Bomb threat on U.S.-to-Ireland flight
SHANNON, Ireland, Aug. 25 (UPI) -- Passengers were questioned and their luggage searched after a bomb threat aboard a United States-to-Ireland flight, officials say.
The plane, Aer Lingus Flight 112 bound for Dublin from New York, landed at Shannon Airport in southwest Ireland, a scheduled stop, after the telephoned threat of explosives aboard, the BBC said.
The 239 passengers were cleared to continue after questioning and no explosives were found, the BBC reported.
Air marshals get new dress code
NEW YORK, Aug. 25 (UPI) -- U.S. air marshals, who rely on anonymity, have a new dress code to allow them to look as casual as the next guy.
The new code goes into effect Sept. 1, modifying the policy that some marshals said often made them stand out on flights, the Washington Post said.
The memo containing the change advises marshals to "dress at your discretion."
Under the previous dress code marshals were required generally to wear collared shirts, sport coats and dress shoes.
Poll majority say Islam a threat to West
LONDON, Aug. 25 (UPI) -- A British online poll says 53 percent of respondents see Islam as a threat to Western liberal democracy.
That figure compares to less than one-third of those who said they felt that way after Sept. 11, 2001.
The Daily Telegraph, which commissioned the poll, said prior to last year's terrorist attacks in London and the recent discovery of an alleged plot to blow up trans-Atlantic airliners, only Muslim extremists used to raise concerns but since then people have come to fear Islam as a religion.
The latest poll confirms some leaders' fears that the country is becoming polarized between Muslims and the rest of the population.
The poll said the percentage of those who believe a large proportion of British Muslims feel no sense of loyalty to the country and ready to condone or even carry out acts of terrorism has jumped to 18 percent from 10 percent a year ago. The number who said they believe that "practically all British Muslims are peaceful, law-abiding citizens who deplore terrorist acts as much as anyone else" has fallen to 16 percent from 23 percent last year.
The poll, carried out online from Tuesday through Thursday had 1,757 respondents, also said there remains a strong opposition to security profiling of airline passengers based on their ethnicity or religion.
N.Y. Times researcher draws prison term
BEIJING, Aug. 25 (UPI) -- A Beijing court convicted a New York Times researcher of fraud Friday but dropped a more serious state secrets charge.
Zhao Yan, 44, a former Chinese journalist, was sentenced to three years in prison for fraud. But, the unrelated charge of leaking state secrets to the Times was dismissed. That charged carried a possible prison sentence of at least 10 years.
Zhao has consistently claimed to be innocent of the charges, as has the Times on the secrets allegation, the newspaper reported.
Zhao, who had previously worked for several Chinese publications before joining the Times in April 2004, has been in prison since September 2004. He could be released from prison next September, the Times said.
Karr's family claims he is innocent
BOULDER, Colo., Aug. 25 (UPI) -- The father and brother of John Mark Karr, the suspect in the 1996 Colorado murder of JonBenet Ramsey, said Friday they do not believe he committed the crime.
Karr's father, Wexford, and half brother, Nate, told ABC's "Good Morning America" that it was impossible for Karr to have committed the crime.
"Absolutely not. Emphatically, absolutely without a doubt impossible," Nate Karr said.
"I can say almost without question that from the time that John had children he has never missed a Christmas with his family -- and that's any Christmas," he said.
When asked about John Karr's televised statement that he was with JonBenet at the time of her death, Wexford Karr said: "I don't believe a word of it."
Nate Karr rejected accusations that his half brother was obsessed with children.
"He may care overly for children as some people do, but he would never do anything to hurt a child, or molest a child or anything like that. There's been no evidence in the past that he's ever done anything like that, you know, so to me that's just wild speculation."
