Senior Muslim Brotherhood Official Goes AWOL in D.C.

WINEP expert: 'We have just seen the most famous empty chair since Clint Eastwood at the Republican National Convention'
Dr. Helmy el-Gazzar / en.harunyahya.net

A senior member of the Muslim Brotherhood failed to show up for a prominent public address in Washington, D.C., Thursday afternoon, sparking multiple questions and confusion among participants of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy’s (WINEP) annual conference.

Failure to Communicate

Intelligence sharing could have helped prevent Boston Marathon bombing
Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis and former Sen. Lieberman / AP

Boston law enforcement and counterterrorism officials testified Thursday that the FBI and federal authorities failed to share critical intelligence information about the Boston marathon bombers that could helped prevent last month’s deadly terror attack.

Iran Steps Up Rhetoric

REPORT: Iran urges war on Israel’s northern front
Israeli soldiers in Golan Heights / AP

Iranian officials are believed to be encouraging the Syrian army, Palestinians, and its terror proxy Hezbollah to launch an attack on the Golan Heights, Israeli territory that borders war-torn Syria.

Waste, Fraud, and Abuse

SIGAR official: Afghanistan may not be ready to defend itself upon departure of U.S. troops
Afghan National Police / AP

Afghan security forces remain unprepared to defend Afghanistan despite U.S. expenditures of more than $54 billion on training and equipment, the Obama administration’s top oversight official in Afghanistan warned on Wednesday afternoon.

EZ Bake Terrorism

Capitol Hill presentation addresses proliferation of home-made terrorism guides
Al Qaeda Airlines Magazine / Simon Wiesenthal Center

A new magazine called Al Qaeda Airlines hit the Internet last month and includes how-to guides for those interested in conducting terrorist attacks, according to a Wednesday presentation on Capitol Hill by the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

Homing in on Homeland Waste

DHS source: Department working to ‘cut costs’ after GAO report
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano / AP

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is working to “cut costs” after a government oversight agency found that the department is potentially wasting billions of taxpayer dollars on dysfunctional, fragmented, and bloated programs, an agency spokesperson told the Washington Free Beacon.

Inappropriate Guests

Holocaust scholars criticize White House for hosting Sudanese war criminals
Nafie Ali Nafie / AP

A group of more than 100 Holocaust scholars and genocide experts signed on to a letter sent to the Obama administration Tuesday pressing it to cancel an upcoming meeting with a Sudanese delegation that includes war criminals who have facilitated “crimes against humanity.”

State Department Stonewall

Judicial Watch files suit for State Dept. docs tied to controversial speech
Muslim protesters in Yemen / AP

A legal watchdog group filed suit against the State Department April 26 in an effort to compel the release of materials related to the potential recruitment of U.S. diplomats through two Muslim-American groups purported to have ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and terrorist groups.

Syrian Hackers Strike

Collective linked to Anonymous attacks Israeli system, The Onion's Twitter feed
Guy Fawkes mask associated with Anonymous / AP

A hacker group known as the Syrian Electronic Army (SEA) claims to have “penetrated” one of Israel’s central Internet infrastructure systems in Haifa in response to an Israeli attack over the weekend on Syrian weapons shipments.

Benghazi Witnesses Announced

Three State Department officials to testify about Benghazi attack
Charred vehicle at the entrance of the U.S. Conulate, in Benghazi, Libya / AP

Three senior State Department officials with intimate knowledge of the September 11, 2012 terrorist attacks in Benghazi, Libya will testify before Congress on Wednesday, the House Oversight Committee announced Saturday morning.