded into flames Saturday, killing the pilot and stunt walker instantly, authorities said.

The crash of the 450 HP Stearman happened at around 12:45 p.m. at the Vectren Air Show at Dayton International Airport. No spectators were hurt.

A video posted on WHIO-TV shows the plane turn upside-down as the performer sits on top of the wing. The plane then tilts and crashes to the ground, erupting into flames as spectators screamed.

Ian Hoyt, an aviation photographer and licensed pilot from Findlay, was at the show with his girlfriend. He told The Associated Press he was taking photos as the plane passed by and had just raised his camera to take another shot.

"Then I realized they were too low and too slow. And before I knew it, they hit the ground," he said.

He couldn't tell exactly what happened, but it appeared that the plane stalled and didn't have enough air speed, he said.

"I'm still shaking," Hoyt said. He said he had been excited to see the show because he'd never seen the scheduled performer ? wing walker Jane Wicker ? in action.

Federal records show that biplane was registered to Wicker, who lived in Loudon, Va. A man who answered the phone at a number listed for Wicker on her website said he had no comment and hung up.

Airport spokeswoman Linda Hughes and Ohio State Highway Patrol Lt. Anne Ralston confirmed the deaths of a pilot and stunt walker to the AP. The air show said it wasn't immediately releasing the identities of the dead.

The show was canceled for the rest of the day, but organizers said events would resume Sunday. The National Transportation Safety Board said it is investigating the crash.

Another spectator, Shawn Warwick of New Knoxville, told the Dayton Daily News that he was watching the flight through binoculars.

"I noticed it was upside-down really close to the ground. She was sitting on the bottom of the plane," he said. "I saw it just go right into the ground and explode."

Wicker's website says she responded to a classified ad from the Flying Circus Airshow in Bealeton, Va., in 1990, for a wing-walking position, thinking it would be fun. She was a contract employee who worked as a Federal Aviation Administration budget analyst, the FAA said.

She told WDTN-TV in an interview this week that her signature move was hanging underneath the plane's wing by her feet and sitting on the bottom of the airplane while it's upside-down.

"I'm never nervous or scared because I know if I do everything as I usually do, everything's going to be just fine," she told the station.

Wicker wrote on her website that she had never had any close calls.

"What you see us do out there is after an enormous amount of practice and fine tuning, not to mention the airplane goes through microscopic care. It is a managed risk and that is what keeps us alive," she wrote.

In 2007, veteran stunt pilot Jim LeRoy was killed at the Dayton show when his biplane slammed into the runway while performing loop-to-loops and caught fire.

Organizers were presenting a trimmed-down show and expected smaller crowds at Dayton after the Air Force Thunderbirds and other military participants pulled out this year because of federal budget cuts.

The air show, one of the country's oldest, usually draws around 70,000 people and has a $3.2 million impact on the local economy. Without military aircraft and support, the show expected attendance to be off 30 percent or more.

___

Thomas reported from Philadelphia. Associated Press writers Kerry Lester in Chicago and Randy Pennell in Philadelphia contributed to this report.

___

Online:

Raw video of crash: http://bit.ly/11Vf7JA

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wing-walker-pilot-die-crash-ohio-air-show-191655523.html

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How To Find The Right Teacher In Martial Arts | Content for Reprint

Author: Andrew Toth | Total views: 66 Comments: 0
Word Count: 1050 Date: Sat, 22 Jun 2013 2:05 PM

It goes without saying that not all teachers (of any subject) are equal and that is probably multiplied to the nth degree in the martial arts which doesn't allow for standardization to quite the same degree as other subjects might. There are of course ongoing attempts at standardization and classification but the martial arts are still very much of a melting pot and one is often left wondering who is teaching what and where did it come from.

Enter the beginner?

Given this prodigious output of styles and teachers, how is a beginner, who knows virtually nothing about the martial arts?how is such a person to find the right teacher?

And is that the right question?

Maybe there is no "right" teacher. Maybe the right teacher for me is not the right teacher for you.

