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)

The number of suspected extremists barred from entering Britain has halved since the 7/7 attacks leading to accusations that the Government has “taken its eye off the ball”.

In 2006, the first full year after the London bombings, 73 people were prevented from coming to the UK either because it was feared they would foment extremism or posed a risk to national security.

By 2008 that figure had dropped to just 38, figures obtained by the Conservatives show. The decline covers the period that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian who tried to blow up a plane over Detroit on Christmas Day, was studying in London.  Read more... (287 words, 1 image, estimated 1:09 mins reading time)

Muslim extremist Anjem Choudary has vowed to go ahead with a protest march through Wootton Bassett claiming those who honour the war dead are no different to those who support the 7/7 Tube bombers.

The controversial cleric, who heads up Islam4UK, has organised a march of 500 people through the Wiltshire town, in memory of Muslims “murdered in the name of democracy and freedom”.

Wootton Bassett has become the main focal point for the nation to show its respect to the troops killed in Afghanistan, with hundreds lining the streets each time a body is repatriated to nearby RAF Lyneham. But Choudary said it was unacceptable to honour those killed in the conflict and he would march through the town with supporters to voice opposition at the gatherings.  Read more... (299 words, 1 image, estimated 1:12 mins reading time)

The higher number of Defense Department contractors, 160,000, added to over 100,000 troops – with the likely prospect of both numbers climbing yet more – will result in over a quarter of a million U.S. personnel serving under the Pentagon and NATO. The latter has 42,000 non-U.S. troops fighting under its command currently and pledges of 8,000 more to date, with thousands in addition to be conscripted after the London conference on Afghanistan next month. Approximately 35,000 U.S. soldiers are also assigned to NATO’s ISAF and if the 33,000 new American troops are similarly deployed the North Atlantic bloc will have over 120,000 forces fighting a land war in Asia. Along with a Pakistani army of 700,000 active duty troops fighting on the other side of the border and an Afghan army of 100,000 soldiers, there will soon be well over a million military personnel engaged in a war with a few hundred al-Qaeda and a few thousand Taliban forces.  Read more... (2925 words, 1 image, estimated 11:42 mins reading time)

LONDON – Four men from northwest England have appeared in court, accused of inciting others to kill British troops in Afghanistan.

Prosecutors say 52-year-old Munir Farooqi approached two undercover police officers to persuade them to kill British soldiers.

Farooqi is charged with soliciting murder. Along with his son, 26-year-old Haris Farooqi, and 27-year-old Matthew Newton, he also is accused of encouraging terrorism by intending to help others launch a holy war against coalition forces.

A fourth man, 21-year-old Israr Malik, is charged with intending to commit terrorism.

All four were arrested in raids last month.  Read more... (109 words, 1 image, estimated 26 secs reading time)

Published: 1:26PM GMT 01 Dec 2009

The widow of Warrant Officer Class 1 Darren Chant, the British soldier killed by an Afghan policeman, attended her husband’s funeral at the chapel where they were married just four months earlier. WO1 Chant, 40, Regimental Sergeant Major of the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, was the most senior of five UK servicemen shot dead by an officer they had been training in southern Afghanistan on November 3. He left his widow, Nausheen Chant, who is due to give birth to their son in February, and three children from a previous marriage, Connor, 16, Adam, 11, and Victoria, nine.  Read more... (1111 words, 1 image, estimated 4:27 mins reading time)