Terror Drill Planned For New York Harbor
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New York City police (NYPD) and the U.S. Coast Guard plan a terrorism drill near Ellis and Liberty Islands in New York Harbor next week.
The NYPD Special Operations Division has scheduled the terror drill between noon and 1 p.m. on Thursday.
The terrorism exercise will simulate a report of shots fired on a New York Waterways vessel, followed by lost contact with the crew. Plans also call for the use of a NYPD helicopter.
South Carolina Serial Killer On The Loose
Police released a sketch Friday of the serial killer on the loose who they believe murdered four people in six days in rural South Carolina.
The latest victim linked to the same killer is a man who was shot in his family’s small furniture and appliance store in Gaffney, S.C.
Stephen Tyler, 45, was found dead and his 15-year-old daughter seriously injured about 7 p.m. Thursday at Tyler Home Center.
Tyler’s wife, his older daughter and an employee found them, County Coroner Dennis Fowler said.
Cherokee County Sheriff Bill Blanton said the latest shooting death and those of three others since last Saturday — a peach farmer, an elderly woman and her daughter — are connected.
“We’re concerned,” Blanton told reporters Friday. “We’re dealing with a man that’s killed four people.”
The suspect is described as 6 feet 3 inches tall and weighing 200 pounds, with blue eyes. Blanton classified him as a serial killer.
Investigators don’t know exactly who he is or whether he is familiar with the area.
WHO Warns Swine Flu ‘Unstoppable’
WHO - Swine Flu Unstoppable
The UN’s top health official has opened a forum in Mexico on combating swine flu by saying that the spread of the virus worldwide is now unstoppable.
World Health Organization head Margaret Chan added that the holding of the meeting in Cancun showed confidence in Mexico, which has been hard hit.
The WHO says most H1N1 cases are mild, with many people recovering unaided.
As the summit opened, the UK alone was projecting more than 100,000 new cases of H1N1 a day by the end of the summer.
As the peak of the flu season approaches in South America, some areas have declared a public health emergency.
El Salvador reported its first death from swine flu, a day after Paraguay reported its first fatality.
The Wanted – NBC News Sets Premiere for Anti-terror Series
NBC News has set an airdate this month for “The Wanted,” its hour-long docu-series that follows the hunt for international terrorists.
“The Wanted” will air at 10 p.m. on two consecutive Mondays, July 20 and July 27, with more episodes to potentially follow.
Show will center on an elite team with intelligence, unconventional warfare and investigative journalism backgrounds as they hunt suspects such as Mullah Krekar, the founder of terrorist organization Ansar Al Islam.
Krekar is the focus of the July 20 episode, while the team will track Mamoun Darkazanli — “Bin Laden’s financier” — in the July 27 seg.
The terrorist trackers include counter-terrorism expert Roger Carstens; former Navy Seal Scott Tyler; former U.S. intelligence official David Crane; and Emmy-winning journo Adam Ciralsky.
Ciralsky exec produces “The Wanted” with Charlie Ebersol.
“We hope this program sheds light on an overlooked story,” said NBC News exec producer David Corvo. “It is surprising how many people with serious accusations against them are living openly and avoiding any sort of judicial process.”
Crane said he hoped the series would “start a national conversation” about war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and international terrorism, as well as “the indifference and political cynicism that hampers international criminal law.”
Nuke-o-meter, How Many Nukes Within Range of Your Location
Nuke-o-Meter
North Korea has sent tension soaring across Asia by launching missiles and testing warheads.
So, what does the nuclear world look like? These figures are from the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists and show the best estimates for the big five nuclear powers: the US, Russia, China, France and the UK. We’ve also included estimates for other nuclear powers like India, Pakistan and Israel – and for the so-called rogue states like North Korea and Iran. These are just the active warheads – both Russia and the US have thousands more in storage and pending dismantling.
Hit the link on the spreadsheet for how the figures changed between 1945 and 2006. In the mid-1980s, there were over 70,000 warheads out there – each with the power of eight times that which destroyed Hiroshima at the end of the second world war. There are many less now – but do you feel any safer?
Wondering how many nukes are within range of your location? Check out the nuke-o-meter
New York Police Expand Dirty Bomb Security
July 2, 2009 by national
Filed under Homeland Security News
Thousands of additional law enforcement officers within 50 miles of New York City will have access to radiation detectors for dirty bombs and nuclear devices, New York police said on Wednesday.
The detectors, including cell phone-sized devices that officers wear on their belts, could help uncover a dirty bomb that might be assembled outside New York and smuggled in, police said at a security conference. New York Police Department officers have used such devices for several years.
