Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Airports Slow to Receive Whole-Body Imaging Scanners
By SCOTT FRIEDMAN
Updated 11:45 AM CST, Tue, Dec 29, 2009
Only 19 U.S. airports have received sophisticated imaging machines that can detect explosives hidden in clothing.
Security experts say the scanners may be the best defense in stopping attacks such as an attempt to bomb a Detroit-bound aircraft Christmas Day.
The Transportation Security Administration wants to install more of the devices, known as whole-body imaging scanners, but the agency has met resistance from civil liberties groups, passengers and some members of Congress.
Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, the nation's third busiest, has just two of the machines.
Government investigators say they believe Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the man accused of attempting to blow up a Northwest Airlines flight on Christmas Day, hid the explosives he used inside his underwear. The scanners are able to detect weapons and explosives in places security screeners are not allowed to touch in physical pat-down searches, such as the groin area and even body cavities where items could be concealed.
The Associated Press reported Monday that Abdulmutallab did not pass through a whole-body imaging scanner before boarding the Northwest flight in Amsterdam, Netherlands. European airports are using the imaging machines only in limited cases.
Dallas-based aviation security consultant Clive Miskin said whole-body scanners may be the best technology to prevent the terrorists from personally carrying explosives onto planes.
"That's one piece of technology that can help and it will help apprehend bad people with bad intentions," said Miskin, managing director of International Security Defense Systems LLC.
Miskin's partner, Chaim Koppel, said recent events may push governments to install the machines at more airports.
"Slowly, we're going to see more them in the States, in Europe, in South America," he said.
The American Civil Liberties Union has opposed the imaging machines, arguing that the body images they produce are too revealing. And some members of Congress have supported legislation that would limit their use, allowing passengers to opt out and submit to a pat-down search instead.
In an effort to increase privacy, the TSA screeners who read the images are placed in a separate room so they are not able to see the passenger who is being shown on the imaging screen.
Travelers at DFW Airport were divided.
"It's not like you're taking a picture and posting it on the Internet or selling it in a magazine," said Paul LeBon. "It's just a scan that lasts for 10 seconds.
"I am going to take issue with people being able to look at my children's bodies and my body," said Tamara Haddox, another traveler.
The TSA currently has 150 additional body imaging devices machines on order. But that's not nearly enough to cover all of the nation's airports.
First Published: Dec 28, 2009 5:55 PM CST
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Investigators: Northwest Bomb Plot Planned by al Qaeda in Yemen
The plot to blow up an American passenger jet over Detroit was organized and launched by al Qaeda leaders in Yemen who apparently sewed bomb materials into the suspect's underwear before sending him on his mission, federal authorities tell ABC News.
Northwest Airlines flight 253 is shown on the runway after arriving at Detroit Metropolitan Airport... 
(J.P. Karas/AP Photo)Investigators say the suspect had more than 80 grams of PETN, a compound related to nitro-glycerin used by the military. The so-called shoe bomber, Richard Reid, had only about 50 grams kin his failed attempt in 2001 to blow up a U.S.-bound jet. Yesterday's bomb failed because the detonator may have been too small or was not in "proper contact" with the explosive material, investigators told ABC News.
Investigators say the suspect, Abdul Farouk Umar Abdulmutallab, a 23-year-old Nigerian student whose birthday was last Tuesday, has provided detailed information about his recruitment and training for what was supposed to be a Christmas Day suicide attack.
info came from http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/northwest-bomb-plot-planned-al-qaeda-yemen/story?id=9426085
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Passengers help foil attack on Detroit-bound plane
Dec 26, 8:49 AM (ET)
By JIM IRWIN
ROMULUS, Mich. (AP) - An attempted terrorist attack on a Christmas Day flight began with a pop and a puff of smoke - sending passengers scrambling to subdue a Nigerian man who claimed to be acting on orders from al-Qaida to blow up the airliner, officials and travelers said.
The commotion began as Northwest Airlines Flight 253, carrying 278 passengers and 11 crew members from Amsterdam, prepared to land in Detroit just before noon Friday. Travelers said they smelled smoke, saw a glow, and heard what sounded like firecrackers. At least one person climbed over others and jumped on the man, who officials say was trying to ignite an explosive device.
