Boston
Police: College student tried to smuggle knife in shoe
A university honors student who allegedly hid a knife in his running shoe and tried to pass through Logan Airport security was arraigned Wednesday for disorderly conduct.
Kareem Johnson, 23, a senior at Duquesne University, was preparing to fly back to school Tuesday when security guards asked him to remove his sneakers. They found a four-inch knife, said his attorney, Edward Perry.
"He did not appear to be a threat to anybody. It looks like it may have been an act of being stupid," said Phil Orlandella, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Port Authority.
Johnson told police he comes from a tough Boston neighborhood and lives off campus in Pittsburgh, so he needed the knife for protection.
Pakistan
Islamic parties form alliance to run for office
Trying to enforce Islamic laws by getting their members elected to office, Pakistan's six religious parties said Wednesday they have forged a political alliance.
The United Religious Front includes three major pro-Taliban groups the two factions of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam and the Jamaat-e-Islami that staged violent protests against the government's decision to side with the United States in the international anti-terrorism coalition.
The other three groups are the small Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan, the Tehrik-e-Jafria and Jamiat Ahl-e-Hadis.
Maulana Shah Ahmad Noorani, chief of the alliance, said that if the alliance does well in elections later this year, it will change Pakistan's foreign policy to make it more friendly to Islamic countries and eject any U.S. forces from Pakistani air bases.
Pakistan
50 militants arrested
In a nationwide crackdown in the last few days, Pakistan has arrested about 50 followers of two militant Islamic groups that India accuses of orchestrating an attack in its Parliament last month, group officials said Wednesday.
The arrests included 38 members of Jaish-e-Mohammed and 12 followers of Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, they said.
Both Lashkar and Jaish are the key Pakistan-based guerrilla groups fighting Indian rule in two-thirds of Kashmir, where more than a dozen other Muslim groups are waging a bitter secessionist movement.
Afghanistan
Food aid doubles; top diplomat named
More than 115,000 tons of food, most of it from the United States, arrived in Afghanistan in December, enough to feed 6 million displaced Afghans for two months.
The food arrived as winter descended on the stricken South Asian country. It was twice the amount that arrived in November, and improvements in distribution by trucks could ease future deliveries and distribution.
On the diplomatic front, meanwhile, the Bush administration took a big step toward formalizing relations with the U.S.-backed, post-Taliban government.
Ryan Crocker, a former U.S. ambassador to Syria, was named charge d'affaires for the U.S. Embassy in Kabul.
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