Police spokesman Paul Browne said thousands of law enforcement officers would be using the devices in areas surrounding New York City, including state police and sheriff’s departments in New Jersey and Connecticut.
The increase in officers and equipment was being funded by a federal program called “Securing the Cities” that had been allocated $54 million in the past three years, Browne said.
Nearly eight years after the September 11 attacks in 2001, New York remains the top target for groups like al Qaeda planning attacks on the United States, police and lawmakers said, and the possibility of a radiological attack on a public transport system remained high.
“We know that terrorists come here and we know that they are surveying here,” said Captain Michael Riggio of the NYPD counterterrorism division.
The belt devices, which buzz when they detect radiation, are the “first line of defense” against a possible dirty bomb or a small-scale nuclear device, he said.
U.S. Soldier Captured in Afghanistan
July 2, 2009 by national
Filed under Incident Reports
Insurgents have captured an American soldier in eastern Afghanistan, the U.S. military said Thursday.
Spokeswoman Capt. Elizabeth Mathias said the soldier went missing Tuesday.
“We are using all of our resources to find him and provide for his safe return,” Mathias said.
Mathias did not provide details on the soldier, the location where he was captured or the circumstances.
“We are not providing further details to protect the soldier’s well-being,” she said.
An Afghan police official said the soldier went missing during the day Tuesday in the Mullakheil area of eastern Paktika province. Gen. Nabi Mullakheil said there is an American base in the area.
Iran Claims Newsweek Reporter Confessed
July 2, 2009 by national
Filed under Incident Reports
A reporter for Newsweek magazine who was arrested in Tehran has confessed to doing the bidding of Western governments, the semi-official Fars News Agency reported Wednesday.
Newsweek says Maziar Bahari has been reporting for years without bias and beyond reproach.
Maziar Bahari, 42, made his alleged confession at a news conference Tuesday. Because international journalists have been limited in their ability to gather news in Iran, CNN has not been able to confirm the agency report.
Fars reported that the Canadian-Iranian reporter who had worked for the BBC and England’s Channel 4 network admitted having filed false reports for Newsweek during the elections — a charge the magazine rejected.
“He has been reporting for years without any possible hint of bias and beyond reproach,” Newsweek Paris Bureau Chief Chris Dickey told CNN. “We think he’s one of the best reporters in the business.”
He called the report “preposterous.”
Dickey said Bahari had not been allowed to speak with a lawyer or with his family since his arrest on June 21.
U.S. Begins Major Offensive Operation Against Afghan Taliban
July 2, 2009 by national
Filed under World Report
Thousands of U.S. Marines began a “major operation” in southern Afghanistan early today, moving into towns and villages to protect civilians from the Taliban under the Pentagon’s new counterinsurgency strategy.
Almost 4,000 American personnel and 650 Afghan soldiers are taking part in Operation Khanjar, or Strike of the Sword, pushing into the Helmand River valley in helicopters and armored vehicles to set up bases, the military said in an e-mailed statement.
“Where we go, we will stay and where we stay, we will hold,” Brigadier General Larry Nicholson said in the statement.
The operation comes two days after U.S. combat troops withdrew from Iraqi cities under a drawdown that will allow the Pentagon to focus on the conflict in Afghanistan. The Marines involved in today’s offensive were deployed as reinforcements in May, as part of President Barack Obama’s commitment to defeat a resurgent Taliban.
U.S. General Stanley McChrystal assumed command of international forces in Afghanistan last month and is spearheading new counterinsurgency tactics aimed at better protecting civilians.
U.S. and NATO-led forces have failed to establish a permanent presence in the Helmand River valley, an insurgent stronghold and center of illicit opium production where militants have thrown out local police and government officials.
Group of Somali-Americans Indicted on Terror Charges
July 1, 2009 by national
Filed under Homeland Security News
al-Shabaab
A federal grand jury has indicted a group of Somali-Americans on terror-related charges after more than 20 young men from the Minneapolis area were recruited to join an Al Qaeda-linked group in Somalia, according to two law enforcement sources.
The indictments have yet to be unsealed, but an announcement is expected in the next few weeks. One law enforcement source told FOX News the grand jury already has handed up indictments against at least three people.
Among those charged is a man from Minneapolis who went to war-torn Somalia and then, about four months ago, relocated to Seattle, according to the two sources and a leader in the Minneapolis Somali community. The man was then arrested in a Seattle airport and transferred to a jail in Minneapolis, where he is currently being detained, according to the law enforcement sources.
