11-21-2024  9:22 am   •   PDX and SEA Weather

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NORTHWEST NEWS

'Bomb Cyclone' Kills 1 and Knocks out Power to Over Half a Million Homes Across the Northwest US

A major storm was sweeping across the northwest U.S., battering the region with strong winds and rain. The Weather Prediction Center issued excessive rainfall risks through Friday and hurricane-force wind warnings were in effect. 

'Bomb Cyclone' Threatens Northern California and Pacific Northwest

The Weather Prediction Center issued excessive rainfall risks beginning Tuesday and lasting through Friday. Those come as the strongest atmospheric river  that California and the Pacific Northwest has seen this season bears down on the region. 

More Logging Is Proposed to Help Curb Wildfires in the US Pacific Northwest

Officials say worsening wildfires due to climate change mean that forests must be more actively managed to increase their resiliency.

Democrat Janelle Bynum Flips Oregon’s 5th District, Will Be State’s First Black Member of Congress

The U.S. House race was one of the country’s most competitive and viewed by The Cook Political Report as a toss up, meaning either party had a good chance of winning.

NEWS BRIEFS

Portland Art Museum’s Rental Sales Gallery Showcases Diverse Talent

New Member Artist Show will be open to the public Dec. 6 through Jan. 18, with all works available for both rental and purchase. ...

Dolly Parton's Imagination Library of Oregon Announces New State Director and Community Engagement Coordinator

“This is an exciting milestone for Oregon,” said DELC Director Alyssa Chatterjee. “These positions will play critical roles in...

Multnomah County Library Breaks Ground on Expanded St. Johns Library

Groundbreaking marks milestone in library transformations ...

Janelle Bynum Statement on Her Victory in Oregon’s 5th Congressional District

"I am proud to be the first – but not the last – Black Member of Congress from Oregon" ...

Rain and snow pummel Northern California in latest wave of damaging weather to strike West Coast

SANTA ROSA, Calif. (AP) — A major storm pummeled Northern California with rain and snow Thursday and threatened to cause flash flooding and rockslides in the latest wave of damaging weather to wash over the West Coast. The National Weather Service extended a flood watch into...

Judge keeps death penalty a possibility for man charged in killings of 4 Idaho students

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The death penalty will remain a possibility for a man charged with murder in the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students, a judge ruled Wednesday. Judge Steven Hippler was not swayed by legal arguments made by Bryan Kohberger’s defense team to...

No. 19 South Carolina looks to keep its momentum and win its fifth straight when it faces Wofford

Wofford (5-6) at No. 19 South Carolina (7-3), Saturday, 4 p.m. EST (ESPN+/SECN+) BetMGM College Football Odds: No line. Series history: South Carolina leads 20-4. What’s at stake? South Carolina, which finished its SEC season at 5-3, wants...

Pacific visits Missouri following Fisher's 23-point game

Pacific Tigers (3-3) at Missouri Tigers (3-1) Columbia, Missouri; Friday, 7:30 p.m. EST BOTTOM LINE: Pacific visits Missouri after Elijah Fisher scored 23 points in Pacific's 91-72 loss to the Arkansas Razorbacks. Missouri finished 8-24 overall with a 6-11...

OPINION

A Loan Shark in Your Pocket: Cellphone Cash Advance Apps

Fast-growing app usage leaves many consumers worse off. ...

America’s Healing Can Start with Family Around the Holidays

With the holiday season approaching, it seems that our country could not be more divided. That division has been perhaps the main overarching topic of our national conversation in recent years. And it has taken root within many of our own families. ...

Donald Trump Rides Patriarchy Back to the White House

White male supremacy, which Trump ran on, continues to play an outsized role in exacerbating the divide that afflicts our nation. ...

Why Not Voting Could Deprioritize Black Communities

President Biden’s Justice40 initiative ensures that 40% of federal investment benefits flow to disadvantaged communities, addressing deep-seated inequities. ...

