Top story: Twin suicide bombers attacked the Ritz-Carlton and Marriot hotels in Jakarta this morning. At least nine people were killed, including the attackers, and 50 were injured. The attacks ended nearly four years of calm in the Indonesian capital and are a bad blow to the country's image coming shortly after presidential elections that were widely viewed as a sign of democratic progress and growing stability.
No group has yet claimed credit for the attack but attention is sure to focus on the militant group Jemaah Islamiyah, which was responsible for the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings which killed over 200 people. An Australian think tank report released just a day before the bombing warned that the risk of terrorist attack in Indonesia was increased by the relase of JI members from prison and tensions in the group's leadership.
President Susilo Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said it is too early to assume that JI is responsible, but vowed that "Those who carried out this attack and those who planned it will be arrested and tried according to the law."
Milestone: The World Health Organization says it will stop counting individual cases of swine flu because there are now too many of them.
Middle East
- Cleric and former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani criticized the Iranian leadership during Friday prayers, saying the results of last month's election are still in doubt. Police used tear gas to disperse protesters after the prayers.
- Rioting by ultra-Orthodox Jews raged for a fourth day in Jerusalem.
- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad appointed a new head for the country's nuclear program. Any change in policy is considered unlikely.
Asia
- Pakistan's supreme court overturned the nine-year-old hijacking charges against former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
- Mosques in Xinjiang reopened for Friday prayers under heavy security after being closed during last week's Uighur riots.
- Efforts at a party meeting to unseat Japanese Taro Aso have failed. The PM will likely keep his job until next month's election
Americas
- Mexico sent 5,500 additional troops into the drug violence-plagued Mihoacan state to restore order.
- Honduras's ousted president and the current interim government have reached a number of compromises in their negotiations.
- Colombia extradited a FARC "jailer" for prosecution in the United States.
Europe
- Iceland's parliament voted to try to join the European Union.
- Russia's first deputy prime minister says the country is hoping to join the World Trade Organization next year.
- Supporters gather in Moscow to protest the murder of human rights activist Natalia Estimirova and call for a government investigation.
Africa
- North and South Sudan agreed to avoid violence before next week's Hague ruling on a border dispute.
- The two French hostages taken from their hotel in Mogadishu last week have reportedly been turned over to the al-Shabab militia.
- Sudan accused Chad of launching air raids into Darfur.
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