Talk Delaware Online - National and World News http://www.talkdelaware.com/ en Mon, 20 May 2013 19:20:56 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.talkdelaware.com/images/misc/rss.png Talk Delaware Online - National and World News http://www.talkdelaware.com/ Feds: More Time Needed to Indict Tsarnaev http://www.talkdelaware.com/showthread.php?21865-Feds-More-Time-Needed-to-Indict-Tsarnaev&goto=newpost Sat, 18 May 2013 20:39:12 GMT BOSTON (AP) - Federal prosecutors say they'll ask for more time to indict Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

Prosecutors said Friday they will not indict Tsranaev within the 30-day period prescribed the Federal Speedy Trial Act. Sunday marks 30 days since Tsarnaev was arrested following the April 15 bombing.

Prosecutors didn't specify under which exception they'd seek an extension.

Earlier Friday a judge denied a request from Tsarnaev's attorneys seeking to take periodic photos of him while he recovers from wounds sustained prior to his arrest.

Tsarnaev's lawyers argued the photos could provide evidence on the voluntariness of his statements and be used in an argument to mitigate his sentence.

The 19-year-old Tsarnaev is charged with using a weapon of mass destruction in the bombings that killed three people and injured more than 260.
http://www.wmdt.com/story/22287139/f...ndict-tsarnaev ]]> National and World News longnecker http://www.talkdelaware.com/showthread.php?21865-Feds-More-Time-Needed-to-Indict-Tsarnaev <![CDATA['This Is How The 1 Percent Does Disney']]> http://www.talkdelaware.com/showthread.php?21849-This-Is-How-The-1-Percent-Does-Disney&goto=newpost Wed, 15 May 2013 12:29:33 GMT Some families have discovered a new way to skip the long lines at Disney World.

Forget the "Fast Passes." Apparently, the secret to skipping long lines at Disney World is to hire a person with a disability.

According to the New York Post, wealthy Manhattan moms are hiring people with disabilities to pretend to be part of the family so they can cut to the front of the line.

These guides run about $130 an hour, cheaper than Disney's own VIP Guide and Fast Passes.
Families book the tours through a company called Dream Tours Florida.

The Post says passing around the name of the company was done by many moms during spring break.
The company asks who referred you before they even take your call.

The Post quotes a mom who says, "My daughter waited one minute to get on 'It's a Small World' – the other kids had to wait two-and-a-half hours ... This is how the one percent does Disney."

Disney World is not happy to hear people are skipping lines unfairly.

A Disney spokesperson says, "It is unacceptable to abuse accommodations that were designed for guests with disabilities." source ]]> National and World News Mark http://www.talkdelaware.com/showthread.php?21849-This-Is-How-The-1-Percent-Does-Disney Russian official: CIA member tried to recruit Russian http://www.talkdelaware.com/showthread.php?21842-Russian-official-CIA-member-tried-to-recruit-Russian&goto=newpost Tue, 14 May 2013 12:40:29 GMT The Russian counter-intelligence agency FSB on Tuesday said it detained a member of the CIA. The FSB claims that the man was trying to recruit a...
The Russian counter-intelligence agency FSB on Tuesday said it detained a member of the CIA. The FSB claims that the man was trying to recruit a staff member of one of the Russian special services.
The U.S. Embassy in Moscow did not have an immediate comment but will issue a statement later Tuesday.
source
]]> National and World News Mark http://www.talkdelaware.com/showthread.php?21842-Russian-official-CIA-member-tried-to-recruit-Russian <![CDATA[Gun crime has plunged, but Americans think it's up, says study]]> http://www.talkdelaware.com/showthread.php?21801-Gun-crime-has-plunged-but-Americans-think-it-s-up-says-study&goto=newpost Wed, 08 May 2013 13:06:10 GMT Gun crime has plunged in the United States since its peak in the middle of the 1990s, including gun killings, assaults, robberies and other crimes,... Gun crime has plunged in the United States since its peak in the middle of the 1990s, including gun killings, assaults, robberies and other crimes, two new studies of government data show.

