Saturday, July 09, 2005

England on Edge

Just like after Sept. 11, in the immediate aftermath of the London underground bombings, the country is on alert. As of now, Britain's second-largest city Birmingham is being evacuated.

This comes after a three hoax threats one earlier in Birmingham, one at the central city of Stourbridge (see first link), and another in the city of Manchester.

In other news, a mosque was burned, prompting some to suspect arson.

UPDATE 16:53, BBC: Unconfirmed report there are two suspicious packages.

UPDATE 17:09, If you really want to know what's going on in Birmingham, the BBC has a great local radio service (RealPlayer required) which includes roving street reporters and allows people to call in and report. FYI, the stream plays music and local news so don't think you're at the wrong place if you don't hear news.

UPDATE 17:51, That radio service I linked to has gone to automated programming as they've been evacuated. Over 25,000 people in Birmingham have been evacuated. In the mean time, check out the BBC Five which is London-based.

UPDATE 17:56, Nothing new on the security threat, just the first poll post-7/7. Contrary to what happened after Spain was attacked, the Underground bombings have actually increased British resolve to remain in Iraq. Ed Morrisey has analysis and the link.