News18 |
Pentagon Refuses To Bend To Russian Threats, Will Continue Air Strikes In Syria
Daily Caller A U.S. Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet fighter jet launches from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman in the Mediterranean Sea in a photo released by the US Navy June 3, 2016. U.S. fighter jets on Friday launched strikes against ... Despite Russia Warning, US Considers Hitting AssadAntiwar.com US talks on non-diplomatic options in Syria continue despite Russian warning - State DeptThe Star Online Stop Assad Now—Or Expect Years of WarWall Street Journal Washington Post all 106 news articles » |
Washington Times |
If this is peace, why fear war?
Washington Times In this Dec. 10, 2009, file photo, President and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Barack Obama poses with his medal and diploma at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony at City Hall in Oslo. (AP Photo/John McConnico, File) more >. 0. Share. 0. Tweet. 0. Share. 0. Pin. Nobel Peace Prize 2016: Winner to be revealedBBC News Obama's Nobel Peace Prize, Seven Years LaterWall Street Journal 7 Firsts From Nobel Peace Prize HistoryTIME The Boston Globe -Washington Post -Slate Magazine (blog) -NBCNews.com all 79 news articles » |
Wall Street Journal |
Philippines Tells US No More Joint Patrols in South China Sea
Wall Street Journal MANILA—The Philippine defense chief said Friday that the U.S. military has been told plans for joint patrols and naval exercises in the South China Sea have been put on hold. Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana also said 107 U.S. troops involved in ... Philippines tells US no joint patrols in South China SeaU.S. News & World Report Philippines suspends joint US patrolsNEWS.com.au US aims to avoid war of words with DuterteBDlive TODAYonline -Asia Times -Philippine Star -Morning Ledger all 19 news articles » |
Wall Street Journal |
Philippines Suspends Patrols With US in South China Sea
Wall Street Journal MANILA—The Philippine defense chief said Friday that he had suspended participation in any joint patrols with the U.S. of the disputed South China Sea, the first concrete sign of a crack in the military alliance following the election of President ... Philippines Won't Do Any More Joint Drills in South China Sea U.S. News & World Report Philippines' defense minister says military can cope without US aidReuters Philippines: South China Sea Drills With US Put On Hold, Defense Minister SaysSTRATFOR Daily Mail- Chicago Daily Herald-RT-International Business Times all 64 news articles » |
Washington Times |
Donald Trump secures law enforcement endorsements
Washington Times GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump, here with Laredo Police officers, has won the support of many law enforcement organizations. (Associated Press) more >. 0. Share. 0. Tweet. 0. Share. 0. Pin. 0. Share. 0. Mail. 0. Share. View Comments Print. and more » |
THANE, India— Minaz Husain Ladaf couldn’t believe his luck this summer when he was offered a 40% bump in salary and other perks to work for what he thought was the U.S. government. But when he went to his new workplace to pick up his paycheck this week, he was picked up by the policeinstead.
Mr. Ladaf and dozens of fellow call-center workers have been locked in dusty jail cells in this booming Mumbai suburb since Wednesday. Police say they managed a telephone “scam center” where close to 700 workers called targeted Americans, pretending to be from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, and raking in an estimated $150,000 a day.
They would follow a precise script, police said, trying to trick people into believing they owed thousands of dollars in taxes and were facing all kinds of ruinous penalties or even jail, in the latest example of what U.S. authorities say is a recent wave of tax-related swindles.
“Your 401(k) [retirement] plan will be frozen and confiscated, all your wages and benefits would be frozen,” one script went, according to a phone recording released by police here. “Your passport will be seized along with your state ID and if you belong to a country other than the United States then you will be deported…your Social Security number will be blocked for the next seven years and you will not be eligible for any benefits such as disability benefits, unemployment benefits, child-protection income or retirement or pension.”
The Inspector General for Tax Administration in the U.S. says it has fielded more than 1.7 million complaints from victims who have lost a total of more than $47 million to such scams in the last three years.
Police arrested Nasreen Bano Iqbal Bale Sahib and her two sons, Nadeem Iqbal Balasaheb and Shain Iqbal Balasaheb, who were listed as owners of the company, MAC Outsourcing Services Private Limited, that managed the floor in the 7-story building that hosted the call center.
