On May 23rd, sections of the I-5 bridge that crosses over the Skagit river collapsed, sending two cars plummeting into the frigid waters below. It is just the latest failure of American infrastructure at a time when annual spending on construction is at the lowest rate since 1993. What’s more, the American Society for Civil Engineers has given the U.S. a D+ in overall infrastructure. They estimate it will take an investment of $3.6 trillion by 2020 to bring American roads, bridges and waterways up to safety standards.
Russia disclosed that it will provide Syria with sophisticated anti-aircraft missiles
Fears are growing of a foreign-fed arms race in Syria as the European Union, driven by Britain and France, decided to allow weapons to be sold to the rebels, and Russia disclosed that it will provide Syria with sophisticated anti-aircraft missiles. Either development would significantly raise the firepower in the two-year civil war has already killed more than 70,000 people… Read more →
(Photo: FOXNEWS.COM / DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE) More than two dozen top weapons systems — including the Patriot missile defense program, the V-22 Osprey, the Black Hawk helicopter and the Navy’s new Littoral Combat Ship — were compromised by a widening Chinese cyber espionage campaign, according to a new military report.
A portion of the confidential Defense Science Board report, titled “Resilient Military Systems and the Advanced Cyber Threat,” was obtained by the Washington Post
. The confidential portion detailed the various weapons that had been compromised.
It includes the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the most expensive weapons system ever built at $1.4 trillion, the Post reported.
Experts questioned about the breach were astounded by the scale of the espionage.
“That’s staggering,” said Mark Stokes, executive director of the Project 2049 Institute, a think tank that focuses on Asia security issues. “These are all very critical weapons systems, critical to our national security. When I hear this in totality, it’s breathtaking.”
The report stopped short of saying that China stole the designs, but senior military officials with knowledge of the breaches told the paper that the vast majority of the compromises were the result of a growing Chinese espionage campaign against U.S. defense contractors and government agencies.
“The Department of Defense has growing concerns about the global threat to economic and national security from persistent cyber-intrusions,” a spokesman for the Pentagon told the Post. He said they were “aimed at the theft of intellectual property, trade secrets and commercial data, which threatens the competitive edge of U.S. businesses like those in the Defense Industrial Base.”
This is a copy of the full article provided by Fox News
Among items transfered to local law enforcement agencies have been assault rifles and grenade launchers, even Blackhawk helicopters and .50 caliber machine guns ; In fiscal year 2011 alone, the Pentagon transferred almost $500 million worth of materials to domestic law enforcement — near double the previous year’s total
http://www.euronews.com/ Authorities in southern Turkey say they have detained four more suspects in connection with twin car bomb attacks last weekend. It means the total number of arrests after the bombs has risen to 17. Turkish media also say a car has been found which it is suspected was due to be used for a third attack.
TRIPOLI, Lebanon (Photo and Article: Reuters) - A Syrian-born Islamist cleric who taught one of the attackers accused of hacking to death an off-duty British soldier on a London street praised the attack for its “courage” and said Muslims would see it as a strike on a military target.
In an interview in Tripoli, northern Lebanon, where he has lived since being banished from Britain in 2005, Omar Bakri, founder of banned British Islamist group Al Muhajiroun, told Reuters he knew suspect Michael Abebolajo from a decade ago.
“When I saw the footage I recognized the face immediately,” Bakri told Reuters. “I used to know him. A quiet man, very shy, asking lots of questions about Islam.”
“What surprised me (is) the quiet man, the man who is very shy, decided to carry out an attack against a British soldier in the middle of the day in the middle of a street in the UK. In east London. It’s incredible.
“When I saw that, honestly I was very surprised – standing firm, courageous, brave. Not running away. Rather, he said why he carried (it out) and he wanted the whole world to hear it.”
The attack has been vociferously condemned by Muslim organizations across Britain.
Adebolajo, 28, a British-born convert from a Christian Nigerian immigrant family, went by the nickname Mujahid – warrior – after taking up Islam as a teenager in a suburb on the northeast outskirts of London.
He was filmed with his hands still covered with the blood of Afghan war veteran Lee Rigby, 25, after the attack. Clutching a butcher’s knife and meat cleaver, he said the killing was revenge for British participation in wars in foreign countries.
Yahoo News has the full article
Holder Approved Warrant for Fox News Reporter’s Emails
A law enforcement official has told NBC News that Attorney General Eric Holder is the one who signed the search warrant for the private emails of Fox News reporter James Rosen. The warrant was signed under the guise that Rosen might be a “possible co-consiprator” in violation of the Espionage Act. The law enforcement official said Holder’s approval of the Rosen search,… Read more →
H7N9 bird flu found to spread through the air
The H7N9 bird flu virus can be transmitted not only through close contact but by airborne exposure, a team at the University of Hong Kong found after extensive laboratory experiments. Though the virus appears to have been brought under control recently, the researchers urged the Hong Kong authorities to maintain strict surveillance, which should include not only poultry but humans… Read more →