Yet few Americans are aware of the dramatic drop, and more than half believe gun crime has risen, according to a newly released survey by the Pew Research Center.

In less than two decades, the gun murder rate has been nearly cut in half. Other gun crimes fell even more sharply, paralleling a broader drop in violent crimes committed with or without guns. Violent crime dropped steeply during the 1990s and has fallen less dramatically since the turn of the millennium.

The number of gun killings dropped 39% between 1993 and 2011, the Bureau of Justice Statistics reported in a separate report released Tuesday. Gun crimes that weren’t fatal fell by 69%. However, guns still remain the most common murder weapon in the United States, the report noted. Between 1993 and 2011, more than two out of three murders in the U.S. were carried out with guns, the Bureau of Justice Statistics found.

The bureau also looked into non-fatal violent crimes. Few victims of such crimes -- less than 1% -- reported using a firearm to defend themselves.

Despite the remarkable drop in gun crime, only 12% of Americans surveyed said gun crime had declined compared with two decades ago, according to Pew, which surveyed more than 900 adults this spring. Twenty-six percent said it had stayed the same, and 56% thought it had increased.

It’s unclear whether media coverage is driving the misconception that such violence is up. The mass shootings in Newtown, Conn., and Aurora, Colo., were among the news stories most closely watched by Americans last year, Pew found. Crime has also been a growing focus for national newscasts and morning network shows in the past five years but has become less common on local television news. read more ]]> National and World News Mark http://www.talkdelaware.com/showthread.php?21801-Gun-crime-has-plunged-but-Americans-think-it-s-up-says-study North Korean Missiles Moved Away From Launch Site http://www.talkdelaware.com/showthread.php?21788-North-Korean-Missiles-Moved-Away-From-Launch-Site&goto=newpost Tue, 07 May 2013 12:49:30 GMT It looks like North Korea will not be firing its Musudan mobile missiles, after all. A potential missile launch had been expected for weeks and ... It looks like North Korea will not be firing its Musudan mobile missiles, after all.

A potential missile launch had been expected for weeks and had drawn international concern over what was seen as the latest in a series of provocations directed at the United States by the regime of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un.

However, U.S. intelligence has determined that over the past 24 to 36 hours, North Korea transported two Musudan missiles away from the potential launch site in the eastern part of the country, a U.S. official said. It was not believed that they were being moved to an alternate launch location. read more ]]> National and World News Mark http://www.talkdelaware.com/showthread.php?21788-North-Korean-Missiles-Moved-Away-From-Launch-Site Christie had secret weight loss surgery http://www.talkdelaware.com/showthread.php?21783-Christie-had-secret-weight-loss-surgery&goto=newpost Tue, 07 May 2013 12:17:13 GMT A spokesman says New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie underwent gastric band surgery in February to try to lose weight. Spokesman Michael Drewniak... A spokesman says New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie underwent gastric band surgery in February to try to lose weight.
Spokesman Michael Drewniak confirmed to The Associated Press on Tuesday that Christie had the procedure in February.

The secret surgery was first reported by The New York Post. Christie told the newspaper he wanted to slim down for his wife and four children and was not motivated by thoughts of running for president.

Christie had the surgery on Feb. 16. A tube was placed around his stomach to restrict the amount of food he can eat. He said the operation lasted 40 minutes and he was home the same afternoon.

Christie has never disclosed his weight but has acknowledged that he has struggled with it. source ]]> National and World News Mark http://www.talkdelaware.com/showthread.php?21783-Christie-had-secret-weight-loss-surgery Russian military again flies strategic bombers near Alaska http://www.talkdelaware.com/showthread.php?21774-Russian-military-again-flies-strategic-bombers-near-Alaska&goto=newpost Mon, 06 May 2013 14:11:29 GMT

