WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) — Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has applied for a visa to enter the United States for medical treatment, the U.S. State Department confirmed on Wednesday. He was injured in an assassination attempt on June 3rd.

U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner confirmed Saleh had applied for a visa, but shot down rumors suggested in a New York Times report that a decision had already been made. “Despite reports to the contrary, the United States is still considering President Saleh’s request to enter the United States for the sole purpose of seeking medical treatment.” he said.

Toner gave no indication on when a decision could be made, but did reiterate that no announcement would be made until the process was complete. “Only at the end of this internal review process will a final visa adjudication be made. The Department of State will confirm that a decision has been reached only after this process has been completed,” he said.

Saleh previously spent more than three months in Saudi Arabia to recover from injuries he sustained in a rocket attack which hit the mosque of the presidential palace in Sanaa on June 3. It was part of an uprising against his government which began in February, resulting in a crackdown by security forces which left at least 1,500 people killed.

Saleh signed a political agreement brokered by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) late last month, effectively ending the 11 months of political turmoil. Under the accord, Saleh agreed to hand over his powers to Vice President Abed Rabbo Mansour al-Hadi who took over as Acting President on December 23.

The timetable set out in the agreement includes the formation of a government of national consensus, presidential elections within 90 days, a national dialogue, a constitutional review and a program of reforms that starts to tackle the profound humanitarian, economic and security challenges that Yemen faces.

But Saleh received immunity from prosecution under the agreement, which has been rejected by some protesters. A national unity government, led by Abdo Rabbo Mansour Hadi, was sworn in earlier this month in an effort to restore peace and democracy. The ruling party and opposition parties evenly divided the 34 ministries.

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NEW YORK (BNO NEWS) — A 47-year-old man has confessed to killing an elderly woman by setting her on fire in a New York City elevator during the weekend, local media reported on Monday.

Jerome Issac turned himself in to police on Sunday and confessed to having set 73-year-old General Post Office worker Deloris Gillespie on fire because she allegedly owed him $2,100 for previous work, police told the New York Post on Monday.

According to reports, Issac waited for Gillespie at her building in the New York City borough of Brooklyn at around 4 p.m. local time on Saturday afternoon. When the elevator doors opened on the fifth floor, he sprayed flammable liquid before lighting her with a barbecue lighter and hurling a lit Molotov cocktail at the screaming victim.

Gillespie crouched down but was unable to fight off the attack, according to police, and Issac eventually sprayed more liquid which killed her. The brutal murder was caught on tape by two cameras.

After the attack, Issac fled to his nearby apartment, which he also tried to set ablaze, although he was only able to damage the door frame. He went on to the roof of the building to hide, as he thought he had already been identified as the killer. He fell asleep and later turned himself in at around 12.30 a.m. local time.

Relatives have claimed that Issac stole several items, including a DVD player and kitchenware, from Gillespie, who had hired him for several odd jobs. Because of these alleged thefts, the victim had refused to pay him.

As a result, family members and neighbors allege that Issac terrorized and harassed Gillespie constantly. He followed his victim, who was extremely scared of him, and cursed at her. He had been seen in front of the building several times.

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NEW YORK (BNO NEWS) — An elevator at an office building in New York City suddenly moved up on Wednesday morning with its doors open, crushing a woman to death, police said. Two others witnessed the bizarre accident.

The accident happened at around 10.30 a.m. local time on Wednesday at a 28-story building on Madison Avenue. The victim, identified as 41-year-old Suzanne Hart, had stepped halfway onto the elevator when it suddenly shot up, crushing her between the elevator floor and the shaft wall.

Two other people who were on the elevator were not injured, but were treated for trauma after witnessing what was described as a ‘gory’ scene. “People were running and screaming ‘Someone got crushed in the elevator’,” one witness told NBC New York.

Hart was the director of new business, content and experience at advertising agency Y&R, which is a major tenant in the building although it recently announced it would move to a new building. Hart was on her way to her office when she was killed. “I loved her. She was a beautiful person,” her boyfriend told NBC New York.

