AFP - Passengers at Asian airports are facing delays and have been stopped from taking electronics and liquids on board US-bound flights as security was stepped up after British police foiled an alleged plot to blow up planes over the Atlantic Ocean.

AP - In bombed-out southern villages and refugee-filled schools across the country, Hezbollah supporters go door to door, checking if people have enough food and medicine.

AFP - Pakistani authorities said they had arrested two British nationals who are key members of a terror network that plotted to blow up multiple passenger jets in mid-air.

AP - Japanese stocks declined Friday following news that the nation's economy expanded at a weaker-than-expected pace in the April-June quarter. The U.S. dollar was higher against the yen.

Reuters - Up to 15 tonnes of dead fish have surfaced at the Pacific Ocean mouth of a river near Taipei, leaving local officials puzzled.

Reuters - The South Korean government will send at least $10 million worth of aid to flood-ravaged North Korea and possibly much more in a one-time package that includes rice and building materials, officials said on Friday.

AP - Authorities said that organized crime was likely behind the killing of a veteran investigative reporter in an area across the border from Texas plagued by violent drug mobs.

AFP - Two British nationals of Pakistani origin were among seven people arrested in Pakistan prior to the discovery of a plot to bomb airliners, government and security officials said.

AFP - They say Christmas comes but once a year, and it's arrived bang on time again in London's famous Harrods department store: August.

Reuters - The U.S. embassy in India has warned American citizens of likely terrorist attacks in or around New Delhi and Mumbai in the run-up to the country's Independence Day celebrations next week, a spokesman said on Friday.

Reuters - Pakistan arrested two Britons of Pakistani descent last week as part of a coordinated operation to foil a plot to blow up Transatlantic airliners, a senior government official said on Friday.

AFP - Newspapers, while congratulating the authorities on foiling an alleged terrorist plot, implored the government not to curb civil liberties and react proportionately.

Reuters - The sudden release of large quantities of water from several large dams has contributed to devastating floods in India which have killed over 350 people, and authorities must take some of the blame, critics said on Friday.

AFP - Air travellers around the globe faced delays amid heightened security after Britain said it had thwarted a plot to wreak "mass murder" by simultaneous mid-air bombings.

AFP - Security at airports around Asia was stepped up after Britain foiled alleged plans to blow up US-bound flights, with increased patrols and tighter checks for passengers.

AFP - China has urged Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi not to visit a war shrine that honors World War II criminals, saying he should be "responsible&qu­ot; towards history and make a "right decision".

AP - The Bank of England froze the assets of nineteen people early Friday, naming them as people arrested Thursday in connection with an alleged terror plot to bomb British passenger jets.

AFP - British Airways, forced to cancel flights after police said they had foiled a plot to blow up US-bound planes, is no stranger to severe disruptions at the height of the summer holiday season.

AP - Communist officials said Thursday a U.S. appellate court decision denying a new trial for five Cuban agents was proof of Washington's "hate and vengeance" toward Cuba, and they implied it was tied to Fidel Castro's illness and absence from power.

AFP - The discovery of a plot to bomb transatlantic flights is deeply unwelcome news for a US airline industry only just recovering from a terrible slump triggered by the September 11 attacks.