Source: AP / CBS News

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama said Thursday that officials at the “highest levels” of the Iranian government must be held accountable for a brazen and bizarre plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States on American soil, insisting leaders of the world will believe the U.S. case without dispute once they absorb the details.

U.S. officials, meanwhile, confirmed the Obama administration has had direct contact with Iran over the allegations. The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, met with Iranian officials at Iran’s mission to the U.N. on Wednesday — a highly unusual contact for two countries that do not have diplomatic relations.

Obama would not say whether Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, or its president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, knew of the alleged plan. Yet he called it part of a pattern of “dangerous and reckless behavior” by the Iranian government and said people within that government were aware of a murder-for-hire plot.

The U.S. considers it an attempted act of terrorism.

“We believe that even if at the highest levels there was not detailed operational knowledge, there has to be accountability with respect to anybody in the Iranian government engaging in this kind of activity,” Obama said in a news conference tied to the state visit of South Korean President Lee Myung-bak.

To read this article in its entirety visit CBS News.

Source: CNN

Kabul, Afghanistan - A nearly day-long Taliban siege on the U.S. Embassy and NATO command center in Kabul ended early Wednesday, Afghan and NATO officials said.

A policeman and two civilians were killed and 21 civilians were injured, the Interior Ministry said. Six militants have been killed and the building they were firing from has been cleared, the ministry said.

The strike in central Kabul began Tuesday amid intelligence that insurgents might launch a high-profile attack in the capital around the 10th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks against the United States, a coalition officer and a senior official of NATO’s International Security Assistance Force confirmed to CNN.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told CNN that his group targeted “the U.S. Embassy, governmental organizations and other foreign organizations.”

ISAF said after insurgents attacked the targets Tuesday afternoon “with small arms fire from outside the secure zone surrounding these compounds,” Afghan security forces “responded immediately.”

To read this article in its entirety visit CNN.

WATCH:

Source: Dan Froomkin / The Huffington Post

Washington – In July, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security quietly scuttled a multi-billion dollar program to install high-tech radiation detectors at the nation’s ports. A top priority of the Bush administration, the advanced spectroscopic portal (ASP) devices that the Raytheon Company was being paid to build weren’t just way behind schedule and enormously over budget — they didn’t actually appear to work. The failed project cost taxpayers well over $230 million.

DHS had already pulled the plug on its SBInet program — an effort to build a “virtual fence” of sensors, cameras and radar along the nation’s border — in January, after paying more than $1.1 billion. The Government Accountability Office, among others, had concluded that poor management and an over-reliance on the prime contractor, Boeing, had caused staggering delays and cost overruns while producing inadequate results.

And earlier in July, DHS had scrapped its unfinished and dysfunctional Risk Assessment Management Program, a computer application intended to help officials distribute their small army of private security guards between federal buildings, based on the chances of those buildings becoming terror targets. DHS had already shelled out $35 million over three years for a project that contractor Booz Allen had promised to complete in one year for $21 million. With the program axed, some eight years after DHS was founded, the department still isn’t able to do something as basic as assess which federal buildings are more vulnerable to attack than others.

These are just a few of the most recent — and in these cases, now staunched — examples of how DHS has hemorrhaged money since its creation in 2003.

According to an estimate by Ohio State University political scientist John Mueller and Australian engineer Mark Stewart, the cumulative increase in U.S. domestic homeland security spending since the 9/11 terror attacks totals about $580 billion.

To read this article in its entirety visit The Huffington Post.

Source: Jordana Ossad  / CNN

New York – Hackers accessed the Twitter account for NBC News on Friday and posted false messages about a fresh attack on New York’s ground zero.

A group calling itself The Script Kiddies claimed responsibility for the hacking, which included three messages about a hijacked plane hitting the World Trade Center site just before 6 p.m.

NBC issued a statement Friday confirming the hacking and said it is “working with Twitter to correct the situation and sincerely apologize for the scare that could have been caused by such a reckless and irresponsible act.”

Both Twitter accounts for NBC News and The Script Kiddies were suspended shortly after the tweets were posted.

To read this article in its entirety visit CNN.

Source: AP / CBS News

Washington – Just days before the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, U.S. counterterrorism officials were chasing a credible but unconfirmed al Qaeda threat to use a car bomb on bridges or tunnels in New York City or Washington. It was the first “active plot” timed to coincide with the somber commemoration of the terror group’s 9/11 attacks a decade ago that killed nearly 3,000 people.

Counterterrorism officials were investigating the threat throughout the night and into Friday, as police in New York and Washington said they would increase their already stepped-up staffing levels in light of the recent intelligence.

The threat originated from Pakistan and what remains of al Qaeda’s core leadership, including its new head Ayman al Zawahiri, reports CBS News homeland security correspondent Bob Orr. A U.S. official told Orr the original intelligence source provided enough specifics relating to locations, dates, methods and operatives to suggest that “it is more than ‘aspirational.’”

The intelligence suggested that al Qaeda planned to car bomb one or both of the two cities that were hit 10 years ago.

But the threats remain unconfirmed, and there is a full court press by the FBI, CIA and others to refute or corroborate the information.

To read this article in its entirety visit CBS News.

Source: Stephanie Smith / CNN

New York (CNN) — Firefighters exposed to toxic dust and fumes clogging the air after the World Trade Center towers collapsed 10 years ago are more likely to develop cancer, according to a new study.

When compared with firefighters who did not work at Ground Zero, firefighters working the pile were 19% more likely get a cancer diagnosis.

According to the research, published Thursday in the Lancet medical journal, the increase occurred during the first seven years after 9/11.

“We excluded cancers that might have been diagnosed early (that may have existed before the attack) … and we still see a 19% increase,” said Dr. David Prezant, chief medical officer at the New York City Fire Department, and the study’s lead author, in a recent interview with CNN. “When we put those cancers back in, we see a 32% increase.”

It is an unexpected finding considering that for most cancers, the latency period — the time between exposure to a carcinogen and expression of disease — tends to span decades.

To read this article in its entirety visit CNN.

Source: CNN

Washington (CNN) — A nonpartisan panel reporting to Congress says the United States is wasting $12 million a day among contracts issued in support of American efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Commission on Wartime Contracting spent the past three years documenting whether American funding went where it was supposed to. The findings show misdirected money has totaled between $31 billion and $60 billion, and that both the government and the contractors are to blame for fraud and waste.

Commissioner Katherine Schinasi told reporters at a news conference Wednesday that the numbers don’t seem to have an impact on people concerned about spending.

Dov Zakheim, a former comptroller at the Defense Department, said he believes the misdirected money is closer to $60 billion, not the low end of the range the panel itself has estimated.

To read this article in its entirety visit CNN.

An Army mom on leave from Iraq makes a surprise visit to her four-year-old daughter’s school. KLRT reports.

WATCH:

Source: AP / The Huffington Post

WASHINGTON — After examining hundreds of combat support and reconstruction contracts in Afghanistan, the U.S military estimates $360 million in U.S. tax dollars has ended up in the hands of people the American-led coalition has spent nearly a decade battling: the Taliban, criminals, and power brokers with ties to both.

The losses underscore the challenges the U.S. and its international partners face in overcoming corruption in Afghanistan. A central part of the Obama administration’s strategy has been to award U.S.-financed contracts to Afghan businesses to help improve quality of life and stoke the country’s economy.

But until a special task force assembled by Gen. David Petraeus began its investigation last year, the coalition had little visibility into the connections many Afghan companies and their vast network of subcontractors had with insurgents and criminals – groups military officials call “malign actors.”

In a murky process known as “reverse money laundering,” payments from the U.S. pass through companies hired by the military for transportation, construction, power projects, fuel and other services to businesses and individuals with ties to the insurgency or criminal networks, according to interviews and task force documents obtained by the AP.

To read this article in its entirety visti The Huffington Post.

Source: AP / CBS News

Mogadishu, Somalia – Thousands of sacks of food aid meant for Somalia’s famine victims have been stolen and are being sold at markets, depriving the Somalis who have flooded into the country’s capital of urgently needed sustenance, an Associated Press investigation has found.

The U.N.’s World Food Program for the first time acknowledged it has been investigating food theft in Somalia for two months. The WFP said that the “scale and intensity” of the famine crisis does not allow for a suspension of assistance, saying that doing so would lead to “many unnecessary deaths.”

