It's been an
ongoing
challenge, the cable sent by Hillary Clinton says, to persuade Saudi officials to treat terrorist financing emanating from Saudi Arabia as a strategic priority. It acknowledges that the Saudis have begun to make important progress on the issue, but, it goes on, still donors in Saudi Arabia constitute the most significant source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide. The Clinton memo suggests that the greatest challenge in policing the transfer of money to militant groups occurs during the Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages.
The United States says Iran's announcement that it's using
domestically
produced uranium for processing into nuclear fuel calls into further question Iran's controversial nuclear programme. The US National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer told the BBC the Iranian move raised additional concerns. On Monday, Iran is due to attend a new round of international talks over its nuclear programme after a gap of more than a year.
A member of the British parliament, Mike Hancock, has given complete backing to one of his researchers after she was arrested
on suspicion of
being a Russian spy. Mr Hancock said he'd seen no evidence to support the allegation against Katia Zatuliveter, who's a Russian national. The Liberal Democrat MP sits on the defence committee in parliament, but he insisted the material he handled wasn't sensitive.
"The papers are not marked secret, and they go to, you know, Defence Select Committee papers have been leaked to newspapers before now, and I've never read anything in a Defence Select Committee paper or report which was worth anyone believing they had something that they couldn't get from another source."