Wednesday, November 20, 2013

The IPT Update

http://www.investigativeproject.org/docs/type/1
General security, policy1.  Obama: Unclear if deal on Iran's nuclear program is near
2.  Suicide bombings kill 23 near Iran embassy in Beirut; Abdullah Azzam Brigades claims attack
3.  Rep King: Testimony gives more evidence administration's Benghazi claims were 'indefensible'
4.  US to train Libyan military, including Islamists
5.  Official releasing what appears to be original court file authorizing NSA to conduct sweeps
6.  Pentagon: Drone strikes to remain indispensable weapon against terrorists
7.  US spending millions on landscaping, art classes for terror detainees at Gitmo

Air, rail, port, health, energy & communication security8.  LAPD to investigate allegation of delayed medical aid to TSA agent
9.  Airplane evacuated in Ohio after bomb threat
10. Man builds bomb with materials anyone can buy inside an airport terminal
11. Trade secrets increasingly under attack from hackers, Canada's Foreign Affairs warns
12. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty says its news services have been disrupted by a cyber-attack
13. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory scientists practice defense drill against cyber attack on grid
14. Obamacare website developers rush to fix bug suggesting hacking methods


Financing, money laundering, fraud, identity theft, civil litigation15. Three Somali immigrants sentenced in San Diego for providing support to foreign terrorists
16. Regulators see value in Bitcoin, and investors hasten to agree

Border security, immigration & customs17. Immigration staffers pressured to rush US visas for wealthy investors
18. Second defendant sentenced in murder of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Robert Rosas

International 19. Israel holds suspected al-Qaida biological warfare expert
20. Twitter pulls accounts as group boasts of Kenya attack
21. Taliban claim credit for Kabul suicide attack
22. Australia's spy agencies targeted Indonesian president's mobile phone
23. Airport security agent who was allowed to keep her job despite being filmed dozing on duty has been jailed for helping to smuggle illegal immigrants through the UK to Canada
24. Private firms selling mass surveillance systems around world, documents show
25. Lone gunman still at large despite Paris manhunt
26. Student 'terrorists' cause panic in Riviera hospital

Comment / analysis
27. Claudia Rosett:  Iran Follows in North Korea's Nuclear Shoes
28. Yaakov Lappin:  Obama's Soft Stance on Iran Might Force Israel to Strike
29. Nitsana Darshan-Leitner:  Make Iran pay for terrorism it sponsored
30. IPT News:  CAIR's Ayloush Gives Dishonest, Bullying Answer to Hamas Question

The Investigative Project on Terrorism Update is designed for law enforcement, the intelligence community and policy makers for non-profit research and educational use only.   Quoted material is subject to the copyright protections of the original sources, which should be cited for attribution, rather than the Update.

THE AMERICAS 

GENERAL SECURITY, POLICY

1.  Obama: Unclear if deal on Iran's nuclear program is near
Sources in Jerusalem say that though Israel voiced opposition to current outline of nuclear deal, Iran likely to sign soon. Obama says unclear whether deal to be achieved this week or next
Attila Somfalvi Ynetnews.com Published: 11.19.13, 22:58
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4455650,00.html
Against the backdrop of Israel's attempts to convince the international community that the current outline of a nuclear deal between  and world powers is bad,  sources have already conceded that at the end of the day there will be an agreement. Even if it takes a few more days, Iran will eventually sign an agreement with the P5+1, sources noted.  US President Barack Obama nonethless injected a note of caution on Tuesday, telling a Wall Street Journal forum: "We don't know if we'll be able to close a deal with Iran this week or next week."  Arguing that a proposed agreement should be accepted by skeptical US allies like Israel, Obama said an agreement with Iran now would buy some time to see if the world would be able to say Iran is not building a nuclear weapon.  He said the proposed deal would permit a modest lifting of economic sanctions on Tehran, allowing a small portion of Iranian assets to be unfrozen...