The U.N. says more 3.2 million Somalis — nearly half the population — need food aid after a severe drought that has been complicated by Somalia’s long-running war. More than 450,000 Somalis live in famine zones controlled by al Qaeda-linked militants, where aid is difficult to deliver. The U.S. says 29,000 Somali children under the age of 5 already have died.

International officials have long expected some of the food aid pouring into Somalia to go missing. But the sheer scale of the theft taking place calls into question aid groups’ ability to reach the starving. It also raises concerns about the willingness of aid agencies and the Somali government to fight corruption, and whether diverted aid is fueling Somalia’s 20-year-civil war.

To read this article in its entirety visit CBS News.

Source: Reid J. Epstein / Politico

House Homeland Security Chairman Peter King (R-N.Y.) on Wednesday demanded an investigation into a report that the White House is cooperating with a film on the mission to kill Osama bin Laden.

In a letter to the Defense Department and the CIA, King asked for a probe and classified briefing about any cooperation or consultation between the agencies and the film, set to be directed by Kathryn Bigelow, who made “The Hurt Locker” in 2008 which won six Oscars, including best picture and best director.

“The Administration’s first duty in declassifying material is to provide full reporting to Congress and the American people, in an effort to build public trust through transparency of government,” King wrote. “In contrast, this alleged collaboration belies a desire of transparency in favor of a cinematographic view of history.”

Word of the Obama administration’s cooperation with Bigelow was first reported on Sunday by New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd, who wrote that the White House was hoping the film, set for an Oct. 12, 2012, release date, would boost Obama ahead of next year’s election.

To read this article in its entirety visit Politico.

Source: CNN

Kabul, Afghanistan - Coalition forces in Afghanistan have killed the Taliban insurgents responsible for the downing of a helicopter that left 38 U.S. and Afghan personnel dead, the commander of U.S. forces there and NATO announced Wednesday.

A precision airstrike killed Mullah Mohibullah — a Taliban leader — and the insurgent who fired the shot on the helicopter, NATO’s International Security Assistance Force said. Several of their Taliban associates were also killed, the military said.

“This does not ease our loss, but we must and we will continue to relentlessly pursue the enemy,” Gen. John Allen, the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, told Pentagon reporters assembled for a video news conference Wednesday.

The strike took place in Chak district, Wardak province, on Monday, ISAF said.

To read this article in its entirety visit CNN.

WATCH:

Source: AP / CBS News

President Obama made an unannounced trip to Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware, today to pay tribute to the 30 U.S. troops killed over the weekend in Afghanistan.

Two transport planes brought home the remains of the 30 servicemen, who were killed when their Chinook helicopter was shot down on Saturday. The crash was the deadliest single loss for U.S. forces in the decade-long war.

Mr. Obama paid his respects to the fallen servicemen on both C-17 transport planes and then spent about 70 minutes meeting informally with the troops’ family members, offering his condolences for their loss and his deep gratitude for their sacrifice and service. About 250 family members and fellow servicemen and women of the fallen were at Dover for the ceremony.

Due to the catastrophic nature of the crash, the remains of the troops are still being identified. The Armed Forces Mortuary Affairs Office at Dover will make a positive identification through DNA, dental records and fingerprints.

To read this article in its entirety visit CBS News.

Source: AP / CBS News

Washington – Troops killed in the deadliest incident of the Afghan war came home Tuesday — traveling in death much the same way they did in life — shrouded in secrecy.
Two C-17 aircraft carrying the remains of 30 killed in a weekend helicopter crash arrived late in the morning at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, the Pentagon said.

But three days after the downing of the aircraft by insurgents, Defense Department leaders were still debating whether to release their names, several senior officials said on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.

Pentagon spokesman Col. Dave Lapan declined to say why identities of the dead hadn’t been made public, though some family members have come forward, offering the public a glimpse into their lives and remembering their loved ones as heroes.

To read this article in its entirety visit CBS News.

Source: Michael Sheridan / New York Daily News

Australian authorities were locked in a race against time Wednesday to defuse a possible bomb reportedly strapped around a teenage girl’s neck in a wealthy suburb of Sydney.

Describing the situation as “very serious and sensitive,” police in the town of Mosman have been hesitant to reveal too much about the situation.

“There’s a device in the house in the vicinity of the young woman. That device is still being examined as we speak,” New South Wales state Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Murdoch told reporters. “We are treating the device as live until we know otherwise.”

A senior police official described it as a “collar bomb,” which he had never seen before, the newspaper reported. A ransom note was also left at the scene.

To read this article in its entirety visit the New York Daily News.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2011/08/03/2011-08-03_man_strapped_collar_bomb_to_australian_teen_demands_ransom_report.html#ixzz1TybmGH00

Source: CNN

Oslo, Norway – The death toll in the mass shooting and bomb attack in Norway rose to 92 Saturday, as leaders and the public alike tried to make sense of what the prime minister called the country’s “worst atrocity” since World War II.

New details emerged surrounding Friday’s attacks, as a fuller picture of the suspect charged in the crimes came to light. The man faces charges related to terrorism, which carry a maximum sentence of 21 years in prison if convicted.
The charges may change, police said.

Norwegian television and newspaper reports have identified the suspect as 32-year-old Anders Behring Breivik.

An employee at a Norwegian agricultural cooperative told CNN that the man identified in media reports as the suspect bought six tons of fertilizer from her company in May.

To read this article in its entirety visit CNN.

WATCH:

Source: CNN

Shots were fired at an Oslo youth meeting following the blast, police told Reuters, quoted by CNN TV. No further details were available.

A reporter with State TV broadcaster NRK is reporting that there is mass confusion within the city. The cause of the blast remains unknown, and no one has claimed responsibility.

CNN terrorism analyst Paul Cruickshank said it was far too early to draw any conclusions on whether it was terrorism and who would carry it out. But, he said, by looking at the extent of the damage, it was plain to see the hallmarks of a major attack.

Cruickshank said that in recent months, there had been increased “chatter” about Norway, which had been investigating militants suspected of being linked to al Qaeda.

To read this article in its entirety visit CNN.

WATCH: Security expert: Norway a ‘soft target’

Source: Lee Ferran  / ABC News

A new edition of Al Qaeda’s official magazine claims that Osama bin Laden fought back in a “vicious battle” with the U.S. Navy SEALs before his death in May.

“He confronted them, his weapons against theirs with his, and his strength against theirs, and he accepted the challenge of those who came out with their fancy equipment, machinery, weapons, aircrafts and troops, all haughty and pompous,” the magazine, Inspire, said in a eulogy for the al Qaeda leader. “His determination did not weaken in front of them, nor was he sapped of strength. Rather, he stood and confronted them face to face like a firm mountain, and continued to engage them in a fierce battle… after which he excused himself and fulfilled the trust, receiving bullets of treachery and infidelity.”

The account, which is attributed to the al Qaeda organization, appears to contradict the White House version of events in which bin Laden did “resist” the SEALs, but was unarmed when he was killed.

The sixth issue of the English-language magazine features bin Laden on its cover with the words “Sadness, Contentment & Aspiration,” is the first to discuss bin Laden’s death. After noting the succession of al Qaeda leadership to Ayman al-Zawahiri and giving a “special thanks” to the Pakistani Taliban for a revenge attack in Pakistan for bin Laden’s death, the magazine goes on to encourage individual acts of jihad against the West.

To read this article in its entirety visit ABC News.

Source: AP / CBS News

Mumbai, India – Police say three explosions have happened at busy locations in India’s business capital of Mumbai, reportedly leaving three dead.

A freelance reporter tells CBS News that the blasts killed at least three people and left about 150 people wounded.

An official at the city’s Police Control Room said one blast was the crowded neighborhood of Dadar in central Mumbai. The others were at the famed jewelry market Jhaveri Bazaar and the busy business district of Opera House.

To follow this topic visit CBS News.

Source: CNN

Kabul, Afghanistan - The half-brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai was shot dead at his home in Kandahar on Tuesday, authorities said.

Ahmed Wali Karzai, the Kandahar provincial council chief, was killed during a gathering, said provincial governor Tooryalai Wesa. He did not know a motive.

While the governor initially said a friend killed Karzai, his spokesman later clarified that the death was at the hands of a guard.

Saidkhan Khakrezwal, a member of Kandahar provincial council, told CNN he and others were with Ahmed Wali Karzai when a guard named Sardar Mohammad came into the room and asked to talk to him.