So it can get a bit complicated?

But I'm getting ahead of myself here. Questions such as these simply do not arise for most people. They join their neighborhood club, pay their fees, get graded a few times, get a nice colored belt maybe even a trophy or two, tell their friends they are a brown belt in such and such a style and?that is all they want. And I'm not here to argue with that, but?

If you're real serious, if martial arts is your reason for living, you will need to find the Right Teacher and that means that you will have to do some serious searching. Both internally and externally.

Why?

Because the Right Teacher will not appear miraculously on the horizon when you first decide to be the next Bruce Lee. And so, almost by default, beginners tends to think of their first teacher as THE RIGHT TEACHER! Which is understandable because they don't know any better. They have nothing to compare their first teacher to, so the first teacher is THE BEST. The beginner is totally convinced of that.

However, as time moves on the beginner may begin to experience some disquiet. Some things don't add up. The first teacher may be a bit overweight, or not as fit as he could be. Maybe he doesn't answer questions satisfactorily?but hey! nobody's perfect and all things considered the first teacher is still The Best, and that's all there is to it, right? Nonetheless there is talk...there is talk of another teacher down the road who is (blasphemy!) even better. The beginner puts all those preposterous notions aside of course, but...

There are now some cracks in the facade.

Not fatal, but it is through these cracks that the doubts seep in.

That, at least, is what happened to me. I was absolutely convinced that my first teacher was the best, but?I checked out the new teacher down the road (no harm in that, is there?). Then I joined up and started the cycle all over again. And then again and again and again?

I tried judo, ju-jutsu, Hsing-i, Pa-kua, Tai chi, Shaolin and a number of other styles the names of which I now forget. Nothing changed. The teachers were all promising to begin with and, truth be told, they were all quite capable in their own way and I learned a lot from each and every one of them but they were only technicians. They knew the techniques, and that is all they knew. And I wanted more, so I moved on. Just what I wanted I was still not sure of?

An astute reader will now see the obvious. One's Search, one's Quest, is part of one's over-all Training. A very important part. Why?

Because it is all part of a learning curve. You are learning not only new techniques but you are learning something infinitely more important: the Art of Discernment! The Art of separating the wheat from the chaff. The Art of separating the Real from the False?

And yes, it is also the Art of recognizing the Real Teacher when he or she finally appears.

You see, that is the secret. Finding the right teacher is only the half of it. Recognizing them to be such is by far the more difficult and important half.

Let me ask you a question: how often does a student find the right teacher and continue to walk on by and not know the difference?

It happens more often than you might think! I've seen it again and again and again!

The thing to bear in mind is that the Right Teacher may not be (and usually isn't) the Hollywood stereotype. The Right Teacher may be an unassuming little fellow who runs a little corner store, is disarmingly self-effacing and has maybe one or two students who are equally unimpressive. In short this is not really the sort of person who matches your mental image of a deadly warrior. Or he may be crude and rude and obnoxious. And (blasphemy again!) he may not have your best interests at heart!

In other words, not all Masters fit the Hollywood mold! You really do have to keep your wits about you on this because the Right Teacher will confound your expectations nearly every time!

The "secret" then is to keep training, keep looking and to develop the Power of Discernment so that you can see below superficial appearances. (This will stand you in good stead not only in your search for a teacher and but also when you are in a fight!)

There is a saying that when the student is ready, the Teacher will appear. And that will happen when the student has developed a keen sense of discernment.*

*Author's note: by discernment I do not mean cynicism. The "been there, done that" attitude will not help you find a Teacher and if perchance you do, that Teacher will not be interested in teaching you. Real discernment has a quality of humility: you don't know the answer, you don't even know if there is an answer, but you will not stop searching.