There wasn’t any immediate reply to a request for comment sent to an email address included with the company’s registry. A phone number couldn’t be located and police said they didn’t have a contact for the family’s lawyer.
Police said they were investigating the individuals who managed the other floors to determine if they had any involvement.
Of the 772 people in the building at the time of Tuesday’s raid, deputy police commissioner Parag Manere said 70 so far were being charged with “cheating by impersonation” and forgery. Another 72 were questioned and released and the rest were asked to come to the police station to be questioned starting Friday.
Speaking on Thursday through the bars of a jail cell at the Thane police station, the 25-year-old Mr. Ladaf said he would plead innocent to any charges.
“We didn’t want to cheat people,” he said.
Mr. Ladaf said he found the job through a flier with bright-red letters advertising “An Urgently Huge Requirement” for call-center workers. With his strong English and experience at other call centers, he was offered the top salary as well as promises of bonuses and regular days off, he said.
When he started work Aug. 1, he said, the owner informed him and the other new recruits that the company had won a contract with the U.S. government.
“He said that we just had to collect money,” said Mr. Ladaf. “He said we were getting data from a U.S. government department and that we were partners with them.”
He was given a long list of people to call, he said, but as almost every customer swore at him before slamming down the phone, he realized he was probably not actually working for the U.S. government. He was planning to quit after getting his paycheck on Tuesday, but when he got to work police were raiding the office.
According to Indian police, the scam operators received phone numbers and other details about U.S. taxpayers from a contact in the U.S. The call-center workers directed the victims to nearby stores to buy $500 gift cards.
The victims were then instructed to disclose the registration numbers of the cards, giving the call-center worker access to the cash.
According to the recordings released by police, some victims were told they only had hours to make some kind of payment or they would be arrested and face years in jail and a $100,000 fine.
Closers, as the most skilled workers were known, would keep their victims on the phone for as long as three hours, police said, threatening them with immediate imprisonment if they hung up.
Police Inspector Nitin Thakare said he snatched a headset from one dialer during the raid and heard what sounded like an elderly woman on the other end. “She was weeping,” the inspector said. “We felt so bad about it.”
Every dollar squeezed from a victim would bring the employee a bonus of one rupee, or 1.5 cent. Police say one victim lost $88,000, earning the dialer more than $1,300.
When one employee made a big score, the others would applaud and bonuses were immediately handed out in cash, police said.
But the job could be tough, Mr. Ladaf said, as 99% of the people they called weren’t fooled by the scam. “It was extremely frustrating,” he said. “We took abuse for hours on end.”
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Police say dozens of people arrested this week outside Mumbai called targeted Americans pretending to be tax collectors, raking in an estimated $150,000 a day.
The 2016 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos for “his resolute efforts to bring the country’s more than 50 year long civil war to an end”.
Associated Press investigation finds Chinese companies offering to export drug so lethal it’s viewed as chemical weapon.
Chemical weapon for sale: China’s unregulated narcoticby Erika Kinetz and Desmond Butler | AP
An Associated Press investigation has found Chinese companies offering to export a powerful chemical that has been killing drug users and is so lethal it presents a potential terrorism threat.
The Russian military says it’s considering the possibility of regaining its Soviet-era bases on Cuba and in Vietnam, a statement that comes amid growing U.S.-Russia tensions over Syria.
The Russian parliament is discussing the ratification of a treaty with Syria that allows Russian troops to stay indefinitely in the Mideast country.
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New York City police are looking for whoever draped a gigantic banner portraying Russian President Vladimir Putin over the side of the Manhattan Bridge on October 6.
A U.S. citizen and two Russian nationals were arrested for allegedly exporting sensitive military technology from the United States to Russia, the U.S. Justice Department said on October 6.
The U.S. Justice Department charged eight people, including six soldiers, with stealing more than $1 million worth of sensitive U.S. Army equipment and selling it on eBay to buyers in Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Moldova, and other countries.
A Russian Defense Ministry spokesman has made a veiled threat that its air-defense units could shoot down U.S. aircraft in Syria if they attack Syrian army positions. Igor Kamashenkov said Russian crews might not have time to identify "unidentified flying objects" before giving them a "surprise." (Reuters)
The Venezuelan opposition leader tells the BBC he is confident he will be able to force President Nicolas Maduro to step down.
