Australian Grand Prix fans "may face airport-style screening from next year amid fears the race could be the target of a terrorist attack," according to Tom Minear of the HERALD SUN. Strict new security provisions "are being considered by the State Government" to give race organizers more power to check spectators at Albert Park. A departmental report on the proposed changes said that the Grand Prix "may become a focus for violent protest or terrorist activity." If approved, racegoers "could have to walk through screening machines or be swept by handheld devices" so staff could check "large volumes of people for items related to terrorist attacks." The Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport & Resources report said that the tougher arrangements may annoy patrons "as a result of the inconvenience, perceived intrusiveness and queuing." But it said that the overall burden would be "relatively minor" and the security procedures "were already accepted practice at other public events" (HERALD SUN, 8/7). F1I's Andrew Lewin reported a plan by terrorists with alleged links to so-called Islamic State "to stage a rocket strike" on next months' Singapore Grand Prix has been foiled. The gang was "plotting to launch the attack from the Indonesian island of Batam," just 10 miles from Singapore. Rockets "were to have been fired across the strait between the two islands." Singapore Home Affairs Minister Kasi Shanmugam said, "This shows how our enemies are thinking of different ways of attacking us" (F1I, 8/7).
