anyone have some news ? alot of markets "hiccup'ed" 3 am est ( 8 am gmt ) don't tell me everyone rushed to sell all at once ? notes and bonds are green though ( flight to safety )? USD rallied , crude dumped , equities got hit metals too lower
London Police Foil Plan to Blow Up Jets in Flight (Update5) Aug. 10 (Bloomberg) -- London's anti-terrorist police said they foiled a plot to blow up airliners traveling to the U.S. using explosives smuggled in hand luggage, leading to heightened security at airports across the country and canceled flights. U.K. authorities arrested a number of people overnight, police said today in an e-mailed statement, adding that flights between the U.K. and U.S. would have been ``particularly'' targeted by the attackers. The U.K. and the U.S. raised their terror alert levels. Sky News said 20 aircraft had been targeted and as many as 20 individuals were arrested in London. ``We carried out a major counter-terrorism operation to disrupt what we believe was a major threat to the U.K. and international partners,'' Home Secretary John Reid said in a televised briefing. Authorities ``are investigating an alleged plot to bring down a number of aircraft through mid-air explosions causing considerable loss of life.'' The U.K. and U.S. today raised their threat levels, with Britain putting it to ``critical,'' the highest category in a five-point scale, indicating an attack is expected ``imminently,'' according to the Home Office Web site. Airports were instructed not to permit hand baggage aboard flights, the U.K. Department of Transport said. The pound was little changed against the dollar at $1.9050 at 8:30 a.m. in London, paring a drop of as much as 0.3 percent. The benchmark FTSE 100 stock index fell as much as 1.3 percent to 5783.60 points. U.K. bonds rose, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year gilt falling 3 basis points to 4.65 percent. U.S. Threat Level A spokesman at the U.S. Department for Homeland Security said in a telephone interview that the U.S. threat level had been raised. A statement he said he would e-mail didn't immediately arrive. The Associated Press said the threat level for commercial airliners was raised to red, the highest in a five-step scale. The plot comes almost five years after the September 11, 2001, attacks in the U.S. when hijackers flew planes into New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon in Washington, killing almost 3,000 people. A U.K. parliamentary committee said in May that an unspecified number of terrorist attacks had been thwarted in Britain since then, including three following last year's suicide bombings on London's public transport system. Four suicide bombers on July 7, 2005, killed themselves and 52 other people on three London Underground subway trains and a bus in the capital's deadliest terrorist attack. Lockerbie Jetliner An airplane was the target of Britain's deadliest terrorist attack, when a Pan Am jetliner was blown up over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in December 1988, killing all 259 passengers and crew as well as 11 people on the ground. Libya later admitted responsibility for the attack. The Department of Transport said travel documents, pocket- sized wallets, purses and items such as baby food, contact lenses and some medications, are permitted on flights, while handbags, cell-phones, laptops and media players must be checked in. ``We're advising customers to check in as normal: clearly under these circumstances they would be wise to expect delays,'' Paul Marston, a spokesman for British Airways Plc, the U.K.'s main carrier, said in a telephone interview. Today's arrests follow the return of an American Airlines Inc. flight to Boston from London on Aug. 7 to Heathrow Airport after takeoff due to an unspecified security issue. Four passengers detained by the authorities were later released after being questioned.
I had a story 2 days ago on my screen about a US bound plane turned back to England. US reports this morning are that incident is somehow related? Not much by way of supporting facts being released here yet anyway.
I get the impression news is delayed 48 hours. Maybe the Israeli army invaded Lebanon again. We might get the news tomorrow.
I heard two fighter aircrafts this morning (above northwest Germany, former british zone). Doubt it was the usual annual practice.
The extra security measures at all UK airports include: No items of hand baggage can be carried on board any aircraft departing any UK airport. Passengers may only take through the airport security search point, the following items in a single (ideally transparent) plastic carrier bag: travel documents, wallets and purses, prescribed medicines, sanitary items, spectacles and sunglasses, contact lenses and keys. Parents with young children can take on board baby food, milk, nappies and wipes. Banned items include: mobiles phones, laptops, electrical key fobs, handbags, electrical or battery powered items including laptops, mobile phones, ipods and remote controls. Nothing may be carried in pockets. All passengers must be hand searched, and their footwear and all the items they are carrying must be x-ray screened. All liquids must be removed from passengers. Any customers not complying with the Government instruction will not be accepted for travel.