Federal Reserve Bomb Plotter Jailed For 30 Years

A 22-year-old man who admitted plotting to blow up the Federal Reserve Bank in New York has been sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis, from Bangladesh, begged for leniency during his sentencing, having pleaded guilty to terrorism charges in February.

"I'm ashamed. I'm lost. I tried to do a terrible thing. I alone am responsible for what I've done. Please forgive me," he told Manhattan federal court, as he apologised to the judge, the United States, New York City and his parents.

The defendant said in a five-page typed letter to Judge Carol Bagley Amon that he no longer believed in radical Islam.

"My actions are inexcusable and cowardly," he wrote.

The Federal Reserve Bank Of New York

"After giving a deep thought I truly hate my actions and I know that I will never pursue such behaviour again that is not only un-Islamic, but also destroyed my family and my life."

He was charged in October 2012 with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and attempting to provide material support to al Qaeda.

The court heard that Nafis became radicalised at his university in Bangladesh and came to the US with aspirations of jihad.

Authorities said Nafis adopted increasingly more radical views once in the US and began using Facebook and other social media to seek support for a terror attack.

One of his contacts turned out to be a government informant who notified authorities.

While under investigation, Nafis spoke of his admiration for Osama bin Laden and talked of writing an article about his plot for an al Qaeda affiliated magazine.

He also talked about wanting to kill President Barack Obama and bomb the New York Stock Exchange, officials said.

As the plot progressed, Nafis selected his target, drove a van loaded with dummy explosives to the door of the bank and tried to set off the bomb from a hotel room using a cell phone he thought had been rigged as a detonator, authorities said.

No one was ever actually in danger because the explosives were fakes provided by the government.

"Nafis's goals of martyrdom and carnage were thwarted by the vigilance of law enforcement," said US district attorney Loretta Lynch after the sentencing.

"He will now spend the next 30 years where his own actions have landed him -- in a federal prison cell," she said.

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Zimbabwe's Opposition Appeals Mugabe Poll Win

Zimbabwe's main opposition party has gone to the country's top court to challenge the result of last month's election which gave President Robert Mugabe another five years in power.

The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) claims the poll on July 31 was a "farce" riddled with fraud and voters were allegedly intimidated by Mr Mugabe's ZANU-PF party.

Lawyers for the MDC have lodged papers with the constitutional court in the capital Harare arguing the result was rigged, should be annulled and a new election held.

Zimbabwe's electoral commission had declared veteran politician Mr Mugabe the winner with 61% of the votes in the presidential election, against MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai with 34%.

"We want a fresh election within 60 days. The prayer that we also seek is to declare the election null and void," MDC spokesman Douglas Mwonzora told journalists outside the court.

Morgan Tsvangirai served as Mr Mugabe's PM in a fractious unity government

Zimbabwe's constitution says the court must rule on the case within 14 days.

Most analysts believe the MDC's legal challenge to Mr Mugabe's victory will not be successful given ZANU-PF's dominance over the judiciary and state institutions in the country.

Mr Mugabe, who has been president since 1987, will be sworn in only after the case is decided.

ZANU-PF has denied any vote-rigging in the election, which Mr Tsvangirai, who has served as Mugabe's prime minister in a fractious unity government, has called a "coup by ballot".

Election observers from the African Union and the Southern African Development Community broadly approved the presidential and parliamentary elections as orderly and free.

But the vote result has been questioned by the West.

The United States, which maintains sanctions against Mr Mugabe, has said it does not believe his re-election was credible.

The European Union, which has been looking at easing sanctions, has also expressed concerns over alleged serious flaws in the vote.

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Olympic Boycott Urged Over Russia Gay Rights

By Katie Stallard, Russia Correspondent

Calls are growing for a boycott of next year's Winter Olympics in Russia in protest at what campaigners have called its "barbaric" new homophobic laws.

Broadcaster Stephen Fry has appealed directly to David Cameron and members of the International Olympic Committee [IOC] to stop the games being held in Russia, comparing Vladimir Putin's treatment of gay people to Adolf Hitler's treatment of Jews.

He said allowing the games to go ahead in Putin's Russia would be comparable to the decision to hold the 1936 Olympics in Nazi Germany.

Four-time Olympic champion diver Greg Louganis yesterday delivered a 320,000 signature petition to IOC headquarters in Switzerland, urging it to condemn Russia's "anti-gay laws".