The guard then “takes Wali to another room and shoots him with a pistol that he had in his hand,” Khakrezwal said.

To read this article in its entirety visit CNN.

WATCH:

Source: Elise Labott / CNN

The United States is holding back $800 million in aid to Pakistan, President Barack Obama’s chief of staff said Sunday.

Appearing on ABC’s “This Week,” White House Chief of Staff William Daley confirmed a report in the New York Times that the aid was being withheld.

While Pakistan has “been an important ally in the fight on terrorism,” Daley said, “now they’ve taken some steps that have given us reason to pause on some of the aid which we’re giving to the military, and we’re trying to work through that.”

Senior U.S. officials, who declined to speak on the record because of the sensitivity of the situation, said the curtailing of aid, which represents a third of U.S. security assistance to Pakistan, was done both to pressure Pakistan to crack down on militants and as retribution for expelling U.S. military trainers.

To read this article in its entirety visit CNN.

WATCH:

Source: CNN

Investigators have charged a man with being a stowaway after he allegedly took a flight from New York to Los Angeles, even though he didn’t have a proper boarding pass and was not on the flight manifest.

It wasn’t until after Virgin America Flight 415 took off from John F. Kennedy International Airport on Friday that the airline discovered the man, identified as Olajide Oluwaseun Noibi, wasn’t supposed to be on the flight, according to an FBI affidavit.

But authorities did not arrest him Friday. They arrested him this week on Wednesday when he returned to LAX airport in Los Angeles and tried to fraudulently board a Delta flight bound for Atlanta.

Noibi is from Nigeria. He told authorities he also has a U.S. passport, according to the affidavit.

To read this article in its entirety visit CNN.

Source: Deb Pettit and Libby Leist / MSNBC

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted, 14-5, to approve a resolution that would authorize United States participation in the NATO-led mission in Libya.

The resolution was offered by Chairman John Kerry (D-MA), and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), which authorized continued participation of the U.S. military, but banned troops on the ground. It authorized the mission for up to one year after the date of enactment, unless NATO ends it sooner.

This now goes to the Senate floor, where the outcome is uncertain. Democratic aides say it is unlikely the Kerry-McCain resolution will be voted on by the full Senate this week. The Senate is in recess next week — so any action would come the week of July 11.

To read this article in its entirety visit MSNBC.

Source: CNN

Fighters armed with bombs and small arms attacked Kabul’s InterContinental Hotel, where they fought Tuesday with Afghan security forces, Chief of Criminal Investigation Mohammed Zahir told CNN.

Among the attackers were suicide bombers, he said.

Taliban bombers were responsible for the 10 p.m. attack on the hotel, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said.

Initial reports indicate that multiple suicide bombers, mostly likely wearing explosive vests, carried out the attack, a U.S. military official told CNN. There were no indications that U.S. military or diplomatic personnel were at the hotel, the official said.

To follow this topic visit CNN.

WATCH:

Source: Pamela Falk/ CBS News

The World Drug Report for 2011 is grim: drug trafficking is no longer a social and criminal ill but a trade that funds organized crime, terrorism and other security threats.

The 272-page report, issued by the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), is chock full of frightening profiles: cartels, terror groups, corruption of government officials, and networks that evade law enforcement.

“Drug trafficking, the critical link between supply and demand, is fuelling a global criminal enterprise valued in the hundreds of billions of dollars that poses a growing challenge to stability and security,” the report states, also noting that there are “more and more acts of violence, conflicts and terrorist activities fuelled by drug trafficking and organized crime.”

One of those places where the drug trade has become linked with terrorism is Afghanistan, where the $61 billion annual opiate trade still thrives. The World Drug Report indicates that Afghan opium production will probably increase this year.

To read this article in its entirety visit CBS News.

Source: CNN

Washington (CNN) — President Barack Obama announced Wednesday night that all the 33,000 additional U.S. forces he ordered to Afghanistan in December 2009 will be home within 15 months.

In a nationally televised address from the East Room of the White House, Obama said 10,000 of the “surge” forces would withdraw by the end of this year, and the other 23,000 would leave Afghanistan by September 2012.

Calling the deployment of the surge “one of the most difficult decisions that I’ve made as president,” Obama said the military campaign was “meeting our goals” in Afghanistan and the drawdown would begin “from a position of strength.”

“Al Qaeda is under more pressure than at any time since 9/11,” Obama said. “Together with the Pakistanis, we have taken out more than half of al Qaeda’s leadership. And thanks to our intelligence professionals and special forces, we killed Osama bin Laden, the only leader that al Qaeda had ever known. This was a victory for all who have served since 9/11.”

To read this article in its entirety visit CNN.

Source: AP / MSNBC

Washington — President Barack Obama lacks the support of the House for authorizing the U.S. military operation in Libya, Speaker John Boehner said Wednesday, as Congress sent conflicting messages about America’s role in the NATO-led mission against Moammar Gadhafi.

Leading Republicans and Democrats in the Senate are pushing a resolution to give Obama limited authority in the 3-month-old war, with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., calling it a “clear statement to our allies, to the world, to the Libyan people and to Gadhafi that we support the administration’s actions on Libya.”

The measure puts senators at odds with members of the House, including anti-war Democrats and tea party-backed Republicans, who question the legitimacy of the operation since Obama never sought congressional consent under the law.

Boehner, speaking to reporters, was asked about the Senate effort led by Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry, D-Mass., and Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the top Republican on the Armed Services Committee.

To read this article in its entirety visit MSNBC.

WATCH: Robinson: Ridiculous to say Libya not ‘acts of war’

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Source: Lee Farran / ABC News

Dozens of militants, many of them suspected al Qaeda members, have escaped a Yemeni prison in what appeared to be a brazen, coordinated jailbreak today, according to reports.

One soldier was killed and at least one other wounded when militants outside the prison attacked it, presumably to create a distraction that provided 57 militants enough cover to escape through a tunnel, according to security officials cited in a report by The Associated Press. Altogether, 62 inmates made off in the confusion.

Reuters reported all of the prisoners were Yemeni and most had been jailed after returning from fighting in Iraq for the insurgents.

Yemen, already in the midst of a violent national upheaval, is home to one of al Qaeda’s most dangerous affiliates, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, whose leaders include U.S.-born radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki.

To read this article in its entirety visit ABC News.

Source: CNN

Washington – President Barack Obama is expected to announce this week that 30,000 U.S. “surge” forces will be fully withdrawn from Afghanistan by the end of 2012, an administration official has told CNN.

Obama will deliver his highly anticipated speech on the troop drawdown on Wednesday.

The time-frame would give U.S. commanders another two “fighting” seasons with the bulk of U.S. forces still available for combat operations. Outgoing Defense Secretary Robert Gates has pushed for additional time to roll back Taliban gains in the country before starting any significant withdrawal — a position at odds with a majority of Americans, according to recent public opinion surveys.

Gates acknowledged Tuesday that domestic public opinion and congressional support for further military engagement must be taken into account by the president.

To read this article in its entirety visit CNN.

WATCH:

Washington (CNN) — President Barack Obama is expected to announce this week that 30,000 U.S. “surge” forces will be fully withdrawn from Afghanistan by the end of 2012, an administration official has told CNN.
Obama will deliver his highly anticipated speech on the troop drawdown on Wednesday.
The time-frame would give U.S. commanders another two “fighting” seasons with the bulk of U.S. forces still available for combat operations. Outgoing Defense Secretary Robert Gates has pushed for additional time to roll back Taliban gains in the country before starting any significant withdrawal — a position at odds with a majority of Americans, according to recent public opinion surveys.
Gates acknowledged Tuesday that domestic public opinion and congressional support for further military engagement must be taken into account by the president.g>

The same group that breached Nintendo and Sony took down the CIA’s website.

WATCH:

Source: CBS News

Last week the FBI and Department of Homeland Security issued a new terror bulletin listing potential targets that were mentioned on an al Qaeda website.

The site, Ansar al-Mujahideen, is a forum for terrorists around the world and is one of the Top 10 outlets distributing jihadi propaganda. The list includes Defense Department officials, names of officers of defense contractors, members of Congress and private individuals.

Law enforcement sources tell CBS News’ Pat Milton the various postings mostly on extremists overseas websites were the result of a video message posted last week by U.S.-born Adam Gadahn — al Qaeda’s chief spokesman — in which he called for jihadists to take up arms against Americans and other infidels.