2.  Suicide bombings kill 23 near Iran embassy in BeirutNovember 19, 2013 9:19am EST By Laila Bassam and Erika Solomon Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/19/us-lebanon-blast-idUSBRE9AI08G20131119
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Two suicide bombings rocked Iran's embassy compound in Lebanon on Tuesday, killing at least 23 people including an Iranian cultural attaché and hurling bodies and burning wreckage across a debris-strewn street.  A Lebanon-based al Qaeda-linked group, the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, claimed responsibility and threatened further attacks unless Iran withdraw forces from Syria, where they have backed President Bashar al-Assad's 2-1/2-year-old war against rebels.  Security camera footage showed a man in an explosives belt rushing towards the outer wall of the embassy before blowing himself up, Lebanese officials said. They said a car bomb parked two buildings away from the compound had caused the second, deadlier explosion. The Lebanese army, however, said both blasts were suicide attacks…

Abdullah Azzam Brigades claims credit for attack on Iranian embassyWritten by Thomas Joscelyn on November 19, 2013 12:01 PM to 1 The Long War Journal
http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2013/11/abdullah_azzam_briga_1.php
Twin suicide attacks today outside the Iranian embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, have killed nearly two dozen people and wounded more than 140 others, according to initial press reporting... Assuming that the suicide bombers were dispatched by Abdullah Azzam Brigades, the attack is the latest example of how the Syrian war has sparked new tensions between the global al Qaeda network and the Iranians. Despite having colluded in various ways, al Qaeda and Iran are on opposite sides of the Syrian fight.  Al Qaeda's two affiliates inside Syria, the Al Nusra Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham, or Levant (ISIS), are fighting Assad forces, which are backed by Iran and Hezbollah…

3.  Testimony gives more evidence administration's Benghazi claims were 'indefensible,' rep saysBy Catherine Herridge Published November 19, 2013 Fox News
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/11194
New classified testimony on Benghazi by five CIA employees shows the administration's initial narrative about a protest gone awry was "indefensible," according to a lawmaker who took part in two classified sessions before the House Intelligence Committee.  Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., told Fox News that witnesses described how five mortars rained down on the CIA annex over 90 seconds during the attack -- with three direct hits. King argued that the details raise more questions about why the administration initially claimed the attack sprung from a protest over an anti-Islam film – a narrative officials later abandoned.  "It's indefensible what was said back on September 11, 12, and 13 in 2012, and what the facts really were," King said. Two other members of the intelligence committee involved in the briefings echoed King's assessment.  The first two mortars missed, followed by three direct hits on the roof, killing two former Navy SEALs and severely injuring a diplomatic security agent and CIA contractor.  This testimony is seen by lawmakers as more overwhelming evidence that the attack was premeditated terrorism and that these facts were known almost immediately by then-CIA Director David Petraeus – who downplayed the skill and planning needed to use mortars with such accuracy during his Sept. 14, 2012 briefing to Congress.  This week, as the House Intelligence Committee reviews transcripts of the FBI interviews with Benghazi survivors to investigate discrepancies in the timeline, Fox News has learned new details which paint a picture of the State Department personnel at the consulate as "woefully unprepared" to respond to the assault… 

4.  U.S. to Train Libyan Military, Including Islamists
Socom chief warns counterterrorism training will be risky
BY: Bill Gertz Follow @BillGertz Washington Free Beacon November 16, 2013 7:45 pm
Simi Valley, Calif. — The U.S. military is preparing to conduct military and special operations training for Libya's military and the training will risk including Islamist terrorists among the trainees, according to the commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command.  Adm. William McRaven, the commander who helped lead the covert raid to kill al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, said in a brief interview Saturday that the counterterrorism training operation has not begun. "We're in the early stages," he told the Free Beacon.  McRaven said a major gun battle erupted in Tripoli last week among opposing militias, a sign of instability in the North African country. The training is needed to stabilize Libya, an oil-rich country beset by mounting terrorism and Islamist militias.  During a panel discussion on the war on terrorism at the Reagan National Defense Forum, McRaven disclosed that the Libyan military training would include both conventional forces training and special operations training and that there will be risks…

