Bombs kill 25 at Nigerian drinking spot: sources (Reuters)

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) – Suspected members of a radical Islamist sect threw bombs at a drinking spot in Nigeria's northeastern town of Maiduguri on Sunday, killing around 25 people, witnesses and military sources said.

The attackers -- who the military said were suspected members of the Boko Haram sect -- threw three sets of explosives from the back of motorbikes at around 5 p.m. (1600 GMT) and appeared to be targeting police officers, witnesses said.

"Around 25 people have been killed in a multiple bomb blast in the Dala ward of Maiduguri," a military official said, asking not to be named.

The National Emergency Management Agency said it was working with other rescue teams to evacuate the injured but gave no further details.

Insecurity in parts of northern Nigeria has rapidly replaced militant attacks on oil infrastructure hundreds of kilometres away in the southern Niger Delta as the main security threat in Africa's most populous nation in recent months.

Boko Haram, which says it wants a wider application of strict sharia Islamic law in Nigeria, claimed responsibility for a bomb blast 10 days ago outside the national police headquarters in the capital Abuja.

The sect has been responsible for almost daily killings and attacks on police and government buildings in and around Maiduguri, which lies near Nigeria's remote northeastern borders with Chad, Cameroon and Niger.

Boko Haram's former leader, self-proclaimed Islamic scholar Mohammed Yusuf, was shot dead in police custody during a 2009 uprising in which hundreds were killed. His mosque was destroyed with tanks and the security forces claimed a decisive victory.

But low-level guerrilla attacks on police stations and assassinations, including of traditional leaders and moderate Islamic clerics, intensified in the second half of last year.

President Goodluck Jonathan, who was sworn in for his first full term in office a month ago, has voiced support for dialogue with Boko Haram.

But the group has an ill-defined command structure, a variety of people claiming to speak on its behalf, and an unknown number of followers. Some security analysts say its supporters number in the thousands.

West African Islam is overwhelmingly moderate and the sect's ideology is not widely supported by Nigeria's Muslim population, the largest in sub-Saharan Africa, but poverty and unemployment have helped it build a cult-like following.

(For more Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: http://af.reuters.com/ )

(Writing by Nick Tattersall; editing by Andrew Roche)

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Sources: Panetta Confronts Pakistan Over Collusion With Militants (Time.com)

The troubled relations between Washington and Islamabad are undergoing further strain. CIA chief Leon Panetta traveled to the capital of Pakistan on Friday to confront that country's powerful military leadership with evidence of suspected collusion with pro-Afghan Taliban militants in the tribal areas, sources familiar with the discussion revealed to TIME.

According to the sources, the CIA chief, who will soon succeed Robert Gates as U.S. Secretary of Defense, was in meetings late on Friday with Pakistan Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and his intelligence chief, Lieut. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha, the director general of the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate (ISI).

The sources said that Panetta shared with the Pakistani generals a 10-minute edited video that shows the militants evacuating two bomb factories in Waziristan. One of the factories is based in Miranshah, North Waziristan. The other factory is in South Waziristan. The militants in North Waziristan are believed to belong to groups led by Hafiz Gul Bahadur and Sirajuddin Haqqani. Both militant leaders have attacked U.S. and NATO troops across the border in Afghanistan, and enjoy non-aggression pacts with the Pakistan Army.

According to the soruces, Panetta alleged that the militants were tipped off within 24 hours of the U.S. sharing information on the facilities with the Pakistanis. When Pakistani troops later arrived at the scene of the two bomb-making facilities, used for the manufacture of improvised explosive devices, the militants were gone. The sources tell TIME that the CIA believes elements within the Pakistani security apparatus had informed the militants that they would be targeted.

The video, say the sources, was made up of satellite images. Those who have seen the video said that it was a "clear" and "explicit" demonstration of the militants leaving the two sites. Before Panetta travelled to Islamabad, the video was shown to congressional leaders, including the U.S. Senate's committees on intelligence.

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Sources: Panetta Confronts Pakistan Over Collusion With Militants (Time.com)

The troubled relations between Washington and Islamabad are undergoing further strain. CIA chief Leon Panetta traveled to the capital of Pakistan on Friday to confront that country's powerful military leadership with evidence of suspected collusion with pro-Afghan Taliban militants in the tribal areas, sources familiar with the discussion revealed to TIME.

According to the sources, the CIA chief, who will soon succeed Robert Gates as U.S. Secretary of Defense, was in meetings late on Friday with Pakistan Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and his intelligence chief, Lieut. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha, the director general of the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate (ISI).

The sources said that Panetta shared with the Pakistani generals a 10-minute edited video that shows the militants evacuating two bomb factories in Waziristan. One of the factories is based in Miranshah, North Waziristan. The other factory is in South Waziristan. The militants in North Waziristan are believed to belong to groups led by Hafiz Gul Bahadur and Sirajuddin Haqqani. Both militant leaders have attacked U.S. and NATO troops across the border in Afghanistan, and enjoy non-aggression pacts with the Pakistan Army.

According to the soruces, Panetta alleged that the militants were tipped off within 24 hours of the U.S. sharing information on the facilities with the Pakistanis. When Pakistani troops later arrived at the scene of the two bomb-making facilities, used for the manufacture of improvised explosive devices, the militants were gone. The sources tell TIME that the CIA believes elements within the Pakistani security apparatus had informed the militants that they would be targeted.

