Free Internet Press Newsletter - Monday December 25 2006 - (813)

Monday December 25 2006 edition
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Intelligence Sources: English Channel Tunnel Targeted By Terrorists 2006-12-25 03:39:07 The English Channel tunnel has been targeted by a group of Islamic militant terrorists aiming to cause maximum carnage during the holiday season, according to French and American secret services. The plan, which the French DGSE foreign intelligence service became aware of earlier this year, is revealed in a secret report to the French government on threat levels. The report, dated December 19, indicates that the tip-off came from the American CIA. British and French intelligence agencies have run a series of checks of the security system protecting the 31-mile tunnel but the threat level, the DGSE warns, remains high. British security services remain on high alert throughout the holiday period. According to the French sources, the plan was put together in Pakistan and is being directed from there. The plotters are believed to be Western Europeans, possibly Britons of Pakistani descent. The DGSE say that levels of "chatter", the constant communication that takes place between militants, has not been so high since 2001. Last week Sir Ian Blair, the head of the Metropolitan Police, described "the threat of another terrorist attempt" as "ever present" adding that "Christmas is a period when that might happen". Read The Full Story Auditors: Pentagon, Interior Dept. Wasted Millions 2006-12-25 03:38:18 The U.S. Defense Department paid two procurement operations at the Department of the Interior to arrange for Pentagon purchases totaling $1.7 billion that resulted in excessive fees and tens of millions of dollars in waste, documents show. Defense turned to Interior, which manages federal lands and resources, in an effort to speed up its contracting. Interior is one of several government agencies allowed to manage contracts for other agencies in exchange for a fee. The arrangement between Interior and Defense "routinely violated rules designed to protect U.S. Government interests," according to draft audit documents obtained by the Washington Post. More than half of the contracts examined were awarded without competition or without checks to determine that the prices were reasonable, according to the audits by the inspectors general for Defense (DOD) and Interior (DOI). Ninety-two percent of the work reviewed was awarded without verifying that the contractors' cost estimates were accurate; 96 percent was inadequately monitored. Read The Full Story Nonprofit Group Connects Rep. Murtha, Lobbyists, Raises Ethics Questions 2006-12-25 03:37:40 For a quarter of a century, Carmen Scialabba labored for U.S. Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pennsylvania), helping parcel out the billions of dollars that came through the House Appropriations Committee, so when the disabled aide needed a favor, Murtha was there. In 2001, Murtha announced the creation of Scialabba's nonprofit agency for the disabled in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. The next year, with Scialabba still on his staff, Murtha secured a half-million dollars for the group, the Pennsylvania Association for Individuals With Disabilities (PAID), and put another $150,000 in the pipeline for 2003, according to appropriations committee records and former committee aides. Since then, the group has helped hundreds of disabled people find work. Yet the group serves another function as well. PAID has become a gathering point for defense contractors and lobbyists with business before Murtha's defense appropriations subcommittee, and for Pennsylvania businesses and universities that have thrived on federal money obtained by Murtha. Read The Full Story James Brown, 'Godfather Of Soul', Dies At 73 2006-12-25 03:36:59 James Brown, the dynamic, pompadoured "Godfather of Soul," whose rasping vocals and revolutionary rhythms made him a founder of rap, funk and disco as well, died early Monday, his agent said. He was 73. Brown was hospitalized with pneumonia at Emory Crawford Long Hospital on Sunday and died around 1:45 a.m. Monday, said his agent, Frank Copsidas of Intrigue Music. Longtime friend Charles Bobbit was by his side, he said. Copsidas said Brown's family was being notified of his death and that the cause was still uncertain. "We really don't know at this point what he died of," he said. Along with Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan and a handful of others, Brown was one of the major musical influences of the past 50 years. At least one generation idolized him, and sometimes openly copied him. His rapid-footed dancing inspired Mick Jagger and Michael Jackson among others. Songs such as David Bowie's "Fame," Prince's "Kiss," George Clinton's "Atomic Dog" and Sly and the Family Stone's "Sing a Simple Song" were clearly based on Brown's rhythms and vocal style. Read The Full Story Ethiopian Warplanes Attack