Pennsylvania Art Theft Suspects Plead Guilty

Thieves stole a copy of this silkscreen from the Everhart Museum in Scranton in 2005.

Three suspects have entered guilty pleas in the case of a Pennsylvania burglary ring that stole millions worth of artworks and sports memorabilia over a period of over 20 years, including a Jackson Pollock painting and Andy Warhol screen print.

On Friday, 45-year-old Ralph Parry and 50-year-old Francesco “Frank” Tassiello, 50, entered guilty pleas to conspiracy to commit theft of major artwork, concealment and disposal of major artwork, and interstate transportation of stolen property. Daryl Rinker, also aged 50, pled guilty on the latter two counts.

The three were among nine suspects from Lackawanna County that the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania charged last month in connection with 18 heists targeting antique weapons, trophies and medals, and other valuables.

Among the institutions hit were the Sterling Hill Mining Museum, Ogdensburg, New Jersey ($400,000 in gold nuggets in 2011); the USGA Golf Museum and Library, Liberty Corner, New Jersey (Ben Hogan’s U.S. Amateur Trophy and a Hickok Belt in 2012); and the Franklin Mineral Museum in Franklin, New Jersey (various gems and minerals in 2017).

Read more here. 

LAWS: Ethics of Robotic Violence

Russell Stewart, a professor of computer science, has written an informative article on LAWS in which he explains the moral and ethical issues of robotic weapon systems.

LAWS stands for lethal autonomous weapons systems.

Read the article here.

Related reading: Peter Asaro On Banning LAWS; US: Take Lead Against Lethal Robotic Weapons

Arms Treaty Blocked by Iran, N.Korea and Syria

NEW YORK, March 29 (RIA Novosti) – Delegations from 193 UN member states failed to reach unanimity on the first international treaty establishing rules for cross-border conventional arms trade, due to objections from Iran, North Korea and Syria.

The three states have criticized the draft as "unbalanced" and giving an advantage to the world's biggest weapons exporters.

The negotiations at the UN headquarters in New York lasted ten days. Peter Woolcott of Australia, who presides the Final UN Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), suspended the final session for last-minute consultations with the three nations.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today was "deeply disappointed" by the failure to agree on the treaty, according to a statement attributable to his spokesperson.

"The treaty had been within reach, thanks to the tireless work and spirit of compromise among Member States," the statement reads.

Russian Foreign Ministry Security and Disarmament Department Director Mikhail Ulyanov said the treaty contained "no provisions that would be absolutely inadmissible" for Russia. He added, however, that it has "many loopholes" and other drawbacks, and thus requires improvement.

The document will be put to a General Assembly vote.

"We are set to thoroughly study this draft [treaty] in Moscow, and then we will decide on our stance toward it, including on whether we should join it," he said.

The idea to establish standards for all cross-border transfers of conventional weapons was voiced by a group of Nobel Prize laureates in 1995, but the UN General Assembly started preparations for this year's conference only in 2009.

According to the draft text, the treaty applies to all conventional arms, including not only small arms and light weapons, but also battle tanks, armored combat vehicles, large-caliber artillery systems, combat aircraft, attack helicopters, warships, missiles and missile launchers.

It would also create binding requirements for nations to review all cross-border arms contracts to ensure arms will not be used in human rights abuses, terrorism or violations of humanitarian law.


Source: GlobalSecurity


 

Pakistan: No Arms to Afghanistan and No Drones

WASHINGTON, April 12: The United States reacted cautiously on Thursday to Pakistani parliament’s guidelines for rebuilding relations with the United States, as the State Department confined itself to noting “the seriousness” of the parliamentary process.

Officials at the State Department and the office of the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan immediately began consultations after a parliamentary session in Islamabad announced the recommendations.

The guidelines, approved by lawmakers, include a call for an immediate end to US drone attacks and no further use of Pakistan as a transportation route for weapons into Afghanistan.

“We have seen that the joint session of the Pakistani parliament has approved the final recommendations of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security,” said State Department official Laura Lucas, when asked for comments.

“We respect the seriousness with which this review has been conducted. We look forward to discussing these policy recommendations with the government of Pakistan,” she added.

Ms Lucas, however, said that State Department Spokesperson Victoria Nuland might issue a statement later, which would detail Washington’s reactions to the recommendations announced in Islamabad.

Beth Gosselin, another official at the spokesperson’s office, however, sent Dawn excerpts from Ms Nuland’s recent statements on parliamentary recommendations, which cover various subjects raised in the guidelines.

On the recommendation that Pakistan’s relationship with the United States should be based on mutual respect for sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of each other, Ms Nuland noted that the United States had always respected the “territorial integrity and sovereignty of Pakistan”.

The United States, she said, also had “expressed its respect for the parliamentary review”.

The United States had conveyed its “desire for consultations” after the review “because we have many shared interests to work together,” she said.

Ms Nuland noted that during a recent meeting with President Asif Ali Zardari in Dushanbe, US Special Representative Marc Grossman discussed with him “counter-terrorism
cooperation against insurgents that could harm Pakistanis, Afghans and the United States”.

The US official and the Pakistani leader also talked about “regional integration, expanding trade and economic cooperation”, Ms Nuland noted.


Source: Pakistan Dawn