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The head of Venezuela's telecommunications regulatory agency said Friday that 240 radio stations will have their licenses revoked for failing to update their registrations with the government.

A total of 86 AM radio stations and 154 FM stations have failed to turn in required documents, which will lead to the "recovery of all those concessions by the state," said Diosdado Cabello, who heads the telecommunications agency.

Cabello said the radio stations should "shut down their equipment right away because we're going to open administrative proceedings, and that involves seizure of equipment." He said stations using their frequency without government authorization could face sanctions.

The government last month began a process of updating the registration of TV and radio stations under a law regulating broadcasters, and demanded that all outlets file information with the regulatory agency by June 23 including details about assets and ownership.

Cabello, a close ally of President Hugo Chavez, said the radio stations that stand to lose their licenses "are not interested in updating their information" and aren't complying with the law. It remained unclear what recourse the stations might have.

The move comes amid tensions generated by investigations against opposition-aligned television channel Globovision that could lead to its closure.

Cabello said the government has also opened investigations into a group of unidentified broadcasters for airing segments by two non-governmental organizations supporting private property rights.

Regulatory officials notified Globovision on Friday that it is targeted in the new probe, the fifth in six months, said Ana Cristina Nunez, a lawyer for the channel. She said the agency ordered the channel to stop showing the commercials, calling it "one more act of intimidation."

Venezuela has many newspapers and radio stations that remain highly critical of Chavez's government. But Globovision has become the lone opposition channel on the open airwaves since another station, Radio Caracas Television, was forced off the airwaves in 2007 when Chavez refused to renew its license. That channel has since moved to cable.

Chavez has clashed repeatedly with private media outlets he accuses of plotting against him. He has also expanded the government's involvement in the media during his presidency.

The government now controls six television channels, including the Caracas-based international network Telesur, two national radio networks and other smaller media outlets including 600 radio stations and 72 community TV stations, said Marcelino Bisbal, a communications professor at Caracas' Andres Bello Catholic University.

Source

Disagree with the government? Pull their license.

WASILLA, Alaska – Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin abruptly announced Friday she is resigning from office at the end of the month, a shocking move that rattled the Republican party but left open the possibility she would seek a run for the White House in 2012.

Palin, 45, and her staff kept her future plans shrouded in mystery, and it was unclear if the controversial hockey mom would quietly return to private life or begin laying the foundation for a presidential bid.

Palin's spokesman, David Murrow, said the governor didn't say anything to him about this being her "political finale." He said he interpreted Palin's comment about working outside government as reflecting her current job only.

"She's looking forward to serving the public outside the governor's chair," he said.

And Pam Pryor, a spokeswoman for Palin's political action committee SarahPAC, said the group continues to accept donations on its Web site, with an uptick in funds after Palin's announcement.

In a hastily arranged news conference at her home in suburban Wasilla, Palin said she will formally step down July 26, and Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell will be inaugurated at the governor's picnic in Fairbanks. She said she had decided against running for re-election as Alaska's governor, and believed it was best to leave office even though she had two years left to her term.

"Many just accept that lame duck status, and they hit that road. They draw a paycheck. They kind of milk it. And I'm not going to put Alaskans through that," she said.

The 2008 vice presidential nominee was seen as a likely presidential contender in 2012 and had proved formidable among the party's base. But the last week brought a highly critical piece in Vanity Fair magazine, with unnamed campaign aides questioning if Palin was ever really prepared for the presidency.

The backbiting continued through the week, with follow-up articles recounting the nasty infighting that plagued her failed bid. Her advisers sniped with other Republicans, underscoring the deeply divided GOP looking for its next standard bearer.

Meghan Stapleton, Palin's personal spokeswoman, shot down speculation that ranged wildly from Palin dropping out of politics altogether to eyeing runs against fellow Alaska Republicans U.S. Rep. Don Young and U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski. Palin's comment about serving outside government refers to the present, she said.

Stapleton, however, said it's too early to say whether Palin would seek the presidency. In the meantime, the governor will continue to work "toward affecting positive change as a citizen without a title right now," she said.

"Her vision is what's best for Alaska, which translates into what's best for America," Stapleton said.

Palin's resignation, timed on the eve of the July 4 holiday when many Americans had already begun a three-day weekend, seemed designed to avoid publicity. She alluded to how she could help change the country and help military members — code that she didn't think her time on the national stage was over.

