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A worker who claims she was the victim of a race-hate campaign by fundamentalist Muslims because of her Christian beliefs has launched a landmark case against her former employers. Nouhad Halawi, a saleswoman at Heathrow Airport's World Duty Free shop, said she and other Christian staff were systematically harassed by Muslims. She alleged the intimidation included: # I was told I would go to hell, claims worker # 'Muslims made fun of colleague wearing crosses' # Lost job after speaking out about 'extremist' bullying # Bullying a friend at the airport for wearing crosses. # Muslims telling her she would...

Nohad Halawi, who worked at Heathrow Airport, is suing her former employers for unfair dismissal, claiming that she and other Christian staff at the airport were victims of systematic harassment because of their religion. She claims that she was told that she would go to Hell for her religion, that Jews were responsible for the September 11th terror attacks, and that a friend was reduced to tears having been bullied for wearing a cross. Mrs Halawi, who came to Britain from Lebanon in 1977, worked in the duty-free section as a perfume saleswoman of the airport for 13 years but...

British police were involved in a stand-off with a man threatening to blow himself up at London's Heathrow Airport, Sky News reported on Thursday. "We are dealing with the security alert at Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 and a small section of the terminal building has been cordoned off as a precaution," a spokesman for London's Metropolitan Police said.

An Air Malta flight from London Heathrow was forced to return to the terminal after a passenger started praying and chanting in the aisle just before take-off. The man got to his knees on Tuesday and started chanting in Arabic and ignored instructions by cabin crew to return to his seat...Passengers panicked when they heard the man chanting, and he had to be restrained by passengers and crew...

Volcanic Ash To Close London's Heathrow Airport By JENNIFER QUINN, Associated Press Writer LONDON – Europe's busiest airport was set to close early Monday morning as a dense crowd of volcanic ash drifts across England from Iceland, aviation authorities said. The airspace over London's Heathrow Airport will be closed at 1 a.m. Monday (0000 GMT; 7 p.m. EDT), Britain's National Air Traffic Service said in a statement late Sunday night. The restrictions affecting Heathrow — as well as Gatwick, Stansted, and London City airports — will be in place until at least 7 a.m. Monday, the aviation authority said. Airports...

Green groups, local councils and opposition politicians hailed the finding as a victory, claiming that the decision meant that the policy was “in tatters”. But Gordon Brown insisted that the runway would go ahead as planned, saying that expanding Heathrow was the “right decision” for the economy. A coalition of groups including Greenpeace, the Campaign to Protect Rural England and six local authorities had brought the case, arguing that expanding the airport would breach Britain’s legally-binding climate change targets.

Two men were stopped boarding US-bound planes at Heathrow days before Britain's terror threat was raised to "severe".News of the incidents came hours after Home Secretary Alan Johnson lifted the threat level amid fears that al-Qaeda is planning an attack. The new level, which means an attack is reckoned "highly likely", is second only to "critical".Security sources say an Egyptian was stopped last Saturday as he tried to board an American Airlines flight to Miami. A man from Saudi Arabia was banned from boarding a United Airlines flight to Chicago the next day and sent back to Saudi.The incidents and...

Snips: At least six people on the no-fly list were denied boarding in a 48-hour period between Saturday and Monday this week, according to the officials. Two of the six were stopped at London's Heathrow Airport.M. On Saturday, an Egyptian man on the no-fly list was stopped from flying on American Airlines flight 113 from London to Miami. The next day, Sunday, a Saudi Arabian passenger was stopped from boarding United Airlines flight 929 to Chicago. Officials said the man was sent back to Saudi Arabia by the British. In two other overseas cases involving people on the no-fly list,...

LONDON: A Dubai-bound Emirates flight with more than 300 passengers on board was grounded minutes before it was due to take off from Heathrow airport on Friday night after three men sparked a terror alert when they reportedly made a “verbal threat”, though it was not known what exactly they said. Armed officers stormed the plane and the men — all white and aged 58, 48 and 36 — were arrested on suspicion of making a bomb threat. The plane was then moved to a safe area and evacuated.

