New York City Police Department Releases Aerial 9/11 Photos
The New York City police department released these previously unseen aerial photographs of the attack on the World Trade center on September 11th, 2001. The photographs were taken by police officers.
A series of coordinated terrorist attacks killed over one hundred people in Mumbai, India. Train stations, Mumbai anti-terrorism experts and luxury hotels were among the targets hit by the terrorist who reportedly arrived by ship. Fires were been reported at the Taj Mahal hotel. The attacks were condemned by world leaders around the world.
Massive Truck Bomb Attack on Pakistan Marriott Hotel
A huge explosion from a truck bomb destroyed part of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad on Saturday. This Marriott Hotel is frequented by foreigners. CNN reports that 57 people were killed including two Americans. 266 people were injured in the massive blast. You can see the huge crater from the blast here on a Telegraph article. The Christian Science Monitorsays the main suspect is the Pakistani Taliban. Below is a news video report from the AP.
In this video from the Associated Press troops in Afghanistan remember the events of September 11th, 2001. This year in Afhganistan has been a tough one for U.S. troops and coalition forces. 191 troops have been killed in Afhganistan through August which is nearly as much as the tally in 2007. You can see a page about 9-11 remembrances here including the 2008 Tunnel To Towers Run.
The BBC reports on a fresh terrorist attack in Algeria. The latest attack was twin car bombs that hit a barracks in bus in the Algerian city of Bouira. The attacks killed twelve and injured 42. They come just a day after an attack that killed 48 people at a police college.
The attacks come one day after a car bomb killed 48 people and injured a further 38 at a police college near Boumerdes, east of Algiers.
In recent months Algeria has suffered regular attacks blamed on Islamist insurgents linked to al-Qaeda.
The country has been rebuilding with the help of oil and gas profits after a brutal civil conflict in which Islamist militants led an insurgency against state security forces in the 1990s.
Many recent attacks have happened in the area east and south of Algiers, which borders the mountainous Berber region of Kabylia.
The attacks in Algeria have been linked to the al-Qaeda terrorist network. The Guardian has a story about the rise of al-Qaeda in Algeria.
Earlier this month the FBI's suspect in the anthrax case, Dr. Bruce E. Ivins, 62, committed suicide just as the Justice Department was about to file criminal charges against him. Dr. Ivins worked at Ft. Detrick on anthrax research and he helped the FBI on the 2001 anthrax cases.
A top government scientist who helped the FBI analyze samples from the 2001 anthrax attacks has died in Maryland from an apparent suicide, just as the Justice Department was about to file criminal charges against him for the attacks, the Los Angeles Times has learned.
Bruce E. Ivins, 62, who for the last 18 years worked at the government's elite biodefense research laboratories at Ft. Detrick, Md., had been informed of his impending prosecution, said people familiar with Ivins, his suspicious death and the FBI investigation.
Many of his co-workers and friends did not see Ivins as a threat.
To some of his longtime colleagues and neighbors, it was a startling and inexplicable turn of events for a churchgoing, family-oriented germ researcher known for his jolly disposition - the guy who did a juggling act at community events and composed satiric ballads he played on guitar or piano to departing co-workers.
"He did not seem to have any particular grudges or idiosyncrasies," said Dr. Kenneth Hedlund, a retired physician who once worked alongside Ivins at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases in Frederick. "He was the last person you would have suspected to be involved in something like this."
One person who did perceive Ivins as a major threat was his therapist Jean Duley. This video has a recording from a court hearing where frightened therapist Jean Duley sought a protective order from Dr. Ivins on July 24th. Duley feared for her life and called Dr. Bruce Ivins a psychotic "revenge killer."
The government's position is that Ivins is guilty and that he acted alone in distributing the deadly anthrax in 2001, which killed five people. Journalists continue to ask questions about the investigation. One reason for this is because bio-weapons expert Steven Hatfill was at one point wrongly accused for this same crime. There are also questions being raised as to why someone with mental problems was allowed near the deadly anthrax in the first place.
Several Danish newspapers have reprinted the Mohammed cartoons that caused an uproar in the Islamic world two years ago. The reprint comes after an attempt was made to murder one of the cartoonists. This attempt was stopped by Denmark police.
Denmark's leading newspapers reprinted a drawing of the Prophet Muhammad on Wednesday, a day after three men were arrested on suspicion of plotting to kill the cartoonist whose work had spurred deadly protests in the Muslim world.
The papers said they wanted to show their firm commitment to freedom of speech after Tuesday's arrests in western Denmark.
The Jyllands-Posten newspaper, which first published 12 depictions of Muhammad on Sept. 30, 2005, reprinted Kurt Westergaard's cartoon in its Wednesday edition. Several other major dailies also reprinted the drawing, which shows Muhammad wearing a turban shaped like a bomb with a lit fuse.
MSNBC says three suspected terrorists were arrested - two Tunisians and a Danish citizen of Moroccan origin. PET chief Jakob Scharf stated the arrests were to prevent a "terror-related assassination of one of the cartoonists behind the cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad." The Telegraph'sstory says it was five people who were arrested. More coverage of this story can be found at the IHT, CNN, Newser, Gulf Daily News, UPI, MichelleMalkin.com and Wikinews. You can see the cartoon here on Wikinews.
Fox News is reporting that the DHS and the FBI are warning law enforcement officials about female suicide bombers that appear to be pregnant. Fox News calls them mom bombers. The report (PDF) from the DHS warns of female bombers that may appear to be pregnant. These bombers may be wearing pregnancy prosthetics — devices that make them appear pregnant to hide explosive devices.
The document also contained the following information under the category: Implications.
Suicide bombings continue to be the preferred terrorist tactic because the
bomber controls the location, timing, and method of delivery. Many facilities such as public places are inherently vulnerable to suicide bombing attacks and the terrorist's latitude in determining and adjusting the target and timing of an attack up to the point of detonation further complicates countermeasures. These factors indicate the importance of disciplined security measures and alertness by security professionals to potential threats from the full-range of gender and age groups.
Despite the lack of a reliable, predictable profile of a suicide terrorist, security and law enforcement officials and first responders should be aware of terrorists' use of female suicide operatives and familiarize themselves with behavioral patterns that such bombers have demonstrated in previous attacks.
There doesn't appear to be anything to suggest this is about to happen in the United States but the DHS wants first responders to be aware of the possibility of a female suicide bomber. The increasing use of female suicide bombers - such as the ghastly use of Down syndrome patients recently in a recent Iraq bombing - has them concerned.
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