FBI Probes Imply Wide Al Qaeda Presence (washingtonpost.com) The FBI is conducting more than 150 separate investigations into groups and individuals in the United States with possible ties to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda organization, according to senior U.S. officials.

The Times of India - Pro-Musharraf tilt irks India The Vajpayee government is aware that the "nuanced difference" which exists between Washington and itself about the sincerity of Gen Musharraf's "conversion to the anti-terrorism cause" could influence the diplomatic and military steps India takes in the weeks ahead.

Pentagon: Taliban Building Bombed Two B1-b bombers struck a complex occupied by members of the fallen Taliban leadership that had harbored bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorists, Maj. Brad Lowell of the U.S. Central Command said Saturday.

Cuba Opposes U.S. Plan for Prisoners at Guantanamo (12/29/2001) Senior Cuban officials voiced their opposition Saturday to Washington's plans for housing Taliban and al Qaeda prisoners at a U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay on the communist-run Caribbean island.

Pakistan Denies Moving Troops From Afghan Border Pakistan Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar on Saturday denied Islamabad had pulled troops from its border with Afghanistan to shore up defenses against India but did not rule out the possibility.

ABCNEWS.com : New Security for New Year's Eve In New York's Times Square the incoming police commissioner, Ray Kelly, has a promise for the hundreds of thousands of revelers expected New Year's Eve: "It's gonna be probably the safest place in the world."

The Times - Scientists confirm bin Laden weapons tests Osama Bin Laden and his terrorist organisation were not only investigating the use of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons against the West, they had conducted preliminary experiments on animals.

Pakistan tells U.S. it may move troops from Afghan to Indian border (12/28/2001) Pakistan told Washington on Friday that it may need to pull away troops patrolling its border with Afghanistan to deal with a possible conflict with India, Pakistani military and diplomatic officials said.

After Sept. 11, United States looks to Mexico for border safety (12/28/2001) Now, as the United States beefs up security after the Sept. 11 attacks, Mexico's endemic lawlessness has raised concerns that terrorists could use the country's organized crime networks to stage future attacks against America.

Prosecutors detail shoe-bomb threat ...if the sneakers had been placed against an outside wall and blown up, they “would have blown a hole in the fuselage.” Reid was sitting in a window seat on board the plane.

BBC News | AMERICAS | Shoe bomb 'came from Netherlands' Dutch authorities are investigating reports that Richard Reid, the British man accused of trying to detonate a bomb hidden in his shoe on a flight from Paris to Miami, bought the alleged explosives in Amsterdam.

An unshakable faith in Old Glory - smh.com.au - News Review In the wake of September 11, Americans have wrapped themselves in the flag, writes Gay Alcorn.

Bush Pours Scorn on Bin Laden, Vows No End to Hunt President Bush on Friday poured scorn on Osama bin Laden and made clear that despite Afghan calls for a quick end to U.S. bombing, the United States would hunt the world's most wanted man for as long as it takes to find him dead or alive.

Shoe-bomb substance identified The main explosive in the shoes of a man who suspected of trying to detonate explosives aboard an airliner has been identified.

From violation to enlightenment | csmonitor.com The commentary in 2011 may confirm or deny whether America's millennial Age of Enlightenment lasted beyond the next Super Bowl. And whether that spangled holiday ball came to symbolize America bestriding the globe, or America picking itself up, dusting itself off, and becoming more a part of it.

Bush administration suggests India and Pakistan take up their differences at a summit of South Asian leaders (12/27/2001) The Bush administration, seeking to calm rising tensions, suggested India and Pakistan try to resolve their differences over Kashmir at a South Asia conference next week in Nepal.

New videotape shows bin Laden may be seriously ill (12/27/2001) The latest videotape of Osama bin Laden, denounced Thursday as ``terrorist propaganda'' by the White House and snubbed by television networks, contains hints that the Saudi-born fugitive may be gravely ill and expects to die soon, according to experts in terrorism, medicine and politics.

BBC News | SOUTH ASIA | Cuba base to house Afghan prisoners The US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says Washington is preparing to transfer Taleban and al-Qaeda prisoners to the Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba.

BBC News | UK | 'No favours' for Muslim radicals Home Secretary David Blunkett has challenged claims that government complacency has allowed radical Muslim clerics to recruit converts to Islamic extremism in Britain.

BBC News | SOUTH ASIA | India and Pakistan crisis deepens India and Pakistan have announced tit-for-tat sanctions against one another as fears intensify that the two nuclear powers may be moving towards serious conflict.

Bin Laden Warns U.S. Its End Is Imminent Osama bin Laden warns the United States in his latest video message that it will soon collapse, regardless of whether he lives or dies, as Muslims around the world ``awaken to its tyranny.''

LA Weekly: Dissonnance: Who’s Bin Smokin’ What? ...All of which brings us to the question posed by the “know-nothing” faction of the anti-war movement. Did our foreign policy — past or present — play a role in provoking the attacks on New York and Washington, D.C.?

NOTE: I am now back to blogging after a brief hiatus.