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-- Little Richard

CIA Director:  US hasn't been able to curb IS global reach

16 JUNE 2016       ASSOCIATED PRESS       DEB RIECHMANN

WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) -- The U.S. battle against the Islamic State has not yet curbed the group's global reach and as pressure mounts on the extremists in Iraq and Syria, they are expected to plot more attacks on the West and incite violence by lone wolves, CIA Director John Brennan told Congress on Thursday.

In a rare open hearing, Brennan gave the Senate intelligence committee an update on the threat from Islamic extremists and shared his views on a myriad of other topics, including encryption, Russia and Syria. 

Brennan said IS has worked to build an apparatus to direct and inspire attacks against its foreign enemies, as in the recent attacks in Paris and Brussels -- ones the CIA believes were directed by the top IS leaders. 

"ISIL has a large cadre of Western fighters who could potentially serve as operatives for attacks in the West," Brennan said, using a different acronym for the group. 

"Furthermore, as we have seen in Orlando, San Bernadino and elsewhere, ISIL is attempting to inspire attacks by sympathizers who have no direct links to the group." 

Brennan said the CIA has not been able to uncover any direct link between the Orlando shooter and a foreign terrorist organization. 

... While the  group's ability to raise money has been thwarted, it still generates at least tens of millions of dollars every month, mostly from taxation and sales of crude oil on black markets in Syria and Iraq. 

... "Unfortunately, despite all our progress against ISIL on the battlefield and in the financial realm, our efforts have not reduced the group's terrorism capability and global reach," he said. 

He said IS is slowly cultivating its branches into an interconnected global network and that the number of IS fighters now far exceeds what al-Qaida had at its peak. 

The CIA estimates there are 18000 to 22,000 IS fighters in Syria and Iraq - down fro about 33,000 last year.  The branch in Libya, with between 5,000 and 8,000 fighters, is the most advanced and most dangerous, but IS is trying to increase its influence in Africa, Brennan said. 

... In the House, wary lawmakers on Thursday rejected a measure that would have prohibited the U.S. government from searching the online communications of Americans without a warrant.  The vote come days after the mass shooting in Florida.  Opponents of the amendment to the annual defense spending bill said the measure would have blocked investigators from searching lawfully collected information to determine whether the Orlando gunman had contacted terrorists overseas. 

The CIA chief embraced a bill that seeks to set up a commission to bring together intelligence, law enforcement and the business and tech communities to work on the issue. Read More

'Abnormal is the new normal':  May breaks another global heat record

16 JUNE 2016       AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE       ROBERTO SCHMIDT

(AFP) -- Last month was the hottest May in modern history, marking the 13th consecutive month that global temperature records have been shattered, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Thursday.

That makes the longest such streak in the 137 years the record has existed. 

"The globally averaged temperature over land and ocean surfaces for May 2016 was the highest for the month of may in the NOAA global temperature dataset record, which dates back to 1880," the agency said in a statement. 

The powerful but waning El Nino weather phenomenon -- tends to warm equatorial waters in the Pacific -- may have contributed to this year's record, climate scientists said, but doesn't explain all of it. 

"The state of the climate so far this year gives us much cause for alarm," World Climate Research Program director David Carlson director said. 

"The super El Nino is only partly to blame. Abnormal is the new normal." 

May's combined average temperature came to 1.57 degrees Farenheit (0.87 Celcius) above the 20th-century average for the month of 58.6 degrees Farenheit (14.8 Celcius). Read More

A city where even gods struggle for space

15 JUNE 2016       AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE       INDRANIL MUKHERJEE

MUMBAI, INDIA (AFP) -- Over the past few months I have been documenting how Indians in the country's financial capital eke out ways to worship deities.

Take Om Prakash Gupta for instance. Every morning he prays at a small alter of Hindu gods and goddesses that he has erected beside his roadside foodstall. Before opening his stall he makes an offering of flowers and incense sticks, putting his hands together, asking that the gods' will see that his business is profitable and safe.  As he spends most of his day at work, it makes sense for him to connect with his religion close to where he earns his livelihood, he says.

Mumbai is a teeming metropolis of 20 million people; a concrete jungle in many places, but it also boasts large numbers of wonderful old trees.  Often, if you stop and look closely enough at one you will spot that it holds a small shrine.  It may be that you see someone praying at the foot of the tree first.  A shrine in a tree is an ingenious use of space and in a deeply religious country like India it also makes it unlikely that the tree will ever be chopped down! 

There's also Som, who comes from a remote village in Nepal. He works as a driver from one of my neighbours. Like so many migrant workers in Mumbai, Som doesn't live in a house. He sleeps in his car at night and freshens up at the ground floor washroom of his employer's building. 

Som and a few others in similar situations have constructed a small shrine at the bottom of a banyan tree.  Every day before starting work he bows and prays for the well-being of his family back home in Nepal and also for his safety so that he can continue to provide for them. 

Makeshift temples can also be found in walls, in electricity pylons and in illegal pavement shanties in the occupants' hope that the idol will help save the dwelling from being pulled down by the authorities. Taxi drivers often stick idols on their dashboards to feel protected. Read More