45 people were killed in a car bomb attack in karachi

At least 45 people were killed and 150 injured. The number of deaths will likely rise because half of them are injured in critical condition. "

Karachi (Reuters)-a powerful car bomb Blast in an area with a population of Shiites in Karachi, Pakistan, killed at least 45 people, officials said Sunday.

The blast destroyed the front of the two five-story apartment blocks in the area of Abbas in Karachi, which makes one of the block was on fire and trapping residents under the rubble of the building.

"At least 45 people were killed and 150 injured. The number of deaths will likely rise because half of them are injured in critical condition, "said Hashim Raza Zaidi, a high government official in Karachi, told AFP.

Hundreds of shops and houses were badly damaged in the blast, which occurred as Shiite Muslims were leaving the mosques nearby, and the balcony of the apartment blocks that crumbled.

At the hospital, where many victims Patel injuries treated, a mother crying while looking for her son.

"He stood on the balcony, where he is?" cried the woman.

Ijaz Ali is on the third floor of one of the apartment blocks it with his wife and his two sons when the bomb exploded.

"All of a sudden I heard a big explosion and we thought the building was going to collapse--like an earthquake," he told AFP from the hospital.

"The Windows of my apartment blew up toward me, something hit my head and I fainted. I open my eyes in the hospital and relieved my family survived, "he said.

The majority Shia population was Abbot, but officials said that the victims in the blast that also includes Sunni residents.

Violence against Shiite residents and reached a record in 2012 more than 400 Shiites killed in sectarian attacks.

Monday, a bomb blast in a Sufi shrines killed at least two people and injuring 10 others in the tomb of Shah Ghulam Lakhi in the South District Shikarpur, about 400 kilometers northeast of Karachi. It was also sacred place usually visited by the Shia.

Shia Muslims, which reached about 20 percent of Pakistan's population of 180 million people which is majority Sunni, often assailed by a hard-line Sunni group.

On 16 February in Quetta bomb attack killed 88 people, and 92 people were killed in an attack in a place of pool Hazara on 10 January. The Sunni militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LJ) claimed responsibility for attacks on the Shia Hazara residents.

Karachi, a city with a population of 18 million people which is the business center of Pakistan, is routinely hit by violence.

The year 2012 is the deadliest in Karachi in the past two decades, where about 2,000 people were killed in violence related to ethnic and political tension, which raises concerns about the elections that will take place this year.

Pakistan hit by bomb attacks and suicide shooting that killed more than 5200 people since government troops stormed a mosque into a militant hideout in Islamabad in July 2007.

Sectarian violence has increased since the Sunni guerrillas deepens ties with militants of Al Qaida and the Taliban after Pakistan joined the US-led operations to quell militancy after the attacks of 11 September 2001 in the United States. (M014)

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Suicide bomber attack, Iraq's Shiite city of Karbala

Karbala, Iraq (Reuters)-a Suicide Bombing took place in the Shiite Holy City of Karbala, Iraq, on Sunday, injuring 10 people, while other attacks killed five people, officials said.

Jamal al-Din Shahristani family, an official at the Imam Hussein shrine, said, a technician who works on a project between that location and the shrine of Imam Abbas herself up, raises a number of victims, the AFP report.

A policeman and an employee of the Hospital of Karbala say, 10 people injured in the bombing in the City South of Baghdad.

The second grandson of Muhammad's tomb is among the holiest places for Shiites, residents and is visited by hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from Iraq and abroad every year.

There is no party that claimed responsibility for the attacks, but Sunni guerrillas often launch such attacks in an attempt to destabilize the Government and encourage the return of sectarian violence like in 2005-2008.

Also Sunday, three roadside bombs exploded next to the northeast of Baghdad, killing two people and injuring nine others, said some medical and security officials, while a bomb killed a soldier in a magnetic patch in Utayfiyah, North of Baghdad.

A number of armed men also attacked the checkpoint west of the northern city of Mosul, Iraq, killing two soldiers, said an army officer and a doctor.

Violence is the last of a wave of bombings and suicide attacks in the middle of a political crisis between Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and his Government partners and protest marches over the past few weeks demanding his resignation.

Throughout February, 220 people were killed in violence in Iraq, according to the data, based on AFP information from security sources and medical.

Iraq is engulfed in political chaos and violence that killed thousands of people since u.s. forces completed a withdrawal from the country on 18 December 2011, leaving security responsibilities to Iraq troops.

In addition to having problems with the Kurds, Iraq's Government is also at odds with Sunni groups.

Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki (Shiite) since December 2011 sought the arrest of Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi on charges of terrorism and attempting to dismiss Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-absolute. Both are Sunni leaders.

Iraq officials issued an arrest warrant for Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi on December 19, 2011 after they gain recognition that connect him with terrorist activity.

Dozens of guards of Hashemi, a Sunni Arab leader, was arrested in a few weeks after the announcement, but it is not clear how many people were now on hold.

Hashemi, who denied the allegations, was hiding in the Kurdish autonomous region in northern Iraq, and Kurdish leaders refused to pass them to Baghdad.

The Kurdish government even allowed the regional visit to Hashemi did Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. (M014)

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Sonatrach of Algeria tighten up security after attack

Aljiers (Reuters)-energy giant Algeria, Sonatrach promised to reinforce security measures in its energy installations around the country after a deadly attack, against a complex gas fields in southern Algeria in January, according to national radio reports.

