The head of Russia`s Federal Security Service (FSB) says several people have been arrested for their alleged involvement in a bomb attack which killed 43 people in Daghestan. Full Story

Officials in Sierra Leone are expressing concern about reports that Pakistan is considering withdrawing its troops from the U.N. peacekeeping force in Sierra Leone. The officials are worried a Pakistan pullout would jeopardize the country`s return to peace. Full Story

Landmark peace talks between the Sri Lankan Government and Tamil Tiger rebels could be delayed because of a row over a key ceasefire accord, rebel radio has said. Full Story

As President Bush tries to rally European support for military action against Iraq, U.S. armed services leaders are questioning whether their forces are ready for another war. Full Story

Philippine police said on Thursday they had arrested a leader of a Muslim guerrilla group linked to the al Qaeda network on suspicion of masterminding a bombing that killed 15 people. Full Story

Nepal announced the dissolution of its parliament on Wednesday in a bid to head off a ruling party revolt, and said it would hold fresh elections in November. Full Story

President Bush said Thursday he would warn Russian President Vladimir Putin at talks Friday on U.S. concerns Russia is contributing to weapons proliferation by helping Iran build a nuclear plant. Full Story

Soldiers crouched behind a Coca-Cola sign, squeezing off bullets at an unseen enemy. Frightened teen-agers stumbled through the streets, carrying wounded children in their arms. For many Colombians, images from this week`s battle in Medellin underscored a terrifying new phase their country`s long cycle of violence: urban warfare. Full Story

The United Nations has released its much-anticipated report on events in Bojaya, where earlier this month more than 100 civilians sheltering in a church were killed when Marxist guerrillas bombed the building. Full Story

Dozens of Somali former military officials have said they were trained and armed by Ethiopia in its attempts to destabilise the Somalia`s transitional government. Full Story

More than a thousand World Bank employees worked from home after an anthrax scare, and its sister agency, the International Monetary Fund found evidence of spores in its mail room. Full Story

The Government has begun a review of the Computer Misuse Act, acting on concerns that UK law contains loopholes that make it difficult for the police to prosecute the perpetrators of denial of service attacks. Full Story

South African police have made a breakthrough against organised criminals who spam Internet users in an attempt to defraud them of thousands of pounds Six people were arrested in South Africa last weekend on suspicion of being involved in the infamous Nigerian email and letter fraud. Full Story

A new e-mail scam from a purported American “Special Forces Commando” in Afghanistan who needs help getting terrorist drug money out of the country is making the rounds on the Internet. Full Story

It won`t come as news to IT pros that cybercrime is soaring. But a new slate of stats reveals just how bad the situation really is. Research firm Computer Economics predicts computer crime will more than double this year while virus incidents are expected to increase by 22 percent. Full Story

Two FBI agents passed confidential information about investigations of companies to participants in a stock-manipulation scheme, according to a federal indictment unsealed yesterday. Jeffrey A. Royer and Lynn Wingate were charged with racketeering conspiracy, securities fraud conspiracy and obstruction of justice. Royer, who resigned from the FBI in December and allegedly went to work for…

In an effort to improve the security of the commercial software it buys, the Defense Department beginning in July will prohibit the military services from purchasing information assurance products that have not met a third-party security evaluation. Full Story

The Philippine Computer Emergency Response Team (PH-CERT) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) are teaming up for a computer forensics training and investigation program that would allow both organizations to respond immediately to computer-related problems, especially those related to hackings as well malware attacks. Full Story

An international body representing more than 30 nations, including the U.S., is developing a set of information security principles intended to help in the development of IT security standards, best practices and potential security-related laws. Full Story

Seemingly harmless World Cup screensavers, spreadsheets and electronic wall charts could provide the ideal vehicles for virus and worm propagation. Sophos is advising employees and home PC users not to open unsolicited emails, download material from the Internet or use anything on their computer which is not known to be virus-free. Full Story

New net technologies present opportunities for more than just entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. Virus writers like them, too. Almost every novel internet technology, from e-mail to peer-to-peer networks, has been exploited by virus writers and vandals keen to cause havoc. Full Story

