Bomb threats in Canada, US may have originated in Russia

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Authorities in the US state of Missouri say they have traced an emailed bomb threat to Russia. It was one of dozens, possibly hundreds, of bomb threats made to an array of public services and businesses across Canada and the US Thursday. All appear to have been baseless. The threats were made by email and included a demand for payment in bitcoin. Some of the emails had the subject line: “Think Twice.” The sender claimed to have had an associate plant a small bomb in the recipient’s building and that the only way to stop him from setting it off was by making an online payment of $20,000 in bitcoin. Police in the US said the emailed threat to a school in Troy, Missouri, about 55 miles from St. Louis, was sent from Russia. In Toronto there were threats made to TTC subway stations. In Toronto, police won’t name the targets until the matter if fully investigated. Instances were reported in Winnipeg, Calgary, Ottawa and Vancouver as well as some US cities. New York City was hit with several threats.The Palm Beach County, Florida, sheriff’s office and the Boise, Idaho, police said they had no reason to believe that threats made to locations in those areas were credible.