Ethiopian Airlines hijacked by co-pilot - wanted asylum.

ABC NEWS: An Ethiopian Airlines co-pilot hijacked a plane bound for Rome today and flew it to Switzerland where he wanted to seek asylum, officials said.Geneva Airport chief executive Robert Deillon told reporters that the co-pilot took control of Flight ET702 when the pilot left the cockpit."The pilot went to the toilet and he [the co-pilot] locked himself in the cockpit," Deillon said.


The man "wanted asylum in Switzerland," he said. "That's the motivation of the hijacking."The flight departed Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital city, at 12:30 a.m. today local time. The flight was supposed to last for about six hours. The plane circled repeatedly over Switzerland before landing.

The co-pilot alerted authorities to the plane's hijacking, officials added — though passengers on the plane were unaware it had been hijacked. After landing in Geneva, the co-pilot exited the cockpit window using a rope and turned himself in to authorities.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.

New Snowden revelation- NSA eavesdropped on American law firm

The New York Times: The list of those caught up in the global surveillance net cast by the National Security Agency and its overseas partners, from social media users to foreign heads of state, now includes another entry: American lawyers.

A top-secret document, obtained by the former N.S.A. contractor Edward J. Snowden, shows that an American law firm was monitored while representing a foreign government in trade disputes with the United States. The disclosure offers a rare glimpse of a specific instance of Americans ensnared by the eavesdroppers, and is of particular interest because lawyers in the United States with clients overseas have expressed growing concern that their confidential communications could be compromised by such surveillance.
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Text: Document Describes Eavesdropping on American Law FirmFEB. 15, 2014

The government of Indonesia had retained the law firm for help in trade talks, according to the February 2013 document. It reports that the N.S.A.’s Australian counterpart, the Australian Signals Directorate, notified the agency that it was conducting surveillance of the talks, including communications between Indonesian officials and the American law firm, and offered to share the information.




he Australians told officials at an N.S.A. liaison office in Canberra, Australia, that “information covered by attorney-client privilege may be included” in the intelligence gathering, according to the document, a monthly bulletin from the Canberra office.

The law firm was not identified, but Mayer Brown, a Chicago-based firm with a global practice, was then advising the Indonesian government on trade issues.

On behalf of the Australians, the liaison officials asked the N.S.A. general counsel’s office for guidance about the spying. The bulletin notes only that the counsel’s office “provided clear guidance” and that the Australian eavesdropping agency “has been able to continue to cover the talks, providing highly useful intelligence for interested US customers.”

The N.S.A. declined to answer questions about the reported surveillance, including whether information involving the American law firm was shared with United States trade officials or negotiators.

Duane Layton, a Mayer Brown lawyer involved in the trade talks, said he did not have any evidence that he or his firm had been under scrutiny by the Australian or American intelligence agencies. “I always wonder if someone is listening, because you would have to be an idiot not to wonder in this day and age,” he said in an interview. “But I’ve never really thought I was being spied on.”

Most attorney-client conversations do not get special protections under American law from N.S.A. eavesdropping. Amid growing concerns about surveillance and hacking, the American Bar Association in 2012 revised its ethics rules to explicitly requirelawyers to “make reasonable efforts” to protect confidential information from unauthorized disclosure to outsiders.

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McRaven; "Destroy bin Laden corpse photos."

SOURCE: Less than two weeks after the 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden, a top Pentagon official ordered all photos of bin Laden's corpse be destroyed or turned over to the CIA, according to a newly released document.

In an e-mail dated May 13, 2011, Adm. William McRaven, the U.S. Special Operations commander, wrote: "One particular item that I want to emphasize is photos; particularly UBLs remains. At this point — all photos should have been turned over to the CIA; if you still have them destroy them immediately or get them to the (redacted)."

Shortly after the raid in Pakistan, President Obama said he would not authorize the release of any images of the al-Qaeda leader's body.

"It is important for us to make sure that very graphic photos of somebody who was shot in the head are not floating around as an incitement to additional violence, as a propaganda tool," Obama told CBS news magazine 60 Minutes.

In a unanimous ruling, a three-judge panel with the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington echoed the Obama administration's argument that release of the photos might inflame anti-U.S. sentiment among Islamic radicals.

Days before the order to destroy the photos, watchdog group Judicial Watch and the Associated Press had separately filed a Freedom of Information Act request for photos, videos and documents regarding bin Laden during the raid.

