Russian train crash caused by terrorist bomb?

CNN: Elements of an explosive device were found amidst the wreckage of a Russian train crash. The Nevsky express bullet train detailed between Moscow and St. Petersburg; more than 25 people were killed and 100 were injured.

A second device went off later that morning on tracks going in the opposite direction.

“‘One can say with certainty that that was indeed an act of terror,’ Vladimir Markin, spokesman for the investigative committee of the Russian prosecutor’s office, told CNN.”

No word yet on the identity of the individuals who committed these acts.

Fighting back against pirates

Military.com: posted CNN video of security companies and new defense mechanisms set to aggressively combat pirates.

Sex offenders 2.0?

Washington Post: violator registry numbers are  expanding as parole and probation budgets are cut and Web 2.0 technologies proliferate.

Mumbai terror associates arrested in Italy

BBC News:  A father and son were arrested in northern Italy on suspicion of providing logistical and material support to the Mumbai terrorists.

“They are accused of supplying cash from their money transfer agency to pay for an internet phone account used by people in contact with the attackers” who killed upwards of 170 people a year ago.

LAPD’s NextGen 911 incorporating Web 2.0 tech in crimefighting

Just heard on KFI AM 640: the Los Angeles Police Department will soon join the ranks of law enforcement agencies using Next-Generation 911 (Next Gen 911 or NG 911) systems. Here’s an example of Florida County implementing NG911.

According to KFI, people in Los Angeles will soon be able to call 911 and if appropriate the LAPD will direct them to send images, texts, and video to the LAPD computer-aided dispatch system. Dispatch can then send the information to patrol units to assist in their law enforcement efforts.

Hey, maybe they can transmit it to other agencies as well (hint, hint)!

Kudos to the LAPD for integrating available Web 2.0 and communications technologies and maximizing the increasing potential to fight crime.

Drone missiles strike militant hideout in Pakistan

Al Jazeera: Shortly after midnight, drone missiles hit a compound commonly used by anti-government and al-Qaeda-linked fighters in Palooseen, North Waziristan. Eight were killed. In its report, Al Jazeera labeled them as “US drones” but cited no evidence to back up their claim.

The attack, shortly after midnight, occurred while Leon Panetta was in Islamabad meeting with officials and “hours after a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a court building in the city, killing at least 19 people.”

Bomb outside Peshawar court kills 19

Al Jazeera: A suicide bomb outside the gates of a judicial complex in Peshawar, Pakistan has left 19 dead and 30 injured. The bombing occurred during rush hour, guaranteeing that plenty of lawyers, court personnel, and visitors would be present when the bomb detonated.

“The blast comes as military battles members of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, one of the main anti-government groups, in the country’s semi-autonomous tribal region of South Waziristan.”

Is a tracking implant an effective weapon in the cartel wars?

Guardian UK: “Mexico’s attorney general and other senior staff have had computer chips implanted in their arms to serve both as an identity device and a tracking mechanism should they be kidnapped…The primary function of the chip…was to control access to the centre in order to reduce the risk of sensitive information being leaked to criminal gangs.”

The KSM trial: “an extraordinarily complex can of worms”?

Rhetorican and STRATFOR: Can anyone make sense of the Khalid Sheikh Mohammed trial?

UPDATE: More consevatives get behind Holder?

Reputed drug lord makes Forbes “most powerful” list

Drudge: Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, who is widely believed to head the Sinaloa Cartel, is ranked number 41 on the Forbes list of “Most Powerful People.”  He is ranked ahead of Dmitry Medvedev, Benjamin Netanyahu, Nicolas Sarkozy, and Hugo Chavez.

According to Forbes, Guzman “is believed to have shipped $6 billion to $19 billion in cocaine to the United States over the past eight years…”

 

 

3.5 million paid to Somali hijackers of Spanish ship

Al Jazeera reports that pirates have freed a Spanish ship hijacked six weeks ago in the Indian ocean, allegedly in exchange for 3.5 million dollars.

On a related note: the Nigerian News Service on why nations should not negotiate with hijackers and kidnappers.

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