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Police in Victoria warn Australians not to "intimidate" the public by dressing up as clowns, as the creepy US craze continues to spread.
Ramzan A. Kadyrov bragged about the ring exploits of his three sons, ages 10, 9, and 8, who won mixed martial arts bouts.
Nino Burdzhanadze campaigning this week in Tbilisi, Georgia. Ms. Burdzhanadze, who has been called a turncoat for meeting with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, said Georgia “should not be a puppet of either the Russians or the Americans.”
GENEVA (Reuters) - A U.N. human rights watchdog called on Saudi Arabia on Friday to end "severe" discrimination against girls and to repeal laws that allow the stoning, amputation, flogging and execution of children.
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia is considering plans to resume its military presence in Vietnam and Cuba where Moscow earlier had military bases, Russian news agencies quoted Russian Deputy Defense Minister Nikolai Pankov as saying on Friday.
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian security forces on Friday killed six militants in the republic of Ingushetia, including one fighter from Islamic State who had been planning terrorist attacks, the National Anti-Terrorist Committee (NAK) said.
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HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam has declared a United States-based activist group a terrorist organization and warned that any Vietnamese found to be involved with the group would be regarded as co-conspirators and punished.
Chemical weapon for sale: China's unregulated narcoticby By ERIKA KINETZ and DESMOND BUTLER
SHANGHAI (AP) -- For a few thousand dollars, Chinese companies offer to export a powerful chemical that has been killing unsuspecting drug users and is so lethal that it presents a potential terrorism threat, an Associated Press investigation has found....
AP EXPLAINS: How Colombia's conflict evolved over decadesby By The Associated Press
The Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos is likely to give a boost to the country's efforts to end a half-century of hostilities with leftist rebels. The Associated Press explains how the conflict began and developed over the decades....
There were 94,184,000 Americans not participating in the labor force in September, a decline of 201,000 people from the previous month, according to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday.
The bureau counts those not in the labor force as people who do not have a job and did not actively seek one in the past four weeks.
The labor force participation rate, which is the percentage of the population that has a job or actively looked for one in the past month, increased from 62.8 percent in August to 62.9 percent in September.
The unemployment rate for all Americans increased to 5.0 percent after remaining steady at 4.9 percent in August. This measure does not account for those individuals who have dropped out of the labor force and simply measures the percent of those who did not have a job but actively sought one over the month.
The “real” unemployment rate, otherwise known as the U-6 measure, was 9.7 percent, which remained steady from the previous month. Democrats such as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) and Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen have said this measure accounts for discouraged workers and those working part time instead of full time for economic reasons and is more representative of the labor market.
There were 5,894,000 Americans working part-time in September who would rather have a full-time job but cited economic reasons for not having such employment. This number declined by 159,000 over the month.
According to the bureau, involuntary part-time workers are “persons who indicated that they would like to work full time but were working part time (1 to 34 hours) because of an economic reason, such as their hours were cut back or they were unable to find full-time jobs.”
“The high level of uncertainty among small business owners makes them reluctant to create new jobs and hire new employees,” said Juanita Duggan, president of the National Federation of Independent Businesses. “Small business is traditionally the engine of job growth.”
“Unfortunately for the economy, that engine isn’t revving,” she said. “This is a very weak recovery, and what little strength there is has been uneven.”
The post 94,184,000 Americans Not Participating in Labor Force appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.
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Barely half of people who entered the U.S. illegally from Mexico last year were caught, according to a report commissioned by the Department of Homeland Security that also shows sharp declines in illegal entries
Dallas Observer |
Former NSA and CIA Honcho Michael Hayden Dishes in Dallas
Dallas Observer But added on to that personal responsibility is a responsibility that he's taking on behalf of the American republic that no one else is asked to do. CIA operates in a space that no one else is asked to do or allowed to do. So when you accept the ... |
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Russian military considers return to Cuba, Vietnamby VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV
MOSCOW (AP) - The Russian military is considering the possibility of regaining its Soviet-era bases on Cuba and in Vietnam, the Defense Ministry said Friday, a statement that comes amid growing U.S.-Russia tensions over Syria.
Deputy Defense Minister Nikolai Pankov told lawmakers Friday that the ministry is considering the possibility ...
