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Showing posts from March 6, 2011

Tribute to terrorism victim

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Phillip Coorey March 11, 2011 US firefighter James Dowdell holds the helmet his father signed. Photo: REUTERS TOWARDS the end of her speech, Julia Gillard told how a group of Australians spent two months in New York in 1998 to learn how to deal with a terrorist attack at the Sydney Olympics. Close friendships were forged, and at the end, an Australian military officer, Warwick Penrose, swapped his slouch hat for a New York Fire Department helmet signed by 16 of the city's finest. One of the signatories was Kevin Dowdell. Three year later, he died in the September 11 attacks. No trace of his body was ever found. Last year Mr Penrose's mother, who lives in Gympie, read in the paper how a local firefighter, Rob Frey, was to run in an Australian-American firefighters ''Tour of Duty'' marathon from Los Angeles to New York to honour those who died in 2001. She showed Mr Frey the helmet. He noticed Mr Dowdell's signature and discovered he was the fat

Bashir's terrorism trial to go ahead

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Source: ABC NET By Indonesia correspondent  Matt Brown Updated  Thu Mar 10, 2011 6:15pm AEDT Facing the death penalty: Abu Bakar Bashir (Reuters: Dadang Tri) RELATED STORY:  Bashir defiant in face of terrorism charges RELATED STORY:  Bashir terrorism trial adjourned A panel of Indonesian judges has decided to continue with the terrorism trial of radical Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir. Bashir is accused of organising funding and training for a terrorist base camp in Aceh in northern Sumatra. He asked the panel of five judges in the South Jakarta district court to dismiss the charges, arguing they lacked detail and did not establish that the military training was a crime. But today the judges decided to continue, declaring the charges legitimate. Sixteen key witnesses - members of Bashir's alleged terror network - will give evidence by videolink from cells elsewhere in the city. In all, more than 130 witnesses are expected to appear. Bashir has been convicted, then acquitted, ove

Movie Man finds out: Can terrorism be funny?

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Source: rrstar DRAFTHOUSE FILMS In this film publicity image released by Drafthouse Films, from left, Nigel Lindsay, Kayvan Novak and Arsher Ali are shown in a scene from "Four Lions." The controversial dark comedy ‘Four Lions’ answers ‘yes’ By Will Pfeifer GO.RRSTAR.COM Posted Mar 11, 2011 The name “Chris Morris” might not mean anything to you, but if you’re a fan of cutting-edge comedy, it’s one you should know. Since the 1990s, Morris has been breaking new satirical ground with “The Day Today” and “Brass Eye,” both blistering parodies of British news shows. Now he’s crossed over to movies — and crossed the ocean — with “Four Lions.” And, if anything, it’s even more daring than his TV work. The film follows four would-be suicide bombers planning to attack the London Marathon. In most movies, the main characters of this story would be the brave secret agent who uncovers their scheme and manages to stop it at the last possible second. In “Four Lions,” the bombers are t

“Electronic nose” will help to fight terrorism

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Mar 11, 2011 16:07 Moscow Time Explosive. © Flickr.com/indi.ca/cc-by Paris metro will soon become a test site for the detector of explosives, jointly developed by Russian and Western specialists. The device has been designed in the framework of Russia-NATO program "Stand-off detection of explosives and suicide bombers" and got its name from the program’s abbreviation STANDEX. However the STANDEX instrument has already been nicknamed “electronic nose”. The presentation of the STANDEX instrument was held earlier this month in NATO’s headquarters in Brussels. The countries, which took part in its design, namely Russia, France, the US, Germany and the Netherlands will hold the copyright for the instrument.  Russia’s participation in this project is quite logical. Our country has a unique experience of building robots cable of functioning in emergency situations. It should be noted that the STANDEX project is being carried out in the framework of Russia-NATO strategic coopera

