CONFLICT & TERROR 05/31

Gunman kills six in Bosnian town
Posted on Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 9:21am
A man has shot dead at least six people near the northern Bosnian town of Tuzla, police say. One more person was seriously wounded in the shooting, which took place at about 0600 local time (0400 GMT). Full Story

Macedonia votes in shadow of violence, uncertainty
Posted on Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 9:25am
Macedonians vote on Sunday in a parliamentary election marred by campaign violence and held against a backdrop of uncertainty over progress towards European Union and NATO membership.The conservative VMRO-DPMNE party of Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski is expected to win the most seats in the 120-seat parliament on a surge of nationalist sentiment after neighbouring Greece blocked a NATO invitation in April. Full Story

Rightist coalition formed in Belgrade
Posted on Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 9:29am
Serbian nationalists and allies of the late president Slobodan Milosevic signed a coalition agreement Wednesday to form the city government in Belgrade, making it very likely that an extreme-right politician would become the capital's powerful mayor. The agreement among the ultranationalist Radicals, Milosevic's Socialists and the Popular coalition of the outgoing prime minister, Vojislav Kostunica, would see the pro-Western Democrats forced from power in Belgrade for the first time in more than 10 years. Full Story

Prosecutor to probe Turkish opposition bugging claims
Posted on Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 9:31am
The Ankara prosecutors office has opened an investigation into claims by the opposition Republican Peoples Party (CHP) that state officials bugged the office of one of its senior officials. Full Story

Police seize computers in extreme-right search
Posted on Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 9:40am
Police have searched the house of an individual suspected of ties to the 'Holland-hardcore' website, one of the biggest extreme-right websites in The Netherlands. During the search, which took place near The Hague, several computers were seized. Full Story

US to ask Turkey to join Intelligence-Sharing Network
Posted on Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 9:40am
The United States has asked Turkey to join an instant intelligence-sharing network to help fight terrorism. US Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff discussed the FBI-initiated program yesterday with Turkish Interior Minister Beşir Atalay during a visit to Ankara, officials said. Chertoff is expected to have further discussions with justice, defense and interior ministers as well as officials from the General Staff before wrapping up his visit today. Full Story

French police detain 22 people in probe of suspected computer hacking ring
Posted on Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 9:41am
French police say they've detained 22 people across France in an investigation of a suspected computer hacking network. The sweep stems from a probe begun in the eastern city of Dijon in February after about 30 domestic and foreign companies reported cases of computer network vandalism and destruction of some files. Full Story

Spain to block Basque referendum on "right to decide"
Posted on Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 9:50am
The Spanish government said Wednesday that it would block a plan by authorities in the Basque Country for a referendum-style vote on ties with the rest of Spain and ending a decades-long conflict with ETA rebels. The head of the Basque Country's regional government, Juan Josi Ibarretxe, said he wanted Basques to vote yes or no on Oct. 25 on whether to seek peace talks with ETA. Full Story

China earthquake death toll rises to 68,516 by mid-Thursday
Posted on Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 10:58am
The death toll in China's major earthquake increased by about 400 to 68,516 as of 12 p.m. Thursday, the Information Office of the State Council said. Full Story

India to get advanced missile warning system soon
Posted on Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 10:58am
The DRDO and European defence consortium EADS have successfully developed an advanced missile warning system and will start its serial production in Bangalore soon. Full Story

Police tear gas Gujjar protestors, roads blocked, train stoppedPosted on Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 10:58am
Stone-pelting Gujjar protestors were tear gassed by police as the agitation hit the national capital region disrupting roads and rail traffic and causing acute hardship to commuters. Full Story

Tamil Tigers kill 13 in Sri Lankan navy camp raid
Posted on Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 10:59am
Separatist Tamil fighters launched a pre-dawn attack early Thursday against a naval camp on an island off northern Sri Lanka, killing at least 13 sailors, a pro-rebel website said. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said its Sea Tiger wing also seized weapons, including a radar, from the camp on Chiraththivu islet, close to the Jaffna peninsula. Full Story

Flooding destroys 100 villages in India's northeast
Posted on Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 10:59am
Floods triggered by heavy rain destroyed more than 100 villages and affected thousands of people in India's northeast over the last two days, officials said on Thursday. Full Story

Three dead in blast near south Philippines air base
Posted on Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 11:12am
A bomb believed to have been set off by a mobile phone exploded outside an air base in southern Philippines on Thursday, killing three people and wounding 17, police and the military said. Full Story

NATO optimistic Pakistan will resume border operations
Posted on Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 11:13am
The head of NATO forces in Afghanistan, US General Dan McNeill, said Thursday he was optimistic Pakistan would resume operations against militants along its border with Afghanistan. The three-month-old government in Islamabad has scaled down operations as it pursues peace talks with Taliban in a bid to end a wave of bloody violence. Afghanistan fears this could see more attacks this side of the border. Full Story

After 05 Uzbek Uprising, Issues Linger for West
Posted on Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 11:16am
The theater that burned has a fresh coat of paint. Bullet holes have been plastered over. Newspapers talk of cattle farming, tennis courts and World War II victories. Most Uzbeks are more concerned with making ends meet than with fears that the secret police will come for them. The authorities have opened up to the West in some ways but also tried to erase signs of the 2005 uprising in Andijon. Full Story