5.  Official releasing what appears to be original court file authorizing NSA to conduct sweeps
By Ellen Nakashima and Greg Miller, Washington Post Nov 18, 2013
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/11200
The director of national intelligence on Monday night released what appeared to be the original court document authorizing the National Security Agency to conduct sweeping collections of Americans' communications records for counterterrorism purposes.  The order, signed by the then-chief judge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, was among nearly 1,000 pages of documentshttp://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/11201  being released by James R. Clapper Jr. in response to lawsuits and a directive by President Obama. The documents also describe the NSA's failure to abide by court-imposed rules to protect Americans' privacy, and show that the agency was more interested in collecting cell site location data than it had previously acknowledged.  The opinion signed by Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly permitted the NSA to gather in bulk information about e-mail and other forms of Internet communication such as e-mail addresses, but not the content. Its true scope, however, was unclear. Three pages describing the categories of "metadata" that the NSA proposed to collect were redacted…

6.  Pentagon: Drone Strikes to Remain Indispensable Weapon Against Terrorists
Killer drones used judiciously; civilian casualties minimized
BY: Bill Gertz  Follow @BillGertz November 19, 2013 5:00 am Washington Free Beacon
Drone strikes against terrorists are extremely effective and will remain an "indispensable" weapon in the war against terrorists for the foreseeable future, according to the Pentagon's senior intelligence policymaker.  Michael G. Vickers, under secretary of defense for intelligence, said unmanned missile-firing aircraft, along with intelligence collectors and targeters, are key elements in the U.S. counterterrorism strategy and operations and will remain a top priority for the next 12 years... The public comments were rare public disclosure by a senior official about the covert operations against terrorists that remain one of the Pentagon's most closely guarded secrets…

7.  Gitmo good life: U.S. spends millions on landscaping, art classes for terror detainees
By Jim McElhatton The Washington Times Monday, November 18, 2013
Thanks to a multimillion-dollar federal contract, Guantanamo Bay prisoners can enroll in seminars to learn all about basic landscaping and pruning, calligraphy and Microsoft PowerPoint while the U.S. figures out what to do with them.  Prisoners also can get in touch with their artistic sides.  "At a minimum, the art seminar shall include water color painting, charcoal sketching, Arabic calligraphy, acrylic painting and pastel painting," contract records reviewed by The Washington Times state.  The documents surfaced last week in a U.S. Court of Federal Claims lawsuit stemming from a dispute over a more than $5 million contract to provide library and seminar services to detainees at U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.  The papers offer a glimpse at just how military detainees can pass the time while officials decide their fates.  President Obama is pushing once again to make good on his promise to shut down the prison, hoping to make it easier to transfer detainees out of the facility as part of the upcoming debate on the annual defense policy bill…

AIR, RAIL, PORT, HEALTH, ENERGY & COMMUNICATION SECURITY

IPT NOTE: For more items, see DHS Daily Open Source Infrastructure Reportshttp://www.dhs.gov/files/programs/editorial_0542.shtm ; DHS Blog http://www.dhs.gov/news-releases/blog;   TSA Releases http://www.tsa.gov/press/releases/index.shtm ; TSA Blog http://blog.tsa.gov/

8.  LAPD to investigate allegation of delayed medical aid to TSA agent
A media report alleges that an LAPD officer delayed taking TSA Officer Gerardo Hernandez to paramedics after he was shot by a gunman at LAX.
By Joel Rubin and Dan Weikel  Los Angeles Times November 16, 2013, 7:47 p.m.
Los Angeles police officials said they would investigate allegations made in a news report that an LAPD officer delayed medical attention for an airport security employee fatally wounded during the shooting at Los Angeles International Airport this month.  Police Chief Charlie Beck, however, called the claims in the report "highly speculative," saying it was too early to draw conclusions about how officers responded to the Nov. 1 shooting.  Authorities have accused Paul Ciancia of targeting agents with the Transportation Security Administration in the shooting, in which, they allege, he opened fire with an assault rifle in Terminal 3 of LAX. Ciancia has been charged with murdering TSA Officer Gerardo Hernandez and wounding others before being shot by police… The LAPD is also conducting a broad review of how officers responded to the shooting. As part of that, investigators will review video recordings taken by terminal security cameras…

