“Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula number two Sufyan al-Azdi al-Shahri called for attacks against US interests ‘everywhere,’ in an audio message released Monday.

‘American and Crusader interests are everywhere and their agents are moving everywhere,’ Shahri said. ‘Attack them and eliminate as many enemies as you can.’ “

“A kidnapping attempt in northern Mexico led to a highway car chase and gun battle that left seven gunmen and a federal police officer dead, Mexican authorities said.

The federal Public Safety Ministry said two kidnapping victims were freed after the late-Monday shootout with gunmen believed to belong to the drug-trafficking gang known as the Zetas.

“he U.S.’s top intelligence officials said Tuesday that an attempted al Qaeda attack on the U.S. in the next three to six months was ‘certain.’

An official also said the Nigerian who allegedly attempted to blow up an airliner on Christmas Day was again cooperating with federal investigators. Republicans have accused the administration of squandering a chance to gain valuable intelligence from the suspect by using the civilian court system to charge him, instead of declaring him an enemy combatant and subjecting him to more interrogation.

Al Qaeda remains a significant threat to the U.S., the officials said, and the group’s recent evolution in tactics includes dispatching individuals who can enter the U.S. without arousing suspicion, such as the man accused of attempting the Christmas Day attack.

“Recent cyber attacks on Google are a ‘wake-up call’ and neither the U.S. government nor the private sector can fully protect the American cyber infrastructure, the director of U.S. national intelligence said on Tuesday.

‘Malicious cyber activity is occurring on an unprecedented scale with extraordinary sophistication,’ Dennis Blair said in prepared testimony for a Senate intelligence committee hearing.

“Yemeni Shiite rebels pledged on Tuesday not to attack neighbouring Saudi Arabia, a key condition laid down by the Sanaa government to end its nearly-six-month military campaign against them.

‘As long as no one attacks us, we would not target any party,’ the office of rebel leader Abdul Malak al-Huthi said in a statement posted on the rebels’ website.