New fears of Al Qaeda and an 'undetectable' bomb



WASHINGTON // The discovery of a sophisticated and potentially undetectable bomb is reviving fears about the capabilities of Al Qaeda a week after the anniversary of the killing of its leader Osama bin Laden.

FBI experts are analysing what US officials say is a new kind of "underwear bomb". It was seized last month, probably in Yemen, when intelligence officers thwarted a plot to blow up a US-bound commercial airliner.

Details are sketchy, with officials reluctant to discuss a continuing investigation. But it is believed the bomb has no metal components and was designed to pass undetected through airport scanners.

The plot bears the hallmarks of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). US officials say they say the device is probably the work of Ibrahim Hassan Al Asiri.

Authorities suspect he built the original underwear bomb, which failed to detonate aboard a plane over Detroit in 2009. He is also suspected of being the bomb-maker behind the failed plot to detonate explosives hidden in toner cartridges in printers on a plane to Chicago that was intercepted in Dubai in 2010.

Some reports suggest a Saudi intelligence tip played a crucial role in unravelling the new plot.

Saudi intelligence collaboration also played a crucial role in the unravelling of the 2010 explosive toner cartridges plot.

The new bomb was designed to be used in a passenger's underwear, but this time with a more refined detonation system, US officials said.

It showed that "terrorists keep trying", Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, said yesterday during a visit to India. "They keep trying to devise more and more perverse and terrible ways to kill innocent people."

The revelation of the new bomp plot came after an unmanned US drone strike on Sunday killed Fahed Mohammad Ahmed Al Quso, an Al Qaeda figure charged with the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole. He was one of the FBI's 10 most wanted terrorists, and US officials now say he was a key person behind the new underwear bombing plot.

There were no immediate plans to change security procedures at America's airports, according to US authorities, but US politicians said the device may not be the only one made.

Mike Rogers, the Republican chairman of the House of Representatives intelligence committee, said what he called the premature release of information surrounding the device could complicate the investigation.

"If something bad happens because it was leaked too early, that's a catastrophe and it's also a crime," Mr Rogers said.

Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat senator and head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, described the bomb as "undetectable". It was "going to be on a US-bound airliner", she said after having been briefed by security officials.

US officials have declined to say where the Central Intelligence Agency seized the bomb. The would-be suicide bomber, reportedly based in Yemen, had apparently not yet picked a target or purchased plane tickets when the CIA seized the bomb.

FBI bomb experts, meanwhile, are "taking a look at the construction, to see what type of refinements and modifications might have been made" since the 2010 plot, John Brennan, assistant to the president on homeland security and counterterrorism, said yesterday.

Mr Brennan credited good intelligence with the unravelling of the plot, and said the device never got near an airport.

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The years Ramadan fell in May

1987

1954

1921

1888

The specs

Engine: 1.5-litre turbo

Power: 181hp

Torque: 230Nm

Transmission: 6-speed automatic

Starting price: Dh79,000

On sale: Now

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?

1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull

2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight

3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge

4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own

5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed

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T20 World Cup Qualifier

Final: Netherlands beat PNG by seven wickets

Qualified teams

1. Netherlands
2. PNG
3. Ireland
4. Namibia
5. Scotland
6. Oman

T20 World Cup 2020, Australia

Group A: Sri Lanka, PNG, Ireland, Oman
Group B: Bangladesh, Netherlands, Namibia, Scotland

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Thank You for Banking with Us

Director: Laila Abbas

Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum

Rating: 4/5

Profile of Udrive

Date started: March 2016

Founder: Hasib Khan

Based: Dubai

Employees: 40

Amount raised (to date): $3.25m – $750,000 seed funding in 2017 and a Seed round of $2.5m last year. Raised $1.3m from Eureeca investors in January 2021 as part of a Series A round with a $5m target.

Virtual banks explained

What is a virtual bank?

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority defines it as a bank that delivers services through the internet or other electronic channels instead of physical branches. That means not only facilitating payments but accepting deposits and making loans, just like traditional ones. Other terms used interchangeably include digital or digital-only banks or neobanks. By contrast, so-called digital wallets or e-wallets such as Apple Pay, PayPal or Google Pay usually serve as intermediaries between a consumer’s traditional account or credit card and a merchant, usually via a smartphone or computer.

What’s the draw in Asia?

Hundreds of millions of people under-served by traditional institutions, for one thing. In China, India and elsewhere, digital wallets such as Alipay, WeChat Pay and Paytm have already become ubiquitous, offering millions of people an easy way to store and spend their money via mobile phone. Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines are also among the world’s biggest under-banked countries; together they have almost half a billion people.

Is Hong Kong short of banks?

No, but the city is among the most cash-reliant major economies, leaving room for newcomers to disrupt the entrenched industry. Ant Financial, an Alibaba Group Holding affiliate that runs Alipay and MYBank, and Tencent Holdings, the company behind WeBank and WeChat Pay, are among the owners of the eight ventures licensed to create virtual banks in Hong Kong, with operations expected to start as early as the end of the year. 

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The specs

Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol

Power: 154bhp

Torque: 250Nm

Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option 

Price: From Dh79,600

On sale: Now

Closing the loophole on sugary drinks

As The National reported last year, non-fizzy sugared drinks were not covered when the original tax was introduced in 2017. Sports drinks sold in supermarkets were found to contain, on average, 20 grams of sugar per 500ml bottle.

The non-fizzy drink AriZona Iced Tea contains 65 grams of sugar – about 16 teaspoons – per 680ml can. The average can costs about Dh6, which would rise to Dh9.

Drinks such as Starbucks Bottled Mocha Frappuccino contain 31g of sugar in 270ml, while Nescafe Mocha in a can contains 15.6g of sugar in a 240ml can.

Flavoured water, long-life fruit juice concentrates, pre-packaged sweetened coffee drinks fall under the ‘sweetened drink’ category
 

Not taxed:

Freshly squeezed fruit juices, ground coffee beans, tea leaves and pre-prepared flavoured milkshakes do not come under the ‘sweetened drink’ band.