Russia lawmakers mull indefinite military presence in Syriaby VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV and PHILIP ISSA
MOSCOW (AP) - The Russian parliament on Friday debated ratifying a treaty with Syria that allows Russian troops to stay indefinitely in the Mideast country, with lawmakers strongly backing the deal in a show of support for embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad.
The development comes against the backdrop of a ...
Telegraph.co.uk |
Russia considers military bases in Vietnam and Cuba: agencies
Reuters Russia lowered its flag at the Lourdes signals intelligence base in Cuba and the deepwater Cam Rahn naval base in Vietnam in the early 2000s as part of a drawing down of Russia's militarypresence around the world after the demise of the Soviet Union. Russia says it may reopen Soviet-era military bases in Cuba and VietnamTelegraph.co.uk Russian Military Considers Return to Cuba, VietnamABC News Russian MoD pondering re-launch of military bases in Cuba and Vietnam – Deputy Defense MinisterRT all 14 news articles » |
The number of foreign-born workers employed in the United States hit a record high in September, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
The number of foreign-born workers exceeded 26 million for the first time in August. There were 26,134,000 foreign-born workers who had a job in August, and in September that number increased to 26,146,000, an increase of 12,000.
According to the bureau, a foreign-born person is one who resides in the United States but who was born outside the country. Undocumented immigrants and refugees may be included in the data set, since the bureau does not distinguish between legal and illegal immigrants.
The number of employed native-born workers also increased over the month, although their unemployment rate is higher than that for the foreign-born.
There were 125,670,000 native-born workers employed in August, and increased to 125,832,000 in September, an increase of 162,000.
The unemployment rate was 4.4 percent for foreign-born workers and 4.9 percent for native-born workers in September.
The post Record High Number of Foreign-Born Workers Employed in U.S. appeared first onWashington Free Beacon.
Forty-five Afghan soldiers have disappeared during training on U.S. military installations in the past two years, Pentagon officials said, exposing a hole in security as many presumably stay in the country illegally.
The Pentagon said Thursday that the United States would protect coalition and U.S. aircraft over Syria, hours after Russia warned it might stop the flight-safety calls used to avoid incidents between U.S. and Russian pilots.
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Six Fort Campbell soldiers were indicted on federal conspiracy charges Wednesday for allegedly stealing more than $1 million worth of sensitive military gear that was sold on the Internet, in some cases to anonymous buyers in foreign countries.
U.S. officials say that a 2013 Supreme Court decision now limits the federal government's role inside polling places on Election Day.
The Atlantic |
The US Army Equipment That Ended Up on eBay
The Atlantic NEWS BRIEF Eight people, including six U.S. soldiers, have been charged with conspiring to steal equipment from the U.S. Army, federal prosecutors said Thursday. The six soldiers allegedly stole more than $1 million worth of sensitive military ... and more » |
The statement underlined high tensions between Moscow and Washington after the collapse of a U.S.-Russia-brokered Syria truce and the Syrian army's offensive on Aleppo backed by Russian warplanes.
Nagorno-Karabakh Is Ready for Another War by Micah Spangler
Micah Spangler
Security, Eurasia
The breakaway republic won't be caught by surprise again.
It takes a lot to surprise someone in the rogue republic of Nagorno-Karabakh.
This tiny nation’s 150,000 residents have been conditioned to expect the unexpected, caught in perpetual political limbo as citizens of a country that technically doesn’t exist, combatants in a two-decade-long conflict that rarely ever makes headlines.
And yet that’s exactly what happened here just a few months ago.
“The April war was a complete surprise for us,” Nagorno-Karabakh’s minister of foreign affairs told me the day after his unrecognized country celebrated its twenty-fifth independence day.
The holiday was a triumphant, yet somber event. The mass parade and jubilant fireworks were deeply overshadowed by the deaths of nearly one hundred soldiers five months prior, when Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh fought a full-scale, four-day battle in what is now recognized as the region’s deadliest encounter since the two states signed a ceasefire in 1994.
The magnitude of the attack, which Azerbaijan actually claims inflicted three hundred casualties on Armenians occupying land that’s belonged to them since 1924, clearly shook Nagorno-Karabakh’s leadership.
It’s a mistake that the breakaway is determined not to repeat.
