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Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 6/14/2013 10:14:37 AM
	Feds: Traditional probe used in Ill. terror case By MICHAEL TARM \| Associated Press – 15 hrs ago Associated Press/U.S. Marshal's office - This undated photo provided by the U.S. Marshal's office shows Adel Daoud, of Hillside, Ill. Daoud is charged with terrorism for allegedly trying to set off what he thought was a car bomb Sept. 14, 2012, near a downtown Chicago bar. In a filing in U.S. District Court late Wednesday, June 12, 2013, in Chicago, the government denied a defense contention that prosecutors may have used a 2008 amendment expanding the scope of a foreign intelligent law to charge the 19-year-old Daoud. The government filing says investigators relied on pre-2008 provisions. He remains jailed in Chicago awaiting trial, which is set for Feb. 3. (AP Photo/U.S. Marshal's office) CHICAGO (AP) — Prosecutors haven't denied that an expanded U.S. phone and internet surveillance program triggered an investigation that led to terrorism charges against a Chicago-area teenager, a defense attorney said Thursday. Thomas Durkin told a federal judge that he needs to know how the government compiled evidence against Adel Daoud, resulting in charges that he tried to set off what he thought was a car bomb next to a Chicago bar. In a late Wednesday filing in U.S. District Court in Chicago, prosecutors indicated that the evidence against the 19-year-old U.S. citizen was gathered using traditional methods, though they offered no details. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Chicago, Randall Samborn, declined to comment on the filing. The vastly expanded surveillance program, revealed in a leak by a former CIA employee last week, has stirred debate over personal privacy rights versus national security needs. But Durkin said the language of the filing suggests that the expanded spying program may have triggered an initial investigation into Daoud. He said he would continue to press for more clarity from the government. "We're not done on this," he said Thursday, adding that the judge overseeing the case would have to rule at some point on the defense request for more detail. Durkin has said authorities may have singled out Daoud only after surveillance data indicated he viewed the online Inspire magazine, produced by al-Qaida affiliates. Daoud has claimed he viewed the material as part of work on a high-school term paper. If he learns the surveillance program kick-started an investigation, Durkin has said he could ask a higher court — possibly the U.S. Supreme Court — to have the case thrown out on constitutional grounds. "Anyone who is concerned with civil liberties in this country should want the Supreme Court to visit (the expanded surveillance program) and rule on its the constitutionality," he said earlier this week. Daoud, of Hillside, was arrested last year in what authorities described as an FBI sting, during which they said the public was never in danger. Daoud has pleaded not guilty and remains jailed in Chicago as he awaits trial, which is set to begin Feb. 3. ___ Follow Michael Tarm at www.twitter.com/mtarm
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
	+1

Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 6/14/2013 3:12:40 PM
	Lawmakers: Terrorists change tactics after leaks Top Republicans say those who want to harm US change tactics after NSA leaks By Kimberly Dozier, AP Intelligence Writer \| Associated Press – 2 hrs 8 mins ago Associated Press - Gen. Keith Alexander, Director of the National Security Agency, center, leaves a Senate Intelligence Committee meeting regarding NSA programs, in Washington, Thursday, June 13, 2013. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) WASHINGTON (AP) -- Two senior Republican lawmakers said Thursday that terrorists are already changing their behavior after leaks about classified U.S. data gathering programs, but they offered no details. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., said it's part of the damage from disclosures by National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden of two NSA programs, which collect millions of telephone records and track foreign Internet activity on U.S. networks. Snowden fled to Hong Kong in May and has granted some interviews since then, saying he hopes to stay there and fight any charges that may yet be filed against him. Rogers said there are "changes we can already see being made by the folks who wish to do us harm, and our allies harm" and that the revelations might also "make it harder to track bad guys trying to harm U.S. citizens in the United States." Later Thursday, Sen. Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, the ranking Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, used similar language in criticizing Snowden. "The bad guys are now changing their methods of operation," Chambliss said. "His disclosures are ultimately going to lead to us being less safe in America because bad guys will be able to figure out a way around some of the methods we use, and it's likely to cost lives down the road." Rogers and Chambliss spoke after closed briefings with top administration officials on the matter. The ranking Democrat on the committee, Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger of Maryland, said he's concerned that Snowden fled to Hong Kong, a part of China, "a country that's cyberattacking us every single day." "It seems unusual that he would be in China and asking for the protection of the Chinese government ... but we're going to investigate," Ruppersberger said. "He's obviously now decided that he wants to relay information about foreign-type (intelligence) collection," Rogers said. "Clearly, we're going to make a thorough scrub of what his China connections are," or whether he has a connection to any other foreign government, the congressman added. The NSA's director, Gen. Keith Alexander, who was part of the closed briefings to Senate and House members, said he hopes to declassify details of dozens of attacks disrupted by the programs. Alexander said officials don't want to "cause another terror attack by giving out too much information." Officials have thrown out widely varying numbers of the attacks they say the broad surveillance of Americans' phone and online usage has thwarted. On Wednesday, Alexander said dozens have been stopped. Ruppersberger said the surveillance "has thwarted 10 possible terrorist attacks," then amended that number to be in line with Alexander's statement. In the initial days after the disclosures of the programs, officials cited one case. Two senators and longtime critics of the program challenged Alexander's claim Thursday. "We have not yet seen any evidence showing that the NSA's dragnet collection of Americans' phone records has produced any uniquely valuable intelligence," Sens. Mark Udall, D-Colo. and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., both members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in a statement. "All of the plots that he mentioned appear to have been identified using other collection methods." The disclosures raised privacy concerns as Americans — some of them members of Congress — learned for the first time the extent of surveillance powers granted by the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to help U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies track terrorists. Investigators have been trying to determine which facilities the 29-year-old Snowden visited during his intelligence career to decide how much classified data he had access to as a computer systems analyst for the NSA and earlier for the CIA, according to two congressional staffers. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to describe the investigation publicly. "It's clear he attempted to go places he was not authorized to go," within the classified systems, Rogers said. He called Snowden "a fairly low-level individual, but because of his position in the IT system had access to certain pieces of information that, candidly, he did not understand, or had the full scope of what these programs where, who decided on his own he was going to release this information." Snowden's access to secret programs is spurring lawmakers to consider imposing new limits on contractors who work in the intelligence field. The head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said Thursday that her committee would draft legislation to limit or prevent contractors from handling highly classified technical data. Feinstein spoke after a closed-door briefing Thursday on the NSA leaks open to all senators, by officials including Alexander and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, and FBI Deputy Director Sean Joyce. Feinstein said 47 attended — almost half the Senate. FBI Director Robert Mueller defended the programs in testimony to Congress on Thursday. In what is likely his final appearance as FBI director before the House Judiciary Committee, Mueller said that terrorists track leaked information "very, very closely" and that because of leaks "we lose our ability to get their communications" and "we are exceptionally vulnerable." Rep. John Conyers of Michigan, the Judiciary Committee's ranking Democrat, said, "It's my fear that we are on the verge of becoming a surveillance state." In defending the programs, Mueller called attention to the run-up to the 2001 terrorist attacks, saying that if the controversial surveillance efforts had been in place back then, they might have uncovered the hijackers' plot. The 9/11 Commission found that among the major U.S. failures before the attack was that agencies didn't share information they already had about suspected terrorists with the FBI. "If we had had this program, that opportunity would have been there," Mueller said. "I am not persuaded that that makes it OK to collect every call," Conyers replied. ___ Associated Press writers Pete Yost and Eileen Sullivan in Washington contributed to this report. Follow Dozier on Twitter at http://twitter.com/kimberlydozier
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
	+1

Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 6/14/2013 3:18:00 PM
	APNewsBreak: NSA leaker Snowden not welcome in UK APNewsBreak: Britain tells airlines NSA leaker Snowden should not be allowed on flights to UK By Thanyarat Doksone, Associated Press \| Associated Press – 2 hrs 16 mins ago Associated Press - In this photo released by Arthit Suriyawongkul, a U.K. Home Office Carrier Alert notice about NSA leaker Edward Snowden is seen at an airline check-in counter at Chiang Mai airport in Thailand, Friday, June 14, 2013. A British diplomat confirmed the British government issued the alert to airlines around the world, urging them not to allow Snowden to board flights to the United Kingdom. (AP Photo/Arthit Suriyawongkul) BANGKOK (AP) -- The British government has warned airlines around the world not to allow Edward Snowden, who leaked information on top-secret U.S. government surveillance programs, to fly to the United Kingdom. A travel alert, dated Monday on a Home Office letterhead, said carriers should deny Snowden boarding because "the individual is highly likely to be refused entry to the UK." The Associated Press saw a photograph of the document taken Friday at a Thai airport. A British diplomat confirmed that the document was genuine and was sent out to airlines around the world. Airlines in Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore also confirmed the alert had been issued. The diplomat said such alerts are issued to carriers that fly into the U.K and any carrier that brings Snowden will be liable to be fined 2,000 British pounds. He said Snowden would likely have been deemed by the Home Office to be detrimental to the "public good." The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. Snowden, 29, revealed himself Sunday as the source of top-secret documents about U.S. National Security Agency surveillance programs that were reported earlier by the Guardian and Washington Post newspapers. He is believed to be in Hong Kong. Snowden, an American citizen, has yet to be charged with any crime and no warrants have been issued for his arrest. Even without charges, Snowden's world is now shrinking. If other countries follow Britain's example and bar his entry, Snowden would have few options for seeking refuge if he were not allowed to stay in his preferred sanctuary of Hong Kong, a semiautonomous Chinese territory. China has not made any public comment on what it plans to do with Snowden or how long he would be welcome to stay in Hong Kong. A popular Communist Party-backed newspaper, however, has urged China's leadership to milk Snowden for information rather than expel him, saying his revelations concern China's national interest. If the U.S. eventually calls for his return, Snowden does have the option of applying for asylum or refugee status in Hong Kong, which maintains a Western-style legal system. If Snowden chose to fight it, his extradition to the U.S. could take years to make its way through Hong Kong's courts. The alert was issued Monday by the Risk and Liaison Overseas Network, part of the U.K. Border Agency that has staff in several countries identified as major transit points for inadequately documented passengers. The document titled "RALON Carrier Alert 15/13" had a photograph of Snowden and gave his date of birth and passport number. It said: "If this individual attempts to travel to the UK: Carriers should deny boarding." It warned that carriers may "be liable to costs relating to the individual's detention and removal" should they allow him to travel. "Carrier alerts" are issued when the U.K. government wants to deny entry to people who don't normally need visas to enter the country, or already have visas but something has happened since they were issued, said the diplomat. Sometimes convicted sex offenders are denied entry into the U.K. in this way. A Bangkok Airways officer said the airline was notified on Thursday about the alert by the Airports of Thailand, Pcl., which operates national airports throughout the country. She said the notice was not intended to be seen by the public. The officer spoke on the condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to give the information to the media. National carrier Malaysia Airlines said in an emailed statement to the AP that it had also received the British advisory and issued notices to all its operating locations in the country. Singapore Airlines also received the alert. Britain previously found itself wrapped up in a secret documents leak scandal when Wikileaks founder Julian Assange was granted political asylum last year at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. He is facing extradition to Sweden where he is wanted on accusations of sex crimes, and has expressed fears that if returned to Sweden he could also face extradition to the U.S.
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
	+1

Luis Miguel

1162

61587

Lima

RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES?

6/14/2013 3:29:47 PM

AP PHOTOS: Egypt's Sufis thrive despite attacks

By HASSAN AMMAR | Associated Press – 2 hrs 18 mins ago

In this Tuesday, June 4, 2013 photo, Egyptian Sufi Muslims perform Hadra as they celebrate Moulid inside the Sayyeda Zeinab shrine in Cairo, Egypt. The hadra is an Islamic act where attendees perform dhikr, a ritual of supplication that often includes recitation of God’s 99 names in Islam. Depending on the particular Sufi order, it can contain elements such as singing, dancing and music. Egypt’s roughly 15 million Sufi Muslims say their places of worship are under threat by rising radicalism. They say that since the country’s 2011 uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak, shrines held sacred to them have been attacked by hardliners who deem them heretical and idolatrous. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

In this Friday, June 7, 2013 photo, men pray at the shrine of Al Sayyid Ali bin Mohammed bin Ja'far al-Sadiq in Cairo, Egypt. Egypt’s roughly 15 million Sufi Muslims say their places of worship are under threat by rising radicalism. They say that since the country’s 2011 uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak, shrines held sacred to them have been attacked by hardliners who deem them heretical and idolatrous. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

In this Tuesday, June 11, 2013 photo, a general view shows the al-Rifai mosque, background, and Sultan Hassan mosque, foreground, in Cairo, Egypt. Egypt’s roughly 15 million Sufi Muslims say their places of worship are under threat by rising radicalism. They say that since the country’s 2011 uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak, shrines held sacred to them have been attacked by hardliners who deem them heretical and idolatrous. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's Sufi Muslims say their places of worship are under threat by rising radicalism, as shrines sacred to them are coming under attack by Islamist hard-liners who deem them heretical.

