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Playtime's not over yet! Somphop wrestles with the crocodile
Let's not get snappy here: Somphop gives the camera a little smirk as he puts his head in between the jaws of death
Staring into the abyss: Crocodile wrestler Somphop, 22, risks not seeing his 23rd birthday as he puts his head into the crocodile's mouth at Samphran Elephant Ground and Zoo
The daily grind at the office may not seem so bad after viewing these startling images.
For, no matter how grumpy your boss may be this morning, at least you aren't actually risking life and limb by sticking your head in his jaws.
But that is exactly what the crocodile wrestlers at a Thai zoo do on a daily basis. This astonishing series of photographs shows the men at the Samphran Elephant Ground and Zoo performing what may well be the world's most dangerous job.
The wranglers have been performing the stunts at the zoo on the outskirts of Bangkok, Thailand, since it was set up in 1985.
During the hour-long shows they stick their head between the jaws of some of the zoo's biggest crocs, in the style of Krai Thong, a legendary Thai crocodile hunter. Photographer Bronek Kaminski, who witnessed the feat on a trip to the attraction, said: 'They are quite lively crocodiles. They are not lying around half asleep all the time.
'They are chomping at a bamboo stick and snapping their jaws and then they guys put them into some sort of trance and put their head into the croc's mouth. He keeps it in there for a long time, and puts his arm in, right up to his shoulder.
'Then the crocodile goes back to being a wild animal. It's very impressive.
'I was not sure if they were actually going to do it so when they do you are really taken back by it.'
The centre also doubles up as a breeding zoo, and has more than 10,000 crocodiles.
Smile for the camera: Another wrestler grips a surprisingly docile beast and hoists him into the air
He is being hailed on the Internet as the nonchalant vigilante with nerves of steel.
A cyclist was caught by security cameras handing out some rough street justice when he saw two bag-snatchers making a quick getaway.
The riders apparently snatched a purse from a woman in the streets of Wenzhou, China, who ran after them shouting the Chinese equivalent of 'Stop thief!'.
Rather than turn around and give chase, the cyclist calmly stepped off his bike, and stood by it, waiting patiently.
When the robbers - fleeing the scene on a moped - reached him, he nonchalantly picked his bike up, and threw it at them - bringing them down to earth in a shower of sparks. Perhaps feeling a little like Clint Eastwood after his heroics, the cyclist then took a slow, menacing walk up to the bag-snatchers.
But when they scrambled to their feet and lunged at him, he quickly changed his mind, and promptly ran off - without his bike.
The CCTV footage, taken on December 20, shows the cyclist passing by the front of a hotel. According to website nowpublic.com, the thieves tried to chase down the biker but gave up and started running the other way.
But his bike-throwing tactic bought security guards enough time to arrive and capture the thieves - and one can be seen rugby-tackling one of the men at the end of the tape.
Although not captured on tape, the stolen red bag was returned to its owner - and the bike thrower left the scene quietly with his distorted bicycle.
2) With a move that would do Superman proud, he launches the bike
3) The thieves are brought to the ground, and are arrested seconds later
1) The cyclist sees the scooter coming towards him, and gets off his bike
On Christmas Day, the president and first lady Michelle greeted diners at the base's Anderson Hall, as they did last year. Obama also has used the base for his press statements during this vacation.
First daughters Malia and Sasha are huge fans of Island Snow
President Obama helps eldest daughter Malia choose which flavour of shaved ice to go for
President 'Snowbama' tentatively licks his ice cone before going in for a huge bite
Barack Obama seems sure to maintain his status as the coolest President in US history - after enjoying a traditional ‘shave ice’ while on holiday in his native Hawaii.
As the temperature reached 25C (77F) on the main island of Oahu, Mr Obama popped into the Island Snow shop with daughters Malia and Sasha.
They and about a dozen friends and bodyguards enjoyed the local delicacy, a mixture of ice shavings and flavoured syrup served in a paper cone.
Mr Obama ordered a combination of lemon and lime, cherry and passion guava – dubbed the Snowbama by store staff.
