ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistani Taliban militants claimed responsibility Friday for a double bomb attack on paramilitary force academy in the town of Charsadda that killed 80 people, saying it was their first revenge strike for the killing of Osama bin Laden on May 2.

A militant spokesman vowed more such attacks.

Following are some questions and answers about the Pakistani Taliban, their motives and capabilities.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistani Taliban militants claimed responsibility Friday for a double bomb attack on paramilitary force academy in the town of Charsadda that killed 80 people, saying it was their first revenge strike for the killing of Osama bin Laden on May 2.

A militant spokesman vowed more such attacks.

Following are some questions and answers about the Pakistani Taliban, their motives and capabilities.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – U.S. investigators are trying to put together the pieces of Osama bin Laden’s secret life in the hope of unearthing details of his global network of Islamist militants bent on attacking the West.

Key to that will be tracing his movements from the weeks after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States to last week, when U.S. special forces killed him after discovering him hiding in a compound in the Pakistani town of Abbottabad.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – U.S. investigators are trying to put together the pieces of Osama bin Laden’s secret life in the hope of unearthing details of his global network of Islamist militants bent on attacking the West.

Key to that will be tracing his movements from the weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States to last week, when U.S. special forces killed him after discovering him hiding in a compound in the Pakistani town of Abbottabad.

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) – Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen’s ruffling of Thailand with threats of “war” shows how a growing alliance with China is allowing him to stand up to his neighbor and, in the process, boost his credentials at home.

This week’s deadly border clashes between the two countries’ armies have put Thailand’s government under domestic political strain and given Hun Sen a chance to score points at home without much risk to Cambodia’s fragile economy.

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) – Generations of Cambodians have fretted over what they see as the grabbing of land by voracious neighbors, but recent clashes over territory on the Thai border have stirred little outrage in the Cambodian capital.

Part of the reason appears to be the Cambodian government does not want public anger getting out of hand while it appeals to the United Nations for help in sorting out the dispute with Thailand over the 11th century Preah Vihear temple on the northern border with Thailand.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) – A suicide bomber attacked a gathering of displaced people waiting to get aid in northwestern Pakistan on Saturday, killing at least 40 of them, a hospital official said.

The attack in the Bajaur region on the Afghan border came a day after a big clash between Pakistani Taliban insurgents and security forces in the neighboring Mohmand region that left 11 soldiers and 24 militants dead.

BANGKOK (Reuters) – A day after Myanmar held an election meant to usher in peace and stability, clashes erupted between minority rebels and government soldiers, a reminder of divisions that have long bedeviled the country.

The fighting in the eastern town of Myawaddy on the Thai border between ethnic minority Karen rebels and government forces broke out early on Monday while the votes from Sunday’s election were being counted.

HANOI (Reuters) – Leaders of 10 southeast Asian countries will try on Thursday to fast-track an ambitious plan to establish a political and economic community by 2015 while hoping to dodge discord over military-ruled Myanmar. Later in the week, leaders of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) will be joined in Hanoi by colleagues from six Asian powers, including China, Japan and India, for a summit that will highlight Asia’s role as the engine of global growth.

The region is once again attracting billions of dollars in capital inflows and its stock markets are among the world’s best performers this year.

HANOI, Oct 27 (Reuters) – Leaders of 16 Asia-Pacific
countries that have become the focus of global economic growth
will meet in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi, this week for ASEAN
and East Asia Summits.

Following are some questions and answers on the meetings.

WHO WILL ATTEND?

The 10 leaders of the Association of South East Asian
Nations (ASEAN) — which groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia,
Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand
and Vietnam — meet on Thursday. They meet the leaders of their
big three east Asian partners — China, Japan and South Korea
– on Friday, and convene an East Asia Summit (EAS) summit with
the leaders of Australia, India and New Zealand on Saturday.