January 2nd Morning Readbook

Men claiming to be Al-Qaeda members arrive to address a crowd in Yemen's southern province of Abyan. US President Barack Obama Saturday for the first time accused an Al-Qaeda affiliate of arming and training a young Nigerian man for a thwarted suicide mission to blow up a US airliner.
(AFP/File)


Profile: Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) was formed in January 2009 by a merger between two regional offshoots of the international Islamist militant network in neighbouring Yemen and Saudi Arabia.


Obama Connects al Qaeda to Jet Plot
President Barack Obama drew a direct link Saturday between an al Qaeda group and a foiled attempt to blow up a U.S.-bound airliner on Christmas Day.


French reporters kidnapped in Afghanistan 'alive'
Two French journalists kidnapped in Afghanistan are alive and in good health, French media have reported. The reporters were kidnapped along with three Afghan assistants in Kapisa province north-east of Kabul earlier this week, officials said.


Death Toll at 95 in Pakistan Volleyball Bombing
Police say suicide bomber drove onto crowded field in North-West Frontier Province town of Lakki Marwat, detonated explosive-laden vehicle


'They kept pumping bullets into us' 
The Iraqi government is under increasing pressure to aggressively pursue the prosecution of American military personnel accused of killing Iraqis.


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