• U.S. to Pakistan: No more OBL-type raids

    Pakistani prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani says that the United States has given him their assurance that they will not conduct any more clandestine raids like the one that killed Osama bin Laden in May; Gilani said, “Since we were sharing information with US and there was a tremendous relationship with the CIA and ISI [Inter-Services Intelligence], therefore we could have done a joint operation in Abbottabad, but it didn’t happen. Therefore we had a lot of reservations”; he added, “They have assured us in future there will be no unilateral actions in Pakistan, and there would be co-operation between both agencies”; his remarks contradict statements made by U.S. officials who have said they would conduct a similar raid to kill other top al Qaeda leaders if necessary

  • Turkey vows to eradicate terrorism

    Following an attack by the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) that killed thirteen Turkish soldiers last week, Turkey-’ prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to eradicate terrorism; “The goal of the attacks and forces behind them are quite obvious. Republic of Turkey has the power and determination to overcome terrorism just like other problems,” Erdogan said; he added, “Turkey will be successful in its fight to beat terrorism and forces behind it without giving up on democracy, law and brotherhood”; PKK forces ambushed Turkish troops killing thirteen and wounding seven in the country’s Diyabakir province; seven PKK militants were killed in the fighting

  • Extremists attack police in western China, fourteen dead

    On Wednesday religious extremists armed with homemade weapons attacked a police station in the western province of Xinjiang; the attack ended with fourteen of the eighteen attackers dead; the attack comes after a violent riot earlier that week; the attackers were fighting on behalf of Uighurs, an ethnic Muslim minority in China that is seeking greater autonomy

  • U.S. avoids al Shabab controlled areas in Somali food aid

    The United States has promised to provide an additional $28 million in aid for those affected by the severe drought and famine in Somalia; officials noted that the money will not be spent in areas controlled by the extremist group al Shabaab; the two areas hardest hit by the famine, Bakool and Lower Shabelle, are believed to be under the extremist group’s control; nearly half of Somalia, roughly 3.7 million people, are facing severe food shortages with the majority in the south; so far the United States has given more than $432 million in emergency aid to Somalia this year

  • Somali pirates still a threat

    Members of the international Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia met last week and concluded that despite their efforts Somali pirates remain a threat to maritime vessels; “We all know that the international community has been working very hard to address both the symptoms and the root causes of the Somali piracy,” said Mary Seet-Cheng, senior specialist adviser of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Singapore and a member of the contact group; “Despite our best efforts, piracy off the coast of Somalia continues to be a threat to international shipping and seafarers from all over the world”; the number of hijacked vessels and kidnapping have fallen since March 2011, but violent incidents have continued to rise and pirates expanded their area of operation

  • Fourteen arrested in PayPal cyberattacks

    U.S. authorities have arrested fourteen people for allegedly hacking into PayPal’s network; the attacks on website came as retaliatory move for corporate pressure against WikiLeaks; last year after WikiLeaks released thousands of secret U.S. diplomatic cables, websites like PayPal, Visa, and MasterCard withdrew their services to WikiLeaks; hackers responded by taking the websites down; the fourteen hackers that were arrested were charged with conspiracy and intentional damage to a protected computer; the hackers could face as much as ten years in prison

  • Ahmadinejad: world needs to "take step" to resolve Iran's nuclear issue

    Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Thursday that Iran has already taken steps to coordinate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and now it is time for other countries to “take step” in resolving Iran’s nuclear issue; “You will take one step and we will take one,” Ahmadinejad said; the president’s remarks come in response to Russia’s calls for a “phased” approach in which Iran would address international concerns over its nuclear program in stages and in return economic sanctions would be lifted in stages

  • England to fire 34,100 officers, crime expected to increase

    Local police forces across England and Wales will cut 34,100 officers and staff over the next four years; according to a report by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, the staffing reductions will result in at least a 3 percent rise in crime; the U.K. Home Office has insisted that there is no link between a decline in the number of police officers and the crime rate; police forces across the country are struggling with budget cuts which is forcing them to reduce staffing size