Wednesday, June 24, 2009

The Latest from National Terror Alert Response Center





























U.S. Drone Strike Said to Kill 60 in Pakistan


Posted: 23 Jun 2009 11:28 PM PDT


drone_funeral


An airstrike believed to have been carried out by a United
States drone killed at least 60 people at a funeral for a Taliban fighter
in South Waziristan on Tuesday, residents of the area and local news
reports said.


Family members mourned Mr. Zainuddin, a tribal leader, on
Tuesday in Abbotabad.


Details of the attack, which occurred in Makeen, remained
unclear, but the reported death toll was exceptionally high. If the
reports are indeed accurate and if the attack was carried out by a drone,
the strike could be the deadliest since the United States began using the
aircraft to fire remotely guided missiles at members of the Taliban and Al
Qaeda in the tribal areas of Pakistan. The United States carried out 22
previous drone strikes this year, as the Obama administration has
intensified a policy inherited from the Bush administration.


Source


This story comes to us via Homeland Security - National
Terror Alert. National Terror Alert is America's trusted source for
homeland security news and information.






Homeland Security Television Returns – HSTV


Posted: 23 Jun 2009 08:28 PM PDT


homeland_security_television_hstv


The National Terror Alert Response Center is pleased to
announce the return of Homeland Security Television.
Watch
Homeland Security Television Online Now


The Homeland Security Television Channel (HSTV) is
the world’s first online, on-demand television network dedicated to
homeland security and global development 24/7, featuring
broadcast-quality video programs that focus on all aspects of homeland
security and the role of global development in fighting terrorism.


HSTV is also dedicated to facilitating rapid awareness of new
technologies and services, and assisting in the transfer of those
technology solutions to the government and critical infrastructure
marketplace.



In addition to its online content, HSTV
Channel offers its content for distribution to broadcast satellite
and cable networks. The online and on-demand television programs will
contain an interactive component that features a powerful blogging and
social networking platform to enable community discussions of security
challenges on a global scale, particularly among people interested in
security related current events and college students who are entering
public service or the security industry.


HSTV was founded by Neal Award-winning journalist and renowned
security author, Dan Verton, and is dedicated to bringing the highest
traditional reporting and production standards to its online video
programming.


Since its founding in 2005, Homeland Security Television has
become the Web site of choice for broadcast quality videos on all aspects
of homeland and cybersecurity. The network streams hundreds of hours of
programming to viewers every month and has presented interviews with some
of the highest profile personalities in homeland and global security today
including Tom Ridge; Somalia’s Abdinur Darman, former FEMA Director
Michael Brown; and legendary FBI agent Joseph Pistone (Donnie Brasco).


Read More At Homeland Security Television Site


This story comes to us via Homeland Security - National
Terror Alert. National Terror Alert is America's trusted source for
homeland security news and information.






Study Explores Emergency Training In Second Life


Posted: 23 Jun 2009 07:47 PM PDT


2nd_life_emergency


The University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health
is recruiting public health workers to participate in emergency
preparedness training — in Second Life.


The UIC study will gauge whether the popular virtual reality
game can be used for simulations of life-and-death situations like
terrorist attacks and epidemics.


Researchers expect using Second Life will cut the costs, time
and difficulty associated with traditional emergency training exercises.
Those are typically conducted through role-playing scenarios in the real
world. Researchers expect to start conducting exercises on Second Life
this fall.


Public health “should be on the curve, on the leading edge of
technology,” says UIC researcher Kevin Harvey. But agencies aren’t keeping
up with technology, he says, and could be saving time and money by finding
new ways to train.


Emergency preparedness training usually requires closing down
facilities and calling people off of work—but conducting emergency drills
virtually is less disruptive and more convenient, says Colleen Monahan,
the study’s principal investigator. Nearly all public health departments
in the U.S. train workers for emergencies through traditional tabletop
exercises and simulated real world drills.


Traditional methods, however, have their limitations.


Source
– Read Full Article


This story comes to us via Homeland Security - National
Terror Alert. National Terror Alert is America's trusted source for
homeland security news and information.






