International News

Tainted Milk Sickens 6,200 Chinese Babies, Kills 4 (CNN) Four Chinese babies have died from “contaminated infant formula” that “has already sickened more than 6,200 babies,” reports CNN. Authorities have arrested 18 people, including “two brothers who sold … raw milk [that] had been watered down and” mixed with “tripolycyanamide, also known as melamine.… Chinese investigators have found melamine in nearly 70 milk products from more than 20 companies.” [View article]

U.S. Embassy Bombing in Yemen Kills 16 (CNN; New York Sun) An attack on the U.S. embassy in Sanaa on Wednesday killed 16 people, including an American woman and six attackers, reports CNN. “Yemeni forces have reportedly rounded up at least 25 suspects connected to the attack.” Both Yemen and the U.S. State Department believe that al-Qaeda was responsible for the attack. Yemen is “emerging as a base for Al Qaeda veterans of the Iraq war, who are seeking refuge there and are close to establishing the kind of safe haven the group enjoys on Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan,” reports the Sun. [View CNN article] [View Sun article]

Israel Secretly Fighting Iran? (New York Sun) “Israel and America are intensifying a clandestine war against Iran that has run hot and cold since the Islamic Revolution in 1979 but has grown more urgent as Iran races to obtain an atomic bomb,” according to “a new book, ‘The Secret War with Iran,’” reports the Sun. The author is “an Israeli journalist, Ronen Bergman, who also details a series of mishaps during the past 2½ years that have likely delayed Iran’s efforts to go nuclear.” [View article]

Spain’s Supreme Court Bans Basque Party (Reuters) “Spain’s Supreme Court has banned” the Nationalist Basque Action, known as the ANV party, “because of its links to armed separatists ETA,” reports Reuters. “The Supreme [Court’s] … ruling on Tuesday meant [that ANV]—which has 400 or so local councilors in the Basque Region and Navarra, in northern Spain—would be dissolved and its assets seized … Spanish authorities say the ANV has taken over representing ETA from Batasuna, the political wing of ETA, which is already banned.” [View article]

Australian Court Finds 7 Guilty of Terrorism (Melbourne, Australia, Age) A Victoria state Supreme Court jury has found seven men guilty “of belonging to a terrorist organisation pursuing violent jihad,” reports the Age. One of them, Muslim cleric Abdul Nacer Benbrika, was also convicted of “leading a terrorist organisation and possessing a compact disc connected with preparation for a terrorist act.” Five others were acquitted. [View article]

17 Countries Agree on Rules for Security Contractors (Reuters) “Seventeen countries have agreed on rules to ensure that private military companies operating in war zones do not break international humanitarian law or abuse human rights,” reports Reuters. “… Besides compiling existing law to reaffirm and clarify the obligations of states, the document also catalogues 73 good practices, defining criteria for vetting companies and monitoring and supervising them.” [View article]

Israel Warns Its Citizens to Leave Sinai Peninsula (Jerusalem Haaretz) “The Prime Minister’s Office Counter Terrorism Bureau on Monday issued a warning to Israelis vacationing in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, urging them to return to Israel due to an ‘immediate and concrete’ abduction threat,” reports Haaretz. [View article]

Hackers Blocked September 11, 2008, al-Qaeda Message (New Delhi, India, Hindustan Times) “Hackers prevented Al Qaeda from releasing a videotape to mark the seventh anniversary of 9/11,” reports the Hindustan Times. “… As-Sahab, Al Qaeda’s media unit, had indicated” that it would post “a videotape on September 11.” [View article]

Terror Website Posts Plan for Poisoning Denmark’s Water (Copenhagen, Denmark, Post) “An Islamic extremist group has discussed on its website how to poison Denmark’s water supplies in retaliation for Jyllands-Posten newspaper’s publication of the Mohammed drawings,” reports the Copenhagen Post. “Detailed plans of how the deed can be carried out appeared on extremist group al-ekhlaa’s homepage in August, according to American terror watch organisation Jamestown Foundation.” [View article]

YouTube Bans Terrorism Training Videos (Melbourne, Australia, Age) “Terrorist training videos will be banned from appearing on YouTube,” reports the Associated Press. “… The Google-owned portal will ban footage that advertises terrorism or extremist causes and supporters of the change hope it will blunt al-Qaeda’s strong media online campaign.” It also will ban “videos that incite others to commit violent acts, videos on how to make bombs, and footage of sniper attacks.” [View article]

Civil Service Corps Takes Root in Kirkuk (DefenseLink) “Former members of ‘Sons of Iraq’ citizen security groups in Iraq’s Kirkuk province” have become “apprentices in the Civil Service Corps”—which is “‘intended to provide the necessary training, education and skill that will allow the graduates to seek and attain good-paying jobs and to begin the hard task of rebuilding Iraq village by village, city by city,’ said Army Lt. Col. Kevin Hudie, commander of the 10th Mountain Division’s 3rd Battalion, 6th Artillery Regiment,” according to American Forces Press Service. The “program is patterned after a U.S. depression-era job program known as the Civilian Conservation Corps, designed to put young men back to work.” [View article]

