Source: Store in besieged Kenyan mall run by attackers or associates

Nairobi, Kenya (CNN) -- To anyone shopping at Nairobi's Westgate Mall, it would likely have seemed just another store.

But according to a Kenyan intelligence official, the small shop concealed an ominous secret. It was rented by the Al-Shabaab terrorists, or their associates, who within a year would carry out an attack on the upscale shopping mall.

The information -- revealed Friday to CNN by the source, who is close to the investigation into the attack -- suggests the Somalian terror organization had been planning the operation at least that long.

How the team of terrorists got their weapons and explosives into the mall without notice is a central part of the investigation into the attack, which left at least 67 people dead and parts of the upscale mall in ruins.

The Kenya Red Cross said Friday that 61 people remain unaccounted for. Some could be buried in the rubble of the partially collapsed mall.

Photos: Kenya mourns mall shooting victims

Voices from the Westgate Mall

Bergen: Unlikely women were attackers

At least five of the terrorists also died before Kenyan forces were finally able to bring the siege to an end on Tuesday. The terrorists stormed the building Saturday.

Read: Mall attack timeline

On a Twitter account believed to be run by Al-Shabaab, the group promised more attacks to come.

"The mesmeric performance by the #Westgate Warriors was undoubtedly gripping, but despair not folks, that was just the premiere of Act 1," according to a tweet posted Thursday.

CNN could not confirm the authenticity of the tweet, but CNN terrorism analyst Paul Cruickshank said the account, which has also posted links to statements from Shabaab leader Mukhtar Abu Zubayr, appears to be legitimate, even if not "100% authenticated."

Several Twitter accounts attributed to Al-Shabaab have been shut down in recent days, likely for violating the company's rules against promoting violence in tweets.

While Kenyan Interior Minister Joseph Ole Lenku said Friday that eight suspects are being held for questioning in the attack, authorities are increasingly concerned that some of the attackers managed to escape alongside fleeing civilians in the aftermath of the initial attack, U.S. law enforcement officials told CNN.

On Thursday, a Kenyan counterterrorism source told CNN that one of the suspects is an injured Kenyan who was being evacuated when a machine gun magazine fell out of his pocket, leading to suspicion he was among the automatic-weapon toting terrorists who roamed the mall killing civilians. He is being held in a military hospital, the source said.

READ: Source: Kenya mall attack suspect eyed after ammunition fell out of his pocket

Among the suspects are three people picked up near the Ugandan border, the Kenyan official who revealed information about the mall store told CNN.

Facebook’s Zuckerberg Says U.S. Spying Hurt Users’ Trust

Facebook Inc CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday said revelations about U.S. government surveillance hurt users’ trust in Internet companies and that knowing more about the programs would help relieve some of the public concerns.
In a rare appearance in Washington at an event hosted by the Atlantic magazine, the 29-year-old social media billionaire urged the federal government to tell the general public more about the requests for data it makes to Internet companies.

Zuckerberg was also holding meetings with members of Congress from both parties to lobby for immigration reform.
“What I can tell from the data that I see at Facebook is that I think the more transparency and communication the government could do about how they’re requesting the data from us, the better everyone would feel about it,” he said.
“From reading in the media, you couldn’t get a sense whether the number of requests that the government makes is closer to a thousand or closer to a 100 million. … I think the more transparency the government has, the better folks would feel.”
Zuckerberg also expressed concerns that the outcry about vast secret spy programs run by the National Security Agency and the U.S. response could alienate other countries and hurt innovation globally. In San Francisco last week, Zuckerberg said the government “blew it” on the spy programs.
“Response to the NSA issues that have blown up are a big deal for the Internet as a global platform. And some of the government statements I think have been profoundly unhelpful,” he said.
“‘Oh, we only spy on non-Americans.’ Gee thanks,” Zuckerberg said, adding, “We’re trying to provide an international service, not get crushed in those places either.”
Earlier this year, Facebook said some 1.1 billion people around the world used its site each month.
The tech sector has been pushing for more disclosures about government data requests as Internet companies seeks to shake off the concerns about their involvement in vast secret U.S. surveillance programs revealed by former spy contractor Edward Snowden.
Earlier this month, Facebook joined Yahoo! Inc, Google Inc and Microsoft Corp in asking the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court for freedom to disclose aggregate data about the orders and requests for information they receive under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
On Wednesday, Zuckerberg said the revelations about U.S. online surveillance had a much bigger impact on users’ trust in Facebook than any criticisms related to the company’s own privacy policies.
PRIORITY ON IMMIGRATION
The issue that brought California-based Zuckerberg to Washington was his push for immigration reform, which has prompted him to wade deep into political waters.
This year, he founded an advocacy group, FWD.us, that lobbies for a comprehensive immigration reform, promoting the concept of building a “knowledge economy.” The group has come under fire for ads that backed pro-immigration lawmakers on issues unrelated to immigration, such as oil drilling.
“We just want to be there to help support folks who are going to have to take challenging positions on something that’s going to be controversial but they ultimately believe is the right thing,” Zuckerberg said.
He was scheduled for sitdowns on Thursday with Republican House Speaker John Boehner and Democratic House Leader Nancy Pelosi as the House of Representatives poses an uphill battle for the immigration legislation, which already has been passed by the Senate.
Zuckerburg, who ditched his signature hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans in favor of a dark suit and tie on Wednesday as he made his way through the hallways of Congress, said he was optimistic the legislation’s chances.