There is no specific threat, but Gadahn tells followers how easy it is to buy a gun in the United States and points to Ft. Hood gunman Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Hasan as a hero.

To read this article in its entirety visit CBS News.

April Ryan joins Roland Martin on the Tom Joyner Morning Show to discuss the lawsuit filed against President Barack Obama over the military action in Libya.

Source: Nedra Pickler / MSNBC

Washington — A bipartisan group of 10 lawmakers is suing President Barack Obama for taking military action against Libya without war authorization from Congress.

The lawmakers say Obama violated the Constitution in bypassing Congress and using international organizations like the United Nations and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to authorize military force.

The lawmakers want a judge to issue an order suspending military operations without congressional approval. They said they were filing their lawsuit Wednesday against Obama and Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

The plaintiffs are Democratic Reps. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, John Conyers of Michigan and Michael Capuano of Massachusetts and Republican Reps. Walter Jones and Howard Coble of North Carolina, Tim Johnson and Dan Burton of Indiana, Jimmy Duncan of Tennessee, Roscoe Bartlett of Maryland and Ron Paul of Texas.

To follow this topic visit MSNBC.

Source: Greg Sargent / The Washington Post

Ever since the killing of Osama Bin Laden, it has seemed inevitable that his death would provide the hook for a major change of course in Afghanistan, and now Dems are about to escalate the pressure on the White House to hurry up and get our combat troops out of the country.

Twenty seven Senators — including Dem leaders, moderates, and even two Republicans — have now signed a letter calling on Obama to initiate a “sizable and sustained reduction” of military forces in Afghanistan. The letter argues that Bin Laden’s death means the U.S. has accomplished a principle goal of the invasion, that Al Qaeda no longer is a sizable presence in that country, and that there’s no clear rationale or set of achievable goals that justify delaying withdrawal any longer.

The letter had already been made public, but the final range and number of signatories is new. The letter’s chief sponsors — Jeff Merkley, Tom Udall and Mike Lee — will officially go public with the full list of signatories later this morning.

To read this article in its entirety visit The Washington Post.

View the contents of the letter calling for a faster withdrawal from Afghanistan.

June 15, 2011

The President

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President:

We write to express our strong support for a shift in strategy and the beginning of a sizable and sustained reduction of U.S. military forces in Afghanistan, beginning in July 2011.

In 2001 the United States rightfully and successfully intervened in Afghanistan with the goals of destroying al Qaeda’s safe haven, removing the Taliban government that sheltered al Qaeda, and pursuing those who planned the September 11 attacks on the United States. Those original goals have been largely met and today, as CIA Director Leon Panetta noted last June, “I think at most, we’re looking at maybe 50 to 100, maybe less” al Qaeda members remaining in Afghanistan.

In addition, over the past few years, U.S. forces have killed or captured dozens of significant al Qaeda leaders. Then, on May 2, 2011, American Special Forces acting under your direction located and killed Osama bin Laden. The death of the founder of al Qaeda is a major blow that further weakens the terrorist organization.

From the initial authorization of military force through your most recent State of the Union speech, combating al Qaeda has always been the rationale for our military presence in Afghanistan. Given our successes, it is the right moment to initiate a sizable and sustained reduction in forces, with the goal of steadily redeploying all regular combat troops.

There are those who argue that rather than reduce our forces, we should maintain a significant number of troops in order to support a lengthy counter-insurgency and nation building effort. This is misguided. We will never be able to secure and police every town and village in Afghanistan. Nor will we be able to build Afghanistan from the ground up into a Western-style democracy.

Endemic corruption in Afghanistan diverts resources intended to build roads, schools, and clinics, and some of these funds end up in the hands of the insurgents. Appointments of provincial and local officials on the basis of personal alliances and graft leads to deep mistrust by the Afghan population. While it is a laudable objective to attempt to build new civic institutions in Afghanistan, this goal does not justify the loss of American lives or the investment of hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars.

Instead of continuing to be embroiled in ancient local and regional conflicts in Afghanistan, we must accelerate the transfer of responsibility for Afghanistan’s development to the Afghan people and their government. We should maintain our capacity to eliminate any new terrorist threats, continue to train the Afghan National Security Forces, and maintain our diplomatic and humanitarian efforts. However, these objectives do not require the presence of over 100,000 American troops engaged in intensive combat operations.

Mr. President, according to our own intelligence officials, al Qaeda no longer has a large presence in Afghanistan, and, as the strike against bin Laden demonstrated, we have the capacity to confront our terrorist enemies with a dramatically smaller footprint. The costs of prolonging the war far outweigh the benefits. It is time for the United States to shift course in Afghanistan.

We urge you to follow through on the pledge you made to the American people to begin the redeployment of U.S. forces from Afghanistan this summer, and to do so in a manner that is sizable and sustained, and includes combat troops as well as logistical and support forces.

We look forward to working with you to pursue a strategy in Afghanistan that makes our nation stronger and more secure.

Sincerely,

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR)

Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT)

Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM)

Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT)

Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO)

Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM)

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA)

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH)

Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA)

Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD)

Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND)

Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL)

Sen. Al Franken (D-MN)

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA)

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)

Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA)

Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ)

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT)

Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ)

Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA)

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY)

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT)

Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-NY)

Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR)

Source: Reza Sayah / CNN

Islamabad, Pakistan – Pakistan’s intelligence agency has arrested a person who rented a safe house to the CIA beforeAmerican special forces killed Osama bin Laden, a Pakistani source familiar with the arrests told CNN on Wednesday.

A second official confirmed that Pakistan had detained people suspected of giving information to the CIA before the raid, but said he did not know the exact number of people arrested or when it happened.

The revelations, first reported by The New York Times, are likely to further strain what has become a rocky relationship between the two countries.

CIA Director Leon Panetta discussed the arrests Friday with Pakistan army chief Gen. Ashfaq Kayani and Lt. Gen. Ahmad Shuja Pasha, Pakistan’s head of military intelligence, the official said. A United States official confirmed that the discussion had taken place but would not give details about the arrests.

To read this article in its entirety visit CNN.

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Source: KITV.com

Honolulu – The Transportation Security Administration announced Friday that it plans to fire more than 30 Honolulu International Airport employees in connection with an investigation of improper checked baggage screening that KITV4 News first reported in March.

KITV4′s Keoki Kerr reported in March that TSA was investigating workers at Honolulu’s Lobby Four accused of allowing luggage to go on flights without being screened. Sources told KITV4 that TSA agents on the morning shift did not open checked luggage to screen for trace explosives.

The investigation found that some checked baggage during a shift was not being screened properly during the last months of 2010, TSA officials said.

To read this article in its entirety visit KITV.com.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates says America’s military alliance with Europe, which has been the cornerstone of U.S. security policy for six decades, faces a “dim, if not dismal” future.

Source: Bryan Maygers / The Huffington Post

Representative Peter King (R-NY) has announced that the House Committee on Homeland Security will hold a second hearing on the “radicalization of the Muslim-American community” June 15.

“This radicalization hearing, like the one in March, will be a deliberate and thoughtful examination of an issue that is too important for our security to ignore,” King said in a statement released on his official House website.

Titled “The Threat of Muslim-American Radicalization in U.S. Prisons”, this second hearing will focus on the relationship between current and former members of the American prison population and extremist groups.

According to King, “We have seen cases in which inmates have been radicalized at the hands of already locked-up terrorists or by extremist imam chaplains. We will focus on a number of the serious cases in which radicalized current and former inmates have planned and launched attacks or attempted to join overseas Islamic terrorist organizations.”

To read this article in its entirety visit The Huffington Post.

Source: Elizabeth Flock / The Washington Post

Hackers working for U.K. intelligence agency MI6 recently modified an online al-Qaeda magazine and replaced the bomb recipes inside with cake recipes.

When followers went to download 67 pages of instructions for how to “Make a bomb in the Kitchen of Your Mom” from Inspire Magazine, al-Qaeda’s first English-language magazine, the terrorists were instead greeted with garbled code that was a page of recipes from the Ellen Degeneres Show’s Best Cupcakes in America. MI6 dubbed the cyberattack operation “Operation Cupcake”

The hacked pipe bomb pdf on Inspire’s site was available on Archive.org before it was replaced by the message “The item is not available due to issues with the item’s content.”

As for Ellen’s list, it was as innocuous as could be, telling readers to “summon memories of childhood” as they tried out recipes for Mojito, Rocky Road, and Carmel Apple cupcakes.

