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ANKARA, Turkey — A Turkish official says a passenger claiming there was a bomb on board tried to divert an Istanbul-bound plane to Sochi, Russia, where the Olympics are kicking off.

SOCHI, Russia - Nothing to fear. That's how a few of the first U.S. athletes to arrive at the Sochi Games feel after getting their first look at an unprecedented security presence ringing the Olympics. With militant groups threatening to attack during the next few weeks, security and the safety of competitors and visitors to the coastal area and in the nearby mountains that will host the events has become both heightened and inescapable. Although the overwhelming forces — an estimated 100,000 police, agents and army troops are on hand — don't ensure there won't be any problems, the sheer...

HE is known as Russia's Osama bin Laden; Public Enemy No 1 for the Kremlin. Even the US has put a $5 million bounty on his head. Doku Umarov, 49, the Chechen warlord with the blackest of reputations, is assumed to be the mastermind behind a bombing campaign intended to disrupt Vladimir Putin's cherished dream of a successful Winter Olympics in Sochi. Certainly, he has set out his aims clearly enough. The Olympics, he said, were being held on "the bones of many, many dead Muslims buried on our land by the Black Sea".

Snippet: "On the other hand, this would be the fifth time he's been killed."

SNIPPET: "Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics security will be beefed up following Boston Marathon explosions, officials say Russian sports officials said they will beef up security at forthcoming sports events and the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games in the wake of deadly explosions at Boston's marathon that killed three people, and injured over 140 others." "Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics security will be beefed up following Boston Marathon explosions, officials say" SNIPPET: "The World Athletics Championship takes place in Moscow on Aug 10-18, and the event is seen as a dress rehearsal for the 2014 Winter Games in the Black Sea resort...

Flanked by almost 20 men with rifles, Omar Abu al-Chechen kneels on a carpet and delivers a rousing speech urging fellow Muslims to support the 'jihad' against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Dressed almost entirely in black, the militant from Russia's Chechnya region declares an Islamist state is within reach. Fellow fighters from the brigade of foreign militants he leads translate his Russian words into Arabic. "Jihad needs very many things. Firstly it needs money. Much is dependent on money today for jihad," said al-Chechen, his nomme de guerre, the leader of what rebels and websites call the Brigade of Migrants,...

(CNSNews.com) – Although no group has claimed responsibility for Monday’s deadly bomb blasts at the Boston Marathon, a leading al-Qaeda ideologue last year recommended that jihadists in America include sporting events in their list of prospective terror targets.

Breaking News - The city of Sochi, Russia, is awarded the 2014 Olympic Winter Games beating Salzburg, Austria and Pyeongchong, South Korea.

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) -- Vladimir Putin pulled off for Russia what Tony Blair did for Britain in the latest Olympic vote. Backed by the Russian president's personal lobbying, charisma and government support, the Black Sea resort of Sochi was elected Wednesday as the host city of the 2014 Winter Games. Sochi defeated the South Korean city of Pyeongchang by four votes in the final round of a secret ballot by the International Olympic Committee, taking the Winter Games to Russia for the first time. The result was a personal triumph for "the captain," who put his international prestige on the...