FBI Investigating Chinese Info Pirates in Postal Service Hack-In

WASHINGTON – The FBI is investigating Chinese government hackers for allegedly hacking into the U.S. Postal Service computers, putting the data of 800,000 employees at risk, The Washington Post reported Monday.

The investigation came to light just as President Barack Obama is visiting Beijing to meet with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, and participate in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum.

Officials close to the investigation cited by the newspaper blamed China for the Postal Service hack-in, which the FBI discovered in mid-September.

However, the Chinese government has always denied accusations of cyber-spying, one of the issues that is tarnishing the relations between the two countries.

The cyber-intrusion was carried out by “a sophisticated actor that appears not to be interested in identity theft or credit card fraud,” USPS spokesman David Partenheimer said.

“It is an unfortunate fact of life these days that every organization connected to the Internet is a constant target for cyber intrusion activity,” the U.S. postmaster general, Patrick Donahoe, said in a statement.

“The United States Postal Service is no different. Fortunately, we have seen no evidence of malicious use of the compromised data and we are taking steps to help our employees protect against any potential misuse of their data,” he added.

Nevertheless, the USPS believes that the cyberthieves were unable to access the most important data, including names, birthdates, Social Security numbers and personal information about employees.

Credit card information on customers or data about purchases that have been made online from the Postal Service are safe, the agency said.

Shoring up the system to prevent new hack-attacks was carried out this past weekend and resulted in involuntary interruptions of the system.

FBI spokesman Joshua Campbell asked the public and postal employees to report to the federal agency’s online complaints department any suspicions or information they may have about who may be responsible.

Pregnant U.S. Teen Wounded by Mexican Cops During Chase

MEXICO CITY – Authorities in the northeastern Mexican state of Tamaulipas said on Tuesday they are investigating the conduct of police who fired shots that wounded a pregnant U.S. teenager.

The adolescent and her unborn baby “are out of danger, but remain under medical observation,” the state Attorney General’s Office said in a statement.

The incident took place shortly before midnight Monday near the international bridge connecting the Mexican city of Reynosa with Pharr, Texas.

Indira Michelle Blanco Gonzalez, 14, got into a pickup truck driven by a male friend after leaving a store.

Three state police patrols “approached the couple and ordered them to stop, but the minor’s friend ignored them and sought to flee at top speed,” the AG’s office said.

The officers fired shots at the truck’s tires to force the driver to stop, according to the statement. Once they had the couple in custody, the cops noticed that Blanco Gonzalez was wounded and took her to a hospital.

Prosecutors will question the officers involved in the incident, the Tamaulipas AG’s office said.

Arizona ( Chandler Police target Native American shoplifters only )

An Arizona police sergeant who told officers to take only Native Americans to jail for shoplifting will be punished with a demotion so that she can retire with a full pension after 2015.

A Chandler Police Department Internal Affairs investigation obtained by The Arizona Republic said that Sgt. Sue Freeman had responded to a shoplifting problem in south Chandler patrol district, which borders the Gila River Reservation, by ordering officers to jail only Native American shoplifters. Other shoplifters were to be given citations and immediately released.

“Your directive was interpreted by members of your team as removing any discretion for handling a shoplifting investigation and more specifically for singling out a race of people for disparate treatment,” the charges against Freeman indicated.One officer testified that he had heard Freeman give the instruction to officers as many as 12 times.

Chandler police spokesperson Sgt. Joe Favazzo told The Arizona Republic that officers refused to follow Freeman’s orders.

“I think it was probably a poor choice of words, poor communication,” Favazzo explained. “She was telling her officers not to give them a ticket. It was an unlawful order.”

On Oct. 16, Freeman signed a disciplinary agreement, allowing her to avoid termination and protect her pension. She will be permitted to stay with the department until at least Dec. 31, 2015 or whenever she obtains the 20 years of service needed to retire with benefits.

As a part of the agreement, Freeman was expected to lose her rank as sergeant.

According to The Arizona Republic, she would have received a lighter punishment if she had not already had two disciplinary actions on her record from 2012. Freeman also faces the possibility of termination before she is eligible to retire if she does not follow the terms of the Oct. 16, disciplinary agreement.

Young Israeli killed in West Bank stabbing

One of three Israeli settlers stabbed in the West Bank died on Monday, Israeli police said, adding that the stabber had been shot and killed, according to Agence France-Presse.

Police said the assailant stepped out of a car at a bus stop in front of the settlement, then stabbed three people before he was shot by a security guard adding that the attacker was in serious condition.

Medics said a woman of around 25 died in the attack on a road outside the Alon Shvut settlement.

“Paramedics confirmed the death of a young woman,” the emergency services said of the incident at a bus stop near the western entrance to the settlement.

Police said the attacker had driven to a bus stop near Alon Shvut and began attacking people with a knife. 

“A car stopped at the hitchhiking stop at the entrance to Alon Shvut, the driver got out of the car and stabbed three civilians who were standing there,” police spokeswoman Luba Samri said.

“The guard at the entrance shot the suspect,” she said.

Medics confirmed evacuating a man with serious gunshot wounds who was taken to a Jerusalem hospital, but he died shortly afterwards from his injuries, police said.

Monday’s incident occurred shortly after a similar stabbing gravely wounded an Israeli soldier at a Tel Aviv train station.

