Slatest

In a video released soon after news of the car bomb in New York City’s Times Square spread, Pakistan’s Taliban chief claimed responsibility for the failed attack. The chief also promised attacks on major cities in the United States in a second video, dated early April. “U.S. authorities have played down the potential connection between the Pakistani militant network and the car bomb attempt in New York’s Times Square, saying the group does not have the global infrastructure to carry out such a strike,” the Associated Press reported. “However, the Pakistani Taliban could expand their reach through their alliances with al-Qaida and other groups.” In the video, which was first found on YouTube by SITE, a U.S.-based organization that tracks terrorist activity, the Taliban claimed the car bomb was revenge for the death of its leader, Baitullah Mehsud, and the deaths of several al-Qaida leaders. “New York City’s police commissioner said there’s no evidence of a Taliban link to the failed car bomb,” the Associated Press reported. In the video, an unidentified voice speaking in Urdu doesn’t mention a car bomb or New York City specifically, but claims “full responsibility for the recent attack on the USA.” The Pakistani Taliban has strong links to al-Qaida and is one of the deadliest militant groups in Pakistan, but it has a history of claiming responsibility for attacks that it didn’t commit.

Source: The Associated Press

Rush Limbaugh, the conservative radio host, has spent a lot of time talking about the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico lately. First, he focused on the timing of the spill, claiming that it was maybe too convenient. He was suggesting that the spill, about 50 miles off the coast of Louisiana, was an inside job by environmentalists to convince President Obama to back down on plans to expand offshore drilling for oil and natural gas. Now, Limbaugh claims that the oil spill is natural, even though it started when a rig owned by BP went up in flames and sank. “The ocean will take care of this on its own if it was left alone and left out there,” he said. “It’s natural. It’s as natural as the ocean water is.” The spill is currently pumping about 210,000 gallons of oil into the ocean every day and coastal states fear that, when the oil reaches shore, billions will have been wasted in beach restoration and entire ecosystems will be compromised.

Source: True/Slant

Delegates and leaders from about 200 countries are gathering in New York for a United Nations meeting to discuss the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. A last minute decision by Iran’s President Madmoud Ahmadinejad to attend threatens to overshadow the meeting, which only takes place once every five years. “The nuclear non-proliferation treaty, or NPT, is a grand bargain: nations with nuclear weapons promise to disarm, while those without promise not to get them, in exchange for the right to peaceful use of nuclear energy,” the BBC reported. “But the regime has come under heavy strain in recent years, and veteran observers say Monday’s conference cannot afford to fail.” Ahmadinejad has been accused of secretly trying to build a nuclear weapon, a charge he dismisses. Before his attendance was announced, it was anticipated that the focus of the conference would be on strengthening non-proliferation treaty measures against countries such as Iran. “Some diplomats fear the controversy will prevent a successful outcome of the conference,” BBC reported.

Source: BBC

South Korean news agency Yonhap quoted anonymous sources who believe that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is currently in China. If he is, it will be the first time “dear leader” has left his country since reports surfaced that he was seriously ill. Afraid of flying, the sources say Kim Jong-il arrived in the border city of Dandong by train early Monday and is on his way to the port city of Dalian. “A visit by Kim to China has long been anticipated in Seoul and Washington, according to Yonhap, with the hope that the visit would be followed by a North Korean announcement that it would be returning to the so-called six-party talks on denuclearization,” CNN reported. Six-party nuclear talks, between the two Koreas, China, Russia, Japan and the United States, were last held in late 2008. But North Korean leaders have said before that they would not return to negotiations until the United Nations removed sanctions against their country.

Source: CNN

Parts of Tennessee have been hit with close to two feet of rain since Saturday, leaving at least 11 dead and displacing thousands from their homes, according to Nashville and state emergency management officials. More rain is expected in the coming days. The western two-thirds of the state – and parts of Kentucky – are dealing with flood conditions, which have shut down major highways and prompted officials to evacuate nursing homes and hotels. “All of our major creeks and the Cumberland River are near flood level, if not at flood level,” Nashville Mayor Karl Dean said at a news conference on Sunday, according to CNN. “The ground is entirely saturated, and the rain continues to fall. There’s nowhere for the water to go.” With more than 1,000 people rescued over the weekend in Nashville alone, temporary shelters have reached capacity. Residents have been urged to skip work on Monday.

Source: CNN

Approved by the airlines’ boards on Sunday, Continental and United are expected to announce a merge on Monday. Ahead of the announcement, Chicago is already claiming bragging rights as home to the world’s largest airline. “This is not only a big win for Chicago, but also for Illinois,” Samuel Skinner, a Chicago attorney who served as transportation secretary under Bush 41, told the Chicago Tribune. “Not only is United staying here, but United is getting bigger and stronger.” (The merged airline will continue to use the name United. It is anticipated that Jeff Smisek, currently the head of Continental, will be named the CEO of the merged airlined.) Officials hope that the merger will bring more jobs to the city, but “people tend to overstate the benefits and underestimate the risks [of airline mergers],” said Scott Sonenshein, a management professor with Rice University. The two airlines attempted to merge back in 2008. When that fell through, they maintained a close partnership with coordinated frequent flyer programs and flight schedules that should make for a smooth transition going forward.

Source: The Chicago Tribune

One civilian was killed in a suicide attack outside of the same CIA base in eastern Afghanistan where a suicide blast killed eight people in December. Two security guards were also injured in the attack. The blast was caused by a suicide bomber who blew himself up in a vehicle packed with explosives at the entry point where vehicles are screened outside of Camp Chapman in Afghanistan’s Khost province. “The explosion was very strong and thick smoke covered the sky afterward,” Wali Mohammad, a teenage construction worker, told the Associated Press. The Taliban has already claimed responsibility for the attack. Five months ago, seven CIA employees and an eighth victim were killed at Camp Chapman when a Jordanian doctor working as a double-agent detonated a cache of explosives.

Source: The Associated Press

CBS aired its much-anticipated interview with Conan O’Brien on Sunday night’s 60 Minutes. It was the first on-the-record interview O’Brien has sat for since leaving the Tonight Show on NBC back in January. O’Brien replaced Jay Leno, who hosted the show for many years before stepping down about a year ago, in a move that was planned several years in advance by executives hoping to make as smooth a transition as possible in late-night talk, an area that has been dominated by relatively few names and faces. When Leno’s new variety show didn’t work in prime time — it was a cheaper alternative for the network than producing several dramas for that slot, but a smaller audience had local news stations complaining about a bad lead-in — he was moved back into the Tonight Show‘s chair and O’Brien got the boot. In the 60 Minutes interview, O’Brien refused to answer whether he thought Leno had acted honorably, saying only that he would have done things differently. “If I had surrendered the Tonight Show and handed it over to somebody publicly and wished them well, I would not have come back six months later,” he said. “But that’s me. Everyone’s got their own way of doing things.” A video of the complete interview is available on Mashable.

Source: Mashable