The Latest from National Terror Alert Response Center

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• U.S. Drone Strike Said to Kill 60 in Pakistan
  
• Homeland Security Television Returns – HSTV
  
• Study Explores Emergency Training In Second Life
  
• Buck Knives CEO Nervous About Switchblade Rule
  
• Taliban Use Stolen U.S. Gear Against U.S.
  
• Nuclear Bomb Missing For 50 Years
  
• How Safe Is Pakistan’s Nuclear Arsenal
  
• 8 Children Burned In Homemade Acid-Bomb Attack
  
• Man Threatens To Crash Plane, Shoot Police – Phoenix
  
• Pensioners Kidnap, Torture Financial Advisor Who Lost
  £2m

U.S. Drone Strike Said to Kill 60 in Pakistan Posted: 23 Jun 2009 11:28 PM PDT An airstrike believed to have been carried out by a United States drone killed at least 60 people at a funeral for a Taliban fighter in South Waziristan on Tuesday, residents of the area and local news reports said. Family members mourned Mr. Zainuddin, a tribal leader, on Tuesday in Abbotabad. Details of the attack, which occurred in Makeen, remained unclear, but the reported death toll was exceptionally high. If the reports are indeed accurate and if the attack was carried out by a drone, the strike could be the deadliest since the United States began using the aircraft to fire remotely guided missiles at members of the Taliban and Al Qaeda in the tribal areas of Pakistan. The United States carried out 22 previous drone strikes this year, as the Obama administration has intensified a policy inherited from the Bush administration. Source This story comes to us via Homeland Security - National Terror Alert. National Terror Alert is America's trusted source for homeland security news and information.

Homeland Security Television Returns – HSTV Posted: 23 Jun 2009 08:28 PM PDT The National Terror Alert Response Center is pleased to announce the return of Homeland Security Television. Watch Homeland Security Television Online Now The Homeland Security Television Channel (HSTV) is the world’s first online, on-demand television network dedicated to homeland security and global development 24/7, featuring broadcast-quality video programs that focus on all aspects of homeland security and the role of global development in fighting terrorism. HSTV is also dedicated to facilitating rapid awareness of new technologies and services, and assisting in the transfer of those technology solutions to the government and critical infrastructure marketplace. In addition to its online content, HSTV Channel offers its content for distribution to broadcast satellite and cable networks. The online and on-demand television programs will contain an interactive component that features a powerful blogging and social networking platform to enable community discussions of security challenges on a global scale, particularly among people interested in security related current events and college students who are entering public service or the security industry. HSTV was founded by Neal Award-winning journalist and renowned security author, Dan Verton, and is dedicated to bringing the highest traditional reporting and production standards to its online video programming. Since its founding in 2005, Homeland Security Television has become the Web site of choice for broadcast quality videos on all aspects of homeland and cybersecurity. The network streams hundreds of hours of programming to viewers every month and has presented interviews with some of the highest profile personalities in homeland and global security today including Tom Ridge; Somalia’s Abdinur Darman, former FEMA Director Michael Brown; and legendary FBI agent Joseph Pistone (Donnie Brasco). Read More At Homeland Security Television Site This story comes to us via Homeland Security - National Terror Alert. National Terror Alert is America's trusted source for homeland security news and information.

Study Explores Emergency Training In Second Life Posted: 23 Jun 2009 07:47 PM PDT The University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health is recruiting public health workers to participate in emergency preparedness training — in Second Life. The UIC study will gauge whether the popular virtual reality game can be used for simulations of life-and-death situations like terrorist attacks and epidemics. Researchers expect using Second Life will cut the costs, time and difficulty associated with traditional emergency training exercises. Those are typically conducted through role-playing scenarios in the real world. Researchers expect to start conducting exercises on Second Life this fall. Public health “should be on the curve, on the leading edge of technology,” says UIC researcher Kevin Harvey. But agencies aren’t keeping up with technology, he says, and could be saving time and money by finding new ways to train. Emergency preparedness training usually requires closing down facilities and calling people off of work—but conducting emergency drills virtually is less disruptive and more convenient, says Colleen Monahan, the study’s principal investigator. Nearly all public health departments in the U.S. train workers for emergencies through traditional tabletop exercises and simulated real world drills. Traditional methods, however, have their limitations. Source – Read Full Article This story comes to us via Homeland Security - National Terror Alert. National Terror Alert is America's trusted source for homeland security news and information.

