Some 20,000 people were evacuated from the central English city of Birmingham overnight Saturday in response to a "credible threat" which no longer exists, police said.
The evacuation came amid heightened tensions in Britain since the Thursday morning rush hour bombings on London's transport system in which at least 50 people were killed and some 700 injured.
Police early yesterday lifted a cordon around the city center, including the nightlife hub, after bomb disposal squad officers carried out four controlled explosions on a bus before ruling a second suspect package harmless.
PHOTO: EPA
Paul Scott-Lee, chief constable for the West Midlands Police, told reporters yesterday that police had acted on a "credible threat" received by intelligence services that "was specific about the time and also the locations."
But Scott-Lee would not elaborate on the nature of the threat.
He put the threat in the context of the broader global climate on terrorism, saying it was unrelated to the suspicious packages which were found and turned out to be harmless.
"It was not a false threat. It was a serious threat. The intelligence indicated that the people of Birmingham were in danger last night. And we responded to make sure that the people were taken out of the danger area," he said.
He added that the suspect packages, including one with wires coming out, were not deposited as a hoax.
Asked if there was still a credible threat, he replied: "As we've carried out our operation, I can say that that particular threat has gone away."
"But I come back to what I said right at the beginning, given the world state and terrorism as it is, threats will remain but that one has been dealt with," he said.
The second package, a box with wires coming out and a switch on top, was found in a hotel in the Broad Street entertainment quarter.
A Chinese freighter that allegedly snapped an undersea cable linking Taiwan proper to Penghu County is suspected of being owned by a Chinese state-run company and had docked at the ports of Kaohsiung and Keelung for three months using different names. On Tuesday last week, the Togo-flagged freighter Hong Tai 58 (宏泰58號) and its Chinese crew were detained after the Taipei-Penghu No. 3 submarine cable was severed. When the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) first attempted to detain the ship on grounds of possible sabotage, its crew said the ship’s name was Hong Tai 168, although the Automatic Identification System (AIS)
An Akizuki-class destroyer last month made the first-ever solo transit of a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ship through the Taiwan Strait, Japanese government officials with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. The JS Akizuki carried out a north-to-south transit through the Taiwan Strait on Feb. 5 as it sailed to the South China Sea to participate in a joint exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces that day. The Japanese destroyer JS Sazanami in September last year made the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s first-ever transit through the Taiwan Strait, but it was joined by vessels from New Zealand and Australia,
CHANGE OF MIND: The Chinese crew at first showed a willingness to cooperate, but later regretted that when the ship arrived at the port and refused to enter Togolese Republic-registered Chinese freighter Hong Tai (宏泰號) and its crew have been detained on suspicion of deliberately damaging a submarine cable connecting Taiwan proper and Penghu County, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement yesterday. The case would be subject to a “national security-level investigation” by the Tainan District Prosecutors’ Office, it added. The administration said that it had been monitoring the ship since 7:10pm on Saturday when it appeared to be loitering in waters about 6 nautical miles (11km) northwest of Tainan’s Chiang Chun Fishing Port, adding that the ship’s location was about 0.5 nautical miles north of the No.
SECURITY: The purpose for giving Hong Kong and Macau residents more lenient paths to permanent residency no longer applies due to China’s policies, a source said The government is considering removing an optional path to citizenship for residents from Hong Kong and Macau, and lengthening the terms for permanent residence eligibility, a source said yesterday. In a bid to prevent the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from infiltrating Taiwan through immigration from Hong Kong and Macau, the government could amend immigration laws for residents of the territories who currently receive preferential treatment, an official familiar with the matter speaking on condition of anonymity said. The move was part of “national security-related legislative reform,” they added. Under the amendments, arrivals from the Chinese territories would have to reside in Taiwan for
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