“The US electronic spying chief has said massive surveillance programmes newly revealed by an ex-intelligence worker had disrupted dozens of terror plots. In a US Senate hearing, National Security Agency (NSA) Director Keith Alexander defended the internet and telephone data snooping programmes. Also, US Secretary of State John Kerry said they showed a ‘delicate but [...]

“The al-Qa’ida (AQ) core, under the direction of Ayman al-Zawahiri, has been significantly degraded as a result of ongoing worldwide efforts against the organization. Usama bin Laden’s death was the most important milestone in the fight against AQ, but there have been other successes – dozens of senior AQ leaders have been removed from the [...]

“Canada’s authorities say they have arrested and charged two people with conspiring to carry out an ‘al-Qaeda inspired’ attack on a passenger train. At a news conference, the authorities said the suspects Chiheb Esseghaier, 30, and Raed Jaser, 35, were arrested in Montreal and Toronto on Monday.” Source:BBC News – Canada foils ‘al-Qaeda inspired’ terror [...]

“The fertilizer plant which exploded, killing at least 14 and partially razing a small Texas town, failed to alert the DHS it was storing 1,350 times the amount of ammonium nitrate allowable without mandatory safety checks, Reuters reports. “ Source: Texas fertilizer plant flew under Dept. Homeland Security radar — RT USA

“The FBI is hunting a 12-man terrorist ‘sleeper cell’ linked to the brothers suspected of carrying out the Boston bombings. The Bureau believes that Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev received training in bomb-making before they carried out the attack, which killed three people.” Source: Boston Marathon Bombings: FBI Hunts Terror ‘Sleeper Cell’ Linked to Tsarnaev Brothers [...]

“A recipe for how to make pressure cooker bombs, which investigators say were used in the Boston Marathon attack, was most notoriously published in the al-Qaeda magazine Inspire.” Source:Boston Marathon bombs: al-Qaeda’s Inspire magazine taught pressure cooker bomb-making techniques – Telegraph

“Two dead, 22 injured in bomb blasts near finish line of Boston Marathon, Boston police say. Explosions happened at about 2:45 p.m., more than two hours after the first of the race’s nearly 27,000 runners had crossed the finish line.” Source:Police: Boston Marathon bombs kill 2 dead, hurt more than 20 – This Just In [...]

“Gun sales have surged in the region and across the nation in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre as enthusiasts rush to buy firearms they fear will be outlawed by a fresh push for gun control. Gun dealers requested nearly 5,150 background checks on purchasers in Virginia eight days after the Dec. [...]

“Gunshots rang out as firefighters responded to a blaze at a house in upstate New York on Monday, officials said. Someone shot at the firefighters when they arrived at the scene shortly before 6 a.m., said Rob Boutillier, fire marshal in the town of Webster, New York.” Source:Firefighters shot at while battling New York blaze [...]

“Thousands of students will have an extra long holiday break after school administrators in at least two Michigan counties decided to cancel classes because of talk surrounding the shootings in Newtown, Connecticut and rumors connected to the Mayan calendar predicting the end of the world.” Source: School Districts Cancel Class Due To Doomsday Talk, Potential [...]