MOSCOW - The patients and staff of Hospital 4 in the Chechen capital Grozny is being evacuated and Hospital 9 has been cordoned off by police, first deputy chief of the local Emergency Situations Department Colonel Akhmed Dzheirkhanov told Interfax by telephone on Thursday.
"Units of the [local] military commandant's office, Emergency Situations Department and the Interior Ministry are in Hospital 4. All patients have been evacuated and moved to the surrounding buildings. The search for explosives is underway," he said, adding that similar measures will be applied to Hospital 9.
A source in the Chechen Interior Ministry told Interfax that a message had been found at Hospital 9 at 1:45 p.m. threatening terrorist acts both there and at Hospital 4 unless one of the senior managers of Hospital 9 was dismissed. Steps are being taken to identify the man behind the message.
http://www.interfax.ru/e/B/politics/28.html?id_issue=11655514
US Embassy in Malaysia receives suspicious package
Dec.28.2006
Kuala Lumpur - The U.S. Embassy in Malaysia on Thursday called police to investigate a suspicious package it received, an official said.
Police isolated the package, and there was no evacuation at the embassy in Malaysia's biggest city, Kuala Lumpur, said U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Kathryn Taylor.
Taylor said she couldn't immediately provide details of how the package had been delivered or what its contents appeared to be. Police officials handling the case were not immediately available for comment.
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/003200612281211.htm
Chemicals seized from two train passengers (India)
Nagpur, Dec 27: Two persons were arrested and some chemicals seized after a bomb detection squad searched the Delhi-Chennai Tamil Nadu Express here today, following a bomb scare.
The superfast train was on its routine journey to Chennai when a ticket inspector found two youths carrying some materials in 40 bags.
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Anti-terror cops have visited a leading UK university amid fears that extremists may steal steal radioactive materials to make dirty bombs.
Investigators from Scotland Yard's Counterterrorism Command toured London's Imperial College to inspect its science facilities.
Detectives fear the university - which attracts large numbers of overseas students - is being targeted by extremists.
It boasts some of the best nuclear research facilities in the world, including its own nuclear reactor.
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Army defuses bomb on bus (India)
Guwahati, Dec. 28: Army personnel today recovered a 3.6-kg improvised explosive device (IED) from a Guwahati-bound bus at North Guwahati even as Dispur moved the Centre for upgrading chief minister Tarun Gogoi’s security cover following revelations of Ulfa’s plans to assassinate top leaders.
An army spokesman said a major disaster had been averted following recovery of the powerful IED.
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http://www.telegraphindia.com/1061229/asp/frontpage/story_7196911.asp
Sahiron appointed Abu leader after Janjalani's death
December 28, 2006
A military official said Thursday that Radulan Sahiron was appointed leader of the terrorist Abu Sayyaf Group after the alleged death of its spiritual leader Khadaffy Janjalani.
Brig. Gen. Juancho Sabban, 3rd Marine Brigade commander, said that based on intelligence information, ASG sub-commanders immediately held a meeting and declared Sahiron as their new leader after Janjalani died last September.
He added that with Sahiron as leader, ASG stands to lose its ties with international terror groups, particularly Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network.
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