To read this article in its entirety visit The Washington Post.

Video source: sdamatt2 / YouTube

Source: CBS News

A teenage Muslim girl was stoned to death by suspects claiming the 19-year-old has violated Sharia law by taking part in a beauty contest, a British newspaper reports.

The body of Katya Koren was found in a forest near a village in the Crimea region of Ukraine.

Will Stewart of the Daily Mail writes that Koren’s remains were found a week after her disappearance.

She appeared to have suffered head injuries and been strangled.

Police are investigating claims that three Muslim youths killed her, saying her death was justified under Islamic law.

To read this article in its entirety visit. CBS News.

Source: AP / CBS News
Miami – Each name is next to a number, in black type on a thick legal document. They are the mothers and fathers, spouses, sisters and brothers of thousands of Colombians who were killed or vanished during a bloody civil conflict between leftist guerrillas and right-wing paramilitary groups whose victims have largely been civilians.

The list has at least 4,000 names, each one targeting Chiquita Brands International in U.S. lawsuits, claiming the produce giant’s payments and other assistance to the paramilitary groups amounted to supporting terrorists.

Cincinnati-based Chiquita in 2007 pleaded guilty to similar criminal charges brought by the Justice Department and paid a $25 million fine. But if the lawsuits succeed, plaintiffs’ lawyers estimate the damages against Chiquita could reach into the billions. The cases filed around the country are being consolidated before a South Florida federal judge who must decide whether to dismiss them or let them proceed.

“A company that pays a terrorist organization that kills thousands of people should get the capital punishment of civil liability and be put out of business by punitive damages,” said attorney Terry Collingsworth, who filed one of the first lawsuits on behalf of Colombians.

To read this article in its entirety visit CBS News.

Source: Carol Cratty / CNN

Washington – Osama bin Laden considered seeking a deal with Pakistan under which al Qaeda leaders in the country would be protected and, in return, al Qaeda would refrain from attacking Pakistan, a U.S. official told CNN Friday.

The revelation surfaced as American agents analyzed the documents that were seized in the May 2 raid of bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, according to the official, who was not authorized to speak on the record.

The documents show the al Qaeda leader communicated with his operations chief, Atiya Abdul Rahman, about a possible deal with Pakistan, the official said.

To read this article in its entirety visit CNN.

The terror group al-Qaeda last summer considered hijacking and detonating oil tankers abroad in non-Muslim seas to provoke an “extreme economic crisis” in the West, according to documents seized from Osama bin Laden’s compound.

Source: Matthew Cole / ABC News

Al Qaeda has released a new message from Osama bin Laden, the first since the terror group’s leader was killed in a U.S. raid on his Pakistan compound almost three weeks ago.

The 13-minute audiotape, which references the revolts in Tunisia and Egypt, includes still images emblazoned with an old picture of bin Laden and dated with the Islamic month that begins in the last week of April. It seems to have been recorded after Feb. 17.

According to U.S. officials, it is the same as one of the taped messages found by Navy SEALs during the raid on the Abbottabad compound where bin Laden was killed earlier this month.

In the message, bin Laden addresses fellow Muslims across the Middle East, but does not issue threats and does not mention the U.S. or the West.

To read this article in its entirety visit ABC News.

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Source: Peter Bergen / CNN

An Egyptian who was once a Special Forces officer has been appointed “caretaker” leader of al Qaeda in the wake of Osama bin Laden’s death, according to a source with detailed knowledge of the group’s inner workings.

Al Qaeda’s interim leader is Saif al-Adel, who has long played a prominent role in the group, according to Noman Benotman. Benotman has known the al Qaeda leadership for more than two decades. He was once a leader of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, a militant organization that used to be aligned with al Qaeda, but in recent years renounced al Qaeda’s ideology.

Benotman told CNN that based on his personal communications with militants and discussions on jihadist forums, al-Adel had been appointed interim chief of al Qaeda because the global jihadist community had grown restive in recent days about the lack of a formal announcement appointing a successor to bin Laden.

However, he said, the choice of an Egyptian may not sit well with some Saudi and Yemeni members of al Qaeda, who believe bin Laden’s successor should come from the Arabian Peninsula, a region that is holy to all Muslims. Bin Laden was from a wealthy Saudi family.

To read this article in its entirety visit CNN.

Source: David S Morgan / CBS News

Islamabad – Speaking in the capital where he was meeting with Pakistani officials, Sen. John Kerry announced that Pakistan has agreed to return the tail of a stealth U.S. helicopter that American commandos had to destroy and leave behind in the raid that killed Osama bin Laden.

One of the Black Hawks flown by an elite Army unit called Task Force 160 – which carried the Navy SEAL commandos – lost lift and was forced into a hard landing at Osama bin Laden’s compound in Abbotabad. The pilot nudged the Black Hawk forward into a controlled crash – saving the mission from disaster, but sheering off the helicopter’s tail section, CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reported.

Pictures of the tail section left behind indicated the Black Hawk had been modified with stealth technology.

Bill Sweetman, Editor in Chief for Defense Technology for Aviation Week, told “The Early Show” that some unusual features were spotted in the wreckage, including special materials covering the tail rotor hub to reduce the helicopter’s radar signature, and extra rotor blades to make it quieter.

To read this article in its entirety visit CBS News.

Roland Martin talks with Deputy National Security Advisor, Denis McDonough about what is being done to prepare the United States for possible terror attacks from Al Qaeda in the wake of the Osama bin Laden killing.

Source: Mark Hosenball and Tabassum Zakaria / Reuters

A stash of pornography was found in the hideout of Osama bin Laden by the U.S. commandos who killed him, current and former U.S. officials said on Friday.

The pornography recovered in bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, consists of modern, electronically recorded video and is fairly extensive, according to the officials, who discussed the discovery with Reuters on condition of anonymity.

The officials said they were not yet sure precisely where in the compound the pornography was discovered or who had been viewing it. Specifically, the officials said they did not know if bin Laden himself had acquired or viewed the materials.

Reports from Abbottabad have said that bin Laden’s compound was cut off from the Internet or other hard-wired communications networks. It is unclear how compound residents would have acquired the pornography.

To read this article in its entirety visit Reuters.

Source: Peter Taggart / CNN

Irish police have arrested a man on suspicion of making threats to kill U.S. President Barack Obama when he visits Ireland later this month, a police spokesman said Friday.

Khalid Kelly, a converted Muslim who subscribes to the al Qaeda ideology, is being held at Dublin’s Store Street Garda (police) station under the Offenses Against the State Act, police said.

He can be held up to three days for questioning under Irish law.

Special Detective Unit officers arrested Kelly after a search of his Dublin home Thursday, according to a police spokesman who said detectives are investigating threats to kill or cause harm.

To read this article in its entirety visit CNN.

Source: Reza Sayah and Stan Grant / CNN

Islamabad, Pakistan – The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility Friday for suicide attacks on a military training facility in the nation’s northwest, saying they were in retaliation for the killing of terror leader Osama bin Laden.

The twin suicide bombings killed at least 80 people, nearly all of them military recruits who had just completed their training, said Bashir Ahmad Bilour, a senior provincial minister. About 140 others were injured.

“Pakistani and the U.S. forces should be ready for more attacks,” said Ihsan Ullah Ihsan, a spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, who accused the Pakistani military of telling the United States where bin Laden was.

“Osama was our great leader and the killers of Osama will have to pay its price,” he said.

To read this article in its entirety visit CNN.

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Source: Brian Ross / ABC News

Security has been increased around the home of President Barack Obama’s step-grandmother in Kenya after an African al Qaeda branch issued a personal threat against her, police said today.

Kenyan police told ABC News they are patrolling round the clock after Al Shabaab, the Somalia-based branch of al Qaeda, threatened the life of Sarah Obama.

Though security had been added to the elder Obama’s house the day after bin Laden was killed in fear of reprisals, the number of patrolling officers has ballooned since Al Shabaab’s threat was issued. One police chief told ABC News he now had enough officers “to patrol the entire village.”

But the 88-year-old seemed unconcered about the threat and told ABC News she didn’t mind the extra security.

To read this article in its entirety visit ABC News.

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Source: Peter Finn and Julie Tate / The Washington Post

The Pentagon is considering allowing the families of detainees at Guantanamo Bay to visit them, an unprecedented step to ease the isolation of inmates who in some cases have been held at the U.S. facility for close to a decade, according to congressional aides.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which monitors conditions at the military prison in Cuba and facilitates videoconferences between detainees and their families, has been in serious discussions with the Pentagon about a visitation program, the aides said.

