FURTHER BULLETIN - AT 5:37 P.M. ET:  Here is the NBC News report on the airliner incident that we're following, related to the two stories just below:

A 23-year-old Nigerian man tried to light a powdery substance aboard a Northwest Airlines flight before landing in Detroit on Friday, a senior U.S. counterterrorism official told NBC News.

Two people noticed the attempt and a third person jumped on the man and subdued him, an airline official told NBC News.

The man is being treated at the burn unit of the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor, officials said.

COMMENT:  The issue, of course, is whether this man acted alone, is the only one to plan such an act today, or whether there are more.  You can be sure that this is what counterterrorism people are focusing on right now.

December 25, 2009