German jobless rate goes below 8%
Posted on Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 12:14pm
Germany's unemployment rate has fallen below 8% for the first time in more than 16 years, government figures show. The number of people out of work in May was 131,000 lower than in the previous month to 3.283 million. The jobless rate was 7.8% - from 8.1% in April. Full Story

Iraq abduction anniversary appeal
Posted on Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 12:17pm
The families of five British men being held hostage in Iraq for a year have made a joint appeal for their release. The civilian contractors were kidnapped by armed militants at the Iraqi Ministry of Finance in Baghdad. Full Story

'IRA visit' to McCartney witness
Posted on Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 12:21pm
A friend of Robert McCartney, who is a witness at his murder trial, has said he was visited by representatives of the IRA within days of the killing. Mr McCartney, 33, was beaten and stabbed to death outside a Belfast bar on 30 January 2005. Full Story

Riot police clear striking French fishermen
Posted on Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 12:24pm
French Riot police cleared striking fishermen from several oil depots on Thursday as fleets in Italy, Spain and Portugal prepared to join Europe-wide protests over fuel prices. Police launched special dawn operations to move fishermen away from oil depots at Fos-sur-Mer and Lavera and a refinery in La Mede on the Mediterranean coast which faced blockades for the past three weeks, union officials said. Full Story

France to propose EU-wide immigration pact
Posted on Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 12:30pm
France will propose a European Union-wide "pact on immigration" when it takes over the bloc's presidency in July, the Financial Times reported Thursday. According to the business daily, which cited government documents it had seen, the pact calls for more effective deportation measures, compulsory language lessons for immigrants and the fast implementation of biometric visas. Full Story

EU web watchers warn of new internet dangers
Posted on Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 12:34pm
Six million computers worldwide have already been taken over by remote viruses, and social networks such as Facebook put an ever-increasing number of people at risk from data theft, the heads of the EU's web-security agency warned on Tuesday. Full Story

Terror limit compromise 'planned'
Posted on Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 12:52pm
The government will compromise to avoid defeat over plans to extend pre-charge detention for terror suspects from 28 days to 42 days, the BBC understands. It comes as rebel Labour MPs threaten to vote against the proposed extension. Full Story

International security chiefs meet in Jerusalem to discuss counterterrorism
Posted on Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 1:27pm
Chertoff said Thursday that progress is being made in the war on terror but it is being sabotaged by critics of American foreign policy in the West. Chertoff was speaking at a security conference in Jerusalem with counterparts from around the world, aimed at sharing information and techniques to fight terrorism. Full Story

Suicide Bomb Kills 4 in Kabul
Posted on Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 2:09pm
A suicide car bomb exploded near a convoy of international forces here on the eastern side of Kabul, killing four civilian bystanders and wounded 14 others Thursday, police officials said. Full Story

Bangladesh raids anti-India insurgent camp: Report
Posted on Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 2:09pm
A squad of Bangladesh's high-profile anti-crime force, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), demolished a secret camp of the Kamatapur Liberation Organisation (KLO), a separatist outfit active in West Bengal, says Prothom Alo, a Dhaka-based daily. Full Story

China and Taiwan to resume talks
Posted on Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 2:09pm
After a break of almost a decade, China and Taiwan agreed Thursday to resume discussions on issues like visits by mainland Chinese to the island and the introduction of regular direct charter flights between them, according to Xinhua, the official press agency. Full Story

'Scotland's fury' over fuel costs
Posted on Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 2:16pm
It is a "national outrage" that Scotland is not benefiting from extra North Sea oil revenues, First Minister Alex Salmond has claimed. He said there was a mood of fury because Scots were paying "sky-high" prices at the petrol pumps. Full Story

Venezuela says arrests suspected U.S. drugs agent
Posted on Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 6:12pm
Venezuela said on Thursday it arrested a man who identified himself as a U.S. anti-drugs agent, which if confirmed could inflame tensions between the United States and one of its biggest oil suppliers. Full Story

World Bank approves $1.2 bln funding for food crisis
Posted on Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 6:12pm
World Bank President Robert Zoellick on Thursday announced $1.2 billion in loans and grant financing to expand its assistance to poor countries struggling with the effects of soaring fuel and food costs. Full Story

Chile police chief dies in copter crash
Posted on Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 6:16pm
Chile's national police chief and five other visiting Chileans were killed Thursday when their Panamanian government helicopter crashed into a three-story building in Panama City. Full Story

US probes whether laptop copied on China trip
Posted on Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 7:07pm
U.S. authorities are investigating whether Chinese officials secretly copied the contents of a government laptop computer during a visit to China by Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez and used the information to try to hack into Commerce computers, officials and industry experts told The Associated Press. Full Story

NY prosecutors: Reputed Gambino captain arrested
Posted on Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 7:08pm
On the run for nearly four months, a reputed Mafia capo strolled up to the FBI's New York City office on Thursday and surrendered on charges he ordered a decades-old gangland hit that took an innocent bystander's life. Full Story

Courtesy Terrorism Research Center, Inc.