Some Republicans, after hearing about the talks, appeared to balk at such access to the Guantanamo Bay naval station. In an early version of the annual legislation to authorize the activities of the Defense Department, Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (Calif.), the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, inserted language that would ban family visits, which have never occurred at the prison.

But the latest version of the bill states only that Defense Department funding appropriated for fiscal 2012 may not be used “to permit any person who is a family member of an individual detained at Guantanamo to visit the individual.”

To read this article in its entirety visit The Washington Post.

Source: Mark Schone / ABC News

A leader of the al Qaeda offshoot that U.S. officials have called the greatest threat to the U.S. vowed in a message posted on Islamist websites Wednesday to take revenge against the U.S. for the death of Osama bin Laden, saying that jihad would only intensify and that Americans would come to “wish for the days of Osama.”

“Do not dismiss this battle so easily, and give your people false hope that if you kill Osama that it is over,” promised Nasir al-Wahishi, a leader of the Yemen-based al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). “What is waiting for you is far greater and more dangerous, and you will then count your regrets, wishing for the days of Osama.”

Wahishi said the U.S. made a “big mistake” by killing bin Laden. “For those who celebrated the killing of our sheikh,” says the statement, “we tell them: We will see if you celebrate what the sons and students of the sheikh will send you.”

Earlier this year, National Counterterrorism Center director Michael Leiter called AQAP “the most significant risk to the U.S. homeland.” In March, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said AQAP was al Qaeda’s most dangerous branch.

To read this article in its entirety visit ABC News.

Source: Scott Shane / NY Times / MSNBC

Washington — The adult sons of Osama bin Laden have lashed out at President Obama in their first public reaction to their father’s death, accusing the United States of violating its basic legal principles by killing an unarmed man, shooting his family members and disposing of his body in the sea.

The statement, provided to The New York Times on Tuesday, said the family was asking why Bin Laden, the leader of Al Qaeda, “was not arrested and tried in a court of law so that truth is revealed to the people of the world.”

Citing the trials of Saddam Hussein, the former Iraqi leader, and Slobodan Milosevic, the former Serbian leader, the statement questioned “the propriety of such assassination where not only international law has been blatantly violated,” but the principles of presumption of innocence and the right to a fair trial were ignored.

“We maintain that arbitrary killing is not a solution to political problems,” the statement said, adding that “justice must be seen to be done.”

To read this article in its entirety visit MSNBC.

Source: Pam Benson / CNN

Washington – Members of the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Senate Intelligence Committee, as well as those in the equivalent House committees, will be allowed to view the photographs taken of Osama bin Laden after he was killed, a U.S. official told CNN Tuesday.

The viewings will take place at CIA headquarters in northern Virginia at a time to be decided, the official said.

To read this article in its entirety visit CNN.

Source: CNN

Abbottabad, Pakistan – The United States will be given access to Osama bin Laden’s wives, Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik told CNN on Tuesday.

On Monday, a senior Pakistani intelligence source had said the United States could only question bin Laden’s wives if their “country of origin has been asked for permission.”

Malik, in an interview Tuesday with CNN, did not give a timeline for when U.S. officials may speak with the wives and did not say where the access would take place.

To read this article in its entirety visit CNN.

The White House says while the U.S. will not apologize for the bin Laden raid, relations with Pakistan are “vital.”

WATCH:

Roland Martin talks with Deputy National Security Advisor, Denis McDonough about President Obama’s decision to not release photos of bin Laden’s corpse or video of his burial at sea. Was it the right decision? Would releasing the graphic images have provoked terrorist groups to retaliate?

Source:  AP / USA Today

London — Pipe bombs, a targeted car crash, a lone gunman: Western intelligence officials said Friday they are seeing increased Internet and phone chatter about cheap, small-scale terror attacks to avenge the death of 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden.

More than 100 protesters, meanwhile, gathered Friday outside the U.S. Embassy in London shouting, “USA, you will pay!” and warning of such revenge attacks.

European security officials say there is no specific plot to justify raising the threat level in Europe. But one of their biggest fears is the possibility of a Mumbai-style attack like the 2008 shooting spree that killed 166 people and paralyzed India’s business capital for days.

Many of the Indian police who initially responded to the attack were unarmed. Most of Britain’s police force is also unarmed, while other European police officers usually carry lighter arms than their North American counterparts.

To read this article in its entirety visit the USA Today.

Some experts say America’s addiction to foreign oil has fueled terrorism. CNN’s Jim Acosta reports.

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Source: CNN

Dozens of people in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad have been arrested because of their suspected connections to the compound where Osama bin Laden was shot and killed, a Pakistani intelligence official said Friday.

Some of the individuals were arrested around the compound and investigators still need to determine if any of the people arrested have any connection with al Qaeda.

To follow this topic visit CNN.

Source: CNN

Al Qaeda released a statement on jihadist forums Friday confirming the death of its leader, Osama bin Laden, according to SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors Islamist websites.

The development comes days after U.S. troops killed bin Laden in a raid on a compound in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad.

The statement, translated by SITE, lauded the late militant, threatened to take action against the United States, and urged Pakistanis to “rise up and revolt.”

Bin Laden’s death will serve as a “curse that chases the Americans and their agents, and goes after them inside and outside their countries,” the message said.

To read this article in its entirety visit CNN.

The president thanks NYC firefighters for their service on 9/11.

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Source: Pierre Thomas, Richard Esposito, Jake Date, Jack Cloherty / ABC News

An early read of the materials seized from Osama bin Laden’s compound has not yet produced evidence of a specific, imminent terror plot against the U.S., but does show the group continues to have murderous aspirations, according to U.S. officials and to documents obtained by ABC News.

The trove of evidence U.S. Navy SEALs recovered during their raid of Bin Laden’s compound, which cost the al Qaeda leader his life, shows that al Qaeda remained fixated on so-called soft targets like transportation.

A new bulletin issued tonight by the FBI and Homeland Security and obtained by ABC News describes the terror organization’s chilling desire to derail a train.

“As of February 2010, al-Qa’ida was allegedly contemplating conducting an operation against trains at an unspecified location in the United States on the 10th anniversary of September 11, 2001,” the document reads, using an alternate spelling for bin Laden’s terror group. “As one option, al-Qa’ida was looking into trying to tip a train by tampering with the rails so that the train would fall off the track at either a valley or a bridge. ”

To read this article in its entirety visit ABC News.

President Barack Obama explains how he and his advisors came to the decision to bury Osama bin Laden at sea. Steve Kroft interviews the president this Sunday, May 8 at 7 p.m. ET/PT.

President Obama lays wreath at ground zero in honor of 9/11 victims.

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Source: Dana Ford / CNN

A graphic image of what was reported to be Osama bin Laden’s bloodied face, which went viral on the Internet and was plastered on the front page of newspapers around the world, is a fake.

The lower part of the photograph, which shows his partially opened mouth and graying beard, is almost identical to another image of bin Laden published years ago. The upper half shows his wounds in detail greater than that of the rest of the photo and there are unusual and abrupt shifts in the coloration of his skin.

A photographer consulted by CNN said the gruesome photograph is most definitely not real.

“I have seen a great number of poorly Photoshopped images in my time as a photographer and I can tell by the pixels that it is a fake,” said Kenna Lindsay, a New York-based photographer who works with composite images.

To read this article in its entirety visit CNN.

Pakistani officials furious over U.S. operation, demonstrators take to streets.

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Source: Karen DeYoung and Karin Brulliard / The Washington Post

Obama administration officials here and in Islamabad are demanding that Pakistan quickly provide answers to specific questions about Osama bin Laden and his years-long residence in a bustling Pakistani city surrounded by military installations.

In addition to detailed information about the bin Laden compound — who owned and built the structure and its security system — Pakistani officials are being asked in meetings with U.S. military, intelligence and diplomatic interlocutors to provide names of witnesses who can testify about visitors to the compound.

U.S. lawmakers have said it defied logic that bin Laden was able to hide in plain sight without some level of official Pakistani knowledge or complicity. Some have suggested that $3 billion in annual U.S. military and economic assistance be reconsidered, while others joined with House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), who said Tuesday that “this is no time to back away from Pakistan.”

