Friday: Airline Security to Change; Moscow Police Name Suspect

The Obama administration is shifting its approach to airport security, abandoning the policy of using nationality alone as the basis for screening potentially dangerous travelers in favor of a more intelligence-based system.

The new system has been designed to raise red flags about passengers with certain personal traits or suspicious travel patterns. It would cross reference intelligence gathered about possible threats with information such as a person’s nationality, age and travel history.

The new approach replaces mandatory secondary screening for passengers from 14 nations put in place after the failed attempt by a Nigerian man in December to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner.

Moscow Police Name Suspect in Bombings

The 17-year-old widow of a militant from Russia’s volatile North Caucasus region is suspected as being one of the two suicide bombers who attacked the Moscow subway system Monday, killing 39 people.

According to the BBC, the suspected bomber, Dzhennet Abdurakhmanova was married to the insurgent Umalat Magomedov, who was killed by Russian security forces in December.

Israel Retaliates for Fired Rocket

Israeli launched airstrikes targeting Hamas in the Gaza Strip on Friday. A military spokesman told the New York Times that the strikes were in response to a rocket that was fired from Gaza and hit Israel’s central coast Thursday.

Obama Seeks China’s Cooperation on Iran

President Barack Obama sought the cooperation of Chinese President Hu Jintao in reining in Iran’s nuclear ambitions Thursday night. In an hour-long telephone conversation, Obama told the Chinese president both nations must work together to ensure Tehran “lives up to its international obligations.”