Birmingham, England evacuated.

[Cringer]

FOX News flash right now. 20,000 evacuated from the downtown area. Will see if anything is up on the news sites.

[Cringer]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...dzBVU&refer=uk

Birmingham, England, Police Evacuate City Center (Update1)

July 9 (Bloomberg) -- Police in Birmingham, England, carried out four controlled explosions on a bus in the city center and were evacuating the entertainment district after receiving intelligence suggesting a threat to the area, a police spokeswoman said.

The bomb disposal squad's explosions were a ``false call,'' West Midlands police said in a recorded statement. Police are investigating another suspect package and people are being asked to leave the area and return home, said Jackie Harrison, a spokeswoman for the local police, by telephone from Birmingham today.

``Public safety remains a priority and we are asking people to leave the area and return home,'' Harrison said. ``We would like to stress that there's nothing to suggest this is connected with the incidents in London.''

Police across the U.K. are on heightened alert after four bombs killed at least 50 people and injured 700 in London, the capital, on July 7. It was the deadliest attack on London since World War II. Two groups purporting to be linked to the terrorist organization al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the attacks in the past two days.

Three bombings on London subway trains took place within a 50- second period, starting at 8:50 a.m. local time two days ago, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Brian Paddick said in a briefing today. The fourth blast, on a bus, came 57 minutes after the first explosion.

London police today were checking footage from security cameras, crime-scene photographs, witness statements and data from the Underground network in an effort to find the bombers, Scotland Yard said in an e-mailed statement.

[Suicane75]

no netwroks talking.

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

I havent heard anything about this at all. Are there any updates?

[Cringer]

this is that latest I can find, posted 2 hours ago.

http://www.startribune.com/stories/484/5499736.html

• BIRMINGHAM SHAKES OFF NERVES: After an emergency shutdown that brought much of downtown Birmingham, England, to a standstill Saturday night and left nerves on edge, the city slowly came back to life Sunday.

"I can tell you that, bearing in mind the current world climate, the information we received posed a real threat to the lives of people in the city center," Paul Scott-Lee, chief constable of the West Midlands Police Department, said.

Police issued a warning in the city center after receiving intelligence suggesting a threat to the city was imminent Saturday night. Later, police said they received further information that led to the evacuation of much of the city center.

The city's bomb disposal squad explosed four packages found on a bus near a popular pub, although they proved not to be bombs. Authorities found another package in a hotel that appeared to have wires protruding from it and a switch on top. It proved to be a hoax.

[panerd]

Someone needs to explain bomb threats to me. It seems like anytime someone phones in a threat nothing happens. 9-11, OK City, London, Madrid just happen. Nobody calls in a says be prepared for mass destruction. It would almost seem like bomb threats should be taken even less seriously. Obviously the intelligence in this incident may have been from friendly sources and not a called in threat, but my point still stands about other threats.

[Coder]

Originally Posted by panerd

Someone needs to explain bomb threats to me. It seems like anytime someone phones in a threat nothing happens. 9-11, OK City, London, Madrid just happen. Nobody calls in a says be prepared for mass destruction. It would almost seem like bomb threats should be taken even less seriously. Obviously the intelligence in this incident may have been from friendly sources and not a called in threat, but my point still stands about other threats.

I saw an interview with the former chief of police in London the other day, and he said that there have been at least 5 major terror attacks on London twarthed since 9/11 thanks to "information".

As for bomb-threats.. IRA has a tendency to call in advance when they're going to bomb a place to get as many people out of the area as possible. They're not after personal damage, but structural. Not that it's any more noble or whatever, but since we were discussing actual bomb-threats.