Osama bin Laden death prompts worldwide security alert

Embassies and defence facilities around the world have been placed on high alert amid fears of terrorist retaliation after US forces killed Osama bin Laden. The US, Britain and Australia all stepped up security at their diplomatic missions while the governments of the Philippines and Indonesia, where al-Qaida affiliates have been active, tightened security at potential targets including embassies and airports. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said it would increase police numbers at airports, the George Washington bridge and Ground Zero, in what one official described as "an abundance of caution". Ronald Noble, general secretary of Interpol, urged law enforcement authorities in the crime agency's 188-member countries to respond to "a heightened terror risk from al-Qaida-affiliated or al-Qaida-inspired terrorists as a result of Bin Laden's death".