International News

What Will Get You Across the Border From Canada (Yahoo! News) “To cross the U.S.-Canadian border,” beginning “Jan. 31, you will need to have a passport or similarly secure document, or a combination of two other documents,” reports the Associated Press. “… U.S. and Canadian citizens 18 and younger need a birth certificate issued by a federal, state, provincial, county, or municipal authority.” [View article and list of acceptable documents]

Canada Turns Away More Americans (USA Today) “Americans are finding it increasingly difficult to get into Canada, as border agents with better access to American criminal databases are turning people back for offenses ranging from assault to drunken driving to shoplifting,” reports USA Today. “Canada has had better access to criminal records since the Sept. 11 terror attacks but” is “now using the records more aggressively.” [View article]

Hamas Breaches Gaza Wall, Thousands Flee Into Egypt (London Times) “Tens of thousands of Palestinians clambered back and forth between the Gaza strip and Egypt” after an “audacious operation … brought down a hated border wall” erected by Israel, reports the Times. “Hamas, which took control of the coastal territory last June after a stand-off with Fatah, … set off the explosions that brought down as much as two-thirds of the 12-km wall” early yesterday; “an estimated 350,000 Gazans flooded into Egypt.” [View article]

Son of Bin Laden Wants to Be Ambassador for Peace (China View) “Omar Osama bin Laden, son of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, … wants to be an ‘ambassador for peace’ between the Muslims and the West,” reports the Xinhua News Agency. “… Omar, one of bin Laden’s 19 children, left his father’s side in 2000. He … claimed that he had been trained in an al-Qaeda camp and lived with his father through the late 1990s. But he didn’t criticize his father. ‘My father thinks he will be good for defending the Arab people and stop anyone from hurting the Arab or Muslim people any place in the world,’ he said.” [View article]

Pakistani Police Arrest Five With Bombs and Cyanide (Lahore, Pakistan, Daily Times) Pakistani police arrested “five militants”—“one of whom was preparing to become a suicide bomber,” reports the Daily Times. They were “planning to attack Shia processions with cyanide and suicide bombs … The police also found six kilogrammes (kg) of explosives, ammunition, two kg of ball bearings and one kg of nails. Police also seized 500 gram[s] of cyanide.” The five suspects “confessed to planning three kind[s] of attacks.” [View article]

Spain Arrests 14 Terror Suspects (BBC; CNN) “Bomb-related material has been found during raids in Barcelona which led to the arrest of 14 people”—“12 from Pakistan and two from India”—“suspected of links with an Islamist terror network,” reports the British Broadcasting Corporation. “The Spanish judge overseeing the arraignment of 10 terrorism suspects said Wednesday that they had ‘planned to carry out a series of suicide attacks’ last weekend on public transportation in Barcelona,” reports CNN. [View article] [View article]

CIA Blames al-Qaeda and Tribal Leader for Bhutto Assassination; Pakistan Arrests Teenager (Washington Post; Mumbai Indian Express) “The CIA has concluded that members of al-Qaeda and allies of Pakistani tribal leader Baitullah Mehsud were responsible for last month’s assassination of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto, and that they also stand behind a new wave of violence threatening that country’s stability,” reports the Washington Post. (See the Jan. 4 newsletter.) “A 15-year-old boy”—Aitezaz Shah—“arrested last week on suspicion of being involved in [the] assassination” admitted his involvement, reports the Press Trust of India. He “told investigators that his next target was the US consulate in Karachi.” [View Post article] [View PTI article]

Nonviolent Palestinian Party of Liberation Gains Support (Christian Science Monitor) “Hizb ut-Tahrir (the Party of Liberation) is now filling a hole left by Hamas in the West Bank,” reports the Christian Science Monitor. “… the group officially eschews violence” and claims to be “active in 45 countries.” It seeks “the reestablishment of one united Islamic rule under a caliphate” and “argues that the entire umma, or Islamic nation, should unite to overthrow the Middle East’s many Western-backed states, emirates, and kingdoms.” [View article]

