2 more arrested in British bomb plot

The British police Monday arrested two more suspects in connection with the attempted car bombings last week in London and Glasgow, the authorities said, bringing the total number of arrests to seven in what the government has described as a plot linked to Al Qaeda.

The Strathclyde police in Scotland said the arrests of the two men, ages 25 and 28, occurred in the Paisley area, near Glasgow Airport, and followed a night of “intensive police operations.” “It’s obviously in connection with the incidents at the airport on Saturday,” a police spokeswoman said.

On Saturday, two men rammed a Jeep Cherokee into the entrance of Glasgow Airport. That followed the incidents in the West End of London on Friday when two car bombs failed to explode.

The police spokeswoman said that neither of the men arrested Monday are believed to be of “Scottish origin.”

In London, the Counter Terrorism Command of the Metropolitan Police said Monday that it had been granted warrants of further detention for three people detained over the weekend.

They include two people who were arrested as they were traveling north in a car on the M6 highway on Saturday, a 26-year-old man and a 27-year-old woman. The other person for whom such a warrant was granted is a 26-year-old man arrested over the weekend in Liverpool.

Under British anti-terrorism laws, the authorities can hold suspects for up to 28 days without charging them. In other terrorism investigations, the authorities have typically waited before filing charges.

The three suspects are being held in central London, the police said.

The police said they were also holding four other suspects, including the two who were arrested overnight, in Scotland.

None of the suspects have been named by the police, but the 26-year-old man arrested on the M6 has been described as a medical doctor of Iranian-Kurdish descent, according to two people with knowledge of the police inquiry.

He has been identified by the BBC and other news organizations, along with a person close to the investigation, as a medical doctor, Mohammed Asha. A newspaper, The Sun, said he worked at North Staffordshire hospital near the Midlands town of Newcastle-under-Lyme, where the police searched a house on Sunday.

The Daily Telegraph, meanwhile, reported that the two men who rammed their car into Glasgow Airport may have been also directly responsible for the two car bombs in the West End of London.

According to other press reports, the police may have been tracking a suspect in the Glasgow incident only minutes before he and another man drove the Jeep Cherokee into the airport terminal doors and set it on fire.

A real estate agent, Daniel Gardiner, at a real estate company near Glasgow Airport, told The Associated Press that the police had contacted his office shortly before the attempted bombing on Saturday, seeking information on a tenant in a house let by the agency.

The police on Sunday searched a home in Houston near Paisley in Glasgow. A police spokesman declined to confirm details of the police activity, but said today that “these investigations are ongoing,” adding that the police were pursuing multiple lines of inquiry.

Security has been stepped up at British airports and at the tennis tournament in Wimbledon. Despite extra measures, such as closing off the airport forecourts to cars, BAA, the operator of Heathrow, Gatwick and other airports, said there were no major disruptions to their operations.

“BAA’s seven U.K. airports are today operating as normal with a full schedule of flights,” BAA said in a statement. “All terminals are open and operating well.”

As the investigation continued, Prime Minister Gordon Brown was set to meet with lawmakers from areas affected by the bomb plot.

The botched bombings have presented Brown with an early test of his government only days after he took over as prime minister from Tony Blair last week.

Over the weekend, Mr. Brown said that “it is clear that we are dealing in general terms with people who are associated with Al Qaeda.” The home secretary, Jacqui Smith, was set to address the House of Commons on Monday afternoon.

The events have prompted the British authorities to raise their terrorism threat assessment to its highest level ­ “critical” ­ meaning another attack is imminent.

The police investigation has moved quickly since the attacks. The authorities said they had recovered a rich trove of evidence from the vehicles used in the failed bombings and from video surveillance.

Though only sketchy details of the suspects have emerged, and it is not clear whether a leader of the plot may still be at large, one person with knowledge of the inquiry said a second detainee may have a medical background. This detainee may have been a hospital worker in Glasgow, the person with knowledge of the inquiry said

On Sunday, the police carried out a controlled explosion on a car in the parking lot of a hospital near Glasgow where one of the bombers was in critical condition with severe burns after attacking Glasgow Airport. The police said the car was linked to the bombers but did not explain how.

The disclosure that at least some of the suspects are of non-British origin, along with the details about the seemingly amateurish attack plans, have altered the thinking among security experts about how exactly the bombers were tied to Al Qaeda.

They noted that gas canisters found with the Jeep apparently did not detonate and were unlikely to have done so without a more powerful catalyst than ignited gasoline.

Despite the British government’s assertions of a link to Al Qaeda, it presented no evidence of connections to Al Qaeda operatives or those who derive inspiration from the group.

British intelligence agencies had warned the government last April that terrorist attacks might be initiated by Iranian Kurds to coincide with the end of Prime Minister Tony Blair’s term of office, according to a person who saw the warning. Blair handed power to Brown on Wednesday.

