Saudi Arabia's official news agency Monday denied remarks from a British member of Parliament, who said Sunday that Saudi intelligence agents had foiled a plot involving general aviation aircraft. Patrick Mercer (right), the opposition spokesman for British Homeland Security, told the Sunday Globe and Mail that Saudi authorities had arrested several terror suspects -- among them, two men who were planning to use general aviation aircraft packed with explosives to dive-bomb a British Airways 777 at King Khalid Airport in Riyadh. “My understanding is that they were found on the flight line and that the plan was to fly them into a passenger jet, either about to land or take off,” said Mercer, quoted in the Mail.

Two Islamic terrorists had already packed their GA aircraft with explosives and were intent on diving them into a British Airways 777 before they were nabbed by authorities in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. That word comes from a senior member of Britain's parliament, who says he'll provide more details after the legislative assembly reconvenes from Christmas break. Patrick Mercer, a Tory spokesman for British Homeland Security, says 380 people were on board the BA flight from Riyadh. He says the terrorists intended to crash their small planes into the jetliner as it taxied for takeoff. Mercer quoted "unimpeachable" Saudi sources in telling the story.

After six Air France flights between Paris and Los Angeles were grounded by terror threats last week, Britain's Home Office has decided to go ahead with deployment of armed sky marshals on domestic and foreign flights "where and when we believed it necessary." A joint statement issued by Home Secretary David Blunkett and Transport Secretary Alistair Darling hastened to add that it's still safe for the public to fly. It called the increased security precautions in the US in recent days meant the UK should propose a "proportionate and appropriate level of response."

Six armed sky marshals will soon be deployed on Qantas flights between Sydney and Singapore, according to the Australian government. The deal was reached Christmas day after lengthy talks between the governments of Australia and Singapore and executives from the airline. A similar deal involving Qantas flights to the US is also in the works, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. But money is said to be a problem.

An American Airlines flight from Chicago to Indianapolis was evacuated just after landing Friday, when a flight attendant reported a suspicious package on board the MD-80. Flight 1103 landed safely at Indianapolis International Airport, arriving at 1:35 pm CST. All 62 passengers and crew slid down the emergency egress chutes to safety. They were rounded up and bused to the international terminal, where they were questioned.

Lebanese divers have reportedly found the last of the wreckage from the Christmas day crash of a Boeing 727 just off the coast of Benin. In the meantime, Benin's foreign minister said the death toll from the watery crash rose to 113. Of the 151 passengers and 10 crew members on board, 26 are still unaccounted for. More than a dozen Bangladeshi peace keepers from nearby Sierra Leone were among the dead.

This is NOT the way to win friends and influence people. Not these days. A 35-year old Dallas man is in some serious trouble after he was arrested last week on a flight from Dallas to New Orleans. Larry Thirstrup is charged with verbally abusing a flight attendant on board the Southwest Airlines flight. Even worse, he's charged with assaulting her by grabbing her shoulders. For that, Thirstrup faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

It's a big step for Boeing -- farming out the bulk of wing construction on its 7E7 Dreamliner to a firm in Japan. But then, the aircraft itself is seen by the company as a truly international effort. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports Boeing has never allowed a contractor to take the lead in building wings for its commercial aircraft. But it could be a big marketing ploy in a world where America isn't viewed with the same benevolence that it was in decades past.

AmeriCares, one of the nation's largest international humanitarian relief organizations, is dispatching an emergency response team to southeastern Iran, where a quake measuring at least 6.3 on the Richter scale has killed an estimated 20,000 and injured 50,000. The quake struck near the ancient fort city of Bam on Friday at approximately 5:30 am local time. Bam is located roughly 600 miles southeast of Tehran. More than 90 percent of the Old City of Bam (dating back 2,000 years) was destroyed. Officials estimate 70 percent of the homes in the surrounding region have been flattened along with local hospitals.