Britain marked the second anniversary of the London suicide bombings yesterday, a grim reminder as the nation confronted a new wave of terrorism, and an Iraqi doctor appeared in court over last week's failed attacks in London and Glasgow.
Bilal Abdullah, a 27-year-old doctor born in Britain and raised in Iraq, appeared in a London court amid tight security after he and another man allegedly crashed a gas-laden Jeep Cherokee into the main terminal of Scotland's largest airport.
Accused of conspiring to cause explosions, he is the first to be charged of eight suspects arrested over failed car bomb attacks in London and Glasgow a week ago. Abdullah, who spoke only to confirm his name and birth date, was ordered to appear at London's Central Criminal Court on July 27.
Two cars packed with gas cylinders and nails were discovered on June 29 in London -- one outside a crowded nightclub, the other near Trafalgar Square. The next day, a Jeep Cherokee smashed into the security barriers at Glasgow airport, Scotland's busiest.
The charge against Abdullah refers to a plot taking place between Jan. 1 and July 1, suggesting prosecutors believe the attacks were planned well in advance.
Prosecutors suspect Abdullah and Kafeel Ahmed, believed to be the driver of the Jeep, carried out the attempted bombings in London before returning to Scotland and attacking the airport.
`to the bottom'
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said earlier on Friday that investigations stretching from Britain to Australia were "getting to the bottom" of a cell behind the failed car bombings in London and Scotland.
Brown said he had spoken to Australian Prime Minister John Howard about the probe into the suspected al-Qaeda-linked plot, in which eight Middle Eastern and Indian medics have been arrested.
Australian police, already holding one Indian doctor since Monday, extended their probe to at least five others and searched two hospitals.
In a separate case, a court in Manchester sentenced a man described by police as a terrorist "sleeper" to nine years in jail for possessing a trove of al-Qaeda-related computer material.
That followed the conviction of three other men last week for inciting terrorism over the Internet. Verdicts were due shortly in other trials -- part of a slew of cases that have highlighted Britain's appeal as a target for militant Islamists.
two years on
Meanwhile, Brown laid flowers yesterday to mark the second anniversary of the death of 52 people in the July 7, 2005, suicide bombings on London's public transport system.
Brown, accompanied by London Mayor Ken Livingstone and his Parisian counterpart Bertrand Delanoe, delivered the wreaths at 8:50am, the time when the transport system was shut down after the attacks.
The ceremony at King's Cross railway station was low-key, reportedly at the wish of the families of those killed and was not accompanied by any national moment of silence or commemoration.
A total of 52 commuters and four British Islamist suicide bombers were killed when bombs went off on three London Underground trains and one bus in quick succession.
The attacks caused the biggest peacetime loss of life in Britain since World War II.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique