Gunmen take hostages at Bangladesh restaurant; 2 dead

As many as nine gunmen attacked a restaurant popular with foreigners in a diplomatic zone of the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka on Friday night, taking hostages, killing two officers and wounding at least 26 people in a gunbattle with security forces, authorities and a witness said. Police said the two officers died at a hospital after being wounded in the exchange of gunfire with the attackers, who also hurled bombs.

Bangladesh Govt. Arrests 1,600 Following Series of Machete Attacks Carried Out by Islamist Radicals

Authorities have rounded up about 1,600 criminal suspects, including a few dozen believed to be Islamist radicals, in a nationwide crackdown aimed at halting a wave of brutal attacks on minorities and activists in Bangladesh, police said Saturday. The attacks - including two Hindus in the last week - have alarmed the international community and raised questions about whether Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's secular government can maintain security for minorities in the Sunni Muslim-majority country.

Hong Kong launches fresh plan to fortify cyber security after SWIFT heist

Hong Kong's central bank has a launched a new program to strengthen lenders' ability to protect their critical technology systems after recent attacks by unidentified groups on a global messaging system used by the financial community. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority's latest measure, known as the "Cybersecurity Fortification Initiative ," plans to raise the level of cybersecurity at banks in Hong Kong through a three-pronged approach and follows similar steps taken by its counterparts from London to Vietnam.