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State Department issues travel alert for Americans abroad - CBS News

Posted: 02 Aug 2013 09:16 AM PDT

The State Department issued a worldwide alert to U.S. citizens traveling abroad on Friday, warning that al Qaeda and its affiliates are planning terrorist attacks that may materialize before the end of August, and suggesting that North Africa and the Middle East are the focus of the threat.

The alert, which expires August 31, 2013, urges Americans traveling in that region to be aware of their surroundings: "U.S. citizens are reminded of the potential for terrorists to attack public transportation systems and other tourist infrastructure. Terrorists have targeted and attacked subway and rail systems, as well as aviation and maritime service."

The alert comes amid a heightened security concerns for embassies across the region after the State Department announced Thursday that any embassy normally open on Sunday would be closed for the day, with the possibility of a longer closure. The announcement was linked to al al Qaeda plot against U.S. diplomatic facilities in the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia, where Sunday is the beginning of the work week, CBS News correspondent David Martin reported.

Officials say it appears to be a real plot in the making, not just the normal aspirational chatter among terrorists. The same officials say they are still missing key pieces of information.

As of Friday morning, at least 21 facilities in 18 countries announced that they will close on Sunday pursuant to the State Department's guidance, including the U.S. embassies in Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Mauritania, Sudan and Djibouti.

On Thursday, Marie Harf, the deputy spokeswoman for the State Department, told reporters the embassies were told to close as a "precautionary" measure taken "out of an abundance of caution."

Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee, said that the administration took a "responsible step" in closing diplomatic facilities on Sunday.

"They obviously see a somewhat imminent threat to western targets," he explained.

When asked if the decision to close the embassies has anything to do with the end of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month that ends next week, McCaul replied, "That's always a concern, yeah."

Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Md., the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said that the threat was not based on "the regular chit-chat."

"When you have a threat and you think it's serious, you have to put it out," he said. "You get chit chat all the time, but this got to another level."

The security of American embassies and other diplomatic facilities became a political controversy in the wake of the September 2012 attack on a U.S. facility in Benghazi, Libya, that claimed the lives of four Americans, including then-ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens. In the wake of that attack, Republicans accused the State Department of providing insufficient security for diplomatic personnel in Libya.

Ruppersberger suggested on Friday that the current heightened security posture in the Middle East and North Africa is a result of the lessons learned from the attack in Benghazi.

"We have systems in place as a result of Benghazi," he said. "There is a lot of research and work being done in making sure we have systems in place to protect Americans in our embassies."

Whitey Bulger will not testify; calls trial a 'sham' - Boston.com

Posted: 02 Aug 2013 08:16 AM PDT

Notorious gangster James "Whitey" Bulger said today he would not take the stand at his racketeering and murder trial in US District Court in Boston.

Bulger, who is accused of 19 murders during his terrifying reign in Boston's underworld, told US District Court Judge Denise J. Casper that he wanted to testify, but because Casper would not allow him to claim that he was granted immunity by now-deceased federal prosecutor, Jeremiah O'Sullivan, Bulger saw no reason to do so.

"I'm making the choice involuntarily because I have been choked off,'' Bulger said, refering to his uimm with old u. "As far as I'm concerned, I didn't get a fair trial. This is a sham. Do what you want with me.''

As Bulger spoke, Patricia Donahue, the widow of Michael Donahue, one of Bulger's alleged victims, shouted, "You're a coward!"

Relatives of other alleged Bulger murder victims groaned.

Casper cut Bulger off and pressed him to be clear on whether he would testify or not. He told her he would not testify.

"That's my final answer,'' he said.

Bulger's exchange with Casper took place without the jury present. After the brief conversation between Bulger and Casper, the jury was brought back to the courtroom. Defense attorney Jay W. Carney rose and appeared to suprise some jurors with what he said next: "The defense calls no further witnesses and we rest at the time."

Casper told jurors that closing arguments would be held Monday and they would be given their legal instructions Tuesday, then begin deliberating. Deliberations will last all day, in contrast to the trial, where testimony ended each day at 1 p.m.

"We'll see you on Monday," Casper told jurors.

Bulger's decision not to testify came despite a public promise from Carney before the trial that the 83-year-old gangster would share his version of events — how he believed he was never an informant for the FBI, and how he was told by prosecutor O'Sullivan that he could commit crimes with impunity.

Judge Casper ruled in May that Bulger could not claim to the jury that he had immunity. Federal prosecutors have called the claim "fantastical" and absurd.

It was an anticlimactic end to testimony in a high-profile trial that has so far consumed 35 days and included testimony from 72 witnesses, including some former close Bulger cronies who had cut deals with prosecutors in return for testifying against the one-time leader of the Winter Hill Gang.

During the trial, US Attorney Carmen Ortiz's office presented a mountain of evidence, beginning in mid-June, about Bulger's criminal exploits in the 1970s and 1980s.

Bulger's decision not to testify frustrated relatives of some of the people he is accused of murdering, especially the widow and sons of Donahue, an innocent Dorchester truck driver murdered in 1982 by Bulger with the help of another man.

The other killer's identity has officially remained a mystery, although some have suggested it was Patrick Nee. The Donahues wanted Bulger questioned about who the man was.

Earlier today, Bulger offered to hand over $822,000 in cash found inside the walls of the California apartment where he was arrested in 2011 to relatives of Donahue and Brian Halloran, who Bulger was allegedly targeting.

According to trial testimony, Bulger had been tipped that Halloran was cooperating with the FBI against him; Donahue was an innocent who offered to give Halloran a ride home.

Both families sued the FBI for its corrupt relationship with Bulger, but the federal courts reluctantly threw out the cases on grounds they were filed beyond the statute of limitations, an argument aggressively pushed by the Justice Department.

Bulger faces a sweeping federal racketeering indictment that, in addition to the 19 murders, charges him with extortion, money laundering, and possession of illegal weapons. Prosecutors have portrayed him as a long-time, prized FBI informant who killed several people after being warned by a corrupt FBI agent that they were cooperating against him.

His notoriety grew when he eluded a worldwide manhunt for 16 years before his capture in seaside Santa Monica, Calif., in 2011. Revelations of FBI corruption and his brother William's parallel rise in the political world to become president of the Massachusetts Senate stoked further interest in the case and inspired numerous books, TV shows, and movies.

Martin Finucane, John R. Ellement and columnist Kevin Cullen of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Shelley Murphy can be reached at shmurphy@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @shelleymurph. Milton J. Valencia can be reached at mvalencia@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @miltonvalencia.
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