An Alitalia jet en route from Milan, Italy, to Boston was being diverted to Bangor, Maine, today because the name of a passenger on board matched that of a person on the US government’s no-fly list, officials said.

An Air France flight from Paris to Boston was diverted to an airport in Maine today because US authorities wanted to check a passenger aboard the flight, the airline said.

Singer Yusuf Islam has announced he's won substantial damages from two British newspapers which alleged he supported terrorism.

A gap in the airline passenger-check system permitted Yusuf Islam – former pop star Cat Stevens whom the US suspects of having terrorist ties – to board a transatlantic flight despite being on a no-fly list, a Bush administration official said today.

POP star Cat Stevens was escorted off a transatlantic flight and denied entry to the United States because of fears he has links to terrorists, security officials said yesterday.

Singer Cat Stevens and his daughter were escorted off a diverted transatlantic flight by FBI agents, it emerged today.

Birmingham International Airport reopened this morning, two days after a plane crash in which five people died.

There are reports that the jet which crashed at Birmingham International airport clipped a wing on the runway as it prepared for take-off. The plane did not take to the air.