Stephen Fry has compared Russia's actions to the Nazis

US President Barack Obama said earlier this week: "I think they [Putin and Russia] understand that for most of the countries that participate in the Olympics, we wouldn't tolerate gays and lesbians being treated differently." 

Asked by TV host Jay Leno whether this was "like Germany: let's round up the Jews, let's round up the gays," President Obama replied: "I have no patience for countries that try to treat gays or lesbians or transgender persons in a way that intimidate them or are harmful to them."

The White House later cancelled a planned meeting with President Putin in Moscow, primarily over Russia's decision to grant whistleblower Edward Snowden asylum, but also citing a lack of progress on human rights among a number of issues of concern.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin signed a new bill into law in June banning "homosexual propaganda" - making it illegal to give anyone under 18 information about homosexuality.

Anyone deemed to be promoting gay rights, or "non-traditional relationships" to young people in Russia could now be arrested and fined, or in the case of foreigners, detained and deported.

Protesters gathered outside the Russian consulate in New York

Critics say the law is intentionally vaguely-worded and part of a broader crackdown on gay rights in Russia.

The country's sports minister has said the law will apply to athletes and spectators at the Sochi games, due to be held in the Russian Black Sea resort in February 2014.

In an open letter to the British Prime Minister and IOC, Stephen Fry said: "The IOC absolutely must take a firm stance on behalf of the shared humanity it is supposed to represent against the barbaric, fascist law that Putin has pushed through the Duma.

"An absolute ban on the Russian Winter Olympics of 2014 on Sochi is simply essential.

"Stage them elsewhere in Utah, Lillyhammer, anywhere you like. At all costs Putin cannot be seen to have the approval of the civilised world.

"He is making scapegoats of gay people, just as Hitler did Jews. He cannot be allowed to get away with it."

Leading Russian LGBT rights campaigner Nikolai Alexeyev, head of the organisation Gay Russia, told Sky News it had seen an increase in homophobic violence since the introduction of the law.

He said: "The situation is deteriorating in the last months due to the very big discussions around the law banning homosexual propaganda.

Scuffles broke out outside parliament when the new law was debated in June

"Of course this law gave a sort of carte blanche top to the anti-gay people - anti-gay activists - to further attack LGBT people.

"We saw in recent months a rise in homophobic crimes, we saw that several people were killed on the basis of hatred towards LGBT people.

"The situation is very tense now due to this law and the forthcoming Olympic Games, which is now very much linked to this gay topic due to the outrage from the international community."

The controversial law has also prompted a campaign to boycott Russian vodka in the United States, as well as criticism from pop stars including Madonna and Lady Gaga.

In a message on her Twitter account earlier this week, Lady Gaga called the Russian government "criminal".

She added: "Why didn't you arrest me when you had the chance, Russia? Because you didn't want answer to the world?""

"Oppression will be met with revolution. Russian LGBTs you are not alone. We will fight for your freedom."

An IOC spokeswoman confirmed it had received a petition from activists and said it had "engaged in an open and constructive discussion" with them.

Campaigners want protests and publicity during next year's winter games

Speaking in Sochi on Wednesday, Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak said the law would not "infringe on rights of people based on sexual orientation, either at the Olympics, or before or after" - as long as children were not involved.

He said gay athletes could "get on with their private life, including telling adults about its advantages and attractiveness, but not involve children".

LGBT campaigner Nikolai Alexeyev said a boycott would not be fair to the sportsmen and women who have trained towards the games.

The Sochi Olympics should instead to be used to draw attention to the current situation in Russia, said Mr Alexeyev.

"I think it's not very just to these athletes to deny them this opportunity to compete and I think that it would be much more practical to express outrage against these homophobic laws in Russia by showing some kind of support during the Olympic Games, during the press conference, during the TV reports from the games, during any Olympic competitions."

He added: "To wear the rainbow pins, wear the rainbow flags, to do something during the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics … to try to do the gay pride in Sochi like we want to do on the day of the opening of the games.

"I think this will attract more publicity around the world because the eyes of the world will be on Sochi during the games in February next year."

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Malaria Jab a Step Closer After Vaccine Trial

Tests on a new malaria vaccine have raised hopes the battle is being won against the disease which kills hundreds of thousands of people every year.

