LONDON (Reuters) – When tanker master Miro Alibasic takes one of his company’s vast ships across the Indian Ocean, he likes to have all the firepower he can get on board.

Having seen last year how Somali pirates treat their captives, the 61-year-old is in no hurry to experience it again.

BANGKOK/LONDON (Reuters) – The loudest noise that Thongma Danoi had ever heard was followed 20 minutes later by the strangest sight: a dazed and bloodied Iranian carrying two wire-adorned devices through the usually sleepy Bangkok neighborhood.

“He was losing a lot of blood,” said Thongma, 68, who saw the Iranian man, later identified as Saeid Moradi, fleeing a rented house blown apart by a massive explosion on Tuesday. “People were shouting, ‘He’s got a bomb!’ I tried not to look at him.”

LONDON (Reuters) – Western states hope new oil sanctions will deter Tehran from pursuing its disputed nuclear program but ultimately it will be China, India and other Asian powers that determine their effectiveness impact on already volatile Iranian politics.

Both the United States and European Union have introduced tough new restrictions coming into force later this year and designed to effectively choke off Iran’s oil exports. But — unlike rounds of sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council — they are not binding on other countries.

SINGAPORE/LONDON, Feb 10 (Reuters) – Vietnam is
opening up to Western defence firms as tensions in the South
China Sea trigger subdued yet growing warnings of a regional
arms race, defence executives and security analysts said on
Friday.

The Communist-ruled country is one of several Southeast Asian
nations seeking to expand surveillance and maritime patrol
capabilities, sparking fierce competition for regional deals
estimated to be worth up to several hundred million dollars.

LONDON (Reuters) – With growing worries about the threat of “cyber warfare,” militaries around the world are racing to recruit the computer specialists they believe may be central to the conflicts of the 21st century.

But whilst money is plentiful for new forces of “cyber warriors,” attracting often individualistic technical specialists and hackers into military hierarchies is another matter.

LONDON, Feb 9 (Reuters) – With growing worries about the
threat of “cyber warfare”, militaries around the world are
racing to recruit the computer specialists they believe may be
central to the conflicts of the 21st century.

But whilst money is plentiful for new forces of “cyber
warriors”, attracting often individualistic technical
specialists and hackers into military hierarchies is another
matter.

LONDON (Reuters) – Somali piracy in the Indian Ocean costs the global economy some $7 billion a year, a study said on Wednesday, with ships forced to travel faster over longer routes and increasingly hire armed security guards.

“The question for the shipping industry is how long this is sustainable,” said Anna Bowden, program manager for the research by the U.S.-based One Earth Future foundation.

LONDON (Reuters) – With worries growing over computer hacking, data theft and the risk of digital attacks destroying essential systems, western states and their allies are co-operating closer than ever on cyber security.

But as they do so, the gulf between them and China and Russia – blamed for many recent hacks and with a very different and much more authoritarian view over the future of the Internet – grows ever wider.

LONDON (Reuters) – With worries growing over computer hacking, data theft and the risk of digital attacks destroying essential systems, western states and their allies are co-operating closer than ever on cyber security.

But as they do so, the gulf between them and China and Russia — blamed for many recent hacks and with a very different and much more authoritarian view over the future of the Internet — grows ever wider.

LONDON (Reuters) – With Russia sending warships to discourage foreign intervention in Syria, and China drawn more deeply into Iran’s confrontation with the West, “great power” politics is swiftly returning to the Middle East.

After Russia pulled back from the region at the end of the Cold War, the United States and its Western allies faced few external rivals in attempts to influence events. But as the US withdraws from Iraq, emerging economic powers reshape the globe and are themselves sucked ever deeper into the Gulf by their energy needs, that era seems over.