• Early hours of Friday morning: alert raised at East Midlands airport after suspect package found on UPS plane. Security cordon put in place, then lifted.

 

• 0900: suspect package found on FedEx plane in Dubai.

 

• 1300: security cordon reinstated at East Midlands airport, apparently after a second suspect device is found.

 

• 1700: FBI says two suspect packages were addressed to religious buildings in Chicago.

 

• 1835: Emirates Flight 201 from Yemen via Dubai lands at JFK airport, New York, escorted by US fighter jets. The plane is carrying a package from Yemen.

 

• 1845: FedEx in Dubai confirms it has confiscated a suspect package sent from Yemen and is suspending all shipments from Dubai.

 

• 1900: two other FedEx flights investigated after landing at Newark, New Jersey, and Philadelphia. Both receive the all-clear.

 

• 2330: BA flight from London to New York (JFK) met by US officials as a "precautionary measure".

 

A US-bound parcel intercepted in Dubai contained explosives and bore al-Qaeda hallmarks, Dubai police said.

 

The parcel contained pentaerythritol trinitrate (PETN) - the same explosive used in a failed plot to bomb a plane to Detroit in December 2009. On Friday, security officials in the UK and Dubai intercepted two cargo planes bound for the US from Yemen. Intelligence agencies believe the packages are linked to Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, based in Yemen.

 

The two suspect packages - described by President Barack Obama as "a credible terrorist threat" - were addressed to Jewish synagogues in the Chicago area.\The packages were found on UPS and FedEx cargo planes, triggering alerts in the US, UK and Middle East. Other planes at US airports were checked because they were thought to contain items from Yemen.UK Home Secretary Theresa May said experts were trying to establish whether the package found in Britain was "a viable explosive device".

 

Mr Obama's top counter-terrorism adviser John Brennan said: "The United States is not assuming that the attacks were disrupted and is remaining vigilant."

 

Speaking at a White House press conference late on Friday, President Obama said: "Although we are still pursuing all the facts, we do know that the packages originated in Yemen. "We also know that al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula - a terrorist group based in Yemen - continues to plan attacks against our homeland, our citizens and our friends and allies."

 

He stressed that new aviation security measures were being taken in light of the alert by the Department of Homeland Security, "including additional screening".

 

The White House later said Saudi Arabia had provided information that helped identify the threat. The UK's Daily Telegraph reported that an MI6 officer responsible for Yemen had received a tip-off. FedEx and UPS suspended all their shipments out of Yemen, saying they would fully co-operate with investigators. Speaking in London early on Saturday, Mrs May said that "at this stage, I can say that the device [found in Britain] did contain explosive material".

 

"The forensic work continues," she said, adding that the British government's emergency committee, known as Cobra, had met on Friday and would hold another meeting later on Saturday. "We are reviewing the security measures for air freight from Yemen and are in discussion with industry contacts," she said.

 

US security services remain on a high level of vigilance in the wake of the attempted Times Square bombing in New York in May and the alleged attempted Christmas Day attack.

 

(BBC)

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9H2-XuvK3iY]YouTube - Police Confirm Printer Bomb On Dubai Plane[/ame]

It was only ever going to be a matter of time before further attempts were made. Thankfully the intelligence appears to be working.;)

I'm not sure why al-Qaeda would go for Jewish synagogues???

I'm not sure why al-Qaeda would go for Jewish synagogues???

 

Are you being serious?:dozey:

What worries me I that this might not even be their real big attack. I'm worried that this was mainly to test the system.

Are you being serious?:dozey:

 

Well the only thing the media has fed me is "AL-QAEDA WANT TO ATTACK AMERICA AND KILL ALL AMERICANS", I'm naturally suspicious that of course the media is not telling me the whole story. So would you care to or are you just going to make smarmy comments about it?

7/7 London bombings[/url]?

Well the only thing the media has fed me is "AL-QAEDA WANT TO ATTACK AMERICA AND KILL ALL AMERICANS", I'm naturally suspicious that of course the media is not telling me the whole story. So would you care to or are you just going to make smarmy comments about it?

 

It's common knowledge that Islamic extremists detest Jews as much as America or anyone else they regard as "enemies".

They make no secret of the fact they would like to see Israel wiped from the face of the earth.

They aren't men. They are pure evil minded cowards. Ironic coming a day after that stupid tit, Chris Bryant MP said on Question Time on Thursday night that terrorists 'weren't evil. They just made bad decisions'. What a ****! However he was delightfully bullied and made like a complete insignificant nobhead by Hugh Hendry throughout the whole programme.

7/7 London bombings[/url]?

 

Yes, true, but we don't hear how much about how they hate the UK, I guess that's covered under "allies"

I forgot about that one

 

It's common knowledge that Islamic extremists detest Jews as much as America or anyone else they regard as "enemies".

They make no secret of the fact they would like to see Israel wiped from the face of the earth.

 

Hmm k

As I said people only tend to hear that OH NO THEY'RE TERRORISTS and want to attack America and their allies and stuff

Which is why the non-knowledge of such a thing is possible

Security forces were out in force in the Yemeni capital Sanaa

 

Yemen arrests medical student over cargo jet bomb plot

 

Security forces in Yemen have arrested a female medical student suspected of posting bombs found on two cargo jets in Dubai and the UK.