The experimental drug, which is known as PfSPZ and is made from living Plasmodium falciparum parasites, has proved highly effective in early-stage clinical trials.

Although the "proof of concept" trial was small - involving 40 adults - it could pave the way for the first vaccine offering 100% protection.

Manufacturing the vaccine was itself an achievement for researchers.

2010: 90% of all malaria deaths occurred in the poorest parts of Africa

Scientists first exposed sterile mosquitoes to malaria-infected blood before irradiating them to weaken the malaria parasites. Then the mosquitoes had to be carefully dissected to extract the parasites to make the serum.

"This was something that everybody said was not possible; and here it is," said Navy Captain Judith Epstein, one of the researchers from research company Sanaria, in Rockville, Maryland.

"We're in the first stages now of really being able to have a completely effective vaccine," she said, adding she hoped to see licensing of the vaccine within three to five years.

Early results of the vaccine are promising though not yet a breakthrough

Malaria infected 219 million people in 2010 and killed an estimated 660,000, according to the World Health Organisation - the equivalent of one child in Africa dying every minute.

"It's an important proof of concept," said Dr Anthony Fauci, director of America's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, adding that the results were the most promising yet of any experimental vaccine, though he resisted calling the trial a breakthrough.

"There are several more steps before you can feel comfortable that you have something that might be ready for prime time," he said.

"So we're really not there yet, but it's encouraging to see these very favourable results."

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Obama Cancels Putin Talks Amid Snowden Row

Putin Snub Shows Obama's Fury

Updated: 9:36pm UK, Wednesday 07 August 2013

By Greg Milam, US Correspondent

They sandwiched it in between a late-night chat show appearance and a web live-chat about the housing market.

But make no mistake, what the White House delivered to Moscow from sunny California was nothing but cold, hard fury.

The Obama administration has been pondering the cancellation of its planned summit with Vladimir Putin for weeks.

One cannot overestimate the anger felt in Washington over the decision to grant temporary asylum to NSA leaker Edward Snowden.

The US had lobbied hard against it and thought they were getting somewhere. When it turned out they weren't, they were livid.

The statement issued in cancelling the Putin summit, listing the damning catalogue of relationship failures, was a remarkable public rebuke to Moscow: missile defence, arms control, trade relations, human rights, civil society and, biggest of all, "global security issues".

For that, read "Syria".

"Given the lack of progress ...," it read.

In effect, it said that if there is nothing the two sides can agree on, there appears to be nothing to talk about.

Mr Obama had already used his appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno to lambaste Mr Putin for "slipping into Cold War thinking".

Leaving aside why Mr Obama chose a comedy show to address (for the first time in the case of the worldwide terror alert) the big issues facing America, it was a calculated show of strength from the Commander-in-Chief.

He has been under pressure to show Moscow that the US would not take its Snowden decision lightly.

For that reason, if he had not cancelled the summit, and had handed Mr Putin the courtesy of a bilateral meeting, he would have appeared weak in the eyes of his critics.

Remember this is a president who signalled a reset on relations with Russia under its then leader Dmitry Medvedev.

Those days, of muttered promises from a Mr Obama unaware the microphone was still on, seem long distant now.

The difference, White House officials will tell you, is all about the man now in the Kremlin and his unwillingness to do business.

"A troubled relationship" is how deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes describes it.

Who can see it getting better? Snowden has ripped the wound wide open again but Syria is the long-running and ever-deepening malaise between the two.

And that is even before we get to the issue of gay rights and calls for a boycott of the upcoming Winter Olympics in Sochi.

Mr Obama chose to chide Mr Putin about that too - on The Tonight Show, of course.

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Canada Snake Attack: Boys Died Of Asphyxiation

Police have confirmed that brothers Connor and Noah Barthe died of asphyxiation after they were strangled to death by a 13-foot-long African rock python in Canada.

Post-mortem examinations on the children's bodies have confirmed the cause of death as a police investigation into the deaths continues.

The children - aged six and four - were found dead on Monday morning in an apartment above a pet shop in the town of Campbellton, New Brunswick.

The pair had been at a sleep-over with a friend, the son of shop owner Jean-Claude Savoie. Mr Savoie tended to a private menagerie of exotic animals, including the python.