Mexican Army Seizes Guns From Police in Three Border Cities (Reuters AlertNet) “The Mexican army disarmed Mexican police and mounted street patrols on Tuesday in three cities on the U.S. border on suspicion that agents there work for drug cartels,” reports Reuters. “Soldiers seized 300 guns from municipal policemen in the city of Nuevo Laredo, across from Laredo, Texas, to check if the weapons were legal or had been used in crimes.… Troops conducted similar operations in the cities of Reynosa and Matamoros.” [View article]

Canadian Terrorist Jabarah Gets Life in Prison (MSNBC) “A Canadian terrorist”—Mohammed Mansour Jabarah—“who briefly became an informant against top al-Qaida leaders was sentenced to life in prison [Jan. 18] for plotting to blow up American embassies in Singapore and the Philippines,” reports NBC News. “… Jabarah has been in U.S. custody since 2002, when he secretly pleaded guilty to the terrorism charges as part of a short-lived plea bargain.” [View article]

Canada Stops Transferring Prisoners to Afghan Custody, Citing Evidence of Torture (Toronto Globe and Mail) “Canada stopped transferring prisoners into Afghan custody months ago after discovering compelling evidence of torture,” reports the Globe and Mail. [View article]

European Union Shares U.S. Concerns About Homegrown Terrorism (EUobserver) European Union “security commissioner Franco Frattini has said he shares concerns recently expressed in Washington that Europe could become a platform for terrorist threats against the United States …” reports the EUobserver. (See last week’s newsletter.) “‘Day after day, we discover cells of terrorists,’ he” told the BBC. [View article]

Zawahri’s Internet Chat: 900 Questions, No Answers Yet (CNN) More than 900 questions were “submitted online to al Qaeda’s No. 2 leader,” Ayman al-Zawahiri (see the Dec. 21 newsletter), “before the January 16 deadline” reports the Associated Press, which could not “confirm independently whether any of the questioners are really active fighters.” And “so far, al Qaeda hasn’t given any answers.” [View article]

Bird Flu Is Still Hazardous to Birds (New York Times) “Last year, for the first time since avian flu emerged as a global threat, the number of human cases was down from the year before”—“86 confirmed human cases last year compared with 115 in 2006, according to the World Health Organization, and 59 deaths compared with 79,” reports the New York Times. (See the Jan. 11 newsletter.) “… Dr. Paul A. Offit, a vaccine specialist at Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia, [said that] ‘H5 viruses have been around for 100 years and never caused a pandemic and probably never will,’” but “he backed all preparedness efforts because he expected another pandemic from an H1, H2 or H3, the subtypes responsible for six previous epidemics, including the catastrophic one in 1918.” And avian flu is still lethal and widespread in birds. [View article] [View Focus on Avian Influenza]

Fever Cases Cause Alarm in India (Natl. Terror Alert Response Center) “About 2,324 cases of people suffering from fever have been reported from the Birbhum district Ground Zero of the bird flu outbreak,” reports the National Terror Alert Response Center. “Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare P Lakshmi did not find adequate health infrastructure to combat the bird flu threat.… The state government, however, maintained that there has been no case of H5N1 virus infecting humans.” [View article]

Forged Malaysian Passports Help Foreigners Get Visas Elsewhere (Malaysia Star) “Foreigners hoping to sneak into Europe and other parts of the world using forged passports have found [Malaysia’s] Penang International Airport to be an ideal transit point,” reports the Star. “… Malaysian passport holders [do] not need a visa to visit Taiwan, Singapore and Bangkok.… it is also easier to obtain a visa to get into a European country with a Malaysian passport.” [View article]

UK Wants More Antiterror Cooperation From India (Mumbai Indian Express) British “Prime Minister Gordon Brown called for greater cooperation with India on combatting terrorism as he began a visit to New Delhi on Sunday,” reports Reuters. “Brown wants India to become a member of an international body that counters terrorist financing—the Financial Action Task Force—and also wants to help it to acquire sophisticated equipment to detect people carrying weapons or explosives at ports and airports.… He also called for a hearts and minds campaign to combat ‘extremist ideologies’.” [View article]

