Vacancy; head of Global Terrorist Organisation

With Bin Laden gone, an unusual vacancy has arisen in the world of terrorism.

Job Title: Head of Global Terrorist Organisation

Salary: to be agreed

Job location: to be agreed (possibly Islamabad, Pakistan)

Perks: multi-million dollar luxury mansion; multiple wives; army of millions at your beck and call 24/7; placement on the FBI's "Most Wanted" list.

Egyptian, Ayman al-Zawahri becomes the top candidate for the world's top terror job. Al-Zawahri was Bin Laden's right hand man for years and his extremist views and his readiness to use deadly violence are proven beyond doubt.

Read full story at the Boston Globe

Afghanistan: 5 private security guards killed

Kabul, 3rd May 2011: Five private security guards have been killed by a NATO air strike today.

Afghan police reported that the contractors were guarding a supply convoy for international troops. NATO confirmed the strike in Ghazni province but contradicted the police report by suggesting the attack was on suspected insurgents (terrorists in other words).

Afghan officials said there were no insurgents involved.

"This morning, there was some sort of incident between an American convoy and security guards from Watan Risk," said Zirawer Zahid, the police chief of Ghazni. He was referring to Watan Risk Management, a private company that supplies guards for convoys, offices and international organizations.

More to follow on this story.

Iraq: American soldier killed in action

A US Army soldier lost his life in Iraq on 29th April 2011 when enemy forces attacked his unit with rocket propelled grenades and small arms.

Cavalry Pfc. Robert M. Friese, aged 21, from Chesterfield, Michigan, was on patrol in Al Qadisiyah province, Iraq when the incident happened. Pfc. Friese was serving with the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment which is based at Fort Hood in Texas.

Britain expels Libyan ambassador

Britain has moved to expel Libya's ambassador after the UK embassy in Tripoli was attacked by a mob.

Foreign Secretary William Hague said Omar Jelban was "persona non grata" and had been given 24 hours to leave the country.

Diplomatic missions belonging to a number of Nato states have been targeted after an air strike reportedly killed Muammar Gaddafi's youngest son and three of his grandchildren.

Read more

65yo U.S electrician heading for Afghanistan

Ken Rowe, a 65 year old electrician from the U.S, has landed a job in Afghanistan, working for four to 16 months.

In his 40-year career as an electrician, Ken Rowe always found work, one way or another, but his latest job is far from ordinary.

Read full story

The 12yo Afghan suicide bomber

A suicide bomber said to be aged 12 has killed four people in east Afghanistan, one of several attacks a day after the Taliban announced a spring offensive.

Read more

Syria: leave home and risk being shot

Concern is mounting for tens of thousands of Syrians trapped in a military siege imposed on their towns as party of bloody crackdown on protests.

Troops and tanks remain the town of Deraa in the south and Douma, near the capital Damascus.

Snipers are said to be shooting civilians if they leave their homes.

Read more at SkyNews

Libya: missing foreign photographer

The wife of a UK-based photographer missing in Libya has renewed appeals for help in contacting her husband.

Penny Sukhraj said she was desperate for news of Anton Hammerl who is believed to have been seized by Colonel Gaddafi loyalists along with three other journalists on the outskirts of the east Libya oil town of Brega on 5th April.

The 41-year-old - who lives in Surbiton, Surrey, but has South African and Austrian citizenship - is believed to be held separately in or around Tripoli from his captured colleagues.

Mr Hammerl's family has received no word from him since his disappearance although the three other journalists - two US correspondents and one Spanish photographer - were allowed to make a phone call to their families last weekend.

Iraq: suicide bomber hits army checkpoint

Eight people have been killed and 19 others wounded after a suicide bomber blew himself up at an Iraqi army checkpoint next to a market in the northern city of Mosul, police and hospital sources say.

A hospital source confirmed the number of dead and wounded and said Saturday's attack had taken place at a popular market in eastern Mosul, 390km from the capital, Baghdad.

"The suicide bomber exploded himself at the entrance where Iraqi soldiers were manning a checkpoint to frisk people entering the market," the source said.

Syrian troops storm mosque

Syrian forces have continued their military crackdown in the flashpoint city of Deraa, seizing control of a mosque and shooting dead the son of its imam, witnesses say. Four people were reportedly killed as the southern city came under heavy shelling and gunfire on Saturday, as residents attempted to bury those killed a day earlier during Friday's "day of rage" protests against the government.

"We are totally besieged. It is a tragedy. Many houses are levelled by shelling from the army. For the past six days we haven’t seen an ambulance," one witness told Al Jazeera via telephone, as gunfire rang out in the background.

"We are keeping the bodies of the dead in refrigerator trucks, but many bodies are still lying in the streets. Many of the bodies are bloated and are reeking."

Read full report