President Obama target of Kabul blasts: Taliban

President Obama target of Kabul blasts: Taliban 02 May 2012 Three huge explosions have hit the Afghan capital Kabul with Taliban claiming that US President Barack Obama was the target of the attacks, Press TV reports.

Explosions and gunfire in Kabul hours after Obama departs Afghanistan 02 May 2012 Violence erupted in a diplomatic area of Kabul on Tuesday, just hours after the departure of President Barack Obama from Afghanistan. There were three explosions, followed by sporadic shooting, in the eastern part of the Afghan capital, Afghan officials told the Associated Press. A Taliban spokesman has claimed responsibility for the attack. Referring to the main road out of Kabul, the U.S. embassy in Kabul issued an "emergency message" on Twitter just before midnight Eastern time: "There is an ongoing attack on Jalalabad Road in Kabul today, May 2, 2012. The situation is uncertain."

US secures presence in Afghanistan beyond 2014 02 May 2012 The United States and Afghanistan have signed an agreement to extend the US presence in the war-torn country to another decade beyond 2014. Shortly after arriving in Afghanistan under cover late on Tuesday night, US President Barack Obama signed a deal with his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai to provide aid, advisers, and support for a period of 10 years after the expected departure of foreign combat troops in 2014, CBS News reported. After signing the deal, Obama went to the US-run Bagram Air Base in eastern Afghanistan, met with US troops, and gave a televised speech before ending his surprise visit.

Seven arrested in dawn raids on suspicion of funding terrorism 01 May 2012 Seven people have been arrested in dawn raids across Britain on suspicion of funding terrorism through a network smuggling the drug khat. Officers from the Metropolitan Police counter-terrorism command arrested six men and a woman at four addresses in London, Coventry and Cardiff at 6am today. They are all being held at a central London police station on suspicion of being concerned in the funding of a terrorist organisation and laundering the proceeds of crime for that purpose. All seven were arrested under the Terrorism Act 2000 as part of a pre-planned, intelligence-led operation, into suspected fundraising for terrorism overseas, Scotland Yard said.

New York subway bomb plot man found guilty after terrorism trial 01 May 2012 A New York man has been convicted of plotting an aborted suicide mission against New York City subways in a case that featured the first-time testimony from admitted homegrown terrorists about 'al-Qaida's' fixation with pulling off another attack on American soil. A jury found Adis Medunjanin guilty of all counts on Tuesday for his role in a 2009 terror plot that federal authorities say was one of the closest calls since September 11, 2001. Medunjanin could be ordered to spend the rest of his life in prison when he is sentenced on 7 September.

FBI watched as 5 men planned Ohio bridge bomb plot 02 May 2012 After unknowingly working with an FBI informant for months, five men have been charged with plotting to bomb an Ohio bridge linking two wealthy Cleveland suburbs. Federal authorities described the men as anarchists who are angry with corporate America and the government. The five appeared Tuesday in U.S. District Court following a Monday night arrest. Magistrate Judge Greg White ordered them jailed without bond pending a hearing May 7. [See: Terrorist Plots, Hatched by the F.B.I. 29 Apr 2012.]

'Occupy' anarchists arrested for 'plotting to blow up Ohio bridge' after months of FBI surveillance --Some of the five men arrested have attended Occupy Cleveland events --Group also plotted setting off a car bomb outside the Federal Reserve bank --Three men charged with trying to use explosives to damage property affecting interstate commerce, while charges are still pending for other two 01 May 2012 Five men, at lease three of them self-described anarchists, have been arrested in an alleged plot to blow up a bridge near Cleveland, the FBI said today. A member of Occupy Cleveland revealed that at least some of the suspects had attended the group's events, sparking concerns that some supporters of the anti-capitalist movement could turn to [the State using] violence. But there was no danger to the public in the bridge-bombing plot because the explosive devices were inoperable and were controlled by an undercover FBI employee, the agency said. [LOL! In other words, the FBI provided the explosives -- as usual.]

New York police report more suspicious powder incidents 01 May 2012 Three new envelopes containing suspicious white powder were sent to New York City banks and news organizations on Tuesday, along with notes suggesting the sender sympathizes with is trying to discredit the Occupy Wall Street's Day of May 1 protests, police said. A total of ten letter-sized envelopes were sent over the last two days, and at least some contained an identical note saying "This is a reminder that you are not in control" and "Happy May Day," police spokesman Paul Browne said. In all ten cases, the substance turned out to be non toxic and in several cases the powder was identified as corn starch, Browne said.

Oakland police may face sanctions over handling of Occupy protests 02 May 2012 A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the city of Oakland and its police department to submit a plan within a week to address a backlog of complaints stemming from their handling of Occupy protests, threatening sanctions if they fail to do so. The mandate by District Judge Thelton Henderson follows the release of a report by an outside monitor that said Oakland police used "an overwhelming military-type response" to the demonstrations. The report also confirmed, for the first time from an official source, that an Oakland police SWAT team member fired a beanbag round at an Iraq war veteran during clashes in October.

WikiLeaks Truck Owner Arrested For Photographing Cops; Image Deleted 26 Apr 2012 Metropolitan Transit Authority police arrested a man for photographing them at Penn Station in New York City this afternoon – deleting his photo – before releasing him from a jail cell an hour later. Clark Stoeckley was issued a summons charging him with "engaging in threatening behavior." "I was walking through Penn Station and I came across these MTA cops with semi-automatic weapons," he said in a phone interview with Photography is Not a Crime. "I stopped to take a photo and the cop came up to me and arrested me. I asked, 'why am I being arrested?' 'Because you're a dick,' the officer responded."

Occupy movement returns for May Day protests in D.C., New York and around U.S. 01 May 2012 Tuesday marked a noisy return to the national stage for the Occupy movement, which had been dormant for much of the winter. Activists called it "A Day Without the 99 Percent." Marches and rallies in several cities drew thousands, and there were reports of violent clashes on the West Coast, where police arrested more than a dozen people in Seattle, Portland and Oakland. More than 35 people were arrested on a day of wide-ranging demonstrations throughout New York.

'Unusual event' declared at Salem 1 reactor after plant shuts down, fire alarms sound 01 May 2012 (NJ) An "unusual event" was declared at the Salem 1 nuclear reactor here Monday morning after the plant shut down and fire alarms sounded, a spokesman for the facility's operator said. Salem 1 automatically tripped off line at 10:15 a.m., according to Joe Delmar, spokesman for the reactor's operator, PSEG Nuclear. According to Delmar, what caused the reactor to shut down remains under investigation, but testing was taking place on the unit's emergency cooling system at the time of the trip. After the reactor shut down, multiple fire alarms sounded.

Rupert Murdoch 'not a fit person' to lead News Corp - MPs 01 May 2012 Rupert Murdoch "is not a fit person to exercise the stewardship of a major international company", MPs have said. The culture committee questioned journalists and bosses at the now-closed News of the World, as well as police and lawyers for hacking victims. Its report has concluded that Mr Murdoch exhibited "wilful blindness" to what was going on in News Corporation.