9.  Airplane Evacuated in Ohio After Bomb Threat
Associated Press Nov 18, 2013
COLUMBUS, Ohio November 18, 2013 (AP) - An Ohio airport spokeswoman says a threatening note found in an airplane restroom led to an evacuation of the plane after it landed in Columbus following a flight from Texas.  Angie Tabor of the Columbus Regional Airport Authority says a male passenger alerted a flight attendant after finding the note, which implied a bomb threat.  Tabor says investigators failed to find any threat after a search and the Boeing MD80 was later released back to American Airlines…

10.  Man Builds A Bomb With Materials Anyone Can Buy Inside An Airport Terminal
Paul Szoldra, provided by Business Insider Published 5:51 pm, Friday, November 15, 2013
A potential hijacker doesn't need to try sneaking a gun or knife on board an airplane, since an independent security researcher has just built a bomb using nothing but things that can be picked up at terminal gift shops.  Evan Booth — who runs the website Terminal Cornucopia — built an improvised fragmentation grenade from little more than a coffee mug, battery, some water, and body spray that can be purchased after a TSA security check.  In a video posted to Youtube, Booth constructs the bomb — which he calls the "Fragguccino" —  to prove this can be a legitimate security threat. He claims he has already reported his findings to the TSA on his website...

11.  Trade secrets increasingly under attack from hackers, Foreign Affairs warns
Canada's diplomatic networks face daily cyber attacks raising the risk that secret information about trade negotiations could fall into the wrong hands, Foreign Affairs says.
Jordan Press Canada.com Published: November 19, 2013, 2:56 pm
OTTAWA — Foreign affairs' networks face daily cyber attacks, with the "range and severity" increasing, raising the risk that secret information about trade negotiations could fall into the wrong hands, the department says.  It's not only information about trade negotiations that is under attack from cyberspace: sensitive information about foreign policy passes through the worldwide network used by Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (DFATD) at all hours of the day.  Messages can be sent to any of Canada's allies, or to one of more than 170 Canadian missions abroad.  In a report to Parliament in early November, the department flagged cyber security as a key risk that it must continue to address,http://www.international.gc.ca/department-ministere/plans/dpr-rmr/dpr-rmr_1213.aspx, saying the loss of sensitive information "could have significant negative consequences for Canada."…

12.  US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty says it faces cyber attackPublished November 19, 2013 Associated Press
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/11204
PRAGUE – U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty says its news services have been disrupted by a cyber-attack.  The Prague-based broadcaster says the intermittent cyber warfare began Thursday. It says the attackers have been using a distributed denial of service attack that floods the computer servers with fake traffic from numerous computers infected with malware. More details were not given. The network experienced a similar but more limited attack in 2008.  It says other similar U.S. media, including the Voice of America, Middle East Broadcasting, and the Office of Cuban Broadcasting services have also been affected by the attack…

13.  PNNL practices defense drill against cyber attack on grid
Annette Cary, Tri-City Herald November 16, 2013
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2013/11/16/2681246/pnnl-practices-defense-drill-against.html
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory scientists practiced for a potential disaster that few people likely worry about last week -- a cyber attack on the nation's electric grid.  But such an attack has the potential to spread quickly across the nation's grid, disrupting power supply and crippling the ability to provide the basic and emergency goods and services on which the nation relies.  Operators could lose control over the distribution of electricity or the attack could cause a prolonged blackout… The drill, called GridEx II, was the largest that has been held in the nation, allowing about 200 agencies, including PNNL, to participate from their normal workplaces and practice defending against a cyber attack on the nation's electric grid.  The drill also will provide information to assess how prepared the nation is for a cyber attack on the grid and the ability of public and private agencies to work together in a crisis…