Abdelhamid Zerguine, CEO of Sonatrach, Sunday said, "we are reviewing all security measures in an effort to strengthen it. We submitted a proposal, and we will implement this new plan shortly thereafter in accordance with the regulations. "

He said the failure of security is not an armed security guard in the location of production at gas fields Tiguentourine, which was attacked by the guerrillas in mid-January.

"Internal regulations do not allow the presence of armed personnel. In the new proposal, we will ask for armed personnel to secure remote location, "said Zerguine, as reported by Xinhua.

On 16 January, the armed group has ties with Al Qaida attacked the Tiguentourine complex In Amenas, about 1,700 kilometres south-east of Algeria's capital city, Aljiers.

They kidnap as many as 800 workers from various countries, most of them were freed by the Algerian rescue operation in a few days afterward.

(C003)

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Horse meat scandal to attack Austria kebabs

Vienna, Austria (Reuters)-the scandal of horse meat also rocked a kebab shop in Vienna who harass Middle Eastern specialties delectable are popular in Austria.

In order to respond to the outbreak of the scandal of horse meat in Europe, the food watchdog Austria held razia pasta and sauce and found the material fresh horse meat sold in a grocery store in the province of Carinthia.

Raids carried out after the previous found deposits of horse meat on a single samples taken from food that is served a kebab restaurant.

This sample obtained from a storefront in the Ottakring in Vienna, which should only contain beef, cattle and turkeys, said health and Food Safety Agency Austria as quoted Reuters.

Agriculture Minister Nikolaus Berlakovich promise will not tolerate this violation and threatened to implement a "food Passport" which mentions the origin of meat, at a meeting of the European Union next week.

Eating horse meat is not taboo in Austria, but consumers are angry that feel cheated about the source of their food. (*)

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Turkey Kurdish guerrillas attack jets in Iraq

Diyarbakir, Turkey (Reuters)-Turkey sent several fighter jets across its borders with Iraq to attack the guerrillas of the Kurdistan Workers ' Party (PKK), said a local military sources Thursday.

The Jets bombarded targets in the mountainous 12 Candlesticks in the autonomous community of Kurdistan, Iraq, on Wednesday, the source said told AFP without a description of the victim.

Office of the pro-Kurdish Firat News confirmed the incident, saying the attack aimed at the two villages and destroyed many farms and orchards.

The attack was carried out when peace negotiations began between Ankara and the PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, who is serving life in prison.

Turkey is hoping that negotiations will produce a cease-fire and an end to the Kurdish rebellion that has lasted almost three decades in the southeastern region of the country.

Last month, Turkey's army declared, they killed 14 guerrillas in the town of Hakkari, southeastern Turkey, when they were preparing to attack a border post. A soldier also died in Turkey clash that ensues.

Ankara declared, using the guerrillas hiding in northern Iraq to infiltrate Turkey and do second-half attacks-fled to the security forces.

Turkey Intelligence Agency began talks with PKK leaders again imprisoned, Abdullah Ocalan, late last year, with the main purpose of disarming rebels who use bases in Iraq as a place to launch attacks against security forces in the southeastern region of Turkey.

The justice and Development Party (AKP) which ruled stronghold of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged Turkey to end the Kurdish conflict, which has lasted almost three dasarwarsa.

The fugitive Ocalan was arrested in Kenya on February 15, 1999 in a secret operation Turkey after he was exiled from Syria, where he was based for a decade to organize much of the PKK.

The initial verdict against Ocalan death sentence converted to life imprisonment sentence on a prison island off the coast of Istanbul since 2002.

Each year the Kurdish demonstrators clashed with police to protest Turkey's arrest of their leader.

Turkey, the EU and the u.s. considers the Kurdistan Workers ' Party (PKK) as a terrorist organization.

Turkey's military launched air attacks and ground operations are limited to the northern Iraq since August 2011 following the wave of attacks, the PKK guerrillas after the traffic-jammed a ceasefire before.

The PKK launched attacks from their hiding places in the remote mountains of Iraq as part of their war to gain greater rights and autonomy for the Kurdish population.

More than 40,000 people have died since the PKK took up arms in 1984.

(M014)

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Rebels threaten to attack Hezbollah Syria Lebanon

Syria Liberation fighters drinking tea together during a break in the Salaheddine, Aleppo.(INTERMEDIATE/REUTERS/Muzaffar Khan)

Last week ...Hezbollah opened fire on villages around Qusayr from the region of Lebanon, and that we cannot accept

Damascus (Reuters)-the Commander of the rebel Liberation Army issued a 48-hour ultimatum Syria, warned that his forces would attack the Lebanese Hezbollah group it stop the attack except to rebel-controlled areas.

The threat was issued on Wednesday, after the rebels shot down a Government fighter aircraft following air strikes that killed 20 people in the town of the province of Damascus.

General Idriss, Chief of staff of Selim's Liberation Army suggested Syria (FSA) told AFP Wednesday that Hezbollah has long participated in hostilities in Syria, but they are beyond the limits by shelling villages near Homs province Qusayr from the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon.

"Hezbollah of Lebanon's sovereignty by abusing the shelling the area and Syria Liberation Army positions Syria," said Idriss.

The commander said the rebels 48 hours to allow time to stop Hezbollah attacks like that and say, "soon the ultimatum expired, we will begin to respond to the sources of the shooting".

Rebels in the area Qusays will be supported by the FSA petempur equipped with long range weapons from other areas, he said.

The FSA also asked Lebanon's President and Prime Minister, "said Idriss hands down, but Prime Minister Najib Mikati's Office refused to make contact with the rebels to Syria.