FOUR MUSLIM JIHADIS ARRESTED IN TERROR PLOT AGAINST QUEEN ELIZABETH II

UK :: Radical Islam   ::   Print this Article JIHAD IN THE UK: FOUR MUSLIM JIHADIS ARRESTED IN TERROR PLOT AGAINST QUEEN ELIZABETH II 11-08-2014 1:14 am - Wallace The response to this assassination attempt will be to reassure their misinformed populations that this has nothing to do with Islam. The UK refuses to recognize or probe why so many British Muslims are flocking to wage jihad in the cause of Islam. Worse, they make more suicidal concessions to this genocidal ideology, hoping to satiate the beast. The day before yesterday, UK Prime Minister David Cameron said he hopes to see a British Muslim become prime minister in his lifetime. Speaking at the GG2 awards, which celebrates Asian [Muslim] achievements, he added that there were “too few people from ethnic minorities in top positions.” Culture Secretary Sajid Javid was named the most influential Muslim in the UK. Note to David Cameron: rest assured, at the rate the UK is going, your wish will absolutely come true. Four young Islamic terrorists planned to assassinate Queen Elizabeth by stabbing her at the Royal British Legion Festival, a military party held in Royal Albert Hall. The event is scheduled on Saturday, Nov 8. The Sun reports that the four extremists, aged 19 to 27, were arrested by British police on Thursday night. Besides a knife, the police found in their possession firearms. They were arrested on suspicions of committing, preparing or instigating acts of terrorism, according to the Metropolitan police. Authorities informed the 88-year-old Queen about the assassination plot, but despite the threat to her life, she and Prime Minister David Cameron would still attend to her royal duties this weekend such as wreath-laying rites at the Sunday Remembrance celebration to mark the end of World War I in 1918. Besides the Queen, other members of the British royal family would attend the events as well as political and military leaders. The event’s finale would be a two-minute silence while poppy petals fall from the roof to represent Britons who died in World War I. Britain raised in August the national terror threat to “severe” from “substantial” because of the “highly likely” chances of a terrorist attack. The heightened alert is linked to possible retaliation by Islamic State extremist over the UK air strikes in the Middle East.

- See more at: http://www.libertynewsonline.com/article_330_36510.php#sthash.AhDg9dFu.dpuf

Egypt arrests suspect over threats to American schools

Egypt on Saturday announced the arrest of a U.S.-Egyptian citizen accused of having posted on jihadist websites a threat to attack American and other international schools in the region.


At the end of October, U.S. embassies in the Gulf states of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, as well as the mission in Egypt, called for vigilance over a threat to American schools there.

Egypt’s interior ministry, in a statement on its official Facebook page, said Alsayyed Abu Saree, 60, was behind the threats and had been arrested, although it did not say when.

The suspect “posted a call through jihadist websites for attacks targeting government and foreign interests... including against foreign teachers at American and international schools in the country,” it said.

Interior ministry spokesman Hani Abdel Latif told AFP the suspect was arrested in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, and that he holds both US and Egyptian citizenship.

He also holds a certificate to teach at American schools around the world and has lived in the United States for 27 years.

In October, the American embassy in Riyadh posted a warning saying that an anonymous jihadist post specifically mentioned schools in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and Maadi, an upmarket Cairo suburb.

A similar message issued by the embassy in Cairo said the mission was “working with local schools identified with the United States or that have high concentrations of American teachers or students to review and enhance their security posture.”

It also said “Americans residing in or visiting Egypt should remain vigilant regarding their personal security and alert to local security developments.”

However, the warnings issued at the end of October also stressed that no specific threat had been identified.

Iraq says foreign military trainers welcome but ‘a little late’

Foreign military trainers heading to Iraq are welcome but “a little late,” after U.S. President Barack Obama unveiled plans to send 1,500 additional troops, the country’s prime minister said. 

“This step is a little late, but we welcome it,” a statement from Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi’s office said.

The Baghdad government had requested members of the U.S.-led international coalition battling Islamic State group of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) jihadists to help train and arm its forces, the statement said.

“The coalition agreed on that and four to five Iraqi training camps were selected, and building on that, they have now begun sending the trainers,” it said.

The additional force Obama authorized will include a group of advisors to help Iraqi forces plan operations and a group of trainers who will be deployed across the country, officials said, as Washington steps up the pressure on the ISIS militants.

Obama is also asking Congress for more than $5 billion to help fund the fight.

The White House said the troops won’t serve in a combat role.

Some of the advisors will be deployed to western Anbar province, where the Iraqi army has been forced to retreat from advancing ISIS jihadists, a defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity told AFP.

Some of the additional troops will begin to arrive in Iraq in the next several weeks, the official said.

“As a part of our strategy for strengthening partners on the ground, President Obama today authorized the deployment of up to 1,500 additional U.S. military personnel in a non-combat role to train, advise, and assist Iraqi security forces, including Kurdish forces,” a statement said.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel recommended the move to Obama based on a request from the Iraqi government and the assessment of U.S. Central Command, which is overseeing the air war against the ISIS militants, the Pentagon said.

The deployment coincides “with the development of a coalition campaign plan to defend key areas and go on the offensive against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant,” it said, referring to ISIS fighters who have grabbed large areas of Iraq and neighboring Syria.

The training will focus on 12 Iraqi brigades -- nine Iraqi army and three Peshmerga brigades, the Pentagon said.

The training sites will be located in northern, western, and southern Iraq and “coalition partners will join U.S. personnel at these locations to help build Iraqi capacity and capability,” it added.
ISIS spearheaded a major military militant offensive that has overrun much of the country’s Sunni Arab heartland since June, and Iraqi federal and Kurdish forces backed by tribesmen and militiamen are fighting to regain ground.

Multiple Iraqi divisions collapsed in the northern province of Nineveh in the early days of the jihadist offensive, leaving major units that need to be reconstituted.

Experts say Iraqi security forces suffer from serious shortcomings in training and logistics, hampering their performance in the conflict.