A passenger has been charged with making a bomb threat which grounded a plane at London's Heathrow Airport on Friday night. Robert Fowles, 58, from Dover, Kent, was also charged with being drunk on an aircraft, the Metropolitan Police said. Alexander McGinn, 48, who is also from Dover, was also charged with being drunk on an aircraft. Armed police boarded the Dubai-bound Emirates flight after remarks were made to cabin crew. Mr Fowles, who lives in Edred Road, Dover, will appear from custody at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Sunday. Mr McGinn, of Lowther Road, has been bailed and will appear...

LONDON, Jan. 9 (UPI) -- Three men aboard an Emirates Airlines flight awaiting takeoff from London's Heathrow Airport were arrested after triggering a security alert, police say. Scotland Yard said three men, aged 58, 48 and 36, were taken into custody aboard the plane Friday as it sat on a runway waiting to leave for Dubai, saying the men were arrested on suspicion of making a bomb threat, The Daily Telegraph reported. A witness told Britain's Sky News that five armed policemen rushed aboard the plane and quickly handcuffed one of the men, described as a white male.

LONDON (Reuters) -- Counterterrorism detectives said they had arrested five men in early morning raids today in northwest England. They were being held on suspicion of committing terrorism offenses including inciting an act of terrorism overseas. Police said the suspects, aged 21, 26, 27, 52, and 62, were detained after swoops at homes in Manchester and Bolton, and at a hotel near London's Heathrow Airport. The properties were now being searched.

September 7, 2009 Mass murder at 30,000 feet: Islamic extremists guilty of airline bomb plot Philippe Naughton Three British Muslims were found guilty today of conspiracy to murder thousands of passengers and crew in an unprecedented airline bomb plot that could have proved as deadly as the 9/11 attacks. After a retrial at Woolwich Crown Court, jurors found the ringleader, Abdulla Ahmed, and two other men, Assad Sarwar and Tanvir Hussain, guilty of plotting to use liquid bombs to blow up airliners en route from Heathrow to the United States. Another defendant, Umar Islam, was found guilty of a more...

(CBS4) BOSTON Criminal charges could be filed Thursday against a Vermont woman who caused a disturbance aboard a London-to-Virginia jet that was diverted to Logan Airport. 59-year-old Catherine Mayo is being held by federal authorities in Boston. Investigators say she was a claustrophobic passenger who became upset and interfered with the flight crew on United Airlines flight 923 Wednesday morning. The pilot declared an in-flight emergency and landed the plane at Logan. The Boeing 767 was escorted by two F-15 jets based out of Otis Air National Guard Base on Cape Cod. Passengers say Mayo paced the aisles and peppered...

Entire South African Airways crew arrested for drug smuggling - TWICE in one month By SAM GREENHILL 17th February 2009 The entire crew of a South African Airways flight has been arrested on suspicion of drug smuggling - for the second time in a month. Fifteen members of the flight crew, including the pilot, were detained yesterday at Heathrow airport after customs officers found five kilos of cocaine in a bag. They were being held by officers after the class A drug, with an estimated street value of £250,000, was discovered as the crew tried to clear customs following a...

The entire crew of a South African Airways flight have been arrested on suspicion of drug smuggling - for the second time in a month. Fifteen members of the flight crew, including the pilot, were detained today at London's Heathrow after customs officers found five kilos of cocaine in a bag.  They were being held by officers after the class A drug, with an estimated street value of £250,000, was discovered as the crew tried to clear customs following a 12-hour flight from Johannesburg. Bob Gaiger, spokesman for HM Revenue and Customs, said the drugs were discovered after the...

