30 December 2009 | Marc Nongmaithem
The “intelligence community” agency that President Obama said fumbled security in the Detroit bomb plot was apparently the CIA, which compiled a report on Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab after speaking to his father but sat on the file for 5 weeks instead of circulating it to other agencies, reports CNN. The…
30 December 2009 | Marc Nongmaithem
At least 23 are dead and 30 are wounded in the Iraqi city of Ramadi in twin bombings today that targeted the governor of Anbar province, the Daily Telegraph reports. A car bomb exploded near a security checkpoint by the governor’s offices, and 30 minutes later a suicide bomber on…
30 December 2009 | Marc Nongmaithem
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab has told investigators that the radical imam who mentored Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan gave his blessing to the attempted Christmas Day attack, according to a law enforcement source. Anwar al-Awlaki indoctrinated Abdulmutallab and offered him encouragement during his al-Qaeda training in Yemen, the sources tell the…
30 December 2009 | Marc Nongmaithem
Police vehicles can be seen speeding toward groups of Iranian activists and running at least one of them over in a shocking video believed to have been taken during protests last weekend. A person lies crumpled in the road at the end of the video as activists scream, and it’s…
30 December 2009 | Marc Nongmaithem
A British radio DJ’s bosses weren’t amused when he cut short the Queen’s traditional speech and joked about the guillotine. The owners of Birmingam station BRMB say presenter Tom Binns—who called the speech boring before putting on Wham’s Last Christmas —won’t be working for any of the media group’s…
30 December 2009 | Marc Nongmaithem
An American soldier has been killed and two Italian servicemen injured by a rogue Afghan soldier who opened fire on foreign troops at a base in Herat. The soldier, who was wounded when troops returned fire, suffers from mental health problems, according to Afghan officials. Italian officials said the shooting,…
30 December 2009 | Marc Nongmaithem
With the US intelligence community under fire from President Obama on down about what was known, and when, about would-be airline bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, one insider is taking exception. “Abdulmutallab’s father didn’t say his son was a terrorist, let alone planning an attack,” an unnamed official tells Politico of…
30 December 2009 | Marc Nongmaithem
The suspect in the foiled Christmas airliner bombing found radical Islam while in college in London, becoming president of the school’s Islamic society. Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab helped organize “War on Terror Week,” the Times reports, bringing in human-rights lawyers and former Guantanamo Bay detainees as speakers for such programs…
30 December 2009 | Marc Nongmaithem
For decades, critics wouldn’t give Japan’s wine industry a second sniff—but a new wine from a local grape could change all that. One firm’s koshu wine has won over taste buds from France to the US, the Guardian reports. The “crisp and pleasant” Cuvée Denis Dubourdieu is “clearly meant…
29 December 2009 | Marc Nongmaithem
The explosives Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab carried with him aboard Friday’s flight to Detroit were powerful enough to blow a hole in the side of the plane, sources tell the Washington Post . ABC News has obtained photos of the explosives, which were sewn into Abdulmutallab’s underwear. The package contained 80 grams…