From my archive of press clippings:
Stars and Stripes
Struggle over Iran's nuclear capabilities playing out in courts, intelligence centers
By Warren P. Strobel, McClatchy Newspapers
Stars and Stripes online edition, Sunday, April 18, 2010
WASHINGTON — The shadow war between the U.S. and Iran was briefly visible last week at an extradition hearing in a Paris courtroom, where an Iranian engineer was answering U.S. charges that he'd illegally shipped U.S. technology to Iran.
Read the whole article here.
Showing posts with label McClatchy Newspapers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label McClatchy Newspapers. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Monday, May 3, 2010
S&S - Ex-Blackwater employees indicted for violating federal firearms laws
From my archive of press clippings:
Stars and Stripes
Ex-Blackwater employees indicted for violating federal firearms laws
By Joseph Neff and Warren P. Strobel, McClatchy Newspapers
Stars and Stripes online edition, Saturday, April 17, 2010
RALEIGH, N.C. — Five former employees of the private security firm formerly known as Blackwater violated a series of federal firearms laws to give the company a leg up in the military contracting and training business, a federal indictment charged Friday.
Read the whole article here.
Snippet(s):
"Blackwater officials falsified federal paperwork to conceal a gift of firearms to Jordan's King Abdullah II, whom Blackwater was courting as a client, the indictment charges.
Former company president Gary Jackson used the tiny Camden County, N.C., sheriff's office as a front to buy AK-47 automatic rifles that Blackwater wanted for its training facility in Moyock, N.C., and the company illegally possessed short-barreled rifles that Blackwater officials thought were useful for winning security contracts."
"Friday's indictment is the latest bad news for Blackwater, which changed its name to Xe in 2009. The company burst into the spotlight in 2004 when four of its contractors were massacred in Fallujah, Iraq, which triggered two attacks on Fallujah by U.S. Marines.
The indictment highlights how Blackwater marketed its personal protection and military training services to countries worldwide, and investigators examined numerous allegations — not all of which are covered in the indictment — that the company exported firearms and other weapons without a license.
King Abdullah visited Blackwater's headquarters in March 2005 along with his two sons, according to government investigators. To curry favor with the king, Blackwater made a gift of five weapons etched with the Blackwater logo — three Glock pistols, an M4 Bushmaster rifle and a Remington shotgun.
Afterward, Blackwater employees realized that they couldn't account for the weapons, and falsely completed federal forms stating that Jackson and a second person had purchased the weapons, the indictment said."
"In February 2006, the company sought a State Department license to export more than $30,000 worth of weapons, including Bushmaster rifles, to Abdullah's private security detail. The State Department approved that export, but denied the company's bid to sell silencers for the weapons."
&
"Friday's charges stem from a wide-ranging federal investigation of Blackwater's weapons dealings that began in February 2006, according to officials and documents. The investigation involved agents from the Treasury Department's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; the Department of Homeland Security's Immigrations and Customs Enforcement bureau; the Commerce Department; the State Department inspector general's office; and other agencies. At times, the team had up to 20 federal agents."
_____
Strobel reported from Washington. McClatchy Newspapers correspondent Jonathan S. Landay in Washington contributed to this report.
Stars and Stripes
Ex-Blackwater employees indicted for violating federal firearms laws
By Joseph Neff and Warren P. Strobel, McClatchy Newspapers
Stars and Stripes online edition, Saturday, April 17, 2010
RALEIGH, N.C. — Five former employees of the private security firm formerly known as Blackwater violated a series of federal firearms laws to give the company a leg up in the military contracting and training business, a federal indictment charged Friday.
Read the whole article here.
Snippet(s):
"Blackwater officials falsified federal paperwork to conceal a gift of firearms to Jordan's King Abdullah II, whom Blackwater was courting as a client, the indictment charges.
Former company president Gary Jackson used the tiny Camden County, N.C., sheriff's office as a front to buy AK-47 automatic rifles that Blackwater wanted for its training facility in Moyock, N.C., and the company illegally possessed short-barreled rifles that Blackwater officials thought were useful for winning security contracts."
"Friday's indictment is the latest bad news for Blackwater, which changed its name to Xe in 2009. The company burst into the spotlight in 2004 when four of its contractors were massacred in Fallujah, Iraq, which triggered two attacks on Fallujah by U.S. Marines.
The indictment highlights how Blackwater marketed its personal protection and military training services to countries worldwide, and investigators examined numerous allegations — not all of which are covered in the indictment — that the company exported firearms and other weapons without a license.
King Abdullah visited Blackwater's headquarters in March 2005 along with his two sons, according to government investigators. To curry favor with the king, Blackwater made a gift of five weapons etched with the Blackwater logo — three Glock pistols, an M4 Bushmaster rifle and a Remington shotgun.