National News

Padilla Sentenced to 17 Years in Prison (New York Times) “Jose Padilla, the Brooklyn-born convert to Islam who was once accused by the government of plotting to detonate a ‘dirty bomb’ in the United States, was sentenced on Tuesday to 17 years and four months in prison for his role in a conspiracy to help Islamic jihadist fighters abroad,” reports the New York Times. “… Judge Marcia G. Cooke of Federal District Court in Miami” also sentenced “Padilla’s two co-defendants in the case”: Ahmad Amin Hassoun, who recruited “Padilla in a Broward County mosque, received 15 years and eight months in prison,” and Kifah Wael Jayyousi, “said to be a financier and propagandist for the cell, received 12 years and eight months.” [View article]

Hackers Cut Cities’ Power (Forbes) “Tom Donahue, a CIA official, revealed [on Jan. 18] at the SANS security trade conference in New Orleans that hackers have penetrated power systems in several regions outside the U.S., and ‘in at least one case, caused a power outage affecting multiple cities,’” reports Forbes. “… In the past two years, hackers have in fact successfully penetrated and extorted multiple utility companies that use [supervisory control and data acquisition] systems, says Alan Paller, director of the SANS Institute, an organization that hosts a crisis center for hacked companies.” (See the Quote of the Week.) [View article]

Airports to Inspect ID Cards Using Black Lights (USA Today) “The newest tool at airport security checkpoints is … a handheld black light,” reports USA Today. “Airport screeners are starting to use them this month to examine driver’s licenses and other passenger ID cards presented at checkpoints to spot forgeries or tampering.” The black light illuminates the “holograms, typically of government seals, that are found in licenses and passports. Screeners also are getting magnifying glasses that highlight tiny inscriptions found in borders of passports and other IDs. About 2,100 of each are going to the nation’s 800 airport checkpoints.” [View article]

New this week in the Journal of Homeland Security In Bioviolence: Preventing Biological Terror and Crime, Barry Kellman describes the underestimated danger of biological agents falling into the hands of those who would be inclined to use them, and provides a wide-ranging and detailed policy analysis on how to prevent this from happening. As he puts it, “This book is a brief—an argument— that: 1) bioviolence is a threat that merits serious attention; 2) there are wise strategies that can reduce bioviolence threats; and 3) those strategies have serious ramifications that demand important changes in global governance.” Paul Higgins reviews the book.

United Nations News

WHO Launches System to Track Bird Flu Samples (Reuters AlertNet) “The World Health Organisation says it has begun to disclose how and where the samples of bird flu virus it receives from affected countries are used, in response to poor countries’ demands for more transparency,” reports Reuters. “The electronic tracking system, which went live this week, is a step towards appeasing the concerns of Indonesia and other developing countries that the biological specimens they share with the WHO will be used to make affordable vaccines.” [View article]

State and Local News

California Police Sting Nets Bombs and Assault Weapons (San Francisco Chronicle) “San Jose and Santa Clara police,” operating “an elaborate sting”—“a recycling business front in Santa Clara … staffed by undercover police officers … [that] soon gained a reputation as a place that would take anything—no questions asked”—received, in addition to the stolen scrap metal they were targeting, “banned assault weapons, methamphetamine, stolen drivers licenses and remote-activated bombs,” reports the Chronicle. The sting led to more than 140 arrests. [View article]

Unprecedented Security for Super Bowl (HS [Homeland Security] Today) “Security for Super Bowl XLII, to be played at the University of Phoenix Stadium Feb. 3, is being described as ‘unprecedented,’ and will include both covert and overt measures like” the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives’ “bomb-sniffing dogs trained to ferret out liquid explosives,” reports HS Today. “… the federal government’s terrorism threat assessment of the upcoming game between the New England Patriots and New York Giants outlines concerns about stolen official law enforcement credentials, uniforms, weapons, and other equipment that could be used to ‘infiltrate’ the stadium complex to carry out an attack.” [View article]

