After six years of US-led military support and billions of pounds in aid, security in Afghanistan is “deteriorating” and President Hamid Karzai’s government controls less than a third of the country, America’s top intelligence official has admitted.
Mike McConnell testified in Washington that Karzai controls about 30% of Afghanistan and the Taliban 10%, and the remainder is under tribal control.
– The Guardian
Prince Harry has admitted his deployment in Afghanistan is likely to place him at an increased risk of a terrorist attack in Britain.
The Prince said he accepted the possibility that home-grown extremists sympathetic to the Taliban could try to “slot” him on his return.
But Prince Harry, who has been fighting the Taliban for the past two and a half months in Helmand, shrugged off the danger, saying that, as a member of the Royal Family, he was used to threats.
– The Telegraph
Security surrounding Barack Obama has been tightened as the huge crowds he is drawing have fuelled fears for his safety.
Concern over the potential threat to the black US presidential contender has long been an issue and he was given a full-time Secret Service detail from May 3 last year – the earliest a candidate has ever been provided protection.
Despite their presence, there are visible signs that security around Mr Obama is being tightened. Police snipers have been spotted on rooftops at a few recent events, including an outdoor rally in Delaware and a second in South Carolina.
– The Telegraph
Hundreds of motorists have been caught out by a credit card cloning scam after filling up with fuel at a petrol station in Lincolnshire.
Fraudsters drilled a hole in the ceiling above the filling station’s chip-and-PIN machine and filmed customers keying in their numbers. The fraudsters then produced replica credit cards that they sent to criminal associates around the world.
Within hours of customers using their credit cards to make payments at the garage near a roundabout on the A46 in Lincoln, the replica cards were being used fraudulently in locations such as India and Dubai. More than 200 motorists have had hundreds of pounds taken from their bank accounts. It is expected many more victims of the fraud will come forward as they check their statements.
– The Times
Britain’s efforts to deport terrorist suspects including the radical Muslim cleric Abu Qatada were dealt a serious blow by the European Court of Human Rights yesterday.
In a unanimous decision, the court in Strasbourg ruled against an attempt by Italy to return a Tunisian to his home country. The Italian authorities had sought to have Nassim Saadi deported on the ground that he had played an “active role” in an organisation providing support to fundamentalist Islamist cells in Italy and abroad.
– The Times
