Information that may have intensified US scrutiny of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev fell through the cracks in communications among US law enforcement agencies and between the US and Russia, according to a US report released on Thursday.
The report, conducted by inspectors general of various US intelligence agencies, found that Russia alerted the US in 2011 that Tsarnaev might pose a threat. However, the case was later closed because the FBI found no link between Tsarnaev and terrorism.
Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Chechen brothers who lived in the Boston area, are suspected of planting bombs near the race’s finish line on April 15 last year in an attack that killed three people and injured more than 260.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev died after a gunfight with police. His brother is awaiting trial on charges that could lead to the death penalty if he is convicted.
After receiving information from Russia in March 2011 that Tamerlan Tsarnaev was an adherent of radical Islam, the FBI sent two letters to Russian spy agencies requesting more information.
The report “found no documentation or other information that the Russian intelligence agency responded to either letter prior to the bombings.”
The report also found that the FBI agent assessing the threat Tsarnaev posed did not contact local law enforcement, visit the mosque he attended, or interview the suspect’s wife or friends.
The report, on which members of the US Congress were briefed on Thursday, was conducted by the CIA and the US Departments of Justice and Homeland Security. The agencies recommended that the FBI and Homeland Security clarify their procedures in investigating terrorism.
The report also recommended that the FBI establish a procedure for sharing information about potential threats.
A similar recommendation came out of a report on the bombing that was issued late last month by the US House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee, which said a “greater sharing of information might have altered the course of events.”
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of