London  - A second man was charged Tuesday with the murder of a police officer in Northern Ireland just hours after a teenager pleaded innocent to the crime.

Police said a man aged 37 would appear in court on Wednesday in connection with killing of police constable Stephen Carroll, in the town of Craigavon, on March 9.

In addition to murder, the unnamed man was charged with illegal possession of a weapon.

London - The British government warned Tuesday that a terrorist attack on the country was "highly likely" and could "happen without warning, at any time."

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith sounded the warning as she presented a terror strategy report to parliament which said that the main threat came from a terrorist plot involving a so-called dirty bomb.

London/Strasbourg, France  - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Tuesday played down reports of a rift between the United States and Europe over what is needed to stimulate the global economy, saying harmony would prevail at the Group of 20 summit.

Addressing the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Brown said he was confident that "the whole of Europe will agree with (US President Barack) Obama" that the stimulus package will be "sustainable and robust".

London  - A teenager accused of the murder of a police officer in Northern Ireland just over a fortnight ago was armed with an assault rifle and more than 25 bullets, a court was told Tuesday.

The 17-year-old boy became the first person to be charged late Monday in connection with the recent upsurge of terrorist violence in the province in which the police officer and two British soldiers were killed.

The teenager, who was remanded in custody, has also been accused of being a member of the Continuity IRA, a banned dissident offshoot of the now dissolved Irish Republican Army (IRA).

He denied all the charges and was remanded in custody following his appearance at the Magistrate's Court in Lisburn, south of Belfast.

London  - The British government Tuesday warned of the increased threat of a nuclear or chemical attack, while unveiling plans of a greater involvement of the public in the fight against terrorism.

A government assessment of the terrorist threat said that while terrorism networks such as al-Qaeda were "likely to fragment" and might not survive in their current form, their ideology would live on.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, in a report to be submitted to parliament later Tuesday, said the "likely future direction" of the threat would involve the use of a so-called dirty bomb.