First Published: 11:16AM BST 24 Oct 2008

Plans to allow passengers to be virtually strip searched by the machines were denounced by MEPs as a threat to personal dignity.

They believe the images, if stored or published, could end up being published online revealing embarrassing details of celebrities.The full body scanners can potentially show off medical details such as breast implants.

The European Commission is proposing the airports use the scanners by 2010. They insist passengers would still be able to opt for traditional metal detectors, combined with the pat-down search if necessary.  Read more... (308 words, 1 image, estimated 1:14 mins reading time)

ABUJA (Reuters) – The family of a Nigerian man who tried to blow up a U.S. passenger jet said on Monday they had lost contact with him while he was studying abroad and had reported his disappearance to security agencies two months ago. mar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, was charged on Saturday in the United States with trying to blow up Northwest Airlines flight 253 as it approached Detroit from Amsterdam on Christmas Day with almost 300 people on board.  Read more... (585 words, 1 image, estimated 2:20 mins reading time)

(CNN) — The alleged terror incident aboard a passenger flight from Amsterdam to Detroit has raised questions as to how a Nigerian man carried explosives through stringent security measures.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab has been charged with attempting to destroy a passenger plane after he detonated a device on board a jet on Friday.

Authorities in the United States are investigating whether Abdulmutallab had any connections with terrorist organizations or was acting alone.

Airports intensify security after plane attack

With Dutch officials scrutinizing security procedures at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport that allowed the 23-year-old man to smuggle the explosives on the aircraft — here are some of the key questions still hanging over the incident.  Read more... (469 words, 1 image, estimated 1:53 mins reading time)

Serious questions need to be asked about the inadequacies in security that allowed a would-be suicide bomber to board Northwest Airlines Flight 253 to Detroit. The incident has not only embarrassed intelligence services on both sides of the Atlantic, but has also provided an insight into how formidable and sophisticated the terrorist threat has become. Even the “liquid bomb” plotters, whose failed conspiracy provoked the present restrictions on fluids carried by air travellers, did not succeed in boarding an aircraft. The Detroit suspect did so, leaving several countries and institutions with a lot of explaining to do.  Read more... (291 words, 1 image, estimated 1:10 mins reading time)

An airline-security expert said Friday that one thing is clear: The incident in Detroit should prompt a swift re-evaluation of passenger screening at airports throughout the world.

By Amber Hunt

Detroit Free Press

DETROIT — An airline-security expert said Friday that one thing is clear: The incident in Detroit should prompt a swift re-evaluation of passenger screening at airports throughout the world.

Douglas Laird, former security director for Northwest Airlines, said he has been advocating for years that airports switch from X-rays and metal detectors to full-body scans, a move that would cost hundreds of millions of dollars more, but that he insists would help prevent terrorist attempts like the one reported Friday.  Read more... (380 words, 1 image, estimated 1:31 mins reading time)

Extra pat-downs before boarding. No getting up for the last hour of the flight. More bomb-sniffing dogs. Airports worldwide tightened security a day after a passenger tried to light some kind of explosive on a flight into Detroit.

The Transportation Security Administration wouldn’t say exactly what it was doing differently on Saturday. It didn’t need to.

Passengers getting off flights from overseas reported being told that they couldn’t get out of their seat for the last hour of their flight. Air Canada also said that during the last hour passengers won’t be allowed access to carry-on baggage or to have any items on their laps.  Read more... (953 words, 1 image, estimated 3:49 mins reading time)