Andrew Toth is the author of the book, Shaolin Temple Kung Fu, which is arguably the most advanced book available on the subject of martial arts. It is a must for anyone who is serious about this subject. You can read it HERE

Related to: fighting - karate - ju-jitsu - tai chi - pa-kua - kung fu - shaolin - Mixed Martial Arts - martial arts

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The Honda CBR600 series has been touted as one of the best sport motorcycles in the industry. In fact, the Honda CBR600RR (the race replica version of Honda's CBRFx series motorcycles) has won every Supersport World Championship title from 2002 to 2008. But how did it all start? Here is a brief history of the Honda CBR600 series and how it has evolved throughout the years.

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Source: http://www.content4reprint.com/recreation-and-leisure/sports/how-to-find-the-right-teacher-in-martial-arts.htm

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US to Hong Kong: Don't delay Snowden extradition

The front cover of a local magazine shows Edward Snowden, a former CIA employee who leaked top-secret documents about sweeping U.S. surveillance programs, in Hong Kong Saturday, June 22, 2013. Hong Kong was silent Saturday on whether the former National Security Agency contractor should be extradited to the United States now that he has been charged with espionage, but some legislators said the decision should be up to the Chinese government. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

The front cover of a local magazine shows Edward Snowden, a former CIA employee who leaked top-secret documents about sweeping U.S. surveillance programs, in Hong Kong Saturday, June 22, 2013. Hong Kong was silent Saturday on whether the former National Security Agency contractor should be extradited to the United States now that he has been charged with espionage, but some legislators said the decision should be up to the Chinese government. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

This photo provided by The Guardian Newspaper in London shows Edward Snowden, who worked as a contract employee at the National Security Agency, in Hong Kong, Sunday, June 9, 2013. The man who told the world about the U.S. government?s gigantic data grab also talked a lot about himself. Mostly through his own words, a picture of Edward Snowden is emerging: fresh-faced computer whiz, high school and Army dropout, independent thinker, trustee of official secrets. And leaker on the lam. (AP Photo/The Guardian) MANDATORY CREDIT

A security guard stands in front of the Police headquarters in Hong Kong Saturday, June 22, 2013. Former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, believed to be holed up in Hong Kong, has admitted providing information to the news media about two highly classified NSA surveillance programs. It is not known if the U.S. government has made a formal extradition request to Hong Kong, and the Hong Kong government had no immediate reaction to the charges against Snowden. Police Commissioner Andy Tsang, when was asked about the development, told reporters only that the case would be dealt with according to the law. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

David Medine, chairman of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, is seen in front of the White House in Washington, Friday, June 21, 2013. President Barack Obama held his first meeting Friday with the board in the White House Situation Room. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Obama administration on Saturday sharply warned Hong Kong against slow-walking the extradition of Edward Snowden, reflecting concerns over a prolonged legal battle before the government contractor ever appears in a U.S. courtroom to answer espionage charges for revealing two highly classified surveillance programs.

A formal extradition request to bring Snowden to the United States from Hong Kong could drag through appeal courts for years and would pit Beijing against Washington at a time China tries to deflect U.S. accusations that it carries out extensive surveillance on American government and commercial operations.

The U.S. has contacted authorities in Hong Kong to seek Snowden's extradition, the National Security Council said Saturday in a statement. The NSC advises the president on national security.

"Hong Kong has been a historically good partner of the United States in law enforcement matters, and we expect them to comply with the treaty in this case," White House national security adviser Tom Donilon said in an interview with CBS News. He said the U.S. presented Hong Kong with a "good case for extradition."

However, a senior administration official issued a pointed warning that if Hong Kong doesn't act soon, "it will complicate our bilateral relations and raise questions about Hong Kong's commitment to the rule of law." The official was not authorized to discuss the matter by name and insisted on anonymity.

Hong Kong's government had no immediate reaction to the charges against Snowden, a former National Security Agency contractor who admitted providing information to the news media about the programs. Police Commissioner Andy Tsang told reporters only that the case would be dealt with according to the law. A police statement said it was "inappropriate" for the police to comment on the case.