14.  Obamacare website developers rush to fix bug suggesting hacking methods
Flaw in Affordable Care Act site records hack attempts through its search box and re-presents code as autocomplete options
Alex Hern theguardian.com (UK), Tuesday 19 November 2013 12.20 EST
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/11206
A flaw in the website of President Obama's flagship Affordable Care programme has left the site and its users vulnerable to hacking, the Guardian has discovered.  Healthcare.gov has been unknowingly recording hack attempts through its search box and re-presenting the code as automatically completed options.  The bug could invite hackers to plant malicious code, which could then infect users' computers, but while site managers have removed the most obvious mistakes, several serious flaws remain and attacks continue to be suggested to users.  Although most of them are harmless, some saved options present the possibility of further attacks using a flaw known as "cross site scripting", or XSS…

FINANCING, LAUNDERING, FRAUD, IDENTITY THEFT, CIVIL LITIGATION

15.  Three Somali Immigrants Sentenced for Providing Support to Foreign Terrorists
U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of California (619) 557-5610 November 18, 2013
IPT NOTE:  Court documents posted at http://www.investigativeproject.org/case/498
SAN DIEGO—Basaaly Saeed Moalin, a cabdriver who was convicted by a federal jury of providing material support to the terrorist group al Shabaab, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey T. Miller to 18 years in prison.  Also sentenced at the same hearing were Mohamed Mohamed Mohamud, the imam at a popular mosque frequented by the city's immigrant Somali community, to 13 years in prison; and Issa Doreh, who worked at a money transmitting business that was the conduit for moving the illicit funds, to 10 years in prison.  In sentencing Moalin, Judge Miller acknowledged the defendant's considerable support from the Somali community, his childhood scars from violence in war-torn Somalia, and his philanthropy as a naturalized American. However, he noted Moalin's virtuous behavior "is substantially offset" by his collaboration with al Shabaab and one of its most prominent leaders—Aden Hashi Ayrow.  Judge Miller said he imposed part of the sentence consecutively—making it three years longer—because Moalin went beyond financial assistance and provided a house to Ayrow. Judge Miller described that action as "an offense of a different magnitude," noting that Moalin personally offered the home in Mogadishu to advance the agenda of al Shabaab and to help hide weapons. "This count went beyond financial support and entered into another realm," Judge Miller said…

16.  Regulators See Value in Bitcoin, and Investors Hasten to Agree
BY NATHANIEL POPPER New York Times blog, Dealbook NOVEMBER 18, 2013, 8:40 PM
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/11/18/regulators-see-value-in-bitcoin-and-investors-hasten-to-agree/
IPT NOTE:  The list of witnesses with links to prepared statements posted at http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/11199
The virtual currency bitcoin took a big step toward the mainstream on Monday as federal authorities signaled their willingness to accept it as a legitimate payment alternative.  A number of federal officials told a Senate hearing that such financial networks offered real benefits for the financial system even as they acknowledged that new forms of digital money had provided avenues for money laundering and illegal activity…  Signs that the government would not stand in the way of bitcoin's development, even as it has been cracking down on criminal networks that use the digital money, stoked a strong rally in the price of the crypto-currency.  By Monday evening, the value of a bitcoin unit soared past $700 on some exchanges. The total outstanding pool of bitcoin — which is created by a network of users who solve complex mathematical problems — is now worth more than $7 billion...

