[JustTheNews] The Government Accountability Office reported that 50% of security screenings failed to detect prohibited items like IED components.
Some would say, if you want a thing done right, it’s probably best to keep the government out of it.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has released a report showing that the Federal Protective Services (FPS) fails to detect items prohibited from entering federal buildings about 50% of the time.
The findings are the result of 27 "covert" GAO's investigations in the early part of this year at 14 federal buildings.
In half the tests, security screenings failed to detect prohibited items like batons, pepper spray, knives, and IED components, according to the report released Tuesday.
FPS is part of the Department of Homeland Security led by Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
The report also states the agency – which manages and oversees more than 13,000 contract guards – is working to improve screening by increasing training and analyzing data to identify common causes of test failures. How does one test for responsibility and integrity?
"Federal real property has been on our High Risk List since 2003, due partly to past attacks on federal buildings, the report also states.
During his July 23 testimony, GAO Physical Infrastructure Team Director David Marroni said his agency identified deficiencies in FPS guard training and oversight that led to these screening failures going as far back as 2008.
[ARABNEWS] Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat Frational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start... ’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Waleed al-Khuraiji participated on Wednesday in the Second Consultative Meeting Enhancing Coordination of Peace Initiatives and Efforts in Sudan ...a Moslem country located in the Horn of Africa. It is noted for its affinity for rule by ex- or current generals, its holy men, and for the oppression of the native Afro population by its Arab conquerors. South Sudan, populated mostly by the natives, split off from Sudan proper, which left North and South Darfur to be oppressed by the guys with turbans... , the Saudi Press Agency said.
During the meeting held in Djibouti, he reiterated the Kingdom’s continued efforts to resolve the Sudanese crisis, and its welcome and openness to international efforts and initiatives aimed at achieving peace in Sudan.
Al-Khuraiji said that the US and the Kingdom facilitated talks between the Sudanese parties in Jeddah, resulting in signing of the Jeddah Declaration to protect civilians in Sudan.
He expressed Saudi Arabia’s keenness on the return of security and stability to Sudan and urging the Sudanese parties to give priority to wisdom and self-restraint, and to show flexibility and respond to positive and humanitarian initiatives.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/26/2024 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11128 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Sudan
[ARABNEWS] A senior UN official delivered earlier this month a stark warning that terrorism and organized crime by violent mostly peaceful krazed killer groups linked to al-Qaeda and ISIS are escalating into a pervasive threat across West Africa and the Sahel region ... North Africa's answer to the Pak tribal areas.... Or Chicago.
This menace is now spilling over into West Africa’s coastal countries, suggesting that the world might be waking up too late to the unfolding crisis.
The statements by Leonardo Simao, the UN special representative for the Sahel and West Africa, highlighted a surge in illegal trafficking in drugs, weapons, mineral resources, human beings, and even food.
The first half of 2024 alone has seen hundreds of people killed in terrorist attacks, reflecting a dramatic escalation in violence.
These developments underscore the complex and multifaceted nature of the challenge. The intertwining of terrorism with organized crime networks has created a volatile environment where insecurity is the norm.
"This instability is significant also for the international community. As krazed killer groups tighten their grip, the humanitarian, economic and political fallout threatens to reverberate far beyond Africa’s borders," Moustapha Saleh, a Chadian security expert, told Arab News.
The situation is further exacerbated by recent political upheavals. G5 Sahel, a French-backed alliance intended to coordinate security and development issues in West Africa, collapsed last year after the exit of the military-junta-run nations of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso ...The country in west Africa that they put where Upper Volta used to be. Its capital is Oogadooga, or something like that. Its president used to be Blaise Compaoré, who took office in 1987 and was chased out in 2014. Now it's the usual army officer type guy, Captain Ibrahim Traore, running things, who's just doing a bang-up job unless he's already been deposed... This prompted the US and other Western countries to assist Ghana and neighboring coastal West African nations in bolstering their defenses. Although Ghana has not yet faced direct holy warrior violence, Togo, Benin ...Benin, a French-speaking West African nation, that they put where Dahomey used to be. It is a birthplace of voodoo and zombies. In Abomey, Dahomey's former capital, the Historical Museum occupies two royal palaces with bas-reliefs recounting the kingdom’s past and a throne mounted on human skulls. To the north, Pendjari National Park offers safaris with elephants, hippos and lions and tigers and bears, oh my!... , and Ivory Coast have suffered attacks near their borders in recent years, illustrating the growing threat of regional instability.
Still, aid for West Africa has been lacking compared with assistance offered to Ukraine, Ghana’s President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo said in a recent interview.
US aid to Ukraine since the Russian invasion has climbed to $113 billion. In contrast, the combined assistance from the EU, the UK and the US to the Economic Community of West African States, the bloc known as ECOWAS, has amounted to a relatively tiny $29.6 million over the same period.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[KavkazUzel] The deadline for filing an appeal in the case of Nikita Zhuravel has expired, and he did not appeal the verdict, his lawyer said.
As the "Caucasian Knot" reported, Nikita Zhuravel, a Volgograd resident convicted of burning the Koran, remained in the Grozny pretrial detention center after the sentence came into effect, where he is serving his sentence and working in the utility block, the lawyer reported. The Criminal Executive Code provides for such a possibility in "exceptional cases." On February 27, a court in Grozny sentenced Nikita Zhuravel to 3.5 years in prison, finding him guilty of violating the right to religion and hooliganism. The defense then said that it would appeal the sentence.
The appellate court may review Nikita Zhuravel's sentence if it is confirmed that he burned not the Koran, but a translation of the Koran's meanings, but in the case of deliberate insult to the feelings of believers, a change in the sentence is unlikely, experts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" indicated. Although the time spent in the pre-trial detention center will be deducted from the sentence, Zhuravel will always be at risk of attack by followers of the religion in the colony, readers of the "Caucasian Knot" noted in the comments.
Were those merely observations,or outright threats?
Earlier, Justice Minister Konstantin Chuychenko proposed sending Zhuravel to a penal colony in a region with a predominance of Muslims after the verdict. On June 13, 2023, Vladimir Putin announced that Zhuravel would serve his sentence in one of the Muslim regions.
Nikita Zhuravel, sentenced to 3.5 years in prison for burning the Koran near a mosque in Volgograd, agreed with the sentence and did not appeal it, TASS reported today, citing a representative of the legal community.
"The sentence [against Zhuravel] has entered into legal force. He is indeed serving his sentence in the Grozny pretrial detention center. The sentence was not appealed, he agreed with the sentence," the agency quoted the lawyer as saying.
[10News] French officials condemned the attacks as "criminal actions," though they said there was no sign of a direct link to the Games. Uh huh. Just regular everyday arson attacks paralyzing transportation Like the JFK airport arson.
France’s high-speed rail network was hit Friday with widespread and "criminal" acts of vandalism including arson attacks, paralyzing travel to Paris from across the rest of France and Europe only hours before the grand opening ceremony of the Olympics.
French officials condemned the attacks as "criminal actions," though they said there was no sign of a direct link to the Games, and prosecutors in Paris opened a national investigation saying the crimes could carry sentences of 15 to 20 years.
As Paris authorities geared up for a spectacular parade on and along the Seine River, three fires were reported near the tracks on the high-speed lines of Atlantique, Nord and Est, causing disruptions that affected hundreds of thousands of travelers.
Among them were two German athletes in showjumping who were on a train to Paris to take part in the opening ceremony but had to turn back in Belgium because of the closures, and will now miss the ceremony, German news agency dpa reported.
"There was no longer a chance of making it on time," rider Philipp Weishaupt, who was traveling with teammate Christian Kukuk, told dpa.
French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal wrote on the social media platform X that France’s intelligence services have been mobilized to find the perpetrators.
Attal characterized them as "acts of sabotage," which were "prepared and coordinated."
There were no known reports of injuries.
Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete described people fleeing from the scene of fires and the discovery of incendiary devices. "Everything indicates that these are criminal fires," he said. as opposed to innocent arson fires?
The incidents paralyzed several high-speed lines linking Paris to the rest of France and to neighboring countries, Vergriete said, speaking on BFM television.
The French national rail company SNCF said that areas affecting rail track intersections were targeted to double the impact.
"For one fire, two destinations were hit," the company's CEO, Jean-Pierre Farandou.
It was "a premeditated, calculated, coordinated attack" that indicates "a desire to seriously harm" the French people, Farandou said.
The attack occurred against a backdrop of global tensions and heightened security measures as the city prepared for the 2024 Olympic Games. Many travelers were planning to converge on the capital for the opening ceremony, and many vacationers were also in transit.
French authorities have foiled several plots to disrupt the Olympics, including arresting a Russian man on suspicion of planning to destabilize the games.
The Paris police prefecture "concentrated its personnel in Parisian train stations" after the "massive attack" that paralyzed the TGV high-speed network, Laurent Nuñez, the Paris police chief, told France Info television.
