Two of your five daily portions... of death!

Small explosions at UK consulate in New York. Windows broken. No-one hurt. Low-level terrorist activity. Enough to furrow brows but not to instil panic. Then this:

... Mayor Michael Bloomberg said shrapnel pieced together at the scene suggested that two "novelty" devices were involved.

Police say one device was the size and shape of a pineapple, the second like a lemon. They detonated within a minute of each other at 3.55 am - 8.55 British time.

One device had some gunpowder inside with a fuse. [Sky News]

Is that what happened to the Munch Bunch? Have they been off training in some jihadi camp all this time?
EDIT: The police have now officially described the devices as "novelty hand-grenades".

(no subject)

A high-ranking al-Qaeda operative has been captured in Pakistan. The US administration, intent on portraying al-Qaeda as some kind of rigid corporate structure (though whether that's to keep things simple for the general public or for themselves is anyone's guess), are saying he's "Number 3 in the organisation".

He was captured by Pakistani security service (ISI) agents, most of whom appear to have been wearing the ultimate disguise: a burqa. If this tactic becomes widespread in capturing Islamic radicals, do you think we might see a change of heart among Islamist ideologues about the desirability of imposing a style of dress on half the population that entirely obscures the wearer's identity?