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Britain: Scanning for knivesLONDON — A surge in violent knife crimes prompted London police to introduce a new program Thursday that will rely on mobile, airport-style scanners and hand-held metal detectors for use against people suspected of carrying concealed weapons.
The new program, called Blunt 2, started this week in one borough and should be in place in all 32 London boroughs within the next few months, said a Metropolitan Police spokesman, who asked not to be identified in line with police rules.
Ecuador: Hungry? Grow food
QUITO — Struggling with the rising price of food? Go grow your own. That's the solution Finance Minister Fausto Ortiz is offering Ecuadoreans.
Prices in Ecuador's dollarized economy have jumped by more than 8 percent over the past year. That's roughly double the rate for the United States, and Ortiz acknowledges it's "very troubling."
To combat inflation, Ortiz proposes that city dwellers in the South American nation "return to the countryside and take advantage of cheap credit and subsidized fertilizers" to raise their own crops.
Indonesia: Data will be shared
JAKARTA — Indonesia announced Thursday it would start sharing all information about its bird flu cases with a new global database to monitor whether the disease is mutating into a dangerous pandemic strain.
Experts said participation by Indonesia, the country hardest hit by avian influenza, will be a great help following its yearlong boycott of the World Health Organization's virus sharing system.
China, Russia and other nations that have withheld virus samples and genetic data from the international community are taking part in the new initiative as well.
Iraq: House-to-house searches
BAGHDAD — Government troops began house-to-house searches for al-Qaida in Iraq militants in Mosul on Thursday, part of a major security operation to cleanse Iraq's third-largest city from cells of the terror network.
Described by the U.S. military as the last major urban base of al-Qaida in Iraq, Mosul has become the site of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's third security drive in two months as he attempts to defeat Shiite militants and Sunni extremists.
Italy: Crackdown nets 400
ROME — Italian police have arrested nearly 400 people — mostly foreigners from Romania and North Africa — in a weeklong crackdown on street crime and illegal immigration, authorities said Thursday.
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