But he chose not to add sweet azuki red beans or ice cream, as is the custom.
Wearing sunglasses and dressed casually in a white T-shirt, khaki shorts and sandals, he told onlookers: ‘I like my shave ice straight, no frills.’
About 100 people flocked to the shopping centre car park to catch a glimpse of the President and his family – minus First Lady Michelle – on their New Year’s Day visit.
The store also announced on the website Facebook that Mr Obama’s daughters had paid a visit earlier in their holiday.
The Obamas have stayed largely out of public view during their break.
However, last week 11-year-old Malia was pictured learning to surf as proud Michelle looked on.
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President Obama has stayed even closer than usual to Marine Corps Base Hawaii on his latest O'ahu vacation.
And the reasons are probably as much security-conscious as symbolic for a wartime commander in chief from the Democratic Party.
"The military tends to be more right wing, conservative leaning, and there's a bias when you have a Democratic, liberal president," said Michael Naho'opi'i, who graduated from the Naval Academy in 1986, retired as a lieutenant commander and is now executive director of the Kahoolawe Island Reserve Commission. "A lot of it has to do with security. But it does show that he supports the troops."
As on last year's Hawai'i Christmas vacation as president-elect, Obama has begun his days with early-morning workouts at Marine Corps Base Hawaii's Semper Fit gym, which sits next to his beachfront rental home in Kailua.
But on this trip, Obama has returned to the nearly 1,000-acre base several times after working out: to take family and friends for private beach time Dec. 27 at Pyramid Rock out of the eye of reporters and photographers; to play a private basketball game in the gym, also on Dec. 27; to make two widely publicized statements about the Christmas Day attempted terrorist attack on a commercial airliner; and, joined by the first lady, to shake hands with Marines, soldiers and sailors on Christmas Day, for the second year in a row.
As the president's Hawai'i vacation neared its conclusion, he returned to the base again yesterday, with family and friends, to enjoy the beach after a morning visit to Sea Life Park in Waimanalo.
Last year, during an August vacation break from the presidential campaign trail, Obama stepped out from the same rental home he's staying in now to deliver a sidewalk statement on Russia's incursion into neighboring Georgia.
Various media reports at the time referred to the "palm tree-lined driveway" that served as a backdrop for Obama's statement.
This time, Obama's entourage erected an ad hoc briefing room, along with a decidedly more presidential-looking podium, inside the Mauka Ballroom of the Marines' Klipper Golf Course.
"He is the commander in chief and he takes that seriously," said Dan Boylan, a Hawai'i political commentator and University of Hawai'i-West O'ahu professor. "But the security guys clearly want to keep him close to base." Commander in chief
Even for military members who preferred Republican Sen. John McCain for president, Obama is still their commander in chief, said Jim Hickerson, 75, a Vietnam POW and retired Navy captain who lives near the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl.
During his Navy career, Hickerson met and admired President Reagan in California and said, "I am not a very big Obama fan."
"But it's great to have a president here, there's no doubt about it," Hickerson said. "The president's the president. I have the utmost respect for the office. He's our commander in chief. Having him come by (Marine Corps Base Hawaii) is an honor, whether you respect him or not."
The base is well suited to accommodate the president and his family.
Anderson Hall — where Obama and the first lady thanked military members for their service and wished them Merry Christmas — is outfitted with new 52-inch and 42-inch flat-screen televisions and has been named the best chow hall in the entire Marine Corps three years running.
"We feel our amenities exceed what you would typically find at other bases, without calling them extravagant," said Col. Robert D. Rice, commanding officer of Marine Corps Base Hawaii. "We're particularly proud of our Klipper Golf Course and its newly refurbished club. Our Semper Fit gym, where the commander in chief has worked out each morning of his stay thus far, has approximately 20 percent of its strength-training equipment replaced or upgraded each year. Our basketball court in the gym just had its floor resurfaced in September, as it has almost every year in the last several years. Our cardio training equipment is as modern as you'd find in most gyms out in town." 'superb relationship'
Marines have been assigned to the Windward side's Mokapu Peninsula since Dec. 7, 1941, when Japanese fighters strafed Naval Air Station Kane'ohe Bay eight minutes before the main attack on Pearl Harbor.
