UK air terror plot thwarted
Edited by Kovis


Passengers wait to check in for their flights at Heathrow Airport, in London, August 10.

The UK government declared it had thwarted a major terrorist plot to blow up aircraft in mid-flight on August 10. Home Secretary John Reid called the plot a "major threat to the UK and international partners."

British officials have identified 19 of the suspects accused of plotting to blow up US-bound aircraft last Friday, making public a list of names that fueled suspicions of a Pakistan connection.

The Bank of England said it had frozen the accounts of the 19 people arrested. The men, ranging in age from 17 to 35, were said to be British Muslims.

Investigators, describing a plot on the scale of the September 11 attacks in the United States, said the attackers planned to use common electronic devices to detonate liquid explosives to bring down as many as 10 planes.

The bombs were to be assembled on the aircraft, apparently with peroxide-based solution and everyday carry-on items such as disposable cameras or music players, two American law enforcement officials revealed on condition of anonymity.

A federal law enforcement official in Washington said that at least one martyrdom tape was found during raids across England. These tapes, as well as the scheme to strike a range of targets at roughly the same time, are a hallmark of al-Qaida plots.

The pivotal raids in Britain followed months of investigation, but authorities moved quickly after learning the plotters hoped to stage a practice run within two days, with the actual attack expected just days after that.

Pakistan said it had played an important role in thwarting the suspected plot. A senior government official said it had arrested two Britons of Pakistani descent, who provided information on the terror plot.

Dr Reid said that the country's security threat level would be kept at its highest level, "critical," for the time being. The US Bush administration raised the threat level for flights from Britain to "red", designating a severe risk of terrorist attacks.

world in pics

Whampoa Asia Eating Championship
食王争霸赛韩国女夺魁



South Korea-born Sonya Thomas (L) competes against local contestant Johnny Wu during the Whampoa Asia Eating Championship in Hong Kong, August 13. Thomas won after eating 17 "longevity buns".

Longest poem
法国作家创作世界最长诗



Author of several novels and collections of poem, Patrick Huet sits on the longest poem in the world (994.10m long and 110kg in weight), August 5, in Lyon, France. The first letters of each line make up the words of the Declaration of Human Rights.

International Clown Festival
全球小丑丹麦竞技



Lars Lottrup stands with his head in a balloon, August 10, 2006 at the International Clown Festival in Copenhagen, Denmark. Clowns from a number of countries around the world have convened in Denmark for the festival.

Music festival in Budapest
布达佩斯音乐周开幕



Festival goers relax inside a 3-D Luminarium inflatable installation by British designer Alain Parkinson during Budapest's one-week, round-the-clock Sziget ('Island') music festival on an island in the Danube river August 13.

Ex-porn star runs for governor
美国艳星竞选加州州长



Ex-porn star and model Mary Carey, who is running against Hollywood legend Arnold Schwarzenegger to become Governor of California. Carey is pictured here campaigning in Santa Monica.

odds & ends 大千世界
Collected & translated by Jianjiang

Left-handed men see better pay
"左撇子"男性挣钱多
A new study says left-handed men with at least some college education earned 15 percent more than similarly educated right-handers, while those who finished college earned about 26 percent more.
最新研究显示, 受同等大学教育的情况下, "左撇子"男人的收入要比惯用右手的男人多15%; 如果同是大学毕业, 他们则能多赚到26%.

Retiree stages charity show
退休老人上演个人慈善秀
Passers-by in Darmstadt could not believe their luck when a retiree came out of a bank with 13,000 euros and started handing out the cash. Police confiscated the remaining cash and told the man to collect it when he had sobered up.
德国达姆斯塔德的路人们都撞大运了, 一名退休老人竟从银行取了13000欧元分给过往行人. 警方只好没收这位"慈善家"的余款, 等他清醒后再将钱还回.

70 speeding tickets in 5 months
5个月获70张超速罚单
A 32-year-old broker in Arizona has cranked up 70 speeding tickets in the last five months, a record for the Police Department. She told arresting officers she was speeding because she seemed to be late for client meetings all the time.
亚利桑那州的一名经纪人创下了当地警署里的惊人纪录, 她在过去5个月中因超速吃了70张罚单. 据她本人解释, 她经常超速是因为她总在会见客户时迟到.

Badges make journey easier
怀孕徽章助孕妇出行
Tokyo rail companies are providing pregnant women with badges in the hope of prompting other passengers on the Japanese capital's crowded trains to offer them seats. The pink and blue badges read: "There is a baby in my belly."
近日, 东京地铁公司向孕妇们发放怀孕徽章, 这些粉蓝相间的徽章上写着: "我肚子里有孩子", 目的是提示其他乘客在拥挤的地铁上为她们让座.


Vocabulary
thwart 阻止
plot 阴谋
detonate 引爆
peroxide 过氧化氢
martyrdom 殉难
hallmark 标志
pivotal 关键的