Pentagon sets up fast track for buying cyber war tools 12 Apr 2012 The Pentagon is establishing a fast-track acquisition process that would enable it to develop new cyber warfare capabilities within days or months if urgently needed, the Defense Department said in a report to Congress. The process, which would be overseen by a new senior-level Cyber Investment Management Board, aims to streamline the sluggish traditional defense acquisition process to meet the rapid pace of
US ruling over rendition evidence offers impunity to British spies, warns UN --The MPs are investigating the extent of British complicity in rendition – the practice of arresting terrorist suspects and flying them to other countries to be tortured. 13 Apr 2012 An American court's decision to allow its intelligence agencies to withhold evidence about Britain's involvement in "extraordinary rendition" promotes impunity for any UK officials complicit in such operations, a senior United Nations representative said last night. The UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism, Ben Emmerson, said that the controversial ruling had been reached
Pakistan Gives U.S. a List of Demands, Including an End to C.I.A. Drone Strikes 13 Apr 2012 In Islamabad, the government and opposition joined on Thursday to present the United States with a list of stringent demands, including an immediate end to C.I.A. drone strikes, that were cast in uncompromising words but could pave the way for a reopening of NATO supply lines through the country. After two and a half weeks of contentious negotiations, the main parties agreed on a four-page parliamentary resolution that, in addition to the drone demand, called on the Obama administration to apologize for American airstrikes in November that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. It declared that "no overt or covert operations inside Pakistan shall be permitted" -- a broad reference that could be interpreted to include all C.I.A. operations.
Obama approves aid package to Syrian 'rebels' [Oh. I thought there was a deficit? WHY are US taxpayers paying mercenaries and terrorists to destabilize foreign governments?] 13 Apr 2012 US President Barack Obama has approved non-lethal US aid, including communications equipment and medicines for Syria's 'rebels,' and plans to increase the package over time
Israel-linked assassination network dismantled, Iranian media says 10 Apr 2012 Iran's official news agency says the country's intelligence department has dismantled an Israeli-linked assassination and sabotage network. The Tuesday report by Irna says several "mercenaries" were arrested in different parts of the country and that large quantities of weaponry and telecommunications equipment were seized.
Prison Break: Nearly 400 Escape Pakistan Jail 15 Apr 2012 Nearly 400 prisoners have escaped a jail in northwest Pakistan after it was attacked by Islamist militants, according to a police official. Some of those who escaped the scene of the attack in the town of Bannu were militants, an intelligence source said. The attackers, armed with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades, stormed the prison before dawn. They used explosives and hand grenades to knock down the main gates and two walls, said Bannu prison superintendent Zahid Khan.
Hamid Karzai may step down early from Afghan presidency 12 Apr 2012 The Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, has said he is considering stepping down a year early, potentially clearing the way for his successor to manage the departure of foreign troops from Afghanistan. [US-rigged] Presidential elections are due in 2014, the same year western combat soldiers will complete their withdrawal. Karzai said he was weighing concerns that managing big changes in leadership and security at the same time could be too heavy a strain on his country, after a decade with him in charge and foreign troops on the ground.
North Korean rocket disintegrates after launch 13 Apr 2012 North Korea has launched a satellite carrier that appears to have disintegrated in the air soon after blastoff and fallen into the ocean, South Korean and Japanese authorities say. South Korea's Defense Ministry said the 30-meter-long (100-foot-long) Unha-3 (Galaxy-3) rocket was launched at 07:39 a.m. local time on Friday (2239 GMT on Thursday) from the Tongchang-ri launch site on the Yellow Sea coast in the country's northwest, Xinhua reported. However, the projectile broke into multiple pieces soon after the launch and fell into the ocean.
Fukushima Daiichi Site: Cesium-137 is 85 times greater than at Chernobyl Accident By Akio Matsumura 05 Apr 2012 Japan's former Ambassador to Switzerland, Mr. Mitsuhei Murata, informed us that the total numbers of the spent fuel rods at the Fukushima Daiichi site excluding the rods in the pressure vessel is 11,421. I asked top spent-fuel pools expert Mr. Robert Alvarez, former Senior Policy Adviser to the Secretary and Deputy Assistant Secretary for National Security and the Environment at the U.S. Department of Energy, for an explanation of the potential impact of the 11,421 rods... "Based on U.S. Energy Department data, assuming a total of 11,138 spent fuel assemblies are being stored at the Dai-Ichi site, nearly all, which is in pools. They contain roughly 336 million curies (~1.2 E+19 Bq) of long-lived radioactivity. About 134 million curies is Cesium-137 -- roughly 85 times the amount of Cs-137 released at the Chernobyl accident as estimated by the U.S. National Council on Radiation Protection (NCRP). The total spent reactor fuel inventory at the Fukushima-Daiichi site contains nearly half of the total amount of Cs-137 estimated by the NCRP to have been released by all atmospheric nuclear weapons testing, Chernobyl, and world-wide reprocessing plants (~270 million curies or ~9.9 E+18 Becquerel). It is important for the public to understand that reactors that have been operating for decades, such as those at the Fukushima-Dai-Ichi site have generated some of the largest concentrations of radioactivity on the planet." [No, let's keep talking about whether or not Mitt Romney's wife works.]
