“Police in Northern Ireland are on full alert amid fears of an escalating terrorist campaign by dissident republicans. A faction opposed to the peace process was blamed for Thursday night’s bombings in and around the centre of Londonderry and even though nobody was hurt, police said the terrorists were prepared to take whatever chances they [...]
“Britain’s terrorist threat level was raised tonight from ‘substantial’ to ‘severe’ – meaning that counter-terrorism agencies believe an attack is ‘highly likely’. The measure was approved at a meeting of the Government’s Cobra emergency committee and announced by Alan Johnson, the Home Secretary.
“Acting on intelligence failures exposed by the attempted bombing of a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day, Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced a major tightening of British aviation security measures on Wednesday, including the creation of a new ‘no-fly’ list of terrorist suspects similar to one maintained by the United States.”