New Technology Could Stop Truck Attacks in Urban Areas

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The Swedish government wants to test so-called “geofences” to stop vehicle attacks by automatically slowing down trucks in urban environments.

Geofences is a recent invention that haven’t been tested at a larger scale. A GPS device is attached to the vehicle to control its speed within virtual perimeters. Heavy vehicles would not even be allowed to enter certain areas without a working device.

The Swedish capital of Stockholm suffered a truck attack in April after an Uzbek man, who was ordered to be deported, killed five people on a busy shopping street. Authorities have since put up 60 concrete barriers around the city, and they now want to test the new system as early as next year. (Read more from “New Technology Could Stop Truck Attacks in Urban Areas” HERE)

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Yemen Ports Closed After 17 Killed in Aden Attack Compared by Saudis to ‘Act of War’

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The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen closed off the land, sea and air ports to the Arab world’s poorest country early Monday after a rebel-fired ballistic missile targeted Riyadh, blaming the launch on Iran and warning it could be “considered as an act of war.”

The coalition’s statement ramps up tensions between the ultraconservative Sunni kingdom and its Shiite rival Iran, both of which have interests in Yemen’s yearslong conflict. The bloodshed continued Sunday as an Islamic State-claimed militant attack in Aden killed at least 17 people.

In a statement, the coalition accused Iran of supplying Yemen’s Houthi rebels and their allies with the missile launched Saturday toward the Saudi capital’s international airport.

Iran has backed the rebels, but denies arming them. The Houthi militants have said their Volcano-variant ballistic missile is locally produced.

The Saudi-led coalition’s statement said the closures would be temporary and “take into account” the work of humanitarian and aid organizations. The war has claimed more than 10,000 lives and driven the Arab world’s poorest country to the brink of famine. (Read more from “Yemen Ports Closed After 17 Killed in Aden Attack Compared by Saudis to ‘Act of War'” HERE)

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Investigation: Foundations Gave Millions to Groups Accused of Terror Ties

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Major American foundations have given millions of dollars in funding to Islamic organizations accused of having ties to radical Islamist movements or designated terrorist organizations and a group of activists are trying to convince them to stop.

Groups like Islamic Relief Worldwide, which some countries have banned for allegedly funding Hamas and other terrorist organizations, have received millions of dollars from corporate charities like the GE Foundation, community foundations like the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, and independent foundations like George Soros’ Open Society Foundation.

Researchers with the Middle East Forum, an activist group devoted to promoting American interests abroad, identified the financial stream from American foundations to seven Islamic groups with radical ties: Islamic Relief Worldwide and its sister organization in the United States — Islamic Relief USA, the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), the Muslim American Society (MAS), the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) and, despite rebounding from highly damaging terrorist allegations in 2008, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

The various foundations have given $5.8 million to these seven groups since 2000, IRS filings show, with $5.6 million of that taking place since 2008.

In total, 46 corporate foundations, eight community foundations, nine private foundations and one donor-advised fund have given money to these seven groups. (Read more from “Investigation: Foundations Gave Millions to Groups Accused of Terror Ties” HERE)

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The Big Reveal: The Story of How 470,000 Documents From Osama Bin Laden’s Compound Finally Got Into the Open

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On the penultimate day of the Obama administration, less than 24 hours before the president would vacate the White House, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper issued a press release meant to put to rest what had been a pesky issue for his office. “Closing the Book on Bin Laden: Intelligence Community Releases Final Abbottabad Documents,” the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) announced. “Today marks the end of a two-and-a-half-year effort to declassify several hundred documents recovered in the raid on Osama bin Laden’s Abbottabad, Pakistan, compound in May 2011.” Accompanying the press release were 49 documents captured during the raid, bringing the total number of documents made public to 571.

For anyone who had paid even casual attention to the long-running debate over the Abbottabad documents—a group that doesn’t include many journalists—the ODNI announcement was cause for a chuckle. Closing the book on Osama bin Laden? The final Abbottabad documents?

In the heady days immediately after the May 2 Abbottabad raid, President Obama’s national security adviser, Tom Donilon, had described the intelligence haul brought back from Pakistan by the Navy SEALs and CIA operatives as extensive enough to fill a “small college library.” A senior military intelligence official who briefed reporters at the Pentagon on May 7, 2011, said: “As a result of the raid, we’ve acquired the single largest collection of senior terrorist materials ever.” . . .