Buck Knives CEO Nervous About Switchblade Rule Posted: 23 Jun 2009 07:40 PM PDT A northern Idaho knife manufacturer says he’s concerned about a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency plan to reclassify certain imported knives as switchblades. C.J. Buck, president and CEO of Post Falls-based Buck Knives, says the proposed new definition of a switchblade includes release-assisted knives and could apply to just about every folding knife in the country. The proposed rule would apply only to imported knives, but Buck says he’s worried it could eventually be applied to interstate commerce. Idaho’s entire congressional delegation last week wrote a letter to Janet Napolitano, secretary of the U.S. D Source This story comes to us via Homeland Security - National Terror Alert. National Terror Alert is America's trusted source for homeland security news and information.

Taliban Use Stolen U.S. Gear Against U.S. Posted: 23 Jun 2009 07:33 PM PDT Some Taliban fighters have been able to ward off attacks by U.S. aircraft by wearing special infrared patches on their shirts that signal that they are friends rather than foes. The patches, which can also help suicide bombers get close to U.S. targets, are supposed to be the property of the U.S. government alone, but can be easily purchased over the Internet for about $10 each. Also available online: night-vision goggles and military-grade communications systems like the ones used by the terrorists who attacked the Indian city of Mumbai last year. While stealing uniforms is as old as warfare itself, the Internet has made purchases of military equipment much easier and increased the risk to U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some of the patches have been stolen during raids on U.S. resupply convoys in Afghanistan and Pakistan. But they can also be purchased in the United States and sent overseas with little detection. In a recent investigation, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) bought patches using fake names and a front company with only a valid credit card. The patches reveal an American flag when looked at with an infrared light and were designed to avoid friendly fire during nighttime battles. Jonathan Meyer, assistant director of forensic audits and special investigations for the GAO, told The Washington Times, “Based on our conversations with the Department of Defense, terrorists have used U.S. uniforms and the infrared patches to get close to U.S. and allied forces on the battlefield and at bases. This is more of a potential suicide-bomber risk.” Source This story comes to us via Homeland Security - National Terror Alert. National Terror Alert is America's trusted source for homeland security news and information.

Nuclear Bomb Missing For 50 Years Posted: 23 Jun 2009 04:21 PM PDT More than 50 years after a 7,600lb (3,500kg) nuclear bomb was dropped in US waters following a mid-air military collision, the question of whether the missing weapon still poses a threat remains. In his own mind, retired 87-year-old Colonel Howard Richardson is a hero responsible for one of the most extraordinary displays of aeronautic skill in the history of the US Air Force. His view carries a lot of weight and he has a large number of supporters – including the Air Force itself which honoured his feat with a Distinguished Flying Cross. But to others, he is little short of a villain: the man who 50 years ago dropped a nuclear bomb in US waters, a bomb nobody has been able to find and make safe. ‘Top-secret flight’ Shortly after midnight on 5 February 1958, Howard Richardson was on a top-secret training flight for the US Strategic Air Command. It was the height of the Cold War and the young Major Richardson’s mission was to practise long-distance flights in his B-47 bomber in case he was ordered to fly from Homestead Air Force Base in Florida to any one of the targets the US had identified in Russia. Read Full Article This story comes to us via Homeland Security - National Terror Alert. National Terror Alert is America's trusted source for homeland security news and information.

