The National Security Council is back in business – well, at least under its old name again. In May 2009, the president’s National Security Council, which deals with foreign policy hot spots around the globe, The New York Times reports, was renamed the National Security Staff by President Obama. The explanation at the time was that the NSS would incorporate the staff of the president’s Homeland Security Council.
The New York City Police Department’s intelligence and analytics unit is evaluating whether Google Glass is a decent fit for investigating terrorists and helping police catch criminals. The department recently received several pairs of the high-tech spectacles for testing.
Twitter says it is prepared to sue the Obama administration for the right to disclose more details about government surveillance requests. In a blog post Thursday, Twitter’s head of global legal policy, Jeremy Kessel, said that a recent agreement between tech groups and the Justice Department did not go far enough to address the company’s concerns.
The United States is advising airlines with direct flights serving Russia to be aware of the possibility of explosive materials concealed in toothpaste or cosmetic tubes. Rep. Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said the Department of Homeland Security issued a bulletin to airlines flying to Russia warning of the potential threat. The bulletin said that officials believed that the explosives might be used during flights or smuggled into the city of Sochi, where the Winter Olympics begins this week.
An April attack on Silicon Valley’s phone lines and power grid was terrorism, according to former Federal Energy Regulatory Commission chairman Jon Wellinghoff said Wednesday. The FBI has released multiple statements that is has found no indications to support this claim, but Wellinghoff says he reached his conclusion after consulting with Defense Department experts about the attack, which involved snipping AT&T fiber-optic lines to knock out phone and 911 service, and firing shots into a PG&E substation, causing outages, an Associated Press article reports.
Kansas legislators are considering a bill to expand the definition of “furtherance of terrorism” and allow victims to seek civil penalties from those convicted of acts of terrorism. The bill would make it against the law to “provide material support” for those who commit acts of terrorism, “hinder the prosecution” of such crimes or “conceal or aid in the escape” of anyone who commits such a crime.
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