White supremacist charged in MLK Day bomb plot

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Source: Salon AP/KXLY 4 News Kevin William Harpham A 36-year-old resident of Washington state has been arrested and charged with  planting  a backpack bomb along the route of a Spokane Martin Luther King Day parade in January. Kevin William Harpham, who has apparent ties to white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups, was charged with attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and possession of an unregistered explosive device. (Read the criminal complaint  here .) The bomb was fortuitously discovered in time for the parade to be rerouted and no one was hurt, but authorities said it could have been lethal. The area in eastern Washington and Idaho has for years  been known  as a center of white supremacist groups. The feds haven't commented on Harpham's motivation, but there is some apparent evidence floating around online. Eric Lach at TPM reports on Harpham's apparent postings on the anti-semitic Vanguard News Network  website : On December 25, 2009, Snuffy responded to a t

Domestic terrorism hearing witness from Minneapolis has had a troubled past

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Source: Twincities 03/11/2011 Abdirizak Ali Bihi testifies Thursday in Washington. (AP) Abdirizak Ali Bihi testifies Thursday in Washington. (AP) Abdirizak Ali Bihi, the Minneapolis man who testified Thursday at a congressional hearing about alleged radicalization of Muslims in the U.S., has been a lightning rod for criticism within the local Somali community. He was praised Thursday for his work with Somali youth, by a woman who claimed he stalked and harassed her in a 2004 dispute over Somali terrorism. And he is subject to a warrant for his arrest issued in Ramsey County last year for not completing terms of probation after a 2008 DWI conviction. Bihi, 46, was called by U.S. Rep. Peter King, D-N.Y., chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security. The Minneapolis man spoke about his late nephew, Burhan Hassan, who Bihi said was among a group of Twin Cities men recruited by a terrorist group to fight in Somalia. Hassan, 17, was reportedly killed in fighting in the S

Af-Pak border epicentre of terrorism in world: Mullen

Source; MSN Washington, Mar 12 (PTI) The Af-Pak border is the "epicentre" of terrorism in the world, and both US and Pakistan need to put pressure on the extremists living in the area, a top American military official said. "I call that border area, which is in Afghanistan and Pakistan, although if you go there and ask those that live there, there''s no border to them. This is their home, either side of it. And that area is an area that is, I call, the epicenter of terrorism in the world," Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at the Arizona State University in Phoenix. "We both need to keep pressure on that," he said. The suicide bombers and the recent assassinations of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer and Pakistan''s Minority Affairs Minister Shahbaz Bhatti are major concerns, he said in response to a question. Mullen, who visited Pakistan for more than 20 times in last two years, said the Pakistani milita

Maoists change tack, make economy bleed

Source: daily pioneer March 10, 2011 10:26:10 AM PNS | New Delhi More civilians being targeted as Red threat still looms large Targeting innocent civilians and economic infrastructure, Maoists continue to pose a serious threat to internal security and development, despite a year-long joint operation against them. Latest Home Ministry figures show that their challenge to the might of India persists and that a much bigger coordinated offensive is required to de-fang the Red brigade. In a tactical shift of target, Maoists have started focusing more on hurting India economically. In the past three years, the ultras carried out 909 attacks on mines, steel pipelines and roads. The Railways — especially in Jharkhand and Bihar — were the main target of Naxals, who carried out 129 attacks during 2008-2010 against trains, stations and tracks. Other Maoist targets included telephone exchanges or towers, power transmission plants, panchayat bhavans, school buildings, forest roads and

New sea satellite system helps South Africans combat piracy

Source: Xinhua JOHANNESBURG, March 8 (Xinhua) -- In order to combat piracy and to improve maritime safety, South African authorities have begun using a sophisticated navigation satellite system, it was announced on Tuesday. Piracy, especially by Somalis, has been increasing along Africa east coast in recent years. The South African Press Association (SAPA) reported on Tuesday that Karl Otto, head of the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) announced the surveillance tool at a conference in Durban. Called Long Range Identification and Tracking (LRIT), the system monitors and tracks vessels in waters south of the equator. Otto said the introduction of the LRIT followed concerns over the safety of seafarers, the safety standards of ships within South African waters. Otto said there were high levels of cargo at risk, such as fuels and oils. He said reasons for installing the system included the number of shipwrecks along the South African coast, and the threat of pollution of t

