More than dozen flights in Europe receive bomb threats that an official calls 'malicious' hoaxes

MILAN — Bomb threats targeted more than a dozen flights in Europe on Thursday, leading to a slew of emergency landings and military escorts in some cases, authorities said. No hazardous or suspicious materials have been found in what a British official called “malicious" hoaxes. Several similar threats targeted planes earlier this week, prompting searches and diversions, with at least 25 flights targeted, officials said. Europe has experienced a slew of other disruptions recently, such as attacks on supermarket refrigeration systems, drone incursions and mysterious triggers to alert apps. While fake bomb threats are relatively common, it is unusual to see so many in a single day. They come at a time of increased geopolitical tensions and warnings from authorities that Russia may be ramping up so-called hybrid threats in Europe. It wasn't known whether this week's threats were linked, who sent them or what they hoped to achieve. An email containing the threat to Rome-bound planes was sent on behalf of a group that described itself as anti-feminist, according to a copy provided by an a