Start your day with intelligence. Get The OODA Daily Pulse.

Britain Charges Venezuelan Who Had Grenade in Airport

A Venezuelan man arrested at Gatwick Airport last week with a live grenade in his luggage was formally charged with terrorist crimes today, and the government said army patrols at Britain’s airports would be kept in place for the foreseeable future. In a separate development, Sir John Stevens, the Metropolitan police commissioner, warned Britons that Al Qaeda had a “substantial presence” in the country and that an attempted terror attack here was all but inevitable. The Venezuelan, Hasil Muhammad Rahaham-Alan, 37, was charged with possession of an article for the purpose of committing terrorism, possession of an explosive substance with intent to endanger life or damage property, and carrying a dangerous article on a British-registered aircraft. Bearded and with shoulder-length black hair, he appeared at the five-minute hearing at Bow Street Magistrates’ Court dressed in a baggy blue sweater and spoke in a soft voice, only confirming his name, birth date and Caracas address. Full Story