LONDON (AFP) – The British government will give the green light on Thursday to plans to build a third runway at London's Heathrow airport, the world's biggest international air hub, the BBC reported. Martin Salter, a lawmaker from Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Labour party who has campaigned against the nine-billion-pound (13-billion-dollar, 10-billion-euro), said he also expected ministers to give the go-ahead. "I am expecting a decision tomorrow. I am expecting it to be the wrong decision, with the runway going ahead," he said Wednesday. The expansion plan has pitted environmental groups and local residents concerned about the increase in emissions...

RESIDENTS in a village that would be demolished to make way for a third Heathrow runway fear time has run out in their battle against the bulldozers. Sipson, which is already overshadowed by Britain's biggest airport, will be wiped off the map if the Government approves the expansion plan. The decision is only days away, but the people who live in Sipson's 700 homes are resigned to losing their fight. Mark Bridle, 38, a carpenter, said: "It seems like Gordon Brown is going to say yes to the runway, but people are never going to give up. I don't think...

Excerpt - Three men accused of plotting to use liquid bombs to blow up jets flying from Heathrow airport have been found guilty of conspiracy to murder. Of the eight people on trial over the alleged plot to attack transatlantic airliners, three were found guilty of one of the charges against them, four had no verdict given and one was acquitted. ~ snip ~

Terminal 5 came in for renewed criticism yesterday after it emerged that passengers transferring between planes at Heathrow's troubled new £4.3bn building are losing more than 900 bags a day. "Passengers will be surprised and disappointed to learn that there is still a one in 12 chance of losing their bags,"

An airline passenger claimed that a security guard threatened to arrest him because he was wearing a T-shirt showing a cartoon robot with a gun. Brad Jayakody, 30, from London, said he was stopped from passing through security at Heathrow's Terminal 5 after his Transformers T-shirt was deemed 'offensive.' The IT consultant was set to fly off on a business trip to Dusseldorf in Germany when he was pulled to one side. Brad Jayakody w Brad Jayakody wearing the Transformers T-shift which caused offence at Heathrow Mr Jayakody said the first guard started joking with him about the Transformers character...

An Afghan hijacker who forced an airliner to fly to Britain is now working at Heathrow, it has been disclosed. Nazamuddin Mohammidy, 34, was one of a gang of nine that threatened to blow up an internal flight in Afghanistan, along with 173 passengers and crew, unless they were granted political asylum. The Afghan hijackers forced the Boeing 727 to divert to Britain where they surrendered to police and the SAS after a 70-hour stand-off at Stansted Airport, Essex in Mohammidy, of Hounslow, Middlesex, is now working as an office cleaner for British Airways. The discovery came after he...

One of the nine Afghans who won the right to live in Britain after hijacking a plane is now working at Heathrow airport as a cleaner, it emerged last night. Nazamuddin Mohammidy was one of a group who took over an internal Afghan flight in 2000 and landed it in the UK, where they threatened to kill those on board unless they were granted asylum. Now it has emerged Mohammidy, 34, was recently arrested while driving a car around the new Terminal 5 at Heathrow airport. Police suspected he was an unlicensed cab driver but were stunned when checks revealed...

Attacks on nuclear power stations, oil and gas terminals, Canary Wharf and Heathrow’s control tower were being considered by leaders of the plot to blow up seven transatlantic airliners in mid-flight, a court was told yesterday. Documents found on computer memory sticks at the home of an alleged terrorist ringleader contained a list of targets across Britain – including the gas pipeline between Britain and Belgium. The man, Assad Sarwar, was said to be in contact with terrorist leaders overseas and visited Pakistan a month before his arrest as preparations for the airline attacks were being finalised. Peter Wright, QC,...

LONDON (AP) - Sky News television reports supermodel Naomi Campbell has been arrested at Heathrow's terminal 5 for assaulting a police officer. A London Metropolitan Police spokesman says a woman was arrested at the terminal for on assault on police, but has refused to disclose her identity or give her age. The spokesman spoke on condition of anonymity in line with force policy.

