NATIONAL
December 15, 2009 | By Jeff Coen and Josh Meyer
Two Chicago men accused of planning an attack on a Danish newspaper knew beforehand about the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India, last year that killed nearly 170 people, federal investigators said Monday. In a conversation that investigators said they secretly recorded on a long car ride, U.S. authorities said the two men chatted about how they had known the terrorism rampage was about to begin in which 10 gunmen ran between hotels and other public places shooting people. During the ride, U.S. officials said, Tahawwur Rana asked David Coleman Headley to pass along congratulations to the planner of the attack, a leader of the militant Pakistani organization Lashkar-e-Taiba.
WORLD
December 13, 2009 | By Alex Rodriguez and Sebastian Rotella
The investigation of five American Muslims held on suspicion of having links with terrorist groups has focused on a Pakistani militant whom the young men communicated with over the Internet and who became their primary contact as they tried to make their way to Afghanistan, Pakistani authorities said Saturday. As Pakistani law enforcement officials began questioning for the fourth day the close-knit group from a multiethnic, working-class enclave in Virginia, investigators sought more information about a suspected Pakistani militant they knew only as Saifullah.
WORLD
December 10, 2009 | By Sebastian Rotella and Alex Rodriguez
A close-knit group of five American Muslims from suburban Virginia had been trying to join a militant group in the Al Qaeda stronghold of northwestern Pakistan when they were arrested this week, Pakistani authorities said Thursday. Laptop computers, maps and extremist literature recovered in a raid on a house owned by the family of one of the five in Sargodha, in eastern Pakistan, suggest that the Americans wanted to train for jihad, or holy war, authorities said. The young men had communicated with a militant group and may have intended to travel to Miran Shah, in the North Waziristan region dominated by Al Qaeda and the Taliban, authorities said.
ENTERTAINMENT
December 2, 2009 | By ROBERT LLOYD
Jesse Ventura, who used to be the governor of Minnesota and before that was a professional wrestler known as "The Body," is now the star of a television docu-thriller series called "Conspiracy Theory With Jesse Ventura." It begins tonight on the truTV network (formerly Court TV), whose motto is "Not reality. Actuality" and whose other shows include "The Smoking Gun Presents," "Operation Repo," "Inside American Jail" and "Rehab: Party at the Hard Rock Hotel." The idea here is that Ventura investigates -- is seen to appear to investigate is probably a better way of putting it -- some of the best-loved semi-secret narratives of our troubled times, including the 2012 apocalypse and the secret bunkers to which you will not be invited; the Bilderberg Group ("their latest alleged plan is to thin out the world's population through disease and vaccines")
ENTERTAINMENT
December 2, 2009
'Conspiracy Theory With Jesse Ventura' Where: TruTV When: 10 tonight Rating: TV-14 (may be unsuitable for children younger than 14)
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
November 7, 2009 | By Richard Winton and Andrew Blankstein
Authorities arrested suspects accused of burglarizing the homes of Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan and other young celebrities after a member of the alleged "bling ring" confessed, according a search warrant affidavit obtained by The Times. The search warrant said the crew would surf the Internet to find where the celebrities lived, then watched the locations and worked out ways to break into the homes. In many of the cases, the doors were simply left open. In the case of Hilton and actress Rachel Bilson, the crew broke in numerous times, according to the search warrant affidavit filed at a Las Vegas court.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
October 28, 2009 | By Richard Winton and Andrew Blankstein
The methods allegedly used by a group of teenagers suspected by authorities of burglarizing the homes of such stars as Lindsay Lohan, Orlando Bloom and Paris Hilton have again raised concerns about the intrusive glare of the paparazzi. According to detectives, the group used celebrity websites and paparazzi photos to track schedules and movements of the people they are suspected of burglarizing. They looked for times when the stars were scheduled to either be out of town or attending movie premieres and other events, police said.
NATIONAL
October 28, 2009 | By Jeff Coen and Stacy St. Clair
Federal authorities on Tuesday charged two Chicago men with plotting terrorist attacks against targets in Western Europe, including the "facilities and employees" of a Danish newspaper that printed cartoons of the prophet Muhammad that sparked riots in the Muslim world. David Coleman Headley, 49, a U.S. citizen born in Pakistan, was charged with conspiracy to commit terrorist acts. Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a 48-year-old Canadian citizen also from Pakistan, was accused of supporting him. Both men remain in federal custody, officials said.
WORLD
October 16, 2009
Five men were convicted today of plotting a terrorist attack by collecting bomb-making instructions and purchasing explosive chemicals in Australia's largest terrorist conspiracy. A jury deliberated for a month before finding the men guilty of conspiring to commit acts in preparation for a terrorist attack. Each faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. During the trial, which began in November, prosecutor Richard Maidment told the jury in New South Wales state Supreme Court that the men planned to use explosive devices or firearms to commit "extreme violence" in a bid to force Australia's government to change its policy on Middle East conflicts.
NATIONAL
September 30, 2009 | By Tina Susman
An Afghan immigrant charged with conspiring to bomb U.S. targets in an attack possibly intended to coincide with the Sept. 11 anniversary pleaded not guilty in federal court Tuesday. Najibullah Zazi of Aurora, Colo., was ordered held without bail in what authorities have called the first Al Qaeda-linked plot on U.S. soil since the 2001 attacks. He appeared beside his attorney, wearing orange sneakers, black trousers and a tunic. Zazi, 24, his heavy beard neatly trimmed, did not speak, and there were no family members in the packed courthouse.