Last year, Barack Obama, the US president, called Afghanistan the new frontline in America's fight against al-Qaeda-linked groups.

Now Obama has explicitly linked the group al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula with the attempt to blow up a US-bound passenger jet on Christmas Day.

Meanwhile, authorities in Denmark say a man who tried to kill a cartoonist has "close relations" with Islamic fighters in Somalia - the latest in growing international alarm about threats coming from new directions.

Owen Fay reports on the possible expansion of Washington's "war on terror".