London - British police Friday foiled two massive car bombings in the heart of London that could have caused “significant loss of life” and placed the city on a high level of alert only three days after the country’s leadership changed hands.
Authorities safely defused both devices planted in the Mercedes vehicles parked not far from each other in one of London’s busiest areas.
British authorities confirmed late Friday that a second vehicle, a blue Mercedes, had been towed after receiving a parking citation near Hyde Park and was then found to contain explosives. Police later inspected the car at the tow yard and safely defused the explosives, said Peter Clarke, head of Scotland Yard’s anti-terrorism unit.
“These vehicles are clearly linked,” Clarke said.
Like the first vehicle, a light green Mercedes found near Piccadilly Circus outside a popular nightclub, the second car was found with a “considerable amount of fuel,” gas canisters and a large quantity of nails, Clarke said. Terrorists frequently use nails in bombs to maximize their killing effect.
British authorities have stepped up security as the country prepares to mark the killing of more than 50 people by suicide bombers who struck London’s transportation system on July 7, 2005.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown took over for Tony Blair on Wednesday and appointed his cabinet Thursday. Brown urged the public to remain vigilant “over the next few days” and warned that Britain remained under “serious and continued threat from terrorism.”
Government sources said the police and intelligence services were investigating a possible international link and similarities to car bombs used by insurgents in Iraq. Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, speaking after an emergency cabinet meeting, said Britain was currently facing “the most serious and sustained threat.”
The counter-intelligence service MI5 warned Friday that further attacks were “highly likely” and that alert levels would remain at “severe,” the second-highest level.
Clarke said after the first bomb was defused that it could have caused “significant injury or loss of life” had it exploded.
“At that hour on a Friday morning, many, many people were leaving nightclubs and other places after an evening out,” Clarke said.
The device had been disabled by officers called to the scene in Haymarket, one of London’s major tourists centres where theatres, clubs, bars and restaurants are located.
Police has earlier cordoned off London’s central Hyde Park to search a suspect car in an underground car park, amid fears that devices could have been planted in other parts of the city.
Brown Friday called an emergency meeting of the government crisis committee.
“I will stress to the cabinet that the vigilance must be maintained over the next few days,” he said, in a reference to the upcoming anniversary of the 2005 attacks that killed 52 people and injured more than 700.
The first suspect car was spotted by an ambulance crew that had been called to the Tiger Tiger nightclub in the Haymarket at about 2 am local time (0100 GMT) and noticed smoke rising out of the Mercedes, Clarke said.
Clarke said it remained unclear if the nightclub was the target of the first car bomb and that he was making no assumptions about who was behind the plot.
Earlier this month, a court in London sentenced seven men said to have links with al-Qaeda, who the court heard had planned to use explosives-packed limousines for attacks in Britain.
Among their targets would have been nightclubs with “all those slags dancing around,” according to taped evidence presented to the court.
“The device was almost ready to go, it was primed in a manner to be detonated shortly,” said a BBC correspondent, quoting police sources, about Friday’s attempted attack.
“This was foiled totally by chance,” he added.
An unconfirmed report said the device was to be ignited by mobile phone trigger. Security experts said it was the first time that a so- called vehicle-born improvised device (VBIED) would have been used in an attack in London.
“This is significant. These are the tactics of Iraq coming to the streets of Britain,” said the BBC’s security correspondent, Frank Gardner.
Other experts said the fact that the devices were improvised was also an “al-Qaeda” hallmark.
Brown was informed of the bomb when he woke up, his Home Secretary Smith said. It was revealed later that “enhanced security measures” had been put in place at the Houses of Parliament in Westminster in the wake of the incident.
Sources said there could also be a connection with the expected sentencing next week in the trial of four suspects accused of planning a follow-up attack on subways and buses in London on July 21, 2005.
US and British authorities have been in close contact since the first bomb was discovered and US President George W Bush received a briefing by national security aides at his parents’ oceanfront estate in Maine where on Sunday he will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, CNN reported.
US Homeland Security Secretary Chertoff said there was no indication of an imminent attack in the United States, but urged Americans to be vigilant and report anything suspicious as they prepare to celebrate Independence Day on Wednesday.
“Our law enforcement and intelligence officials are closely monitoring the ongoing investigation,” Chertoff said in a statement.
London (EON) - Police have managed to stop a terrorist attack as they have found a silver Mercedes which was packed with gas and a large number of nails making it a power car bomb.
British security officials have come out and stated that this was definitely a car bomb which could have caused many lives to be lost. It was built in a very similar way to how the insurgents in Iraq put together car bombs.
The device is being looked at in great detail by a forensic team. Officers received the call to go to The Haymarket before 2 a.m. according to police. The report was that someone crashed a Mercedes sedan into garbage bins and them ran away.
The Haymarket in London is a location with many bars, theaters, restaurants, etc.
This came just one week before the second anniversary of the London bombings on July 7th.