Sufis follow a mystical philosophy of Islam that has traditionally been popular in Egypt, with some 15 million people in the country of 90 million belonging to dozens of Sufi orders. Sufis say the figure is likely even higher since many who practice it are not registered with orders.

But many of their practices are denounced by ultraconservative Salafis who follow a more literal interpretation of Islam. In particular, hard-liners point to Sufis' reverence for saints and holy men and for the shrines where they are buried. Salafis and other hard-liners consider such reverence as idolatrous. And with hard-liners emboldened and given a freer hand since the 2011 fall of autocrat Hosni Mubarak, attacks on shrines have escalated.

The Secretary-General of the Union of Sufis in Egypt, Abdullah al-Nasser Helmy, says more than 100 attacks against shrines have taken place across the country in several Nile Delta provinces, the Mediterranean coastal city of Alexandria and northern Sinai Peninsula where radical extremists are active.

In the northern Sinai town of Sheikh Zuweyid, for example, extremists bombed the shrine of the saint who gives the town its name. The tomb was not totally destroyed, so a few months later, they bombed it again. In other places, shrines have been defaced or damaged.

"Egypt is being severely affected by the Salafi ideology, which is hard-line and forces women to wear the face veil," said Helmy, expressing fears that extremists want to do away with all tombs related to prophets and religious figures.

Amr El-Mekky, an official in the Salafi Nour Party, said his party is against such attacks. "This is not the way of dealing with different people," he said. "We criticize anything like that," he said, adding that all Salafis should not be painted with the same brush.

Sufism is rooted in the focus on one's soul, nurturing it through prayer and dhikr, a ritual of supplication that often includes recitation of God's 99 names in Islam. Whirling dervishes who spin and pray with their hands stretched upward until they are lost in worship are also associated with Sufism.

One of the most popular Sufi rites is the mawlid — a mass celebration to mark the birthdate of a saint. There are some 120 such commemorations a year in Egypt alone, with some Sufis traveling across the country and camping outside mosques and shrines for the occasions. The food they make is available for all to eat and their circles of worship open for all to join. As with many of Egypt's antiquities and ancient sites, many of the country's Sufi shrines are dilapidated and neglected by the government.

Sufism, which first appeared in Egypt in the 9th century, is popular among leading sheiks in Al-Azhar, the Sunni Muslim world's oldest seat of learning based in Cairo.

Some Sufi parties emerged after the country's uprising, though Sufis have largely stayed on the peripheries of politics while Islamists plunged in to dominate politics. Salafis are now the second largest bloc in the interim parliament, after the Muslim Brotherhood. Egypt's president, Mohammed Morsi, is a veteran of the Brotherhood.

Helmy says Sufis are concerned that the new government and Salafis are slowly trying to encroach on mosques and force out moderate scholars.

Still, he says it is not in the nature of Sufis to be politicized or be consumed by worldly problems.

"Sufis only tremble from God's majesty, though they are being fought by the current government," Helmy said.

Here's a gallery of images from AP photographer Hassan Ammar showing Sufi practices, rituals and places of worship in the Egyptian capital, Cairo.

___

Follow AP photographers and photo editors on Twitter: http://apne.ws/15Oo6jo

"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

Luis Miguel

1162

61587

Lima

RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES?

6/14/2013 9:59:42 PM

Police: Santa Monica gunman left farewell note

By TAMI ABDOLLAH | Associated Press – 13 hrs ago

John Zawahri, 23, expressed remorse for the killing of five people in Santa Monica.

Video: Calif. Gunman Left Apology Note, Police Say

An evidence photo showing zip guns is among several new evidence photos of the June 9 shooting rampage by John Zawahri that were released by the Santa Monica, Calif., Police Department at a news conference, Thursday, June 13, 2013. (AP Photo/Santa Monica Police)
An evidence photo showing the bedroom of John Zawahri, at the burned home he shared with his father and brother, is among several new evidence photos of the June 9 shooting rampage by Zawahri that were released by the Santa Monica, Calif., Police Department at a news conference Thursday, June 13, 2013. (AP Photo/Santa Monica Police)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A farewell note left behind by the Santa Monica gunman expressed remorse for the killing of his father and brother but provided no explanation for the rampage that left them and three others dead.

