BREAKING NEWS

Rocket Fired at US Embassy in Athens

from CNN

The U.S. Embassy in Athens has been hit by a rocket in an attack that anonymous callers claimed was staged by militant left-wing group. Nno one was injured in the explosion. Damage was minimal but it was still being treated as a very serious attack.

It is believed to be a symbolic act as an attempt to disrupt the country's international relations. Police are checking the authenticity of phone calls made to a private security firm claiming responsibility of behalf of the Revolutionary Struggle. The guerilla group claimed to have carried out an unsuccessful 2006 assassination attempt on Greece's culture minister and has become the most serious domestic threat since the dismantling of the deadly November 17 group in 2002.

Police sealed all entrances and exits to the embassy and cordoned off the block around the compound, causing an almost complete standstill of traffic during the morning rush hour. Chaos erupted inside the embassy after the explosion. However, the only damage visible from outside the embassy was a window blown out on an upper floor.

2006 TOP TEN Number 5

2006 was a rooler coaster ride of terror threat ups and downs. It all began when seven people were taken into custody after a sweep by law enforcement authorities in connection with an alleged plot against targets that may have included the Sears Tower. No weapons or bomb-making materials were ever found in the searches in the Miami area by FBI and state and local law enforcement officials. The city of Chicago was adamant in assuring its citizens that there was no eminent threat.

In the summer, the US finally got its ground-based interceptor missile defense system operational. And Canadian police halted a real and serious terror threat in and around Toronto. Twelve men and five youths said to have been inspired by al Qaeda were arrested in the operation involving hundreds of officers. The group was planning to commit a series of terrorist attacks against solely Canadian targets in southern Ontario. The group took steps to acquire three tons of ammonium nitrate and other components necessary to create explosive devices.

But the biggest terror threats came in August, when terrorists were in the final stages of planning to blow up planes heading to the United States from Britain. The plans were suggestive of an al Qaeda plot. British police apprehended 21 suspects involved in the plot. The U.S. raised the terror threat level to "severe" for all flights leaving Britain for the United States. Britain raised its alert level to "critical" and involved hiding liquid explosives in carry-on luggage and targeted Continental, United, British Airways and American Airlines flights to New York, Washington and California. Six to 10 flights were targeted. Flights were canceled or delayed at airports across Europe and the United States as the new security measures produced massive lines at airports.

The threats hit home when three men purchased cell phones from the Wal-Mart store on M-81 near the corner of M-24 in Caro. The three men allegedly bought 80 by purchasing them three at time so that an alert wouldn't be triggered by the cash register. They also paid cash. Once apprehended, the suspects had 1000 other cell phones in the van. There was also a bag of receipts showing that someone was in Wisconsin the day before. The Michigan State Police bomb squad says this has all the tell tale signs of using cell phones to detonate bombs. Federal authorities helped with the investigation into the possible terror threat assuming the suspected tarted to be the Mackinac Bridge. The bridge security had already been increased for several months due to elevated terror alert levels. Cameras on the bridge are monitored so that any suspicious packages or activity will be responded to by authorities. One theory is that the men weren't targeting solely the bridge itself but the people on it. The Annual Labor Day Bridge Walk has drawn over 60,000 people in the past few years. When the dust finally cleared, the three Dallas-area men arrested turned out to be well-known to cell phone resalers in the Dallas area. All charges were eventually dropped and the men were free to go.

Man Arrested in NFL Terror Threat

from TSG

A 20-year-old Wisconsin man was charged in connection with an online hoax that threatened "dirty bomb" attacks this weekend at seven U.S. football stadiums. Jake Brahm was nabbed for allegedly posting the online threats, which warned that the death toll for the purported October 22 attacks (which he dubbed "America's Hiroshima") "will approach 100,000 from the initial blasts and countless other fatalities will later occur as result from radioactive fallout."

Brahm, a grocery store clerk, surrendered in Milwaukee on the criminal charge, which was filed in New Jersey, home to Giants Stadium, one of the supposed attack targets. Brahm apparently penned the threats as part of a harebrained contest with another man to see who could circulate the scariest Internet threat. This behavior may not come as a surprise to anyone familiar with Brahm's other online activity via MySpace and an ambitious blog on which he recorded all of his 2006 masturbatory activity.

Prosecutor Recommends Dealth Penalty for US Soldiers

from CNN
I hope I am able to present this story unbiased

An Army investigator has recommended that four soldiers accused of murder in a raid in Iraq should face the death penalty if convicted. Lt. Col. James P. Daniel Jr. concluded that the slayings were premeditated and warranted the death sentence based on evidence he heard at an August hearing. The case will now be forwarded to Army officials, who will decide whether Daniel's recommendation should be followed.

The soldiers, all from the Fort Campbell, Kentucky-based 101st Airborne Division's 187th Infantry Regiment, are accused of killing three Iraqi men taken from a house May 9 on a marshy island outside Samarra, about 60 miles north of Baghdad. Staff Sgt. Raymond L. Girouard, Spc. William B. Hunsaker, Pfc. Corey R. Clagett and Spc. Juston R. Graber have claimed they were ordered to "kill all military age males" during the raid on the island. According to statements from some of the soldiers, they were told the target was an al Qaeda training camp. Prosecutors argue the soldiers conspired to kill the men and then altered the scene to fit their story.

The soldiers are expected to be tried at Fort Campbell. They have been jailed in Kuwait since their arrests this year. The U.S. military has not executed a soldier since the 1960 hanging of a soldier convicted rape and attempted murder.

Saddam Hussein Forced to Watch 'South Park'

from Yahoo! News

Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein is being made to repeatedly watch his appearance in cult cartoon South Park while he is behind bars. The deposed leader on trial in Iraq was featured in the movie spin-off as the lover of the devil. South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut featured Hussein and Satan attempting to take over the world together as a gay couple.