Polar bears losing fur from mystery illness, possibly related to Fukushima nuclear accident 11 Apr 2012 Polar bears in Alaska have been seen with missing patches of fur, and reports say it may be due to a "mystery illness" related to the nuclear accident at the Fukushima power plant in Japan. Nine out of 33 bears studied were found to have alopecia - loss of fur - and skin lesions, Sky News reported. A similar illness has killed around 60 ringed seals in the region.
More problems found at San Onofre nuclear power plant 12 Apr 2012 Southern California Edison officials said Wednesday that they are now seeing the same unusual type of wear on steam generator tubes at both of the San Onofre nuclear plant's reactor units. In recent months, officials have found unexpected wear on more than 300 tubes that were installed as part of the $671-million replacement of the plant's four steam generators. The new steam generators were installed within the last two years, which made that rate of wear unexpected. What was even more unusual was the type of wear at Unit 3, which has now also been discovered at Unit 2.
Fungus threat escalates for food, wildlife: scientists --Human intervention - through trade, transport, and global warming - is accelerating its spread, the study said. 12 Apr 2012 Species of fungus, driven by trade, travel and climate change, pose a mounting threat to food supplies and biodiversity, scientists said on Wednesday. Widely unknown to the general public, seven fungal epidemics are under way, striking bees, bats, frogs, soft corals and sea turtles as well as rice and wheat, they said. Human health and livelihoods are at stake, for fungus costs $60 billion a year in losses to corn, wheat and rice alone, according to their assessment, published by the science journal Nature.
Two Confirmed Dead in Coast Guard Communications Station Shooting 12 Apr 2012 Two Coast Guardsmen at the Kodiak Base Communications Station are confirmed dead after a shooting there this morning. Base Support Unit Captain Jesse Moore says the suspect in the shooting may still be at large, and he advises all Kodiak residents to keep an eye out for suspicious activity. State, local, and federal law enforcement authorities are working with the military police to investigate the shootings.
Military: Five U.S. service members in Colombia may have been involved in inappropriate conduct 14 Apr 2012 Five members of the U.S. military stationed in Colombia violated curfew and may have been involved in inappropriate conduct at the same hotel as the 12 Secret Service agents involved in the unfolding prostitution scandal, the United States Southern Command announced Saturday.
Agents for Secret Service Face Misconduct Inquiry --Official: At least two of the agents were supervisors. --Inside, the woman complained that the agent had not paid her. 15 Apr 2012 The United States Secret Service placed 11 personnel on leave on Saturday as the agency's internal watchdog opened an investigation into accusations of misconduct involving prostitution in Cartagena, Colombia, where President Obama arrived on Friday for a summit meeting. In addition, five United States military service members who were working with the Secret Service unit have been confined to quarters and are facing an investigation because they violated a curfew and might "have been involved in inappropriate conduct" in the same hotel as the agents, the military said.
U.S. Secret Service agents leave Colombia over prostitution inquiry 13 Apr 2012 The U.S. Secret Service is investigating allegations of misconduct by agents who had been sent to Cartagena, Colombia, to provide security for President Obama's trip to a summit that began there Friday. Edwin Donovan, an agency spokesman, said that an unspecified number of agents have been recalled and replaced with others, stressing that Obama's security has not been compromised because of the change. Donovan declined to disclose details about the nature of the alleged misconduct. But Jon Adler, president of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, said the accusations relate to at least one agent having involvement with prostitutes in Cartagena.
US Secret Service agents recalled from Colombia over sex scandal --News of the scandal broke just as four home-made explosive devices went off 14 Apr 2012 In a rare move, some Secret Service agents sent to Colombia to help protect US President Barack Obama at a regional summit have been sent home amid accusations of a sex scandal, officials and reports said on Friday. "There have been allegations of misconduct made against Secret Service personnel in Cartagena, Colombia, prior to the president's trip," Secret Service special agent in charge Edwin Donovan said in a statement. "Because of this, those personnel are being relieved of their assignments, returned to their place of duty, and are being replaced by other Secret Service personnel."