Officials say Mr Savoie did not have a permit to keep the 100-pound snake.

(L-R) Noah, Mandy Trecartin, Connor (Pic: Facebook / Mandy Trecartin)

"We were informed that a number of exotic animals were discovered while police were investigating the tragic deaths of the two boys believed killed by an African rock python," said Anne Bull, a spokeswoman for New Brunswick's Department of Natural Resources.

"That species of snake is not permitted in New Brunswick. According to our records, we have never had any involvement with this snake."

Police are treating the apartment as a crime scene and an investigation has been launched into how children became exposed to the predator.

Stuffed animals at a makeshift memorial near the pet store in Campbellton

The children's deaths have triggered a wave of emotion in New Brunswick and local people have held a candle-light vigil later in memory of the boys.

Mr Savoie found the young victims dead on Monday morning and alerted the authorities. Veterinary officials seized the snake and euthanised it.

Animal experts have expressed surprise at the tragedy, many of them noting that, while an African rock python is a dangerous animal capable killing large prey, it would not normally attack humans.

The deaths have also led to a debate about Canada's laws relating to exotic pets, with overlapping federal, provincial and local regulations leading to confusion over ownership and safety rules.

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Iran's Rouhani Urges Nuclear Talks With West

Iran's new President Hassan Rouhani has said he is "seriously determined" to resolve a dispute with the West over Tehran's nuclear programme.

Addressing his first news conference as leader, Mr Rouhani said was ready to enter "serious and substantive" negotiations on the issue without delay.

"We are the people of interaction and talks, with seriousness and without wasting time, if the other sides are ready," he said.

"As the president of the Islamic republic, I am announcing that there is political will to solve this issue and also take into consideration the concerns of the other sides.

"If the other party is also prepared like we are, then I am confident that the concerns of both sides will be removed through negotiations within a period which will not be very long."

Mr Rouhani said he wanted to allay Western concerns but would not surrender Iran's rights.

"Iran's peaceful nuclear programme is a national issue ... we will not give up the rights of the Iranian people," he said.

He said Iran would not abandon its nuclear programme, which it would uphold "on the basis of international law".

"We will preserve our rights based on the international regulations," he added, in reference to Iran's insistence that it has the right to peaceful use of nuclear power as a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Mr Rouhani also used the speech to hit out at a call by 76 US senators for tougher sanctions from Washington.

Former leader Mr Ahmadinejad (C) at a nuclear enrichment facility in 2008

He said Friday's letter from the politicians to President Barack Obama, which was published on Monday, showed a lack of understanding of Iranian politics.

"Recent declarations from the the White House show that some US officials do not have a correct and realistic assessment of the situation here and the message that the Iranian people gave in the election," the new president said.

"They are still sending contradictory messages," he said, adding: "We care about the US response in deeds, not in words."

On Sunday, the White House said Iran will find the United States a "willing partner" if Mr Rouhani is prepared to engage substantively and seriously on its nuclear programme.

Mr Rouhani headed Iran's nuclear negotiating team in the early 2000s and Western leaders have expressed hope of a more constructive approach in the protracted talks.

The hard line policies of Mr Rouhani's predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, prompted crippling EU and US sanctions against Iran's oil and banking sectors that he has vowed to seek to relax.

Iran's critics say that it has used previous nuclear talks as a delaying tactic while continuing to develop nuclear weapons-related technology - something Tehran denies.

Western powers believe the Iranian nuclear programme is being used to develop an atomic bomb but Tehran insists it is for peaceful purposes.

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Iraq Bombs: Dozens Killed In Car Blasts

At least 51 people have been killed by a series of car bombs that ripped through busy markets and shopping streets in and around Baghdad.

More than 100 were wounded in the blasts as Iraq battles with its worst surge of sectarian violence in five years.

More than 1,000 were killed in the country in July - the highest monthly death toll since 2008, the United Nations said.

The Interior Ministry ramped up security in the capital this week by closing roads and deploying additional police and helicopters.

Bombs went off in northern, eastern and southern districts of the capital late on Tuesday, in areas crowded with shoppers and worshippers near a mosque.

Wreckage at the scene of a blast in Baghdad's Karrada district

One of the attacks hit a square in central Baghdad, where a parked car bomb killed five and wounded 18.