Hezbollah repeatedly sent the petempur in Syria, although their leader Hasan Nasrallah admitted in October that the rebels fighting Syria party members.

Nasrallah said they were acting as individuals and not under the direct command of the group.

The AFP report, Lebanon is concerned Syria conflict torn, Sunni March 14 movement supporting the rebels, while the Shiite Hezbollah and its allies in support of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad.

(H-RN)

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UAV United States air attack kills 4,700 people of Pakistan

UAVS and reconnaissance attack MQ-9 Reaper made by General Atomics, United States (formerly named Predator), can be controlled from a distance of thousands kilometers. He could load two smart bombs GBU-14 or some other weaponry was a reconnaissance and tracking instruments. (NASA)

... We have to kill 4,700 people ... "

Washington (Reuters)-a total of 4,700 people, including civilians were killed in the bomb attack on the aircraft without the crew, said a United States senator, United States cited local media Wednesday.

This is the first time a lawmaker or Government official referred to the total number of casualties as a result of their UAV, which condemned HUMAN RIGHTS supporters groups, as the killings outside the law.

The number of casualties from the hundreds of missiles attack aircraft without crew had done it against Al Qaeda militants in Pakistan, Yemen, and elsewhere remain unknown. United States officials have declined to discuss publicly the details of the attacks.

But Republican senator, Lindsey Graham, a strong supporter of aircraft attacks spying it, openly called the amount that exceeds some estimates independent of the fatalities.

"We have 4,700 people killed," said Graham cited Easley Patch, a local page, covering the small town of Easley, South Carolina.

"Sometimes you hit innocent people, I hate it, but we are in a war situation, and we have to cripple its senior members of Al Qaeda," said Graham told the Rotary Club Easley.

A spokesman said that the senator told AFP it cites data that have been published and disseminated in electronic letters.

The numbers quoted Graham is higher than the Bureau of Investigation Journalism based d London. The group said the death toll as a result of the attacks in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia between 3072 and 4.756 people.

New America Foundation, based in Washington, says there are 350 attacks U.S. spy planes since 2004, mostly during the Government of President Barack Obama that America Foundation estimates; the death toll between 1,963 and 3.293, with 260 to 305 civilians.

U.S. intelligence agencies and the White House refused to disclose details about the attacks, which officially includes the secret, but officials estimate there are not many civilians were killed.

(H-RN/M016)

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Mali troops clear the market fearing attack Gao

Gao, Mali (Reuters)-Mali Troops Monday to clear the main market in Gao for fear there will be attacks, after the northern city was rocked by three days of this suicide bombing attacks and firing by the militants.

"We are concerned about the attack, because that is our clear market Gao for security reasons," said a high-ranking officer, reported AFP.

Traders packed up their belongings and left the Washington Market, which is near the central police station that was used as a base by armed militants to launch guerrilla attacks into the city on Sunday.

France-attack helicopters destroyed a police station in an attack on Monday morning.

The surrounding area is closed by the security forces and the army of France clears mines in the area.

Sporadic gun shots shots were heard in the northern part of the city.

Some medical sources and the military said at least two hard-line militants and three civilians were killed in the fighting Sunday, and 17 others injured.

"We received 15 patients with gunshot wounds, all of them civilians," said Fatoumata Kanté Doctor in the emergency room.

Two soldiers were lightly injured, said a Malian officer.

Oneness and Jihad movement in West Africa (MUJAO), one of the groups that dominate northern Mali before being driven off by the intervention of France that was launched on 11 January, claimed responsibility for the attack in the city and threatened to launch more attacks.

France-led forces recaptured Gao on 26 January from Al Qaida linked militants who ruled the region of northern Mali for 10 months after a military coup.

France, which is working with the military of Mali, on January 11, launched operation when militants threaten advanced to the capital of Mali, Bamako, after months of doubt about the African intervention forces to help drive out hard-line groups from the northern region.

Mali, who had become one of stable democracies in Africa, experienced the uncertainty after the coup d ' état in March 2012 overthrow the Government of President Amadou Toumani Toure.

The international community is worried that country will become the new hotbed of terrorists and they support the efforts of Africa to intervene militarily.

The United Nations has approved the placement of the African intervention force consisting of about 3300 soldiers under the auspices of the ECOWAS grouping of West African States. With the involvement of Chad, which has pledged 2,000 soldiers, means the number of intervention forces that would be much greater.

Hard-line groups, which said the experts acting under the umbrella of Al Qaida in Islamic Morocco (AQIM), dominate the North, Mali to the extent greater than that of France, since April last year.

Tribal rebels in mid-January 2012 launched more war decades for the independence of the Tuareg in the northern region they claim as their land, reinforced by heavily armed guerrillas who recently returned from Libya. However, their struggle was then hijacked by hard-line muslim groups.