DOZENS of workers at Heathrow’s Terminal 5 started to BRAWL just hours after it opened, it emerged last night. More than 30 baggage-handlers at the £4.3billion hub had to be pulled apart by security guards on Thursday. And the farce at the “world class” terminal continued yesterday as 72 more flights were scrapped, the ROOF started to LEAK and passengers JEERED staff. As rain dripped on their heads from a hole in the expensive panelled roof, tourists chanted: “You’re s*** and you know you are” at red-faced BA staff. Passenger Sandra Weber, 27, of Feldberg, Austria, raged: “It’s like being...

LONDON (AFP) - Flights began operating at Heathrow airport's new terminal on Thursday, slightly clouded by a few teething problems and a protest at the London air hub. Terminal Five, which cost 4.3 billion pounds and is the first addition to Heathrow in 20 years, was inaugurated by Queen Elizabeth II earlier this month. On Thursday the first flight to land was from Hong Kong, and while the British Airways aircraft landed 10 minutes ahead of schedule, some passengers reported delays while signs were also criticised. "It took an hour for our bags to come through from the time we...

nvestigators have determined that the British Airways Boeing 777-200ER which crashed on approach to London Heathrow last week had adequate fuel on board and that both engines continued to generate thrust, albeit much-reduced, during the event. Preliminary findings from the Air Accidents Investigation Branch had indicated that the aircraft’s Rolls-Royce Trent 800 engines had failed to respond to an auto-throttle command for increased thrust during the final stage of the approach. In a newly-issued update, however, the AAIB says both engines did initially respond to the auto-throttle command, but that the starboard engine’s thrust reduced after about 3s and the...

THE pilot of the British Airways aircraft that crash-landed at Heathrow said he feared the flight would end in “catastrophe” as he struggled to cope with a double engine failure just two miles from touchdown. First Officer John Coward, 41, said both engines lost power simultaneously, leaving him with just seconds to bring the aircraft down. -- snip -- Investigators examining the wreckage of flight BA038 are now focusing on the theory that the crash was caused by a failure in the avionics and electronics systems that control the plane’s engines. . . . A senior industry source said: “....

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Two engines on the British Airways plane which crash landed at Heathrow "did not respond" to a demand for increased thrust about two miles from touchdown, an initial report by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch said Friday. The report describes the Boeing 777 hitting problems 600ft off the ground and descending rapidly but just making it onto Heathrow land The report says: "Initial indications from (crew) interviews and Flight Recorder analyses show the flight and approach to have progressed normally until the aircraft was established on late finals for Runway 27L. "At approximately 600ft and two...

The secret war On the North-West Frontier, soldiers are trying to tighten the noose around bin Laden's forces. But in Europe and America, there is no clear enemy to fight - yet every expert knows that a terrorist atrocity is coming Mark Townsend in Tangier, John Hooper in Madrid, Greg Bearup in Peshawar, Paul Harris in Washington, Peter Beaumont in Baghdad, Antony Barnett, Martin Bright, Jason Burke and Nick Pelham in London Sunday March 21, 2004 The Observer There were shadows in the rocks. As the 12 US Special Forces soldiers arrived at a remote mountain region in eastern Afghanistan...

Two Airplanes Collide at Heathrow Airport, London(AP) No details yet.

An environmental protester hugs a British police officer Saturday near London's Heathrow Airport. Organizers hope to attract as many as 1,500 people today to protest a proposed third runway at the airport and greenhouse gases released by air travel. LONDON — For the hundreds of climate-change activists who have camped out near Heathrow Airport for the past week, there is only one way to reduce the carbon footprint of aircraft: Stop flying so much. "Aviation is a luxury we can live without," said a protester named Merrick. Booming air travel, he said, is multiplying greenhouse gases just as the climate-change...