GSG-9 was formed as a direct result of the inept response of German police to actions of Black September terrorists at the 1972 Munich Olympics. Following the end of World War Two, German authorities had been apprehensive about creating an elite military unit for any purpose. This, in addition to the desire to demonstrate to…

Information Security Policies Made Easy by Charles C. Wood is a required bookshelf item for anyone involved in the development, maintenance or analysis of information security policies within a government or commercial organization. More Book Reviews

05/22/1972Sri Lanka – Republic Day – Also known as National Heroes` Day. 05/22/1990Yemen – North and South Yemen Reunited – day declared “Yemeni National Day.” 05/23/1951China (People`s Republic of) – Tibet was “peacefully liberated” when representatives of the Dalai Lama signed an agreement with the Beijing government accepting Chinese rule in return for a promise…

In its first official survey since Sept. 11 of the worldwide terrorism threat, the State Department reported Tuesday that U.S.-led efforts have made significant progress in capturing terrorists and persuading some “rogue” nations to change their behavior. Full Story

Libya and Sudan have curbed their support for militant groups and have cooperated with the US antiterrorism campaign, but their efforts are not yet enough to remove them from the State Department`s list of state sponsors of terrorism, according to an annual government report released yesterday. Full Story

House and Senate negotiators agreed yesterday on the final version of legislation meant to ensure a sustained, comprehensive effort to shore up the nation`s defenses against a bioterror attack. Full Story

A police investigation of a suspicious bag closed the Brooklyn Bridge for an hour on Wednesday, a day after officials warned New Yorkers about vague threats against the landmark bridge and the Statue of Liberty. Full Story

Twelve Palestinian militants began a life in exile Wednesday, flashing a “V” for victory sign as they left Cyprus for other European nations under a deal to end a siege by Israeli forces of Bethlehem`s Church of the Nativity. Full Story

Jihad Jibril, son of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command leader, was buried Wednesday in a refugee camp near Damascus while thousands of mourners pledged to take revenge on Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Full Story

Talks between Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri aimed at returning U.N. weapons inspectors to Baghdad are slated to resume in early July in Vienna, chief U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said Tuesday. Full Story

In an interview with Brazilian radio earlier Tuesday, Minister of Defense Geraldo Quintao said the exercises — the first major joint military operation involving the country`s Army, Navy and Air Force — were “especially important now, as we are facing problems such as smuggling, drug trafficking and the guerrillas in Colombia.” Full Story

Headed for a confrontation with the White House and Congressional Republicans, the majority leader of the Democratic-controlled Senate called today for an independent commission to investigate government action before the Sept. 11 attacks. He said such a panel was needed for “a greater degree of public scrutiny, of public involvement, of public understanding.” Full Story

Each day, another senior Bush administration official has come forward with a dire warning. One by one, they have predicted, with near certainty, that terrorists will strike again in the United States – culminating today with a warning that New York landmarks like the Statue of Liberty might be at risk. Full Story

At a closed-door Congressional hearing, an F.B.I. agent from Phoenix said today that he wrote a memorandum last July about a potential terrorist plot after conducting several interviews with Arab flight school students who expressed extreme animosity toward the United States, lawmakers said today. Full Story

One million soccer fans are expected to visit Japan and South Korea for the coming World Cup, which for the first time is being played in Asia and has two countries as hosts. But the monthlong event, which garners the largest television audience in the world, may also be remembered as the first in which…

At least half of the 48 Muslim radicals linked to terrorist plots in the USA since 1993 manipulated or violated immigration laws to enter this country and then stay here, an analysis by the Center for Immigration Studies says. Full Story

The U.S. Government continues to receive information about potential terrorist actions against U.S. interests abroad. There is growing concern that individuals may be planning terrorist actions against United States citizens and interests, as well as tourist sites frequented by westerners, in the region of the Persian Gulf, the Arabian Peninsula, and North Africa. U.S. citizens…

The Department of State reaffirms its warning to U.S. citizens against travel to Liberia due to the unstable security situation throughout the country. Dissidents have clashed with government troops in a number of areas, including the counties of Lofa, Gbarpolu, Bomi, Margibi and Bong. The fighting may spread to other areas of the country without…

