Emergency services battling to save lives in the wake of the 7 July 2005 London bombings needed to use runners to send messages back to the control room as their radios did not work underground, an inquest into the terrorist attacks has heard

Four Islamic terrorists behind the 7 July 2005 bombings may have intended to commit mass murder twenty-four hours earlier, the inquests into the deaths of their fifty-two innocent victims have heard; the reason for the delay: ringleader Mohammed Sidique Khan visited Dewsbury Hospital with his wife, Hasina Patel, on 5 July because of complications with her pregnancy; she miscarried on the day of the attacks; the hearing was told that the Metropolitan Police investigation database is the largest ever created and thousands of documents have been considered for the inquests

The conventional separation techniques of the more fissionable uranium 235 from uranium 238, rely on giant centrifuges that are difficult and expensive to build and so form an important technology barrier that prevents countries with nuclear weapons aspirations from making their own highly enriched uranium; there is a growing fear, however, that laser enrichment will make this much process easier; now there is a new technique for controlling the trajectories of spinning molecules could make isotope separation even easier

The latest trend in al Qaeda’s operational approach: recruiting tech-savvy Westerners; James Clapper, U.S. director of national intelligence: “The increasing role of Westerners, including Americans in al Qaeda-associated groups, increases their knowledge of Western culture and security practices and of course enhances their access—- That obviously raises the potential specter of attacks”

Western intelligence services say that the discovery of the recent Euro terror plot owes at least some of its success to voice recognition technology that allows law enforcement electronically to match a voice to its owner; the technique can be an effective antiterror tool, and law enforcement agencies are already considering how a voice database could help thwart future plots

U.S. intelligence says the latest threat did not appear to involve the United States; possible targets of the plot included several tourist attractions across Paris and Berlin. ABC News reported Monday that at least five European airports could be targeted as well; the list of possible targets includes the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the luxury Hotel Adlon near Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate, the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, as well as Berlin’s Central Station and its landmark Alexanderplatz TV tower; one official said security has also been tightened around the British royal family

The number of extremist Web sites has skyrocketed, expanding from 12 in 1998 to 4,500 in 2006; Western authorities say that taking action to remove them remains difficult; different countries have adopted different approaches to the problem

Al Qaeda- and Taliban-affiliated terrorists based in Pakistan planned a Mumbai-like attack on London and other European cities; experts say the plot is believed to have moved from the aspirational stage to actual planning; rather than set up explosives to blow up buildings, the terrorists would have used machine-guns and hand grenades to kill as many people as possible; improved Western intelligence capabilities made Western authorities aware of the plot, and as the organizers of the attack and the militants who were to carry it out gathered in Pakistan for training and last-minute instructions, a barrage of precise missile attacks from CIA drones — some 20 sorties in all — killed many of the plotters and disrupted their preparations

The terrorism threat against the United States has evolved, with homegrown terrorists and a greater diversity in the scope and methods of attack making it more difficult to prevent them, top security officials told a Senate committee Wednesday; the number of terrorist attacks against the United States increased in the past fifteen months; Napolitano said the nature of terrorist attacks continues to evolve, with recent attacks coming faster and with “less extensive pre-operational planning than previous attempts and with fewer linkages to international terrorist organizations”