By Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON | Fri May 18, 2012 11:29am EDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - White House efforts to soft-pedal the danger from a new "underwear bomb" plot emanating from Yemen may have inadvertently broken the news they needed most to contain. At about 5:45 p.m. EDT on Monday, May 7, just before the evening newscasts, John Brennan, President Barack Obama's top White House adviser on counter-terrorism, held a small, private teleconference to brief former counter-terrorism advisers who have become frequent commentators on TV news shows.According to five people familiar with the call, Brennan stressed that the plot was never a threat to the U.S. public or air safety because Washington had "inside control" over it.Brennan's comment appears unintentionally to have helped lead to disclosure of ... Continue reading →

irishtimes.com - Last Updated: Friday, May 18, 2012, 11:57Suu Kyi plans to visit IrelandBurma's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi may visit Ireland next month. Photograph: Nyein Chan Naing/Reuters.MARY FITZGERALD Foreign Affairs CorrespondentBurma's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi may visit Ireland next month during her first trip abroad in 24 years, the Irish Times has learned.Plans are afoot for Ms Suu Kyi to make a one-day visit to Ireland in between trips to Norway and the UK in mid-June.The Nobel laureate spent years under house arrest while Burma (Myanmar) was ruled by a military junta.She has previously refused to leave Burma for fear that she would not be allowed to return.The exact dates of her travel to Europe - which would be her first ... Continue reading →

WASHINGTON - Hopping the pond just got a whole lot more comfortable. Virgin Atlantic has lifted its ban on using cellphones during flights. Now, passengers aboard Airbus A330 trips between London and New York can use their phones in the air. The airline plans to expand this service to 20 planes by the end of the year, according to TIME.com. Travelers will be able to send and receive text messages, as well as make calls and browse the Web, albeit slowly. Only 10 people can make calls at one time, Virgin Atlantic says, due to limited bandwidth. The Telegraph reports this is part of a more than $160 million upgrade to the Airbus model. Follow WTOP on Twitter. (Copyright 2012 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.) ... Continue reading →