cargo bombs

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TSA Issues Order Over 'Persistent Threats to Aviation'

Affects flights headed to the US from 5 Mideast countries

(Newser) - US authorities issued an emergency order Monday requiring additional screening of cargo on flights departing for the United States from five Mideast countries, citing a threat of terrorism. The Transportation Security Administration order is aimed at preventing terrorist attacks in response to "persistent threats to aviation," TSA said...

Fake Bomb in Cake Box Sneaked Onto UPS Flight

Cargo 'bomb' in cake box went undetected on way to Turkey

(Newser) - British authorities are investigating how a fake bomb hidden in a wedding cake box was able to make it from the UK to Turkey without being detected. The package, containing a timer, wires, and a detonator, traveled on a UPS flight to Istanbul, reports the BBC . A 26-year-old man has...

Cargo Bomb Was Set to Explode Over US

Timer was too short to make it to Chicago synagogue

(Newser) - One of the bombs hidden inside a toner cartridge sent from Yemen probably would have exploded while the plane was over the eastern US had it not been discovered by British authorities, says Scotland Yard. Instead, investigators acting on a tip from Saudi Arabia removed the device from the plane...

US Knew of, Didn't Close Air Cargo Security Gaps

Shipping lobby too worried about costs, delays

(Newser) - The US knew for decades that terrorists could easily sneak a bomb into the global cargo system, yet didn't act because of pressure from shipping companies worried that a tighter security net would cost too much and cause too many delays. One shipping lobby has in fact spent some $60...

Flights Subject to New Rules After Bomb Plot

Large toner cartridges banned from passengers flights

(Newser) - The recent mail-bomb plot has prompted the Department of Homeland Security to enact new air cargo restrictions, effective immediately, the New York Times reports. Among the changes:
  • Certain packages bound to the US from overseas will be subjects to what the anti-terror agency called “additional and enhanced screening.”
...

Al-Qaeda Sent Parcels in Sept. 'Dry Run'

US officials studied packages, let them continue

(Newser) - Packages sent from Yemen to the US in September may have been a “dry run” for the explosives intercepted Friday, officials tell the New York Times . American officials investigated the parcels at the time and, finding no explosives, allowed them to continue to “random addresses” in Chicago. But...

Cargo Bomber 'Aiming for Another Lockerbie'

Officials hunt al-Qaeda suspect who blew up his own brother

(Newser) - Security forces around the world believe Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri—an al-Qaeda fighter who once blew up his own brother—is the mastermind behind the bombs, and was plotting a "new Lockerbie" with his cargo plane explosives, reports the Telegraph . Both devices found on cargo craft traveled for a time...

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