'Enhanced security' at overseas airports with US flights

2 July 2014 Last updated at 21:40 

The unspecified measures will be put into place in some airports with direct US flights

The US homeland security department has said it will put into place "enhanced security measures" in certain overseas airports with direct flights to the US.

The UK transport department said the country would be among those to step up security procedures.
The move comes amid US media reports that al-Qaeda affiliates in Syria and Yemen are developing bombs to smuggle on planes.
The US security agency said the changes would be made in the "upcoming days".
It did not specify which countries would be affected nor did it say what triggered the move. It is unclear if the move would be permanent or for a limited period, or would affect airports in the US.
"We will work to ensure these necessary steps pose as few disruptions to travellers as possible," Secretary Jeh Johnson said in a statement.
"We are sharing recent and relevant information with our foreign allies and are consulting the aviation industry."
In a statement, the UK Department for Transport said the country had "taken the decision to step up some of our aviation security measures".
He added: "For obvious reasons we will not be commenting in detail on those changes. The majority of passengers should not experience significant disruption."

What changes will we see?

Longer queues are a possibility

Analysis by Richard Westcott, Transport Correspondent
The UK government isn't giving any details about what these security changes actually are, but they haven't ruled out longer queues at security.
The statement from the department for transport merely says that the majority of passengers should not experience significant disruption.
What we do know is that all of the old rules remain in place. So you will still have to put liquids into separate, see-through bags, take your laptop out of your bag, take off your belt and maybe your shoes before going through security.
It's also not clear whether these changes will affect every airport, and whether they are limited to flights to and from the United States, which has prompted this move.
The actual terrorism threat level remains the same, at substantial. That's the middle of the five threat levels and means that an attack is a strong possibility.

An anonymous US official told Reuters news agency that European airports would be taking the extra precautions.
Law enforcement and security officials sources told the news agency that Western authorities were discussing security measures that included extra scrutiny of US-bound passengers' electronics and footwear, among other measures.
Al-Nusra Front, al-Qaeda's affiliate in Syria, and Yemen-based al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula are believed to be working together to try to develop explosives that could avoid detection by current airport scanners, US media report.