Susan Sim's new book, "Making Singapore Safe" was excerpted in the Straits Times on Sunday, 25 December 2011

Ali Soufan will be appearing on Charlie Rose tomorrow (Friday) night, December 23, 2011, discussing The Black Banners: The Inside Story of 9/11 and the War Against al Qaeda, and other issues. The show is broadcast at 11pm in New York, for local times and affiliates please see here.

LONDON (AP) - Britain has announced in advance it will raise its terrorism threat level during the London Olympics next summer, but that could be the last time the five-point scale is used amid mounting evidence such systems are often misunderstood and do little to generate crucial tips about terror plots.

Rich Lowrie - the economic adviser behind Herman Cain's now famous 9-9-9 tax plan - says Mr. Cain wasn't really forced out of the race by allegations of sexual misconduct, but rather by his campaign's failure to effectively court a key group of Republicans, 'the scale-tippers.'

December 19, 2011 - The transcript and video of Ali Soufan's October appearance before the House of Commons' Home Affairs Committee is now available on The Soufan Group's website. Mr. Soufan was invited to give evidence on the roots of radicalization, and also discussed with MPs the so-called Arab Spring and the current situation in the Middle East.

Ali Soufan gave oral evidence before the House of Commons' Home Affairs Committee, on the "roots of radicalization." Chair: This is the Committee's second session on our inquiry into the roots of radicalism. We are delighted to have as our witness, Mr Ali Soufan. Thank you very much, Mr Soufan, for coming to give evidence to this Committee.

The rooftop hot tub, movie theater, and tropical butterfly garden, inspired the Wall Street Journal to recently proclaim Singapore's Changi International Airport possibly the "world's best airport." They're right that those features are great, but the Journal missed the airport's best feature (compared to U.S. and most other Western airports): security, customs, and immigration.

The Sunday Times selected The Black Banners, by Ali H. Soufan with Daniel Freedman, as one of their books of the year:

Repealing restrictions on torture: It's the moderate, centrist thing to do. On Wednesday afternoon, Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) took to the Senate floor to defend her amendment revoking President Obama's 2009 executive order restricting American interrogators to the techniques outlined in the Army Field Manual.

Somewhere, probably in hell, Hafez al-Assad is biting his fingernails, hoping that his son, Bashar, remembers his history lessons. Because this is not the first time that an Assad ruling Syria has faced mounting opposition protests, deadly attacks on government personnel and instillations, and army defections. A similar uprising occurred in the 1970s and early 1980s, under Assad senior's watch.