"It sounded like a firecracker in a pillowcase," said Peter Smith, a passenger from the Netherlands. "First there was a pop, and then (there) was smoke."
Smith said one passenger, sitting opposite the man, climbed over passengers, went across the aisle and tried to restrain the man. The heroic passenger appeared to have been burned.
Afterward, the suspect was taken to a front-row seat with his pants cut off and his legs burned. Multiple law enforcement officials also said the man appeared badly burned on his legs, indicating the explosive was strapped there. The components were apparently mixed in-flight and included a powdery substance, multiple law enforcement and counterterrorism officials said.
The White House said it believed it was an attempted act of terrorism and stricter security measures were quickly imposed on airline travel. Dutch anti-terrorism authorities said the U.S. has asked all airlines to take extra precautions on flights worldwide that are bound for the United States.
The incident was reminiscent of Richard Reid, who tried to destroy a trans-Atlantic flight in 2001 with explosives hidden in his shoes, but was subdued by other passengers.
Multiple law enforcement officials identified the suspect in Friday's attempted attack as Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab. He was described as Nigerian.
One law enforcement official said the man claimed to have been instructed by al-Qaida to detonate the plane over U.S. soil, but other law enforcement officials cautioned that such claims could not be verified immediately, and said the man may have been acting independently - inspired but not specifically trained or ordered by terror groups.
All the officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was continuing.
Intelligence and anti-terrorism officials in Yemen said they were investigating claims by the suspect that he picked up the explosive device and instructions on how to use it in that country. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the media.
The man was being questioned Friday evening. An intelligence official said he was being held and treated in an Ann Arbor, Mich., hospital. The hospital said one passenger from the flight was taken to the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor, but referred all inquiries to the FBI.
Melinda Dennis, who was seated in the front row of the plane, said the man involved was brought to the front row and seated near her. She said his legs appeared to be badly burned and his pants were cut off. She said he was taken off the plane handcuffed to a stretcher.
One law enforcement official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said Mutallab's name had surfaced earlier on at least one U.S. intelligence database, but he was not on a watch list or a no-fly list.
The suspect boarded in Nigeria and went through Amsterdam en route to Detroit, Rep. Peter King, the ranking GOP member of the House Homeland Security Committee, told CNN. A spokeswoman for police at the Schiphol airport in Amsterdam declined comment about the case or about security procedures at the airport for Flight 253.
Dutch airline KLM says the connection in Amsterdam from Lagos, Nigeria, to Detroit involves a change in carrier and a change in aircraft.
Schiphol airport, one of Europe's busiest with a heavy load of transit passengers from Africa and Asia to North America, strictly enforces European security regulations including only allowing small amounts of liquid in hand luggage that must be placed inside clear plastic bags.
A spokesman for the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, Akin Olukunle, said all passengers and their luggage are screened before boarding international flights. He also said the airport in Lagos cleared a U.S. Transportation Security Administration audit in November.
"We had a pass mark," Olukunle said. "We actually are up to standards in all senses."
Nigeria's information minister, Dora Akunyili, condemned the attempted bombing. She said the government has opened its own investigation into the suspect and will work with U.S. authorities.
"We state very clearly that as a nation we abhor all forms of violence," Akunyili said in a statement issued Saturday.
London's Metropolitan Police also was working with U.S. officials, a spokeswoman said, and searches were being conducted in that city. The spokeswoman would not provide additional details, including what connection the suspect had to London or what was being searched. She spoke on condition of anonymity in line with department policy.
Delta Air Lines Inc., which acquired Northwest last year, said a passenger caused a disturbance, was subdued, and the crew requested that law enforcement officials meet the flight.
Passenger Syed Jafri, a U.S. citizen who had flown from the United Arab Emirates, said the incident occurred during the plane's descent. Jafri said he was seated three rows behind the passenger and said he saw a glow, and noticed a smoke smell. Then, he said, "a young man behind me jumped on him."
"Next thing you know, there was a lot of panic," he said.
Federal officials said there would be heightened security for both domestic and international flights at airports across the country, but the intensified levels would likely be "layered," differing from location to location depending on alerts, security concerns and other factors.
Passengers can expect to see heightened screening, more bomb-sniffing dog and officer units and behavioral-detection specialists at some airports, but there will also be unspecified less visible precautions as well, officials said.