Russian strategic bombers conducted flights within the U.S. defense zone close to northern Alaska and the Aleutian Islands last week in Moscow's latest incident of nuclear saber rattling against the United States, according to defense and military officials.
Two Bear H nuclear-capable bombers were detected flying into the military's Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) near the Aleutians, where a strategic missile defense radar is located, and Alaska's North Slope region by the Arctic and Chukchi Seas on April 28 and 29, military officials told the Washington Free Beacon.
Lt. Cmdr. Bill Lewis, a spokesman with the U.S. Northern Command, confirmed the fighter intercept of the latest bomber incursion but declined to provide details.
"Two U.S. F-22's from Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, were launched and visually identified Russian aircraft on the night of April 28, as the Russian Air Force flew standard out of area flights near Alaska," Lewis said.
The bombers did not enter U.S. airspace, he said.
However, the Alaska ADIZ is a formal national security zone used by the military to monitor both civilian and military aircraft. The dispatch of F-22s is an indication the bomber flights posed a potential threat to U.S. territory.









Read more:http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013...#ixzz2SWP4pjTA ]]> National and World News longnecker http://www.talkdelaware.com/showthread.php?21774-Russian-military-again-flies-strategic-bombers-near-Alaska Chris Christie under fire from PETA - Killed a Spider http://www.talkdelaware.com/showthread.php?21772-Chris-Christie-under-fire-from-PETA-Killed-a-Spider&goto=newpost Mon, 06 May 2013 13:31:33 GMT New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is taking heat from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals after he killing a spider on his desk in front... New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is taking heat from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals after he killing a spider on his desk in front of a class of fourth graders.


In a video titled, 'Governor Christie Saves School Children From Spider,' his fearless spider-swatting skills are witnessed to cheers from his daughter, Bridget’s classmates after it caused a commotion on his desk.


He tells the children after delivering it a quick slap by his palm that it's just one of the many perks of being governor.

'Any bugs on your desk you're allowed to kill them and not get in trouble,' he says in the short 26 second video published by the governor's office on Friday.

Though he resisted the urging from one boy to 'staple it,' and perhaps humanely euthanized the arachnid with a quick stomp, PETA reacted less than thrilled.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz2SWEvF8Iz
]]> National and World News Mark http://www.talkdelaware.com/showthread.php?21772-Chris-Christie-under-fire-from-PETA-Killed-a-Spider Israeli warplanes strike Syrian weapons facility, US official tells Fox News http://www.talkdelaware.com/showthread.php?21759-Israeli-warplanes-strike-Syrian-weapons-facility-US-official-tells-Fox-News&goto=newpost Sat, 04 May 2013 06:50:20 GMT A Syrian weapons facility was struck overnight Thursday into Friday by Israeli warplanes, a U.S. official told Fox News. A source told Fox News that...


A Syrian weapons facility was struck overnight Thursday into Friday by Israeli warplanes, a U.S. official told Fox News.
