11-13-2024  1:25 am   •   PDX and SEA Weather

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NORTHWEST NEWS

In Portland, Political Outsider Keith Wilson Elected Mayor After Homelessness-focused Race

Wilson, a Portland native and CEO of a trucking company, ran on an ambitious pledge to end unsheltered homelessness within a year of taking office.

‘Black Friday’ Screening Honors Black Portlanders, Encourages Sense of Belonging

The second annual event will be held Nov. 8 at the Hollywood Theatre.

Democratic Attorney General Bob Ferguson Wins Governor’s Race in Washington

Ferguson came to national prominence by repeatedly suing the administration of former President Donald Trump, including bringing the lawsuit that blocked Trump’s initial travel ban on citizens of several majority Muslim nations. 

African American Alliance On Homeownership Turns 25, Honors The Skanner Cofounder Bernie Foster

AAAH's executive director Cheryl Roberts recalls how the efforts of Bernie Foster led to an organization that now offers one-on-one counseling for prospective home buyers, homebuyer education, foreclosure prevention services, estate planning, assistance with down payments and more.

NEWS BRIEFS

Janelle Bynum Statement on Her Victory in Oregon’s 5th Congressional District

"I am proud to be the first – but not the last – Black Member of Congress from Oregon" ...

Veterans Day, Monday, Nov. 11: Honoring a Legacy of Loyalty and Service and Expanding Benefits for Washington Veterans

Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs (WDVA) is pleased to share the Veterans Day Proclamation and highlight the various...

Nkenge Harmon Johnson honored with PCUN’s Cipriano Ferrel Award

Harmon Johnson recognized for civil rights work in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest ...

Volunteers of America Oregon Announces Retirement CEO, Kay Toran

Toran's tenure at VOA Oregon is marked by decades of dedicated public service in the State of Oregon and unwavering commitment to...

Family of security guard shot and killed at Portland, Oregon, hospital sues facility for M

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The family of a security guard who was shot and killed at a hospital in Portland, Oregon, sued the facility for million on Tuesday, accusing it of negligence and failing to respond to the dangers that the gunman posed to hospital staff over multiple days. ...

Ex-Duke star Kyle Singler draws concern from basketball world over cryptic Instagram post

Former Duke star Kyle Singler’s cryptic Instagram post saying he fears for his life has drawn an outpouring of concern and support from former teammates and others. Singler, 36, spoke slowly and was shirtless in the short video, which was posted Tuesday morning. “I...

Mississippi Valley State visits Missouri following Grill's 33-point game

Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils (1-1) at Missouri Tigers (2-1) Columbia, Missouri; Thursday, 7:30 p.m. EST BOTTOM LINE: Missouri hosts Mississippi Valley State after Caleb Grill scored 33 points in Missouri's 84-77 victory over the Eastern Washington Eagles. ...

Grill makes 8 3s, scores career-high 33 points to lead Missouri over Eastern Washington 84-77

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Caleb Grill matched a career best with eight 3-pointers and scored a career-high 33 points to lead Missouri to an 84-77 victory over Eastern Washington on Monday night. Grill, who missed Missouri's final 23 games last season with a wrist injury, shot 10 of 13...

OPINION

Why Not Voting Could Deprioritize Black Communities

President Biden’s Justice40 initiative ensures that 40% of federal investment benefits flow to disadvantaged communities, addressing deep-seated inequities. ...

The Skanner News 2024 Presidential Endorsement

It will come as no surprise that we strongly endorse Vice President Kamala Harris for president. ...

Black Retirees Growing Older and Poorer: 2025 Social Security COLA lowest in 10 years

As Americans live longer, the ability to remain financially independent is an ongoing struggle. Especially for Black and other people of color whose lifetime incomes are often lower than that of other contemporaries, finding money to save for ‘old age’ is...

The Skanner Endorsements: Oregon State and Local Ballot Measures

Ballots are now being mailed out for this very important election. Election Day is November 5. Ballots must be received or mailed with a valid postmark by 8 p.m. Election Day. View The Skanner's ballot measure endorsements. ...

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE NEWS

Chinese hackers target Tibetan websites in malware attack, cybersecurity group says

BANGKOK (AP) — A hacking group that is believed to be Chinese state-sponsored has compromised two websites with ties to the Tibetan community in an attack meant to install malware on users' computers, according to findings released Wednesday by a private cybersecurity firm. The...

