Security across Europe was heightened amid fears of possible attacks over Christmas and New Year, prompting France to put its fighter planes on alert and Britain to deploy thousands of police on the streets of London. The general nervousness was reinforced by public warnings from the United States over the past few days of an “elevated” general level of risk of attack domestically, and a “specific” threat in the Gulf kingdom of Bahrain. Although European officials made no mention of any specific danger to their countries, they stressed that a higher level of vigilance was needed because of the symbolic target that Christmas festivities presented. Full Story