Two weeks ago, the London-based Economic Intelligence Unit announced its verdict on the 2011 world’s most liveable cities. Four Australian cities were voted among the top 10 with Brisbane faltering to Rank 21. ABC News flaunted the list on its August 31 edition:

1. Melbourne, Australia
2. Vienna, Austria
3. Vancouver, Canada
4. Toronto, Canada
5. Calgary, Canada
6. Sydney, Australia
7. Helsinki, Finland
8– Perth, Australia
8– Adelaide, Australia
10. Auckland, New Zealand
21. Brisbane, Australia

The annual survey is based on the best and worst living conditions of about 140 locations around the world. The criteria include political and social stability, crime rates, access to quality health care, cultural events, the environment, education and the standard of infrastructure.

ABC News quoted the Economist Intelligence Unit Editor Jon Copestake as saying: “Australia, with a low population density and relatively low crime rates, continues to supply some of the world’s most liveable cities.”

Two weeks after the survey came off the press, the world remembers the September 11 terror attacks.

ASIO Chief David Irvine urges Australians to become vigilant against terror

Interestingly, terror does not exempt anyone and anywhere. “This is not the time of complacency,” Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation  (ASIO) Chief David Irvine warned.

According to an exclusive by Brendan Nicholson of The Australian, the ASIO’s security hotline has received more than 600,000 suspicious calls and has been investigating “hundreds” of terrorist-related cases. Irvine, however, noted that only a minimal number of Muslim-Australians could be involved in extremist jihadist cause and in tipping off domestic and overseas terrorists.

Irvine could even be paranoid of multiculturalism, if not of Islamic religion. The Australian noted Irvine’s paranoia: “The attacks in Norway by Anders Behring Breivik, who believed Europe was threatened by multiculturalism, tolerance and Islam, showed that killers could come from either end of the spectrum.”

Scaremongering or not, Irvine remembers the sixth issue of Inspire, an online al-Qa’ida publication run by leader, Anwar al-Awlaki. The issue carried a picture of the Sydney Opera House. Irvine said the cover implies that the Australian icon could be a target.

Earlier, Melbourne-based Herald Sun reported the list of 23 suspected Australians who have been on the “no fly” order or “selectee” on the security list from the intelligence body. The report is based on a security assessment released by a Wikileaks cable sent in January last year by the US Embassy in Canberra to the US State Department.

Women are said to be the majority of the suspects, including a 58-year-old matriarch and her daughter. The newspaper claims the woman has lived in Sydney since 2003 after being brought back to Australia from Iran by ASIO.

ASIO alleged all suspects to have links with Aulaqi, one of the suspects to the attempted bombing of a US airliner in December 2009 and the alleged mastermind of al-Qa’ida offshoot AQAP, the newspaper added.

Irvine appeals to all Australians to become vigilant. He warned that Australians still face a threat from organised groups and “radicalised lone-wolf extremists.” The number of people of concern could be very small, but “we all know you don’t need a lot of people to make a big explosion,” he said.