In brief: Four Brits admit to planning attack

London – Four British men pleaded guilty Wednesday to planning a bomb attack on the London Stock Exchange as part of an al-Qaida-inspired plot to cause fear and wreak economic havoc.

The men admitted in a London courtroom to hatching the plan and preparing to carry it out, though they had not gotten as far as buying explosives by the time of their arrest. The plotters took their inspiration from Anwar al-Awlaki, the radical U.S.-born Muslim cleric who preached militant jihad and who was killed in Yemen last year in an airstrike by an American military drone.

The four would-be attackers were among nine people charged with terrorist offenses following a major police sweep in December 2010 across Britain – in London, the northern English city of Stoke-on-Trent and the Welsh capital of Cardiff.

Tourists’ kidnappers may move hostages

Manila, Philippines – Gunmen who seized Swiss and Dutch tourists on a bird-watching trip in a remote southern province could be planning to move the hostages to an island stronghold of al-Qaida-linked militants notorious for ransom kidnappings, Philippine officials said today.

The kidnappers took the two by boat to the opposite side of Tawi-Tawi Island from the place where they were snatched and closer to Sulu province, where al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf militants are active, Gov. Sadikul Sahali said.

The Abu Sayyaf have demanded money for an Australian man abducted in December as well as a Japanese and a Malaysian held on nearby islands.

Rescuers looking for survivors of ferry wreck

Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea – Rescuers have plucked at least 200 survivors from the sea off Papua New Guinea’s east coast after a ferry sank today with as many as 350 people on board, officials said.

An airplane from Australia, three helicopters and six ships were scouring the search area after the MV Rabaul Queen went down while traveling from Kimbe on the island of New Britain to the coastal town of Lae on the main island, Australian Maritime Safety Authority said in a statement.

The maritime agency detected the ferry’s distress beacon and alerted the PNG Maritime Rescue Coordination Center, which is coordinating the rescue effort.

Ship operator Star Ships could not be immediately contacted for comment.