Peter Stringham, chairman and CEO of Y&R, called it a tragic day. “We are deeply, deeply saddened to confirm that one of our employees has died,” he said. “Our focus at this moment is the well-being of our employee’s family and our larger Y&R family.”

The elevators at the building were previously cited for city building code violations. An investigation is continuing.

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FORT WORTH, TEXAS (BNO NEWS) — AMR Company, the parent company of American Airlines and American Eagle, announced on Tuesday that it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The company said that, in order to achieve a cost and debt structure that is ‘industry competitive’ and thereby assures its long-term viability and ability to continue a ‘world-class travel experience’ for its customers, AMR and its U.S.-based subsidiaries, including American Airlines and American Eagle, have filed voluntary petitions for Chapter 11 reorganization in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York.

AMR’s Board of Directors said in a statement that it had determined that a Chapter 11 reorganization is in the best interest of the company and its stakeholders. The move had been long expected, but most analysts believed it was at least a year or more away.

According to the company, the Chapter 11 process will enable American Airlines and American Eagle to continue conducting normal business operations while they restructure their debt, costs and other obligations. Both airlines are operating normal flight schedules on Tuesday.

In addition, AMR Company said it has approximately $4.1 billion in unrestricted cash and short-term investments which it will use to pay for its vendors, suppliers and other business partners during the Chapter 11 process. The filings will have no direct legal impact on American’s operations outside the United States.

“This was a difficult decision, but it is the necessary and right path for us to take – and take now – to become a more efficient, financially stronger, and competitive airline,” said Thomas W. Horton, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of AMR and American Airlines.

Meanwhile, the Board of Directors of AMR Corporation appointed Tom Horton as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, succeeding Gerard Arpey who informed the Board of his decision to retire. Horton will also succeed Arpey as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of American Airlines and will retain the title of President.

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NEW YORK (BNO NEWS) — New York City police officers on Saturday afternoon arrested an ‘al-Qaeda sympathizer’ who was allegedly plotting to bomb police patrols and American soldiers, officials announced during a late night news conference on Sunday.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said 27-year-old Jose Pimentel, a U.S. citizen originally from the Dominican Republic who lives in the northern end of Manhattan, faces state terrorism-related charges over his alleged plot to bomb police patrols, postal facilities and soldiers returning from abroad.

“The suspect was a so-called lone wolf, motivated by his own resentment of the presence of American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as inspired by al-Qaeda propaganda,” Bloomberg said. “He was not part of a larger conspiracy emanating from abroad. He represents exactly the kind of threat FBI Director Robert Mueller and his experts have warned about, as American military and intelligence agencies have eroded al-Qaeda’s ability to launch large-scale attacks.”

Bloomberg said the latest plot is similar to another lone wolf plot in 2004 in which two New Yorkers, angry over the treatment of prisoners in Iraq, plotted to bomb the Herald Square subway station. “Like the current case, the Herald Square plot was uncovered by the NYPD Intelligence Division,” he said.

NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly said his department became aware of Pimentel, a convert to Islam, in 2009. “Before returning to Washington Heights last year, he lived in Schenectady for about five years where he made even some like-minded friends nervous by his extremism,” he said.

Kelly said Pimentel had considered traveling to Yemen for terrorist training before returning to New York to become a martyr in the name of Jihad. “He talked about changing his name to Osama Hussein to celebrate his heroes Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein,” the Commissioner said.

Pimentel allegedly talked about killing U.S. military personnel returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan, particularly Marines and Army personnel. “He talked about bombing post offices in and around Washington Heights and police cars in New York City, as well as a police station in Bayonne, New Jersey,” Kelly said.

Officials said Pimentel’s behavior ‘morphed’ from simply talking about terrorism to bomb-making. “Pimentel followed instructions from [senior al-Qaeda figure] Anwar al-Awlaki’s Inspire magazine to first acquire the bomb-making materials and then assemble them,” Kelly said. “He relied on a particularly notorious article called ‘How to Make a Bomb in the Kitchen of your Mom.”