On Jan. 15, 1952, Marine Corps Air Station, Kaneohe Bay was officially commissioned. Today, Marine Corps Base Hawaii is home to more than 7,500 Marines and more than 7,000 family members, with hundreds more sailors, Marines and civilians pouring in each day.
Rice, the base's commanding officer, said the Marines "enjoy a superb relationship with the White House staff and Secret Service, and eagerly look forward to supporting future presidential visits to Hawai'i."
The Marines' accommodations are good to go for the leader of the free world, said base spokesman Maj. Alan Crouch. But there is one spot on base that even the Marines can't improve on, Crouch said.
Where the first family enjoyed a beach picnic at Pyramid Rock, Crouch said, "there's no improving on perfection."
Anything my big sister can do: Malia's younger sister Sasha also manages to stand up on her board - although it looks as though she may have gotten a bit of sneaky help
Look at me, Mom! Michelle Obama, left, applauds her daughter Malia at the family's rented holiday home
Yes I can! Malia Obama manages to get to her feet as she holidays with her family in Hawaii
Fore! Barack Obama gets into the swing of it while playing golf yesterday
Down time: Mr Obama (right) and his daughters Malia (light) and Sasha (centre) leave a shopping mall after watching the film Avatar yesterday
His troubles may have been mounting as he enters a new year in the White House, but President Obama had rather more down-to-earth concerns as he enjoyed a family holiday in Hawaii.
While his domestic and foreign policies have come under fire over the festive period, the President focused his attention on getting to grips with a more mundane issue - his golf swing.
The president hit the links at Mid-Pacific Country Club - just hours after starting his day with a workout at the gym on the Marine Corps base in Kaneohe Bay. With their dad relaxing on the golf course, the rest of the Obamas took to the waves as his daughter Malia learned to surf.
After a few wobbly attempts, the 11-year-old managed to stand upright on her board to the delight of her mother Michelle, who was watching with a group of young friends. The family were pictured on the beach in front of the house they are renting in a suburb of Honolulu.
But it wasn't all sports for the Obamas - the family did find time to relax at the cinema also, with a private showing of James Cameron's Avatar. The Obamas visited a cinema near their rented house yesterday morning for a screening of the 3-D hit, before the day's regular screenings began.
Mr Obama, a self-described film buff, left his compound with Sasha, Malia and wife Michelle before noon on New Year's Eve.
The family have been in Hawaii since Christmas. They are set to return to Washington in the new year.
The suicide bomber rammed a car bomb into a crowd of men, women and children in Shah Hasan Khan village
Blast: A man lies injured after the suicide car bomb attack, which killed 70 people
Members of a Pakistani civil society at a rally against terrorism in Lahore on Friday
For two months, Pakistani troops have pressed an offensive trying to wipe out TTP hideouts in South Waziristan
93 dead after bomb blast in Pakistan.
Pakistani authorities faced a furious backlash Sunday over security and medical failures after a suicide bomber killed 99 people at a volleyball match in one of the country's worst attacks.
Police rounded up dozens of suspects and authorities opened an investigation into poor medical care as the local hospital in the remote northwest struggled to treat casualties lying on the floor without enough medicine.
The attacker rammed a car bomb into a crowd of men, women and children watching the tournament in Shah Hasan Khan village, a pro-government area in the district of Lakki Marwat, reducing the sporting event to carnage on Friday.
Police said the death toll had risen to 99, with 87 wounded being treated, making it the third most deadly attack in a nearly three-year extremist campaign in the nuclear-armed Muslim country.
"There was nowhere in the whole district to treat the injured.... The provincial health department is responsible for all this. Most of the people died on their way to other hospitals," Mannawar Khan, a member of parliament from the district, told AFP.