The answer: The self-proclaimed “most transparent administration in history” had spent more than five years misleading the American people about the threat from al Qaeda and its offshoots and had paid very little price for having done so. Republicans volubly disputed the president’s more laughable claims—the attack on the Benghazi compound was just a protest gone bad, al Qaeda was on the run, ISIS was the terrorist junior varsity—but the establishment media, certain that Obama’s predecessor had consistently exaggerated the threat, showed little interest in challenging Obama or the intelligence agencies that often supported his spurious case. (Read more from “The Big Reveal: The Story of How 470,000 Documents From Osama Bin Laden’s Compound Finally Got Into the Open” HERE)

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Kim’s Disaster: North Korean Nuclear Base Collapses, Killing at Least 200 People

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Information emerging from furtive North Korea indicates that a tunnel at the regime’s nuclear test site collapsed last month after a nuclear test, killing about 200 people.

A report from Japanese broadcaster TV Asahi, citing unnamed sources, said 100 people were killed in an initial collapse around Sept. 10, and another 100 died in a rescue operation.

Other reports put the date of the collapse as Oct. 10. No official North Korean announcement was made about the date of the collapse.

North Korea’s massive Sept. 3 test caused multiple tremors and landslides in the region, according to Reuters.

Even before news of the tunnel collapse emerged, Western analysts had said the region might be unfit for more nuclear tests.

Reports that a tunnel collapsed triggered fears that radioactive material might also leak out.

Nam Jae-cheol, the chief of South Korea’s Korea Meteorological Administration, said Monday some type of collapse was likely.

“Based on our analysis of satellite imagery, we judge that there is a hollow space, which measures about 60 to 100 meters (in length), at the bottom of Mount Mantap in the Punggye-ri site,” he said. “So, should another nuke test occur, there is the possibility (of a collapse).”

Asked then whether an earthquake could trigger a release of radioactive materials, Nam said, “Should it sink, there is a possibility,” according to the South Korean Yonhap News Agency.

September’s hydrogen bomb detonation resulted in a 6.3 magnitude earthquake. Aftershocks led to a 3.4 magnitude quake on Sept. 23 and a 2.9 magnitude quake on Oct. 12.

Earlier this month, experts speculated that North Korea’s test site might have suffered irreversible damage.

“The explosion from the Sept. 3 test had such power that the existing tunnels within the underground testing site might have caved in,” said Kim So-gu, head researcher at the Korea Seismological Institute.

“I think the Punggye-ri region is now pretty saturated. If it goes ahead with another test in this area, it could risk radioactive pollution,” he added, as reported by Reuters.

A more powerful underground detonation at the current site could be “potentially suicidal,” not only because of damage from past tests, but also due to potential eruptions at Mount Paektu, a volcano only about 60 miles away, according to Kune Yull Suh, a professor of nuclear engineering at Seoul National University.

The website 38 North, which tracks North Korean activities, reported that the Punggye-ri nuclear test site did sustain damage from the last test.

It said there were “numerous landslides throughout the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site on the slopes of Mt. Mantap (and beyond) resulting from North Korea’s sixth nuclear test. These disturbances are more numerous and widespread than seen after any of the North’s previous five tests.” (For more from the author of “Kim’s Disaster: North Korean Nuclear Base Collapses, Killing at Least 200 People” please click HERE)

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NASA Imagery Casts More Doubt on Women Who Claim They Were Lost at Sea

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By Gabrielle Okun. NASA imagery casts more doubt on the story of two women who claimed they were lost at sea for five months before being heroically rescued last week.

Jennifer Appel and Tasha Fuiava’s story grows more suspicious due to NASA imagery showing weather inconsistencies with their tale, reported The Associated Press. The women claim they were lost at sea after a huge storm with 30-foot waves and hurricane-like winds occured the night they took off.

The images do not show any severe weather when they set sail in Hawaii. (Read more from “NASA Imagery Casts More Doubt on Women Who Claim They Were Lost at Sea” HERE)

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Inconsistencies Cast Doubt on Hawaiian Women’s Tale of Sea Survival

A growing list of inconsistencies is casting doubt on the harrowing tale of survival by two Hawaii women who say they were lost at sea for months.

The U.S. Coast Guard says the women never activated their emergency beacon. The sailors tell The Associated Press that they chose not to use the beacon because they never felt they were in imminent danger . . .

