JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert proposed in talks with a U.S. congressional leader that a naval blockade be imposed on Iran to try to curb its nuclear program, an Israeli newspaper reported Wednesday.

The Haaretz daily quoted Olmert as telling Nancy Pelosi that "the present economic sanctions have exhausted themselves" and the international community needed to take more drastic steps to stop Iran's efforts to obtain nuclear weapons.

The prime minister's suggestions, Haaretz said, included a naval blockade of Iran using U.S. warships to limit the movement of Iranian merchant vessels.

Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said he was unaware of any blockade plans but said the United States intended to step up pressure on the Islamic Republic.

"I'm not going to get into specifics of how we may or may not increase that pressure militarily," Morrell said. "But as we've said from the outset of this problem, all military options remain on the table."

Three rounds of limited U.N. sanctions have been imposed on Iran over its nuclear program but Iran has said it will not cease uranium enrichment. Israel, widely believed to have atomic weapons, has said the Iranian nuclear program is a risk to its existence.

A fake bomb that was investigated Monday by law enforcement was the fifth in a string of fake bombs left at military recruitment centers, the FBI said.

A package that was designed to look like a bomb, which was left in front of an Army-Navy recruitment center with German words printed on it, was the fourth reported case of similar packages planted, FBI agents said.

Previous packages had “Die Weisse Rose” written on them, which is German for “The White Rose” a name of a historic anti-Hitler group that operated during World War II, FBI agents said.

Each of the five hoax bombs was left in front of some type of military recruitment center over the last year with most bearing the phrase “Die Weisse Rose,” FBI agents said.

Nicky Reilly, 22, from Plymouth, suffered serious facial injuries when a device detonated at the Princesshay shopping centre in the city.

He is now in police custody in hospital and officers have also searched an address linked to him in Plymouth.

Anti-terror police and security services are assisting the inquiry.

Mr Reilly was arrested after the explosion at 1250 BST on Thursday in the Giraffe restaurant in the £230m shopping development, which is one of Exeter’s main attractions.

CCTV footage taken from a nearby camera appears to show him emerging from the cafe with blood pouring down his face before his arrest.

No-one else was hurt in the explosion at the restaurant, which was busy at the time and is popular with families.

Another device, which did not go off, was found outside the premises.

When the next president takes office in January, he or she will likely receive an intelligence brief warning that Islamic terrorists will attempt to exploit the transition in power by planning an attack on America, intelligence experts say.

After all, that is what happened to Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush at a time when their national security teams and their counterterrorism plans were in flux.

The pattern is clear to some national security experts. Terrorists pay particular attention to a government in transition as the most opportune window to launch an attack.

TSA Reminds Summer Travelers of the Three Simple Steps to Security
Checkpoints to be fully staffed. Significant deployment of new technology underway.

Passengers can actively improve the security process by being ready. Following these three steps will help everyone get through the security process faster:

1. Show ID and boarding pass.
2. Take out liquids (in a baggie) and laptops.
3. Take off shoes and jackets.


Passengers should remove their government-issued photo ID from wallets, plastic holders and other similar carrying cases, and present the ID along with their boarding pass at the start of the screening process. Hold on to the boarding pass until through the magnetometer, where it may need to be shown again.

Large liquids are still banned from carry-ons. Remember the 3-1-1 rule for liquids, gels and aerosols at the checkpoint:

* 3-ounce bottles or less for all liquids, gels and aerosols placed in
* 1 quart-sized, clear, plastic, zip-top bag;
* 1 bag per passenger placed separately in a security bin for X-ray screening.


Removing footwear for X-ray screening is required. Wearing footwear that can be easily removed helps speed the process. Please also put your jackets and sweaters in the bin.

Millimeter wave enables TSA officers in a matter of seconds to detect weapons, explosives and other metallic and non-metallic threat items without physical contact. This technology will primarily be used in a random continuous protocol. If a passenger declines to go through the millimeter wave portal, he or she will be subject to alternative screening measures.

Bomb kills two outside Philippine air base, US aid office: military

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines (AFP) - Two people were killed and 21 injured Thursday when suspected terrorists detonated a bomb outside a US aid project office near an air base in the southern Philippines, officials said.
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The blast injured a group of soldiers and their families waiting near the main gates of the Edwin Andrews base in Zamboanga as well as members of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and aides to a local legislator.

"We don't have the identity of the suspects yet, but this is an act of terrorism," said Colonel Darwin Guerra, a senior counter-terrorist commander.

"The bomb was hidden in a bag and was detonated by remote control using a cell phone," he said.

Zamboanga has been the target of numerous bomb attacks in recent years carried out by Muslim extremist groups or criminal gangs.

Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff warned Thursday that the radical Islamic group Hezbollah "makes Al Qaeda look like a minor league team," and poses the greatest threat to national security.

"Someone described Hezbollah like the A-team of terrorists in terms of capabilities, in terms of range of weapons they have, in terms of internal discipline," Chertoff told FOX News. "To be honest, they make Al Qaeda look like a minor league team.

"They have been more disciplined, and they've been in some senses more restrained in the kinds of attacks they carry out ... in recent years, but that's not something we can take for granted," he warned.

"I don't think we're really worried about hijacking because we've put a lot of measures in place like a locked cockpit door, flight deck officers who have weapons and the air marshals," Chertoff told FOX News. "So the next threat becomes the bomb. Something that either a person takes on board themselves or smuggles into the cargo."

Iran in Secret Talks With al Qaeda, U.S. Officials Say
Sources Say Iranian Govt., Terror Group in Contact About Militants Under House Arrest

But U.S. officials tell ABC News that one reason they have not raised the issue more publicly is that they believe Iran has largely kept these al Qaeda operatives under control since 2003, limiting their ability to travel and communicate.

"It's been a status quo that leaves these people, some of whom are quite important, essentially on ice," said a U.S. official.

Under one theory, the talks are a reaction to al Qaeda's recent anti-Iranian rhetoric. The Iranians are using the al Qaeda detainees as, the theory goes, leverage — "hostages" in the words of one official — to get al Qaeda to cut its recent anti-Iranian rhetoric and to deter any potential al Qaeda operations against Iran. By detaining them, Iran makes an unspoken threat to al Qaeda's leadership: If al Qaeda attempts to attack Iran, these people will suffer.

Others believe Iran may have initiated the talks as a threat to the United States, that if the U.S. takes hostile action against Iran, these captives could be released, set free to plot attacks against the West.

Nuclear bomb blueprints for sale on world black market, experts fear

· Warning as Swiss destroy documents to prevent leak
· Copies may remain with data smuggling network

Nuclear bomb blueprints and manuals on how to manufacture weapons-grade uranium for warheads are feared to be circulating on the international black market, according to investigators tracking the world's most infamous nuclear smuggling racket.

Alarm about the sale of nuclear know-how follows the disclosure that the Swiss government, allegedly acting under US pressure, secretly destroyed tens of thousands of documents from a massive nuclear smuggling investigation.