How Pakistan responds will determine the future of the long-brittle relationship between the two countries, as well as the endgame in the Afghanistan war, according to U.S. and Pakistani officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to talk candidly about what they called a pivotal moment.

To read this article in its entirety visit The Washington Post.

Source: CNN

Abbottabad, Pakistan (CNN) – Osama bin Laden was not armed but did put up resistance when U.S. forces entered the compound he was in, then killed him, White House spokesman Jay Carney said Tuesday.

Providing new details of the events that transpired early Monday in Pakistan, Carney said U.S. Navy SEALs went floor-to-floor clearing the three-story compound where bin Laden’s family lived along with others.

Three people were killed on the first floor, including a woman, Carney said.

U.S. forces then moved upstairs where they found bin Laden in a room with a woman believed to be his wife — both unarmed, Carney said. She rushed the U.S. forces and was shot in the leg but not killed. Bin Laden resisted and was shot and killed, Carney said.

To read this article in its entirety visit CNN.

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Source: AP / CBS News

Washington – Congress may consider cutting the almost $1.3 billion in annual aid to Pakistan if it turns out the Islamabad government knew where Osama bin Laden was hiding, the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee said Tuesday.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said she wants more details from CIA director Leon Panetta and others about the Pakistani government’s role. Feinstein spoke to reporters about the raid that killed bin Laden early Monday and the questions raised by his hiding place deep inside Pakistan.

The No. 2 House Democratic leader, Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, said if Pakistan doesn’t ease doubts about its dedication to fighting terrorists, Congress should explore whether it makes sense to reduce U.S. aid to that country.

Incredulous lawmakers are pressing Pakistan for answers to two simple questions: What did its army and intelligence agents know of bin Laden’s whereabouts and when did they know it?

To read this article in its entirety visit CBS News.

Roland Martin talks with Ben Rhodes, Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications, about details being released on the acquisition of Osama bin Laden.

Source: Susan Donaldson James / ABC News

Video of Osama bin Laden’s dead body being dropped into the North Arabian Sea from the USS Carl Vinson early this morning could be made public, according to officials.

The 40-minute ceremony, and perhaps photos of his corpse, will be released “cautiously,” according to The Associated Press, citing two Pentagon officials.

The world’s most notorious terrorist did not receive a customary Islamic burial as he was slipped into the North Arabian Sea today when no others countries would accept his body, according to experts in Muslim funeral rites.

“Dumping the body into the sea is not part of any Islamic ritual,” said Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, president of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy and a physician of internal medicine. “Koranic scripture says God created him and he must return to the earth.”

To read this article in its entirety visit ABC News.

Source: Stephanie Condon / CBS News

President Obama and members of his national security team monitored the attack against Osama bin Laden on a real-time basis, White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan said today.

“It was probably one of the most anxiety-filled periods of time, I think, in the lives of the people who were assembled here yesterday,” Brennan said in a White House press briefing. “The minutes passed like days, and the president was very concerned about the security of our personnel.”

The president and his team were able to monitor the sequence of events from the very start of the operation through its completion, Brennan said. It took the team of CIA officers and Navy SEALs carrying out the operation no more than 40 minutes to kill bin Laden in the compound in Abbottabad, which is close to Pakistan’s capital of Islamabad.

Brennan said the president and his team had “real time visibility into the progress of the operation,” but would not go into details about what sort of technology was used.

To read this article in its entirety visit CBS News.

Former NYC mayor told Bush he “wanted to be the one to execute him.”

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Source: Karin Brulliard and Debbi Wilgoren / The Washington Post

Islamabad —Osama bin Laden’s slaying by U.S. forces in an easily accessible Pakistani city ended years of speculation that he was hiding in remote tribal areas and raised new questions about how his presence could have gone undetected by Pakistan’s powerful military.

U.S. forces for months had watched the luxury compound in Abbottabad, a city 65 miles from the capital that is home to two Pakistani army regiments. Early Monday morning (Sunday afternoon in Washington), troops stormed the compound via helicopter.

Bin Laden was shot dead inside a sprawling and heavily fortified mansion within walking distance from a premiere military academy. He joins a list of high-value terror suspects captured or killed in populous mainland Pakistan, far from the wild borderlands where U.S. intelligence officials had long believed bin Laden was sequestered.

The Pakistani government’s failure to discover bin Laden’s whereabouts quickly intensified suspicions in Washington and elsewhere that Islamabad is either uncommitted to the U.S.-backed fight against Islamist militancy or is playing a dangerous game by sheltering terrorists even as it pledges to fight militant groups. Pakistan for years had insisted that bin Laden was not on Pakistani soil.

To read this article in its entirety visit The Washington Post.

Source: Susan Donaldson James / ABC News

Osama bin Laden did not receive a customary Islamic burial, despite what U.S. government officials reported, according to experts in Muslim funeral rites.

“Dumping the body into the sea is not part of any Islamic ritual,” said Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, president of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy and a physician of internal medicine. “Koranic scripture says God created him and he must return to the earth.”

U.S. officials told ABC News that the last thing they wanted was to create a burial place which could become a terrorist shrine. To avoid that, bin Laden was buried at sea.

The corpse was taken to the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, officials told ABC News. The burial at sea was done in accordance with Muslim law — a Muslim seaman conducted the process, said the prayers, and bin Laden’s body was wrapped in the appropriate way.

Bin Laden’s body was dropped into the sea, likely the Indian Ocean, early today. The White House has not said exactly where the body was placed.

To read this article in its entirety visit ABC News.

WATCH: Osama Bin Laden Death Retaliation?

Source: CNN

The successful U.S. operation that killed Osama bin Laden sends a message to the Taliban in Afghanistan, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Monday.

“You cannot wait us out. You cannot defeat us. But you can make the choice to abandon al Qaeda” and participate in a peaceful political process, Clinton said.

“There is no better rebuke to al Qaeda and its heinous ideology,” she said. “The fight continues and we will never waver.”
Some doubted that the terrorist leader would ever be caught, she said, but “this is America… We persevere, and we get the job done.”

To read this article in its entirety visit CNN.

Osama bin Laden was killed during a gun battle with Navy SEALs and CIA paramilitary forces at a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, near that nation’s capital. NBC’s Jim Miklaszewski has the details on the raid.

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Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

New Yorkers cheer news of bin Laden’s death at site of 9/11 attacks.

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Video appears to show the interior of the compound where Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. forces.

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Source: CNN

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security expects “threats of retaliation” from al Qaeda in the aftermath of Osama bin Laden’s death, a department official told CNN early Monday.

“We certainly anticipate threats of retaliation — this is an organization that declared war on the United States more than a decade ago. Threats from al Qaeda are not a new phenomenon,” the official said.

The United States put American diplomatic facilities around the world on high alert and issued a global travel warning for Americans shortly after President Barack Obama announced that the terrorist leader had been killed in Pakistan by U.S. special operations forces.

“Given the uncertainty and volatility of the current situation, U.S. citizens in areas where recent events could cause anti-American violence are strongly urged to limit their travel outside of their homes and hotels and avoid mass gatherings and demonstrations,” the State Department said in a worldwide travel warning issued early Monday. “U.S. citizens should stay current with media coverage of local events and be aware of their surroundings at all times.”

To read this article in its entirety visit CNN.

WATCH: ‘Good riddance’ to bin Laden

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security expects “threats of retaliation” from al Qaeda in the aftermath of Osama bin Laden’s death, a department official told CNN early Monday.
“We certainly anticipate threats of retaliation — this is an organization that declared war on the United States more than a decade ago. Threats from al Qaeda are not a new phenomenon,” the official said.
The United States put American diplomatic facilities around the world on high alert and issued a global travel warning for Americans shortly after President Barack Obama announced that the terrorist leader had been killed in Pakistan by U.S. special operations forces.
“Given the uncertainty and volatility of the current situation, U.S. citizens in areas where recent events could cause anti-American violence are strongly urged to limit their travel outside of their homes and hotels and avoid mass gatherings and demonstrations,” the State Department said in a worldwide travel warning issued early Monday. “U.S. citizens should stay current with media coverage of local events and be aware of their surroundings at all times.”

Roland Martin talks with Major General (Ret.) John Hawkins about the death of Osama bin Laden.

The President addresses the nation at a triumphant time for America. Osama bin Laden is dead.

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The founder and spiritual figurehead for al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, is dead. Mark Phillips reports.

Source: CNN

Osama bin Laden is dead, sources told CNN Sunday night.