Jerry McBeath, a veteran political science professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, called the pending resignation a "smart move," both for Palin and the state.

"Alaska is an isolated stage from which to operate if you want to figure in American national politics. I don't know what she has in mind. Some TV show or some national radio show. There are opportunities for her, I'm sure."

But political analyst Larry Sabato, in Charlottesville, Va., said Palin's announcement left many confused.

"It's absolutely bizarre, and I think it eliminates her from serious consideration for the presidency in 2012," he said.

Palin said her family weighed heavily in her decision.

"I polled the most important people in my life, my kids, where the count was unanimous," she said. "Well, in response to asking, 'Hey, you want me to make a positive difference and fight for all our children's future from outside the governor's office?' It was four yeses and one 'Hell, yeah!" And the 'Hell, yeah' sealed it."

Palin's decision not to seek re-election was a familiar one for a potential presidential candidate. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney chose not to seek another term as he geared up for an unsuccessful 2008 presidential bid. Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty has announced he won't seek another term, giving him plenty of free time ahead of a potential 2012 bid.

Palin emerged from relative obscurity nearly a year ago when she was tapped as then Republican presidential candidate John McCain's running mate.

She was a controversial figure from the start, with comedian Tina Fey famously imitating her elaborate updo and folksy "You betcha!" on "Saturday Night Live."

In the presidential race, Palin became the butt of talk-show jokes and Democratic criticism after news broke that the Republican Party had spent $150,000 or more on a designer wardrobe, accessories and hair and makeup services for her. The high-end spending spree contrasted with the down-to-earth image she sought to craft for herself and became an unwelcome issue for the McCain campaign.

She didn't leave the limelight once McCain lost the presidency. She recently led a public spat with "Late Show" host David Letterman over a joke he made about one of her daughters being "knocked up" by New York Yankees baseball player Alex Rodriguez during the governor's recent visit to New York. Palin's 18-year-old daughter, Bristol, is an unwed, teenage mother. Letterman later apologized for the joke.

Palin also complained that her 14-month-old son, Trig, who was diagnosed with Down's syndrome, had been "mocked and ridiculed by some mean-spirited adults recently." She didn't elaborate.

Fred Malek, a Republican strategist who has advised Palin over the past year, said Palin was "really unhappy with the way her life was going."

"She felt that the pressures of the job combined with her family obligations and the demands and desires to help other Republican candidates led her to decide not to run again. Once that decision was made, she realized, why not do it now and let the lieutenant governor take over and get a head start on his election," Malek said.

Palin was first elected in 2006 on a populist platform. But her popularity has waned as she became embroiled in partisan politics following her return from the presidential campaign. Her term would have ended in 2010.

Palin expressed frustration with her current role as governor.

"I cannot stand here as your governor and allow the millions of dollars and all that time go to waste just so I can hold the title of governor," Palin said, referring to the alleged impact of multiple ethics complaints against her, most of which have been dismissed.

Palin remaining as governor is not good for Alaska, given the "political bloodsport" by her critics, Stapleton said. Stepping down is a "fighter's move," Stapleton said, essentially Palin stepping around political barriers in her way and pursuing her vision.

Her decision even took Parnell by surprise. He said he was told on Wednesday evening, and was not aware that any presidential ambitions were behind the move. U.S. Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, said Palin didn't inform him during a 45-minute meeting Wednesday.

Palin's announcement comes after several recent blows to the Republican party. Ensign, a member of the Christian ministry Promise Keepers, stepped down from the Senate Republican leadership last month after admitting he had an affair for much of last year with a woman on his campaign staff who was married to one of his Senate aides. Ensign later disclosed he had helped the woman's husband get two jobs during the affair.

A government watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, wants the Senate ethics committee and the Federal Election Commission to investigate.

Just days after news of Ensign's affair broke, Sanford admitted an affair with a woman in Argentina. Some lawmakers are now calling for his resignation. Before the admission, Sanford had been missing from the state for five days visiting his lover. He had slipped his security detail, lied to his staff about where he was and failed to transfer power to the lieutenant governor in case of a state emergency.

The party's troubles seem to have left two prominent 2012 prospects, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and 2008 presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, unscathed, however.

Palin has the potential to make far more money in the private sector than the $125,000 or so she has been making as governor.

