Former Gubernatorial Candidate Connolly Arrested

Attorney Tom Connolly was arrested by police in South Portland, Maine Tuesday morning, after motorists reported a man with a gun near Interstate 295. It turns out the gun was part of a Halloween costume, but it looked real enough to passersby and police.

Connolly was dressed in an Osama Bin Laden costume and holding a fake gun and a sign that said “I love TABOR”.

Officers raced to the scene and drew their weapons on Connolly. They say Connolly didn’t immediately respond to their commands. He was taken into custody a few minutes later.
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Pakistan Madrassa Raid Kills 80

At least 80 militants have been killed in an air strike by Pakistani forces on a madrassa (religious school) used as a militant training camp, the army says.

The army said the madrassa in the tribal area of Bajaur bordering Afghanistan was destroyed by helicopter gunships early on Monday.

One eyewitness told the BBC that 70-80 students were inside.

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al Zawahiri Target In Pakistan Madrassa Bombing

Ayman al Zawahiri was the target of a Predator missile attack this morning on a religious school in Pakistan, according to Pakistani intelligence sources.

The raid was launched after U.S. intelligence received tips and examined Predator reconnaissance indicating that al Qaeda’s No. 2 man may have been staying at the school, which is located in the Bajaur region near the village that is thought to be al Qaeda’s winter headquarters.

Despite earlier reports that the missiles had been launched by Pakistani military helicopters, Pakistani intelligence sources say that the missiles were fired from a U.S. Predator drone plane.

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Osamas Tora Bora Hideout Becoming A Resort

Tora Bora hills, which were once known for terrorism as they housed Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, will henceforth be known for tourism, because the secret caves of the world’s number one terrorist are being converted into a holiday resort.

The endeavour would cost a whopping 5.3 million pounds!

The resort to come up on the Tora Bora hills would consist of hotels and restaurants overlooking Al-Qaeda chief’s secret refuge in Afghanistan, reported The Sun.

“Tora Bora is world famous – but we want it to be known for tourism, not terrorism. Tora Bora is 100 per cent safe now.

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Al Qaeda: Plans for an October Surprise?

Is Osama bin Laden going to weigh in on the midterm elections? A senior counterterrorism official, anonymous, because the subject is sensitive, says that based on previous patterns—such as the release of a rare bin Laden tape just before the 2004 presidential vote a message before Election Day wouldn’t be surprising.

Private expert Evan Kohlmann, who consults for the Feds on terror probes, says Al Qaeda has lately released tapes at a rate of two or three per month. This month, he says, they are “short by one or two,” so he thinks a pre-election message is a “very good likelihood.”

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Al-Qaeda Warns Canada

An al-Qaeda strategist has warned Canada to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan or face terrorist attacks similar to 9/11, Madrid and the London transit bombings.

The threat, attributed to a member of the al-Qaeda information and strategy committee, condemns Prime Minister Stephen Harper for refusing to pull out of Afghanistan.

It also refers to Canada’s “fanatic adherence to Christianity” as well as its purported attempts to “damage the Muslims” and its support for the “Christian Crusade” against al-Qaeda.

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New Class Of Silent Submarines Poses Threat

The Pentagon said it believes the greatest undersea threat facing the U.S. Navy since the end of the Cold War has arrived. The threat involves a new a new class of silent submarines, subs that the U.S. Navy is having trouble finding under water.

Subs have always had two weaknesses: they make noise and can’t stay submerged very long. But the Gotland runs on a high-tech system called Air Independent Propulsion, or AIP. With AIP, The new class of sub can stay submerged for weeks.

Since last summer the Navy has spent months playing a game of cat and mouse with one such sub, the HMS Gotland, off San Diego, and time after time the Swedish sub has eluded its pursuers.

The Pentagon leased the Gotland for one year, but now has extended the lease for a second year, as they try to learn why this submarine so difficult to find underwater.