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE NEWS

New study shows voting for Native Americans is harder than ever

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (AP) — A new study has found that systemic barriers to voting on tribal lands contribute to substantial disparities in Native American turnout, particularly for presidential elections. The study, released Tuesday by the Brennan Center for Justice, looked at 21...

St. Louis was once known as Mound City for its many Native American mounds. Just one remains

ST. LOUIS (AP) — What is now St. Louis was once home to more than 100 mounds constructed by Native Americans — so many that St. Louis was once known as “Mound City.” Settlers tore most of them down, and just one remains. Now, that last remaining earthen structure, Sugarloaf...

New Zealanders are banned from displaying gang symbols as a new law takes effect

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A ban on New Zealanders wearing or displaying symbols of gang affiliation in public took effect on Thursday, with police officers making their first arrest for a breach of the law three minutes later. The man was driving with gang insignia displayed on...

ENTERTAINMENT

From 'The Exorcist' to 'Heretic,' why holy horror can be a hit with moviegoers

In the new horror movie, “Heretic,” Hugh Grant plays a diabolical religious skeptic who traps two scared missionaries in his house and tries to violently shake their faith. What starts more as a religious studies lecture slowly morphs into a gory escape room for the two...

Book Review: Chris Myers looks back on his career in ’That Deserves a Wow'

There are few sports journalists working today with a resume as broad as Chris Myers. From a decade doing everything for ESPN (SportsCenter, play by play, and succeeding Roy Firestone as host of the interview show “Up Close”) to decades of involvement with nearly every league under contract...

Was it the Mouse King? ‘Nutcracker’ props stolen from a Michigan ballet company

CANTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Did the Mouse King strike? A ballet group in suburban Detroit is scrambling after someone stole a trailer filled with props for upcoming performances of the beloved holiday classic “The Nutcracker.” The lost items include a grandfather...

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

One Tech Tip: How to get started with Bluesky

LONDON (AP) — Looking for a new social media platform because X, Threads and Mastodon just aren't cutting it?...

Trump's incoming chief of staff is a former lobbyist. She'll face a raft of special interests

WASHINGTON (AP) — As incoming White House chief of staff, one of Susie Wiles ’ vexing challenges will be...

Shares in India's Adani Group plunge 20% after US bribery, fraud indictments

NEW DELHI (AP) — One of Asia’s richest men, controversial Indian tycoon Gautam Adani, is again in the...

Russia and China oppose changing the Kenya-led force in Haiti to a UN peacekeeping mission

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Russia and China on Wednesday opposed a U.S.-led campaign to transform the Kenya-led...

Police in Finland arrest five suspects over separatist violence in southeast Nigeria

HELSINKI, Finland (AP) — Police in Finland said Thursday they had detained five suspects in connection with...

Shares in India's Adani Group plunge 20% after US bribery, fraud indictments

NEW DELHI (AP) — One of Asia’s richest men, controversial Indian tycoon Gautam Adani, is again in the...

By Dana Bash and Tom Cohen CNN













Gen. Keith Alexander, director of the National Security Agency, disclosed Tuesday, June 18, 2013 that plots to bomb the New York subway system and the New York Stock Exchange were among more than 50 stopped by secret surveillance programs.


Bomb plots targeting the New York Stock Exchange and the city's subway were among more than 50 worldwide thwarted by top-secret surveillance programs since the 2011 al Qaeda attacks on the United States, authorities said on Tuesday.

Gen. Keith Alexander, National Security Agency director, FBI and other officials revealed startling details at a House Intelligence Committee hearing aimed at finding out more about the telephone and e-mail surveillance initiatives that came to light this month through leaks of classified information to newspapers.

It was the most comprehensive and specific defense of those methods that have come under ferocious criticism from civil liberties groups, some members of Congress and others concerned about the reach of government into the private lives of citizens in the interest of national security.