Palin already had a deal with publisher HarperCollins to produce her memoirs, with publication planned for next spring. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

Six-figure book deals are common for high-profile politicos — President Barack Obama has made millions on his best-sellers — as are lucrative speaking tours and even their own talk shows after they leave office. One 2008 presidential candidate, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, landed his own show on the Fox News Channel. A Fox News spokesman said Friday that there have been no discussions with Palin.

Source

-A run for the Presidency in 2012? Or escaping just before scandal? I guess we will find out,huh?

Experts have reported the first case of swine flu that is resistant to tamiflu - the main drug being used to fight the pandemic.

Roche Holding AG confirmed a patient with H1N1 influenza in Denmark showed resistance to the antiviral drug.

David Reddy, company executive, said it was not unexpected given that common seasonal flu could do the same.

The news comes as a nine-year-old girl has become the third to die in the UK with swine flu.

It is understood from her doctors at Birmingham Children's Hospital that she had underlying health conditions. It is not yet known whether swine flu contributed to her death.

Meanwhile, the Department of Health has announced a big jump in the number of patients in England confirmed with swine flu - up 1,604 since Friday, taking the UK total so far to 5,937.

Experts have been using tamiflu, also known as oseltamivir, in a bid to stop the H1N1 spreading in communities.

If taken early, it ensures that symptoms are mild and reduces the chance of a victim giving the illness to someone else.

This first reported case of resistance developed in a swine flu patient taking Tamiflu.

Watch and wait

Mr Reddy stressed that there were no signs of a tamiflu-resistant strain of H1N1 circulating in the community.

This is in contrast to seasonal H1N1 flu where a Tamiflu resistant strain emerged last year and is now widely circulating.

Experts fear if this were to happen, it could render tamiflu ineffective.

Another antiviral drug, called zanamivir or Relenza, made by GlaxoSmithKline, is also effective against swine flu.

The UK government has been stockpiling these antiviral drugs and currently has enough to treat half of the population, with a contract to bring that up to 80% as soon as possible.

Supplies of flu vaccine have also been ordered and the first doses could be administered in the autumn.

A spokeswoman for the Health Protection Agency said: "The Health Protection Agency continues to watch for antiviral resistance and will be carrying out regular sample testing throughout this outbreak.

"We have been monitoring antiviral drug resistance since the beginning of this outbreak. Routine sampling in the UK has shown that there is currently no resistance to oseltamivir or zanamivir."

Virologist Professor John Oxford said: "I'm not surprised about this finding. The question is whether it is going to spread. We will soon know the answer."

Source

We've lost Billy Mays..

The King of Clean
And The King of Pop in the same week.

North Korea threatened Saturday to shoot down any Japanese planes that intrude into its airspace, accusing Tokyo of spying near one of its missile launch sites.

The North has designated a no-sail zone off its eastern coast from June 25 to July 10 for military drills, raising concerns that it might test-fire short- or mid-range missiles in the coming days, in violation of a U.N. resolution.

North Korea's air force said Japan's E-767 surveillance aircraft conducted aerial espionage near the Musudan-ri missile site on its northeast coast Wednesday and Thursday.

The country's official Korean Central News Agency said the air force "will not tolerate even a bit the aerial espionage by the warmongers of the Japanese aggression forces but mercilessly shoot down any plane intruding into the territorial air of the (North) even 0.001 mm."

Officials of Japan's Air Self-Defense Force were not immediately available for comment Saturday.

The threat against alleged Japanese aerial espionage is rare, though the North has regularly complained of U.S. spy missions in its airspace.

Japan is very sensitive to North Korea's missile programs, as its islands lie within easy range. In 1998, a North Korean missile flew over Japan's main island. Tokyo has since spent billions of dollars on developing a missile shield with the United States and has launched a series of spy satellites primarily to watch developments in North Korea.

But in April, another rocket flew over Japan's main island, drawing a strong protest from Tokyo. Pyongyang claims it put a satellite into orbit, while the U.S. and its allies say it was really a test of the country's long-range missile technology.

The launch was one of a series of missile tests in recent months, and the communist regime has further raised tensions by conducting a second underground nuclear test. Its actions have drawn harsh international condemnation and new U.N. sanctions.

Source

Seems like the psycho dwarf wants a war.

