The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "hijackings" ...
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The Cuban Hijacking
Investigation of the first international hijacking of a commercial airliner from the United States.
Tags: Hijacking
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FBI found direct ties between 9/11 hijackers and Saudis living in Florida; Congress kept in dark
Disclosing the existence of a decade-old FBI investigation into the abrupt departure of a Saudi family from the luxury home in a gated community near Sarasota, FL. two weeks before the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Law enforcement later used gatehouse security records to determine the home was visited by vehicles used by the hijackers. Despite FBI claims that Congress has been briefed, no documentation proving that statement has been provided.
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Under the Radar: U.S. Aire Force purchase of air defense shields against terrorist attacks raises questions
"The Pentagon charged the US Air Force Electronic Systems Command, or ESC, with the task of developing a radar system that would marry NORAD and FAA radars together in a manner meant to prevent terrorists from using hijacked jets for 9/11-like attacks. Under the guise of such work, ESC instead used the panic of the 9/11 charter to fund another project that the Air Force and Pentagon had rebuffed years earlier as being too expensive: the funding of a mobile air defense system."
Tags: air force; defense; military; federal government; FOIA; government spending
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Inside Gitmo
"Speaking publicly for the first time, senior U.S. law enforcement investigators say they waged a long but futile battle inside the Pentagon to stop coercive and degrading treatment of detainees by intelligence interrogators at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba."
Tags: Abu Ghraib; Navy; Army; military; prisoner; terrorism; hijack; Mohammed al-Qahtani; Saudi Arabia; Alberto R. Gonzales; interrogation; torture; Guantanamo
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Failure In the Sky
20/20 and ABC News report on the "fatally flawed" air marshal system, even getting an air marshal to speak, undisguised and on the record. The marshals are intended to be anonymous, but the marshal, Spencer Pickard, notes the rules for the air marshals include staying in the same hotels, a dress code that prohibits jeans and sneakers, and "airport boarding procedures that force air marshals to identify themselves as passengers watch." These rules can compromise their anonymity, and render them targets for terrorists rather than the hidden lawmen they are intended to be. The story resulted in a review of policy by the Federal Air Marshal Service, and an eventual relaxing of the dress code and hotel policy. But a solution regarding the boarding procedures is still pending.
Tags: Federal Air Marshal Service; terrorism; plane hijacks; air marshals; security; airport and airline security
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The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11
Lawrence Wright examines the rise of terrorist organization al-Qaeda, and how the U.S. intelligence community was unable to check it. Sources included Arabic press, captured al-Qaeda documents, jihadis and members of U.S. and Saudi Arabian intelligence.
Tags: al-Qaeda; Osama Bin Laden; terrorist groups; extremists; hijacking; terroorist attacks; Sept. 11, 2001
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Cybercrime, Inc.; Meth addicts' other habit: Online theft; Cyber safecrackers break into online accounts with ease; This little fob could foil a cyber bank robber; Net crooks con Americans into web of crime; Unprotected PCs can be hijacked in minutes; The rise of zombie computers -- Are hackers using your PC to spew spam and steal?; Tech industry has no unified defense system
These USA Today reporters set out to delineate the underlying economic drivers of cyber crime. On Sept. 8, 2004, Achohido and Swartz were the first to comprehensively describe how cyber crooks systematically took control of millions of home computers, turning them into zombies to carry out various fraud schemes. An accompanying cover story took big tech suppliers to task for placing an unfair burden on consumers for keeping the Internet safe. A November 30 story reported the results of a honey pot test -- designed and overseen by the reporters -- showing how simply connecting a new PC to the Internet triggers nonstop break-in attempts by intruders. They also outlined what readers can and should do to protect themselves. These findings were only the beginning of their investigation.
Tags: cyber fraud; Internet; online
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Who Financed 9/11? One family's quest to trace the money behind the murders
This story is about how the parents of Tom Burnett, one of the leaders of the heroic passenger revolt on Flight 93 on September 11, 2001, initiated a lawsuit that is intended not to obtain a monetary award but to punish the 9/11 organizers by ferreting out the sources of terrorist funding.
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Hijacking at the Hospital
Novation, a group purchasing organization based in Texas, was created to negotiate lower prices with medical supply manufacturers on behalf of one-third of the hospitals nationwide. It has been accused of actually raising prices and squeezing out small manufacturers. Thanks to an exemption granted by Congress, from anti-kickback laws, Novation is financed by the very manufacturers it's supposed to be fighting.
Tags: doctors; medical supplies; medical ethics; federal government; business ethics; Congress; kickbacks
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Against the Grain: How Agriculture has Hijacked Civilization
"Against the Grain" takes a look at the long-term effects of agriculture in the modern world. Travelling throughout 20 countries, Manning paints a portrait of agriculture that includes its history and placement in the modern world. The book looks at how agribusiness has always been more about profit than feeding the hungry.
Tags: BOOK; environment; anthropology; scientific journals