Disgruntled army coup in March meant to give the military more authority in order to quell a revolt in the North, but it in fact backfire and the rebels took control of three major cities in the North of Mali within three days. (M014)

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Mali's Army elite troops in the camp attack Bamako

Than 06.00 local time (13: 00 GMT) a heavily armed soldiers from all the Union attacked the camp. "

Bamako, Mali (ANTARA News)-the firefight broke out in the capital of Mali, Bamako when the army attacked a camp of the elite troops loyal to the deposed President Amadou Toumani Toure, said military sources and eye witnesses told AFP.
"From 06.00 local time (13: 00 GMT) a heavily armed soldiers from all the Union attacked the camp," said Yaya Bouare, one of the "Red Beret" inside the camp who attacked it. "A lot of the injuries in the camp."
The latest clash between Mali's Army factions hostile to occur on the same day when a suicide bomber targeting soldiers in the city of Gao to the South after hard-line Islamic groups are removed.
Bamako residents living near barracks that confirm the attack and one of them said troops of the elite "Red Beret" opened fire warnings Thursday night.
Bouare attack was said had to do with a statement by the Defense Chief of staff of the army General Tahairou Dembele on national television earlier this week, who ordered the troops to the front lines of the paratroop war led by France against hard-line groups in the North.
"Because we are facing these problems in the North, you have to go and fight for your brethren with weapons", he said and added he decided to cooperate with the elite forces in other entities.
But the paratroop refused join their new entities, or leaving their camps.
"Red Beret" troops are part of the President's bodyguards who protect Toure, who was removed in March last year by a group of "Green Beret" forces--infantry and other entities.
The coup took place after the Mali army humiliated in the North by the Tuareg petempur who have sophisticated weapons who did revolt for independence in that area in January last year.
A month later, after the overthrow of the President, the army's elite counter doing one coup that failed and the battle between the forces of bersetru, killing 20 people.
With the onset of chaos in Bamako, the Tuareg groups and Islam took control of the entire area north of the hard-line Islamic group before expelling a group of Tuareg secular and impose Islamic law.
Islamic Group that ruled the arid area and spacious, which triggered fears in the West that area could become a new base for radical groups having links with Al Qaida, which sparked France intervened a month ago to oust the hard-line group. (RN/S012)


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Peres defends Abbas after Israeli foreign minister's attack

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Israel's President Shimon Peres (L) meets actor Jason Alexander at the president's residence in Jerusalem October 25, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Ronen Zvulun

JERUSALEM | Tue Oct 25, 2011 12:09pm EDT

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli President Shimon Peres came to the defense of Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday after Israel's far-right foreign minister called the Palestinian president an obstacle to peace.

"Abbas and (Palestinian) Prime Minister (Salam) Fayyad are serious leaders that want peace and are working to prevent violence and extremism in our region," said Peres, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

"We must continue to negotiate peace with them in order to achieve full peace that will end this long conflict," he said in public remarks during a meeting with "Seinfeld" actor Jason Alexander, a member of "One Voice," an international movement promoting a two-state solution.

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who heads an ultranationalist party in the governing coalition, said in a briefing to reporters on Monday that Abbas was blocking any progress toward peace.

"If there is an obstacle that could be removed it's Abu Mazen," he said, referring to Abbas and calling on him to resign.

"He threatens he will hand back the keys," Lieberman said, referring to the Western-backed Abbas's warnings in the past that he would quit unless a statehood deal could be achieved. "It's not a threat, it's a blessing."

There was no indication that Lieberman's fiery remarks reflected any change in Israeli government policy, and they elicited no response from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Netanyahu has called on Abbas to resume negotiations, which collapsed 13 months ago in a dispute over Israeli settlement building in the occupied West Bank, and abandon a unilateral bid for U.N. recognition of a Palestinian state.

Lieberman's remarks drew Palestinian anger and condemnation by a spokesman for U.N. Middle East envoy Robert Serry, and from European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, on the eve of a new push by international mediators for renewed talks.

Maja Kocijancic, a spokeswoman for Ashton, said on Tuesday Lieberman's remarks were "regrettably not helpful to create the environment of trust conducive to negotiations."

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told Voice of Palestine Radio, "we consider this tantamount to a call for the physical assassination of (Abbas)."

"This is criminal incitement. We called the American administration, we sat with our friends in the Russian Federation and the European Union," Erekat said.

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators were due to meet separately in Jerusalem on Wednesday with representatives of the Quartet of Middle East peace negotiators -- the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia.

Expectations were low in Israel and the Palestinian Territories that the indirect talks could lead to a resumption of face-to-face negotiations between the two sides.

(Writing by Jeffrey Heller Additional reporting by Allyn Fisher Ilan in Jerusalem, Justyna Pawlak in Brussels and Tom Perry in Ramallah)

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Grenade attack on Kenya nightclub

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24 October 2011 Last updated at 01:04 GMT A grenade attack on a nightclub in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, has left 14 people injured, say police.

The grenade was throw in the club early on Monday morning - the motive was not immediately clear.

The attack comes a week after Kenya sent troops into Somalia to track down members of the militant group al-Shabab, which Nairobi blames for a series of kidnappings in recent weeks.

Al-Shabab had threatened reprisal attacks if the troops did not leave.

The al-Qaeda-linked Islamist group, which controls much of southern and central Somalia, has denied carrying out any abductions.

Last week, Kenya announced it would carry out a major security operation in Nairobi to flush out al-Shabab sympathisers once its Somalia operation had ended.

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Iranian Government Agents Accused of Plotting Attack

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WASHINGTON — The Obama administration on Tuesday accused agents of the Iranian government of being involved in a plan to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the thwarted plot would further isolate Tehran.

Two people, including a member of Iran's special operations unit known as the Quds Force, were charged in New York federal court. Justice Department officials say they were working with a person they thought was an associate of a Mexican drug cartel to target the Saudi diplomat, Adel Al-Jubeir. But their contact was an informant for the Drug Enforcement Agency who told U.S. authorities about all their planning.

FBI Director Robert Mueller said many lives could have been lost in the plot to kill the ambassador with bombs in the U.S. But Preet Bharara, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, said no explosives were actually placed and no one was in any danger because of the informant's cooperation with authorities.

