While U.S. President Barack Obama has announced his broad vision for American policy in the Middle East, questions remain on his strategy for one country still wracked by political uncertainty, Yemen.

Al-Qaida has released an audio recording in which its slain leader, Osama bin Laden, praises the protest movements that have swept across the Middle East.

In the 12-minute message posted on Islamist websites, bin Laden purportedly singles out the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, predicting the "winds of change" will spread across the entire Muslim world.

He makes no specific reference to Libya, Syria, Bahrain and Yemen, where pro-democracy supporters have had less success in toppling the government.

Senior leaders of the Pakistani Taliban are vowing to fight with renewed zeal to avenge the death of al-Qaida founder Osama bin Laden.

Pakistani Taliban leaders made the promise in interviews with news agencies broadcast on Wednesday, the same day at least 70 suspected Taliban insurgents launched two attacks on a Pakistani security checkpoint near the Afghan border.

Guatemala's government has declared a "state of siege" in the Peten region near Mexico's border in response to the recent massacre of nearly 30 field workers on a ranch in the area.

President Alvaro Colom has said the state of siege - which suspends constitutional guarantees - was put into effect to give authorities time to track down the killers.

The government has blamed Mexico's Zetas drug gang for the massacre, which has been described as one of Guatemala's worst mass killings in a generation. Police have said most of the victims were beheaded.

Anti-terror allies Pakistan and the United States are struggling to mend their often uncomfortable relationship which has been strained by the secret U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Abbottatad, Pakistan.

Now, it appears Pakistan is looking to its northern neighbor, China, for support.

On Tuesday, Pakistani Prime Minister Yousef Gilani kicked off a four-day visit there, describing Beijing as Islamabad's "best and most trusted friend." He also pointed out that China was the first country to show its solidarity with Pakistan after the killing of bin Laden.

Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom has told the nation that Guatemala must stand up to drug-related violence.

He made the remark in a televised address late Monday after visiting the site of a mass murder in Guatemala's Peten province. Officials have blamed the killing of nearly 30 field workers, including two women and at least two children, on the Zetas drug cartel.

Colom said drug-related violence affects not just Guatemala, but the whole region. He announced a state of emergency that gives security forces increased authority.

British police say they have received a coded bomb threat from Irish Republican militants on the eve of Queen Elizabeth's historic visit to Ireland.

Scotland Yard officials said Monday the bomb threat related to central London, but did not include a specific time or place. Coded warnings have been a trademark of Irish dissidents.

Police closed off an area close to Buckingham Palace for several hours on Monday. Security officers were seen inspecting a dislodged manhole in central London.

Bomb disposal experts also blew up an abandoned suitcase in a controlled explosion.

Gunmen on motorcycles shot and killed a Saudi diplomat Monday in Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi.

Officials say Hassan al-Khatani was driving to work at the Saudi Arabian consulate when the attack happened. Khatani worked in the consulate's security office.

The Pakistani Taliban denied it was involved in the killing, which follows an attack last week in which grenades were thrown at the consulate building in Karachi.

Pakistani police are investigating whether Monday's attack is a result of sectarian violence between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims.

In Nigeria, the last significant militant group in the oil-rich Niger Delta has called for a truce with the government, offering to disband and disarm in exchange for amnesty from prosecution.

The Nigeria Delta Liberation Force is a breakaway faction of the main group, MEND, and has been fighting government forces since its leader, John Togo, rejected the amnesty deal offered by the government.