National security and law enforcement officials asserted that the leaks were egregious and carry huge consequences for national security.

"I think it was irreversible and significant damage to this nation," Alexander said when questioned by Rep. Michele Bachmann.

"Has this helped America's enemies?" the Minnesota Republican asked.

"I believe it has and I believe it will hurt us and our allies," Alexander said.

President Barack Obama has defended the programs as necessary in an era of terror, and said they have been vetted by Congress and are subject to strict legal checks.

In an interview with Charlie Rose broadcast on Monday night, Obama said the situation requires a national debate on the balance between security and privacy.

Alexander noted last week in Senate testimony that the surveillance programs helped stop dozens of terror plots.

He briefly mentioned planning to bomb the New York subway system, but fuller details about that and revelations about others emerged on Tuesday in the House.

In all, officials said the controversial surveillance aimed at communications overseas helped to disrupt more than 50 plots globally that were in various stages of planning.

Details of virtually all remain secret, but national security officials said they were working on declassifying more information and could have a report to Congress as early as this week.

"We are revealing in front of you today methods and techniques," said Sean Joyce, deputy FBI director, adding the need to do so reflects the substantial impact the leaks have had on the national security community.

Joyce detailed for committee members e-mail surveillance that helped authorities discover the two New York City plots directed at the stock exchange and the subway.

In the fall of 2009, Joyce said the NSA intercepted an e-mail from a suspected terrorist in Pakistan. That person was talking with someone in the United States "about perfecting a recipe for explosives."

Authorities identified Afghan-born Najibullah Zazi of Denver. The FBI followed him to New York and later broke up planning to attack the subway. Zazi later pleaded guilty and is currently in prison.

In the other New York case, NSA was monitoring a "known extremist" in Yemen who was in contact with a person in the United States. Joyce said the FBI detected "nascent plotting" to bomb the stock exchange, long said by U.S. authorities to be a target of terrorists.

He also said e-mail surveillance also disrupted an effort to attack the office of a Danish newspaper that was threatened for publishing a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed in 2006.

This one involved David Headley, a U.S citizen living in Chicago. The FBI received intelligence at the time regarding his possible involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terror attack that killed 164 people, Joyce said.

The NSA, through surveillance of an al Qaeda-affiliated terrorist, found that Headley was working on a plot to bomb the newspaper. Headley later confessed to conducting surveillance and was convicted. He also pleaded guilty to conducting surveillance in the Mumbai case.

Lastly, secret surveillance led "tipped us off" to a person who had indirect contacts with a known terrorist group overseas.

"We were able to reopen this investigation, identify additional individuals through the legal process and were able to disrupt this terrorist activity," Joyce said.





Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers welcomed the testimony.

"I think you have struck the right balance between protecting sources and methods, and maintaining the public's trust, by providing more examples of how these authorities have helped disrupt terrorist plots and connections," Rogers, a Michigan Republican, said.

The hearing came one day after the admitted leaker of documents to Britain's Guardian newspaper and the Washington Post about the classified surveillance programs sought to defend his actions.

In a series of blog posts on the Guardian website, Edward Snowden said he disclosed the information because Obama worsened "abusive" surveillance practices instead of curtailing them as he promised as a presidential candidate.

The former NSA contractor insisted that U.S. authorities have access to phone calls, e-mails and other communications far beyond constitutional bounds.

While he said legal restrictions can be easily skirted by analysts at the NSA, FBI and CIA, Snowden stopped short of accusing authorities of violating specific laws.

Instead, he said toothless regulations and policies were to blame for what he called "suspicionless surveillance," and he warned that policies can be changed to allow further abuses.

Under questioning from Rogers, Alexander said the NSA does not have the authority to listen to phone calls of U.S. citizens or read their e-mails under the two surveillance programs.

He also said there was no technology for a lone analyst to arbitrarily listen to Americans' phone calls or read their e-mails.

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