Police Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks said that the three- to four-page handwritten note was found on John Zawahri's body after he was shot and killed June 7 by officers on the campus of Santa Monica College.

The 23-year-old Zawahri also used the note to say goodbye to friends and expressed hope that his mother would be taken care of and receive recompense from his father's estate.

investigators believe mental illness played a role in the killings, Seabrooks said at a news conference Thursday.

"We know his was a troubled life and that he experienced mental health challenges," Seabrooks said. "We believe that his mental health challenges likely played a role in his decisions to shoot and kill both his father and his brother, to set fire to the family home, and to go on a 13-minute shooting spree spanning roughly 1.5 miles and which left five innocent people dead and three people injured."

Zawahri apparently built his own .223-caliber assault rifle, using it to shoot his father and brother before he set fire to their family home, officials said earlier Thursday.

Zawahri's mother was out of the country visiting family in Lebanon during Friday's rampage but cut short her trip and returned home Sunday. She has been interviewed by detectives.

Seabrooks said the semi-automatic weapon appears to have been built with component parts that are legal to obtain, but put together make the rifle illegal in California.

She said he also modified an antique black-powder .44 revolver so that it could hold .45-caliber ammunition; it was loaded during the shooting and he carried it with him in a duffel bag.

Zawahri's rampage ended when police killed him in the Santa Monica College library Friday. To get there, he had carjacked a woman, directing her to the college and having her stop so he could fire at vehicles and strangers. Police still did not know why he chose to go to the college, why he targeted those killed or why he chose that day.

Santa Monica police plan to work with the FBI to understand Zawahri's psychological makeup and motivation, Seabrooks said.

Officials said Thursday that the fire at Zawahri's father's home, which erupted soon after neighbors heard shots fired, was intentionally set.

An official, who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said the fires were started in a front living room and atop one of two twin beds in another room. Several boxes of matches were also found in the bedroom.

Firefighters found the bodies of the gunman's father and brother in a back bedroom that was uninvolved in the blaze. The house was found unkempt with files and papers scattered throughout, providing ample kindling.

In Zawahri's bedroom, investigations found illegal zip guns, Seabrooks said. They also found ample evidence of his fascination with weapons, including four replica airsoft pellet guns, knives and gun magazines, said Sgt. Richard Lewis. Investigators also found materials that indicate he likely assembled the weapon.

Police said Zawahri bought a lower receiver that was only 80 percent complete. Because it is not complete and not considered a full weapon, a person isn't required to go through a background check to get one, nor does the part need to have a serial number.

Though Zawahri fired about 100 rounds during the rampage, police said he was carrying 1,300 rounds of ammunition in magazines that were capable of holding 30 rounds each. Such high-capacity magazines are illegal to purchase, sell or transfer in California. Possession is not illegal. He also had a spare upper receiver and the antique revolver with him in a duffel bag.

Zawahri's last reported contact with law enforcement was seven years ago, when bomb-making materials were found at his house during a search prompted by threats to students, teachers and campus police officers at Olympic High, a school for students with academic or disciplinary issues.

The Santa Monica-Malibu school board was briefed at the time by school administrators after police found Zawahri was learning to make explosives by downloading instructions from YouTube, school board member Oscar de la Torre said.

Retired police officer Cristina Coria, who helped serve the search warrant, said Zawahri was hospitalized for psychiatric evaluation at the time. She didn't know the outcome of the evaluation.

Police declined to provide further details, saying Zawahri was a minor at the time. But once a person is held for such an exam, they cannot access or possess firearms for five years.

In the case of Zawahri, that prohibition would have expired in 2011.

Police said Thursday that in 2011, Zawahri tried to buy a weapon but was denied by the California Department of Justice, likely because of that 2006 incident.

Despite that denial, Seabrooks said, Zawahri was able to buy the component parts to build his own weapon and obtain an array of magazines.

Santa Monica police said they will work with the ATF to understand how he came to possess these gun components, Seabrooks said.

___

Tami Abdollah can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/latams .

"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

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Feds: Traditional probe used in Ill. terror case

Lawmakers: Terrorists change tactics after leaks

Top Republicans say those who want to harm US change tactics after NSA leaks

APNewsBreak: NSA leaker Snowden not welcome in UK

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AP PHOTOS: Egypt's Sufis thrive despite attacks

Police: Santa Monica gunman left farewell note

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