BORDER SECURITY, IMMIGRATION & CUSTOMS

17.  Immigration staffers pressured to rush visas for wealthy investors
By Jeffrey Anderson and Shaun Waterman-The Washington Times Monday, November 18, 2013
Staff at a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services field office in California were regularly pressured by senior officials to fast-track visa applications from wealthy and well-connected foreign investors, causing security concerns so severe that the program was moved to Washington this year.  Documents obtained byThe Washington Times and whistleblower accounts from inside the CIS Laguna Niguel field office show that staffers, who said they were acting under orders from senior officials, often rushed or skipped altogether economic reviews of applicants to the EB-5 visa program, which doles out coveted green cards to foreign investors who sink $500,000 or more into a U.S.-based business.  Emails from the Laguna Niguel office show that the EB-5 vetting process was a daily struggle for government analysts charged with, among other tasks, assessing the economic viability of applicants' investment plans. The internal documents detail repeated violations of agency procedures that allowed foreign applicants to bypass proper economic review…

18.  Second Defendant Sentenced in Murder of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Robert Rosas
U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of California (619) 557-5610 November 14, 2013
SAN DIEGO—Marcos Rodriguez-Perez was sentenced today to 56 years in prison for his participation in the July 2009 robbery and murder of United States Border Patrol Agent Robert Rosas, Jr.  Rodriguez-Perez, a 28-year-old Mexican national, pleaded guilty in August, admitting he was one of three gunmen who lured the agent into a trap to steal his night-vision goggles and then fatally shot him during a struggle. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery and kidnaping, robbery of personal property of the United States, and use and carrying of a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence.  United States District Judge M. James Lorenz also ordered that Rodriguez's sentence run consecutive to a two-year sentence Rodriguez is currently serving for violating his supervised release from a prior alien smuggling conviction. Prosecutors noted in court that because Rodriguez is almost 29 years old, the combined sentences likely mean Rodriguez will spend the rest of his life in prison…

MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA

19.  Israel holds suspected al-Qaida biological warfare expert
Samar Halami Abed Allatif al-Barq, 39, a suspected al-Qaida terrorist trained in biological warfare, has been held in administrative detention in Israel since 2010 • State opposes his release, says he poses a danger to national security.
Edan Adato, Lilach Shoval and Israel Hayom Staff Monday November 18, 2013
http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=13391
A suspected al-Qaida terrorist has been held in administrative detention in Israel for the past three years following a state petition saying he poses a danger to national security, Channel 2 reported Sunday. The report was cleared for publication by security officials.  Samar Halami Abed Allatif al-Barq, 39, a Kuwaiti citizen of Palestinian descent said to be trained in biological warfare, was arrested in July 2010 as he crossed the Allenby Bridge from Jordan into Israel. He recently filed a High Court of Justice petition against the Israel Defense Forces' commander in Judea and Samaria, the sector's military prosecutor and the Judea and Samaria appellate court, demanding his release.  Al-Barq's attorney, Mohammed Salah, told Israel Hayom that he doubted the court would grant his client's petition… According to Channel 2, al-Barq was involved in planning terror attacks against Jews and Israelis in Jordan, and was apparently jailed previously in Jordan and in the U.S. The state believes that prior to his arrest he planned to teach Palestinian terrorists how to manufacture poisons and possibly chemical weapons…

20.  Twitter pulls accounts as group boasts of Kenya attack
(AFP) – Nov 19, 2013
Paris — As gunshots and explosions rocked Nairobi's Westgate mall, those behind the horrifying attack used Twitter to provide something of a running commentary of events.  "What Kenyans are witnessing at #Westgate is retributive justice for crimes committed by their military," Somalia's Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab tweeted.  The depiction of the attack at the Westgate shopping centre is the latest example of extremist groups using Twitter to broadcast their messages and boast of their criminal accomplishments.  Twitter has now suspended the account, but others quickly sprung up in what one analyst likened to an online version of Whac-A-Mole.  Twitter pulled the Shebab insurgents' account @hsm_press after it was used to claim the weekend attack, which according to the latest Red Cross tally has claimed 62 lives. Two other accounts run by the group had already been suspended over the past year…