The health minister for North West Frontier Province conceded that only one doctor out of 10 at the hospital in Lakki Marwat had been on duty, conceding limited health care had "caused more human losses".
"After the blast, several hours passed but the other doctors didn't come. I don't know why they were missing. We have opened an inquiry and a committee has been constituted," Syed Zahir Ali Shah told AFP.
Survivors searched for body parts under the rubble of around 20 collapsed homes, as mourners visited the cemetery and wept over the freshly dug graves and the village plunged into mourning.
There were scenes of chaos at the hospital in the town of Lakki Marwat, which said it was short of medicine and beds, overwhelmed with casualties.
"Even now the injured are undergoing treatment on the hospital floor. Some have brought their own beds," Doctor Usman Ali told AFP by telephone.
Shopkeeper Riaz Khatok told AFP from the hospital: "My daughter died because of the poor facilities in the hospital. There was no bed, no medicine and not even the X-ray machine was working.
"There was nowhere else in Lakki Marwat to take the wounded. Most of the dead died because of bleeding."
The local peace committee that organised the tournament and heads an anti-Taliban militia blamed the government for failing to prevent the attack.
"The government didn't provide us with any security. There were no security personnel or policemen at that time. Those policemen killed in the attack were here to see the match," Mushtaq Ahmad, the committee's head, told AFP.
Suspicion has fallen on Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and its allies in North Waziristan, where US drone attacks have increasingly targeted Al-Qaeda fighters and the Haqqani network, which is known for attacks in Afghanistan.
For two months, Pakistani troops have pursued an offensive aimed at wiping out TTP hideouts in South Waziristan, sparking revenge attacks.
"We have arrested 41 suspects and are interrogating them.... This village is adjacent to the Bhitni area of South Waziristan and the bomber came from that area," district police chief Mohammad Ayub Khan told AFP.
Suicide and bomb attacks blamed on the Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked militants have killed more than 2,880 people in Pakistan since July 2007, increasingly targeting civilians and government security installations.
Under huge US pressure to crack down on militants destabilising the border with Afghanistan, where 113,000 US and NATO troops are fighting the Taliban, Pakistan has launched a wave of offensives in its tribal belt.
In the north, a roadside bomb killed two anti-Taliban militiamen and wounded four others in Khararri village in Bajaur, officials said.
The bullet-ridden bodies of a man and woman were also found dumped on the outskirts of Khar with a letter saying: "All those who go against sharia will face the same fate, from Tehreek-e-Taliban."
At least six children were among those killed.
Rescue workers searched for more bodies among the rubble from the blast
Local residents gather at the site of Friday's suicide car bombing in Pakistan on Saturday.
President Karzai suffered a humiliating blow to his authority yesterday after parliament rejected two-thirds of his nominees for a new cabinet, including the only woman and a warlord accused of human rights abuses.
The head of the United Nations in Kabul warned Afghanistan risks floundering “without a functioning government,” after just seven of the president’s 24 ministerial candidates were approved in a secret ballot.
“It prolongs the situation without a functioning government, and that’s a situation that has lasted since the election period [in August],” said Kai Eide, the Norwegian head of the UN mission in Kabul. “I think most of us were surprised by how many ministers were not approved.”
Western officials said parliament was “baring its teeth” after eight years in which the president has ignored them.
Mr Karzai’s choice of cabinet ministers was seen as a key test of his resolve to root out corruption and cronyism which has paralysed western efforts to help rebuild the country.
His picks were complex compromise between appeasing the warlords, the international community and the hundreds of people he promised jobs in exchange for their support in August’s deeply flawed and fraudulent presidential elections.
When the list of 24 names was announced two weeks ago, a month after he was sworn in as president and more than six weeks after he was declared the winner of August’s elections, it was largely welcomed by the Kabul’s western backers.
Many insist their aid money is dependent on Mr Karzai’s pledge to clean up his administration.
Parliament’s decision has left diplomats anxious the president may renege on pledge to reform, in order to get his cabinet approved.
In the past, when parliament passed a vote of no-confidence in his Foreign Minister, he simply ignored them.