Key elements of the women’s account are contradicted by weather reports and basic geography of the Pacific Ocean. (Read more from “Inconsistencies Cast Doubt on Hawaiian Women’s Tale of Sea Survival” HERE)

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‘Dinosaur Mummy’ Unveiled in Museum

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Scientists are hailing this prehistoric dinosaur as the “best-preserved dinosaur on Earth.” In fact, it is so well-preserved that it cannot be defined as a fossil. This magnificent ancient 18-foot-long specimen has been called a genuine “dinosaur mummy.”

The Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology in Alberta, Canada, recently unveiled a dinosaur exhibit: “We don’t just have a skeleton,” Caleb Brown, a researcher at the museum, told National Geographic. “We have a dinosaur as it would have been.”

Since it was unearthed it has kept its shape; its bones aren’t visible and even some of its innards are still intact. Researchers are amazed at the extent of the almost unparalleled degree of preservation.

The dinosaur is so well preserved that it “might have been walking around a couple of weeks ago,” Jakob Vinther, a paleobiologist from the University of Bristol, said. “I’ve never seen anything like this.” (Read more from “‘Dinosaur Mummy’ Unveiled in Museum” HERE)

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North Korea’s Plot to Kill Kim Jong Un’s Nephew Foiled

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Several North Korean agents were reportedly arrested after Chinese officials foiled an alleged plot to kill Kim Jong Un’s nephew— the son of the half-brother poisoned this year in a Malaysian airport.

Two of the seven North Korean agents who were involved in the alleged plot were arrested in Beijing, South Korean newspaper JoongAng Ilbo reported Monday, citing North Korean sources. The plot was stopped because Chinese officials increased security during the country’s 19th National Congress of the Communist Party.

“Special operatives belonging to the North’s reconnaissance squad have penetrated to remove Kim Han Sol, but some of them were arrested last week by the Chinese Ministry of National Security and are currently under investigation at special facilities outside Beijing,” the source told JongAng Ilbo.

Kim Han Sol, who is reportedly in his 20s, surfaced in March after he released a video confirming the death of his father, Kim Jong Nam, who was killed in February when two women smeared the banned VX nerve agent on his face at Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur airport. Speaking in English, Kim Jong Un’s nephew showed his passport as proof of his identity and said, “my father has been killed a few days ago.”

He continued, “I’m currently with my mother and sister. We hope…” before the video’s audio abruptly cuts off. He ends with, “we hope this gets better soon.”

(Read more from “North Korea’s Plot to Kill Kim Jong Un’s Nephew Foiled” HERE)

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Canada Euthanizes Thousands of Patients to Save Money

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Prolific Canadian documentary film maker Kevin Dunn has embarked upon his latest production FATAL FLAWS. In conjunction with the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, Mr. Dunn explores, amongst other things, the short step from physician assisted suicide to euthanasia. This is exactly what is happening in Canada in the 14 months since physician assisted suicide became legal.

More than 2,000 Canadians have died with medical assistance since 2015 (including Quebec). Cancer represented 64% of assisted deaths, followed by circulatory/respiratory and neurodegenerative diseases of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and multiple sclerosis (MS).

How did the numbers break down? (Excluding Québec, and the Territories) From June 17 – December 31, 2016, 507 people received medical assisted death, of which 503 were administered by doctors or nurse practitioners. Only 4 were self-administered suicides. From January 1st – June 30th 2017 there were 875 medically assisted deaths of which 874 were administered by a physician or nurse. One was self administered suicide. Of the 1,482 assisted death for the year, only 5 were self-administered suicides (0.0033%). In practice what Canada legalized in 2016 was not assisted suicide, it legalized euthanasia by another name. (Read more from “Canada Euthanizes Thousands of Patients to Save Money” HERE)

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U.S. ‘Discouraging’ Greater Jerusalem Bill, Official Says

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The Trump administration is “discouraging” any further action on a controversial Israeli bill regarding the status of greater Jerusalem, fearing it would harm its peace effort toward a comprehensive Israeli-Palestinian settlement, a senior administration official told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday.

“It’s fair to say that the US is discouraging actions that it believes will unduly distract the principals from focusing on the advancement of peace negotiations,” the official said. “The Jerusalem expansion bill was considered by the Administration to be one of those actions.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delayed an initial vote planned for Sunday on the measure, which would have annexed 19 Israeli settlements around the capital city.

US President Donald Trump’s special representative for international negotiations, Jason Greenblatt, is in the region to discuss the peace process with leaders there. His meeting with Netanyahu was a “general check-in on peace conversations,” the official said. (Read more from “U.S. ‘Discouraging’ Greater Jerusalem Bill, Official Says” HERE)

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