"The McRaven 'destroy them immediately' e-mail is a smoking gun, revealing both contempt for the rule of law and the American's people right to know," said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. "The Obama administration has tried to cover this scandal up – and our lawsuit exposed it. We demand further investigation of the effort to destroy documents about the bin Laden raid."

Typically, when a Freedom of Information Act request is filed to a government agency under the Federal Records Act, the agency is obliged to preserve the material sought — even if the agency later denies the request.

A CIA spokesman said at the time that "documents related to the raid were handled in a manner consistent with the fact that the operation was conducted under the direction of the CIA director."

Sochi bound aircraft hijack attempt foiled.

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A Ukrainian man tried to hijack a Turkey-bound flight to Sochi, Russia, as the Winter Olympics were kicking off Friday, but the pilot tricked him and landed in Istanbul instead, where he was stealthily detained after a four-hour stand-off on a plane full of passengers, an official said.

The hijacking drama came as the Winter Olympics opened in the Russian resort city, with thousands of athletes from around the world pouring into the tightly secured stadium amid warnings the games could be a terrorism target.

A Turkish F-16 fighter was scrambled as soon as the pilot on the Pegasus Airlines flight from Kharkiv, Ukraine, with 110 passengers aboard signaled there was a hijacking attempt, according to NTV television. It escorted the plane safely to its original destination at Sabiha Gokcen airport in Istanbul.

Officials credited the pilot and crew for convincing the 45-year-old-man, who claimed he had a bomb, that they were following his wishes.

‘‘Through a very successful implementation by our pilot and crew, the plane was landed in Istanbul instead of Sochi,’’ Istanbul governor Huseyin Avni Mutlu told reporters at the airport. ‘‘He thought it was going to Sochi but after a while he realized that (the plane) was in Istanbul.’’

He said the suspected hijacker was arrested after a stand-off during which a negotiator convinced him to first allow women and children to be evacuated and later agreed to let all other passengers off the plane as well.

‘‘Our security units sneaked through various entrances during the evacuation of the passengers and with a quick and effective intervention the hijacker was subdued,’’ Mutlu said. No bomb was found, he said.

The man’s motive was unclear, but Mutlu said he had ‘‘requests concerning his own country’’ and wanted to relay a ‘‘message concerning sporting activities in Sochi.’’ Mutlu said there was no immediate indication that the man was a member of any terror organization and Mutlu did not give his name.

‘‘We were receiving through various channels information that there could be initiatives to sabotage the spirit of peace arising in Sochi, but we are saddened that such an event took place in our city,’’ Mutlu said.

The governor said the man was being held at Istanbul police headquarters. The man was slightly injured during the struggle when he was detained, but no weapons were used, he said. The private Dogan news agency said later that the man was taken to a hospital for his injuries.

The Interfax news agency cited the Ukrainian Security Service, the country’s main security agency, as saying the passenger was in a state of severe alcohol intoxication. Mutlu said the man was not drunk, but said he may have taken substances to help him remain alert. He did not elaborate.

Habib Soluk, the Turkish Transport Ministry undersecretary, told NTV earlier that the man rose from his seat, shouted that there was bomb on board and tried to enter the locked cockpit. The pilot signaled that there was a hijack attempt and the airport was placed on high alert.

Air traffic at Sabiha Gokcen was halted throughout the incident but had returned to normal after the man’s arrest

Feds warn airlines flying into Russia of toothpaste bombers

The U.S. government has sent an advisory to airlines that fly into Russia, warning them that recent intelligence suggests terrorists might try to smuggle explosives onto planes by using toothpaste tubes.

An official said the intelligence does not indicate any threat to planes flying either to or within the United States, but was instead limited to flights to Russia. A U.S. official added that the advisory is directed to airline flights that originate outside the United States.


"Out of an abundance of caution, [Department of Homeland Security] regularly shares relevant information with domestic and international partners, including those associated with international events such as the Sochi Olympics.

"While we are not aware of a specific threat to the homeland at this time, this routine communication is an important part of our commitment to making sure we meet that priority," said a statement from a Homeland Security official.

Asked whether the advisory might lead to any change in carry-on restrictions, the official said, "That's not up to us. That would be up to airlines and authorities overseas."

As an added precaution, the advisory has also been passed along to carriers that operate charger flights to Russia for the Olympics, the official said.

The intelligence on which the advisory is based, the official said, "is very new."

The officials did not reveal either the source of the intelligence or the timeframe involved.