In a mainly Shi'ite neighbourhood to the south, another car bomb exploded close to a shop selling ice cream after the evening breaking of the Ramadan fast.

In Nahrawan, 30km (20 miles) southeast of Baghdad, militants targeted a crowded commercial street with a car bomb.

On the northern outskirts of the capital, a bomb exploded near a packed market.

Co-ordinated strikes that kill scores of people have become more common in Iraq in recent months.

Sunni Islamist militants have been regaining momentum in their insurgency against the Shi'ite-led government since the start of the year and have been emboldened by the civil war in neighbouring Syria, which has stoked sectarian tensions across the Middle East.

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Embassy Threat Came From Bugged Al Qaeda Call

Opportunity Knocks With Embassy Scare

Updated: 1:39pm UK, Monday 05 August 2013

By Sam Kiley, Middle East Correspondent

Talk about an opportunity.

Intelligence, from somewhere, indicated a serious plot to attack US interests - notably an embassy, in an unspecified Muslim nation.

Washington moves quickly. Some 22 embassies are 'closed'.

Within hours senators are defending the National Security Agency's highly controversial programmes for intercepting, that means bugging of some kind, of emails and phones across the US and the rest of the world.

"There has been an awful lot of (terrorist) chatter, which is very reminiscent of what we saw pre-9/11," said the Republican senator Saxby Chambliss on NBC's Meet the Press.

"As we come to the end of Ramadan, which is always an interesting time for terrorists, and the upcoming 9/11 anniversary, this is the most serious threat that I have seen in the last several years."

Mr Chambliss said he believed the intelligence had been gathered by the NSA using foreign surveillance powers granted under section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

"This is a good indication of why they (the surveillance powers) are so important," he said.

Another Republican, Lindsey Graham weighed in. The senator said: "It is scary … the NSA programme is proving its worth yet again."

Coming at a time when the NSA is being investigated and pilloried in some quarters for violating the privacy of individuals. And at a time when the NSA has been exposed for spending $100m (£65m) on the UK's GCHQ facility in Cheltenham as part of its programme of global electronic surveillance, the US embassy scares are a Godsend.

Any attack on an American embassy would be extremely difficult. After the 1998 bombing of the Nairobi mission in which hundreds died, American diplomatic buildings closely resemble high value military installations, wrapped in concrete.

Ayman al Zawahiri, the new leader of al Qaeda, last week issued a call to arms and orders to his followers to attack US interests.

His statement was timed to coincide with the jail break of al Qaeda supporters in Iraq, Libya and Pakistan.

Al Qaeda threats are real. They are a tactical nightmare.

They are hard to stop, and take intense amounts of funding to prevent.

But al Qaeda has never posed a strategic threat to any Western nation. It can't disrupt trade, shut down power supplies, or topple governments.

It does, however, affect our lives every day as a consequence of the natural vigilance that sensible precautions against terror would require.

And as a result of legislation like the US Patriot Act and the UK's draft Communications Bill, both of which curtail individual liberties of ordinary citizens in the name of fighting terror.

It may be cynical to suggest that had it not been for the work of the NSA and other electronic surveillance organisations, that a terrible atrocity would not have been avoided.

But no plot is ever unravelled by electronic spying alone.

The focus of the latest operation appears to be the Yemen. The British embassy has closed there and asked all of its citizens to get out of the country.

The last time a major terror attack was foiled which emanated from the Yemen was when printers were loaded with plastic explosives and sent by courier to targets in the US.

They were intercepted in the UK. On information supplied by a Saudi agent. A good old fashioned human spy.

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Python Attack: Snake Kills Two Sleeping Boys

A python that escaped from a pet store has killed two children by strangling them in their sleep in eastern Canada.

The two boys - named locally as Noah Barthe, 5, and Connor Barthe, 7 - were having a sleepover at their best friend's flat in the town of Campbellton when they were attacked by the snake.

The animal had escaped from the Reptile Ocean pet store run by family friend Jean-Claude Savoie, located on the ground floor of the building. The store specialises in exotic pets.

Police outside the exotic pet store in Campbellton (Pic: CBC News)

Police said the African rock python entered the upstairs apartment via the two-storey building's ventilation system.

The boys were sleeping in the living room when they were attacked by the snake early on Monday morning.

"The preliminary investigation has led police to believe that a large exotic snake had escaped its enclosure at the store," the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said in a statement.