“Karzai has often bypassed parliament, ignored parliament and kept his distance from parliament,” said a long-serving western diplomat.
“He’s been slapping them in the face, and now they are baring their teeth.”
Crucially though, his choices for interior, defence, finance and agriculture ministers were all approved. Between them, they are in charge of building up Afghanistan’s security forces and boosting the economy, which is central to America’s counterinsurgency strategy.
With MPs due to start a six-week winter recess any day now, Mr Eide said it was unlikely that the President would get his cabinet in place in time for a major international conference on Afghanistan, due to take place in London on Jan 28.
“It will take weeks,” Mr Eide said. “It could take more than weeks.”
It’s not yet clear whether the nominees will continue on as acting ministers until their replacements are approved, or whether their deputies will take over.
“It’s for the Afghan government to resolve,” said a western diplomat. “We will continue to engage with whoever remains in place.”
Mr Eide said the only positive thing to come out of Parliament’s almost total boycott was that “it proves the institutions work”.
“Parliament has made full use of its authority under the constitution and that must be respected,” he said. “We’ve seen it’s not a rubber stamping parliament, that we see in quite a lot of other countries.”
The president's spokesman, Waheed Omar, admitted, "this is obviously not good in terms of the functioning of the government, in terms of services".
But he insisted the ministries would continue to operate.
"This is the beauty of democracy," he said. "We are exercising democracy."
The Afghan parliament votes in Kabul
Thrown out: Members of the Afghan parliament look on as it votes on Hamid Karzai's cabinet nominees. By the end, 17 of 24 were rejected
Struggle: President Karzai visiting a military hospital in Kabul last week
No visibility: Workers lift another damaged train after an almost identical crash in Kanpur, in which 10 people were killed
Crash: The scene after a train rammed into another at Saraibhopat near Etawah in India today as dense fog covered the north of the country
Dense: A cyclist peddles amidst morning fog in New Delhi
Rescue: Workers at the site of the accident in Kanpur today
Indians mill around a damaged coach after the Gorakhdham Express hit the stationary Prayagraj Express
A Kashmiri man rides a scooter during snowfall in Srinagar, India, Sunday, Jan. 3, 2010. The higher reaches of northern Indian states of Jammu Kashmir received snow while other parts of northern India suffered from cold wave conditions.
Five passenger trains collided in three accidents amid dense fog in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh Saturday, killing at least 10 passengers and injuring more than 40.
Railway spokesman Rajesh Dutt Bajpai said the Gorakhdham Express rammed into the Prayagraj Express near the Panki railway station in Kanpur, 90km south of the state capital, Lucknow.
"The Prayagraj Express was standing near the station when the Gorakhdham Express hit it from behind due to reduced visibility owing to the fog," Bajpai said.
Officials at the Railway Ministry headquarters in national capital New Delhi confirmed that seven men and three women were among the victims.
Over 30 injured were moved to three local hospitals and the death toll was likely to rise as nearly a dozen passengers sustained "serious injuries."
Rescue operations continued till late in the afternoon after which the tracks were cleared of the coaches that had derailed after the impact.
In the second accident Saturday, the Lichchavi Express and the Magadh Express passenger trains collided in the eastern district of Etawah.
Thirteen passengers, including the train driver, were injured in the collision, the NDTV network reported.
Railway officials said visibility at both sites was only about 30 metres because of dense fog.
Later on Saturday, a third train accident due to fog involving Sarju Express and a railway maintenance trolley was reported from near the Allahabad city. Four people suffered minor injuries in the incident.
"Although fog appears to be the main reason behind the accidents, the railways has ordered probes into the accidents," Bajpai said.
"The commissioner of railway safety has been tasked with the investigations," he said. Railway authorities announced compensation of 500,000 rupees (USD10,730) to the families of those killed.
Scores of passengers were likely to be stranded at railway stations as traffic on the busy train route was suspended after the accidents.
Dense fog created havoc across India's northern regions on Saturday, hitting air and road traffic as well.