ASIA / PACIFIC

21.  Taliban claim credit for Kabul suicide attackWritten by Bill Roggio on November 17, 2013 8:26 AM The Long War Journal
http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2013/11/taliban_claim_credit.php
The Afghan Taliban took credit for yesterday's suicide attack in the capital of Kabul that targeted the site of an upcoming meeting of Afghan leaders who will vote on the Bilateral Security Agreement.  The Taliban claimed the attack in a statement released on their official propaganda website, Voice of Jihad. The statement was written by spokesman Zabihullah Muhajid.  "A martyr attack hit the heavily-guarded military convoy of the puppets [Afghan security personnel] in Kabul city, the capital of the country later on Saturday, killing as many as 32 puppets and wounding several others," the Taliban statement said.  The Taliban identified the suicide bomber as "Mujahid Saeed" and said he was a member of "the martyrdom-seeking unit of the Islamic Emirate."…

22.  Australia's spy agencies targeted Indonesian president's mobile phone
Secret documents revealed by Edward Snowden show Australia tried to monitor the mobile calls of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his wife
Ewen MacAskill in New York & Lenore Taylor in Canberra theguardian.com, 17 Nov 2013 19.58 EST
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/18/australia-tried-to-monitor-indonesian-presidents-phone
Australia's spy agencies have attempted to listen in on the personal phone calls of the Indonesian president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, and have targeted the mobile phones of his wife, senior ministers and confidants, a top-secret document from whistleblower Edward Snowden reveals.  The document, dated November 2009, names the president and nine of his inner circle as targets of the surveillance, including the vice-president, Boediono, who last week visited Australia. Other named targets include ministers from the time who are now possible candidates in next year's Indonesian presidential election, and the first lady, Kristiani Herawati, better known as Ani Yudhoyono.  When a separate document from Snowden, a former contractor to the US's National Security Agency (NSA), showed Australia had spied on Indonesia and other countries from its embassies, the Indonesian foreign minister, Marty Natalegawa, reacted angrily and threatened to review co-operation on issues crucial to Australia such as people smuggling and terrorism…

EUROPE

23.  Airport security agent caught sleeping on duty is jailed for smuggling illegal immigrants
AN airport security agent who was allowed to keep her job despite being filmed dozing on duty has been jailed for helping to smuggle illegal immigrants through the UK.
By Simon Lennon/ 17th November 2013 The Daily Star (UK)
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/11207
Imtiaz Ahmed, 45, was caged for four years earlier this month after being caught allowing Indian passengers with forged passports to board flights to Canada.  Fellow security guard Ghulam Sarwar, 31, was handed a three-year prison term at Birmingham Crown Court.  Both worked for private firm ICTS.  Nine others in the racket admitted fraud offences and the judge said the scheme "seriously compromised airport and aircraft security".  We can reveal Ahmed was exposed over a security gaffe at Birmingham Airport in an ITV documentary.  She was caught on camera taking 40 winks while passengers were boarding a flight to New York.  Sixteen ICTS staff were suspended as a result of allegations in the 2007 ITV exposé Terror In The Skies.  Ahmed escaped disciplinary action at the time and kept her job.  Three years later she was under surveillance by the National Crime Agency (NCA) as they investigated an immigration scam.  Three illegal immigrants managed to evade security at Birmingham in 2010 and claimed asylum in Canada…

24.  Exclusive:  Private firms selling mass surveillance systems around world, documents show
One Dubai-based firm offers DIY system similar to GCHQ's Tempora programme, which taps fibre-optic cables 
Nick Hopkins and Matthew Taylor The Guardian (UK), Monday 18 November 2013 16.42 EST
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/18/private-firms-mass-surveillance-technologies
Private firms are selling spying tools and mass surveillance technologies to developing countries with promises that "off the shelf" equipment will allow them to snoop on millions of emails, text messages and phone calls, according to a cache of documents published on Monday.  The papers show how firms, including dozens from Britain, tout the capabilities at private trade fairs aimed at offering nations in Africa, Asia and the Middle East the kind of powerful capabilities that are usually associated with government agencies such as GCHQ and its US counterpart, the National Security Agency.  The market has raised concerns among human rights groups and ministers, who are poised to announce new rules about the sale of such equipment from Britain…