According to Swedish newspapers, in training exercises the Gotland has sunk our most sophisticated nuclear submarines. But perhaps even more disconcerting, it reportedly sunk our largest aircraft carrier, the U.S.S. Reagan.

Two months ago in the Persian Gulf, Iran tested a new anti-ship missile fired by one of its subs.

If the Iranians are successful in getting a Gotland-class submarine, it could pose a new silent danger to vital oil tanker traffic in the region.

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Web Site Prints Phony Boarding Passes

A 24-year-old computer security student working on his PhD at Indiana University Bloomington, has created a Web site that allows anyone with an Internet connection and a printer to create and print fake boarding passes for Northwest Airlines flights.

The passes look virtually identical to the ones printed from the airline’s site, and are intended to get you past security but not onto an airplane.

By entering your name and plugging in information about the flight flight number, gate, seat number, departing city, destination, departure and arrival times and class the site generates a boarding pass the program’s creator says will get you past security checkpoints, even without ID.

Christopher Soghoian, creator of “The Northwest Airlines Boarding Pass Generator,” knew he would be opening up a can of worms by writing the program and creating the site, but says it’s the only way to show people how deeply flawed airport and airline security are.

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Jury Pool 3,000 Deep For Padilla

The jury selection process in the terrorism trial of alleged Al Qaeda operative Jose Padilla will begin next month with an unusually large group, 3,000 Miami-area residents, a judge said.

Court officials had intended to start with a jury pool of 2,300 several hundred more than other recent high-profile cases but U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke increased it to 3,000, because “we are now talking about a trial on a global scale.”

Cooke said jury duty letters would go out in mid-November to start a process to ultimately produce 12 jurors and several alternates. The trial of Padilla and two co-defendants, scheduled to begin Jan. 22, is expected to last several months.

Saudi Arabia Confirms Threat To Oil Facilities

Top world oil exporter Saudi Arabia said on Friday it was taking measures to protect its oil and economic installations from a “terrorist threat”.

Western naval forces in the Gulf have been deployed to counter a possible seaborne threat to its Ras Tanura oil terminal.

“The terrorist threat to the kingdom’s economic installation exists and it is a declared goal of the straying faction to affect the interests of the Saudi citizen,” an Interior Ministry spokesman said.

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Esperanza Fire: ATF FBI Investigate, Reward Offered

Investigators are searching for the person who set the deadly Esperanza Fire in Southern California. They say the suspect they’re seeking likely knew exactly how quickly a small fire, set in a strategic spot and backed by strong winds would spread.

As in the 91,000-acre Old Fire, an arrest might be difficult, area arson investigators said. The 19,000-acre Esperanza Fire was set in the dead of night in a remote area near Banning, about 18 miles west of Palm Springs.

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Listening Devices Found in Memphis Homeland Security Office

The F.B.I is investigating the discovery of four listening devices found in the Shelby County Homeland Security office. Officials asked the F.B.I to “sweep” the office after W.H.B.Q T.V. reported it had “damaging and embarrassing” audio recordings that were secretly made and given to the station.

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Newark Airport Screeners Fail Security Test

Concealed bombs and guns slipped by screeners at Newark Liberty International Airport last week.

Federal security officials told The Star-Ledger of Newark the screeners failed 20 or 22 tests conducted by undercover agents.

They spoke on the condition of anonymity because it is against Transportation Security Administration policy to release covert-test results.

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Man Ignites Fire In Crowded Church

The suspect in Wednesday’s church attack at Peoples Church went to the church “with the intent of killing all the people in the church,” a court document stated today.

Kam Shing Chan, 53, also known as Daniel Chan, made his first appearance in Marion County court Friday, wearing a green “suicide suit,” to prevent him from harming himself.

Chan was charged with attempted aggravated murder, attempted assault, arson and reckless burning. He conferred briefly with his court appointed attorney Catherine Dixon of Salem during the short appearance in front of Marion Circuit Judge Tracy Prall.

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