Intelligence

Congress alarmed by plans to use Russian system to route 911 calls
Plans to route 911 location calls via Russia's GLONASS satellite system have sparked national security concerns among some members of Congress, despite assurances that its use will be limited and it will help save lives in emergencies. [...]
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80% whistleblower retaliation claims ignored in biased, “Trojan horse” system
The number of whistleblowers being retaliated against is increasing every year as former federal workers warn its almost impossible to raise grievances through official avenues within the government, a new report reveals. Among the employees and contractors working for the United States military and the American intelligence community, more than 8,700 have filed claims since 2001 in which they [...]
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Afghan “kill list” leak: NATO risked civilian lives by targeting low-level Taliban fighters
Besides targeting top Taliban leaders, NATO forces in Afghanistan included low-ranking fighters and drug dealers on their list of "legitimate" targets, risking civilian lives in a wider airstrike campaign, Der Spiegel reported, citing Snowden archives. Classified intelligence files from the NSA, GCHQ, and the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) from the archive of whistleblower Edwar [...]
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Florida congressman barred from seeing classified sections of 9/11 inquiry – report
A request by US Rep. Alan Grayson to access a portion of a 2002 congressional report on the September 11, 2001 attacks was denied by the House Intelligence Committee based on political reasons, the Florida Democrat said. Grayson’s request pertains to 28 pages of Congress’ Joint Inquiry that were ordered to be redacted by then-President George W. Bush. The congressman said his search stemmed [...]
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Nearly half of Brits on prescription drugs – report
Nearly half of all Britons are taking prescription medication on a regular basis according to new figures produced by the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) According to the HSCIC, 50 percent of women and 43 percent of men are taking specialised drugs to combat physical and mental illnesses, with cholesterol-lowering statins and anti-depressants being among the most common drugs [...]
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MH370 was ‘shot down by US military’, claims former French airline boss
A former French airline CEO Marc Dugain claims that the US may have shot down Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 and then covered it up, adding to a rash of conflicting theories about the missing plane. In a six-page article published by French weekly Paris Match, Dugain claims that the Boeing 777 may have got into trouble and as it was approaching the US military base on the British territory of [...]
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Six released Guantanamo detainees “happy to be” in Uruguay
Six former US detainees, who have never been charged, are beginning their new life as refugees in Uruguay. They arrived on Sunday and have given their first comments to the press to say they are happy to be there. The six include four Syrians, a Palestinian and a Tunisian. Although they were cleared for release in 2009, the US was not able to discharge them until Uruguayan President Jose Mujica [...]
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Snowden, nein! High court foils opposition attempt to bring whistleblower to Berlin
A German court has rejected a bid by opposition parties to bring ex-NSA contractor Edward Snowden to Berlin to testify about the US agency's intelligence activities in Germany before a parliamentary committee. Members of Germany’s Green and left parties petitioned Berlin’s Federal Constitutional Court to grant Snowden temporary entry to Berlin in order to answer questions about the National [...]
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Not-so-magnificent 7: Nations Named & Shamed in CIA torture report
Fifty-four countries were named in the Senate report into US terror activities around the world. Here are seven governments whose leaders will be having sleepless nights trying to come up with excuses to explain their actions. [...]
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CIA wants to delete thousands of emails as Obama administration stalls release of torture report
The CIA wants to erase tens of thousands of internal emails sent by most covert and counterterror officers after they leave the agency, leading US senators and transparency advocates to fear the plan would mean the loss of vital government records. The spy agency’s proposal, first submitted to the National Archives in January but only now revealed to the public, would mean only the emails of [...]
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California police spent $45mn on spy gear with little oversight
Police departments across California spent more than $45 million on surveillance equipment over the course of a decade with little to no legislative or public oversight - and without the public's knowledge, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU report, titled 'Making Smart Decisions about Surveillance: A Guide for Communities,' reveals how California law enforcement took adv [...]
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NSA Firefoxed: Mozilla team-up with Tor to improve internet privacy
The internet browser Mozilla is teaming up with Tor to give internet users greater security online. The new Polaris project is designed to combat internet censorship and make NSA like intrusion's a thing of the past. Edward Snowden’s revelations concerning the extent of the National Security Agency’s spying on the general public, hit computer and internet enthusiasts hard. A poll conducted [...]
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Terrorists among us: FBI starts anti-jihadist neighborhood informer campaign
The FBI counter-terrorism division is calling on to Americans to report on fellow citizens engaged in suspicious activities to help identify possible terrorists, in the first place those connected to terrorist activities overseas. In a statement published by the FBI on Tuesday, assistant director of the counter-terrorism division Michael Steinbach said the Bureau needs “the public's assistanc [...]
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“Who the f**k authorized this?” Obama’s chief of staff cursed Panetta over CIA torture probe
Former CIA Director Leon Panetta says that he was cursed at by President Barack Obama's former chief of staff after he agreed to cooperate with the Senate's investigation into his agency's torture tactics in the wake of 9/11. In passages taken from his new book and published online bythe Intercept, Panetta explains the event that triggered the outburst, which flowed from the former chief of sta [...]
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Most recent ISIS munitions US-made during Iraq occupation – study
An analysis of cartridges used by Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria shows that their newest ammunition is of American origin. China and the Soviet Union were identified as the biggest sources of munitions, but with bullets made 25 years ago. The Conflict Armament Research (CAR) group analyzed the origin of some 1,700 small-caliber cartridges collected from areas in Syria and Iran where [...]
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“Biden tries to distance US from the mess in the Mideast”
Vice President Joe Biden, by blaming Washington's allies for the spread of IS in Iraq and Syria, attempted to distance the US from the mess that is emerging in the Middle East, former MI5 agent Annie Machon told RT. Addressing students at the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum at the Institute of Politics at Harvard University, Joe Biden accused Turkey and the Gulf States of being unscrupulous in their [...]
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Germany handed law-protected private data to NSA for years – reports
Intelligence service BND failed to protect the private data of German citizens as it handed over internet data collected at a Frankfurt traffic hub to the US, German media report citing secret documents. The documents cited by VDR and EDR television and the newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, which broke the news together, were obtained from the federal government during an ongoing parliamentary in [...]
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Australians return to Iraq to confront IS militants on ground
Canberra has authorized deployment of special forces to Iraq to join operation against militants of the Islamic State. From now on, the Australian Air Force craft present in the region will also take part in combat missions against terrorists. It has only ever been a matter of time that Australia’s 600 military personnel and aircraft deployed to a United Arab Emirates airbase in mid-September [...]
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‘IS –useful US foreign policy tool’
Islamic State has been a key foreign policy instrument for the US and a number of its allies and become one of the main drivers of the rebellion in Syria, Charles Shoebridge, security analyst and former British army officer, told RT. The US has one of the most powerful intelligence services in the world, but reports suggest it's not robust enough to target jihadists and safeguard civilians. How [...]
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