This morning’s key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com.

Major terrorist attack on Navy airbase in Karachi, Pakistan

Pakistan’s PNS Mehran naval base, Karachi (Tribune)

A well-planned professional terrorist attack was launched on the Pakistan’s PNS Mehran naval base in Karachi, Pakistan, on Sunday evening. 12-15 militants attacked from three directions, and carried out simultaneous attacks on different targets. The militants also took some Chinese personel hostage in a building inside the base. Gunfire continued for hours. Dawn

The banned terrorist group, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Pakistan’s Taliban terrorist group, took credit for the attack. Intelligence reports had warned police and other security agencies that terrorist attacks were planned on army, navy and air force installations. Express Tribune (Pakistan)

The huge explosions and firefights sent a wave of panic and shock through the area. One such explosion destroyed a P-3 Orion aircraft, which the navy had recently acquired from the United States. This is Pakistan’s premier anti-submarine attack aircraft. It was feared that a second aircraft was also subsequently lost. The News (Pakistan)

The assault on the Mehran naval airbase is the latest attack on Pakistan’s military installations, and is raising fears about the safety of the country’s nuclear arsenal. Pakistan has the fastest growing nuclear arsenal in the world and in a decade could pass France as the fourth-largest nuclear power, so such brazen attacks raise fears that al-Qaeda could acquire nuclear materials, or even a nuclear weapon. Reuters

Italy joins other PIIGS countries with ratings downgrades

In a surprise announcement on Saturday, S&P’s rating service announced a decision to revise downward is outlook for Italy. Of the PIIGS countries (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain), only Italy has escaped the full brunt of the euro zone debt crisis so far. S&P’s move does not cause any immediate debt crisis for Italy, but it does make the country more vulnerable. Reuters

Socialists suffer major defeat in Spain

Exit polls indicate that Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero’s Socialist party has suffered major losses in regional and local elections on Sunday. ( “22-May-11 News — New ‘Spanish Revolution’ signals electoral change on Sunday”) The elections have not ended the anti-government protests, which have now been continuing for eight days. Bloomberg

Taliban fighters expand their summer offensive in Afghanistan

The Taliban’s summer offensive was expected, but that doesn’t make it any less violent. On Saturday, a suicide bomber killed six medical students in a major hospital in Kabul, and on Sunday, suicide bombers disguised as border policemen attacked a local government office in eastern Afghanistan, killing seven Afghans. VOA