News Updates from CLG
Previous edition: London terror alert over New Year’s Eve attack fears
Happy New Year, CLG readers! 2016 is going to be a wild ride, and CLG will be here, covering all the cray cray. –LRP
Breaking:Fire breaks out in Dubai skyscraper | 31 Dec 2015 | A huge fire has broken out in a high-rise hotel in central Dubai close to the world’s tallest skyscraper, the Burj Khalifa. Burning debris could bee seen falling from the 300m-tall (1,000-feet) building, called The Address, as firefighters arrived at the scene. It was not immediately clear whether there were any casualties.
New York Man Accused of Plotting Restaurant Attack for ISIS on New Year’s Eve | 31 Dec 2015 | Authorities have arrested an accused ISIS supporter who allegedly planned to commit an armed attack at a bar in Rochester on New Year’s Eve on behalf of the terror group, officials said Thursday. Emanuel Lutchman, 25, of Rochester, has been charged with attempt to provide material support and resources to ISIS. According to a criminal complaint, Lutchman began corresponding with an FBI informant in November and made numerous statements expressing his support for ISIS and his desire to join the group in Syria. [Scratch a terror plot, find the ubiquitous FBI informant.]
Arrests made as holiday terror attacks foiled in Turkey, Belgium | 30 Dec 2015 | With less than 48 hours left in 2015, Turkey on Wednesday became the latest country to announce the foiling of a holiday attack plot, detaining two suspected Islamic State militants believed to be planning suicide bombings during New Year celebrations in the capital city’s heart…The men were detained in a raid on a house in the Mamak neighbourhood, where police seized a suicide vest armed with a bomb, a second explosive device that was fortified with ball bearings and metal sticks and concealed inside a backpack, as well as bomb-making equipment, according to the prosecutor’s office.
Belgium: More arrests in alleged New Year’s Eve terror plot | 31 Dec 2015 | A court in Brussels has ruled that two Belgian nationals arrested earlier this week on suspicion of planning a terrorist attack in the city on New Year’s Eve can be held in custody for a further month. The decision on the pair, identified at Said S and Mohammed K, came as police detained six more people in connection with the alleged plot. Lawyers acting for the first two men told reporters that their clients denied all the accusations against them.
Two arrested on suspicion of Brussels ‘militant attack’ plot | 29 Dec 2015 | Two people have been arrested on suspicion of plotting militant attacks in Brussels on New Year’s Eve, the Belgian federal prosecutor has said. The two were detained during house searches in Brussels and Liege on Sunday and Monday, along with four others who were later released.
Paris to celebrate New Year under high surveillance | 27 Dec 2015 | The traditional New Year’s Eve celebrations on the Champs-Elysées will be the first large assembly to be sanctioned in Paris since France’s state of emergency started in November. Each year, hundreds of thousands of people gather on Paris’s Champs-Elysées to celebrate the "Réveillon," as the French call December 31…France has been under a state of emergency since November 13, and large-scale gatherings of any kind have been officially banned.
SIS is ‘meticulous and data-oriented,’ managing the oil and gas sector [for its corporate overlords] 28 Dec 2015 |ISIS [I-CIA-SIS] has set up departments to handle "war spoils," including slaves, and the exploitation of natural resources such as oil, creating the trappings of government that enable it to manage large swaths of Syria and Iraq and other areas. The hierarchical bureaucracy, including petty rivalries between officials, and legal codes in the form of religious fatwas are detailed in a cache of documents seized by U.S. Special Operations Forces in a May raid in Syria that killed top IS financial official Abu Sayyaf…The documents also show how "meticulous and data-oriented" IS is in managing the oil and gas sector, although it is not a sophisticated operation, said Amos Hochstein, the State Department’s top official for energy affairs.
Obama to announce new executive action on guns | 31 Dec 2015 | President Barack Obama is expected to announce in the coming days a new executive action with the goal of expanding background checks on gun sales, people familiar with White House planning said. Described as "imminent," the set of executive actions would fulfill a promise by the President to take further unilateral steps the White House says could help curb gun deaths. Plans for the action are not yet complete, and those familiar with the process warn that unforeseen circumstances could delay an announcement.
‘Vote Donald Trump’ message appears on hacked highway sign in California | 28 Dec 2015 | A digital sign on the side of a busy Southern California roadway was reprogrammed over the weekend to display a message supporting presidential hopeful Donald Trump, state transportation department officials said. One motorist, Nikki Worden of Norco, was heading northbound on the 15 Freeway in Corona on Christmas night when she noticed the light-up sign seemed to be offering Election Day advice in lieu of the usual traffic updates and driving conditions. "Inland Empire supports Donald Trump. Merry Xmas. Vote Donald Trump," the sign read. Inland Empire refers to a region in Southern California including parts of Riverside, San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties.
*****
CLG needs your support.