Failed bomb plot in London
British bomb squad officers diffused a "potentially viable" device in the heart of London on Friday. Petrol containers, several gas canisters and a large quantity of nails were found inside a car outside the Tiger Tiger nightclub in The Haymarket near Piccadilly Circus in the early hours. Counter Terrorism Command detectives are investigating. COBRA is to discuss the matter with the new Cabinet today.
Today's incident holds parallels with a foiled bomb plot by British al-Qaida operative Dhiren Barot in 2004. Barot was found with detailed plans to create car bombs using gas canisters in limousines packed with shrapnel. Met terror chief, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke, has said that today's incident "resonated with previous plots", but refused to draw specific links or conclusions at this time.
Chávez backs Iranian nuclear programme
President Hugo Chávez yesterday defended the right of Iran to pursue "a peaceful atomic energy industry", and suggested that Venezuela might do the same. Chávez exclaimed that a multi-polar world is desirable, as opposed to "American freedom", which he described as the right to "threaten other nations and destroy cities".
Terms of a deal have been agreed "in principle" between the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Pyongyang, on how the world nuclear watchdog will monitor the closure of Yongbyon nuclear reactor - the centrepiece of North Korea's nuclear programme.
Civic right to protest violated in Russia
Russian human rights ombudsman Vladimir Lukin has conceded that authorities have violated their citizens' right to protest in public in the country. In doing so, they have breached both the spirit and even the letter of the Constitution. A 2004 law governing public protest stipulates that, while authorities can request a change in location or time of a protest, they may not approve or prohibit one, as has been practiced.
Moscow has called upon Paris to explain the freedom of movement in Europe allotted to Chechen dissident leader Akhmed Zakayev, Russia's First television reported on Friday. Zakayev, accused of kidnapping and murder, was granted asylum in Britain in 2002.
Red Cross condemns Myanmar abuses
In a rare departure from their usual position of neutrality, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has condemned the military government of Myanmar (Burma) for its major human rights abuses. Myanmar officials have failed to take heed of ICRC concerns, and stem the abuse of men, women and children within their territories.
The United States renewed calls for the release of Myanmar opposition leader and Nobel Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, during face-to-face talks in Beijing on Tuesday. Myanmar officials purportedly showed no sign of ending her house arrest, nor releasing the thousands of other political prisoners held in the country.
Indian defence deal in motion
India has approved the purchase of 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft in a defence deal estimated at Rs 42,000 crores (around £5bn).
Ninjas embark along politics road
Pasteur Ntumi, the leader of the Congolese Ninjas, has emerged from the jungle to the west of the capital Brazzaville, to pursue democratic politics. The Ninjas, comprising a force of around 5,000 combatants, signed a peace deal in 2003, though held on to their weapons; civilians continued to be robbed and intimidated. Now, their leader has been awarded a role in government - responsible for peace and reparations. In February his movement became a political party while weapons are being destroyed piecemeal.
Côte d'Ivoire PM escapes rocket attack
Côte d'Ivoire Prime Minister Guillaume Soro has survived a rocket attack on his aeroplane as it attempted to land at an airport in Bouake. Soro has said that some in his New Forces group had branded him a traitor when he assumed the premiership in April, after signing a peace deal with President Laurent Gbagbo.
Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi has called upon the United Nations (UN) Security Council to transform the African Union (AU) force in the country into a UN mission. Council members have said that steps toward peace must be evidenced prior to the deployment of a peacekeeping force in the region, however.
Trade, not aid for Africa
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has called for a shift in the way in which rich and middle-income nations approach poverty in Africa. Rather than aid pledges, he exclaimed , "open your markets to our products", lower tariffs and cut subsidies, so that African nations might compete for market value.
Bhuwan Thapaliya, of Artists Without Borders, made a case for trade, not aid for Africa in an article two years ago.
AIDS-conflict escalatory theory disputed
Intuitive assumptions that HIV/AIDS infection rates increase amid conflict - owing to large-scale rape and refugee crises - has been disputed. Tracking infection rates in seven sub-Saharan countries beset by conflict, a research group recently found no evidence to suggest that the rate of HIV/AIDS contraction rose in these states during conflict.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs discusses humanitarian news and analysis vis-à-vis tackling AIDS in Africa.
Five US soldiers killed in Iraq
Five American soldiers have been killed and seven others injured after their patrol was hit by a roadside bomb in southern Baghdad. Meanwhile, a planned march by Shia Muslims to the Samarra shrine has been cancelled owing to security concerns - the route would have taken marchers through Sunni neighbourhoods.
Iranian MPs question petrol rationing
Iranian members of parliament have said that they will press populist President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to alter, or perhaps scrap, the government decision to impose petrol rationing, after the measure was met with violent protests on Thursday.
Palestinians protestors fired upon in Lebanon
Three Palestinian protestors have been killed and a further 50 wounded, after Lebanese soldiers opened fire on civilians who had demanded to return to their homes in the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp. Protestors had reportedly tried to storm a military checkpoint, and attacked troops with stones and sticks.
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas announced on Friday that his government supported the Lebanese authorities' attempts to dislodge militants from the Palestinian refugee camps in the country.
Lebanon's security as well as its self-interest demands a policy of humanity and respect towards the Palestinians in its midst, says Zaid Al-Ali on openDemocracy.
Israeli troops shoot dead Fatah member
Israeli troops have shot dead a member of Fatah's al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades in the city of Nablus in the occupied West Bank. Israeli forces have now withdrawn from the Old City after a two-day incursion.
Multimillionaire businessman and suspected Mossad agent Ashraf Marwan died on Wednesday, after falling from the balcony of his apartment block. Hitherto a national hero in Egypt, Marwan was named three years ago as having tipped off Israel about the impending advance by Egyptian and Syrian forces at the start of the Yom Kippur war in 1973.
US companies employing paras
A former paramilitary soldier has told a congressional panel that US companies have employed the United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC) to guard facilities and properties from leftist guerrillas. It has been illegal to provide financial assistance to the group since September 2001, upon their designation as ‘terrorists'. The AUC are implicated in the murder of Colombian civilians.
Plan Colombia and Beyond discusses the efforts of relatives of those held hostage by FARC to secure their release.
Civilian courts for Guantánamo detainees
The US Supreme Court has agreed to review whether detainees at Guantánamo Bay may challenge their indefinite confinement before a federal court. In April, the court turned down such a request. It is unclear what altered the justices' minds, although only last week a military lawyer critiqued the inability of the administration to offer any coherent alternative to hearings by civilian courts.
A "bedrock Presidential prerogative" has been invoked by the White House in their withholding of subpoenaed documents concerning the firing of US attorneys. It is unclear as yet whether the administration will pursue a similar route vis-à-vis yesterday's subpoenas regarding the National Security Agency's wiretapping without warrants.