Attorney General Eric Holder said the U.S. would hold Iran accountable. Clinton told The Associated Press the plot would further isolate Iran as the United States put those allegedly involved under sanctions.

Holder said the bomb plot was a flagrant violation of U.S. and international law.

[See a collection of political cartoons on Iran.]

"We will not let other countries use our soil as their battleground," Bharara said at a news conference in Washington with Holder and FBI Director Robert Mueller.

Alizreza Miryusefi, the press attache at Iran's mission to the United Nations, said Tuesday that the accusation was "totally baseless" and that a full statement would be issued shortly.

Manssor Arbabsiar, a 56-year-old U.S. citizen who also holds an Iranian passport, was charged along with Gholam Shakuri, who authorities said was a Quds Force member and is still at large in Iran. The complaint filed in federal court says Arbabsiar confessed that his cousin, Abdul Reza Shahlai, was a high-ranking member of the Quds Force who told him to hire someone in the narcotics business to target Al-Jubeir and that Shakuri was his cousin's deputy who helped provide funding for the plot.

Arbabsiar, Shakuri and Shahlai and two others were sanctioned Tuesday by the Treasury Department for their involvement in the alleged plot.

Justice Department officials say Arbabsiar approached the DEA informant in Mexico to ask about his knowledge of explosives for a plot to blow up the Saudi embassy in Washington. But through subsequent conversations in English, secretly recorded for U.S. authorities, Arbabsiar offered $1.5 million for the death of the ambassador, perhaps at a purported favorite restaurant of his despite the possibility of mass casualties.

Asked whether the plot was blessed by the top echelons of the Iranian government, Holder said the Justice Department was not making that accusation.

Arbabsiar did not know he was trying to hire a DEA informant to carry out the plot, prosecutors said. Posing as an associate of a Mexican drug cartel, the informant met with Arbabsiar several times in Mexico, authorities said. The price tag was $1.5 million and Arabsiar made a $100,000 down payment wired from an overseas account.

Arbabsiar was arrested Sept. 29 at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. He was scheduled to appear in federal court Tuesday. Prosecutors said he faces up to life in prison if convicted.

Prosecutors said Arbabsiar has confessed to his participation in the murder plot.

President Barack Obama was first briefed on the plot in June, said White House spokesman Tommy Vietor.

"The disruption of this plot is a significant achievement by our intelligence and law enforcement agencies, and the president is enormously grateful for their exceptional work in this instance and countless others," Vietor said.

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Perry to Unleash the Attack Dogs on Romney

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One way to deter Mitt Romney in his bid for the Republican presidential nomination would be to wage a slash-and-burn campaign of television ads against him. After another lackluster performance in last night's GOP presidential debate, that seems to be what Texas Gov. Rick Perry is prepared to do.

[Read: Pro-Perry Pastor Blasts Romney, Calls Mormonism a 'Cult']

Perry raised $17 million in the last quarter, more than any other GOP candidate, so he will have sufficient money to finance an air campaign in the early battleground states of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, South Carolina and Florida. And he is likely to do it soon, GOP strategists say, because the first caucuses and primaries are only about 90 days away.

Romney remains ahead of his rivals in most opinion polls for the GOP nomination. Republican veterans say that, as the nominating contests approach and as time slips away, attack politics might be the only way to stop him. [Read why the early primary hurts Perry and helps Romney.]

Perry has used harsh critiques against his opponents throughout his political career in Texas. And he gave a preview of things to come this week when he released a hard-hitting web video attacking Romney for his support as governor of the controversial Massachusetts healthcare law. The Perry ad says that law cost thousands of jobs and was the template for the national healthcare overhaul that President Obama backed and that remains extremely unpopular among conservatives. The ad seeks to tie Romney not only to Obama but also to former President Jimmy Carter, a derided figure among conservatives. Carter endorsed Romney's healthcare reform.

In the New Hampshire debate last night, Romney defended that law as appropriate for Massachusetts but added that he wouldn't impose it on the entire nation.

[See a collection of political cartoons on the 2012 GOP hopefuls.]

Romney was widely viewed as the winner of the debate. He showed his usual steadiness and an ability to deflect potentially embarrassing questions. Perry, who is still in the top tier of GOP candidates, took a back seat to other GOP hopefuls, including businessman Herman Cain, who is surging in the polls.

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Massachusetts case ignites "home grown" attack fears

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A ''surveillance photo'' that the FBI says was taken of the Pentagon by defendant Rezwan Ferdaus is seen in a handout photo released by the U.S. Justice Department after the photo was submitted to U.S. District Court in Massachusetts as part of a criminal complaint and affidavit filed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Boston, September 28, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/U.S. Department of Justice/Handout

By Ros Krasny

BOSTON | Thu Sep 29, 2011 10:51pm EDT

BOSTON (Reuters) - The arrest of a Massachusetts man who allegedly plotted to fly explosives-packed model planes into the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol has reignited concern about the risk of a home-grown militant attack in the United States.

Rezwan Ferdaus, 26, was indicted on Thursday in the explosives plan, as well as for attempting to provide support and resources to al Qaeda in order to carry out attacks on U.S. soldiers overseas.

"Ferdaus' arrest underscores the need to continue efforts to combat domestic radicalization and the evolving threat of 'lone wolf' extremists," said Peter King, chairman of the House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee.

Ferdaus was born in the United States. His immigrant parents' national origin was not disclosed, and authorities were treading carefully.