Somalia 2006-12-24 17:03:34 Ethiopa sent its warplanes to bomb Somalia Sunday, openly escalating its conflict with Islamist fighters into a dreaded regional war. According to witnesses, the warplanes bombarded several towns while Ethiopian tanks pushed aggressively into territory that had been controlled by Somalia’s Islamist forces. Ethiopia is backing Somalia’s transitional government, which has been losing control of parts of the country to the rival Islamist forces. Until today, Ethiopian officials denied they had combat forces in Somalia, saying instead that their presence was limited to a few hundred military advisors, but witnesses had said Ethiopian troops were already in Somalia. Read The Full Story Italian Contact In Litvinenko Case Arrested On Arms Trading Charges 2006-12-24 17:02:29 Mario Scaramella, the Italian contact of the dead ex-Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko, flew home for Christmas on Sunday but was arrested in connection with an investigation into arms trafficking, said a judicial source. The source said Scaramella was arrested at Naples airport as he arrived on a flight from London, where he was hospitalized this month for treatment for suspected radiation poisoning. He was one of the last people to have met with Litvinenko, who died last month of radiation poisoning. Scaramella, an Italian KGB expert who was a consultant to a parliamentary commission that investigated spying in Europe during the Cold War, was arrested in connection with an investigation into arms trafficking and violating state secrets. Read The Full Story Archbishop Of Canterbury Attacks Britain And U.S. Over Iraq 2006-12-24 02:32:56 The spiritual head of the Anglican Church launched an outspoken attack on the British and U.S. governments on Saturday, saying their "ignorant" policy in Iraq has put Christians in the region at risk. Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the leader of the world's 77 million Anglicans, said Christians are being attacked and forced to flee the Middle East because their countrymen see them as supporters of a "crusading West". "This Christmas, pray for the little town of Bethlehem, and spare a thought for those who have been put at risk by our short-sightedness and ignorance," Williams wrote in an article for the London Times newspaper. Williams, who is not shy of controversy, has long been a critic of the Iraq war, saying there was no moral basis for military intervention. Read The Full Story Gov. Schwarzenegger Breaks Leg Skiing 2006-12-24 02:32:24 Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger fell and broke his right leg Saturday morning while skiing with his family in Sun Valley, Idaho, said officials on the governor's staff. The 59-year-old governor will have surgery to repair a broken femur when he returns to Los Angeles after Christmas, the governor's chief of staff, Adam Mendelsohn, said in a statement Saturday night. Schwarzenegger is "at his home in Sun Valley recovering and recuperating," said Julie Soderlund, a spokeswoman for the governor's office. The accident occurred while Schwarzenegger was on a normal run with his family, said Soderlund. She could not provide details on where and how he fell. Read The Full Story	Ethiopia Declares War On Somalia Militia As Jets Bomb Mogadishu Airport 2006-12-25 03:38:43 Ethiopian fighter jets bombed Mogadishu International Airport in the middle of Somalia's capital on Monday, said witnesses. It was the first direct attack on the headquarters of an Islamic movement attempting to wrest power from the internationally recognized government. There was no immediate information about casualties. Ethiopia's prime minister announced Sunday night that his country was "forced to enter a war" with Somalia's Council of Islamic Courts after the group declared holy war on Ethiopia, a largely Christian nation. Residents said Islamic fighters left the town of Belet Weyne on the Somali-Ethiopian border overnight after Ethiopian fighter jets bombed Islamic positions on Sunday. Ethiopian and Somali troops captured a key border town early Monday, a day after Ethiopia sent fighter jets into neighboring Somalia and bombed several towns in a dramatic attack on a powerful Islamic movement. Read The Full Story U.S. Military Uges Iraq To Rein In Its Security Guard 2006-12-25 03:37:57 U.S. military commanders in Iraq are attempting to get under control the Facilities Protection Service, whose 150,000 members are paid to guard the 26 Iraqi ministries and serve as personal security to ministers and important government officials, but also provide manpower for sectarian party militias and death squads. The Iraq Study Group highlighted the problem earlier this month, describing members of the FPS, an Iraqi force, as having "questionable loyalties and capabilities," and quoting an unnamed senior U.S. official saying they are "incompetent, dysfunctional and subversive." Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr controls the ministries of health, transportation and agriculture, and FPS units employed by those ministries are "a source of funding and jobs for the Mahdi Army," his militia, according to the study group report. Read The Full Story Surprise - NOT! Flaws Detected In Microsoft's Vista 2006-12-25 03:37:19 Microsoft is facing an early crisis of confidence in the quality of its Windows Vista operating system as computer security researchers and hackers have begun to find potentially serious flaws in the system that was released to corporate customers late last month. On Dec. 15, a Russian programmer posted a description of a flaw that makes it possible to increase a user’s privileges on all of the company’s recent operating systems, including Vista. And over the weekend a Silicon Valley computer security firm said it had notified Microsoft that it had also found that flaw, as well as five other vulnerabilities, including one serious error in the software code underlying the company’s new Internet Explorer 7 browser. The browser flaw is particularly troubling because it potentially means that Web users could become infected with malicious software simply by visiting a booby-trapped site. That would make it possible for an attacker to inject rogue software into the Vista-based computer, according to executives at Determina, a company based in Redwood City, California, that sells software intended to protect against operating system and other vulnerabilities. Read The Full Story Hamas Criticizes Palestinian Talks With Israel 2006-12-24 17:03:55 Hamas, the radical Islamic faction that leads the Palestinian government, Sunday dismissed as inconsequential the concessions made a day earlier by Israel in talks with the Palestinian Authority’s president, Mahmoud Abbas. Hamas was also critical of Mr. Abbas for his willingness to work with Israel’s prime minister, Ehud Olmert, at a time when he has broken off negotiations with Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya, of Hamas, on a unity government for the Palestinians. Olmert and Abbas held their first formal meeting Saturday night, and the Israeli leader made a number of gestures intended to bolster Abbas, who is from the Fatah movement, in his power struggle with Hamas. Read The Full Story Iran Vows To Continue Nuclear Program 2006-12-24 17:03:08 Iran vowed Sunday to continue to develop its nuclear program and to reconsider its relations with the international nuclear monitoring agency, taking a defiant stance in response to the Security Council’s approval on Saturday of sanctions intended to curb the program. Iran insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, and that as a member of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty it has the legal right to enrich uranium to produce its own reactor fuel. The United States says Iran, a major oil exporter, has no need for a peaceful nuclear program and is using it as a cover for an effort to produce nuclear weapons. In statements released by the Iranian news agency IRNA, the foreign ministry said that Iran was starting work on a 3,000-centrifuge site today and intends to complete it. Iran, which already had one cascade of 164 centrifuges in operation, has said repeatedly that it plans to increase the number of centrifuges in operation to 3,000 by the end of this year. Read The Full Story Are Pakistanis Aiding And Abetting The Taliban? 2006-12-24 02:33:17 The guerrillas followed a dirt road from the Pakistan border through a valley surrounded by low, grassy mountains to their target: an Afghan police post. Not long after sunset, they opened fire from several sides. For almost four hours, scores of suspected Taliban fighters outgunned the lightly armed Afghan border police, and almost overran their camp. Then, as quickly as it started, the fight ended. The militants picked up their dead and wounded and fled back into sanctuaries, three miles away, in one of the loosely governed tribal areas of Pakistan. "A hundred armed Taliban men passed through the Pakistani border with their equipment, and with their rocket-propelled grenade launchers," said Qasim Khail, commander of the Afghan border police's 2nd Brigade, which guards the post here. "And they retreated the same way. There are only two escape routes out of here, and both of them end at a Pakistani border post." Read The Full Story San Francisco Hit By Third Small Earthquake In Four Days 2006-12-24 02:32:41 A third small earthquake in four days rattled the San Francisco Bay Area on Saturday, but there were no immediate reports of injury or damage. The temblor that struck at 9:21 a.m. had a preliminary magnitude of 3.5 and a depth of about 6.1 miles, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The epicenter was about 2 miles from Berkeley and 3 miles from Emeryville, across the bay from San Francisco. Residents throughout the Bay Area reported feeling the jolt, but police said there were no reports of injuries. Read The Full Story
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