The government has not confirmed that report, and it is unclear precisely why Iranian Kurds would be aggrieved. But a radical Kurdish group, Ansar al-Islam, was largely driven out of northern Iraq four years ago when American and British forces overthrew Saddam Hussein, and it has since found a haven in Iran, security officials have said.

The people with knowledge of the inquiry requested anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters. But Scottish officials said publicly that the two attackers who rammed the Jeep packed with gas canisters and gasoline into the entrance to Glasgow Airport were not from Scotland.

Brown said in a nationally televised interview, “We will not yield, we will not be intimidated and we will not allow anyone to undermine our British way of life.”

Britons already were edgy because of the looming anniversary of the July 7, 2005, London transit bombings, the country’s worst terrorist attack, and Brown said the country was dealing with a “long-term threat.”

“It is not going to go away in the next few weeks or months,” he said. He added that Britain was “dealing, in general terms, with people who are associated with Al Qaeda.”

Raymond Bonner contributed reporting from London.

The United States remains safe after the attack at a Scottish airport and two foiled car bombs in London, and no lifting of the terror alert status is planned, Michael Chertoff, the head of the Homeland Security Department said Monday, The Associated Press reported from Washington.

“We are safe, but we are safe because we continue to pay attention and we continue to add security measures,” Chertoff said

When on YouTube, check out EUTube

The European Commission, the executive body of the European Union, has launched its very own channel on YouTube to make its audiovisual content more widely available to the public.

The channel, EUTube, contains video content ranging from documentaries covering the EU’s activities and history to interviews with European commissioners.

Issues such as climate change, energy and immigration will all be covered by the content available on the channel.

Margot Wallström, the Commission’s vice president for institutional relations and communication strategy, said the channel demonstrates that the Commission is committed to better explaining its policies and actions to citizens.

She added that the EU can’t ignore online developments–particularly the use of video-sharing sites–because it is important to communicate with citizens using all available means.

At present, there are about 50 video clips available on EUTube, including an interview with Wallström, along with a documentary on the EU’s postwar development.

Wii beats out PS3 6-1 in Japan

Is the Wii just a temporary fad? Is its appeal about to die off? No, says the 270,974 gamers in Japan the snapped up the console in June.

This epic figure trounces the PS3’s sales for the four weeks of June, lagging behind at 41,628 sales over the same period, according to Japanese magazine Enterbrain. That’s a six-to-one lead over the PS3, which shows that, after a five-to-one lead in May, and four-to-one lead in April, that the Wii’s dominance is increasing, not declining.

The Xbox 360 is even further behind, with just 17,616 units sold, although that’s hardly a surprise.

We expect the PS3 to gain momentum by the end of the year with several big titles, particularly Littlebigplanet, Metal Gear, as well as the introduction of PS3 Home, bound to increase interest.

Gujarat put on alert after heavy rains

Heavy rains lashed majority areas of Gujarat in the last 24 hours threatening a flood like situation. Central and south Gujarat bore the maximum brunt of the rains while several villages in Saurashtra were cut off due to heavy rains.

About 5,000 people have been shifted to safer places and 14 rain related deaths have been reported in the last 48 hours in the state.

Among the flood affected is 57-year-old Mahyudin Dalal who is preparing to move to a safer place as the Purna river in Navsari district in south Gujarat threatens to inundate several parts of the district.

The river is flowing at least two feet above the danger level. Mahyudin and his wife are among the 2,000 people who were shifted from the low-lying areas of Navsari due to the flood threat.

”We were busy with our household chores in the morning when an official announcement was made that the river had crossed the danger level. We started packing our belongings and shifting to a safer place,” said Mahyudin Dalal, Navsari resident.

While heavy rains made life difficult for people in southern parts of the state the condition in central Gujarat wasn’t any better.

Vadodara and Bharuch districts continued to receive heavy rains. Dedia Pada in Bharuch received as much as 400 mm in the last 12 hours.

Traffic on the National Highway No 8 that links Vadodara with Mumbai was disrupted following inundation of a stretch near Jhanor Chowkdi. Truck drivers and passengers were held up for several hours.

”We have been stranded since several hours and what has compounded our miseries is that we are without food and water,” said stranded passengers.

In Saurashtra region major cities like Rajkot and Bhavnagar received heavy rainfall. Traffic on the Ahmedabad-Bhanvagar road was suspended for several hours following inundation of a stretch near Dhanduka.

The Army has been asked to stand by for rescue work in Dhanduka as eight dams are overflowing in the Rajkot region.

Some schoolchildren in Junagarh were rescued after they were stuck inside their school for a few hours. Several parts of the state have been put on high alert.

”We are on a high alert and all emergency teams are on alert to meet any eventuality,” said R C Meena, Collector, Navsari.

And with more rains predicted in the next 24 hours, one only hopes, the administration is well prepared

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