French farmers protest EU-Mercosur deal that will increase South American imports

PARIS (AP) — French farmers protested Tuesday against a trade deal that would increase agricultural imports from South America, saying it hurt their livelihoods. The European Union and the Mercosur trade bloc, composed of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia, reached an...

Panel advises Illinois commemorate its role in helping slaves escape the South

In the decades leading up to the Civil War, fearless throngs defied prison or worse to secretly shuttle as many as 7,000 slaves escaped from the South on a months-long slog through Illinois and on to freedom. On Tuesday, a task force of lawmakers and historians recommended creating a full-time...

ENTERTAINMENT

Movie Review: In Andrea Arnold's 'Bird,' a gritty fairy tale doesn't take flight

“Is it too real for ya?” blares in the background of Andrea Arnold’s latest film, “Bird,” a 12-year-old Bailey (Nykiya Adams) rides with her shirtless, tattoo-covered dad, Bug (Barry Keoghan), on his electric scooter past scenes of poverty in working-class Kent. The song’s...

After 20 years of acting, ‘My Old Ass’ filmmaker Megan Park finds her groove behind the camera

Megan Park feels a little bad that her movie is making so many people cry. It's not just a single tear either — more like full body sobs. She didn’t set out to make a tearjerker with “My Old Ass,” now streaming on Prime Video. She just wanted to tell a story about a young...

At an art festival in Dakar, artists from both sides of the Atlantic examine the legacy of slavery

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — A whirlwind of color and art at the opening of this year's Dakar Biennale of Contemporary African Art in the Senegalese capital stood in stark contrast to the serious topic of slavery featuring in the artworks of guest artists from the United States. The U.S....

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

A diminished Biden heads to APEC summit in Peru, overshadowed by China's Xi

LIMA, Peru (AP) — If things had gone differently last week, U.S. President Joe Biden could have arrived at the...

Senate Republicans are gathering behind closed doors to pick a new majority leader

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican senators will gather behind closed doors Wednesday to decide who will replace...

What happens to Donald Trump’s criminal conviction? Here are a few ways it could go

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s election victory created a profound conundrum for the judge overseeing his...

At least 15 inmates killed in a fight in Ecuador's largest prison

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — A fight among inmates in Ecuador’s largest and most dangerous prison left 15 dead and 14...

Imprisoned Belarus activist resurfaces after no contact with her family for 20 months

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Imprisoned Belarusian opposition activist Maria Kolesnikova has resurfaced after more...

Stock market today: World stocks mixed after Wall Street momentum slows with cooling Trump trade

HONG KONG (AP) — European markets opened higher on Wednesday while Asian stocks followed Wall Street lower as...

Kimberly Dozier AP Intelligence Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Bruised from their latest diplomatic clash, the U.S. and Pakistan are trying to bandage their relationship by forging a new joint intelligence team to go after top terrorism suspects, officials say.

The move comes after Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton presented the Pakistanis with the U.S. list of most-wanted terrorism targets, U.S. and Pakistani officials said Wednesday. The list includes some groups the Pakistanis have been reluctant to attack, U.S. officials said.

It's one of a host of confidence-building measures meant to restore trust blown on both sides after U.S. forces tracked down and killed al-Qaida mastermind Osama bin Laden during a secret raid in Pakistan last month.

But it also amounts to a new test of loyalty for both sides. The Pakistanis say the U.S. has failed to share its best intelligence, instead running numerous unilateral spying operations on its soil.

U.S. officials say they need to see the Pakistanis target militants they've long sheltered, including the Haqqani network, which operates with impunity in the Pakistani tribal areas while attacking U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

All those interviewed spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss matters of intelligence.

The U.S. and Pakistan have engaged in a diplomatic stare-down since the May 2 raid, with the Pakistanis outraged over the unilateral action as an affront to its sovereignty and the Americans angry to find that bin Laden had been hiding for more than five years in a military town just 35 miles from the capital, Islamabad.

The U.S. deliberately hid the operation from Pakistan, recipient of billions in counterterrorism aid, for fear that the operation would leak to militants.

