A drone aircraft crashed onto the White House lawn overnight while the President was out of the country.
Secret Service spokesman Brian Leary told reporters the device was a quadcopter about two week in diameter. The unmanned aircraft was flying at a low altitude before crashing on the southeast side of the executive mansion around 3:08 a.m. Monday.
“There is a device that has been recovered by the Secret Service at the White House,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said when asked if a drone was found. “The early indications are that it does not pose any sort of ongoing threat to anybody at the White House.”
While the President and First Lady were in India, the President’s children were inside the White House because they had to stay behind to attend school.
The White House was darkened and the grounds placed on lockdown for around two hours while the Secret Service conducted their investigation. The Secret Service would not say if there were cameras on the device that were transmitting to a remote location.
The incident is the latest in a round of security breaches at the White House over the past year. Former director Julia Pierson was forced to resign last year after a Texas man with a knife was able to get inside the White House.
A U.S. drone strike targeted the leader of an Islamic terrorist group in Somalia on Monday.
Pentagon officials confirmed the U.S. targeted the head of Al-Shabaab, a Al-Qaeda related group that had been fighting against the Somalia government.
“We are assessing the results of the operation and will provide additional information as and when appropriate,” Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said.
Somali officials say that Ahmed Abdi Godane, the leader of al-Shabaab, might have been killed in the strike and they’re working to confirm his death. The air strike came after al-Shabaab attacked a high security prison in an attempt to free several terrorists. All terrorists were reported killed in the assault along with three government soldiers and two civilians.
The U.S. has periodically carried out air strikes in Somalia against terrorist headquarters and training centers.
Al-Shabaab is mostly active in rural areas of the country after losing control of major cities in 2011 after an offensive from Somali and African Union forces.
The terrorist campaign against Israel took a surprising turn on Sunday when the Israeli Defense Forces shot down a drone as it approached the city of Ashdod.
The IDF would not say what was on the drone, only that they had shot it down with a Patriot missile and it clearly originated from the Gaza Strip.
It marks the first time that a drone has been confirmed in the terror attacks against Israel.
The IDF reported that almost 1,000 rockets have been fired into Israel by the terrorists in the first six days of “Operation Protective Edge”, the Israeli response to the provocations of the terrorist group.
Israeli analysts say that the bombardment is likely to continue well into the future because of Iranian shipments of arms that have been brought into Gaza for years. The analysts estimate over 10,000 rockets, including some longer range weapons that could strike anywhere in Israel, are under the control of the terrorists.
Israeli ground forces continue to muster on the border with Gaza.
A federal judge’s ruling that the FAA does not have jurisdiction over drone aircraft is already rippling across the United States. In Detroit, a florist has announced they will begin delivery using drone aircraft.
FlowerDeliveryExpress.com, the online unit of a Detroit area florist, originally began testing drone delivery just before Valentine’s Day before being ordered to stop by the FAA.
Federal administrative law judge Patrick Geraghty ruled last week that the FAA’s argument they control anything that flies through the air was so ridiculous that it means the agency could fine someone for throwing a paper airplane or using a balsa wood toy glider.
The government has been calling on the FAA to issue regulations regarding personal use of drones but the agency has been resisting for over three years. Now, with the judge’s ruling, essentially it’s anything goes for personal drone users.
Berry Flowers said they would be testing mostly in the suburban Detroit area until they work the issues out of the drone delivery service before offering it city-wide. The business also delivers flowers nationally through FedEx and other services, so nationwide delivery in the future is a possibility.
The court ruling doesn’t just benefit shop owners. The court’s ruling would allow anyone to use drones to spy on neighbors, business competitors or strangers. Drones could be flown outside someone’s bedroom windows and there would be no way to stop them.
Want to spy on your neighbor? Want to see where your spouse goes in the afternoon? Want to peer in on the meeting at church you weren’t invited to?
Starting in June, you could spy on all of those with a personal drone you can carry in your pocket and have airborne and spying on someone within 20 seconds.
The “Pocket Drone” by AirDroids was seeking $35,000 from the crowdfunding site Kickstarter to launch their company. With 45 days left in their funding campaign, the company has raised $365,000 from over 800 backers seeking to get their hands on a personal spy craft.
The craft will be remote controlled either with a specialized controller or from a laptop, desktop or smartphone using the Android operating system. While the system only allows for 20 minute flights before needed a recharge, it can capture hundreds of photographs in that short time.
The system will also allow users to have a “follow me” mode where a mobile device with GPS can be tracked by the drone. If the user can hack a subject’s phone, they can program the drone or series of drones to follow a target.
The drone could also be used for real-time video surveillance.
The military has a plan that could include drones carrying chemical weapons within the next 25 years.
The Department of Defense has released its Unmanned Systems Integrated Roadmap that shows a plan to have drones hunt in “swarms” that will have its own artificial intelligence that could have them deviate from a programmed mission on their own.
The drones would “deviate from mission commands” if they spot “a better target” according to a report in London’s Daily Mail.
The report also says that designs are being created to make chemicals within weapons reach a more powerful and faster explosion.
The Federal Aviation Administration says that within 20 years, there will likely be as many as 30,000 drones flying in U.S. airspace.
The Pakistani Taliban announced they have chosen as their new leader the man who planned the assassination of a teenage girl.
Mullah Fazlullah, who designed a failed assassination attempt on schoolgirl activist Malala Yousafzai, was named the new leader by the Taliban’s leadership council.
Militants fired AK-47 assault rifles and anti-aircraft guns in the air to celebrate the decision.
Fazlullah replaces Hakimullah Mehsud who was killed in a U.S. drone strike on Friday. Fazlullah is considered a hard-liner and has already rejected any peace talks with the Pakistani government.
Fazlullah’s branch of the Taliban routinely blew up schools with children inside and banned women from being able to go outside without male accompaniment. They would force all men to grow beards or face Sharia law.
The Pakistani Taliban have confirmed that their leader has been killed as the result of a U.S. drone strike.
Hakimullah Mehsud, who masterminded the Taliban attack on a CIA base in Afghanistan and multiple missions that lead to the deaths of thousands of Pakistani civilians, died Saturday when he was targeted by a U.S. drone. Mehsud was also believed to be the plotter of the failed Times Square bombing in 2010.
The U.S. had a $5 million bounty on Mehsud’s head.
Pakistan’s government expressed outrage over the U.S. strike saying they were working on peace talks with the Taliban at the time of the strike. Government officials summoned the U.S. ambassador to Pakistan to government offices for protests. Pakistan’s interior minister said the death of Mehsud was “the death of all peace efforts” although he said they would not be breaking off relations with the U.S. because of the attack.
The Taliban has been meeting to decide on a new leader.
This is not the first time that Mehsud was reported to be killed in a drone strike, however, this is the first time the Taliban acknowledged that he had been killed.
The Rim Fire near Yosemite National Park in California, now the 6th largest in state history, has firefighters using a new method to help fight the flames: a National Guard Predator drone.
The drone will fly over the fire 22 hours a day and provide real time photos to fire commanders about the fire’s progress and possible hot spots. Continue reading →
Ibrahim al-Asiri, the master bomb maker for Al-Qaeda who is a major target for international intelligence groups, has possibly been wounded in one of last week’s U.S. drone strikes in Yemen.
NBC reported that American officials are feverishly trying to confirm reports that al-Asiri was inside a car targeted for carrying four members of the terrorist network. Two of the terrorists were killed and another wounded along with al-Asiri. Continue reading →
