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Thursday, March 24, 2016
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
U.S. Denies “Specific, Credible” Threat of Brussels-Like Attacks
WASHINGTON – Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said on Tuesday that there is – at present – no evidence of “specific, credible” terrorist threats similar to the recent terrorist attacks in Belgium which left at least 34 people dead and more than 200 wounded.
“At present, we have no specific, credible intelligence of any plot to conduct similar attacks here in the United States,” the U.S. security chief said in a communique.
“That said, we remain very focused on the threat posed by lone terrorist actors who may lack direct connection to a foreign terrorist organization; we are concerned that such radicalized individuals or small groups could carry out an attack in the Homeland with little warning,” he added.
Johnson said that Washington remains committed to identifying and disrupting the plans of foreign terrorists who could travel to or from the United States.
The DHS chief said that his department, along with other law enforcement and intelligence authorities, is undertaking a series of actions to “monitor events in Brussels, work with the authorities there” and continue to increase U.S. security.
Johnson said that the United States has increased the exchange of information with Belgian and French authorities since the attacks last November in Paris, and it has procedures to “identify and prevent” suspicious individuals from traveling to the United States from Belgium.
In addition, among other things the Transportation Safety Administration has strengthened security at airports in the largest U.S. cities as a precaution.
As President Barack Obama did earlier on Tuesday, Johnson expressed his solidarity with the Belgian people and condemned the terrorist attacks.
The secretary also offered U.S. support to Belgian authorities to do everything possible to bring to justice those responsible for the attacks, for which the Islamic State has claimed responsibility.
Ecuadorian Navy Seizes 1.9 Tons of Drugs near Galapagos
QUITO – The Ecuadorian navy seized 1.9 tons of drugs in an operation conducted over the past few days near the Galapagos Islands, but no suspects were arrested, prosecutors said.
The navy conducted the anti-drug operation on Thursday and Friday about 200 nautical miles from San Cristobal, in the Galapagos, the Attorney General’s Office said in a Twitter post.
The AG’s office, however, did not provide details on the types of drugs seized.
The drugs handed over to the AG’s office were found floating in the sea in sealed bales, prosecutors said.
“The bales had buoys with a satellite tracking system and the drugs, presumably, were bound for Central America,” the AG’s office said.
AG’s office personnel and drug enforcement agents put the drugs in safekeeping.
The Galapagos Islands are located about 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) west of the coast of continental Ecuador and were declared a World Natural Heritage Site in 1978.
Some 95 percent of the territory’s 8,000 sq. kilometers (a little over 3,000 sq. miles) constitutes a protected area that is home to more than 50 species of animals and birds found nowhere else on the planet.
The islands were made famous by 19th-century British naturalist Charles Darwin, whose observations of life on the islands contributed greatly to his theory of the evolution of species.
Mexican Mother Under Investigation in Killings of Daughters Aged 3-7
MEXICO CITY – A woman has been taken into custody as a suspect in the deaths of her three young daughters, who were found murdered at their home in the western Mexican state of Michoacan, state prosecutors said.
The bodies of the girls, ages three, five and seven, were found Monday afternoon in the city of Morelia’s La Colina neighborhood and taken to a local coroner’s office for autopsies, the state Attorney General’s Office said.
The mother, identified as Martha Teresita Ch., has been detained for questioning based on the results of the initial investigation, the state AG’s office said, vowing to the solve the case and ensure that justice is served.
The bodies of the girls, ages three, five and seven, were found Monday afternoon in the city of Morelia’s La Colina neighborhood and taken to a local coroner’s office for autopsies, the state Attorney General’s Office said.
The mother, identified as Martha Teresita Ch., has been detained for questioning based on the results of the initial investigation, the state AG’s office said, vowing to the solve the case and ensure that justice is served.
Tuesday, March 22, 2016
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