A series of high-level U.S. visits has aimed to take the edge off. Marc Grossman, the special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, and CIA Deputy Director Mike Morell met with intelligence chief Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha last month. Last week, the secretary of state and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Adm. Mike Mullen, held a day of intensive meetings with top Pakistani military and civilian officials.

After that outreach, Pakistan allowed the CIA to re-examine the bin Laden compound last Friday. Pakistan also returned the tail section of a U.S. stealth Black Hawk helicopter that broke off when the SEALs blew up the aircraft to destroy its secret noise- and radar-deadening technology.

The CIA has also shared some information gleaned from the raid, and Pakistan has reciprocated, U.S. and Pakistani officials said Wednesday.

The investigative team will be made up mainly of intelligence officers from both nations, according to two U.S. officials and one Pakistani official. It would draw in part on any intelligence emerging from the CIA's analysis of computer and written files gathered by the Navy SEALs who raided bin Laden's hideout in Abbottabad, as well as Pakistani intelligence gleaned from interrogations of those who frequented or lived near the bin Laden compound, the officials said.

The formation of the team marks a return to the counterterrorism cooperation that has led to major takedowns of al-Qaida militants, like the joint arrest of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in 2003.

The joint intelligence team will go after five top targets, including al-Qaida No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri, a possible bin Laden successor, and al-Qaida operations chief Atiya Abdel Rahman, as well as Taliban leader like Mullah Omar, all of whom U.S. intelligence officials believe are hiding in Pakistan, one U.S. official said.

Another target is Siraj Haqqani, leader of the Haqqani tribe in Pakistan's lawless tribal areas. Allied with the Taliban and al-Qaida, the Haqqanis are behind some of the deadliest attacks against U.S. troops and Afghan civilians in Afghanistan. U.S. intelligence officials say their top commanders live openly in the Pakistani city of Miram Shah, close to a Pakistani army outpost.

Pakistani officials say the U.S. has never provided them accurate intelligence as to the Haqqani leadership's location. Pakistani officials also argue that as the Haqqani network has been careful never to attack the Pakistani government, there is no reason to attack them.

One official said a final target on this preliminary list is Mohammad Ilyas Kashmiri, leader of a group called Harakat-ul-Jihad al-Islami, which the State Department blames for several attacks in India and Pakistan, including a 2006 suicide bombing against the U.S. consulate in Karachi that killed four people.

A second U.S. official confirmed that the Pakistanis and Americans have agreed to go after a handful of militants as a confidence-building measure, but the official would not confirm the specific names on the list.

Pakistani officials say those five have always been top targets, but they also did not confirm that the new agreement specifically names them as joint targets.

Intelligence-sharing operations between the U.S. and Pakistan were already strained before the bin Laden raid, particularly by the arrest and detention in January of CIA security contractor Raymond Davis in the shooting deaths of two Pakistani men. Davis said the two were trying to rob him.

Davis was eventually released in March after the dead men's relatives agreed to accept blood money under Islamic tradition, an agreement Pakistani intelligence officials say they brokered.

But only a day after his release, a covert CIA drone strike killed at least two dozen people in the Pakistani tribal areas - people the CIA said were militants and the Pakistanis said were civilians.

Both sides disputed media reports that Pakistan had completely shut down joint intelligence centers it operates with the Americans following the bin Laden raid.

Two of the five "intelligence fusion centers" where the U.S. shares satellite, drone and other intelligence with the Pakistanis were mothballed last fall, long before either the Davis or bin Laden controversies, the Pakistani official and another U.S. official say. It was part of the fallout of the public embarrassment of the WikiLeaks cables disclosures, which revealed a closer U.S.-Pakistani military relationship than publicly acknowledged by Pakistan.

Two other fusion centers, plus smaller cooperative intelligence-sharing facilities, remain operational, both sides say, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss matters of intelligence.

The high-value target team is expected to use any intelligence found at the bin Laden compound in the hunt, although a month after the raid analysts have found nothing "actionable," a term describing intelligence that leads to a strike or operation against a new al-Qaida target, two U.S. officials say. The CIA-led teams have gotten through more than 60 percent of the computer files and written material taken from the compound so far.

They spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the ongoing review of the now-classified bin Laden files.

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