Miscellaneous News

US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper has submitted his letter of resignation, he has told a congressional panel.

He told the House Intelligence Committee that "it felt pretty good".

The 75-year-old top American spy had been expected to step aside, as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to appoint his own officials.

Analysts believe that he is sending a signal to the Trump administration that they must now speed up the transition.

"I submitted my letter of resignation last night which felt pretty good. I've got 64 days left," he told the committee, indicating that he would stay on in the post until President Barack Obama leaves office.

Committee members jokingly asked him to stay for four more years.

Mr Clapper has authority over 17 different agencies including the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), and the (Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

More than 107,000 employees report to him with a combined budget of over $52 billion (£41.8 billion).

In a profile published by

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only hours before his announcement, he said that he never questioned the morality of his profession.

In his role, he has often been in the position of defending the National Security Agency (NSA), just one of the covert agencies that his office oversees.

Its image was badly damaged after Edward Snowden revealed how they collect information on American citizens.

During a 2013 congressional hearing, Mr Clapper was asked: "Does the NSA collect any type of data at all on millions, or hundreds of millions, of Americans?"

"No, sir," Mr Clapper replied.

"It does not?" the incredulous senator responded.

"Not wittingly," Clapper said. "There are cases where they could inadvertently, perhaps, collect, but not wittingly."

Mr Clapper has served in the job for six years after previously working for the US Air Force and the Defence Intelligence Agency.

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SteelBird said:

Guys, I'm a regular reader of this thread though not posting too much. However, I'm thinking the thread has gone a bit too far from its title. Breaking & World News! III NO DISCUSSION!!

This thread was first created by BD Popeye when he still moderated this forum with the purpose of posting news around the world without allowing members to discuss on any news because the topic is so broad. Such discussion will usually goes into political bias and flame war. Since BD Popeye no longer moderate the forum and the health of Jeff is not so good, the rules have been losen. However, I hope you guys do not go too far. Stop it at some point and move on.

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dingyibvs said:

I've been following this thread for a long time as well, and I can't recall it being plagued by flame wars. If the aim of "no discussion" is to prevent flame wars, then it seems to be a quite achievable goal without that rule.

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Mexico City (AFP) - Gunfire erupted as protesters clashed with police in Mexico during another day of looting and demonstrations against a gasoline price increase that has infuriated the population.

Five officers and eight civilians were hurt and taken to hospitals after the violence in the central town of Ixmiquilpan, but authorities did not specify whether the injuries were the result of gunshot wounds, or say who had fired.

The clash came on the fifth day of nationwide demonstrations and highway blockades that began when the government hiked gasoline prices by 20.1 percent on January 1.

More than 600 people have been arrested while business leaders estimate that some 1,000 shops and companies have been looted or vandalized this week as others closed over fears of being robbed.

The protests claimed the life of a police officer in Mexico City who died on Wednesday when he was struck by a car while preventing a theft at a service station.

In Ixmiquilpan, the Hidalgo state authorities said federal police tried to negotiate the peaceful removal of a roadblock on Thursday but protesters threw firecrackers and rocks at the officers.

"To deter the disturbances, the officers used tear gas, but the protesters did not withdraw and continued their aggressions, (and) gunfire was heard at the scene," the state public security department said in a statement.

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Fri Jan 6, 2017 | 6:40pm EST
Gunman kills five, wounds eight at Ft. Lauderdale airport

Nine shot, one dead at Ft. Lauderdale airport
By Zachary Fagenson | FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA.
A gunman believed to be an Iraq war veteran opened fire at a baggage carousel at Fort Lauderdale's international airport on Friday, killing five people before being taken into custody, officials and witnesses said.

Five people died and eight were wounded, Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel told reporters at the airport, where air traffic was shut down.

The gunman had arrived on a flight with a checked gun in his bag, Broward County Commissioner Chip LaMarca said on Twitter. The shooter claimed his bag and went to the bathroom to load the gun before coming out and firing, LaMarca said.

Cellphone video posted on social media showed victims on the floor next to a carousel, with people on their knees attempting to provide aid. At least two victims had pools of blood from apparent head wounds.

The shooter was unharmed as law enforcement officers never fired a shot, Israel said, adding it was too early to assign a motive.

"At this point, it looks like he acted alone," Israel said.

Nonetheless, he said "this scene is considered fluid and active" as police searched the airport.

The shooter was identified as Esteban Santiago, 26, and had a U.S. military identification, according to a spokesman for U.S. Senator Bill Nelson of Florida, who spoke with officials at the Transportation Security Administration.

A 26-year-old by the name of Esteban Santiago was honorably discharged from the Army National Guard last year and served in Iraq, a U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Travelers are evacuated out of the terminal and onto the tarmac after airport shooting at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida,

The shooter, who wore a "Star Wars" T-shirt, said nothing as he fired, witnesses told MSNBC. He appeared to use a 9 mm handgun, which he tossed aside upon running out of ammunition, surrendering to police, MSNBC reported.

The attack was the latest in a series of mass shootings that have plagued the United States in recent years, some inspired by militants with an extreme view of Islam, others carried out by loners or the mentally disturbed who have easy access to weapons under U.S. gun laws.

About 90 minutes after the attack, panic broke out anew with passengers and police running frantically about at a separate terminal, but Israel said there were no other reports of shots being fired.

John Schlicher, who told MSNBC he saw the attack, described the shooter as a slender man who was "directly firing at us" while passengers waited for their bags.

"I put my head down and prayed," Schlicher said, adding that his wife gave first aid to someone who had been shot in the head. His mother-in-law used her sweater to tend to another victim but it turned out that person was already dead, he said.

Mark Lea, another eyewitness, told MSNBC "there was no rhyme or reason to it."

"He didn't say anything, he was quiet the whole time, he didn't yell anything," Lea said.

Security officials corralled dozens of passengers in several groups.

Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport is the second largest in South Florida, serving as an intercontinental gateway, with Miami International Airport known as the primary airport for international flights in the area.

HISTORY OF SHOOTINGS

Nearly two months ago a former Southwest Airlines worker killed an employee of the company at Oklahoma City's airport in what police called a premeditated act.

The deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history took place last June, when a gunman apparently inspired by Islamic State killed 49 people and wounded 53 at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida.

One of the most shocking was in 2012, when a man entered an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, and shot dead 20 first-graders and six adults.

Attackers have exploited security officials' focus on preventing attacks on airplanes rather than inside airports. In Western Europe and the United States, terminals are easily accessible public spaces.

But at Israel's Ben Gurion Airport, widely seen as a model for security, private companies trained by the national security agency use bomb-detectors, profile passengers and question travelers under the watch of police at the airport's entrance.

(Reporting by Colleen Jenkins, Letitia Stein, Jeffrey Dastin, Joseph Ax, Jonathan Allen, Gina Cherelus and Laila Kearney; Writing by Daniel Trotta; Editing by James Dalgleish)

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TerraN_EmpirE said:

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delft said:

BBC Radio 4 told us this morning that the shooter had psychical problems identified several months ago. Is this part of the result of fighting too much war with too few soldiers? I saw this week a booklet on the use of drugs by the Nazi armed forces in WWII. To what extent are such drugs used now?

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