Quote:

 

SEOUL, South Korea – Top U.S. and South Korean defense officials met Friday for talks expected to focus on heightened tensions over North Korea's nuclear and missile threats. South Korean President Lee Myung-bak called the North a "stumbling block" to world peace and security.
Defense Undersecretary Michele Flournoy's trip to Seoul came as the U.S. sought international support for aggressively enforcing a U.N. sanctions resolution aimed at punishing Pyongyang for its second nuclear test last month.
North Korea has in response escalated threats of war, with a slew of harsh rhetoric including warnings that it would unleash a "fire shower of nuclear retaliation" and "wipe out the (U.S.) agressors" in the event of a conflict.
On Thursday, the communist regime organized a massive anti-American rally in Pyongyang where some 100,000 participants vowed to "crush" the U.S. One senior speaker told the crowd that the North will respond to any sanctions or U.S. provocations with "an annihilating blow."
That was seen as a pointed threat as an American destroyer shadowed a North Korean freighter sailing off China's coast, possibly with banned goods on board. The North Korean-flagged ship, Kang Nam 1, is the first to be tracked under the U.N. resolution.
Flournoy's Asia trip, which already took her to Beijing and Tokyo, also followed signs that North Korea is gearing up to test-fire short- or medium-range missiles in violation of the U.N. resolution. Pyongyang has issued a no-sail zone in waters off its east coast, effective from Thursday through July 10.
Details of Flournoy's talks with South Korea's Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee were not immediately available. She made no comments to reporters upon arrival at the Defense Ministry for the meeting.
President Lee criticized the North for "threatening compatriots with nuclear weapons and missiles." The regime is a "stumbling block to world peace and security," Lee said in a speech read by one of his aides at a ceremony marking the death of a renowned independence fighter.
It is not clear what was on board the North Korean freighter, but officials have mentioned artillery and other conventional weaponry. One intelligence expert suspected missiles.
The U.S. and its allies have made no decision on whether to request inspection of the ship, Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said Wednesday in Washington, but North Korea has said it would consider any interception an act of war.
If permission for inspection is refused, the ship must dock at a port of its choosing so local authorities can check its cargo. Vessels suspected of carrying banned goods must not be offered bunkering services at port, such as fuel, the resolution says.
A senior U.S. defense official said the ship had cleared the Taiwan Strait. He said he didn't know whether or when the Kang Nam may need to stop in some port to refuel, but that the Kang Nam has in the past stopped in Hong Kong's port.
Another U.S. defense official said he tended to doubt reports that the Kang Nam was carrying nuclear-related equipment, saying information seems to indicate the cargo is banned conventional munitions. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity in order to talk about intelligence.
North Korea is suspected to have transported banned goods to Myanmar before on the Kang Nam, said Bertil Lintner, a Bangkok-based North Korea expert who has written a book about leader Kim Jong Il.
___
Associated Press writers Kwang-tae Kim in Seoul, and Pauline Jelinek in Washington, contributed to this report.

I loves these North Korean Yukes.... an "annihalting blow"?? "We will destroy the U.S."?? Oh dear lord, you just wanna pat little Kim on his head

Iran's powerful Guardian Council is ready to recount specific ballot boxes in last week's disputed presidential elections, a council spokesman said Tuesday, another twist in an election that has touched off widespread protests.

State television quoted Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei as saying that the recount would be limited to voting sites where candidates claim irregularities took place. It was not clear which or how many voting sites would be affected.

The results from last Friday's election showing a landslide victory for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sparked Tehran's worst violence in 10 years -- including seven reportedly killed Monday during clashes.

Supporters of reformist candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi claim the vote was rigged to re-elect the hardline president.

The 12-member Guardian Council includes clerics and experts in Islamic law. It's role includes certifying election results, and it is closely allied to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

It serves as a constitutional watchdog and vets candidates running in elections. It must certify ballot results and also has the apparent authority to nullify an election.

Iran state radio reported Tuesday that clashes in the Iranian capital the previous day left seven people dead during an "unauthorized gathering" at a mass rally over alleged election fraud -- the first official confirmation of deaths linked to the wave of protests and street battles after disputed elections in last week.


The report said the deaths occurred after protesters "tried to attack a military location." It gave no further details, but it was a clear reference to crowds who came under gunfire Monday after trying to storm a compound for volunteer militia linked to Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard.

The shootings came at the end of huge rally by opponents of Ahmadinejad claiming widespread fraud in Friday's voting. The protest movement has shown no signs of easing -- with another reported rally planned for later Tuesday -- and has even forced Iran's non-elected ruling clerics into the unfamiliar role of middlemen between the government and its opponents.

