ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – The Pakistan army announced victory against Taliban militants in one of their strongholds in the northwest on Tuesday and said it was winding up its offensive in the area.

Pakistani security forces launched an operation in Orakzai region after many militants evicted from a similar offensive mounted in October last year in their South Waziristan bastion took refuge there.

ISLAMABAD/KABUL, June 1 (Reuters) – Al Qaeda’s operations
chief and third-in-command, Sheikh Sai’d al-Masri, is believed
to have been killed in a U.S. missile strike in Pakistan last
month, U.S. and Pakistani officials said.

Al Qaeda has confirmed the death of Masri, who is also
known as Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, in a statement on an Islamist
website but gave no details.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Al Qaeda’s third-in-command, whose role spanned from operations to fundraising, is believed to have been killed last month in a U.S. missile strike in Pakistan, dealing a serious blow to the embattled group.

Sheikh Sa’id al-Masri, also known as Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, was believed to be killed along with members of his family in a strike by a pilotless CIA-operated drone attack. Al Qaeda confirmed his death in a statement on a Islamist website earlier on Monday.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – A Pakistani court on Monday lifted a ban on social networking website Facebook which had carried a competition to draw the Prophet Mohammad, but access to any “blasphemous” material will remain blocked, officials said.

Any representation of the Prophet Mohammad is deemed un-Islamic and blasphemous by Muslims, which constitute the overwhelming majority in Pakistan, and Facebook was blocked two weeks ago because of the online caricature contest.

(Reuters) – Militants from outlawed groups in Pakistan’s Punjab province are developing closer ties with the Taliban in the northwest, representing a growing threat for a country already hit hard by militancy.

Here are facts about some of the major militant groups in Punjab and in the tribal regions.

LAHORE/PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) – Pakistani militant groups are increasingly supporting each other and penetrating into the country’s heartland, threatening not only Pakistan but the region.

The Pakistan Taliban who attacked two Ahmadi mosques in Lahore on Friday trained in the militant stronghold of North Waziristan and arrived in the city a week before the assaults.

BANGALORE, April 28 (Reuters) – Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc
<ALXN.O> continues to be an attractive takeover target, but an
expensive valuation and major trial data expected at the end of
2010 rule out the possibility of a deal this year.

The company will release data from trials of an additional
indication for its potential blockbuster drug, Soliris, towards
the end of 2010.