Kelly said Pimentel acquired the readily available ingredients from Home Depot and other stores while being careful not to make all of the purchases from one location at the same time. “He wanted to avoid raising red flags,” he said.

When police arrested Pimentel at 3.30 p.m. local time on Saturday, he was already making his first bomb at his apartment. “He had already drilled holes into the elbow joints to accommodate timing devices when emergency service officers entered his apartment,” Kelly said, adding that he was taken into custody without incident.

Kelly said police had been tracking Pimentel since May 2009 and decided to intervene when he began putting together his first explosive device. “We did not want him to trigger it, even accidentally, and put neighbors and others at risk,” the Commissioner said.

Police believe Pimentel planned to test the effectiveness of the bombs by first planting them in mailboxes and detonating them. “Once his bombing campaign began, Pimentel said, the public would know that there were mujahideen in the city to fight jihad here,” Kelly said.

Authorities believe Pimentel accelerated his plans to carry out bomb attacks following the death of al-Awlaki. The U.S.-born radical Islamic preacher was killed in late September in a U.S. airstrike near the Yemeni town of Khashef in Al Jawf governorate.

“We remain the nation’s financial capital. Its communications capital, and a world stage on which terrorists can get the most bang for their buck,” Kelly said during Sunday’s press conference. “Thanks to outstanding work of the police officers involved and support from the district attorney, the buck stopped in Washington Heights [Saturday] afternoon.”

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NEW YORK (BNO NEWS) — Six people were arrested in Estonia on Tuesday as part of a major investigation into international internet fraud which left more than four million computers infected with malware, U.S. prosecutors announced on Wednesday.

The indictment in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York was unsealed on Wednesday afternoon and charges six Estonian citizens and one Russian national for their roles in a major internet fraud case which began in 2007 and continued until Tuesday, leaving at least four million computers in more than 100 countries infected with malicious software, which is also known as malware.

“Victims’ computers were infected with the malware when, among other means, their computers visited certain websites, or when victims downloaded certain software from websites including, but not limited to, software that enabled victims to view videos online,” the indictment said.

The malware was part of a scheme in which the suspects operated a number of companies that they used to establish agreements with other companies under which they would be paid based upon the number of times that internet users clicked on the links for certain advertisements, or based upon the number of times that certain advertisements were displayed on certain websites.

“Rather than earn money legitimately under those agreements, the defendants and their co-conspirators instead devised a criminal scheme to infect millions of computers with malware that surreptitiously redirected those computers to the websites and advertisements that would generate illicit advertising revenue for the defendants,” according to the indictment.

The malware was also designed to prevent the installation of anti-virus software updates, leaving infected computers unable to detect or stop the malicious software. “The DNSChanger malware was a virus more akin to an antibiotic-resistant bacterium,” said Janice K. Fedarcyk, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s New York Field Office.

In order for the scheme to work, the malware changed the Domain Name System (DNS) server settings on infected computers. Through these new settings, infected computers would from that point on connect to a rogue DNS server instead of the one provided by their internet service provider (ISP).

DNS servers are used so that internet users only need to remember the domain name of a website, such as IRS.gov, and not a unique numerical address such as 205.168.45.51 which is more difficult to remember. When an internet user enters IRS.gov in its web browser, it will connect to a DNS server to request the numerical address so it can access the website.

“The defendants and their co-conspirators then caused the rogue DNS servers that they controlled and operated to divert users of the infected computers to websites and advertisements that the users did not intend to visit, but for which the defendants and their co-conspirators received fees based on the internet traffic agreements between the defendants’ publisher networks and the ad brokers,” the indictment explained.

In addition to changing the DNS settings on an infected computer, the malware would also attempt to access network devices such as a router by using common default usernames and passwords. “If successful, [it] changes the DNS servers these devices use from the ISP’s good DNS servers to rogue DNS servers operated by the criminals,” the FBI said. “This is a change that may impact all computers on the home/small-office (SOHO) network even if those computers are not infected with the malware.”

Besides redirecting the users of infected computers and networks to completely different websites, the malware also caused legitimate websites to show advertisements chosen by those behind the scheme. As a result, website owners and advertisement networks lost income as the real advertisements were not shown.