Source

What did they expect when Ahmadinejad hired ACORN to count the ballots?

SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea convicted two American journalists and sentenced them Monday to 12 years of hard labor for crossing into its territory, intensifying the reclusive nation's confrontation with the United States.

The Obama administration said it would pursue "all possible channels" to win the release of Laura Ling and Euna Lee, reporters for former Vice President Al Gore's San Francisco-based Current TV media venture.



There are fears Pyongyang is using the women as bargaining chips as the U.N. debates a new resolution to punish the country for its defiant May 25 atomic test and as North Korea seeks to draw Washington into direct negotiations.

Washington's former U.N. Ambassador Bill Richardson called the sentencing part of "a high-stakes poker game" being played by North Korea. He said on NBC's Today show that he thinks negotiations for their "humanitarian release" can begin now that the legal process has been completed. Other South Korean analysts also said they expect the two to be freed following negotiations.

The journalists were found guilty of committing a "grave crime" against North Korea and of illegally entering the country, North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency said.

North Korean guards arrested Ling and Lee near the China-North Korean border on March 17. The two were reporting about the trafficking of North Korean women at the time of their arrest, and it's unclear if they strayed into the North or were grabbed by aggressive border guards who crossed into China. A cameraman and their local guide escaped.

The Central Court in Pyongyang sentenced each to 12 years of "reform through labor" in a North Korean prison after a five-day trial, KCNA said in a terse, two-line report that provided no further details. A Korean-language version said they were convicted of "hostility toward the Korean people."

The ruling — nearly three months after their arrest on March 17 — comes amid soaring tensions fueled by North Korea's nuclear test last month and signs it is preparing for a long-range missile test. On Monday, North Korea warned fishing boats to stay away from the east coast, Japan's coast guard said, raising concerns more missile tests are being planned.

Over the weekend, President Barack Obama used strong language on North Korea's nuclear stance and said his administration did not intend "to continue a policy of rewarding provocation."

Verdicts issued by North Korea's highest court are final and cannot be appealed, said Choi Eun-suk, a North Korean law expert at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies at South Korea's Kyungnam University. He said North Korea's penal code calls for transferring them to prison within 10 days.

The United States, which does not have diplomatic ties with Pyongyang, was "deeply concerned" about the reported verdict, State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said in Washington. He said officials would "engage in all possible channels" to win the reporters' release.

At the White House on Monday, deputy spokesman William Burton said in a statement: "The president is deeply concerned by the reported sentencing of the two American citizen journalists by North Korean authorities, and we are engaged through all possible channels to secure their release."

Ling's father Doug spoke briefly to The Associated Press at his home outside Sacramento, California, saying the family was "going to keep a low-profile until we hear something better about the situation," he said.

The family of Lee had no immediate comment, spokeswoman Alanna Zahn said from New York. Gore also had no comment, spokeswoman Kalee Kreider said.

Lee, 36, is Korean-American and speaks Korean, but it is not clear how well. She lives in California with her husband and 4-year-old daughter Hannah. Ling, 32, is Chinese-American and a native of California. Her sister is National Geographic "Explorer" TV journalist Lisa Ling.

Kim Yong-hyun, a professor at Seoul's Dongguk University, said the 12-year sentence — the maximum allowed under North Korean law — may have been a reaction to recent "hard-line" threats by the U.S., including possible sanctions and putting North Korea back on a list of state sponsors of terrorism.

But he predicted the journalists' eventual release following diplomatic negotiations.

"The sentence doesn't mean much because the issue will be resolved diplomatically in the end," Kim said.

Just weeks after arresting the women, North Korea launched a multistage rocket over Japan in defiance of international calls for restraint. The U.S. and others called the launch a cover for a long-range missile test, and the U.N. Security Council condemned the move.

The U.N. censure enraged Pyongyang. North Korea abandoned nuclear disarmament talks, threatened to restart its atomic program and vowed to conduct nuclear and long-range missile tests if the Security Council failed to apologize.

The North followed through with its threat and staged its second-ever underground nuclear test. U.S. officials say the North appears to be preparing another long-range missile test at a west coast launch pad.

Some analysts called the arrest of the Americans a timely "bonanza" for Pyongyang as the impoverished regime prepares to negotiate for aid and other concessions to resolve the tense standoff over its nuclear defiance.