Connor Barthe (L) and Noah Barthe (Pic: Facebook / Mandy Trecartin)

"(It) got into the ventilation system, then into the upstairs apartment. It's believed the two boys were strangled by the snake."

The boys' mother, Mandy Trecartin, lives close to the Reptile Ocean store.

Mr Savoie told Global News that he found a "horrific scene" when he checked on the boys.

A Burmese python in its cage at a zoo in Florida (Pic: File)

"I thought they were sleeping and I've seen the hole in the ceiling, (and) everything has fallen. I turn the lights on and I've seen this horrific scene," Mr Savoie said.

"I have so many mixed emotions right now. I can't believe this is real."

The python has been recaptured and is being held by police.

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Iran's New President Rouhani Takes Office

The new Iranian president Hassan Rouhani has taken an oath of office, calling for an end to sanctions placed on the country over its nuclear stance.

Mr Rouhani was sworn in before parliament in Tehran and began naming a cabinet he said would be chosen from figures across the political spectrum.

He formally took office on Saturday at a ceremony in which he received the endorsement of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who retains the final say on all strategic issues.

During his speech to parliament he said the only way to interact with Iran was through dialogue and not sanctions, alluding to the stand-off with world powers over Tehran's nuclear ambitions.

Mohammad Nahavandian has been appointed as the president's chief of staff

"The only path to interact with Iran is through negotiations on equal grounds, reciprocal trust-building, mutual respect and reducing hostilities," the new president said.

His first appointment was a US-educated businessman as his chief of staff, in a move that it likely to be seen as good for relations with America and other Western powers.

The state IRNA news agency said Mr Rouhani had named Mohammad Nahavandian, a 58-year-old businessman with a doctorate in economics from George Washington University in Washington as his new right hand man.

Other appointments to his cabinet were Iran's former ambassador to the United Nations Mohammad Javad Zarif as foreign minister and Bijan Zanganeh to the post of oil minister.

Mr Rouhani was elected with a wide margin over conservative rivals in June, in a win that has been interpreted as a rejection by the electorate of the Iranian regime's hardline approach.

He has pledged to pursue less confrontational policies abroad in order to ease international sanctions on Iran's economy over its disputed nuclear programme.

The Iranian economy has been suffering its worst crisis in a generation as economic sanctions placed on it by the west have cut its access to oil revenues in the midst of a worldwide slump.

Hassan Rouhani succeeds Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

He also has to try to balance the demands of hardliners who dominate parliament and the officially sidelined reformists whose support helped him win the election.

For all his rhetoric on cooperation, the new president is very much an insider in the Islamic Republic, having served in senior military and security roles since shortly after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Mr Rouhani succeeds Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose turbulent two-term presidency was marked by frequent outbursts against Israel in particular, as well as other countries.

Mr Rouhani suggested on Friday he was not deviating from his predecessor's position when he took a swipe at the Jewish state during a rally marking the annual Quds (Jerusalem) Day.

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei casting his ballot

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lashed out in response, saying: "The president of Iran said ... that Israel is a wound on the body of Islam. The president of Iran may have been changed but the aims of the regime there have not.

"Iran's intention is to develop a nuclear capability and nuclear weapons, with the aim of destroying the state of Israel."

Western governments suspect that Iran's nuclear programme is a cover for a drive for weapons capability. Iran insists it is for power generation and medical purposes only.

Both the United States and Israel - which has the Middle East's sole, if undeclared, nuclear arsenal - have refused to rule out a resort to military action to prevent Iran developing a weapons capability.

Saudi Arabia denied permission for a plane carrying Sudanese President Omar al Bashir to travel through its airspace on Sunday for the swearing-in of the new Iranian president. The aircraft had to turn back.

The Sudanese leader, an alleged war criminal, was travelling to attend President Hassan Rouhani's swearing-in. The prime minister of Syria and North Korea's ceremonial head of state, Kim Yong-Nam, were also invited.

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US Embassy Security Closures Are Extended

The US is extending the closure of some of its embassies in the Middle East and Africa through to August 10 over security fears.

The State Department said a small number of additional posts would also be closed, while certain others would reopen on Monday.

The Obama administration announced on Friday that 22 posts would be closed over the weekend.

The State Department also announced a global travel alert, warning that al Qaeda or its allies might target either US government or private American interests.