Heathrow protesters 'may stage bomb hoax' By David Millward, Transport Correspondent Last Updated: 7:38pm BST 13/08/2007 A hard core of anarchist demonstrators are drawing up plans to bring Heathrow to a standstill using an array of tactics including disguising themselves as ordinary holidaymakers to cause havoc in the airport terminals The Daily Telegraph has learned that protesters are smuggling smart clothes into the "climate camp" in an attempt to sidestep police and security staff and get into the terminals and office buildings. Protestors against a third runway at Heathrow set up camp There are also fears they could be planning...

Heathrow, England, 3 July (AKI) - Passengers said on Tuesday that Terminal 4 at London's Heathrow airport was being evacuated after a suspect package was found. Officials at the airport could not confirm that the terminal was being evacuated but said a suspect bag had been found, Reuters news agency reported. Flights departing from Terminal 4 are mainly operated by British Airways and by Dutch KLM, to European and long-haul destinations. Britain is on 'critical' security alert following last week's failed bombings at Glasgow airport and in central London, believed to be an-Qaeda plot. Security services fear a terror attack...

LONDON: Heathrow Airport's terminal 3 was closed Sunday night after a "suspect package" was found, airport authorities said. Airport operator BAA said in a statement that police were on the scene and "are working with airport staff to get the terminal reopened as soon as possible." Further details were not immediately available.

NEW YORK — One of the daughters of a man among four accused in a terror plot to destroy John F. Kennedy International Airport and surrounding areas told FOX News Saturday that her father was "falsely arrested." Abdul Kadir, a Muslim and former member of Parliament in Guyana, was arrested in Trinidad for attempting to secure money for "terrorist operations," according to a Guyanese police commander who spoke on condition of anonymity. Kadir's wife, Isha, said that her husband was nabbed while boarding a flight to Venezuela, where he planned to pick up a travel visa to attend an Islamic...

The Open Skies agreement between America and Europe has been hailed by airlines that see expansion opportunites outside their home continent. But airline unions see a threat to jobs. "Airlines need greater commercial freedom to run their businesses as real businesses," said Giovanni Bisignani, CEO of the International Air Transport Association. The Bush administration said Open Skies will create jobs, and United Airlines hailed the agreement, seeing expansion opportunity in Europe. Greg Davidowitch, president of the United Airlines master executive committee of the Association of Flight Attendants, disagrees. "These benefits are ambiguous, tenuous and will be short-lived at best," he...

LONDON (Reuters) - A group of British Muslims suspected of plotting to blow up U.S.-bound airliners flying from Britain had been radicalised in just weeks or months, London's police chief said on Wednesday. British detectives announced last August they had foiled a suicide bomb plot to blow up planes using liquid explosives. Officers have charged 15 people over the suspected plot with offences including conspiracy to murder and planning acts of terrorism. The suspects are due to go on trial next year. "One of the really shocking things ... is the apparent speed with which young, reasonably affluent, some reasonably...

The great Christmas standstill By David Millward, Transport Correspondent and Richard Holt Last Updated: 5:57pm GMT 22/12/2006 The misery has worsened for passengers at Britain’s airports today as freezing fog forced hundreds of domestic and European flights to be cancelled. A blanket of fog engulfs a runway at Heathrow People stranded at Heathrow woke from a few hours sleep slumped over café tables to hear the news that further flights had been cancelled. Whilst conditions are still predicted to be bad overnight, forecasts for the weekend have improved. British Airways plans to start operating domestic services in and out of...

Excerpt - Intelligence agencies have been warned that al Qaeda may be planning to attack air and rail travel in Europe in actions that may occur during the busy holiday travel season, CBS News has learned exclusively. In separate interviews with Arab and other intelligence sources, CBS News has been told that the warnings come from interrogations of al Qaeda suspects who recently left Afghanistan and Pakistan. "One suspect said plans for repeating the Heathrow attempt (a reference to the failed 'liquid bomb' plot interrupted in August) were all prepared. It is now a matter of taking action," said one...