The Department of State warns U.S. citizens to defer travel to Macedonia. The security situation in Macedonia is improving as a result of steps taken to implement the August 2001 Framework Agreement, which called for legislative and constitutional changes as the groundwork for a sustainable peace. Nevertheless, the situation remains unsettled and potentially dangerous. Although…

Rwandan-backed Democratic Republic of Congo rebels and other political groups held talks with Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe Tuesday to try to get him to press Kinshasa for renewed peace talks, state TV reported. Full Story

More than 100 police officers are reported missing in two towns in the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo, says the United Nations. Four policemen in the second city of Kisangani were confirmed dead and an inquiry has been opened to ascertain what had happened to the others, the head of the UN in DR Congo,…

US President George W Bush has left for a week-long tour of Europe where he will urge key allies to persevere in the war on terror. Full Story

Police hunted for clues on Tuesday in the murder of a Palestinian guerrilla leader`s son in Lebanon, a country still haunted by the specter of political killings that plagued it during a 15-year civil war. Full Story

A widely publicized March meeting in Lebanon of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders did not include any senior al Qaeda representatives, U.S. officials said Tuesday. Full Story

Rebel forces have taken control of a key diamond-mining town in northwestern Liberia, military officials said Tuesday. The rebel fighters, using heavy weaponry, met little resistance from government troops when they burst into the town of Lofa Bridge three days ago, the officials said on condition of anonymity. Full Story

Another bridge on a key artery in Madagascar has been blown up, says an army officer loyal to disputed President Marc Ravalomanana, blaming the sabotage on the presidential rivals in a bitter power struggle. Full Story

A Muslim guerrilla leader in the southern Philippines on Wednesday denied newspaper reports his men were fighting over ransom for two U.S. hostages they have held for almost a year. Full Story

The Sri Lankan Government and Tamil Tiger rebels have held their first direct talks in seven years. A government team, accompanied by a diplomat from Norway, flew to a rebel stronghold to discuss a key road linking the northern Tamil heartland with the rest of the island. Full Story

Taliban and al Qaeda guerrillas have been smuggled into Europe in the last few months and are on their way to Britain, a German newspaper reported Wednesday, quoting a letter from Interpol to the German police. Full Story

President Bush warned on Tuesday that al-Qaida terrorists still “want to hurt us,” while his Pentagon chief said terrorists inevitably will acquire weapons of mass destruction from countries like Iraq, Iran or North Korea. Full Story

Police hunted for clues on Tuesday in the murder of a Palestinian guerrilla leader`s son in Lebanon, a country still haunted by the specter of political killings that plagued it during a 15-year civil war. Full Story

Britain said on Wednesday it was withdrawing some diplomats and their families from Pakistan and warned its citizens living and working in the country of a heightened risk to their safety after a number of serious bomb threats to British interests. Full Story

The day after Burma`s military rulers released democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest, they also ordered the destruction of Kho Kay village, say ethnic leaders. Soldiers from three different battalions descended on the ethnic Karen village on May 7 and gave the residents an ultimatum: Leave or be shot. Full Story

At least six Pakistani soldiers were killed and several of their bunkers destroyed when the Indian forces resorted to retaliatory artillery fire on Pakistani positions across the LoC at the Noorpur, Shahpur, Khari Karmara and Sawjian areas of the Poonch sector throughout last night. Full Story

Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on Wednesday told Indian soldiers confronting Pakistani forces across their border in disputed Kashmir that the time had come for a decisive fight. Full Story

Two masked men wearing police uniforms here today fatally shot a Muslim separatist leader who advocated a conciliatory approach to resolving the long-running dispute over Kashmir that has brought India and Pakistan to the brink of war. Full Story

A former Khmer Rouge commander has been arrested in Cambodia in connection with the murders of three Western backpackers in 1994, military officials said. Full Story

At least eight people were killed, including two children, when gunbattles erupted on Tuesday between government troops and Marxist rebels on the streets of Colombia`s third-largest city, authorities said. Full Story

A month after the Sept. 11 attacks, a government report warned federal officials that terrorists easily could plant bombs on passenger jets by shipping them as cargo. But the new Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has failed to remedy flaws that the report warns could prove “catastrophic,” government sources familiar with cargo security say. Full Story