Two arrests over Scotland Yard terror line hack --Earlier it had denied claims the confidential hotline had been hacked. 12 Apr 2012 Two teenage boys have been arrested in connection with an investigation into reports that hackers accessed Scotland Yard's anti-terror hotline. The Metropolitan Police said officers arrested the 16 and 17 year olds in the West Midlands. Hackers Team Poison posted recordings online to YouTube, which apparently show them speaking to the hotline, plus officers discussing operations. The teenagers were arrested on suspicion of offences under the Malicious Communications Act and the Computer Misuse Act.
Met Denies Anti-Terrorism Hotline Hacked --'If we wanted to go ahead and listen to their calls, it would be easy for us. We could pretty much do it at any time and any place.' [<g>] 12 Apr 2012 Scotland Yard has denied its computer systems were hacked after a recording emerged of a confidential phone discussion between counter-terrorism officers. Activists from the Teampoison hacker collective claimed they were able to breach security and make the recording, which was posted on YouTube a few hours later. It appears to be a recording of officers discussing an earlier attack by Teampoison members. This earlier attack involved the counter-terrorism hotline being bombarded with prank calls allegedly launched by Teampoison computers.
Hacking case's body of evidence 12 Apr 2012 Pictures of a scantily clad woman taken in an outer-Melbourne suburb have led to the arrest of a man who allegedly hacked law enforcement and government websites in the United States. Texan Higinio O. Ochoa III has been charged by the FBI with hacking into the websites of at least four US law enforcement websites and releasing the home addresses, home telephone numbers and mobile phone numbers of dozens of police officers. But it was a headless photo of a bikini-clad woman in Wantirna South holding a message taunting US authorities that confirmed Ochoa's identity, according to an affidavit filed by the FBI.
Pitt bomb threats persist; police make no arrests --Police responded to threats that forced evacuation of Pitt buildings more than 60 times since 13 Feb. 13 Apr 2012 Police made no arrests on Thursday, a day after authorities said they had "potential suspects" in scores of threats against University of Pittsburgh buildings, and bomb threats continued on the campus and nearby spots for an 11th straight day. Authorities evacuated 12 buildings on the Oakland campus yesterday, but officials declined to release new information on the investigation. Meanwhile, bomb threats have hit four other area campuses in recent days.
Alleged Tulsa killers charged with murder, hate crime 13 Apr 2012 An Oklahoma district attorney on Friday filed a host of charges - including murder and malicious harassment, which is a hate crime in the state - against two men accused of fatally shooting three people last week in Tulsa. Alvin Watts, 33, and Jake England, 19, are charged with three counts of first-degree murder tied to the deaths of 54-year-old Bobby Clark, 49-year-old Dannaer Fields and 31-year-old William Terrell Allen, according to a press release from the Tulsa County District Attorney's Office. They also face two counts of shooting with intent to kill related to two others who were wounded. In addition, the men face five counts of malicious harassment.
Zimmerman makes court appearance in Fla. shooting 12 Apr 2012 Neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman made his first court appearance Thursday on a second-degree murder charge in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. During the brief appearance, Zimmerman stood up straight, looked straight ahead and wore a gray prison jumpsuit. He spoke only to answer "Yes, sir," twice after he was asked basic questions about the charge against him and his attorney. The judge said he found probable cause to move ahead with the case and that an arraignment would be held on May 29 before another judge.
Exxon awarded CEO total pay of $34.9 million in 2011 12 Apr 2012 Exxon Mobil Corp's chief executive earned 20 percent more in 2011 than the year before, and the company said it saw no reason to change its pay practices, as had been urged by some investors. Chief Executive Rex Tillerson received $34.9 million in total compensation, up from $29 million in 2010, Exxon said in a proxy statement filed with regulators on Thursday. The CEO of U.S. rival Chevron Corp, John Watson, collected a total of $24.7 million in 2011, his second year in the job. That was a 52 percent increase from $16.3 million in 2010, according to Chevron's proxy, also out on Thursday. [Start reading.]
'Consumer' Bureau Declines to Resist Upfront Credit Card Fees 13 Apr 2012 In one of the first tests of its willingness to show its muscle, the new agency created to protect consumers declined on Thursday to put up a fight. The agency, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, introduced a proposal that would make it easier for credit card issuers to charge fees before borrowers' accounts were officially open. The bureau declined to say why it took this course. But some consumer advocates said they believed that the consumer agency, led by Richard Cordray, may be backing down because it has decided to "pick its battles," while trying to show that it is not unfriendly to business.
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