Afterward, Blackwater employees realized that they couldn't account for the weapons, and falsely completed federal forms stating that Jackson and a second person had purchased the weapons, the indictment said."
"In February 2006, the company sought a State Department license to export more than $30,000 worth of weapons, including Bushmaster rifles, to Abdullah's private security detail. The State Department approved that export, but denied the company's bid to sell silencers for the weapons."
&
"Friday's charges stem from a wide-ranging federal investigation of Blackwater's weapons dealings that began in February 2006, according to officials and documents. The investigation involved agents from the Treasury Department's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; the Department of Homeland Security's Immigrations and Customs Enforcement bureau; the Commerce Department; the State Department inspector general's office; and other agencies. At times, the team had up to 20 federal agents."
_____
Strobel reported from Washington. McClatchy Newspapers correspondent Jonathan S. Landay in Washington contributed to this report.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
S&S - Haitian immigrants' filings for protected status lag projections
From my archive of press clippings:
Stars and Stripes
Haitian immigrants' filings for protected status lag projections
By Trenton Daniel and Alfonso Chardy, McClatchy Newspapers
Stars and Stripes online edition, Friday, April 9, 2010
MIAMI — When U.S. officials granted temporary protected status to Haitians in the United States days after the Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti, they expected as many as 200,000 applications. But nearly three months later, federal officials say 42,942 Haitians have filed for TPS.
Read the whole article here.
Snippet(s):
"On March 16, more than 500 Haitians, including several children, showed up at the Miami field office of USCIS to be fingerprinted and photographed — part of the processing of their applications for TPS.
TPS shields undocumented immigrants from detention and deportation. In the case of Haitian TPS, the protection from deportation will last 18 months, though the benefit is expected to be renewed as TPS has been renewed repeatedly for Central Americans.
Applicants can also request work permits, which immigration officials say they plan to start issuing soon. Immigration advocates say the work permits are critical because they allow Haitian nationals here to wire remittances to family members back in Haiti whose homes were wrecked in the quake."
"The total cost of a TPS application is $470, which includes $50 for the application itself, $340 for a work permit and $80 for "biometrics," the fingerprinting and photographing process."
&
"The main reasons for rejection include not enclosing the correct filing fee, not completing forms, failing to include biographical information and not signing forms."
Stars and Stripes
Haitian immigrants' filings for protected status lag projections
By Trenton Daniel and Alfonso Chardy, McClatchy Newspapers
Stars and Stripes online edition, Friday, April 9, 2010
MIAMI — When U.S. officials granted temporary protected status to Haitians in the United States days after the Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti, they expected as many as 200,000 applications. But nearly three months later, federal officials say 42,942 Haitians have filed for TPS.
Read the whole article here.
Snippet(s):
"On March 16, more than 500 Haitians, including several children, showed up at the Miami field office of USCIS to be fingerprinted and photographed — part of the processing of their applications for TPS.
TPS shields undocumented immigrants from detention and deportation. In the case of Haitian TPS, the protection from deportation will last 18 months, though the benefit is expected to be renewed as TPS has been renewed repeatedly for Central Americans.
Applicants can also request work permits, which immigration officials say they plan to start issuing soon. Immigration advocates say the work permits are critical because they allow Haitian nationals here to wire remittances to family members back in Haiti whose homes were wrecked in the quake."
"The total cost of a TPS application is $470, which includes $50 for the application itself, $340 for a work permit and $80 for "biometrics," the fingerprinting and photographing process."
&
"The main reasons for rejection include not enclosing the correct filing fee, not completing forms, failing to include biographical information and not signing forms."
Thursday, April 2, 2009
TH - Road to foreign adoption grows longer
The Hour
Road to foreign adoption grows longer
Posted on 03/29/2009
RALEIGH, N.C.
By KRISTIN COLLINS
McClatchy Newspapers
It seemed like a simple transaction when Tamara Lackey brought her adopted son from Ethiopia to Chapel Hill, N.C., four years ago:
The abandoned child had been living in a spartan orphanage, and Lackey was willing to provide a loving home.
She filled out paperwork, and five months later her bright-eyed, smiling baby was home.Hundreds of other families around the country are discovering that it's no longer so easy to take in the world's neediest children.
Read the whole article here.
Road to foreign adoption grows longer
Posted on 03/29/2009
RALEIGH, N.C.
By KRISTIN COLLINS
McClatchy Newspapers
It seemed like a simple transaction when Tamara Lackey brought her adopted son from Ethiopia to Chapel Hill, N.C., four years ago:
The abandoned child had been living in a spartan orphanage, and Lackey was willing to provide a loving home.
She filled out paperwork, and five months later her bright-eyed, smiling baby was home.Hundreds of other families around the country are discovering that it's no longer so easy to take in the world's neediest children.
Read the whole article here.
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