The law enforcement sources said the man, described as in his 20s, has been charged with providing material support to a terrorist group, in this case al-Shabaab, which has been warring with the moderate Somali government since 2006.
NYPD: High-profile Buildings Need Tighter Security
Managers and developers of high-profile skyscrapers and other buildings in the city need to take more steps to guard against terrorist attacks, according to a new report by the New York Police Department.
“The same qualities that make the city’s buildings recognized icons of design, culture and commerce also make them continuous targets of terrorism,” Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said in a foreword for the report.
The report is available in pdf format here.
The report — which was to be distributed Wednesday at a meeting with private security officials — doesn’t name the buildings the NYPD believes are at highest risk for bombings or other types of attacks. But the Empire State Building, New York Stock Exchange and Freedom Tower planned for ground zero have been cited in the past as potential targets.
The report offers a formula for measuring the vulnerability of buildings to attacks based on design, prominence and proximity to landmarks and other more likely targets. As an example, it cites the destruction of a smaller World Trade Center building caused by the collapse of one of the twin towers on Sept. 11, 2001.
High-risk buildings should use securely fixed “anti-ram” columns to harden their perimeters, the report says. Large explosions, it says, cause ordinary concrete barriers or planters to shatter and create a shrapnel-like hazard. It also says builders should reduce the risk of broken glass by positioning glass facades away from nearby landmarks.
California Terror Informant Faces Deportation
July 1, 2009 by national
Filed under Incident Reports
He’s a Pakistani immigrant who helped the United States in the war on terror, but now the U.S. government wants to deport him. His lawyers are working furiously to try to allow him to stay in his adopted country.
The man, who wants to remain unidentified, said he put himself in harm’s way by working as an undercover informant in California for ICE, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, searching out terrorist connections.
He said ICE agents told him if he worked for ICE, he could stay here indefinitely or even get a green card.
The former informant is originally from Karachi, Pakistan and has lived in the US for over 20 years, first as a student and then as a white-collar professional. But now he faces deportation back to Pakistan.
“I thought I had a chance to live here without being deported or you know that’s what they told me, (ICE agents) said if I work with them as an informant I will be able to stay in this country indefinitely,” he said.
ICE agents approached him in 2004 after he was charged with overstaying his legal visa and suggested there was another way to stay in the United States.
“They told me if I helped them they would get me a green card, but later on they changed their statement and they said I can stay in the United States indefinitely, you know,” the informant said in describing those events.
In exchange, the agents wanted him to work as a confidential informant, to help crack the case of a Fresno paralegal named Akram Sabar Chaudhry, who the agents said was filing false asylum claims for immigrants.
US Navy Ships Target of Terror Plotters
US Navy ships in Bahrain were the target of an alleged terror attack, it was claimed in court yesterday.
Two Bahrainis, accused of smuggling weapons into the country, planned to attack US ships and personnel at Mina Salman, say prosecutors.
They, aged 22 and 21, were arrested on April 26 – the day of the Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix – when police allegedly seized machine guns, weapons, computer discs and other evidence from their homes in East Riffa.
Both appeared before the High Criminal Court for the first time yesterday, where they denied plotting terror attacks and smuggling weapons and ammunition into the country.
Police believe the pair had met members of a terrorist cell (Al Qaeda) abroad.
Their arrest came after National Security Agency received information that the 22-year-old unemployed man, of Jordanian origin, had intensified contacts with the cell in Iran.
Officers obtained a search warrant and found tapes, CDs, computers, bank statements and exchange company documents in his house.
He then led police to the other – a 21-year-old junior customs officer – who possessed the smuggled weapons.
Police raided his house and found two machine guns, a pistol, bullets, knives and swords, the court heard.
They also seized several books on building missiles, rockets, weapons and explosives, and pictures of the American Base and Navy ships along with research and videos on jehad, alleged prosecutors.
Lebanon Unmasks 4 al-Qaeda Suspects
July 1, 2009 by national
Filed under World Report
According to a report released by the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation International (LBCI), three of the suspects were charged on Monday by the Lebanese military prosecutor Judge Saker Saker with establishing a clandestine gang connected to the al-Qaeda terror group, while the fourth suspect remains at large.
The judicial officials meanwhile announced the three in custody are of Kuwaiti, Syrian and Tajik nationalities. Under the Lebanese Constitution, they will be handed death sentences should they be convicted of the charges.
The report comes as an al-Qaeda group — allegedly plotting attacks in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and the Persian Gulf states like Kuwait — was exposed earlier this month.
Recent acts of violence in Lebanon and Syria have largely been pinned on extremist groups inspired by the al-Qaeda.