A man is being questioned by police after a security alert forced the closure of part of Heathrow Airport.About 2,000 people were evacuated from Terminal Two after a suspect package was found in the check-in area. Police said they were looking into reports that a man had run up to a desk, dropped off a package and then fled. A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: "That is certainly a line of inquiry and CCTV is being checked." Passengers faced delays in entering the building as staff called travellers through flight-by-flight, prioritising those flights leaving first. As a result, queues built up...

heathrow evacuated - suspicious package - man seen placing package and running off ... only in german - can't find on bbc / sky this is AP via a Swiss Internet News Site

Mastermind of 9/11 had 'plot to hit Heathrow' By Duncan Gardham (Filed: 09/09/2006) The mastermind behind the September 11 attacks on America went on to plan a hijack plot to attack London, it was alleged yesterday. Ramzi bin al-Shibh was tasked by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to recruit operatives in Saudi Arabia for an attack on Heathrow Airport Four men in Saudi Arabia had already been recruited to fly aircraft into Heathrow airport when the plot was allegedly thwarted, according to United States sources. President George W Bush suggested that the Canary Wharf tower in London's Docklands might also have been...

The actress Lindsay Lohan victim of a flight to a million dollars LONDON - the American actress Lindsay Lohan was made conceal her hand Thursday bag with the London airport of Heathrow. The bag contained more than one million dollars of jewels, indicated a spokesman of the police force. According to the spokesman, the young actress realized that its hand bag had disappeared whereas it left terminal 1 of the airport. An investigation was open. Lindsay Lohan, 20 years, is one of the young actresses who go up to Hollywood. She lately played in the last Robert Altman, "A...

LONDON - British anti-terrorist police charged three more people late Tuesday with conspiring to commit murder in the alleged plot to blow up U.S.-bound airliners. The three — Mohammed Yasar Gulzar, Mohammed Shamin Uddin and Nabeel Hussain — were also charged with preparing to commit terrorism by helping in an alleged plan to smuggle explosives aboard the planes, police said. Eleven people have now been charged on those two counts. Four others were charged with lesser offenses, including having knowledge of a terrorist activity but not disclosing information about it. A Scotland Yard statement said Gulzar, Uddin and Hussain conspired...

MAYBE IT'S because I know I have to catch a transatlantic flight on Sept. 11. Maybe I'm just too fond of "What if?" historical questions. Whatever the reason, I can't get over how quickly the world has moved on since the exposure of the Heathrow bomb plot. Ever since the revelation that a terrorist ring intended "mass murder on an unimaginable scale," I've been finding it all too easy to imagine what it would have been like if the plotters had succeeded. We cannot assume, for obvious legal reasons, that the suspects who were charged in London are anything other...

A BRITISH Airways flight from London to New York turned around mid-flight and returned to London's Heathrow airport after a mobile phone started ringing, the airline said. "Flight BA179 has returned to Heathrow as a precautionary measure," a spokeswoman for BA told AFP. "A mobile phone was located on board the aircraft which none of the passengers appear to own." "The captain assessed the situation with the BA security team at Heathrow and it was decided that it was safe to continue. However, the captain decided to return to Heathrow as a precaution. "The captain explained his decision to the...

...a British Airways flight from Heathrow to New York has been turned back because a mobile phone - banned at the time - was on board. The British Airways flight was turned back after a mobile phone was heard ringing at the back of the plane. No one on board admitted owning the phone so flight BA179 with 217 passengers on board returned to Heathrow as a precautionary measure. A businessman who was among the passengers told BBC News 24: "When the plane took off a mobile phone started ringing. "One and a half hours later the captain made the...

PRAGUE, August 10, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- The British authorities are in no doubt -- after an operation lasting several months, the security services have foiled an imminent terrorist attack. British Home Secretary John Reid said the security services had raised the threat level from "severe" to "critical," the highest possible level, which, according to the website of MI5, the British Security Service, means an attack is expected soon. "The police, with the full knowledge of ministers, have carried out a major counterterrorism operation to disrupt what we believe to be a major threat to the United Kingdom and international partners,"...