OTTAWA - At least 76 radioactive devices - several of which could be used in a terrorist attack - have gone missing in Canada over the last five years, newly compiled figures show.
They're stolen from cars, disappear from construction sites, fall off trucks and generally go astray at an alarming pace. The Canadian Press has compiled a database showing the rate at which these widely used devices vanish, often for days, sometimes without a trace. It chronicles dozens of thefts and mishaps involving hazardous equipment employed daily in tasks ranging from oil-well measurements to pioneering medical research. Thirty-five of these were nabbed by thieves. Three others were found in a roadside ditch, a garbage landfill and a farmer's field. And at last count dozens were still missing.
The eye-opening data emerge as anti-terrorism experts warn it's a matter of when - not if - readily available material will be used to craft a crude radioactive explosion, or dirty bomb, that could sow panic and cost billions of dollars to clean up.
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http://www.mytelus.com/ncp_news/article.en.do?pn=canada&articleID=2715786
Two men are being questioned by detectives after they were arrested apparently trying to collect a large delivery of gas canisters.
Officer stands guard at unitThe two Asian men, who have not been named, are thought to be aged in their 30s or 40s. They were arrested at an industrial estate in Blackburn, Lancashire. Lancashire Constabulary said it was too early to confirm whether the arrests were linked to the recent bomb plots in Glasgow and London.
Police swooped after 10 propane gas canisters were delivered to an industrial unit on Birley Street, on the Furthergate Industrial Estate. Eyewitnesses reported that a delivery driver arrived at the gate to Unit One with around five canisters and the two men appeared shortly after 10.45am.
An unmarked police Ford Focus carrying two officers immediately pulled up and the men were arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences. The terror suspects were detained and around half an hour later a second consignment of around five canisters arrived at the premises. Police tried to enter the premises but did not appear to be able to open the shutter door with any of the keys in the men's possession.
The unit is on a small industrial estate just outside of Blackburn town centre. The building at the centre of the investigation is a small, dilapidated, single-storey modern warehouse. Police have cordoned off the area with officers now guarding the entrance.
http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,70131-1273475,00.html?f=rss
Extra patrols in Qld as Gold Coast doctor questioned (Australia)
July 04, 2007
SECURITY at tonight's third State of Origin rugby league match in Brisbane and at APEC meetings elsewhere in Queensland will be beefed up following the arrest of Gold Coast-based doctor Mohammed Haneef in connection with terror plots in the United Kingdom.
Tens of thousands of people are expected to pack Suncorp Stadium in inner Brisbane for tonight's match. Queensland Police have said there is no specific threat to the match, but police will be out in extra numbers just in case. Extra patrols will also be in force at an APEC 2007 trade ministers' meeting starting in Cairns tomorrow.
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http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22015366-2,00.html
European Union Plans Passenger Profiling
Brussels, 3 July 2007 - An airline passenger data recording system for the whole of the European Union is among new measures being prepared by the European Commission, justice and security commissioner Franco Frattini announced on Tuesday in Brussels.
The plan will offer all member states the option of establishing "national databases of passengers from across the world who fly through their airspace." Frattini is also drafting legislation that will make it a crime to post bomb-making instructions to the Internet, he said.
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http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Business&loid=8.0.431613052&par=