Assad’s brother-in-law Assef Shawkat confirmed dead

The brother-in-law of Syrian President Bashir al-Assad, who also is the troubled nation’s former intelligence chief, is dead after an apparent assassination attack Sunday in Damascus, Syrian opposition leaders tell U.S. News & World Report.
The Free Syrian Army, an armed opposition group that has been fighting Assad’s military for months, said Sunday it had killed six senior members of Assad’s cabinet. (more…)

Berri may be the target of an assassination group, report

As-Safir newspaper quoted well informed sources in remarks published on Wednesday as saying that they received serious information regarding terrorist attacks being planned in Lebanon and that Speaker Nabih Berri’s assassination may be one of their targets. (more…)

49 bodies left on Mexico highway; official

Forty-nine decapitated and mutilated bodies were found Sunday dumped on a highway connecting the northern Mexican metropolis of Monterrey to the U.S. border in what appears to be the latest blow in an escalating war of intimidation among drug gangs.
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Muslim Americans challenge “no fly” list in appeals court

Lawyers for 15 Muslims in the United States barred from boarding commercial flights because they were on the U.S. “no-fly” list will on Friday ask a federal appeals court to reinstate their constitutional challenge of the anti-terrorism measure. (more…)

New terrorist plot to attack plane foiled

U.S. and other intelligence agencies recently broke up a plot to bomb an airliner and have seized an explosive device that is similar to ones previously used by al Qaeda, officials said Monday.

The plot was discovered before it threatened any Americans, and no airliners were at risk, one U.S. counterrrorism said. A nonmetallic explosive device like the one used in the failed attempt to bomb a Detroit-bound jet in 2009 was recovered (more…)

Iraq frees Hezbollah prisoner accused of killing US soldiers

An Iraqi court on Monday declared a Hezbollah commander accused of killing U.S. solders in Iraq in 2007 not guilty for lack of evidence and ruled that he be set free.

The case of Ali Mussa Daqduq has been a thorn in diplomatic relations between Baghdad and Washington (more…)

Senior al-Qaida leader killed in US airstrike in Yemen

An airstrike Sunday killed a top al-Qaida leader on the FBI’s most wanted list for his role in the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole warship, Yemeni officials said. The drone attack was carried out by the CIA, U.S. officials said. (more…)

Sept. 11 ‘mastermind,’ co-conspirators back before judge

The self-proclaimed mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks and four accused co-conspirators will appear in public for the first time in more than three years Saturday, when U.S. officials start a second attempt at what is likely to be a drawn out legal battle (more…)

Lebanon’s Most Wanted Sunni Terrorist Blows Himself Up in Syria

When one of Lebanon’s most wanted terrorists kills himself while planting a bomb it is cause for at least some sort of grim celebration. But when the chief bomb-maker of the country’s most notorious terror group self detonates while helping rebels (more…)

Iran, Hizballah, and the Threat to the U.S. Homeland

By Matthew Levitt
Should Hizballah decide to carry out attacks on U.S. soil in the event of a military confrontation with Iran, it has the capacity to do so.