WASHINGTON, April 21 (UPI) — The FBI announced the appointment of a more than 20-year agency veteran as the new assistant director of its Criminal Justice Information Services division.

ATHENS, Greece, April 21 (UPI) — The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe head Tuesday called the detention of monitors in Georgia’s breakaway South Ossetia region unacceptable.

KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo, April 21 (UPI) — The United Nations said its joint military operation with Congo has successfully retaken several towns from militia control.

KHARTOUM, Sudan, April 21 (UPI) — An investigation is under way to determine the cause of fire at the U.N.-AU peacekeeping headquarters in the Darfur region of Sudan.

LONDON, April 21 (UPI) — The International Maritime Bureau said Tuesday that the first quarter of 2009 has seen a sharp spike in pirate incidents off the volatile coast of Somalia.

REDMOND, Wash., April 17 (UPI) — France-based Interpol released plans to further integrate next-generation computer technologies for use by global police forces in a move to counter cybercrime.

BRUSSELS, April 17 (UPI) — The ongoing violence in eastern Sri Lanka needs to serve as a lesson for the country’s plans in the north, a report from the International Crisis Group said.

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, April 17 (UPI) — Security experts from Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkey met Friday at a conference to address ways to reform Kyrgyzstan’s police.

VIENNA, April 17 (UPI) — The spread of organized criminal groups has become an escalating threat, the head of the Vienna-based U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime said.

LUCCA, Italy, April 17 (UPI) — The United Nations announced it has opened a new office in Italy in order to develop methods and policies to counter the appeal of terrorism.