Three people died in road accidents in Delhi caused by the blinding fog, the IANS news agency reported.
Railway authorities said 54 trains, most of them connecting Delhi with other key northern cities were delayed.
More than 35 domestic and international flights were also delayed or cancelled, as no flight could take off or land for nearly eight hours from the Delhi international airport due to reduced runway visibility.
Several parts of four northern Indian states including Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir faced power cuts earlySaturday due to problem with the regional power grid.
Electricity was restored in most regions except the Kashmir valley by early afternoon, officials said.
At least 10 people were killed and dozens injured in three separate accidents involving trains in the fog-bound northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh on Saturday, police and railway officials said.
In the first accident, an inter-city express rammed into the back of a stationary passenger train near the town of Sarai Bhupat, 250 kilometres (155 miles) southwest of the state capital Lucknow.
Additional police director general Brij Lal said 10 passengers were injured including three whose condition doctors described as "grave."
Ten people were killed in the second accident 45 minutes later when two other express trains collided in similar fashion, around 80 kilometres (50 miles) southwest of Lucknow, Lal said.
Three of those killed were women, rail officials at the accident site said.
"We have rushed 37 injured passengers to hospitals but the condition of 12 of them is critical," officer Lal told AFP.
Senior railways official M.N. Srivastava said the impact in both train collisions had been minimised by the fact that the trains were travelling at low speeds because of the dense fog.
In a third accident, a passenger train slammed into a tractor at an unmanned rail crossing, officer Lal said, adding that three people on the tractor were injured in the mishap, near Allahabad city, also in Uttar Pradesh.
There were no injuries to passengers on the train, he said.
Visibility at the three accident sites was down to around 30 metres (100 feet).
The string of accidents threw train services into disarray across India, rail officials said in New Delhi.
Obsolete safety measures and unmanned crossings result in frequent rail accidents in India, where more than 13 million people travel on state-run railways every day.
Wounded: The Somalian was carried into court on a stretcher and charged with two counts of attempted murder
Safe: The cartoonist and his granddaughter, who was staying the night, were unharmed in the attack
Scare: A smashed window at the cartoonist's home today after police shot an intruder who was armed with a knife and axe
Target: Police outside Westergaard's home in Aarhus last night after a Somali man armed with an axe and a knife tried to break in
Controversial: Kurt Westergaard has become a target for extremists since drawing a satirical picture of the Prophet Mohammed
Muslims protest against the publication of cartoons of Prophet Mohammed in a Danish newspaper, in Calcutta, India, in 2006
A Somali man with alleged links to terrorist groups al-Shabab and al-Qaida has been charged with an attempt to kill a Danish cartoonist whose depiction of the Prophet Muhammed sparked outrage in the Muslim world.
Police and medical personnel carried an injured Somali man strapped to a stretcher into a Danish court Saturday, just hours after his alleged attempt to kill Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard. The suspect's face was covered by a blanket and under Danish privacy laws his name has not been revealed.
The 28-year-old man was later charged with two counts of attempted murder for Friday's attack on Westergaard, whose cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad with a bomb-shaped turban in 2005 ignited riots and outrage among Muslims worldwide. The suspect denied the charges.
Denmark's intelligence service claimed that the alleged attacker had close ties to the Somali terrorist groups al-Shabab and al-Qaida in eastern Africa.
The man apparently broke into Westergaard's home near the town of Aarhus about 200 kilometers northwest of the capital Copenhagen.
Seventy-four-year-old Westergaard fled with his granddaughter to a special safe room in his house where he could call police.
He said in remarks aired by Danish television that he escaped unhurt after a tense stand-off. Cartoonist Westergaard explains the man tried to enter the area where he and his grandchild sought shelter. He says the suspect also shouted abusive language as he tried to break down the (entrance) door. Westergaard adds that he was able to contact police. In his words "It was scary. It was close, really close, but we did it."
The deputy chief superintendent of the Aarhus police, Fritz Keldsen, told reporters that his forces arrived late Friday within minutes after receiving Westergaard's distress call.