A one-page criminal complaint against Snowden was unsealed Friday in federal court in Alexandria, Va., part of the Eastern District of Virginia where his former employer, government contractor Booz Allen Hamilton, is headquartered, in McLean. He is charged with unauthorized communication of national defense information, willful communication of classified communications intelligence information and theft of government property. The first two are under the Espionage Act and each of the three crimes carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison on conviction.

The complaint is dated June 14, five days after Snowden's name first surfaced as the person who had leaked to the news media that the NSA, in two highly classified surveillance programs, gathered telephone and Internet records to ferret out terror plots.

Snowden told the South China Morning Post in an interview published Saturday on its website that he hoped to stay in the autonomous region of China because he has faith in "the courts and people of Hong Kong to decide my fate."

A prominent former politician in Hong Kong, Martin Lee, the founding chairman of the Democratic Party, said he doubted whether Beijing would intervene yet.

"Beijing would only intervene according to my understanding at the last stage. If the magistrate said there is enough to extradite, then Mr. Snowden can then appeal," he said.

Lee said Beijing could then decide at the end of the appeal process if it wanted Snowden extradited or not.

Snowden could contest extradition on grounds of political persecution.

Hong Kong lawyer Mark Sutherland said that the filing of a refugee, torture or inhuman punishment claim acts as an automatic bar on any extradition proceedings until those claims can be assessed.

"Some asylum seekers came to Hong Kong 10 years ago and still haven't had their protection claims assessed," Sutherland said.

Hong Kong lawmakers said that the Chinese government should make the final decision on whether Snowden should be extradited to the United States.

Outspoken legislator Leung Kwok-hung said Beijing should instruct Hong Kong to protect Snowden from extradition before his case gets dragged through the court system.

Leung urged the people of Hong Kong to "take to the streets to protect Snowden."

The Obama administration has now used the Espionage Act in seven criminal cases in an unprecedented effort to stem leaks. In one of them, Army Pfc. Bradley Manning acknowledged he sent more than 700,000 battlefield reports, diplomatic cables and other materials to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks. His military trial is underway.

Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, welcomed the charges against Snowden.

"I've always thought this was a treasonous act," he said in a statement. "I hope Hong Kong's government will take him into custody and extradite him to the U.S."

But the Government Accountability Project, a whistle-blower advocacy group, said Snowden should be shielded from prosecution by whistle-blower protection laws.

"He disclosed information about a secret program that he reasonably believed to be illegal, and his actions alone brought about the long-overdue national debate about the proper balance between privacy and civil liberties, on the one hand, and national security on the other," the group said in a statement.

Michael di Pretoro, a retired 30-year veteran with the FBI who served from 1990 to 1994 as the legal liaison officer at the American consulate in Hong Kong, said "relations between U.S. and Hong Kong law enforcement personnel are historically quite good."

"In my time, I felt the degree of cooperation was outstanding to the extent that I almost felt I was in an FBI field office," di Pretoro said.

The U.S. and Hong Kong have a standing agreement on the surrender of fugitives. However, Snowden's appeal rights could drag out any extradition proceeding.

The success or failure of any extradition proceeding depends on what the suspect is charged with under U.S. law and how it corresponds to Hong Kong law under the treaty. In order for Hong Kong officials to honor the extradition request, they have to have some applicable statute under their law that corresponds with a violation of U.S. law.

Disclosure of the criminal complaint came as President Barack Obama held his first meeting with a privacy and civil liberties board and as his intelligence chief sought ways to help Americans understand more about sweeping government surveillance efforts exposed by Snowden.

The five members of the little-known Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board met with Obama for an hour in the White House Situation Room, questioning the president on the two NSA programs that have stoked controversy.

One program collects billions of U.S. phone records. The second gathers audio, video, email, photographic and Internet search usage of foreign nationals overseas, and probably some Americans in the process, who use major Internet service providers, such as Microsoft, Google, Apple, and Yahoo.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-06-22-NSA%20Surveillance/id-7200722a41044761a35223f163ed3a4c

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