Six of the seven people indicted for their role in the internet fraud were arrested in Estonia on Tuesday by local police. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office will seek their extradition to the United States,” U.S. prosecutors, who refer to the investigation as “Operation Ghost Click”, said. The seventh defendant, identified as 31-year-old Russian national Andrey Taame, remains at large.

U.S. authorities believe the suspects generated at least $14 million in fraudulent advertising fees. Among the more than four million infected computers, some 500,000 are believed to be in the United States. Computers at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) were among those infected.

The seven suspects are facing a total of 27 charges in the United States, including Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud, Conspiracy to Commit Computer Intrusion, Wire Fraud, Computer Intrusion Furthering Fraud, Computer Intrusion by Transmitting Data, Money Laundering – Promotion, and Engaging in Monetary Transactions in Property Derived from Specified Unlawful Activity.

It was not immediately clear if the suspects would also face charges in Estonia.

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NEW YORK (BNO NEWS) — Ruth Madoff, the wife of disgraced financier Bernard Madoff, has revealed in an interview to be aired this week that she and her husband attempted to commit suicide in December 2008.

Ruth told CBS News in her first interview that she and her husband had decided to kill themselves after Bernard was arrested on charges he was behind Wall Street’s biggest ever investment fraud of as much as $65 billion. He was out on $10 million bail when they attempted suicide.

“I don’t know whose idea it was, but we decided to kill ourselves because it was so horrendous what was happening,” Ruth told CBS News. “We had terrible phone calls. Hate mail, just beyond anything and I said, ‘I just can’t go on anymore.’”

Before they attempted suicide, Ruth sent a package containing sentimental items, including jewelry, to their son Andrew. “She told me that she and my father had planned to kill themselves,” Andrew told CBS News. “They put that package together beforehand and sent it out.”

Ruth said she and her husband then took a bunch of pills, including Ambien and Klonopin, in a desperate attempt to end their lives. “I took what we had, he took more,” she said, adding that it happened on Christmas Eve. “That added to the whole depression.”

But the pills did not kill the couple as they had hoped and they both woke up the next day. “We took pills and woke up the next day. It was very impulsive and I am glad we woke up,” Ruth explained.

CBS News said the full interview will air on Sunday.

In December 2010, police found the body of Mark Madoff, the son of Bernard, at his luxury apartment in New York City. Mark, who was never charged with any crimes relating to his father’s massive Ponzi scheme, died after he hung himself on the second anniversary of Bernard’s arrest.

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NEW YORK (BNO NEWS) — Former Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on Wednesday morning and indicted for allegedly engaging in an insider trading scheme.

Gupta, 62, is a former corporate chairman and member of the Board of Directors of investment banking and securities firm Goldman Sachs. He is also the former head of global consulting firm McKinsey & Co.

According to a six-count indictment unsealed on Wednesday, Gupta allegedly gave information to founder and former head of the Galleon Group Raj Rajaratnam about the earnings, financial performance and business transactions of Goldman Sachs and the Procter & Gamble Company, where Gupta also sat on the board.

Rajaratnam of Galleon, which was one of the largest hedge fund management firms in the world, was convicted in May of 14 counts of conspiracy and securities fraud. He was subsequently sentenced on October 13 to 11 years in prison and ordered to pay forfeiture in the amount of $53,816,434 and a $10 million fine.

Gupta has been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and five counts of securities fraud. According to the indictment unsealed in Manhattan federal court, Gupta and Rajaratnam maintained a personal and business relationship during which Gupta invested money in at least two different Galleon funds and formed separate investment and private equity funds with Rajaratnam.

From 2008 through January 2009, Gupta allegedly disclosed inside information to Rajaratnam that he had learned in his capacity as a member of the Boards of Directors of Goldman Sachs and the Procter & Gamble Company. He disclosed this information with the understanding that Rajaratnam would use the information to purchase and sell securities.

According to prosecutors, Rajaratnam in turn caused the execution of transactions in the securities of Goldman Sachs and Procter & Gamble Company on the basis of the inside information. He also shared the information with others at Galleon, resulting in illegal profits and illegally avoiding losses of millions of dollars.