We’ll not succumb to blackmail, BSU ASUU tells Suswam •As Ajasin varsity gets set to pull out of strike

Barely 48 hours after the Benue State governor, Dr Gabriel Suswam, ordered the Benue State University (BSU) chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to resume work on October 2, 2013, the striking lecturers have waved the order aside, saying they will not succumb to blackmail.
The governor had directed the management of the state university to evoke the “no work, no pay rule,” on the lecturers if they failed to pull out of what he described as “sympathy strike’’ and resume work as from October.
But the chairman of BSU ASUU, Dr David Ukooh, who spoke to newsmen yesterday after the union’s congress said his members would not succumb to any form of blackmail, threat or intimidation.
 Ukooh said the governor’s comment was “mere political propaganda’’ intended to blackmail the lecturers, adding that BSU ASUU executive lacked the power to suspend the strike.
“The  strike embarked upon by BSU ASUU is a national strike and not a local one. The branch exco has no power to suspend the strike. We are a union and we have  modalities which has to be followed logically. The NEC of ASUU called this strike and it is only when they ask us to call off the strike that we can do so.”
“This is not the first time ASUU will go on strike. If the governor insists on no work, no pay, we are not worried, we will meet our work where we left it. But when we resume, we will also insist on no pay, no work. The governor’s statement is borne out of ignorance,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Vice Chancellor of the Ondo State-owned Adekunle Ajasin University (AAUA), Akungba-Akoko, Professor Olufemi Mimiko, has said that the university will soon recall its students and lecturers back on campus if the three-month-old strike by ASUU is not called off by the end of September.
Mimiko disclosed the plan of the university during an interview with the Nigerian Tribune. He said the protracted strike had affected the activities of the institution, which had unbroken and stable academic calendar in the last four years.
“We had unbroken four-year academic calendar before the strike began.  The strike has affected our programmes.  It is not in the interest of our students.
“We hope ASUU will call off the strike soon. If not, we are considering taking a measure to bring our students back on campus. Precisely, if by the end of September, the strike is not called off nationally, we will begin the process of calling off the strike locally,” he said.
“We are consulting with our lecturers. Ours  is a state university and the case is different. We don’t have any subsisting agreement with the ASUU. It is the Federal Government that has issues with the ASUU.
“In  the first instance, our own lecturers are not even expected to go on strike  along with the ASUU of the Federal Government-owned  institutions. They are not employees of the Federal Government.

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No Work No Pay-Lecturers Defy Suswam’s Order To Return To Work

The Benue State University Chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has vowed to continue with the ongoing strike by the union in spite of the threat by Governor Gabriel Suswam to sack them.
Dr Samuel Ikoni, Chairman of the state chapter of ASUU, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Makurdi that only the national leadership of the union could call off the strike.
“On the threat of sack, we are waiting to be served, there is no problem over that,” he said.
He also said the governor was at liberty to implement the “No work, No pay policy,” adding that members of the union would not be intimidated to return to work.
Ikoni said that the issues that necessitated the strike in public universities across the country could only be resolved by the national executive officers of the union.
NAN recalls that Suswam had ordered the teachers to return to work before October 2, or face the wrath of the government.
Suswam had also threatened to invoke the “No work, No pay policy” to compel the lecturers to return to work.