The FBI and the Homeland Security Department issued an intelligence note on Nov. 20 about the threat picture for the holiday season, which was obtained by The Associated Press. At the time, officials said they had no specific information about attack plans by al-Qaida or other terrorist groups.
President Barack Obama was notified of the incident and discussed it with security officials, the White House said. Officials said he is monitoring the situation and receiving regular updates from his vacation spot in Hawaii.
---
Associated Press Writers Lara Jakes in Baghdad, Iraq, Jon Gambrell in Lagos, Nigeria, Arthur Max in Amsterdam, Jennifer Quinn in London, Ahmed al-Haj in Yemen, and Larry Margasak and Devlin Barrett in Washington contributed to this report.
info came from http://apnews.myway.com/article/20091226/D9CR18JO0.html
NWA passenger was trying to blow up flight into Detroit
A man suspected of planning to blow up a Delta Air Lines flight in Detroit could face charges as soon as Saturday, according to an official familiar with the case.
The suspect, identified by a member of Congress as Abdul Mudallad, is a Nigerian national who claims to have ties to al-Qaida.
It was unclear today why the man wanted to attack the flight arriving from Amsterdam.
The plane, an Airbus 330, landed about noon in Detroit, and was carrying 278 passengers on a flight from Amsterdam. There were no major injuries.
Many on board were unaware of what had occurred at the front of the plane — learning about the incident only after they had left the aircraft and were questioned by FBI agents.
Others were keenly aware, having a bird’s-eye view of the man, who was tackled by passengers shortly after he tried to light what many thought was a firecracker.
“It was terrifying. I thought this was it,” said Richelle Keepman of Oconomowoc, Wis., who sat just rows in front of the suspect.
She said she thought she was going to die when she saw the flames and commotion.
Michigan native Melinda Dennis was sitting in first class when the suspect was placed in a seat across the aisle from her.
“He didn’t say anything,” said Dennis, who lives in Europe and was connecting to a flight to Arizona. “He was burned very severely on his leg.… He was very calm and didn’t show any reaction to pain.”
Passengers subdued the man and may have prevented him from detonating the explosives, officials said.
A White House official said the incident was an attempted act of terrorism.
Federal officials imposed stricter screening measures after the incident.
Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., ranking GOP member of the House Homeland Security Committee, identified the suspect as Abdul Mudallad, a Nigerian. King said the flight began in Nigeria and went through Amsterdam en route to Detroit. There were 278 passengers aboard the Airbus 330.
There was nothing out of the ordinary until the flight was on final approach to Detroit, said Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory.
That is when the pilot declared an emergency and landed without incident shortly thereafter, Cory said in an e-mail message. The plane landed at 11:51 a.m.
One U.S. intelligence official said the explosive device was a mix of powder and liquid. It failed when the passenger tried to detonate it.
The counterterror official said the passenger was being questioned this evening.
The passenger created a disturbance by lighting what was reported to be firecrackers -- or perhaps a "powdery substance" -- onboard the flight, injuring himself and several other passengers, according to Delta Airlines
FBI spokeswoman Sandra Berchtold confirmed today that agents are at Metro.
The man was apparently already on the government's no-fly list of suspected terrorists, ABC News said a senior intelligence official told them.
President Barack Obama was notified of the incident and discussed it with security officials, the White House said. It said he is monitoring the situation and receiving regular updates from his vacation spot in Hawaii.
One passenger from the flight was taken to the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor, hospital spokeswoman Tracy Justice said. She would not say what the injuries were.
Because Delta Airlines in Detroit did not handle security for the flight, Elliott said she could not answer how the items that were ignited got on the plane.
She said Delta has a hub in Amsterdam and this one was among several flights today.
Security precautions raised in wake of attempted attack
The Homeland Security Department said passengers may see additional screening measures on domestic and international flights because of the incident.
“We encourage those with future travel plans to stay in touch with their airline and to visit www.tsa.gov for updates,” the department said.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has been briefed on the incident and is closely monitoring the situation.
The department encouraged travelers to be observant and aware of their surroundings and report any suspicious behavior to law enforcement officials.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
info came from http://freep.com/article/20091225/NEWS05/91225022/1318/Reports-NWA-passenger-was-trying-to-blow-up-flight-into-Detroit
Average Net user now online 13 hours per week
December 23, 2009 7:30 AM PST
How much time do you spend online each week? If you're an average Net user, a new poll shows, it's around 13 hours--excluding e-mail.