A source told Fox News that it is not clear whether the warplanes crossed into Syrian airspace or whether the missiles were fired from across the border.
It did not appear that a chemical weapons site was targeted, officials told The Associated Press, and one official said the strike appeared to have hit a warehouse. U.S. forces were not involved.
When Israeli planes fired on a weapons convoy inside Syria in January, they remained outside Syrian airspace. The convoy was believed to be carrying Russian SA-17 anti-aircraft missiles.
"Israel is determined to prevent the transfer of chemical weapons or other game-changing weaponry by the Syrian regime to terrorists, specially to Hizbullah in Lebanon," an official from the Israeli Embassy in Washington told Fox News.
Israel has targeted weapons in the past that it believes are being delivered to the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah. Earlier this week, Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said his group would assist Syrian President Bashar Assad if needed in the effort to put down a 2-year-old uprising.
In 2007, Israeli jets bombed a suspected nuclear reactor site along the Euphrates River in northeastern Syria, an attack that embarrassed and jolted the Assad regime and led to a buildup of the Syrian air defense system. Russia provided the hardware for the defense systems upgrade and continues to be a reliable supplier of military equipment to the Assad regime.
The airstrike, first reported by CNN, came hours before President Barack Obama told reporters at a news conference in Costa Rica on Friday that he didn't foresee a scenario in which the U.S. would send troops to Syria. More than 70,000 peoples have died and hundreds of thousands have fled the country as the Assad regime has battled rebels.
The Israeli strike also follows days of renewed concerns that Syria might be using chemical weapons against opposition forces. Obama has characterized evidence of the use of chemical weapons as a "game-changer" that would have "enormous consequences."
While the U.S. has been providing nonlethal aide to opposition forces in Syria, even stepping up that form of support in recent days, the Obama administration has resisted calls from some American lawmakers to arm the rebels or to work to establish a no-fly zone to aid the insurgency.
On Thursday, however, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said the administration is rethinking its opposition to providing arms to the rebels. He said it was one of several options as the U.S. consults with allies about steps to be taken to drive Assad from power. Officials in the administration who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss strategy said earlier this week that arming the opposition forces was seen as more likely than any other military option.
Obama followed Hagel's comments by saying options will continue to be evaluated, though he did not cite providing arms specifically. Concerns that U.S. weapons could end up in the hands of al-Qaida-linked groups helping the Syrian opposition or other extremists, including Hezbollah, have stood in the way of that change in strategy.
"We want to make sure that we look before we leap and that what we're doing is actually helpful to the situation as opposed to making it more deadly or more complex," Obama said Thursday at a news conference in Mexico.




Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/05...#ixzz2SIulX2ki ]]> National and World News longnecker http://www.talkdelaware.com/showthread.php?21759-Israeli-warplanes-strike-Syrian-weapons-facility-US-official-tells-Fox-News US loans from China at issue in debt-ceiling fight http://www.talkdelaware.com/showthread.php?21723-US-loans-from-China-at-issue-in-debt-ceiling-fight&goto=newpost Tue, 30 Apr 2013 04:11:38 GMT
  • Despite what you may have heard, China isn't the country's biggest creditor. America is.

The bulk of the national debt -- soon to exceed a staggering $17 trillion -- is held by the Federal Reserve, Social Security system, various pension plans for civil service workers and military personnel, U.S. banks, mutual funds, private pension plans, insurance companies and individual domestic investors.
China is responsible for just a shade over 7 percent of that total debt. And while it remains the single largest foreign lender (just ahead of Japan), China's been slowly trimming its holdings, down from nearly 10 percent a few years ago. Overall, all foreign investors -- including national central banks -- account for roughly one third of the total outstanding federal government debt.
Also, China is suddenly having debt problems of its own. Heavy recent lending by its banks comes as the recovery in the world's second-largest economy seems to be stalling. The export giant posted a rare trade deficit in March.
The national debt will soon be front-and-center again as a deeply divided Congress wrestles with an expected new Obama administration request to increase the government's borrowing authority, the legislatively set debt ceiling. The higher limit would not authorize borrowing for new spending but just enables the government to pay all the bills already racked up.
The upcoming summer debate could be a repeat of the divisive debt-ceiling crisis in August 2011 when weeks of political irresolution nearly plunged the U.S. into its first-ever financial default -- and did trigger a downgrade in the government's once-sterling credit rating.
Congressional leaders are already drawing lines in the sand for the next big fiscal fight. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, has said the only way the GOP-led House will go along with raising the country's borrowing ceiling was if President Barack Obama and the Democrats came up with a "dollar-for-dollar" amount in budget cuts.
Yet despite China's relatively shrinking share of the U.S. debt, it continues to be the top poster child for financing America's deficit spending habit, a favorite target for politicians in both parties.
It's not as if U.S. leaders approach China's bankers extending a tin cup and begging for loans. The Chinese government does what many individual investors do -- it simply buys and holds widely available U.S. Treasury bills, bonds and notes.
U.S. politicians see the mountain of debt, but investors globally view U.S. Treasury securities as among the world's safest financial havens, reflected in part by their current super-low yields.
Bill Clinton in 1992 branded China's leaders the "butchers of Beijing." Texas Gov. George W. Bush eight years later blasted outgoing President Clinton and Vice President Al Gore, Bush's Democratic challenger, for policies he suggested appeased Beijing.
Democratic Sen. Barack Obama, in turn, accused then-President Bush in 2008 of "taking out a credit card from the Bank of China in the name of our children." And GOP challenger Mitt Romney last year claimed that, as president, Obama "let China run all over us." Romney vowed to declare China a "currency manipulator on Day One" if elected.
A television ad aired last year by two fiscally conservative groups -- Citizens Against Government Waste and American for Prosperity Foundation -- shows an auditorium supposedly full of Chinese students sometime in the near future with a lecturer explaining the decline and fall of the United States.
"America tried to spend and tax itself out of a great recession," he says in Chinese, with English subtitles. "Of course, we owned most of their debt. So now they work for us." The students laugh.
More recently, Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, asserted on the House floor that Democrats "wish to tax us more, as they wish to borrow more money from China, money our kids will have to pay back."
And Democratic deficit hawk Erskine Bowles, co-chairman of a presidential deficit commission, tells audiences that "we'll have to borrow the money from China" to fulfill a treaty obligation to come to Taiwan's defense in the event of an invasion from mainland China.
Not really.
"There's a huge misconception here. The guy on the street thinks that we're up to our ears in indebtedness to China. And it is a large absolute amount. But the public holds a lot more," said Nicholas R. Lardy, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. "And the politicians have not done anything to try to have a more reasonable conversation about this."
China holds just $1.22 trillion in U.S. Treasury bonds and bills, or 7.3 percent of the current $16.88 trillion total national debt, according to the Treasury Department's "Major Foreign Holders of Treasury Securities" for February, the most recent month available.
China also holds about $200 billion in long-term securities of U.S. agencies, including bonds of nationalized mortgage holders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, although it has been steadily trimming these holdings since 2008.
Social Security holds $2.7 trillion of the debt in its trust fund, in the form of special unmarketable Treasury bonds. The Federal Reserve holds a $1.7 trillion portfolio of Treasury notes and bonds, much of it accumulated over the past four years with its heavy purchase of U.S. securities to stimulate the economy and hold down interest rates.
Together, Social Security and the Fed are holding over 25 percent of the total debt.
"China is neither an enemy nor a friend, it's a rival for economic success and for global influence," said Bob Sutter, an international affairs professor at George Washington University. "Americans dislike the Chinese government and they want to compete. But they don't want to confront China, and so they want to get along."
Congress delayed a January confrontation by passing a measure that extended the borrowing cap until May 18. Through accounting maneuvers, the government likely could keep paying its bills for another month or two beyond that.




Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013...#ixzz2RusjY2of ]]> National and World News longnecker http://www.talkdelaware.com/showthread.php?21723-US-loans-from-China-at-issue-in-debt-ceiling-fight <![CDATA[Republicans urge Obama to enforce Syria 'red line,' oppose deploying troops]]> http://www.talkdelaware.com/showthread.php?21721-Republicans-urge-Obama-to-enforce-Syria-red-line-oppose-deploying-troops&goto=newpost Mon, 29 Apr 2013 13:25:59 GMT Congressional Republicans said Sunday that President Obama must stick with his vow to take action should Syria cross a “red line” by using chemical...


Congressional Republicans said Sunday that President Obama must stick with his vow to take action should Syria cross a “red line” by using chemical weapons on citizens, amid such mounting evidence, but cautioned against sending in troops.
"The president has laid down the line, and it can't be a dotted line,” House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., told ABC’s “This Week.” “It can't be anything other than a red line.”
U.S. officials said last week that the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad probably used chemical weapons twice in March, amid a two-year civil war in which more than 70,000 people have been killed and hundreds of thousands more displaced.
“For America to sit on the sidelines and do nothing is a huge mistake," Georgia Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss told CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
Arizona Sen. John McCain has been among congressional Republicans most critical of the president’s stance on Syria.
He argued on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that the red line strategy has given Assad a “green light” to do almost everything up to that point -- including the use of missiles, helicopter attacks and other civilian strikes that have resulted in “atrocities on a scale that we have not seen in a long, long time.”
However, he joined a bipartisan call this weekend against sending U.S. troops into Syria.
"The worst thing we could do is put boots on the ground," McCain said.
He and fellow Hill lawmakers fear the chemical weapons could be more dangerous in the hands of U.S. enemies or those who might overthrow Assad. And he joined in calls for the United States to be part of an international force to safeguard the weapons.
“The day after Assad [leaves] is the day that these chemical weapons could be at risk,” Chicago Democratic Rep. Jan Schakowsky told ABC. “We could be in bigger, even bigger trouble.”
Maryland Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin urged Sunday afternoon on Fox against sending troops, saying that’s exactly what the Assad regime wants.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina, also said the U.S. could safeguard the weapons without a ground force. But he said the weapons must be protected from getting into the hands of enemies.
"The next bomb that goes off in America may not have nails and glass," he told CBS, referring to the April 15 Boston Marathon bombing in which three people were killed and more than 260 others were injured.
Obama has also said Assad transferring the stockpile of weapons to terrorists would also cross the line.
The assessment that Syria used chemical weapons last month followed similar conclusions from Britain, France, Israel and Qatar -- key allies eager for a more aggressive response to the Syrian conflict.
The United States is already providing humanitarian aid and non-lethal support to Syrian opposition forces.
Obama has insisted that any use of such weapons would change his thinking about his country’s role in Syria but said he didn't have enough information to order aggressive action.
"For the Syrian government to utilize chemical weapons on its people crosses a line that will change my calculus and how the United States approaches these issues," Obama said Friday.
Both sides of the civil war accuse each other of using the chemical weapons.
The deadliest such alleged attack was in the Khan al-Assal village in the Aleppo province in March. The Syrian government called for the United Nations to investigate alleged chemical weapons use by rebels in the attack that killed 31 people.
Syria, however, has not allowed a team of experts into the country because it wants the investigation limited to the single Khan al-Assal incident, while U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has urged "immediate and unfettered access" for an expanded investigation.




Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013...#ixzz2RrHtB1qx ]]> National and World News longnecker http://www.talkdelaware.com/showthread.php?21721-Republicans-urge-Obama-to-enforce-Syria-red-line-oppose-deploying-troops Boston Marathon bombing suspect out of hospital http://www.talkdelaware.com/showthread.php?21711-Boston-Marathon-bombing-suspect-out-of-hospital&goto=newpost Fri, 26 Apr 2013 13:24:21 GMT The surviving Boston Marathon bombings suspect has been released from a civilian hospital and transferred to a federal medical detention center in... The surviving Boston Marathon bombings suspect has been released from a civilian hospital and transferred to a federal medical detention center in central Massachusetts.


The U.S. Marshals Service said Friday that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev left Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center overnight and was taken to the Federal Medical Center Devens about 40 miles west of Boston.

The facility, on the decommissioned Fort Devens U.S. Army base, treats federal prisoners and detainees who require specialized long-term medical or mental health care.

The 19-year-old Tsarnaev is recovering from a gunshot wound to the throat and other injuries suffered during his attempted getaway.

The Massachusetts college student was charged with setting off the shrapnel-packed pressure-cooker bombs that killed three people and wounded more than 260 at the marathon finish line April 15.
source ]]> National and World News Mark http://www.talkdelaware.com/showthread.php?21711-Boston-Marathon-bombing-suspect-out-of-hospital <![CDATA[Bomb suspect's Father says they were framed]]> http://www.talkdelaware.com/showthread.php?21701-Bomb-suspect-s-Father-says-they-were-framed&goto=newpost Thu, 25 Apr 2013 05:50:31 GMT The father of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects has been interviewed by Russian and American authorities and will make his way to the United... The father of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects has been interviewed by Russian and American authorities and will make his way to the United States along with his ex-wife as early as Thursday while more details emerge about the brothers' recent activities in the U.S., including word of where the deadly explosives may have been purchased and that the family relied on welfare for at least some of their time here.