On the extension, spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement: "This is not an indication of a new threat stream, merely an indication of our commitment to exercise caution and take appropriate steps to protect our employees including local employees and visitors to our facilities."

The Department of State building in New York

It said diplomatic posts in Abu Dhabi, Amman, Cairo, Riyadh, Dhahran, Jeddah, Doha, Dubai, Kuwait, Manama, Muscat, Sanaa, Tripoli, Antanarivo, Bujumbura, Djibouti, Khartoum, Kigali, and Port Louis would be closed from Monday through to Saturday of the coming week.

Those reopening for normal operations on Monday include Dhaka, Algiers, Nouakchott, Kabul, Herat, Mazar el Sharif, Baghdad, Basrah, and Erbil.

The extension came as security forces closed roads, put up extra blast walls and increased patrols on Sunday near some of the 22 diplomatic missions ordered to close.

In recent days, US officials have said they have received significant and detailed intelligence suggesting a possible attack, with some clues pointing to the al Qaeda terror network.

The US embassy compound in Yemen was stormed last year

The State Department said the potential for terrorism was particularly acute in the Middle East and North Africa with a possible attack occurring on or coming from the Arabian Peninsula.

"The threat was specific as to how enormous it was going to be and also that certain dates were given," Representative Pete King, who chairs a House panel on counter-terrorism and intelligence, told ABC on Sunday.

Mr King said he believes al Qaeda "is in many ways stronger than it was before 9/11 because it has mutated and it's spread in dramatically different locations."

The terror network's Yemen branch, known as al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, "is the most deadly of all the al-Qaeda affiliates," Mr King said.

In Yemen's capital, Sanaa, security was beefed up on Sunday around the embassy building and the nearby Sheraton Hotel where US marines stay.

In the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, troops set up new blast barriers last week to block several streets leading into the city's already heavily fortified Green Zone, home to the sprawling US embassy and Iraqi government offices.

In the Jordanian capital of Amman, a Jordanian security officer said bomb squads searched the perimeter of the US embassy while additional security vehicles were deployed in the area, including troop carriers with special forces trained in counter-terrorism.

Security also was tightened around the homes of US diplomats in Amman, said the officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

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Interpol Global Security Alert After Jailbreaks

A global security alert has been issued by Interpol as it urged countries to be on their guard following a series of prison breaks believed linked to al Qaeda.

The international police organisation warning comes after America's State Department put out a worldwide travel alert and will close 21 of its embassies and consulates across the Muslim world on Sunday.

The US measure was in response to non-specific information suggesting the terror network was planning attacks during the month of August.

The Obama administration has warned US citizens of the potential for terrorism particularly in the Middle East and North Africa.

US joint chiefs of staff chairman General Martin Dempsey said there was a "significant threat", describing it as "more specific" than previous threats.

A section of the British embassy compound in Yemen

Meanwhile, Britain is shutting the doors of its embassy in Yemen on Sunday for two days due to increased security concerns. France will also close its embassy for the same reason.

Britain's Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has withdrawn a number of staff from the capital Sana'a, and British nationals have been warned against all travel to the country.

Those still in Yemen have been advised to leave immediately, as it is "extremely unlikely" their evacuation could be arranged if the security situation deteriorates.

The FCO recommended particular vigilance during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which ends on August 8, when "tensions could be heightened".

Interpol urged countries around the world to show "increased vigilance", following a series of prison escapes over the past month, which freed hundreds of terrorists in Iraq, Libya and Pakistan.

The State Department warned US citizens of the potential for terrorism

An elaborate raid earlier this week freed 252 inmates from a prison in Dera Ismail Khan in Pakistan.

Rocket-propelled grenades and bombs were used in the assault, with the Taliban claiming that two dozen newly-liberated militants had been smuggled into its tribal heartland.

Interpol said it was "asking its member countries to closely follow and swiftly process any information linked to these events and the escaped prisoners".

It added: "They are also requested to alert the relevant member country and Interpol general secretariat headquarters if any escaped terrorist is located or intelligence developed which could help prevent another terrorist attack."

Four Americans were killed in the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi

Yemen has become a stronghold of al Qaeda over recent years, with local offshoot al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula believed to have several hundred members.