Boston (EON) - The FDA has put out a recall on Veggie Booty, a snack which is very popular for young kids.
The fear is that the snak could carry Salmonella food poisoning. The U.S. FDA stated that the food should be immediately thrown away.
The FDA confirmed that at least 52 people in 17 states has become sick after eating the snack food from Robert’s American Gourmet.
The company stated that it has temporarily stopped making and selling the Veggie Booty snack food. The food contains spinach, kale, as well as other vegetables.
The FDA stated that “Veggie Booty is often consumed by children, so parents are encouraged to watch their children, and seek medical care if they observe signs of illness.”
Boston (EON) - A study has revealed that antidepressants taken by pregnant women do not put the unborn baby at risk of birth defects.
The overal risk of having a child with a defect increased by only 1 percent in women who took antidepressant drugs from companies such as Pfizer Inc, Zoloft, Glaxo, etc.
The new research has been published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
One in five pregnant women have symptoms of depression according to the American Pregnancy Association. Depression can lead to premature birth as well as very small and low-weight babies.
Researchers stated though that women can take antidepressants to help this without adding too much of a risk to the birth.
Michael Greene of the Mass General Hospital in boston stated that “If everyone decides that treatment for depression is appropriate and needed during pregnancy, the overall message from this is relatively reassuring.”
Boston (EON) - Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution has been announced for the PS3 and Xbox 360 exclusively.
The series has always been a staple as a PC game but for the first time will be making its way to consoles. The original Civilization was published back in 1990 and is now headed to consoles in an all new game.
“Civilization Revolution is the game I’ve always wanted to make!” said Sid Meier, Director of Creative Development at Firaxis Games. “We are excited to take advantage of the power of next generation consoles and the ingenuity of handhelds, to create a great and unique strategy game for newcomers to the series, as well as the millions of fans around the world who enjoy Civilization on the PC.”
This is huge news for Xbox 360 and PS3 fans who have been waiting to get a game like this on the consoles and with a release in Spring 2008, it is not far away!
Orlando (EON) - Steve Jobs, the Apple chief executive, has made the announcement that employees of his company will each receive a free iPhone.
The announcement is a huge suprirse for the company which has over 20,000 employees. This means that each employee would receive a $599 iPhone costing Apple a reported $12 million.
The iPhone launch in the US is just hours away with over 164 retail stores set to stay open until midnight to try and cater to fans who want to be among the first to get their hand on the high tech device.
The launch will begin at 6pm EST.
Customers will be limited to 2 iPhones each to try and keep supply available for all customers as well.
Boston (EON) - Midway has announced five exclusive games for the Nintendo DS and Wii combined.
The five games will include a return of the popular Cruis’n action racing series which will head exclusively to the Nintendo Wii.
Midway has stated that they will be bringing more games out as well for the Nintendo consoles.
The Cruis’n franchise made a name for itself back on the Nintendo 64 when it was a very popular franchise and is looking to build on that for this release on the Wii.
Among other games announced include Game Party, a collection of indoor sports mini-games.
There is also a beer pong game included in Game Party!
Boston (EON) - The Supreme Court rejected racial integration plans in Seattle and Louisville, KY.
The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in favor of rejecting the plans on the table. The strange thing about the ruling though is that it still leaves teh door open for debate in terms of racial integration.
Anthony Kennedy stated that it is possible that race could be a label or a part of the school efforts still despite the deal.
He statd that certain districts may want to try and get a more diverse student population. Race is a part of that diversity.
Districts should be able to find different ways to achieve diversity goals and such without the need of a court ruling.
Washington (EON) - The Senate threw the final blow to the immigration bill on Thursday putting a final end before Congress could act on the President Bush immigration agenda.
The votes were 46 out of 60 in terms allowing it to go to debate and final voting. 53 senators though have voted against cutting off the debate keeping it from a final vote and killing the immigration bill.
Rep. Zoe Lofgren stated that “This vote effectively kills comprehensive immigration legislation in the 100th Congress.”
Senate leaders have stated that they have zero intention to overhaul immigration before the 2008 election even though it is high on the Bush agenda.
The bill would have granted 12 million illegal immigrants citizenship if they desire.
Sen. Edward Kennedy though stated that he issue is not going away, “We’ll be back.”
London (EON) - Former Libyan intelligence official who was convicted and sent to jail following the 1988 Lockerbie bomb may have been innocent after all.
Abdel Basset Ali al-Megahi who is the former Libyran intelligence officer, was put in jail back in 201 for the bombing. He was the only person convicted. He lost his initial appeal as well in 2002 and is serving a 27-year sentence in Scottish prison.
The Lockerbie bombing will allow an appeal of the verdict just in case they truly were wrong. The ruling has major impacts obviously on the family of the victims who were on the Pan Am Flight 103 back on December 21, 1988.
The flight killed 270 people, including 179 Americans.
A Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission put out an 800-page report which stated that a “miscarriage of justice” may have occured in many locations during the case.