USA
Don't blame Muslims for the crimes of white supremacists
The American right is systematically trying to cover up far-right crimes by focusing attention on the Muslim community.
FBI 'anti-terror' arrest near US Capitol
A man has been arrested near the US Capitol building as part of an anti-terror investigation, US officials say.
Amine El Khalifi, 29, of Alexandria, Virginia was taken into custody by the FBI.
Officials told US media the man thought he was heading to carry out a suicide attack on the Washington DC building, home to the US Congress.
He was "closely and carefully monitored" for weeks, according to the FBI and US Capitol police.
Authorities say the public was never in any danger.
Mr Khalifi allegedly thought undercover FBI agents he was working with were members of the al-Qaeda network.
However, he was not believed to have any known existing connections to al-Qaeda, officials said.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-17080940#TWEET80149
Feds: Scientist tried to sell classified nuclear data to Venezuela A former...
Feds: Scientist tried to sell classified nuclear data to Venezuela
A former Los Alamos National Laboratory scientist is accused of trying to develop nuclear weapons for Venezuela.
An elderly maverick scientist who battled the scientific community for decades over laser fusion was indicted Friday in New Mexico, charged with trying to sell classified nuclear weapons data to Venezuela.
But ``Luis,'' the Venezuelan contact Pedro Leonardo Mascheroni met in a hotel and dropped CDs for at an airport post office box, was an undercover FBI agent.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/09/18/1830428/feds-scientist-tried-to-sell-nuclear.html
Mosque shuns FBI informant ...
Mosque shuns FBI informant
Muslims took out restraining order against an FBI agent sent to spy on them. The agent is suing his former handlers.
An FBI informant who attempted to infiltrate an Islamic community centre in the quiet Californian town of Irvine scared Muslim worshippers so much with his talk of violent jihad that they took out order against him, the Washington Post reported.
The FBI claims its use of such informants has prevented more attacks since the attacks of September 11, 2001.
Yet its officials have said that they do not target Muslims - an argument that has long been taken with a dose of scepticism by some commentators.
The latest case follows revelations that a man who tried to bomb a Christmas ceremony in Portland, Oregon, did so not only whilst under FBI surveillance, but had been provided withfake explosives by its undercover agents.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/12/201012520148175694.html
CIA contractor Ray Davis freed over Pakistan killings A Pakistani court has...
CIA contractor Ray Davis freed over Pakistan killings
A Pakistani court has freed a US CIA contractor after acquitting him of two counts of murder at a hearing held at a prison in Lahore, officials say.
Raymond Davis, 36, was alleged to have shot dead two men in the eastern city of Lahore in January following what he said was an attempted armed robbery.
The acquittal came when relatives of the dead men pardoned him in court.
They confirmed to the judge overseeing the case that they had received compensation - known as "blood money".
Under Pakistani Sharia law, relatives of a murder victim can pardon the killer.
Reports say about 18 family members of the two dead men were in court on Wednesday and confirmed that they wanted Mr Davis to be freed and pardoned because they had received "blood money".
The Pakistani media has reported that the families received 200 million rupees ($2.34m, £1.1m) but US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton denied the US government had paid any blood money.
Protests against the acquittal took place in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. In Lahore demonstrators clashed with riot police near the US consulate.
Cameron Munter, the US ambassador to Pakistan, said that he was "grateful for the generosity" of the families.
"I wish to express, once again, my regret for the incident and my sorrow at the suffering it caused," he said.
Mr Munter said that the US Department of Justice has opened an investigation into the incident.
Washington has always insisted that Mr Davis had diplomatic immunity and was acting in self-defence.
Faizan Haider, a lawyer representing the family of one of those killed, told the BBC that the "blood money" deal was done without his knowledge and that he was in detention when it was made.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12757244
House rejects extension of 'Patriot Act' powers The US House of Representat...
House rejects extension of 'Patriot Act' powers
The US House of Representatives has blocked a bill to extend some surveillance powers granted by the 2001 Patriot Act after the 9/11 attacks.
The bill was opposed by most Democrats and some Republicans, and failed to win the two-thirds vote needed for passage.
It would have extended until December provisions on wiretaps, access to business records and surveillance of terror suspects granted by the law.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12400834
Janet Napolitano: US terror threat highest since 9/11
The threat of terrorism against the US homeland is in some aspects "at its most heightened state" since the 9/11 attacks, US Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has said.
"The terrorist threat facing our country has evolved significantly," she told members of Congress.
The US faced new threats by groups already inside the country, inspired by al-Qaeda, she said.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12407859
List of facilities 'vital to US security' leaked The cable asked missions ...
List of facilities 'vital to US security' leaked
The cable asked missions to list all sites whose lose would damage the US
A long list of key facilities around the world that the US describes as vital to its national security has been released by Wikileaks.
The US State Department in February 2009 asked all US missions abroad to list all installations whose loss could critically affect US national security.
'Targets for terror'
The geographical range of the document is extraordinary.
If the US sees itself as waging a "global war on terror" then this represents a global directory of the key installations and facilities - many of them medical or industrial - that are seen as being of vital importance to Washington.
No wonder then that the Times newspaper in London has published the story under the headline "Wikileaks lists 'targets for terror' against the US".
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11923766
Obama security strategy to highlight domestic terrorism The US president's ...
Obama security strategy to highlight domestic terrorism
The US president's national security strategy is to highlight homegrown terrorism for the first time, an adviser to Barack Obama says.
John Brennan said the document being unveiled on Thursday explicitly recognised the threat posed by "individuals radicalised here at home".