The U.S.-bound parcel bombs that were recently intercepted in Europe and the Middle East were sent from Yemen. The working assumption of intelligence agencies is that the devices were manufactured and dispatched by al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, an offshoot or franchise of the original al-Qaida.

Investigators in Mexico have recovered at least 18 bodies from a mass grave near the Pacific coast resort city of Acapulco.

Authorities do not yet know if the bodies found in the grave are those of the 20 men abducted last month while visiting Acapulco from neighboring Michoacan state.

Police began digging at the site after receiving an anonymous tip, which led them to discover two bodies nearby.

An eruption of suspected drug violence has left more than 28,000 people dead across Mexico since the government began cracking down on cartels in 2006.

French authorities are questioning two men suspected of plotting a serious terror attack in France. The incident comes after a series of heightened warnings including one by al Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

In an interview on French television Thursday morning, Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux said two men were being questioned on suspicions of terrorist activity after being detained the day before outside Paris.

Hortefeux says the men are brothers of French nationality. He says they are suspected of plotting a serious terrorist attack on French soil.

Police say Indian troops in India's Jammu and Kashmir state have killed at least six people they suspected of planning violence. Security is tight in the Kashmir valley, where separatist activists have vowed to draw attention to their cause during U.S. President Barack Obama's upcoming visit.

latest fatalities came in the form of several gun battles in the Kashmir valley. The area is part of Indian-controlled Kashmir, part of a broader region claimed by India and Pakistan.

Pakistani intelligence officials say three U.S. missile strikes have killed at least 11 suspected militants in the country's North Wazirstan tribal region.

The first drone strike Wednesday struck a vehicle near the town of Miran Shah, killing at least four militants. Hours later, officials said, a second attack killed three militants in the same region. And a third missile strike hit a vehicle in the Pai Khel area of North Waziristan, killing at least four suspected militants.

Prosecutors in Yemen have charged a radical U.S.-born cleric who is allegedly linked to a failed airplane bombing with plotting to kill foreigners and being a member of al-Qaida.

Prosecutors on Tuesday announced the charges against Anwar al-Awlaki in a Sana'a courtroom, where he is being tried in absentia. It is the country's first formal legal action against Awlaki, who is believed to be hiding in Yemen.

U.S. and British counterterrorism officials say bombs hidden in aircraft cargo apparently originating in Yemen appear to have been designed to explode in flight. Some intelligence analysts believe that al-Qaida is targeting Western economic infrastructure, but others say it was just going after easier targets.

Video by United States Division - Central

The United States has sent a team of experts to Yemen to help screen U.S.-bound air cargo following a plot to mail bombs to U.S. destinations.

U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) chief John Pistole told the CBS Early Show Monday that the U.S. is working with its international partners to increase defenses against a "determined enemy."

He said the TSA team in Yemen will provide training, equipment and expertise to examine cargo shipments at Sana'a airport.

Yemen's aviation authority says it is tightening security at all of its airports.