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Taliban leaders subscribed to Twitter Blue

January 18, 2023

Twitter is now offering a new annual plan to pay for its blue checkmark. The tool was originally used to identify verified accounts of important public figures.

Twitter Blue is Elon Musk’s product that charges users for the checkmark. It ruffled some feathers when he first proposed it, but one group welcomed the chance to pay for the checkmark almost immediately: the Taliban.

Muhammad Jalal, who was at one time a Taliban official, offered up praise to Musk on Monday. Jalal tweeted Musk was “making Twitter great again.”

Despite the fact the U.S. considers the Taliban a terrorist organization, and the longest war in U.S. history was against the same group, leaders and low-level members of the Taliban have always loved using the U.S.-based social media platform. The Taliban uses the 21^st century tool to spread its message while advocating for the return of ancient and barbaric social customs, like murdering “non-believers.”

Until recently, at least two Taliban officials had Twitter’s blue checkmark next to their names: Hedayatullah Hedayat, the head of the Taliban’s Department for Access to Information, and Abdul Haq Hammad from the Afghan Ministry of Information and Culture. Twitter has since removed the marks from each account after mounting public criticism.

Twitter Blue’s base price is $8 per month. Apple users pay $11. Under a new pay scale offered by Musk, customers get a discount if they pay by the year. The price of an annual Twitter Blue subscription is $84. According to Twitter, subscribers to Twitter Blue get priority ranking in search, mentions and replies to help fight spam and bots.

Reuters contributed to this report.
Times Square attacker waged jihad, charged with attempting to kill officers

January 11, 2023

The 19-year-old who carried out a knife attack in Times Square on New Year’s Eve has been charged with attempting to kill police officers and employees of the U.S. government and now faces a possible 80 years in prison. Prosecutors say he did it in effort to wage jihad against the government.

“As we allege today, Bickford deliberately planned and executed his violent attack against New York City Police Officers who were simply doing their job protecting the public,” Assistant Director of the FBI New York Field Office Michael J. Driscoll said in a statement. “Only the quick action of these brave officers prevented further harm.”

According to the Justice Department, Trevor Bickford admitted that he traveled to New York and walked around “trying to figure out the right time to kill.” He then spotted an officer who was standing by himself and attacked. Bickford injured three officers using a long knife similar to a machete called a kukri. He was ultimately shot in the shoulder.

“An attack against New York City police officers is an attack against all of us – and today’s charges make it clear that such violence will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” NYPD Commissioner Keechant L. Sewell said in a statement. “Our NYPD family is thankful our heroic officers survived this premeditated ambush, and the entire city commends them for preventing further bloodshed during one of our nation’s largest public events.”

The Justice Department said Bickford became self-radicalized online. They add that in November he took steps towards traveling to Afghanistan to support the Taliban. The Justice Department also alleges Bickford told a family member that he had aspirations to become a suicide bomber for his religion. In the end, he decided to carry out this attack in the United States. According to the department, Bickford intended to die in the attack as a martyr, and now considers this a failed attack because neither he nor the officers died.

“We allege that the defendant plotted a jihad-inspired attack targeting U.S. government officials, and on December 31st, 2022, attacked three NYPD officers who were part of the joint federal-state law enforcement operation protecting the Times Square New Year’s Eve celebration,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said.

According to a description of a mirandized interview, Bickford told authorities he was targeting all men of military age. He also said that no one can work for the U.S. government and be a true Muslim because the U.S. supports Israel.
US military device containing biometric data sells on eBay for $68

December 28, 2022

A U.S. military device containing a biometric database recently sold on eBay for $68, plus shipping and handling. According to the New York Times, researchers in Germany bought the Secure Electronic Enrollment Kit, or SEEK II.

Inside the device was a memory card containing the names, nationalities, photographs, fingerprints and iris scans of more than 2600 people. Most of the people identified on the database live or lived in Iraq and Afghanistan. The device was last used in Kandahar in 2012.

Many of the people in the database were known terrorists, but not all. Some of the individuals identified on the database assisted the U.S. military during the War on Terror. Several U.S. service members also had their biometric data stored on the device, likely the result of training.

In total, the German researchers bought six biometric data collection devices online, two Handheld Interagency Identity Detection Equipment devices (HIIDEs) and four SEEK II devices. Two of the SEEK devices contained sensitive information on their memory cards, which are also removable.

The researchers started the project after the Taliban seized similar devices following the chaotic U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The Defense Logistics Agency, which handles the disposal of excess equipment for the Pentagon, said the HIIDE and SEEK devices should never have made it to the open market, much less sold in an online auction.

How exactly the eBay sellers obtained the devices is still unclear, according to the Times. The Department of Defense was alerted to the existence of the database by the German researchers, who said they’d delete the information once their project is complete.
Morning rundown: Zelenskyy in DC; Trump’s tax returns to be released

December 21, 2022

Zelenskyy goes to Washington; Donald Trump’s tax returns released; and severe weather heading your way. These stories and more highlight the morning rundown for Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022.