"North Korea refused to release them ahead of a court ruling because such a move could be seen as capitulating to the United States," said Hajime Izumi, professor of international relations and an expert on North Korea at the University of Shizuoka in Japan.

But now, "North Korea may release them on humanitarian grounds and demand the U.S. provide humanitarian aid in return," he said. "North Korea will certainly use the reporters as a bargaining chip in negotiations with the United States."

Their release could come through a post-negotiation political pardon, said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at Seoul's University of North Korean Studies.

Asked whether U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had a reaction to the sentencing, U.N. associate spokesman Farhan Haq said: "We are concerned about the harsh sentencing of the two reporters and their well-being. We hope that the governments concerned expeditiously resolve the matter."

Ban was South Korea's foreign minister before his selection as U.N. chief.

The sentence is "a terrible shock for all those who have repeatedly insisted on their innocence," Reporters Without Borders said in a statement, noting that North Korea is ranked as Asia's worst country for press freedom.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists urged South Korea, Japan, Russia and the U.S., the five countries involved in the stalled disarmament talks with North Korea, to work for the journalists' release."

The sentencing comes a month after Iran released Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi, who had been sentenced to eight years in prison for on a charge of spying for the United States. An appeals court reduced that to a two-year suspended sentence and she was freed May 11.

Little is known about prison conditions in North Korea. But Rev. Chun Ki-won, a South Korean missionary who helped arrange the journalists' trip to China, said inmates in North Korean labor camps frequently face beatings and other inhumane treatment while being forced to engage in harsh labor such as logging and construction work.

Chun, however, predicted the North would send the journalists to a labor camp.

Source

-My opinion? North Korea is testing our new President,of course,but they are also signaling more weakness then strength. I truly think we should assassinate their ghastly "Dear Leader",this psychotic who drinks a $100,000 of Johnny Walker Black a year because he thinks that's what 007 drinks,who kidnaps and rapes Japanese fashion models-erase this scumbag,and his family! Then ask the next guy if he'd like to be in charge,or if he'd like to see his little asylum of a country get nuked into a parking lot.

A Minnesota man recruited to join an Al Qaeda-linked terrorist group overseas may have been assassinated in Somalia by the very terrorist group he went there to help.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has been investigating for several months at least 20 Somali-American men from the Minneapolis area who recently traveled to Somalia to train with the terrorist group al-Shabaab.

One of those men — 17-year-old Burhan Hassan — was killed in Mogadishu on Friday, his uncle, Osman Ahmed, told FOX News.

"Someone who claimed (to be) a member of al-Shabaab called Burhan's mom Friday (afternoon) and said Burhan died Friday morning," Ahmed said. "Burhan's mom got shocked and (threw) the phone when she heard the story."

A law enforcement official told FOX News on Sunday that one of the Somali-American men was recently killed in Somalia, but the official declined to release the man's name.

Ahmed said Hassan was killed by members of al-Shabaab. A leader in the Minneapolis Somali community said later that al-Shabaab members originally from the Minneapolis area were likely responsible for Hassan's death.

"Al-Shabaab assassinated Burhan and shot (him in) the head," Ahmed said. In fact, Hassan was shot "point blank," according to Omar Jamal, the executive director of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center in St. Paul, Minn.

Hassan's family last heard from him two weeks ago, according to Ahmed.

"That time he was sick, and he couldn't talk that much," Ahmed said. "He called his family and Burhan's voice was very weak, and then (a friend with him) ... told the family Burhan was sick a while and having malaria."

That sickness helped Hassan's family convince him to return to the United States, and he was set to fly to Nairobi, Kenya, later this week, according to Jamal.

"But the fact that he was about to leave made (al-Shabaab) feel threatened, and they took him out," said Jamal, who spoke with Hassan's family about the incident. "To others thinking about coming back it's a clear message: 'It's not going to be that easy.'"

Hassan's body was buried in Somalia over the weekend, but Jamal said he asked the FBI to help get the body returned to the United States. FBI officials told him they are "looking into it," he said.

Hassan was a senior at Roosevelt High School in Minneapolis when he left for Somalia late last year.

"(He) was a brilliant student with straight A's and on top of his class," Ahmed testified at a Senate hearing in March focusing on recruitment efforts by al-Shabaab. "He was an ambitious kid with the hope to go to Harvard University to study medicine or law and become a medical doctor or a lawyer."