Alberta Recruits Skilled Immigrants (USA Today) “The province of Alberta, Canada, [has] a special program that fast-tracks applications from skilled immigrants in the United States … for specialized work in technology, health care and other fields,” reports USA Today. Neighboring Saskatchewan also “is considering recruiting skilled immigrants in the USA.” [View article]

Canadian Border-Crossing Wait Times Are Longer Than Advertised (Toronto Globe and Mail) “The posted times sometimes significantly under-report the wait” to cross the border, says the Customs Excise Union Douanes Accise, according to the Canadian Press. “… internal documents lend support to the union claims,” acknowledging that “there is no standard measurement of waiting times.” The Canada Border Services Agency “has launched a project to find a way to produce more reliable numbers.” [View article]

National News

Peace Corps Cuts Back (Los Angeles Times) “The popular humanitarian assistance program that sends thousands of Americans abroad annually is now planning to cut 400 volunteer positions in the face of an unexpected multimillion-dollar budget shortfall,” reports the Los Angeles Times. (See the Jan. 11 newsletter.) “… The agency, which has a budget of $330.8 million, is preparing for an $18-million shortfall over this fiscal year and next, primarily because of the declining value of the dollar and increased food and fuel costs worldwide.” (See the Quote of the Week.) [View article]

Terror Fears Might Create Psychosomatic Symptoms (Wired) “Americans’ fear of … terrorism could create a mass outbreak of a psychosomatic illness—even in the absence of any real attack—creating a fake epidemic that could overwhelm hospitals attempting to treat real victims,” reports Wired, citing confidential federal reports. “Adding to the confusion, the symptoms of a mass pyschogenic illness look much like symptoms of an anthrax attack, avian flu outbreak or chemical attack.” The government cited three instances of apparently mass psychosomatic symptoms. (The Wired article illustration shows a charity Zombiemarch, not actual victims.) [View article]

Psychological Assn. Bans Members From Helping Military Interrogations (New York Sun) “The American Psychological Association has reversed its policy of encouraging members to assist in the interrogation of suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and other overseas prison sites,” reports the Sun. The “new policy, which was reached by a referendum, goes beyond telling members, even those who are military personnel, that it is off-limits to participate in interrogations at detention centers abroad. Members would be prohibited from working at such sites in any capacity that directly assists the government. The prohibition would apply to psychologists who work as psychological profilers or even as clinicians who treat detainees as mental health patients.” [View article]

State and Local News

Hurricane Ike Strikes Texas (Detroit News; CBS News) Rescuers “saved nearly 2,000 people from the waterlogged streets and splintered houses left behind by Hurricane Ike,” reports the Associated Press. “Glass-strewn Houston was placed under a weeklong curfew, and millions of people in the storm’s path remained in the dark.… Roads were closed in Kentucky because of high winds. Two million people were without power in Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana.” “Hurricane Ike’s death toll in the U.S. is up to 55,” reports the Associated Press in another article. Especially hard hit was the island city of Galveston, TX. Hurricane Gustav last month killed 44 Americans, 51 Haitians, and about 19 others in the Caribbean. United Nations agencies are increasing their relief efforts in Haiti, where some 160,000 people are still living out in the open exposed to disease and malnutrition. [View hurricane article] [View death toll article] [View UN press release]

Latino Workers Lay Low During Gustav (New Orleans Times-Picayune) “For many Latino construction workers, the threat posed by Hurricane Gustav paled in comparison to the fear of getting caught and deported if they evacuated,” reports the Times-Picayune. “… hundreds, if not thousands, of undocumented immigrants stayed put for Gustav or chose another unsafe option: piling into trucks and cars stuffed full of evacuees.… The Department of Homeland Security did, in fact, clarify its position the weekend before Gustav, promising no immigration checkpoints would appear on evacuation or return routes.” [View article]

DHS News

DHS Will Lead Federal Cybersecurity Initiative (NextGov) “The Homeland Security Department will lead President Bush’s largely classified governmentwide cybersecurity initiative,” coordinating “‘the protection of federal networks’ that fall within the .gov, .mil and .ic domains,” reports NextGov, quoting Paul Schneider, Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security. (See the Aug. 8 newsletter.) But “DHS doesn’t have the clout or authority with other agencies to direct governmentwide cybersecurity efforts, said Jim Lewis, program manager of the Commission on Cybersecurity for the 44th Presidency,” in an interview with NextGov. Testifying “before the House Emerging Threats, Cybersecurity, and Science and Technology Subcommittee,” members of the commission “blamed the Homeland Security Department for failing to adequately protect the government’s technology networks, recommending … that the White House take the lead on the effort.” DHS faces challenges in establishing a comprehensive national capability, needs to better address its cybersecurity responsibilities, and needs to fully address lessons learned from its first Cyber Storm exercise (see the Sep. 15, 2006, newsletter), according to the Government Accountability Office. [View DHS article] [View commission article] [View GAO cyber warning summary] [View GAO cyber responsibilities summary] [View GAO Cyber Storm lessons summary]