 

She was held at a house in the capital, Sanaa, after being traced through a phone number left with a cargo company. Her mother was also detained.

 

Dubai and UK officials say the bombs had the hallmarks of al-Qaeda. US media quote officials saying a Saudi-born bombmaker, Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri, is their prime suspect. UK Prime Minister David Cameron said the device found in Britain was designed to go off on the aircraft.

 

The two packages were addressed to synagogues in the Chicago area. Both bombs, discovered on Friday, were apparently inserted in printer cartridges.

The unnamed young Yemeni woman, described as a medical student and the daughter of a petroleum engineer, was arrested at a house on the outskirts of Sanaa, a security official told the AFP news agency.

 

Her mother was also detained but was not a prime suspect, the arrested woman's lawyer said. However, the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Reuters news agency all reported that US officials were focusing their attention on Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri, a Saudi-born bombmaker.

 

He is believed to be one of the leading figures in Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and the organiser of a suicide attack last year on the Saudi intelligence chief, Prince Mohammed bin Nayef. The prince survived. The bomber - Mr al-Asiri's brother - used PETN, the same explosive found in the suspect package in Dubai.

 

Abdel Rahman Burman, the lawyer for the arrested student, confirmed to Reuters that she had been detained on suspicion of involvement in sending the two packages. "Her acquaintances tell me that she is a quiet student and there was no knowledge of her having involvement in any religious or political groups," he said. "I'm concerned the girl is a victim because it doesn't make sense that the person who would do this kind of operation would leave a picture of their ID and their phone number."

 

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh said the US and the United Arab Emirates had provided Yemen with information that helped identify the woman, and he pledged that his country would continue fighting al-Qaeda "in co-operation with its partners".

 

"But we do not want anyone to interfere in Yemeni affairs by hunting down al-Qaeda," he added. Further investigations in Yemen are likely to focus on AQAP, which has its stronghold in the remote Shabwa province in the south of the country, the BBC's Jon Leyne reports from Cairo.

 

Mr Saleh's remarks on interference are presumably a message to Washington to hold off military strikes inside Yemen, our correspondent says. But he says Washington has been impressed by the speed and determination the Yemeni authorities have shown in their response.

 

Our correspondent says this latest attempted bomb attack will only underscore fears about the security threat from Yemen, where al-Qaeda is taking advantage of weak government, wild geography and huge political social and economic problems that have no clear solutions. The New York Times quoted US officials as saying the sophistication of the devices pointed to al-Qaeda involvement.

 

It quoted one official as saying: "The wiring of the device indicates that this was done by professionals. It was set up so that if you scan it, all the printer components would look right."

 

The Yemeni authorities have closed down the local offices of the US cargo firms UPS and FedEx, who have already suspended all shipments out of the country and pledged full co-operation with investigators. Prime Minister Cameron said the authorities had immediately banned packages coming to or through the UK from Yemen, and was considering further steps.

 

Late on Saturday, AFP quoted German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere as giving an assurance that "no freight coming from Yemen will arrive in Germany".

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11660005

*wonders what new rules the USA will bring in now*

*wonders what new rules the USA will bring in now*

 

You will only be able to enter America if you're a robot.:rolleyes:

No ink cartridges

 

lawl

So NOW apparently they incorrectly arrested the female student, and released her. And also it appears the real target was the cargo planes themselves; I just heard on the news that the "address" of the synagogue was too old and defunct.

 

Not even going to bother finding an article for this development, because the story will probably change within the hour anyway. Yippee.

 

I can hear my mom now: "See?!? This is why I didn't want you to go to London, because of stuff like this, you never know what's going to happen, nag nag nag."

Your odds of being killed by a police officer are 8X greater than being killed by a terrorist.

 

And funny how stuff like this happens right before a major US election. I smell bullshit.

And also it appears the real target was the cargo planes themselves; I just heard on the news that the "address" of the synagogue was too old and defunct.

 

I knew that didn't seem exactly right -_-

And funny how stuff like this happens right before a major US election. I smell bullshit.

THIS.

 

 

And I'll be glad when the election is over and done with tomorrow evening, I'm sick and tired of listening to all the mudslinging commercials.

 

i wonder how it'll change the rules about what you are and not allowed to take on a plane.

 

just when the previous one was cooling and new crappy measures we not taken yet.

 

oh crap.

 

Yemen mail bomb 'timed to hit US'

 

Tests on a failed parcel bomb sent on a US-bound cargo flight last month show it could have been designed to detonate over the eastern US, say UK police.

 

The bomb was found in a printer cartridge on a plane in a UK airport, after being posted from Yemen. A second printer bomb, also sent from Yemen, was intercepted in Dubai. The bombs were both addressed to synagogues in the US city of Chicago, and were claimed by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

 

The UK bomb, intercepted at East Midlands airport, was discovered early on 29 October, following a tip-off from Saudi intelligence. It was removed and "disrupted" by explosives officers about three hours before it was timed to detonate, British police said in a statement. "If the device had activated it would have been at 1030hrs BST (0930 GMT) on Friday 29 October 2010," they said. "If the device had not been removed from the aircraft the activation could have occurred over the eastern seaboard of the US."

 

Last week, French Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux said one of the two bombs had been 17 minutes from detonating when it was discovered - he did not specify to which device he was referring.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11729720