The video, say the sources, was made up of satellite images. Those who have seen the video said that it was a "clear" and "explicit" demonstration of the militants leaving the two sites. Before Panetta travelled to Islamabad, the video was shown to congressional leaders, including the U.S. Senate's committees on intelligence.

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Sources: Six killed in Yemen protests

Yemeni security forces use water cannons to disperse anti-government protesters in Taiz on May 9, 2011.Security forces open fire on marchers, witnesses sayHundreds are injured, a medical official saysThe country has been wracked by anti-government protests and clashesSeveral injured protesters are in critical condition, a medical official says

Sanaa, Yemen (CNN) -- Yemeni security forces opened fire on protesters in Taiz on Monday, killing at least six and injuring hundreds, a medical official in the southwestern city said.

Security forces moved in to disperse the marchers with batons and tear gas before opening fire with live ammunition, witnesses said. The marchers were teachers -- accompanied by opponents of the government of President Ali Abdullah Saleh -- who were protesting salary cuts. Clashes occurred in five locations in Taiz, the witnesses added.

Similar clashes occurred in al-Hodiedah, a city on the Red Sea, and in Dhammar, witnesses and medical officials in those cities said.

Government officials declined to comment on the reports.

CNN cannot independently verify the witness accounts.

Saleh's impoverished and unstable nation has been wracked by anti-government protests and clashes between demonstrators and security forces for many weeks.

Monday in Taiz, more than 50 of the injured had gunshot wounds, while others were suffering from the effects of tear gas or other injuries, said Salem Sharjabi, the media liaison for the field hospital there. Several of the injured were in critical condition, Sharjabi said.

Three of those protesters who were fatally shot were teachers, said Fuad Dahabi, the president of the teachers' syndicate.

"The government is using force to make us give in and go home. This is our home and we will protest until the last man," said Muneef Ariki, a youth leader in Taiz who was involved in Monday's protests.

"Nearly 100 days have passed and we are being killed and oppressed by this regime," said Abdul Salam Mikhlafi, a protester. "We vowed to hold Saleh accountable and no immunity will save him from the wrath of his own people."

The Organizing Committee for the Youth Revolution, which helped organize the protests, said that security forces arrested at least 15 activists at the protests.

"Most of those arrested were female activists," a committee member said.

Protesters also were attacked in al-Hodiedah's change square by Republican Guard forces on Monday, resulting in seven protesters being shot, witnesses and medical personnel said.

"Attacks on protesters is a sign that our mission will soon be accomplished. Attacks is the last option in front of a dying regime," said Rami Suliaman a protester in al-Hodiedah.

Security forces also attacked anti-Saleh protesters in Dhammar city, witnesses and medical personnel there said. Medical staff confirmed that 12 were injured, six of them with gunshot wounds.

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U.S. Expels Ecuadorian Ambassador in Retaliation, Sources Say

FoxNews.com

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The United States has expelled Ecuador's ambassador in retaliation for kicking the U.S. envoy out of its country earlier in the week, Fox News confirms.  

Ecuadorian ambassador Luis Gallegos was summoned to the State Department on Thursday and informed of the decision. The move comes after Ecuador expelled U.S. ambassador Heather Hodges over her allegations of corruption in Ecuador, which were contained in documents released by the WikiLeaks website. 

A State Department official told Fox News the "unjustified action" left the United States with no other option than to order Gallegos to leave. 

Another official said high-level U.S.-Ecuador talks set for June will also be cancelled. 

U.S. expulsion of foreign diplomats is a harsh step generally only taken in retaliation for action against U.S. diplomats, or when a foreign diplomat is accused of abusing his or her diplomatic status in the United States.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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Obama Set to Launch Re-Election Bid, Sources Say

Associated Press

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President Obama is about to make one of Washington's worst kept secrets official: He wants a second term.

Democratic officials familiar with the president's plans said Saturday that Obama intends to file papers as early as this coming week with the Federal Election Commission to launch his 2012 re-election campaign. He also will announce his candidacy to supporters by email and text messages.

The officials asked not to be identified in order to speak before the papers are filed.

That widely anticipated but formal step of registering with the FEC will free Obama to start raising money for the re-election effort, which, like his 2008 campaign, will be run from Chicago.

That fundraising already has begun. Obama netted $1.5 million at a Democratic fundraiser in New York's Harlem this past week. He's also scheduled to travel in the week ahead to headline events in Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Obama raised an eye-catching $750 million in 2008.

The president isn't expected to face a primary challenge.

Though a cast of Republican governors, former governors and others are laying the groundwork for a presidential bid, none has entered the race.

As the Obama campaign operation ramps up behind the scenes in terms of money, message and manpower, Obama plans to stay focused on his day job. Aside from the obvious fundraising that will be required of him, Obama intends to stay out of the fray until Republicans settle on a candidate next spring.

Obama's hopes for a second term received a boost Friday after the government said the March unemployment rate had dipped to its lowest level in two years, to 8.8 percent, and that the economy added 216,000 jobs last month.

Polls consistently show the economy is voters' top concern and Republicans plan to make an issue of Obama's handling of the recovery.

Obama said Friday's numbers mean the "economy is showing signs of real strength" as it continues to recover from the recession that wiped out 7.5 million jobs.

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