Brooklyn Weapons Trove Suspect Linked to Hate Crimes (New York Times) Police on Monday arrested Ivaylo Ivanov, “a man who they said had a trove of weapons inside a stately apartment building in” Brooklyn Heights, NY, reports the New York Times. He admitted that he was behind a spree of “anti-Jewish vandalism at more than a dozen locations” in his neighborhood. His “arsenal included seven pipe bombs and two pounds of what the police called a ‘low-explosive powder’; a sawed-off shotgun and a crossbow with arrows; another pipe bomb, hidden in a foam football; and other rifles, including pellet guns. The discovery prompted an all-day evacuation of the building. Detectives were not sure on Monday what Mr. Ivanov planned to do with the weapons.” They “are exploring the possibility that [he] had planned to use the pipe bombs against synagogues.” [View article]

Washington, DC, 311 Center Diverts Non-Emergency Fire and Police Calls to 911 (Washington Post) “District [of Columbia] officials launched an expanded 311 call center” Tuesday; to replace the old “number that people had long used to reach the mayor’s call center,” reports the Washington Post. “… But council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large), chairman of the Committee on Public Safety, warned that the new system will confuse residents and could create delays in 911 responses. Under the old system, people called the 911 number for police, fire and medical emergencies and they called 311 for police and fire service that required a response but was not an emergency … The mayor’s call center handled all other requests. Under the new system, anyone needing any kind of police or fire response will call 911—emergency or not. The operators will then decide whether the call constitutes an emergency.” [View article]

Military and Four States Plan Disaster Drills (Government Computer News) “U.S. Joint Forces Command and Northern Command are planning a series of computer-based disaster drills with” Indiana, Oregon, Texas, and Virginia “this year as part of their Noble Resolve 2008 preparedness exercises,” reports Government Computer News. “The drills are intended to enhance military support during and after natural disasters, accidents and terrorist attacks.” [View article]

Washington State Offers Enhanced Driver’s License (Olympian) “The state Department of Licensing has introduced a new type of driver’s license born out of concern that stricter border-crossing requirements could disrupt the flow of tourists and trade between the United States and Canada,” reports the Olympian. “Eleven agency offices, including the one in Lacey, on Tuesday began accepting applications for the ‘enhanced driver’s license.’ [See the March 30, 2007, newsletter.] The license is not required. Washington residents can use the license instead of a passport or birth certificate when travelling among the United States, Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean by land or sea.” [View article]

DHS News

DHS Will Replace Homeland Security Information Network (Washington Post; Federal Computer Week) “The Homeland Security Department spent more than $90 million to create” the Homeland Security Information Network “for sharing sensitive anti-terrorism information with state and local governments” but “has decided to replace” it, reports the Washington Post. “… an Oct. 27 memorandum … listed the network’s flaws and asserted that DHS’s counterterrorism, immigration enforcement and disaster management missions were hampered by the proliferation of more than 100 Web ‘portals’ that provide poorly coordinated information.… The network is the department’s primary communications application for sensitive but unclassified information.… the Government Accountability Office [has twice] listed the network as a ‘high-risk area.’” “DHS officials want the Homeland Security Information Network … to evolve into an enterprise collaboration Web portal in which DHS will merge more than 100 federal sites, including the [sensitive but unclassified] network that state and local authorities use to share information related to terrorism,” reports Federal Computer Week. [View Post article] [View FCW article]

Venture Capital Concept Analysis This December 2005 Homeland Security Institute report for the Homeland Security Department has been approved for public release and is now available on the institute’s website. [View report]

Other Federal News

Vaccines and Antivirals May Not Stop a Pandemic “The use of antivirals and vaccines, two elements of the international strategy to forestall a pandemic, could be constrained by their uncertain effectiveness and limited availability,” according to the Government Accountability Office. “… The effectiveness of antivirals could be limited if they are used more than 48 hours after the onset of symptoms or by the emergence of strains resistant to antivirals. Due to the time required to identify the virus and develop and manufacture a pandemic vaccine—20 to 23 weeks according to [the Department of Health and Human Services]—such vaccines are likely to play little or no role in efforts to forestall a pandemic in its initial phases.” [View summary]

