THE UK:Security will be tight in London again today as the Tour de France arrives in the capital ahead of tomorrow's second anniversary of the July 7th bombings on the transport network.
The high state of public apprehension was evident yesterday when terrified passengers fled the carriages of a derailed Tube train fearing another terrorist attack.
However, the mood of political and public defiance was also on display as London mayor Ken Livingstone promised the tour would provide Londoners with "an unforgettable weekend".
An estimated one million spectators are expected to watch the tour, which gets under way with an official opening ceremony in Trafalgar Square this evening. That will pose an additional burden for police and security chiefs just a week after the failed car bomb attacks in London and Glasgow.
Six people are still being questioned in connection with the attacks, while a seventh man remains under armed guard in hospital in Scotland and an eighth suspect is being questioned by police in Australia following his arrest at Brisbane airport.
All eight suspects have been connected to the National Health Service. The two suspected al-Qaeda followers who crashed a Jeep into the main terminal at Glasgow airport on Saturday reportedly left a suicide note attempting to explain their motives.
An off-duty police officer told yesterday how he hosed down one of the terror suspects following the attack. "He was well ablaze - clothing, hair, skin - and from the attitude that he was in, lying on his back, there was a kind of resignation about him," said Constable Stewart Ferguson.
"I did know he was one of the bad guys but that didn't change my opinion of what had to be done."
Scottish police chiefs have warned that the public remains at "real and serious" risk from terrorism despite the downgrading of the UK's threat assessment.
Home secretary Jacqui Smith launched a legal battle in the House of Lords yesterday to protect control orders - a key weapon in the government's anti-terrorism armoury.
The High Court and Court of Appeal have ruled the orders unlawful.
As she did so, three Islamic terrorists were jailed at Woolwich Crown Court for waging "cyber jihad" on the internet.
Meanwhile, British Muslim communities, including from the medical profession, are taking out newspaper advertisements today condemning the attempted attacks.
-Additional reporting by Reuters