Pakistan: Security arrests 10 with al-Qaida links

Pakistani security forces arrested 10 Arab men as they tried to sneak across the border from neighboring Afghanistan in the past week, officials said Sunday.

The men, traveling with fake passports, were ordered held in northwestern Pakistan. Officials suspected they may be part of Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida network.

“The suspects are being questioned by the Pakistani authorities,” a police official with knowledge of the case told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity. “None of them have been handed over to FBI agents for questioning yet.”

He did not say what evidence authorities have that the men are part of bin Laden’s terror group.

Switzerland: Voters grant rights to same-sex couples

Voters in Switzerland’s most populous state voted overwhelmingly Sunday to give same-sex pairs rights previously reserved for married couples.

By a 63-37 percent margin, the referendum in Zurich canton approved registration for gay and lesbian couples. They will have the same tax, inheritance and social security benefits as other married couples.

While a number of other European countries have already recognized same-sex unions, Zurich is the first Swiss canton to do so. Similar efforts are under way elsewhere in the country.

But partners must live in Zurich canton and formally commit themselves six months in advance to running a joint home and to providing each other with support and aid.

Washington, D.C.: Agencies can’t stop attacks, senator says

An act of terror on the scale of Sept. 11 could happen again on U.S. soil or against American interests abroad because of disunity among intelligence-gatherers, the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee said Sunday.

What has been done to prevent another devastating strike offers no guarantee that terrorists might not attack again, said Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala.

Asked if he were saying the country still could be blind-sided, Shelby replied: “Absolutely. To think otherwise would be folly.”

A report released last week of the House and Senate intelligence committees’ joint inquiry into the 9-11 hijacking attacks found that intelligence agencies failed to anticipate terrorists flying planes into buildings despite a dozen clues in preceding years.

Slovakia: Elections help country’s hopes to join NATO, EU

General elections boosted Slovak hopes of joining NATO and the European Union by leaving an authoritarian former prime minister with his worst showing ever, according to preliminary results released Sunday.

The electoral commission results showed Vladimir Meciar’s HZDS party first with 19.5 percent, more than 7 percentage points below its 1998 election results. The SDKU party of Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda was second at 15.09.

Third was the Smer party of leftist Robert Fico, with 13.46 percent. It was followed by three center-right parties.

Despite its first place showing, Meciar’s party had little chance of making a comeback because he is rejected by potential coalition partners. They have been warned by the United States and the European Union that Slovakia has little chance of joining NATO and the EU under Meciar because of his record of playing loose with democracy during his five years in office.