Private-Sector News

Government Officers Turn to Private Insurers Against Lawsuits (London Telegraph; New York Times) “Thousands of CIA, FBI and Secret Service agents are taking out insurance policies to cover them against the growing risk of being sued in the line of duty,” reports the Telegraph. “… Wright & Company, a Virginia-based law firm specialising in insuring such government employees, said its federal client list had grown from 17,000 to 32,000 since the 2001 attacks.” “The standard Wright policy costs a little less than $300 a year,” reports the New York Times. “The government pays half the premium for all supervisors and certain other high-risk employees.” [View Telegraph article] [View Times article]

Dual-Benefit Solutions

Cell Phone Sensors Detect Radiation Researchers at Purdue University are working with the state of Indiana to develop a system that would use a network of cell phones to detect and track radiation to help prevent terrorist attacks with radiological “dirty bombs” and nuclear weapons. Such a system could blanket the nation with millions of cell phones equipped with radiation sensors able to detect even light residues of radioactive material. Because cell phones already contain global positioning locators, the network of phones would serve as a tracking system. [View press release]

Dual-benefit news archive

New Upcoming Events (After four weeks, events are moved to the Upcoming Events page) (January 30-31; Atlanta) Officials representing local, state, and federal governments, along with representatives of the health information technology industry, will discuss and identify ways that local governments can use IT to better manage their health services and operations. [View conference website] Second National Emergency Management Summit (February 3-5; Washington, DC) This forum on medical preparedness and response to disasters, epidemics, and terrorism will cover more than 50 topics in emergency management. Preconference sessions are “Preparing for a Pandemic” and “Hospital Surge Capacity Update.” [View conference website] (February 11-13; Arlington, VA) Participants will discuss the necessary core capabilities of biometric systems and scan the best practices, solutions, and methodologies to strengthen their potential. Leading biometric systems experts will highlight the key requirements for successful migration, implementation, interoperability, and next-generation networks deployment strategy. Key industry experts will describe the research and development being undertaken to uncover the future of biometric technology, security, and privacy. [View conference website] CBRNE Defence Capabilities Europe 2008 (February 19-21; Brussels, Belgium) Delegates will hear about international cooperation, technological developments and requirements, training, and policy coordination for countering the use of chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and high-explosive weapons use, covering detection, identification, force protection, and decontamination. [View conference website] Homeland Security Innovation Conference (February 20-22; Charleston, SC) This year’s theme is “Current Challenges and Real Time Solutions for Resiliency.” It will also cover the international security perspective and the Safe Port Act and feature a technology showcase. [View conference website] Infrastructure Security Partnership breakfast (February 21; Washington, DC) Dennis R. Schrader, professional engineer and Federal Emergency Management Agency Deputy Administrator for National Preparedness, will discuss critical infrastructure resilience. For more information, contact Catherine Tehan at ctehan@asce.org. [View event website] (February 24-27; Baltimore) This meeting will bring together decision makers who are shaping the future biodefense research agenda and those who are carrying out research to defend against the growing threat of bioterrorism, recognizing that emerging infectious diseases serve as a paradigm for handling the public threat of bioterrorism. [View conference website] Mass Transit Security Summit 2008 (February 27-28; Alexandria, VA) This summit will bring together policy makers, transit operators, security personnel, and solutions providers to exchange and disseminate best practices and opportunities to improve the security of the nation’s mass transit security systems. [View conference website] (February 27-28; Washington, DC) This conference, sponsored by the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association, will cover critical issues facing the United States in the fight against terrorism and offer an opportunity to engage in dialogue with key government and industry executives. [View conference website] 6th International Bird Flu Summit (March 27-28; Bali, Indonesia) Top leaders and key decision makers of major companies representing a broad range of industries will meet with distinguished scientists, public health officials, law enforcers, first responders, and other experts to discuss pandemic prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery. Attendees will draw on firsthand best practices to create solid business continuity plans. [View conference website] 2nd Annual Global Border Security Conference & Expo (May 21-22; Austin, TX) The conference will discuss cargo, immigration, drugs, and terrorism. [View conference website]