The Allmendinger Chronicles

via CNN.com

Berlin, Germany (CNN) — U.S. officials extended a travel alert in Germany and urged Americans to remain wary after terrorist organization al Qaeda posted messages in recent months threatening attacks in the country.

The alert issued Thursday will remain in effect until February 10. It replaces one issued in September that expired Wednesday, a news statement said.

It urged Americans in Germany to keep up with news reports and to consider the security procedures in place when they visit hotels, restaurants, and other entertainment and recreation venues.

“Over the past few months, al Qaeda has released videos threatening to conduct terrorist attacks against German interests,” the statement said. “While these threats initially mentioned the German federal elections in September, al Qaeda continues to threaten Germany.”

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GENEVA (BNO NEWS) – A person working on the Large Hadron Collider beneath the Franco-Swiss border near Geneva, Switzerland has been arrested on suspicion of links to terrorist organizations, the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) said on Friday.

The suspect was arrested in Vienne, France on Thursday, according to CERN, who said he was arrested on suspicion of having links to terrorist organizations. The suspect is a physicist who was working on analysis projects with the Large Hadron Collider at CERN since 2003.

“He was not a CERN employee and performed his research under a contract with an outside institute. His work did not bring him into contact with anything that could be used for terrorism: CERN is a particle physics research laboratory whose research addresses fundamental questions about the universe,” a statement from the organization said.

CERN is currently preparing the Large Hadron Collider for a restart later in 2009 after it was forced to shut down last year due to technical problems. It is also known as the Big Bang Experiment as it seeks to simulate the Big Bang. Some people fear that such an experiment could potentially destroy Earth, but scientists have assured the project is safe.

“None of our research has potential for military application, and all our results are published openly in the public domain. CERN is providing the support requested by the French police in this enquiry,” the organization concluded.

Further details were not immediately available.

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From HuffingtonPost.com

CAIRO — Osama bin Laden demanded that European countries pull their troops out of Afghanistan in a new audiotape Friday, warning of “retaliation” against them for their alliance with the United States in the war.

An image made from video with an audio-message, provided by IntelCenter on Friday, Sept 25. 2009, al-Qaeda’s as-Sahab released a 4′47″ video featuring an audio statement from Osama bin Laden entitled, “A Message from Sheikh Osama bin Laden to the People of Europe”. Osama bin Laden demanded that European countries pull their troops out of Afganistan in a new audiotape Friday, warning of “retaliation” against them for their alliance with the United States in the war. The message is in Arabic and was released in both an English and German subtitled version. On-screen text reads, �Say to those who disbelieve: if they desist, that which has passed will be forgiven them; but if they return [to their misdeeds], then the example of previous peoples has already passed before them. (AP Photo/IntelCenter)

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LONDON, England (CNN) — British Transport Police said Saturday they are investigating after a man left a bag containing a corrosive substance at a train station outside London.

The man left the bag in the booking hall of Kingston train station Friday afternoon, said a police spokesman, who could not be named in line with policy.

A black liquid leaked from the bag and had a “corrosive effect on the soles of somebody’s shoes” as they walked by, the spokesman said.

The man who left the bag ran off when he was told it was leaking, according to the spokesman.

Authorities have since identified the liquid as a cleaning fluid, the spokesman said.

The incident briefly shut down the train station along the Thames River just southwest of London. The station reopened hours later, the spokesman said.

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By GEIR MOULSON
Associated Press Writer

BERLIN (AP) – Al-Qaida has posted a new video threatening Germany highlighting an increased threat level ahead of national elections and prompting authorities to step up security, the Interior Ministry said Friday.The ministry gave no details of the al-Qaida posting, but said in a brief statement it underlines the fact that the Sept. 27 elections offer “a particular background for propaganda and operational actions by terrorist groups.”

It said authorities believe there is an “increased threat situation” to which they are responding with “adjusted security measures in particular at airports and stations.”

ARD television reported that the video features a German-speaker who has featured in previous videos over the past year, issuing a threat connected to Germany’s troop presence in Afghanistan.

“If the people decides for a continuation of the war, it has delivered its own verdict,” the channel quoted Bekkay Harrach, who uses the pseudonym Abu Talha, as saying in the video. “The parliamentary election is the people’s only opportunity to shape the policy of the country.”

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