Buck Knives CEO Nervous About Switchblade Rule


Posted: 23 Jun 2009 07:40 PM PDT


buck_knife


A northern Idaho knife manufacturer says he’s concerned about a
U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency plan to reclassify certain
imported knives as switchblades.


C.J. Buck, president and CEO of Post Falls-based Buck Knives,
says the proposed new definition of a switchblade includes
release-assisted knives and could apply to just about every folding knife
in the country.


The proposed rule would apply only to imported knives, but Buck
says he’s worried it could eventually be applied to interstate
commerce.


Idaho’s entire congressional delegation last week wrote a
letter to Janet Napolitano, secretary of the U.S. D


Source


This story comes to us via Homeland Security - National
Terror Alert. National Terror Alert is America's trusted source for
homeland security news and information.






Taliban Use Stolen U.S. Gear Against U.S.


Posted: 23 Jun 2009 07:33 PM PDT


night_vision


Some Taliban fighters have been able to ward off attacks by
U.S. aircraft by wearing special infrared patches on their shirts that
signal that they are friends rather than foes.


The patches, which can also help suicide bombers get close to
U.S. targets, are supposed to be the property of the U.S. government
alone, but can be easily purchased over the Internet for about $10 each.
Also available online: night-vision goggles and military-grade
communications systems like the ones used by the terrorists who attacked
the Indian city of Mumbai last year.


While stealing uniforms is as old as warfare itself, the
Internet has made purchases of military equipment much easier and
increased the risk to U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.


Some of the patches have been stolen during raids on U.S.
resupply convoys in Afghanistan and Pakistan. But they can also be
purchased in the United States and sent overseas with little
detection.


In a recent investigation, the U.S. Government Accountability
Office (GAO) bought patches using fake names and a front company with only
a valid credit card. The patches reveal an American flag when looked at
with an infrared light and were designed to avoid friendly fire during
nighttime battles.


Jonathan Meyer, assistant director of forensic audits and
special investigations for the GAO, told The Washington Times, “Based on
our conversations with the Department of Defense, terrorists have used
U.S. uniforms and the infrared patches to get close to U.S. and allied
forces on the battlefield and at bases. This is more of a potential
suicide-bomber risk.”


Source


This story comes to us via Homeland Security - National
Terror Alert. National Terror Alert is America's trusted source for
homeland security news and information.






Nuclear Bomb Missing For 50 Years


Posted: 23 Jun 2009 04:21 PM PDT


richardson


More than 50 years after a 7,600lb (3,500kg) nuclear bomb was
dropped in US waters following a mid-air military collision, the question
of whether the missing weapon still poses a threat remains.


In his own mind, retired 87-year-old Colonel Howard Richardson
is a hero responsible for one of the most extraordinary displays of
aeronautic skill in the history of the US Air Force.


His view carries a lot of weight and he has a large number of
supporters – including the Air Force itself which honoured his feat with a
Distinguished Flying Cross.


But to others, he is little short of a villain: the man who 50
years ago dropped a nuclear bomb in US waters, a bomb nobody has been able
to find and make safe.


‘Top-secret flight’


Shortly after midnight on 5 February 1958, Howard Richardson
was on a top-secret training flight for the US Strategic Air Command.


It was the height of the Cold War and the young Major
Richardson’s mission was to practise long-distance flights in his B-47
bomber in case he was ordered to fly from Homestead Air Force Base in
Florida to any one of the targets the US had identified in Russia.


Read Full Article


This story comes to us via Homeland Security - National
Terror Alert. National Terror Alert is America's trusted source for
homeland security news and information.






How Safe Is Pakistan’s Nuclear Arsenal


Posted: 23 Jun 2009 04:13 PM PDT


nuclear_terrorism


The safety of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal is a cause for
international concern. Even as the Zardari regime is waging a war against
Taliban in the Swat valley with support of the US, Taliban has made known
its resolve to seize control of the nuclear arsenal of Pakistan and use it
to fight the US. The US won’t allow Pakistan’s nuclear arms to pass into
the hands of Taliban.