"I want the public to understand that Mr. Ferdaus' conduct, as alleged in the complaint, is not reflective of a particular culture, community or religion," U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz said in announcing the arrest.

Massachusetts Congressman Bill Keating said the "home grown" aspect of the Ferdaus case was disturbing.

"People have been told this, but perhaps until now didn't understand how real it is," Keating, a first-term Democrat who sits on the homeland security committee, told Reuters.

"When I got to Congress in January I was told we are at enormous risk. These things are very real, and they present the greatest risk," said Keating.

ROCK BAND

Ferdaus graduated from Boston's Northeastern University in 2008 with a degree in physics, and played drums in an alt-rock jam band, The Silk Road, several years ago.

His only previous brush with the law was in 2003 when, according to the Milford Daily News, he and two other seniors at Ashland High School poured concrete in front of 10 of the school's doors as a prank. They were also accused of burning an American flag.

At the time of his arrest Ferdaus was living with his parents -- an engineer and a healthcare worker -- in a middle-class neighborhood of Ashland, about 25 miles west of Boston. Real estate sites estimate the 3,141-square-foot, four bedroom white colonial house's value at $565,000.

"The threat of Islamic terrorism transcends socioeconomics and does not only emanate from the poor and under-privileged," King said.

Joseph Wippl, a professor at Boston University's Center for International Relations, said it was folly to think that immersion in U.S. culture somehow inoculated potential criminals from wanting to do harm to the country.

"There are a small group of people who are sociopathic, inclined to violence, who crave attention and who are willing to engage in this type of behavior," said Wippl, a former CIA operations officer.

"If we watch -- in the United States, in Germany, Sweden, the U.K. -- things are constantly at a low boil and we always need to be on our guard," he said.

In its affidavit, U.S. authorities said Ferdaus was unwavering in his resolve to stage a violent "jihad." He told undercover agents who he thought were members of, or recruiters for, al Qaeda, that his goal was to kill as many "kafirs," or non-believers, as possible.

Another Massachusetts man, Tarek Mehanna, was arrested in 2009 for a plot to kill U.S. troops in Afghanistan and civilians in shopping malls. He is awaiting trial.

In 2010 two men were arrested in Watertown, Massachusetts, in connection with an attempted bombing in New York's Times Square. One, Ali Aftab Kahn, was convicted of unwittingly supplying almost $5,000 to the would-be Times Square bomber.

The incidents do not suggest that Massachusetts is a hotbed of anti-American activity, said Wippl. "This can take place just about anywhere."

(Reporting by Ros Krasny; Editing by Jerry Norton)

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A New Democratic Attack for a New Ryan Plan

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Home > Politics & Policy > Washington Whispers > A New Democratic Attack for a New Ryan Plan

September 29, 2011 Print

As if his earlier proposal to reform Medicare didn't give Republicans a bad case of heartburn, a new health reform scheme from Rep. Paul Ryan to rewrite workplace health insurance and provide universal health coverage through tax credits is starting to give the GOP fits.

Earlier this week, Ryan proposed a new system that would push employees to buy their own health insurance. Under his plan, employers would no longer get tax write-offs to provide insurance, and instead workers would get refundable credits to buy health insurance on their own. [See a collection of political cartoons on the budget and deficit.]

It would be a huge step toward giving workers greater choice, but is a move that is sure to scare employees who've already faced pay and benefit cuts from companies.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee wasted no time in attacking the plan, hoping it would refire their waning assault on Ryan's earlier Medicare reform package. Some 50 vulnerable Republicans were targeted by the DCCC's press operation through a release that said, in part, "Ryan acknowledged his new plan doubles down on his earlier controversial budget proposal to end Medicare."

[Read: First Medicare, Now Ryan Tackles Tax Code.]

Today, they claimed one victory: New York Republican Rep. Chris Gibson. His local paper, the Glens Falls Post Star, quoted his spokesman saying that the lawmaker wouldn't endorse the new Ryan plan until he saw more details. "Until he (Ryan) comes out with legislation or a formal proposal, we're not going to be taking a position on it," said the spokesman.

The DCCC is pressing local media to ask their lawmakers about the amended Ryan plan in hopes of raising new concerns about the GOP's plans on healthcare. Republicans felt that they succeeded in fending off Democratic attacks on the earlier Ryan Medicare reform plan and predict that they will again against the latest criticism.

2011: 2010: 2009: 2008: 2007: 2006:

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Yemeni Minister survives ' attack

27 September 2011 booth 11: 21 GMT Mohamed presented in a session was Nasser Ali, in June, while a trip to South has escaped an attack Yemen's Defense Minister on his convoy in the southern city of Aden, security officials say.

One said that a suicide bomber convoy drove a car full of explosives in Mohamed Nasser Ali and other attackers on motorcycles threw hand grenades.

At least three soldiers were killed and nine others injured, he told the BBC.

Yemen challenges is more than one security, including the fighting between political groups and an al Qaeda militancy in the South.

In connection with al-Qaeda fighters have advantage of political instability of the country as a supporter and opponent of President Ali Abdullah Saleh fight with each other in the capital, Sanaa.

There were also mass protests against Mr Saleh rule in several cities.

Mr Saleh, survivors an attack in June, back to Yemen Friday.

It was attack immediately unclear, which on Tuesday.

An official told AFP said that the Defense Minister convoy was hit as it a tunnel on the way back to his hotel links.

Some officials have been quoted, that less than 10 security officials in the convoy violated had.

