Global Hawk arrives in Sigonella
By Air Force Lt. Col. Scott Coon, Global Hawk Detachment 4, Commanding Officer U.S. Air Force Global Hawk personnel have finally arrived at NAS Sigonella. After significant program delays left many locals wondering if “unit stand-up” would ever come to fruition, we proved them wrong and are finally here. We truly appreciate the hospitality we […]
Copenhagen Talks Tough on Climate Protest Plans
By TOM ZELLER Jr. COPENHAGEN — At an abandoned beer warehouse in this city’s Valby district, law enforcement officials have constructed an elaborate holding facility with three dozen steel cages to accommodate more than 350 potential troublemakers during a United Nations climate conference that gets under way here on Monday. Critics call the holding pens […]
Brussels gives CIA the power to search UK bank records
David Leppard THE CIA is to be given broad access to the bank records of millions of Britons under a European Union plan to fight terrorism. The Brussels agreement, which will come into force in two months’ time, requires the 27 EU member states to grant requests for banking information made by the United States […]
ESRIF Final Report
[esrif.eu] ESRIF stands for the "European Security Research and Innovation Forum". It is a European strategy group in the civil security research domain that was established in September 2007. Its main objective is to develop a mid and long term strategy for civil security research and innovation through public private dialogue by 2009. It delivered […]
Global Spy Agency Pushed by Internationalists
By Jim Kouri Recently, President Barack Obama named Chuck Hagel, a left-leaning Republican, as co-chair of his Intelligence Advisory Board. Although a leader in the GOP, Hagel developed a close relationship with Obama during his presidential campaign. Reportedly both men are Internationalists with some observers claiming they are more concerned with foreign nations than their […]
The EU security-industrial complex
By Frances Webber This report is an indispensable reference manual on the threats posed to citizens by the convergence of neo-con ideology, power and technology in the name of national security. [irr.org.uk] ‚A new kind of arms race, one in which all the weapons are pointing inwards‘, the product of a marriage between the imperatives […]
Lawsuit Demands Answers About Social-Networking Surveillance
Government Agencies Withholding Information on Data-Gathering from Facebook, Twitter, and Other Online Communities [eff.org] San Francisco – The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), working with the Samuelson Law, Technology, and Public Policy Clinic at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law (Samuelson Clinic), filed suit today against a half-dozen government agencies for refusing to disclose […]
EU plans judicial exchange programmes
By Stanley Pignal in Brussels Police and judges across the European Union will be encouraged to go on exchange programmes reminiscent of university exchanges in order to deepen integration in justice and home affairs, under proposals agreed on Tuesday in Brussels. [ft.com] EU justice ministers agreed a new framework for co-operation in home affairs as […]
Frontex warns Malta, ‘Don’t advertise resettlements’
Karl Stagno-Navarro Officials from the EU’s border control agency Frontex have warned the Maltese authorities that publicity given to the recent agreements reached with the USA and other countries are being exploited by organised crime in Libya to market Malta as the destination to send asylum seekers and irregular immigrants. [maltatoday.com] The shocking revelation was […]
Botswana Police to undergo peace-keeping training
by Godfrey Ganetsang The Botswana police service has teamed up with the French Embassy in Botswana, South Africa and Mozambique to set up a regional peacekeeping training at Otse Police College. The training, which started on Monday, involves 80 police officials from the three countries, together with the Lesotho Mounted Police Service. [sundaystandard.info] Experts from […]
Identifying Threat: New biometrics markets and terror culture
The culture of fear and distrust that has grown up around this century’s terror culture and its associated wars has created vast new markets for anything that can be branded with the words security or defence. In April 2010, London’s Kensington Olympia will play host to a Counter Terror Expo, put on by DSEi’s infamous […]
Data bank to counter drug trafficking
[english.ruvr.ru] The anti-drug agencies of the member countries of the Collective Security Treaty Organization will establish a data bank that contains details about transnational criminal groups engaged in drug trafficking. With the assistance of the data bank, the law enforcement agencies of the seven CSTO countries, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Uzbekistan, will coordinate […]
EU to approve more banking data for US spooks
European home affairs ministers are today set to approve a transatlantic deal that will see them turn reams of private banking data over to US intelligence. [theregister.co.uk] The expected approval signals a remarkable diplomatic victory for Washington. The European Commission and the US had previously clashed over the Terrorist Finance Tracking Programme (TFTP). RegAd(‚mpu1‘, ‚reg.public_sector.4159/government‘, […]
Agreement to place the European Asylum Support Office in Malta
At today’s Justice and Home Affairs Council in Brussels, ministers have agreed to place the European Asylum Support Office in Malta. [se2009.eu] “For the Common European Asylum System to become a reality, practical cooperation is of the greatest importance. I am therefore very pleased that we have been able to reach an agreement which means […]
EU develops law enforcement information exchange
The Justice and Home Affairs Council today decided on a strategy for a more effective and secure exchange of law enforcement information in the EU. [se2009.eu] The lack of a common strategy for the exchange of law enforcement information has so far led to the results of development efforts being unsatisfactory, too expensive and delayed. […]
JHA: Fill in gaps of Stockholm Programme in relation to irregular migration
(Brussels, 30 November) There are major gaps and inconsistencies in the draft Stockholm Programme where irregular migration is concerned, says Amnesty International on the day that Justice and Home Affairs Ministers will be adopting the five year policy document. [amnesty-eu.org] In a letter (available here) the organization expressed concern towards the EU’s plans on irregular […]
EU lifts visa restrictions for Serbia
The European Union (EU) has abolished visas for the citizens of Serbia traveling to the Schengen Area countries. [b92.net] The decision was made today in Brussels by the EU Council of Ministers for Interior and Justice, and it will come into effect on December 19. Serbian President Boris Tadić, along with Interior and Justice Ministers […]
Police Spying On Protesters Stirs Outrage in Britain
[politicsdaily.com] Britain has long been famous for its surveillance state. There are security cameras everywhere you go. The country has the largest DNA database in the world. And a national identity card program is well underway. But new revelations that British police have been spying on domestic protesters have infuriated citizens all along the political […]
EU to grant visa flexibility in return for readmission agreement
The European Union is reportedly ready to introduce some visa flexibility if Turkey signs a readmission agreement to tackle the flow of illegal immigrants to Europe. [hurriyetdailynews.com] The European Union and Turkey will discuss the readmission agreement again Dec. 4. Visa flexibility will be introduced once Ankara agrees to sign the agreement to deal with […]
ITALY CALLS FOR E.U. MIGRATION HELP AT MED SUMMIT
[lifeinitaly.com] Venice, November 24 – Interior Minister Roberto Maroni on Tuesday urged the European Union to help Mediterranean countries deal with migration pressures. Addressing a summit of western Mediterranean interior ministers, Maroni said more resources were critical if such countries were to effectively manage the large number of African migrants entering Mediterranean countries en route […]