Yemeni forces searched yesterday for suspected al-Qaeda militants behind a plot to bomb Jewish targets in Chicago, uncovered by the interception in Britain and Dubai of parcels with explosives sent from Yemen.
US President Barack Obama addressed the nation on Friday, saying US authorities would spare no effort to find the source of the packages that he called a “credible terrorist threat” aimed at two places of Jewish worship.
One parcel intercepted in Dubai had a bomb hidden in a printer, which bore all the hallmarks of al-Qaeda, said Dubai police, whose experts defused the device. British forensic experts were examining the other parcel yesterday.
“The parcel was prepared in a professional way where a closed electrical circuit was connected to a mobile phone SIM card hidden inside the printer,” a Dubai police statement said.
The plot originating in Yemen will further heighten security concerns about the unstable Arab state, seen by the West as the home of al-Qaeda’s most inventive and audacious affiliate.
Yemen-based al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and one of its leading figures, US-born Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlak, have been priority US targets since it took responsibility for a failed plot to blow up a US jet on Christmas Day last year.
Dubai police said they found pentaerythritol trinitrate in a printer and cartridge, the same chemical explosive used in the bomb sewn into the underwear of a Nigerian man charged with the attempted Christmas attack.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the parcels, but US officials suspect AQAP, which is affiliated with al-Qaeda, whose militants killed 3,000 people using hijacked airliners in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the US
The White House said Saudi Arabia had helped to identify the threat from Yemen, while Britain and the United Arab Emirates also provided information.
One of the packages was found on a United Parcel Service (UPS) cargo plane at East Midlands Airport, about 260km north of London. The other was discovered at a FedEx Corp facility in Dubai.
UPS and FedEx said they were halting shipments from Yemen. UPS planes were searched and then cleared in New Jersey and Philadelphia.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
At least 35 people were killed and dozens more injured when a man plowed his car into pedestrians exercising around a sports center in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai on Monday night. Footage showing bodies lying on the pavement appeared on social media in the hours after the crash, but had vanished by early Tuesday morning, and local police reported only “injuries.” It took officials nearly 24 hours to reveal that dozens had died — in one of the country’s deadliest incidents in years. China heavily monitors social media platforms, where it is common for words and topics deemed
Typhoon Usagi yesterday had weakened into a tropical storm, but a land warning issued by the Central Weather Administration (CWA) was still in effect in four areas in southern Taiwan. As of 5pm yesterday, Tropical Storm Usagi was over waters 120km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), the southernmost tip of Taiwan proper, and was moving north at 9kph, CWA data showed. The storm was expected to veer northeast later yesterday. It had maximum sustained winds of 101kph, with gusts of up to 126kph, the data showed. The CWA urged residents of Kaohsiung, Pingtung County, Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春) to remain alert to
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