Assembling bombs in flight and then detonating on board--the alleged outline of the plot that led to the arrests of at least 24 people in Britain--is not an entirely new idea. In early 2004, a British newspaper, the Observer, reported that "security sources" believed Islamic militants had conducted "dry runs" on flights between the Middle East, Europe, and North Africa of a brand-new style of attack: Suicide bombers would carry pieces of explosives, items like wires or batteries not banned on airplanes, past security screeners. They would then build a bomb in flight.
Consumers went on a buying spree in July, boosting retail spending numbers more than expected. Despite higher oil prices, retail sales grew 1.4 percent during the month, the Commerce Department reported today. It's the biggest rise since January and comes after a 0.4 percent decline in June sales.
Terrorism suspects plotting to blow up American planes headed from the United Kingdom to the United States were planning to smuggle hydrogen peroxide-based liquid/slurry explosives in modified sports drink bottles, U.S. News has learned. The suspects had figured out a way to modify the bottoms of the factory-sealed bottles and fill them with the explosives that were similar to those used in other recent attacks in London, and at least nine planes were targets, the official said. So far, British police have arrested at least 24 suspects in the plot, which had been months in the planning.
AP - More Israeli tanks and soldiers surged into southern Lebanon on Saturday, reaching the Litani River and engaging in some of the heaviest ground combat of the monthlong war just hours after the U.N. Security Council adopted a cease-fire plan.
AP - The investigation into a plot to blow up jetliners over the Atlantic zeroed in Saturday on brothers arrested in Pakistan and Britain, one named as a key al-Qaida suspect who left the family's home in England years ago and the other described as gentle and polite.
Hassan Nasrallah says Hezbollah will agree to a U.N.-brokered truce, when timing is agreedThe Lebanese government unanimously approves Security Council Resolution Hezbollah claims its guerillas shot down an Israeli helicopterIsrael expands military offensive in LebanonDeath toll nears 1,000 on 32nd day of conflict
Suspects in an alleged plot to blow up trans-Atlantic flights received a message in recent days in which they were advised, "Do your attacks now," U.S. sources said. The message was part of the reason British authorities decided an attack was imminent, according to an unclassified security memo.
The lawyer for two of the suspects rounded up in a possible plot to bring down as many as 10 trans-Atlantic flights on Saturday criticized their treatment at the hands of British police.
![[logo]](http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/bbc_news_120x60.gif "BBC News")
![[logo]](http://www.csmonitor.com/images/logo_88x31.gif "Christian Science Monitor"){kind=logo}
![[logo]](http://graphics.nytimes.com/images/section/NytSectionHeader.gif "NYT > Home Page")
![[logo]](http://www.usnews.com/usnews/images/rss/logo_rss.gif "USNews.com"){kind=logo}
![[logo]](http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/us/nws/th/main_142b.gif "Yahoo! News")
![[logo]](http://image.guardian.co.uk/sitecrumbs/Guardian.gif "Guardian Unlimited")
![[logo]](http://i.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/1.0/logo/cnn.logo.rss.gif "CNN.com"){kind=logo}