Ahmed accuses a local mosque of helping al-Shabaab recruit his nephew and others in the Minneapolis area.

"Like his peers, Burhan Hassan was never interested in Somali politics, or understood Somali clan issues," Ahmed said during testimony. "These kids have no perception of Somalia except the one that was formed in their mind by their teachers at (a local mosque). We believe that these children did not travel to Somalia by themselves. There must be others who made them understand that going to Somalia and participating the fighting is the right thing to do."

Hassan is the second known American to die alongside al-Shabaab, which has been warring with the moderate Somali government since 2006.

In October 2008, 27-year-old college student Shirwa Ahmed of Minneapolis became "the first known American suicide bomber" when he blew himself up in Somalia, killing dozens, according to the FBI.

A source familiar with the FBI investigation told FOX News in March that "several" of the men who went to Somalia had returned to the United States, while others "are still there (in Somalia)."

Source

Dead jihadi? That's a good thing.

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department charged Friday that a former State Department analyst and his wife worked as spies for Cuba for nearly 30 years, using a short-wave radio to pass on secret diplomatic information to their Cuban handlers.

Officials said the couple, Walter K. Myers, 72, and Gwendolyn S. Myers, 71, received little in the way of compensation from the Cubans except for the short-wave radio and some travel expenses. Rather, the officials said, the couple appears to have been driven by their strong affinity for Cuba and their bitterness toward “American imperialism.”

“We think they did it because they love Cuba,” said a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the case.

The Myerses, who live in Washington, were arrested on Thursday and charged in a grand jury indictment unsealed Friday with serving as illegal agents of the Cuban government and wire fraud. A defense lawyer declined to comment on the charges.

The case had been under investigation for three years but intensified two months ago, when an undercover agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, posing as a Cuban agent, approached Mr. Myers. That led to a series of meetings in which the Justice Department said that Mr. Myers and his wife made incriminating admissions about their decades-long work for Cuba.

Mr. Myers began working as a contract instructor at the State Department in 1977 and rose to the position of senior analyst with top-secret security clearance, specializing in European affairs. He retired from the department in 2007.

In the indictment, the Justice Department said that Mr. Myers examined some 200 intelligence reports that dealt with Cuba in 2006 and 2007, many of them classified or top-secret reports that were unrelated to his own duties at the State Department.

While some of the material that the government says the Myerses passed on to Cuba apparently related to State Department personnel and internal policy matters, the indictment does not detail the bulk of the material or the sensitivity of it.

David Kris, the assistant attorney general for national security at the Justice Department, called the Myerses’ activity for Cuba “incredibly serious.”

The indictment and the government’s supporting material say the Myerses were recruited as spies during an academic trip to Cuba in 1978.

In a diary entry that the Justice Department said Mr. Myers wrote at the time of the trip, he expressed his passion for Cuba and its Communist revolutionary goals and his distaste for “American imperialism” and the United States’ indifference to medical care, the poor and other basic public needs. “Cuba is so exciting!” he wrote, adding that “the revolution has released enormous potential and liberated the Cuban spirit.”

The government alleged that soon after their return to the United States, the Myerses began using Morse code, encrypted messages and the short-wave radio to pass sensitive diplomatic information to Havana. They met Fidel Castro on a clandestine trip to Cuba in 1995 and made trips over the years to meet Cuban contacts in Trinidad and Tobago, Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, and Jamaica, the government charged.

It appears from government documents that suspicions among American counterintelligence officials about a possible security leak within the State Department first led the authorities to focus on Mr. Myers two or three years ago.

This April, an undercover agent from the F.B.I., posing as a Cuban official, approached Mr. Myers outside the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, where he taught. The agent said he had instructions to contact him concerning the thawing diplomatic changes in the air between Cuba and the United States. The agent offered Mr. Myers a cigar and wished him a happy birthday.

The agent directed Mr. Myers to search out State Department information about Cuba, and at one in a series of follow-up meetings, Mr. Myers and his wife told the agent that they hoped to “sail home” to Cuba some day on their sailboat, the government said.

The couple also expressed some mixed emotions, saying that they were “burned out” by their clandestine activity yet wanted to continue to help Cubans because of their strong ties.

“It’s forever,” the affidavit quoted Mr. Myers as telling the agent. “You know, it’s like Fidel. It’s forever.”