Maj Gen Ali lived in Aden during visit to the South, where the three communes in the province of Abyan have taken militant recently.

The army has to try an offensive, again held control over the area.

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Syria tanks 'attack central town'

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26 September 2011 Last updated at 07:26 GMT Homs province has been a hotbed of dissent against President Assad's rule Syrian tanks have bombarded a strategic town in the restive central province of Homs overnight, injuring three people, activists and residents say.

Troops fired with machine guns mounted on tanks in the town of al-Rastan on the main road north to Turkey.

Homs province is a major flashpoint in the seven-month conflict, with army defectors backing protesters opposed to President Bashar al-Assad's rule.

More than 2,700 people have died in the crackdown, the UN says.

A resident of al-Rastan told Reuters news agency there were about 60 tanks and armoured vehicles to the east of the town.

Activists have reported an offensive on towns and villages in Homs province, where a large number of soldiers are said to have defected to the opposition.

Reports on Sunday said security forces killed 12 people in Qusseir, another town in the province.

Continue reading the main story Lyse Doucet BBC News, Damascus

Business is suffering, there are virtually no tourists here. In the city centre, there is no visible security presence, but you know the eyes are everywhere, in plainclothes intelligence agents.

In other uprisings across the Arab world, capturing the strategic centre of the capital was critical.

That hasn't happened yet in Damascus. The president's opponents say it's just a matter of time. His supporters say he's the only leader for Syria, a man who will stay in power, and it seems, at whatever the cost. Those in the middle, uncertain, are just worried about what the future will hold.

Events from Syria are hard to verify as international journalists have been largely prevented from reporting there, but the BBC's Lyse Doucet has just arrived in Damascus.

She says it is extremely hard to get people to talk about politics, except for those who still defend the president.

Mr Assad still has some support, she adds, but the brutal crackdown against protests in the suburbs, and in cites and villages outside Damascus is diminishing that base.

The EU and the US have both imposed sanctions on Syria's regime.

The US has urged the UN Security Council to impose sanctions.

Syria blames the violence on "terrorists" and "armed gangs".

BBC's Lyse Doucet has been given access and sent this exclusive report from the capital, Damascus

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Pakistan will not attack Haqqani group, defying U.S.: report

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Girls hold placards while standing on a U.S. flag during an anti-U.S. rally in Hyderabad September 25, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Akram Shahid

By Michael Georgy

ISLAMABAD | Mon Sep 26, 2011 5:05am EDT

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's military will not take action against the Haqqani militant group that Washington blames for an attack against its embassy in Kabul, despite mounting American pressure to do so, a Pakistani newspaper reported on Monday.

Army chief General Ashfaq Kayani held a "special" meeting with his top commanders on Sunday to discuss the security situation, the military said, after a week of tension and tit-for-tat rhetoric with the United States.

The United States accuses the Pakistani army's powerful spy agency of supporting the Haqqani militant group, a chief driver of violence in eastern Afghanistan and a serious obstacle to President Barack Obama's plan to wind down a long war.

In stunningly blunt comments last week, the top U.S. military officer called the Haqqani network a "veritable arm" of the ISI intelligence agency and accused Pakistan of providing support for the September 13 attack on its Kabul mission.

The Pakistani commanders agreed to resist U.S. demands for an army offensive in North Waziristan, where the United States believes the Haqqani network is based, the Express Tribune reported, quoting an unnamed military official.

"We have already conveyed to the U.S. that Pakistan cannot go beyond what it has already done," the official told the newspaper on condition of anonymity.

The unilateral American special forces raid that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in a Pakistani town in May heavily strained ties between Washington and Islamabad.

Both sides appeared to be working to repair the damage and then a war of words erupted after the Kabul attack.

Underscoring the magnitude of tensions, Pakistani stocks fell over 2.7 percent on Monday, in part due to concerns about the worsening relations between Islamabad and Washington.

The United States has long pressed ally Pakistan to pursue the Haqqani network, one of the most lethal Taliban-allied Afghan groups fighting Western forces in Afghanistan.

"CONFUSION AND POLICY DISARRAY"

Pakistan denies it supports the Haqqanis and says its army is too stretched battling its own Taliban insurgency to go after the network, which has an estimated 10,000-15,000 fighters.

Analysts say the Pakistani military could suffer heavy casualties if it were to attempt a crackdown on the group, which has developed extensive alliances with other militant organizations in the region, and has mastered the rugged mountain terrain.

Pakistan says Washington overlooks the sacrifices it has made since joining the U.S. "war on terror" launched after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

Pakistani officials say about 5,000 soldiers and security forces have been killed fighting militants and 30,000 civilians have died.

Widespread anti-American sentiment in Pakistan also makes it difficult for the army to cave in to U.S. pressure.

"Are we responsible for the attacks that Taliban do throughout the country. It was a big mistake of our rulers that they supported Americans," said Khan Alam Marwat, 40, a car salesman in Islamabad.

Sirajuddin Haqqani, who heads the Haqqani network, says the group no longer needs sanctuaries in Pakistan, and it feels safe operating in Afghanistan.

Two weeks ago, militants launched an assault against the U.S. embassy and NATO headquarters in Kabul. U.S. officials blamed those attacks on the Haqqani network.

U.S. officials said there was intelligence, including intercepted phone calls, suggesting those attackers were in communication with people connected to Pakistan's principal spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) directorate.

The Pakistan government and army have rejected the U.S. allegations. On Saturday, Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani rejected the charges as a sign of American "confusion and policy disarray."