To checkmate that possibility, US has enough safeguards in
place to take over Pak’s nuclear weapons in case Islamist fighters
came close to doing so. US President Barack Obama recently expressed the
confidence that Pakistani government has safeguarded its nuclear arsenal.
However, no one has been able to ascertain the validity of Pakistan’s
assurances about their nuclear weapons security.


Source


This story comes to us via Homeland Security - National
Terror Alert. National Terror Alert is America's trusted source for
homeland security news and information.






8 Children Burned In Homemade Acid-Bomb Attack


Posted: 23 Jun 2009 04:05 PM PDT


drano_bomb


Two children suffered serious burns and six others were injured
after someone threw a bottle containing dangerous chemicals at them while
they played outside over the weekend in Brooklyn.


The incident happened about 8 p.m. on Sunday at S. 8th Street
in the Williamsburg section of the borough. One of the victims,
10-year-old Yaakov Frankel, along with several witnesses told police that
someone ran out of a building across the street from the courtyard where
children were playing and tossed the homemade device at them. An explosion
that released some sort of Drano-type mix got into the eyes of Frankel and
a 12-year-old girl, causing them to be hospitalized. Six other children
suffered burns and were treated at the scene.


“They were playing and all of a sudden a bottle came in with
liquid, and it spins around and exploded into their eyes and [onto] the
clothes of the kids,” said.


Read Full Article


This story comes to us via Homeland Security - National
Terror Alert. National Terror Alert is America's trusted source for
homeland security news and information.






Man Threatens To Crash Plane, Shoot Police – Phoenix


Posted: 23 Jun 2009 03:59 PM PDT


deer_valley_airport


Police are looking for a man who allegedly threatened to crash
a plane and shoot police on Tuesday morning.


Detective James Holmes with the Phoenix Police Department said
the suspect was being picked up by State Mental health authorities when he
made the threats.


Deer Valley Airport was placed on lockdown while officers
searched the airport.


Holmes said the man was known to shower at Phoenix Country
Club.


The club and the man’s home were also searched, but officers
did not find him.


The man is believed to be either on foot or in a car.


Source


This story comes to us via Homeland Security - National
Terror Alert. National Terror Alert is America's trusted source for
homeland security news and information.






Pensioners Kidnap, Torture Financial Advisor Who Lost £2m


Posted: 23 Jun 2009 03:41 PM PDT


crime


Pensioners battered a financial adviser with Zimmer frames
before kidnapping and torturing him for losing £2million of their
savings.


James Amburn, 56, was ambushed outside his home in Speyer,
western Germany, bound with masking tape and bundled into a car boot.


‘It took them quite a while because they ran out of breath,’
said Mr Amburn, who was driven to the Bavarian lakeside home of one of the
gang.


Another couple, retired doctors, joined the kidnappers in the
cellar where Mr Amburn was chained and tortured for four days last
week.


Source
– Read Full Article


The alleged kidnapping is the latest example of what is being
dubbed “silver crime” — the violent backlash of pensioners who feel
cheated by the world.


“As I was letting myself into my front door I was assaulted
from behind and hit hard,” the financial adviser James Amburn, said. “Then
they bound me with masking tape until I looked like a mummy. I thought I
was a dead man.”


He was freed by 40 heavily armed policemen from the
counter-terrorist unit last Saturday. The frightened consultant was in his
underwear, his body lacerated by wounds allegedly inflicted by angry
pensioners.












It
appears that two couples had entrusted Mr Amburn’s investment company with
€2.4 million (£2 million), which he ploughed into Florida’s boom-and-bust
property market. The properties became forfeit during the sub-prime
mortgage crisis but the couples wanted their money back.


After being bundled into the boot of an Audi in the west German
town of Speyer, Mr Amburn was driven southwards to Chieming, close to the
Austrian border, where one of the couples Roland K, and his wife,
Sieglinde, 79, had a holiday home.


Read More


This story comes to us via Homeland Security - National
Terror Alert. National Terror Alert is America's trusted source for
homeland security news and information.















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