13 killed in clashes between Copts and Muslims in Egypt

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Source: LA Times By Garrett Therolf and Doha Al Zohairy, Los Angeles Times March 9, 2011 , The bloodshed — on the edge of a Cairo slum — renews worry about the government's willingness to protect minority Christians. The army intervened only after Muslims set fire to homes and businesses. An Egyptian soldier intervenes as a group of Egyptians who want protesters to leave Cairo's Tahrir Square clash with those who believe that the gatherings in the plaza must continue. The Egyptian military said it had arrested about 100 men armed with knives and weapons who were planning to carry out a new attack on the protesters. Up to 20 people were injured earlier in the day when a few hundred men attacked protesters camped out in the square, according to doctors at a makeshift hospital there.   ( EPA   /   March   10 , 2011 ) Reporting from Cairo   Egypt   suffered the deadliest unrest since President   Hosni Mubarak 's ouster when clashes Wednesday between Muslims and Coptic Chris

Hoard of Cash Lets Qaddafi Extend Fight Against Rebels

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source: NY Times Moises Saman for The New York Times The Libyan leader, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, arrived at a hotel in Tripoli on Tuesday night. By   JAMES RISEN   and   ERIC LICHTBLAU Published: March 9, 2011 WASHINGTON — The Libyan leader Col.   Muammar el-Qaddafi   has “tens of billions” in cash secretly hidden away in Tripoli, allowing him to prolong his fight against rebel forces despite an international freeze on many of the Libyan government’s assets, according to American and other intelligence officials. Multimedia Photographs Scenes From Libya Interactive Feature Middle East Protests: A Country-by-Country Look Interactive Feature Map of How the Rebellion Is Unfolding in Libya Interactive Feature Timeline: Colonel Muammar el-Qaddafi Related Loyalists Batter Libyan Rebels Near Strategic Oil Town   (March 10, 2011) Revolts Raise Fear of Migration in Europe   (March 10, 2011) Enlarge This Image Moises Saman for The New York Times In a demonstration staged by the government, 2

Sailors' families lose hope as deadline expires

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Source: IBN New Delhi:   As the deadline to pay the ransom expired on Wednesday, the fate of six Indian sailors onboard MV Suez, captured by Somali pirates remains uncertain. With their pleas to the Government fallen on deaf ears so far, the families of the captive sailors are losing hope. After getting little more than empty assurances, they will hold a protest in New Delhi on Thursday and will march from Jantar Mantar to Parliament. The Opposition is also putting pressure on the Government. The BJP demanded answers from the Government and walked out of the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj will take families of the kidnapped sailors to the Speaker on Thursday. A meeting with the Prime Minister is also expected later in the evening. External Affairs Minister SM Krishna has said that the Indian missions were in touch with the transitional government in Somalia and with the ship owner. Meanwhile, 11 Indian sailors, captured on a separate ship were released

Afghans blame foreign forces as civilian deaths double

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Source: The globe and mail PAUL KORING WASHINGTON—   Reuters Published   Wednesday, Mar. 09, 2011       Afghans are being killed in record numbers as the surge of U.S.-led foreign troops wages a massive new counterinsurgency campaign that has also destroyed thousands of homes and farms. The worsening tally compiled by the United Nations casts doubts on President Barack Obama’s decision to triple U.S. troop numbers to more than 100,000 in a concerted campaign to win Afghan hearts and minds. Although the UN report confirms what Canadian and U.S. military commanders have said for years – that the Taliban kill far more civilians – it also makes clear that Afghans blame foreign forces. There’s “a greater perception by the wider Afghan community that the presence of international forces is responsible for higher levels of insecurity, is the cause for greater numbers of civilian casualties regardless of the perpetrator, and that international forces act with impunity,” says the report, join