He confirmed that the man was shot after apparently threatening police with an axe and a knife. Keldsen says police came in large numbers after receiving an alarm message from Westergaard's home. He explains that when police confronted the suspect he moved away from the scene. Keldsen adds, "He then attacked the police patrol. He did that, so they were qualified to shoot him."
Police reportedly shot the man twice, but said the suspect's life was not in danger.
Officials said artist Westergaard has been moved to an undisclosed location for his own protection.
The Associated Press reports that a moderate Muslim organization in Denmark, the Danish Muslim Union, condemned the attack in statement Saturday.
It is not clear when the US embassy in Sanaa will reopen
Yemeni security forces have been fighting militants
The US has shut its embassy in Yemen's capital Sanaa, citing "ongoing threats" by an al-Qaeda offshoot linked to an alleged failed US plane bomb plot.
In a statement on its website, the embassy reminded US citizens in Yemen to be vigilant and aware of security.
It comes a day after top US soldier Gen David Petraeus visited Yemen to pledge US support for its fight with al-Qaeda.
There is mounting Western concern that Yemen, the Arab world's poorest nation, is becoming an al-Qaeda haven.
"The US Embassy in Sanaa is closed today, January 3, 2010, in response to ongoing threats by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to attack American interests in Yemen," said a statement on the embassy website on Sunday.
It is not clear when the mission will reopen.
'Tighten the noose'
The embassy was the target of an attack in September 2008, which was blamed on al-Qaeda, and in which 19 people died, including a young American woman.
On Saturday, President Barack Obama accused al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula of orchestrating a failed Christmas Day attack on a US plane.
The group said last week it had trained 23-year-old Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who spent time in Yemen last year, to carry out the attempted bombing of the airliner over Detroit.
In its internet statement, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula urged Muslims to help in "killing every crusader who works at their embassies or other places".
Also on Saturday, Gen Petraeus, head of US Middle East and Central Asian operations, visited Yemeni President Ali Abdallah Saleh to discuss the militant threat.
It came a day after the general announced that the US would more than double counter-terrorism aid to Yemen this year.
The US provided $67m (£41m) in training and support to Yemen last year; only Pakistan receives more, with about $112m, according to AP news agency.
Yemeni officials said on Saturday they had sent more troops to fight al-Qaeda militants in the provinces of Abyan, Baida and Shabwa.
"These measures are part of operations to hunt down elements of al-Qaeda... and tighten the noose around extremists," a Yemeni official told AFP news agency.
Analysts say the US has also provided intelligence to Yemeni forces, which carried out raids on 17 and 24 December that reportedly left more than 60 militants dead.
In his weekly address, President Obama said he had made it "a priority to strengthen our partnership with the Yemeni government, training and equipping their security forces, sharing intelligence and working with them to strike al-Qaeda terrorists".
'New type of threat'
He said training camps had already "been struck, leaders eliminated, plots disrupted".
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown told the BBC on Sunday that the UK would work with the US to step up Yemen's counter-terrorism efforts.
"This is a new type of threat and it is from a new source which is obviously Yemen," said Mr Brown, "but there are many other potential sources Somalia, as well as Afghanistan and Pakistan."
Yemen was thrust to the top of the Western security agenda in October 2000, when 17 US sailors died in an al-Qaeda suicide attack on the USS Cole destroyer in the port of Aden.
Correspondents say the Yemeni government needs economic as well as military aid.
With a fast-growing and impoverished population, the country is facing diminishing water reserves and the likelihood that its only source of income, oil, will run dry in a few years.
But security is just as big a challenge, complicated by an abundance of firearms, an insurgency in the north and a secessionist movement in the south.
While the government is weak and unpopular in much of the country, the US has little choice but to work through it to fight al-Qaeda as any overt US presence would almost certainly provoke a public backlash.
But the prospects of re-asserting central government authority over the lawless areas where al-Qaeda is based look, in the opinion of some analysts, remote - even with beefed-up American support.