Congressional and administration sources say U.S. officials have the body of bin Laden, who was reportedly killed in Afghanistan. The details around his death were not immediately available.

U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to address the nation shortly.

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Source: MSNBC

Kabul, Afghanistan — Six NATO troops, including five Americans, were shot and killed by an Afghan military pilot Wednesday, U.S. military officials told NBC News.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, but Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi said the gunman was an Afghan military pilot who “opened fire on foreigners after an argument.”

The pilot was killed in the shooting, which occurred inside a facility used by the Afghan Air Force, Azimi said.

To read this article in its entirety visit MSNBC.

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Taliban militants tunneled at least 480 inmates out of the main prison in southern Afghanistan overnight, whisking them through a 1,000-foot-long underground passage they had dug over months, officials and insurgents said Monday.

Source: AP / CBS News

Washington – Secret documents about detainees at the Guantanamo Bay prison reveal new information about some of the men that the United States believes to be terrorists, according to reports about the files released Sunday by several American and European newspapers. The U.S. government criticized the publication as “unfortunate.”

The military detainee assessments were made public Sunday night by U.S. and European newspapers after the WikiLeaks website obtained the files. The records contain details of the more than 700 detainee interrogations and evidence the U.S. had collected against these suspected terrorists, according to the media outlets.

The files — know as Detainee Assessment Briefs or DABs — describe the intelligence value of the detainees and whether they would be a threat to the U.S. if released. To date, 604 detainees have been transferred out of Guantanamo while 172 remain locked up.

The disclosures are likely to provide human right activists with additional ammunition that some cases against inmates appear to be based on flawed evidence. However, the DABs show certain inmates were more dangerous than previously known to the public and could complicate efforts by the U.S. to transfer detainees out of the controversial prison that President Barack Obama has failed to close.

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Source: AP / CBS News

Kandahar, Afghanistan – Taliban militants dug a lengthy tunnel underground and into the main jail in Kandahar city and whisked out more than 450 prisoners, most of whom were Taliban fighters, officials and insurgents said Monday.

The massive overnight jailbreak in Afghanistan’s second-largest city underscores the Afghan government’s continuing weakness in the south, despite an influx of international troops, funding and advisers. Kandahar city, in particular, has been a focus of the international effort to establish a strong Afghan government presence in former Taliban strongholds.

The 1,200-inmate Sarposa Prison has been part of that plan. The facility has undergone security upgrades and tightened procedures following a brazen 2008 Taliban attack that freed 900 prisoners. Afghan government officials and their NATO backers have regularly said that the prison has vastly improved security since that attack.

But on Sunday night, about 475 prisoners streamed out of a tunnel that had been dug into the facility and disappeared into Kandahar city, prison supervisor Ghulam Dastagir Mayar said. He said the majority of the missing were Taliban militants.

To read this article in its entirety visit CBS News.

Source: AP / CBS News

Washington – A military judge has sentenced a U.S. soldier to 24 years in prison for his role in a conspiracy with fellow soldiers that led to the murders of three unarmed Afghan civilians.

The decision by Lt. Col. Kwasi Hawks on Wednesday comes after Spc. Jeremy Morlock pleaded guilty to three counts of murder, and one count each of conspiracy, obstructing justice and illegal drug use at his court martial at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

The judge said he intended to sentence Morlock to life in prison with possibility of parole but he was bound the plea deal that called for a maximum sentence of 24 years.

The 22-year-old Morlock is one of five soldiers from the 5th Stryker Brigade charged in the 2010 killings of three Afghans in Kandahar province. He was the first to be court-martialed.

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Rep. Keith Ellison, who is Muslim, delivers a passionate statement defending the rights of Muslim Americans.

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Source: MSNBC

Washington — New York Republican Rep. Peter King, opening a controversial hearing on radicalization in the U.S. Muslim community, said Thursday that the hearing was the logical response to Obama administration warnings over a very real threat.

“To back down would be a craven surrender to political correctness and an abdication of what I believe to be the main responsibility of this committee — to protect America from a terrorist attack,” King said in his opening remarks.

The House of Representative Homeland Security Committee hearing has reignited a national debate over how to combat a spate of homegrown terrorism. Critics have compared it to overly zealous investigations of communism in the 1950s that led to false accusations that destroyed careers.

“There is nothing radical or un-American in holding these hearings,” King said.

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WATCH: Kristof: Rep. King hearings will radicalize community

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Source: AP / CBS News

Washington -  President Obama is approving the resumption of military trials for detainees at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, ending a two-year ban.

Obama issued an executive order Monday establishing a process for  continuing to hold detainees at the Guantanamo Bay prison. Defense Secretary Robert Gates will rescind his January 2009 ban against bringing new cases against the terror suspects at the detention facility.

It was the latest acknowledgment that the detention facility Mr. Obama had vowed to shut down within a year of taking office will remain open for some time to come. But even while announcing a resumption of military commission trials, Obama reaffirmed his support for trying terror suspects in U.S. federal courts something that’s met vehement resistance on Capitol Hill.

In a statement on Monday, Mr. Obama said the move would “broaden our ability to bring terrorists to justice, provide oversight for our actions, and ensure the humane treatment of detainees.”

To read this article in its entirety visit CBS News.

Roland Martin talks with Gen. Colin Powell about the unrest in Libya, intelligence on WMDs and Donald Rumsfeld.

Source: CNN

Two people were shot and killed Wednesday in an incident involving a U.S. military bus at Frankfurt Airport in Germany, a police spokesman said.

Another person is severely wounded, Juergen Linker told CNN, and one person is in custody.

A U.S. military official said initial reports were that two people had been killed, including the driver of the bus.

The troops killed and injured are U.S. Air Force airmen from Lakenheath base in the United Kingdom, the U.S. official said, emphasizing that the information was only preliminary.

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Source: AP / CBS News

Washington – The FBI has arrested a 20-year-old Saudi student in Texas suspected of planning a terrorist attack using explosive chemicals. Officials say his possible targets included the Dallas home of former President George W. Bush.

Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari, attending college near Lubbock, Texas, was charged with attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction. Federal prosecutors say he had been researching online how to construct an improvised explosive device using several chemicals as ingredients.

The FBI was tipped when he tried to buy the final chemical from suppliers, reports CBS News.

A U.S. official told CBS News that the arrest was not a sting and that the suspect was one chemical away from finishing a bomb. Officials believe the suspect acted alone and is not affiliated with any foreign or domestic terrorist groups.

In addition to Bush’s Dallas home, authorities believe that former U.S. soldiers, nuclear power plants and reservoir dams in Colo. and Calif. were also potential targets.

To read this article in its entirety visit CBS News.

Source: Russell Goldman / ABC News

Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi personally ordered the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 that killed 270 people, the country’s recently resigned justice minister said today.

In an interview with Swedish newspaper Expressen, Mustafa Abdel-Jalil, a confidant of Gadhafi’s who resigned his post amid this week’s anti-government protests and civil strife, said, “I have proof that Gadhafi gave the order about Lockerbie.”

Some family members of the victims said the admission vindicated what they had long believed and called on the U.S. government to officially acknowledge that the 1988 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, was state-sponsored terrorism.

“There can no longer be any doubt about the involvement Gadhafi had in murdering American citizens,” said Bert Ammerman, whose brother, Tom, died in the attacks. “He ordered the bombing of Flight 103. I challenge President Obama to respond accordingly. There must be justice.”

To read this article in its entirety visit ABC News.

Source: CBS News

Colin Powell has called on the CIA and Pentagon to explain why they failed to notify him of unreliability of a key source who claimed knowledge of Saddam Hussein’s bio-weapons capability, reports The Guardian.

U.S. secretary of state during the Iraq invasion, Powell said U.S. agencies involved in compiling case for the war should be questioned in response to the newspaper’s revelation that the source, Rafid Ahmed al-Janabi or “Curveball” as his handlers called him, admitted to fabricating evidence of Iraq’s secret weapons of mass destruction program.

“It has been known for several years that the source called Curveball was totally unreliable,” Powell told the Guardian . “The question should be put to the CIA and the DIA as to why this wasn’t known before the false information was put into the NIE sent to Congress, the president’s state of the union address and my 5 February presentation to the UN.”

Al-Janabi told the Guardian “it’s great” Powell is demanding that the agencies should be questioned. He also thinks people should know the truth.

To read this article in its entirety visit CBS News.