LAX Officials Hold Emergency Meeting

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Security officials at Los Angeles International Airport held an emergency meeting Friday in response to a security scare involving UPS cargo planes and an Emirates passenger flight.

KNX 1070's Pete Demetriou Reports

Authorities Friday discovered that suspicious packages shipped from Yemen were en route to religious sites in Chicago.

Nancy Castles of Los Angeles World Airports, the city agency that runs LAX, told KCAL 9 she could not discuss details of the meeting, but acknowledged it was held in response to the investigation of the items shipped from Yemen.

The packages, found in England and Dubai, were addressed to synagogues or Jewish centers in Chicago.

The discovery prompted searches Friday of cargo planes at several U.S. airports, including Newark, N.J., and Philadelphia.

Department of Homeland Security officials have stepped up security at airports around the country.

President Barack Obama was scheduled to address the nation Friday afternoon.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said the president ordered U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies "to take steps to ensure the safety and security of the American people, and to determine whether these threats are a part of any additional terrorist plotting."

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