This was despite efforts by the country's authorities to suppress the group and US drones killing leaders including Anwar al Awlaki.

Yemen was the source of an attempt to bomb a US-bound airliner in 2009.

There has been unrest recently after the mutiny of troops in the Republican Guard, with fighting around the presidential palace on Friday.

The latest alert by the US warned that al Qaeda or its allies may target American government or private US interests.

It cited dangers involved with public transportation systems and other prime sites for tourists, noting that previous terrorist attacks have centred on subway and rail networks as well as aircraft and boats.

The US State Department issued a major warning last year informing American diplomatic facilities across the Muslim world about potential violence connected to the anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

In Benghazi, Libya, four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens, were killed in an attack on the US consulate.

The deadly assault has prompted several calls for investigations from House Republicans who have accused the Obama administration of misleading Americans about the attack.

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Zimbabwe: 'Grave Concerns' Over Election

Zimbabwe: Mugabe's Party Claims Win

Updated: 2:28pm UK, Thursday 01 August 2013

Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has dismissed the country's national elections as a "huge farce" and the results invalid because of intimidation and ballot-rigging by President Robert Mugabe's ruling party, which has claimed victory.

"In our view, that election is null and void," he said, after a senior Zanu-PF source earlier claimed a resounding victory for President Mugabe in Zimbabwe's presidential and parliamentary elections.

The unnamed senior official said the outcome was already clear and told Reuters news agency: "We've taken this election. We've buried the MDC. We never had any doubt that we were going to win."

The opposition, Mr Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), immediately claimed the elections had been "a monumental fraud" and held an emergency meeting.

"Zimbabweans have been taken for a ride by Zanu-PF and Mugabe, we do not accept it," a senior source told Reuters.

Releasing results early is illegal, and the police had warned they would arrest anybody making premature claims before the official five days the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission had said it could take to announce the result.

Riot police took up positions outside the Zanu-PF party's headquarters in central Harare and other key locations in the capital, including an MDC office.

The party later withdrew what it said was an unauthorised message on its Twitter feed claiming a landslide win, and insisted that it was awaiting the release of the official count.

The Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) - the country's leading domestic election monitoring agency - said the credibility of the vote was "seriously compromised" by irregularities on polling day.

It said as many as one million eligible voters were not on the electoral roll, and urban voters, who mainly favour Mr Tsvangirai, had been turned away from polling stations in their thousands.

Conversely, only a small number had been prevented from voting in the countryside, where President Mugabe has most support.

It also cast doubt on the authenticity of the voters' roll, noting that 99.97% of voters in the countryside were registered, compared to 67.9% in urban areas.

"It is not sufficient for elections to be peaceful for elections to be credible," ZESN chairman Solomon Zwana said. "They must offer all citizens ... an equal opportunity to vote."

Separate reports claimed key MDC members had lost their seats, even in the capital, and that the election was looking like a "disaster" for Mr Tsvangirai.

To win an outright victory, one of the candidates has to secure more than 50% of the vote.

Half the country's 12.9 million population was eligible to vote at the more than 9,000 polling stations nationwide.

The dispute erupted as polling stations closed and counting got under way amid fears of a repeat of the violence that marred the 2008 election.

Turnout was high, particularly in urban areas where the polling stations stayed open late into the evening to allow everyone in the queues to cast their votes.

The presidential contest pit the 89-year-old incumbent President Mugabe against his main rival Mr Tsvangirai, who his supporters believed a big turnout would favour, blunting the impact of any manipulation of the vote.

Zimbabweans voted in large numbers despite concerns about the credibility of the electoral process, and the vote was relatively peaceful compared to disputed and violent polls in 2008.

However, the fiercely contested election was dogged by claims of intimidation and vote rigging, despite assurances by official poll monitors of "a peaceful, orderly and free and fair vote".

It is the third time Mr Tsvangirai has tried to unseat President Mugabe, who denies vote rigging and said he would step down if he failed to extend his 33-year grip on power for another five years.

Sky Correspondent Emma Hurd, in South Africa, said: "Analysts inside Zimbabwe say it was going to be close anyway - that Robert Mugabe was not going to be wiped out in a landslide victory by the opposition.

"But what all independent observers seem to agree on is that there will have been some element of rigging in the process.

"The question remains how much, and whether Robert Mugabe really needed to do it in the first place to win."

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