FEMA Should Better Assess Voluntary Organizations’ Mass-Care Capabilities, Says GAO (Washington Post) “The American Red Cross and other disaster relief charities are unprepared to meet projected mass casualty needs during a natural catastrophe or terrorist attack in major U.S. cities,” reports the Washington Post, citing a new report from the Government Accountability Office. “… A large-scale disaster would ‘overwhelm’ the Red Cross and other nonprofit organizations that have federal responsibilities for assisting the government in feeding and sheltering victims … The report also faults the Federal Emergency Management Agency for not fully assessing the capacities of relief groups and for not clearly documenting the roles that each should play in a disaster.” (See the Feb. 29 newsletter.) [View Post article] [View GAO highlights (76KB PDF)]

DHS Defends Virtual Fence (Government Executive) “Homeland Security Department officials Wednesday defended management of the effort to deploy a virtual fence along the Southern border, saying that they would rather delay implementation to ensure the program works,” reports CongressDaily. (See last week’s newsletter.) “During a hearing before the House Homeland Security Committee, Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Ralph Basham also took issue with the committee for the title of the hearing, ‘Mismanagement, missteps and missed benchmarks: Why the virtual fence has not become reality.’” [View article]

Port Security Credential Available Nationwide Port and longshore workers, truckers and others can now enroll in the Transportation Security Administration’s Transportation Worker Identification Credential program at 149 sites around the country. Workers at some ports will be required to have a TWIC to come to work as early as next month. By April 15, 2009, workers requiring unescorted access to secure areas of any port must possess a TWIC. [View press release] [View Focus on TWIC]

Other Federal News

GAO Sees Confusion in Visa Waiver Program “The executive branch is moving aggressively to expand the Visa Waiver Program by the end of 2008, but, in doing so,” the Homeland Security Department “has not followed a transparent process,” according to the Government Accountability Office. “DHS did not follow its own November 2007 standard operating procedures, which set forth key milestones to be met before countries are admitted into the program. As a result,” the State and Justice departments “and U.S. embassy officials stated that DHS created confusion among interagency partners and aspiring program countries.… For DHS to maintain its authority to admit certain countries into the program, it must incorporate biometric indicators (such as fingerprints) into the air exit system by July 1, 2009. However, DHS is unlikely to meet this timeline.” [View GAO summary]

U.S. Exceeds Goal for Resettling Iraqis The U.S. Refugee Admissions Program has surpassed its goal of resettling 12,000 Iraqi refugees during fiscal year 2008: 12,118 Iraqis have been admitted to the United States as refugees since October 1, 2007; only 1,600 were admitted in fiscal year 2007. [View press release]

United Nations News

Iran Blocks UN Inquiry, Runs 3,800 Centrifuges (Reuters AlertNet) “Iran has stymied a U.N. inquiry into whether it researched ways to make a nuclear bomb,” according to Reuters, citing a confidential International Atomic Energy Agency report, which “said Iran had raised the number of centrifuges enriching uranium by 500 to 3,820 since May and was testing an advanced model able to refine nuclear fuel 2-3 times faster, in continuing defiance of U.N. resolutions. But a senior U.N. official … said Iran seemed at least two years away from enriching enough uranium for an atomic weapon.” [View article] [View UN report (74KB PDF)] [View Focus on the IAEA] [View Focus on Iran’s Nuclear Program]

New Upcoming Events (After four weeks, events are moved to the Upcoming Events page) Fuel Safety & Disaster Management (September 26-27; Luxembourg) The International Emergency Management Society is sponsoring this conference for company responders; field supervisors; on-scene commanders; local authorities; emergency and rescue services; environmental and wildlife organizations; those involved in inland transportation and storage of oil; retail managers; regulatory bodies; health, safety, and environment managers; and specialized response material companies. It will focus on safety and disaster management in downstream oil activities. [View event website] Dealing With Disasters—Any Improvement? (October 28-29; Zagreb, Croatia) This conference of the International Emergency Management Society will discuss emergency services and planning in regional activities; civil crisis; and human influence on nature—risk, crisis, and solution. [View event website] Risk and Crisis Communication in the 21st Century—Are We Ready? (November 3; Washington, DC) This forum will examine changes and progress in risk and crisis communications, looming opportunities and threats to watch for, and practical applications for policy and practice. Through expert perspectives and small group interaction, it will present insights, analysis, and forecasts and will address top trends, best practices, and “futures-framework.” [View event website] 7th International Bird Flu Summit (November 13-14; Las Vegas, NV) Attendees will draw on firsthand best practices to create the solid business continuity plans that their companies and organizations need in order to prepare for, respond to, and survive a pandemic. [View event website] (December 1-2; Vancouver, British Columbia) This year’s theme is cyber-crime and cyber-terrorism: Who are they, and is this a real threat? The new art of war—what can and has been done? How do we protect against it? The conference will answer these questions with case studies and research. [View event website]