Zelenskyy to visit Biden in Washington

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be meeting with President Joe Biden and Congress today in his first foreign trip since Russia invaded in February.

The meeting comes as Congress is poised to pass $45 billion in additional military aid to Ukraine. If it passes, U.S. financial support would surpass $100 billion since the start of the war.

Zelenskyy will give a speech to Congress today and hold a joint press conference with President Biden.

Fate of Title 42 still in limbo

The Biden administration ultimately wants the Supreme Court to end Title 42. Just not yet.

The White House is asking for at least a one-week extension, citing more time is needed to prepare for the projected surge of migrants once the order lifts. The extension request comes as the White House announces President Biden will travel to Mexico next month for a meeting with North American leaders.

“I don’t want to get ahead of where we are with respect to Title 42, but I would just say generally Mexico and Canada, quite frankly, they’ve been great partners when it comes to migration. And I fully expect that at this summit, next month, that those that the three leaders will be talking about ways to strengthen that cooperation writ large,” National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said.

Title 42 was supposed to be lifted today before the intervention of the Supreme Court this week. Now, it’s up to the justices to decide the fate of Title 42. Until they make a decision, Title 42 will remain in place.

Congress to release Trump taxes

The House committee investigating former President Donald Trump’s tax filings will now release Trump’s tax returns likely going back six years. The committee voted Tuesday night to release the records after making redactions over the next few days.

The committee released a summary of what the tax returns consist of. The report indicates Trump paid $1.1 million in taxes in his first three years as president. Then paid zero income tax after reporting a $4.8 million loss in 2020.

Critics of the tax release say it overturns decades of privacy protections. While supporters argue all presidents should be subject to mandatory tax audits.

Elon Musk searches for Twitter CEO

Elon Musk took to Twitter Tuesday night to say he will resign as Twitter’s CEO once he finds someone quote “foolish enough to take the job.” After that, Musk says he will run the software and servers team.

This is the first time Musk has responded to a poll conducted over the weekend asking Twitter users whether or not he should be CEO. The vote concluded with 57% of users saying he should step down.

Taliban bars women from colleges

Women in Afghanistan will no longer be able to pursue a higher education in the Taliban’s latest ruling against women’s rights.

The ruling government says, effective immediately, universities will need to be removed from classes and campuses.

The Taliban has also banned girls from middle and high school, banned most employment opportunities for women, and ordered them to wear head-to-toe clothing in public. The move drawing rebuke from the U.S.

“Afghanistan is already losing more than $1 billion per year in contributions that women could be making to the economy. Now, the Taliban have imposed these losses on the Afghan people for an indefinite future. Furthermore, the Taliban have permanently sentenced Afghan women to a darker and more barren future without opportunity,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said.

The Taliban rule was stopped for 20 years while the U.S. was over there. But the Taliban reclaimed leadership following America’s departure from Afghanistan last year.

Airlines adjust ahead of bad weather

We’re now on the eve of an arctic blast projected to bring temperatures that will feel deep into the negatives for much of the North and Midwest.

Snow, strong winds, blizzards, and freezing temps will rain down on much of the U.S. beginning this evening and lasting through at least Friday. More than 70 million people are under a winter weather alert.

Major airlines are already rebooking flights for travelers in anticipation of flight cancellations. Flight cancellation fees are being waived by most major airlines for those rethinking their holiday travel plans due to bad weather.
Veterans camp outside Capitol to support Afghan Adjustment Act

September 22, 2022

Veterans, volunteers and advocates are camping outside the U.S. Capitol building and say they will not leave until Congress passes the Afghan Adjustment Act. It is a bipartisan bill that will allow Afghans who supported the U.S. military during the 20 year war, to stay in the United States.

Lawmakers and veterans alike fear the Afghans who went to battle alongside U.S. soldiers will be killed for their efforts now that the Taliban is in charge.

“It’s a certain death sentence for all of them. It might not be today or tomorrow, but certainly one day,” Safi Rauf, Founder and President of Human First Coalition, said.

At Capitol Hill, Rauf and the team have food and solar panels to charge electronics. That’s a lot more than he had when he was taken prisoner by the Taliban for 105 days.

“I know they continue to torture people, they continue to kill people, they continue to kill Afghans,” Rauf said.

The bill expands eligibility for Special Immigration Visas. Ultimately it would allow Afghans, including some already here on humanitarian grounds, to go through additional vetting and obtain permanent legal status. The group hopes the bill will be included in a government funding package that needs to be approved by Sept. 30.

“If we do nothing right now, next August 78,000 people are going to, at once, drop in on the immigration court system. And simply put, we asked the federal immigration court system – can you handle that all at once? Like, oh my god no,” Matt Zeller, Senior Adviser for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, said.

Zeller is a U.S. Afghan war vet who was embedded with the Afghan military. His translator saved his life in battle when he shot and killed two Taliban fighters that Zeller said were about to kill him.

“And I made him a promise that if I could ever repay that life debt, all he had to do was ask,” Zeller said.

He is continuing to repay that debt by working to get this bill passed.