The Harris Interactive poll, released Wednesday, found that 80 percent of U.S. adults go online, whether at home, work, or elsewhere. Those who surf the Net spend an average of 13 hours per week online, but that figure varies widely. Twenty percent are online for two hours or less a week, while 14 percent are there for 24 hours or more.
The average number of hours that people spend online each week has grown over the years, hovering at 7 hours from 1999 through 2002, 8 or 9 hours from 2003 through 2006, and 11 hours in 2007. The level hit its peak at 14 hours in October 2008--after the global recession had set in and just before the U.S. presidential election.
The jump in time spent in cyberspace likely stems from a few factors, according to Harris. More people are comfortable using the Internet. More of them are shopping and watching TV online. In addition, the number of Web sites and online applications has increased. Harris adds that the recession may also play a role since surfing the Net at home is free (after paying monthly access fees), while going out means spending money.
The age group that spent the most time online per week: 30- to 39-year-olds, at 18 hours.
The total number of U.S. adults on the Internet is 184 million, around 80 percent of the total population, according to the poll. That figure is virtually the same as in 2008 but is a big jump from 1999, when it reached at 56 percent, and from 1995, when the figure was a mere 9 percent.
The number of people who surf the Net at home rose to 76 percent this year, compared with 66 percent in 2005, 46 percent in 1999, and 16 percent in 1996. In 1995, that specific question wasn't even asked.
The Harris poll queried 2,029 people in early July and mid-October.
Here are the poll results:
info came from http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10421016-93.html
AC/DC Austrian concert in doubt over rare bird risk
- AC/DC concert may be cancelled
- Headbanger music "a danger to birds"
- Animal rights group threatening legal action
AUSSIE rockers AC/DC could have to cancel a sold-out concert because their big sound poses a danger to rare birds.
Animal rights campaigners are threatening legal action if the veteran band goes ahead with a gig planned for Wels airport in Austria in May.
Hans Uhl of BirdLife said birds nesting in the area at the time would be threatened by anthems such as Highway To Hell and You Shook Me All Night Long.
"The second biggest colony of curlews in Upper Austria and various other ground-nesting birds must not become endangered," Mr Uhl said,The Daily Telegraph reports.
Tickets for the event - which sees the group return after playing to a sold-out crowd at Vienna’s Ernst Happel Stadium last May - sold out after going on sale earlier this month.
The event's 80,000 tickets were sold out within hours.
In Australia, the band's Melbourne concerts at Etihad Stadium in February had been in doubt after AFL objections earlier this year.
The AFL said the dates would clash with a possible pre-season NAB Cup match.
But the signing of a new contract between the league and the stadium has allowed AC/DC to go ahead with the three Melbourne shows on February 11, 13 and 15.
The band sold 180,000 tickets for those shows.
With wires
info came from http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/music/acdc-a-bird-risk-in-austria/story-e6frfn09-1225813680637
Friday, December 25, 2009
Pope delivers Christmas blessing after fall
Dec 25, 8:09 AM (ET)
By NICOLE WINFIELD
to watch a video go here http://www.breitbart.tv/cell-phone-video-shows-moment-woman-topples-pope/
VATICAN CITY (AP) - Pope Benedict XVI delivered his traditional Christmas Day blessing Friday, looking tired and unsteady but otherwise fine hours after being knocked down by a woman who jumped the barrier at the start of Mass in St. Peter's Basilica.
The Vatican said the 82-year-old Benedict was unhurt in the fall and that his busy Christmas schedule would remain unchanged.
French Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, an 87-year-old Vatican diplomat, fractured his hip in the commotion and will be operated on at Rome's Gemelli hospital, Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said.
Benedict appeared a bit unsteady as he approached his chair on the loggia overlooking St. Peter's Square to deliver his traditional Christmas blessing and was steadied by an attendant.
But he then spread open his arms, blessed the crowd and delivered his "Urbi et Orbi" speech, Latin for "To the city and the world," without any problem. He followed with Christmas greetings in 65 different languages that drew sustained cheers and chants from the crowd.
In the speech, the pope decried the effects of the world financial crisis, conflicts in the Holy Land and Africa, and the plight of the "tiny flock" of Christians in Iraq.