How Safe Is Pakistan’s Nuclear Arsenal Posted: 23 Jun 2009 04:13 PM PDT The safety of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal is a cause for international concern. Even as the Zardari regime is waging a war against Taliban in the Swat valley with support of the US, Taliban has made known its resolve to seize control of the nuclear arsenal of Pakistan and use it to fight the US. The US won’t allow Pakistan’s nuclear arms to pass into the hands of Taliban. To checkmate that possibility, US has enough safeguards in place to take over Pak’s nuclear weapons in case Islamist fighters came close to doing so. US President Barack Obama recently expressed the confidence that Pakistani government has safeguarded its nuclear arsenal. However, no one has been able to ascertain the validity of Pakistan’s assurances about their nuclear weapons security. Source This story comes to us via Homeland Security - National Terror Alert. National Terror Alert is America's trusted source for homeland security news and information.

8 Children Burned In Homemade Acid-Bomb Attack Posted: 23 Jun 2009 04:05 PM PDT Two children suffered serious burns and six others were injured after someone threw a bottle containing dangerous chemicals at them while they played outside over the weekend in Brooklyn. The incident happened about 8 p.m. on Sunday at S. 8th Street in the Williamsburg section of the borough. One of the victims, 10-year-old Yaakov Frankel, along with several witnesses told police that someone ran out of a building across the street from the courtyard where children were playing and tossed the homemade device at them. An explosion that released some sort of Drano-type mix got into the eyes of Frankel and a 12-year-old girl, causing them to be hospitalized. Six other children suffered burns and were treated at the scene. “They were playing and all of a sudden a bottle came in with liquid, and it spins around and exploded into their eyes and [onto] the clothes of the kids,” said. Read Full Article This story comes to us via Homeland Security - National Terror Alert. National Terror Alert is America's trusted source for homeland security news and information.

Man Threatens To Crash Plane, Shoot Police – Phoenix Posted: 23 Jun 2009 03:59 PM PDT Police are looking for a man who allegedly threatened to crash a plane and shoot police on Tuesday morning. Detective James Holmes with the Phoenix Police Department said the suspect was being picked up by State Mental health authorities when he made the threats. Deer Valley Airport was placed on lockdown while officers searched the airport. Holmes said the man was known to shower at Phoenix Country Club. The club and the man’s home were also searched, but officers did not find him. The man is believed to be either on foot or in a car. Source This story comes to us via Homeland Security - National Terror Alert. National Terror Alert is America's trusted source for homeland security news and information.

Pensioners Kidnap, Torture Financial Advisor Who Lost £2m Posted: 23 Jun 2009 03:41 PM PDT Pensioners battered a financial adviser with Zimmer frames before kidnapping and torturing him for losing £2million of their savings. James Amburn, 56, was ambushed outside his home in Speyer, western Germany, bound with masking tape and bundled into a car boot. ‘It took them quite a while because they ran out of breath,’ said Mr Amburn, who was driven to the Bavarian lakeside home of one of the gang. Another couple, retired doctors, joined the kidnappers in the cellar where Mr Amburn was chained and tortured for four days last week. Source – Read Full Article The alleged kidnapping is the latest example of what is being dubbed “silver crime” — the violent backlash of pensioners who feel cheated by the world. “As I was letting myself into my front door I was assaulted from behind and hit hard,” the financial adviser James Amburn, said. “Then they bound me with masking tape until I looked like a mummy. I thought I was a dead man.” He was freed by 40 heavily armed policemen from the counter-terrorist unit last Saturday. The frightened consultant was in his underwear, his body lacerated by wounds allegedly inflicted by angry pensioners. It appears that two couples had entrusted Mr Amburn’s investment company with €2.4 million (£2 million), which he ploughed into Florida’s boom-and-bust property market. The properties became forfeit during the sub-prime mortgage crisis but the couples wanted their money back. After being bundled into the boot of an Audi in the west German town of Speyer, Mr Amburn was driven southwards to Chieming, close to the Austrian border, where one of the couples Roland K, and his wife, Sieglinde, 79, had a holiday home. Read More This story comes to us via Homeland Security - National Terror Alert. National Terror Alert is America's trusted source for homeland security news and information.

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