Above: Gloria Palanco

This Wednesday, four politician hostages were freed by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) after seven years of captivity. Their release was coordinated by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

The release was made to clean up the rebel group’s name; as they are considered as a terrorist group by different nations of the international community — one of which is the European Union.

One of the freed captives, former congresswoman Gloria Polanco (pictured above) had this to say, “You’ve given me the opportunity to live again,” in her gratitude to President Chavez. Her husband, Huila governor Jaime Lozada, was assassinated by the FARC in 2005.

Above: The Van Carrying Hamas

In their fight against terrorist activities in the region (giving priority to targets launching the Qassam rockets into Isreal), Israel Defense Forces reportedly killed at least 12 Palestinians on Wednesday from a barrage of air strikes in the Gaza Strip. Sadly the report also adds that three of these casualties were children, one of them a six month old baby.

The first missile attack was on a van (pictured above) carrying five Hamas militants. According to military intelligence, these men were planning to carry out an attack against Israel; they were also involved in firing Qassam rockets into Israel and planting explosives.

Above: Osama bin London

A court in London has convicted seven men involved in terrorist training which they referred to as “camping weekends” wherein young Muslims are brought to English parks around Britain; they were trained to throw imaginary grenades, to stage mock ambushes with rifles fashioned from branches and to chop watermelons in simulated beheadings.

Their leader Mohammed Hamid (pictured above) has called himself Osama bin London since 2004. Hamid is a 50-year-old Tanzanian who lives in London as a mosque preacher. One of his teachings, as reported, convinced young Muslims to murder “nonbelievers.”

Above: An Iraqi soldier directs Shi’ite pilgrims

A suicide bomber kills at least 40 people at a Shi’ite rest stop outside the Hateen Apartments in Iskandiriyah City, Iraq. 25 out of the 60 more that were hurt are critically injured in the attack. The bombing vistims include women and children.

According to a United States military official, 42,000 pilgrims are gathered in the vicinity – all are walking towards Karbala City to attend the Arba’een ceremony of this Sunday. Arba’een is a Shi’a religious holiday that occurs forty days after the Day of Ashurah – which is commemorated by the Shi’a as a day of mourning for the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali at the Battle of Karbala. Husayn ibn Ali is the grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.

Above: Turks Soldier Chasing Kurds

The Turkish General Staff reports that Kurdish Kurdistan Workers Party guerrillas killed in recent battles is now up to 79 after just two days since taking the fighting to the mountains. Their troops (pictured above patrolling the snowy mountains) killed 35 rebels in Northern Iraq Saturday. The offensive was backed up by warplanes, artillery and combat helicopters. They also report losing 7 of their troops in battle.

This war between Turkish troops and the Kurdistan Workers Party, who are fighting to create a Kurdish homeland in southeast Turkey, has been going on for decades and has already spilled over to neighboring Iraq. The Kurdistan Workers Party is declared as a terrorist group by the international community.