A U.S. Embassy official said the Americans traveled from Moscow to the predominantly Muslim province of Dagestan "because the investigation is ongoing, it's not over."
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said Wednesday that the team is working with the Russian security services, the FSB.
The boys' father, Anzor Tsarnaev, told Fox News Wednesday that FBI and FSB authorities had visited him, adding that FBI officials were polite while asking him questions. Tsarnaev said he still believes his sons were innocent, that they were somehow framed in the bombings and that Tamerlan, who was shot and killed in a gunfight with law enforcement, was apprehended alive. He also denied that Tamerlan was associated with extremists.
Tsarnaev plans to travel to the United States as early as Thursday with the boys’ mother, he told Fox News. The family has said it wants to bring Tamerlan's body back to Russia.
Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, the mother of Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, was to be interviewed Wednesday in the FSB building in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan. The official said one positive development from the Boston tragedy might be closer cooperation with the Russian government on security issues.
Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, who was arrested in the United States in June on charges of shoplifting, has told The Associated Press that her son Tamerlan greatly enjoyed his time with her relatives during a trip to his ancestral homeland in southern Russia last year. But Tsarnaeva said he never traveled to her native village in a mountainous region of Dagestan, which is a hotbed of an ultraconservative strain of Islam known as Wahabbism. Wahabbism was introduced to the Caucasus in the 1990s by preachers and teachers from Saudi Arabia.
Meanwhile, new information surfaced Wednesday about the older of the two brothers, as the manager of a New Hampshire fireworks store said 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev was seen buying two mortar kits at the store in February.
April Walton, of Phantom Fireworks, says Tamerlan bought two "Lock and Load" reloadable mortar kits with 24 shells each.
Company Vice President William Weimer says FBI agents visited the Seabrook store on Friday, interviewed staff and checked its computers.
He says the amount of gunpowder that could be harvested from the kits would not have been enough to detonate the Boston bombs.
Walton says Tsarnaev paid $200 cash, but scanned his driver's license into the company's computer system as required by store policy. Walton says the employee who handled the sale described it as a routine transaction.
Faisal Shahzad, who has pleaded guilty for his attempted Times Square bombing on May 1, 2010, also purchased fireworks used to build his failed car bomb from the same company. Shahzad bought consumer-grade fireworks from Phantom Fireworks' showroom in Matamoras, Pa.
"We were just shocked," Weimer told the New York Daily News from the company's store in Seabrook, N.H. "After our Times Square experience, we said, 'It can't happen twice.'"
Tamerlan Tsarnaev was also living on taxpayer-funded state welfare benefits while he was "delving deep" into the world of radical anti-American Islamism, the Boston Herald reports.
State officials confirmed to the newspaper late Tuesday that Tsarnaev, who was killed during a gun battle with police on Friday, was receiving benefits along with his wife, Katherine Russell Tsarnaev, and their 3-year-old daughter.
The state’s Executive Office of Health and Human Services said those benefits ended in 2012 when the couple stopped meeting income eligibility limits. Russell Tsarnaev’s attorney has claimed Katherine — who had converted to Islam — was working up to 80 hours a week as a home health aide while Tsarnaev stayed at home, the newspaper reports.
“The brothers were not receiving transitional assistance benefits at the time of the incident and have not received any transitional assistance benefits this year," Massachusetts Health and Human Services communication director Alec Loftus told the newspaper in a statement. "The Tsarnaevs’ parents are former recipients of transitional assistance benefits, and both Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev received benefits through their parents when they were younger. Separately, Tamerlan and his family received benefits until 2012, when the family became ineligible based on their income.”
Meanwhile, the body of Tamerlan Tsarnaev has not been claimed by either his parents or his 24-year-old widow. A spokesman for the Massachusetts Office of the Chief Medical Examiner wouldn't comment on whether Tsarnaev's wife has asked to claim the body.
Lawyers for Russell Tsarnaev have said she "is doing everything she can to assist with the investigation," and is mourning the victims of the bombings.
The area near the Boston Marathon finish line also reopened to the general public early Wednesday. Traffic was allowed to flow all the way down Boylston Street for the first time since two explosions on April 15 killed three spectators and hospitalized 260 others.




Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/04/24...#ixzz2RS2ISYKg ]]> National and World News longnecker http://www.talkdelaware.com/showthread.php?21701-Bomb-suspect-s-Father-says-they-were-framed