World Briefs: Clear skies reveal messy scope of Philippines flood

Dagestan has become the epicenter of the violence in recent years, with militants staging daily attacks on police and other authorities.

NIGERIA

Clinton pushes Nigeria on terrorism, corruption

ABUJA — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Thursday urged Nigerian authorities to boost their intelligence capabilities to better combat growing extremist violence.

Mrs. Clinton is proposing that Nigeria create an “intelligence fusion cell” that would combine information from the military, spy services, police and other federal, state and local agencies.

The cell also would coordinate counterterrorism activities and serve as a contact for foreign intelligence services, State Department officials said.

The officials said the U.S. is ready to assist the cell with organizational expertise, training and equipment, including computers, and would offer the aid to Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan and his new national security adviser, Mohammed Dasuki, on whom the U.S. has high hopes for expanded intelligence cooperation.

The U.S. has become increasingly concerned about the threat posed by militant groups in West Africa such as the Islamist Boko Haram in Nigeria and cells of al Qaeda-linked fighters in northern Mali.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

U.S. Navy rescues 10 Iranian sailors

DUBAI — The U.S. Navy has rescued from a burning boat in the Gulf of Oman 10 seamen who said they are Iranian.

Wednesday’s rescue by the USS James E. Williams is at least the seventh involving Iranian sailors in nearly two years and is a reminder of the United States’ efforts to demonstrate the humanitarian value of its naval presence in the Persian Gulf, a strategic waterway the Iranian government has threatened to close in retaliation for international sanctions over its nuclear program.

The sailors were rescued from a traditional wooden boat flying an Iranian flag and were transported aboard the U.S. vessel, where they received medical treatment. They were awaiting transport to the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, which is coordinating repatriation efforts, said Lt. Greg Raelson, spokesman for the Navy’s Bahrain-based 5th Fleet.

MIDDLE EAST

Security firm says new computer virus afoot

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