While the Karabakh military is grossly outspent by its Azeri neighbors to the east, Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia—the unrecognized nation’s economic and security patron—have made major moves to ensure Azerbaijan doesn’t catch them flat-footed again.
“We are strengthening our front line very actively, very intensively,” Artak Beglaryan, the spokesman for Nagorno-Karabakh's prime minister, told me inside his third-floor office in downtown Stepanakert in early September. “In April, we didn’t have enough cameras on the front line. Now we are installing [a] modern C4ISR system on the front line, which allows us to observe the entire line with certain depth.”
Using this new advanced system, the Nagorno-Karabakh government claims they’ll be able to “significantly decrease the chance of an Azerbaijani sudden attack, because any kind of movement in the deep territory of Azerbaijan” will be detected by short- and long-distance cameras, “giving the Karabakh army an opportunity to get prepared for strong protection and counter-attack, as well as to target their military units and equipment in advance.”
And even more, additional kinetic military power is on its way, courtesy of Mother Russia.
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The Weird Logic Behind Russia's Alleged Hackingby Eugene Scherbakov
Eugene Scherbakov
Security, Eurasia
The reason is counterintuitive, but perfectly clear.
One of the biggest stories of the U.S. election cycle has been the allegedly Russian hack into the computer network of the Democratic National Committee. Sidestepping the embarrassing implications of what the hack revealed about the DNC’s behavior during the primaries, the Democratic campaign, along with major U.S. news organizations, framed the story as one of Russia’s nefarious meddling in American democracy. That story has since become central to the U.S. election. In the first presidential debate, it was a key point of disagreement between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Both candidates emphasized the cyber threat, but while Clinton laid the blame for the DNC attacks squarely with Russia, Trump suggested that the hack could have been perpetrated by anyone, from a state security organization to a lone individual.
The case is much more complicated than it may appear.
The evidence for Russian involvement in the hack is based upon research done by three independent security firms, which discovered that similar hacking techniques had been used in previous attacks by operatives allegedly working for Russian state security. Soon after these findings were released, however, an individual hacker calling himself Guccifer 2.0 came forward to dispute them. Identifying himself as a Romanian unaffiliated with the Russian government, he claimed that he had carried out the DNC hacks alone and said he had the evidence to prove it. While experts agreed that his evidence—previously unreleased emails and other data pilfered from the DNC—was authentic, they also made the case that it contained further proof of a Russian plot:
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CBS News |
China firms happy to sell killer opioid "weapon" to anyone in US
CBS News SHANGHAI -- It's one of the strongest opioids in circulation, so deadly an amount smaller than a poppy seed can kill a person. Until July, when reports of carfentanil overdoses began to surface in the U.S., the substance was best known for knocking out ... Chemical Weapon for Sale: China's Unregulated NarcoticABC News all 32 news articles » |
BEIRUT (AP) - The Latest on developments in Syria (all times local):
12:45 p.m.
The Russian defense minister says the military will rely on its experience in the Syrian conflict to further improve its weapons.
Sergei Shoigu said on Thursday that new Russian weapons have "shown their reliability and efficiency" ...
Inside Russian 'spy base' in the Balkansby DUSAN STOJANOVIC
NIS, Serbia (AP) - In the command room there are large surveillance screens, in the warehouse rescue equipment; an unfinished gray concrete building serves as a training site. Is this a Russian-run disaster relief center in Serbia as Moscow claims, or is it an outpost for Kremlin spies in the ...
Russia strongly warns US against striking Syrian armyby VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV
MOSCOW (AP) - The Russian military on Thursday strongly warned the United States against striking the Syrian army, noting that its air defense weapons in Syria stand ready to fend off any attack.
The statement underlined high tensions between Moscow and Washington after the collapse of a U.S.-Russia-brokered Syria truce ...
Responding to the latest major leak of sensitive government documents, the White House said Thursday the case of a National Security Agency contractor charged with removing classified material was "unique" from the episode of fugitive NSA contractor Edward Snowden.
"The case of Mr. Snowden and this individual is unique," said ...
Hacked documents recently stolen from a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) database may have been manipulated before being leaked online, the organization said Wednesday.
The confidential medical records of Olympic athletes from around the globe have wound up online in recent weeks after hackers gained access to WADA's Administration and Management ...
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