(Additional reporting by Saud Mehsud in Dera Ismail Khan and Sahar Ahmed in Karachi; Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by John Chalmers)

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US couple 'provoked' bear attack

  The grizzly bear had no history of interfering with park visitors A fatal grizzly bear attack in July at Yellowstone National Park may have been provoked when the victim and his wife fled and screamed, officials say.
In recorded emergency calls, hikers said they heard a woman screaming and a man making animal noises, possibly to scare away the animal.
The bear killed Brian Matayoshi, 57, before picking up his wife Marilyn by her backpack, but she was not harmed.
The animal remains free as its reaction was normal for a surprise encounter.
Park authorities had previously thought the couple reacted correctly when they encountered the mother bear with her cubs on the Wapiti Lake Trailhead, a popular Yellowstone route.
But after an investigation, bear researchers and wildlife agents say the pair's running and screaming helped spur the bear into "a sustained pursuit of them as they fled".
Park officials advise hikers to carry pressurised pepper spray with them for self-defence from bears, but the couple were not carrying any.
There have been two other fatal grizzly attacks in 2011. A hunter was killed by a wounded bear near the Idaho-Montana border last Friday, while a Michigan man died in Yellowstone in August.

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Japan defence hit by cyber attack

  Mitsubishi Heavy Industries makes everything from surface-to-air missiles, to warships, and submarines Japan's top weapons maker has confirmed it was the victim of a cyber attack reportedly targeting data on missiles, submarines and nuclear power plants.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) said viruses were found on more than 80 of its servers and computers last month.
The government said it was not aware of any leak of sensitive information.
But the defence ministry has demanded MHI carry out a full investigation. Officials were angered after learning of the breach from local media reports.
Speaking at a news conference on Tuesday, Japan's defence minister Yasuo Ichikawa said the cyber attackers had not succeeded in accessing any important information but MHI would be instructed "to undertake a review of their information control systems".
"The ministry will continue to monitor the problem and conduct investigations if necessary," Mr Ichikawa added.
All government contractors are obliged to inform ministers promptly of any breach of sensitive or classified information.
Continue reading the main story Roland Buerk BBC News, Tokyo
The Ministry of Defence has said the delay in Mitsubishi Heavy Industries informing it of the cyber attack is "regrettable" - a bland term regularly deployed by Japanese bureaucrats to describe everything from near indifference to utter outrage.
But it is clear there is concern in Japan about security at the country's biggest defence contractor.
Mitsubishi Heavy makes everything from warships to missiles. The giant company says it discovered the breach in mid- August, and informed the Japanese police at the end of the month.
But the defence ministry was not told until Monday afternoon, after reports had appeared in local media.
The key issue is just how serious the attack was - and whether any of Japan's defence secrets have leaked.
Mitsubishi Heavy says the virus was confined to just 45 servers and 38 computer terminals - out of the many thousands it operates.
An ongoing internal investigation has found only network information, such as IP addresses, has been compromised.
"It's up to the defence ministry to decide whether or not the information is important. That is not for Mitsubishi Heavy to decide. A report should have been made," a defence ministry spokesman was earlier quoted by Reuters as saying.Better protection
The online attacks - which are believed to be the first of their kind against Japan's defence industry - originated outside the company's computer network, MHI said.
They have been described as spear phishing attacks - when hackers send highly customised and specifically targeted messages aimed at tricking people into visiting a fake webpage and giving away login details.
Neither the Japanese government nor MHI have said who may be responsible. A report in one Japanese newspaper said Chinese language script was detected in the attack against MHI.
But China rebuffed suggestions it could be behind the attacks.
"China is one of the main victims of hacking... Criticising China as being the source of hacking attacks not only is baseless, it is also not beneficial for promoting international co-operation for internet security," foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said.
China has in the past been accused of carrying out online attacks on foreign government agencies and firms.
Beijing routinely denies that it is behind this kind of hacking but, says the BBC's Defence Correspondent Jonathan Marcus, the US military is more and more concerned about China's abilities in this field.
Fear of the "cyber-dragon" is driving forward a fundamental re-think of US policy which is coming more and more to regard computer hacking as a potential act of war, our correspondent adds.
MHI confirmed that 45 of its servers and 38 computers were infected by at least eight viruses.
The viruses targeted a shipyard in Nagasaki, where destroyers are built, and a facility in Kobe that manufactures submarines and parts for nuclear power stations, public broadcaster NHK reported.
A plant in Nagoya, where the company designs and builds guidance and propulsion systems for rockets and missiles, was also reportedly compromised.
MHI said it had consulted the Tokyo police department and was carrying out an investigation alongside security experts, which should be concluded by the end of the month.
Lockheed case
A second defence contractor, IHI, which supplies engine parts for military aircraft, said it had also been targeted.
IHI said it had been receiving emails containing viruses for months, but its security systems had prevented infection.
There are also reports that Japanese government websites, including the cabinet office and a video distribution service, have been hit by distributed denial-of-service attacks.
A typical DDoS attack involves hundreds or thousands of computers, under the control of hackers, bombarding an organisation's website with so many hits that it collapses.
Last month, a Japanese defence white paper urged better protection against cyber attacks after US defence contractors were hit by a spate of assaults.
One of the most high-profile cases involved Lockheed Martin - the world's biggest aerospace company, which makes F-16, F-22 and F-35 fighter jets as well as warships.
Although the firm said none of its programmes were compromised in the attack in May, it prompted other defence contractors to assess their own security measures.

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