25.  Lone gunman still at large despite Paris manhuntBy Cyril Touaux and Remy Bellon Nov 19, 2013
http://news.yahoo.com/photographer-critical-shooting-french-daily-102605166.html.
Paris (AFP) - A gunman who critically wounded a photographer at the offices of a major Paris newspaper remained at large Tuesday despite an intense police manhunt and a public appeal to identify him which has attracted hundreds of calls.  The newspaper involved, the leftwing daily Liberation, said the 23-year-old photography assistant shot during the gunman's attack in its reception area on Monday remained in intensive care.  He was in a slightly improved condition and had been taken out of an induced coma, but remained "intensely monitored" by doctors, it said.  The victim was shot in the back by the shotgun-wielding perpetrator, with an exit wound on the left-hand side of his chest, according to a Liberation account of an employee who administered first aid to him.  More than 24 hours after the assault, authorities have yet to identify the gunman… The shooter, who was thought to be acting alone has been described by officials as "a real danger"…

Hunt for the crazed gunman of Paris: Champs Élysées on lockdown after skinhead with pump-action blasts photographer in newspaper lobby before attacking a bankWhite gunman opened fire on offices of daily paper Liberation
Photography assistant, 27, is in a serious condition in hospital
Suspect is believed to be shaven-headed, stout, 40s, wearing a khaki jacket
He is thought to be armed with pump action shotgun and grenades
By PETER ALLEN PUBLISHED: 08:17 EST, 18 November 2013 The Daily Mail (UK)
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/11196
…Paris prosecutor is treating the shooting incidents as a terrorist case, a spokeswoman said…

26.  Student 'terrorists' cause panic in Riviera hospitalPublished: 18 Nov 2013 09:37 GMT+01:00 The Local (France)
http://www.thelocal.fr/20131118/student-terrorists-cause-panic-in-riviera-hospital
Four men dressed in turbans and north African robes caused panic among patients and staff at a hospital in Nice on Sunday night, when they stormed the building brandishing "Kalashnikovs". But the men were far from the terrorist cell they appeared to be at first glance.  The alarm was raised at around 8.15pm on Sunday night, after the four men charged into the Saint-Roch hospital in the Riviera city of Nice, sending patients and staff running for cover.  The men, at least one of them bearded, were dressed in turbans and djellabahs – north African robes – and brandished what appeared to be guns, hospital director Martine Rajzman told AFP.  Their presence in the hospital caused widespread panic among patients and staff, and emergency services apparently took no chances in their response, fearing they were in the midst of the kind of terrorist attack dreaded for years by French authorities.  Incoming ambulances were diverted and patients evacuated to a different part of the hospital…

COMMENT / ANALYSIS

27.  Iran Follows in North Korea's Nuclear Shoes
Over 24 years, Pyongyang has shown Tehran how to cheat its way to a nuclear bomb.By Claudia Rosett Nov. 19, 2013 10:44 a.m. ET The Wall Street Journal OPINION ASIA [subscription]
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304439804579207422182734460
Ms. Rosett is journalist-in-residence with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, and heads its Investigative Reporting Project.

28.  Obama's Soft Stance on Iran Might Force Israel to Strikeby Yaakov Lappin Special to IPT News November 19, 2013
http://www.investigativeproject.org/4215/obama-soft-stance-on-iran-might-force-israel-to
Yaakov Lappin is the Jerusalem Post's military and national security affairs correspondent, and author ofThe Virtual Caliphate (Potomac Books), which proposes that jihadis on the internet have established a virtual Islamist state.

29.  Make Iran pay for terrorism it sponsoredBy Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, November 12, 2013 The Hill
http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/foreign-policy/189895-make-iran-pay-for-terrorism-it-sponsored
Darshan-Leitner is the director of Shurat HaDin—Israel Law Center, a civil rights organization and world leader in combating the terrorist organizations and the regimes that support them through lawsuits litigated in courtrooms around the world.

30.  CAIR's Ayloush Gives Dishonest, Bullying Answer to Hamas QuestionIPT News November 18, 2013
http://www.investigativeproject.org/4214/cair-ayloush-gives-dishonest-bullying-answer-to
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