“The inside information included confidential information about the companies’ earnings and financial performance, as well as certain corporate transactions that were being undertaken by Goldman Sachs and [Procter & Gamble Company],” prosecutors said in a statement.

One example of insider trading provided in the indictment happened on September 23, 2008, minutes before the close of the stock market. Gupta had allegedly participated in a conference call with the Goldman Sachs Board during which it was agreed to accept a $5 billion investment by Berkshire Hathaway, a multi-national holding company.

Just 16 seconds after Gupta disconnected from the conference call, Gupta allegedly called Rajaratnam who in turn directed certain Galleon funds to purchase approximately 217,200 shares of Goldman Sachs common stock at a total cost of approximately $27 million.

After markets closed, which happened just two minutes after Galleon funds bought Goldman Sachs common stock, Goldman Sachs publicly announced the investment by Berkshire Hathaway. The next morning, Goldman Sachs’ stock opened for trading at a price more than $3.00 per share higher than the previous day.

On September 24, 2008, Rajaratnam then directed Galleon to sell the 217,200 Goldman Sachs shares, generating an illegal profit of approximately $840,000. Details of other instances of alleged insider trading were also detailed in the indictment.

“Today’s surrender is the latest step in an initiative launched by the FBI in 2007 targeting hedge fund insider trading,” said Janice K. Fedarcyk, the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the FBI New York Field Office. “The alleged conduct of Mr. Gupta is not an inadvertent slip of the tongue. His eagerness to pass along inside information to Rajaratnam is nowhere more starkly evident than in the two instances where a total of thirty-nine seconds elapsed between his learning of crucial Goldman Sachs information and lavishing it on his good friend. That information (captured by the FBI) was conveyed by phone so quickly it could be termed instant messaging.”

Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said Gupta had been entrusted by some of the premier institutions of American business to sit inside their boardrooms and receive their confidential information. “As alleged, he broke that trust and instead became the illegal eyes and ears in the boardroom for his friend and business associate, Raj Rajaratnam, who reaped enormous profits from Mr. Gupta’s breach of duty,” he said.

Bharara added: “Today we allege that the corruption we have seen in the trading cubicles, investment firms, law firms, expert consulting firms, medical labs, and corporate suites also insinuated itself into the boardrooms of elite companies.”

If convicted, Gupta faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison on the conspiracy charge and 20 years in prison on each of the five securities fraud charges. In addition, with respect to the conspiracy charge, Gupta faces a maximum fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss derived from the alleged crimes. He also faces for each of the securities fraud charge a maximum fine of $5 million or twice the gross gain or loss derived from the crime.

Gupta was scheduled to appear in Federal District Court in New York on Wednesday afternoon.

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NEW YORK (BNO NEWS) — Eight current and retired officers with the New York Police Department were among twelve people arrested on Tuesday for their alleged participation in gun trafficking operations, prosecutors said.

The twelve people arrested, which included five active New York Police Department officers and three who are retired, were charged for allegedly accepting thousands of dollars to transport firearms and stolen merchandise into the state.

According to Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, the transported merchandise included stolen slot machines, firearms, stolen cigarettes and counterfeit goods. The firearms included three M-16 rifles, one shotgun and 16 handguns, the majority of which had been defaced to remove or alter the serial numbers on them.

In total, according to the complaint, the goods the defendants illegally transported between October 2010 and March of this year carried a street value of over $1 million. The arrests were the result of a long-term undercover investigation that began in 2009.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and agents from the NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau arrested all of the suspects in their homes on Tuesday morning. Among them is a New Jersey corrections officer and a former New York City Sanitation Department police officer.

“The complaint describes how a group of crime fighters took to moonlighting as criminals; how a gang of police officers who should have been keeping guns off the street instead smuggled 20 firearms into the City,” Bharara said, adding that a number of men once charged with enforcing the law are now charged with breaking it.