Igini Reiterates Jega’s Call To Politicians Not To Heat Up Polity.

 The Resident Electoral Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Cross River state, Mr Mike Igini reiterated the call by the commission’s chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega that politicians should not over heat the polity ahead of the 2015 general elections.

He justified the call by citing the events that followed 2011 general elections noting that “the commission sat after the elections and collated all the reports from the 36 states of the federation, made evaluation and it was very clear that from the analysis done, looking at our strengths, weakness, opportunities, threats in terms of both internal and external factors, it was clear to us that one of the critical stakeholders whose action or inaction will impact negatively or positively on the electoral process remains the political class”.
While speaking on Channels Television’s breakfast programme, Sunrise Daily, Igini said the commission noted that the 2011 general election could have been better than it was but was glad to reveal that “Nigerians and the international communities all came with one result; that the 2011 election was a remarkable departure from what used to happen before”.
He added that new visioning process was brought into being because of the commission’s drive to move from where it stopped in 2011 to provide a better electoral process in 2015 hence the setting up of a Strategic Planning Committee.
He further added that “we (INEC) want to be one of the best commissions that organizes election in the whole world, we came out with our own mission that INEC as a body must be an effective entity committed to the conduct of free, fair and credible election for sustainable democracy in the country”.

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Navy Yard Shooting in Washington, D.C.

Washington Navy Yard gunman Aaron Alexis ‘traumatised by 9/11′



Aaron Alexis, deceased, is believed to be responsible for the shootings at the Washington Navy Yard, in the Southeast area of Washington, DC, around 8:20 a.m. on Sept. 16

At least 13 people are dead after a shooting at the Navy Yard in Washington, D.C., this morning.

The shooting took place around 8:20 a.m. this morning at the Navy Sea Systems Command headquarters building, according to officials. Law enforcement sources tell ABC news it appears that a shooter has been neutralized, but the situation is described as "fluid" and police are continuing to clear the scene, they said.

Updates will appear automatically when the event starts or at this link if you are on a mobile device.
The lone gunman blamed for killing 12 people at a US navy base in Washington DC just miles from the White House had anger management issues and was traumatised by the September 11 attacks, it has been claimed.

Former navy reservist Aaron Alexis died yesterday in a shootout with police after opening fire at the US Naval Sea Systems Command in the capital’s highly-secured Navy Yard complex.

His victims were aged between 46 and 73, while eight others were wounded.

DC mayor Vincent Gray said there was no apparent motive for the ‘horrific tragedy’.

Police now believe 34-year-old Alexis, who the FBI said had gained access to the yard with a valid pass, was acting alone, having earlier appealed for information over second and third suspects.

US president Barack Obama lamented ‘yet another mass shooting’, the deadliest at a US-based military installation since army psychiatrist Major Nidal Hasan killed 13 and wounded 30 at Fort Hood in Texas.

He was convicted last month and sentenced to death.

Writing on Twitter, UK prime minister David Cameron said: ‘Tragic events at the Washington Navy Yard. My thoughts and prayers are with those who have lost loved ones.’

New York City native Alexis, a convert to Buddhism, opened fire at around 8.20am local time, armed with an AR-15 assault rifle, a shotgun and later a handgun he picked up from a police officer.

The IT employee, whose last address was Fort Worth in Texas, was discharged a

It has emerged that he was previously involved in shooting incidents in Seattle in 2004 and Fort Worth in 2010.

Last night the Seattle police department released a report saying Alexis shot the tyres of a car, in part because he was traumatised by the September 11 terror attacks three years previously.
Alexis claimed he had suffered an ‘anger-fuelled blackout’ after being mocked by construction workers, the report said.

‘Alexis also told police he was present during ‘the tragic events of September 11, 2001 and described how those events had disturbed him,’ it continued.

‘Detectives later spoke with Alexis’ father, who lived in New York at the time, who told police Alexis had anger management problems associated with post-traumatic stress disorder, and that Alexis had been an active participant in rescue attempts on September 11, 2001.’