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/26/2024 08:26 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11132 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
"concentrated its personnel in Parisian train stations"
"Kirill Gryaznov was charged with working 'with a foreign power to try and incite hostilities in France' after being identified as working for the FSB"
[ARABNEWS] United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... experts on Thursday voiced grave concern at reports of surging discrimination and violence against Pakistain’s Ahmadi minority community, including extrajudicial killings and attacks on places of worship.
The Ahmadiyya sect, considered heretics by fundamentalist groups, has been persecuted for decades in Pakistain but threats and intimidation have risen in recent years.
"We are alarmed by ongoing reports of violence and discrimination against the Ahmadiyya community in Pakistain," said the nine independent experts, including the special rapporteurs on extrajudicial executions, on freedom of expression and on freedom of religion.
"Urgent measures are necessary to respond to these violent mostly peaceful attacks and the broader atmosphere of hatred and discrimination which feeds it," they said in a statement.
The experts, who are appointed by the UN Human Rights Council but who do not speak on behalf of the United Nations, highlighted a number of specific incidents over recent months.
Those included the extrajudicial killing of two Ahmadis in Saad Ullah Pur on July 8 and the killing on March 4 of the president of the Ahmadiyya community in Bahawalpur district.
They also noted reports of an alarming number of attacks on Ahmadi places of worship and cemeteries since the beginning of the year, including some that had led to the serious injury of worshippers.
The statement also highlighted a number of alleged arbitrary arrests of Ahmadi worshippers over religious holiday periods "to obstruct their participation in their religious practices."
Ahmadis consider themselves Moslems, and their faith is identical to mainstream Islam in almost every way.
But their belief that the movement’s founder Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was the "mahdi" or messiah has marked them as blasphemous unbelievers, particularly in Pakistain. There are around 500,000 Amadis in Pakistain according to their community leadership.
The constitution has branded them non-Moslems since 1974, and a 1984 law forbids them from claiming their faith as Islamic or openly practicing Islamic rituals.
"Ahmadis’ right to peacefully manifest their beliefs must be respected," the experts insisted, warning that "judicial harassment serves to normalize violence against Ahmadis by non-State actors."
They welcomed Pakistain National Assembly’s adoption last month of a resolution urging federal and provincial governments to ensure the safety and security of all Pak citizens including religious minorities.
But, they cautioned, "such good-faith efforts to counter discriminatory discourse will be ineffective unless they address its structural drivers, (including) blasphemy ...the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence to a deity, or sacred objects, or toward something considered sacred or inviolable. Some religions consider it to be a crime. In Pakistain you can commit blasphemy by looking cross-eyed at a Koran... laws and discriminatory legal provisions."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/26/2024 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11149 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[ARABNEWS] Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... has released the oil cargo of a Greek-owned, Marshall-Islands-flagged tanker it seized in the Gulf of Oman earlier this year, a shipping source told Rooters on Thursday.
The vessel, M/T St. Nikolas, is still being held by Iran, the source added. It was laden with 1 million barrels of Iraqi crude oil destined for Turkiye when it was seized.
"The cargo was released earlier this week after negotiations," the source said.
The cargo was transferred onto the Turkiye-flagged tanker T. Semahat earlier this week via a ship-to-ship transfer near Iran’s Larak Island, said Claire Jungman, chief of staff at US advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran, which tracks Iran-related tanker traffic via satellite data.
T.Semahat’s Turkiye-based operator Ditas, which is majority-owned by Ottoman Turkish refiner Tupras, was not immediately available for comment.
"I can say no more!" The vessel had the port of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates as its destination and was sailing away from Iran on Thursday, LSEG shipping data showed.
LSEG data also showed T.Semahat had reached Larak Island earlier on July 21 and left that area close to being fully loaded with oil.
Iran seized the tanker in January in retaliation for the confiscation last year of the same vessel and its oil by the US, Iranian state media had reported at the time.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/26/2024 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11129 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat Frational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...
...The country in west Africa that they put where Upper Volta used to be. Its capital is Oogadooga, or something like that. Its president used to be Blaise Compaoré, who took office in 1987 and was chased out in 2014. Now it's the usual army officer type guy, Captain Ibrahim Traore, running things, who's just doing a bang-up job unless he's already been deposed...
[10News] French officials condemned the attacks as "criminal actions," though they said there was no sign of a direct link to the Games.
[ARABNEWS] 
...the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence to a deity, or sacred objects, or toward something considered sacred or inviolable. Some religions consider it to be a crime. In Pakistain you can commit blasphemy by looking cross-eyed at a Koran...
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for 