“An officer who betrays his badge betrays every honorable officer, as well as every member of the public,” he added. “The NYPD is the finest police force in the world, and has done more to protect our city and keep us safe than any comparable force in any city, anywhere.”

The active-duty NYPD officers who were charged were identified as Wiliam Masso, Eddie Goris, John Mahoney, Ali Oklu and Gary Ortiz. Oklu works as a member of the Brooklyn South Task Force, Ortiz works in Brooklyn’s 71st precinct while the others work in Brooklyn’s 68th precinct.

The retired NYPD officers who were charged are Joseph Trischitta, Marco Venezia and Richard Melnik who also worked in Brooklyn’s 68th precinct. Trischitta and Venezia were active-duty officers for a part of the period they allegedly committed the charged offenses.

Also charged are former NYC Department of Sanitation Police Officer Anthony Santiago, active-duty New Jersey Corrections Officer David Kanwisher and associates Michael Ge and Eric Gomer.

“These crimes are without question, reprehensible – particularly conspiring to import untraceable guns and assault rifles into New York. The public trusts the police not only to enforce the law, but to obey it,” said Janice K. Fedarcyk, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s New York Field Office. “These crimes, as alleged in the complaint, do nothing but undermine public trust and confidence in law enforcement. We are committed to continuing to work with the Internal Affairs Bureau of the NYPD to root out corruption, wherever it may be.”

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NEW YORK (BNO NEWS) — American and French leaders on Saturday offered their condolences after Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Sultan Abdul Aziz al Saud died in New York, with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton calling him a ‘good friend’ to the United States.

Aziz al Saud, who served as Saudi Arabia’s First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense and Aviation, died at a hospital in New York City on early Saturday at the age of 83. He became Crown Prince and Deputy Prime Minister in August 2005 after the death of King Fahd.

A brief statement from the Saudi Arabian government said Aziz al Saud died after suffering from an illness, but gave no specific details. He had been diagnosed with colon cancer in 2004, causing him to undergo a series of corrective surgeries, including one to remove an intestinal polyp.

U.S. President Barack Obama said he learned of Aziz al Saud’s death with ‘great regret.’ “As Minister of Defense and Aviation for almost 50 years, Crown Prince Sultan dedicated himself to the welfare and security of his people and country and was a valued friend of the United States,” he said. “He was a strong supporter of the deep and enduring partnership between our two countries forged almost seven decades ago in the historic meeting between President Roosevelt and King Abd al-Aziz Al Saud.”

In a brief statement, Obama added: “On behalf of the American people, I extend my deepest condolences to King Abdullah, the royal family, and the people of Saudi Arabia.”

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she was also saddened by the death. “On behalf of the American people, I offer my condolences on the horror of his loss to His Majesty King Abdullah and the people of Saudi Arabia,” she said. “The crown prince was a strong leader and a good friend to the United States over many years as well as a tireless champion for his country. He will be missed.”

French President Nicolas Sarkozy offered his condolences in a letter he wrote to King Abdullah. “It is with great sadness that I learned about the death of your brother,” Sarkozy said. “At this time of mourning, I address you on my own behalf and on behalf of the people of France, and offer my deepest condolences to you and the entire Saudi nation.”

Sarkozy said Aziz al Saud played a ‘crucial role’ in the modernization of Saudi Arabia, particularly in the field of defense. “His death is a great loss to your country,” the French leader told King Abdullah.

Earlier, British Foreign Secretary William Hague also said he was ‘very sad’ to hear the news. “He served the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for many years with great dignity and dedication,” he said. “His contribution to the prosperity and development of the Kingdom will long be remembered. I would like to offer my sincere condolences to the Kingdom and its people at this sad time.”

And in Russia, the Kremlin said President Dmitry Medvedev had sent a message of condolences to Saudi King Abdullah. “I would like to express to you, your family, and all the people of Saudi Arabia our sincere sympathy and condolences following this great loss,” Medvedev said.

Leaders of other countries, including Bahrain, Iraq and Malaysia, also sent their condolences to the people of Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Arabian government said a funeral prayer for Aziz al Saud will be held on Tuesday at a mosque in Riyadh.

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