With more than 30 marathons this weekend and big events on the horizon, officials around the world are looking at security efforts in the wake of the fatal bomb blasts that shook Boston’s race.
Britain was making last-minute efforts to tighten measures for former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s funeral today at St. Paul’s Cathedral, which is to be attended by hundreds of diplomats and dignitaries, including Queen Elizabeth II.
Police with bomb-sniffing dogs were seen Tuesday afternoon around such landmarks as Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament and Trafalgar Square ahead of the Thatcher funeral, but officials said the searches were routine and unrelated to the Boston attacks.
Near the Pentagon’s subway station in Washington, D.C., meanwhile, two military personnel toting guns and a security official in a bullet-proof vest were spotted by one of the station’s entrances.
Bomb-sniffing dogs and security officers were also deployed Tuesday to Chicago’s Union Station.
Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said security had been beefed up at all its railway stations.
“No matter how many days, months or years pass without a major terrorist attack, it only takes one such attack to bring us back to the cruel reality,” Interpol chief Ron Noble told The Associated Press early Tuesday, saying police around the globe would be on high alert.
Although security has been increased at some U.S. and European landmarks, overall terror threat levels have remained unchanged — in contrast to other recent bombings and thwarted attacks in which terror threat levels were raised and travel warnings put in place.
Such warnings have been issued in the past when threats are considered imminent and with potential international links.
Threat levels also remained unchanged at U.S. defence installations at home and abroad, according to a Pentagon spokesman who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press about security.
