:: NEWS COCKTAIL aka BlahBlahBlog ::
"Everything is being compressed into tiny tablets. You take a little pill of news every day - 23 minutes - and that's supposed to be enough." -Walter Cronkite, RE TV news. The Web has changed that for many, however, and here is an extra dose for your daily news cocktail. This prescription tends to include surveillance and now war-related links, along with the occasional pop culture junk and whatever else seizes my attention as I scan online news sites.:: 7.11.2005 ::
:: RE The London Blasts ::
Blair: Islamic Extremists Responsible
KRON 4, CA
LONDON (AP) -- Prime Minister Tony Blair says it seems probable the London attacks were carried out by Islamic extremist terrorists.
At the same time amid new security jitters, commuters returned to work Monday in London, the start of the first full week since bombers killed at least 52 people on a bus and subway trains.
Many travelers said they would defy the attackers by using public transportation as normal, but some were too afraid and took taxis instead.
"I ... will not let the attacks put me off," said computer consultant Paul Williams, 42, as he prepared to board an underground train in central London. "As far as I am concerned, it is just a normal day at work."
But Ted Wright, chairman of the British Poultry Council, said he was taking a taxi to avoid the subway system. "In light of what has happened, I have decided to take a taxi. It will probably cost an extra six pounds ($10.70), but should hopefully put my wife's mind at rest," he said.
Three bombs that exploded Thursday on subway cars and one that ripped apart a bus killed at least 52 people and injured 700, as authorities continued the laborious process of retrieving remains.
Scotland Yard said Monday it had identified the first of the victims -- Susan Levy, 53, of Hertfordshire, outside London. Later Monday, London's University College said one of its cleaning service employees, whom it identified as Gladys Wundowa, 51, also was among the dead.
Forensics experts have warned that it could take days or weeks to put names to the bodies, many of which were mangled in the blasts.
Transit officials said the number of passengers using the system Monday morning was back to normal. However, a few sections of the underground rail system affected by the attacks remained closed, and the number of shoppers in central London has fallen by about 25 percent since the attacks, the British media reported.
Underscoring how tense London remained, police closed several streets where most government offices are located -- including Parliament, the Foreign Office, and 10 Downing St., where Prime Minister Tony Blair lives and works -- for about a half-hour Monday after a suspicious package was found. It contained no explosives.
Read more here.
posted by me
:: 10:49:00 AM [+] ::
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