"At times it is subject to violence and injustice, but it remains determined to make its own contribution to the building of a society opposed to the logic of conflict and the rejection of one's neighbor," he said.
Lombardi identified the woman who toppled Benedict as Susanna Maiolo, 25, a Swiss-Italian national with psychiatric problems. He said Maiolo, who was not armed, was taken to a clinic for necessary treatment.
She was the same woman involved in a similar incident at last year's Midnight Mass, Vatican officials said. In that case, Maiolo jumped the barricade but never managed to reach the pope and was quietly tackled by security.
In both cases she wore a red sweat shirt.
During Thursday night's service, Maiolo jumped the barricade and lunged for the pope as he processed down the aisle toward the altar. As security guards brought her down, she grabbed Benedict's vestments and pulled him down with her, according to witness video obtained by The Associated Press.
After a few seconds on the floor, Benedict stood up with the help of attendants, put back on his miter and took hold of his staff, and continued to process down the aisle to the cheers of "Viva il Papa!" ("Long live the pope"). He continued to celebrate the Mass without incident.
It was the first time a potential attacker came into direct contact with Benedict during his nearly five-year papacy. Security analysts have frequently warned the pope is too exposed in his public appearances.
After getting up, Benedict, flanked by tense bodyguards, reached the basilica's main altar to start the Mass. The pope, who broke his right wrist in a fall this summer, appeared unharmed but somewhat shaken and leaned heavily on aides and an armrest as he sat down in his chair.
Benedict made no reference to the disturbance after the service started or on Friday.
There have been other security breaches at the Vatican.
In 2007, during an open-air audience in St. Peter's Square, a mentally unstable German man jumped a security barrier and grabbed the back of the pope's open car before being swarmed by security guards.
Then there was the assassination attempt against Pope John Paul II by Turkish gunman Mehmet Ali Agca in 1981. John Paul suffered a severe abdominal wound as he rode in an open jeep at the start of his weekly audience in the Vatican piazza.
The pope is protected by a combination of Swiss Guards, Vatican police and Italian police.
Since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the U.S., the Vatican has tightened security at events where the pope is present. All visitors must pass by police to get into the square, with those entering the basilica going through metal detectors or being scanned by metal-detecting wands.
However, Sister Samira, an Indian aide to Vatican officials who attended the service and saw the incident, said she is never searched by security when she attends papal Masses, and said the same holds true for other people in religious garb.
In a similar incident, Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi was attacked as he was greeting the crowd at a political rally earlier this month. A man with a history of psychological problems hurled a souvenir statuette at the politician, fracturing his nose and breaking two of his teeth.
Benedict celebrated this year's Christmas Eve Mass two hours earlier than the usual midnight starting time in a move by the Vatican to ease the pontiff's busy holiday schedule.
Benedict has been remarkably healthy during his pontificate, keeping to a busy schedule and traveling around the world.
But in July, he broke his wrist during a late-night fall while vacationing in an Alpine chalet and had to have minor surgery and wear a cast for a month - an episode that highlights the risk he ran in Thursday's tumble.
His next major appearance is scheduled for Sunday, when he joins homeless people at a Rome soup kitchen for lunch. In addition, he is due to preside over a vespers service on Dec. 31, celebrate Mass on New Year's Day and another one to mark Epiphany on Jan. 6, and then baptize babies in the Sistine Chapel on Jan. 10.
Thousands of pilgrims from around the world descended on the traditional birthplace of Jesus in Bethlehem for the most upbeat Christmas celebrations the Palestinian town has seen in years.
Hundreds of worshippers packed St. Catherine's Church on Manger Square for morning mass. Most were local Palestinian Christians, and the mass was celebrated in Arabic.
Some 47,000 Filipinos who fled their homes in anticipation of the eruption of the Mayon volcano shared rations of noodles, fried fish and fruit to celebrate Christmas in evacuation centers. Children opened donated presents and clowns entertained the crowds, as the government tried to keep the evacuees from slipping back to their homes.
---__
AP writers Mark Lavie and Dalia Nammari in Bethlehem and Bullit Marquez in Legazpi, Philippines, contributed to this report.
info came from http://apnews.myway.com/article/20091225/D9CQBJ081.html
Thursday, December 24, 2009
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