News Bytes

Admission controls: US want their own security officers on airports around the world Trust is good, control is better. And the US believe that the best controls come from their own security officers who, according to the US Department of Homeland Security are to be stationed at airports outside the US to check passengers flying to the US even before they board the planes. The US don't really seem to trust the security systems of foreign airports. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Department of Homeland Security wants to catch terrorists even before they can board a plane to the US (similar pre-checks already exist in Dublin, for example).

Those plans, however, are still in the planning stages and the foreign governments have to agree first, according to Bonner. So far, European countries have been less than enthused about this since it would mean that the US expand their sovereign rights to security checkpoints in other countries.

Seven cities are being considered but have not been asked so far. The Wall Street Journal suspects that these airports include the international airports of London-Heathrow and Narita in Japan, but also the airport in Frankfurt, Germany. Around 40 percent of the annual 70 million passengers flying to the US board their planes at these airports.

These measures should prevent the cancellation of flights due to fear of attacks, as had happened several times last December, the paper quoted Bonner. The measure is modeled after the Container Security Initiative that allows US inspectors to search containers going to the US from foreign ports for weapons of mass destruction. This measure already allowed the US to expand their sovereign rights to other countries in order to fight terrorism, writes the Wall Street Journal.

Early warning system: US launches missile defense satellite into space The $500 million Titan 4B rocket recently carried a satellite half as expensive into space. This satellite is to inform the US military about incoming missile attacks and be in use for at least 10 years. Satellites like this one use infrared sensors that detect the heat signature of missiles. This technique had already been used in the 90s, but at that time it could only detect smaller missiles. The US explained that the device was necessary due to the many new threats of attacks every day around the world.

Ebay cheaters excluded from auction In the US, a court has sentenced two eBay cheaters to a fine of almost $100,000 and exclusion from the auctions. Since 1999 the couple had conned many users with their fake accounts. They stole the data for the fake accounts from a hotel registry.

Supermarket chain discontinues disposable DVDs A Texan company, the supermarket chain H E-B, has already discontinued the only recently introduced disposable DVDs. The vacuum-packed DVDs are only usable for 48 hours after opening. This was meant to make piracy more difficult. Environmentalists, however, weren't exactly thrilled. They liked the fact that the disposable DVDs were discontinued so quickly. According to the company, however, it wasn't the environment that made them give up the idea, but rather the poor sales figures.

US launch $15 billion Anti-AIDS Program The US started their $15 billion Anti-AIDS Program with an initial $350 million. This has been confirmed by Colin Powell and Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thomson. The money will mainly be used to financially support African and Caribbean states such as Botswana, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Namibia, Guyana and Haiti.

British woman jokes at the airport and goes to prison At a US airport, a British student was asked what she was carrying in her carry-on luggage. She joked: "a bomb." She was handcuffed immediately and presented to a judge, who sent her to prison right away. That's where she is now waiting for her court date. She is facing a prison sentence of up to six months for the joke. So please, don't joke at US airports, no matter how good your holiday mood may be. The consequences might not put you in such a good mood...

Microsoft cooperates with providers, e.g. the German Telekom On a security convention, Microsoft formed an alliance with large internet providers with a total of 150 million customers to make the internet safer. This alliance goes by the name of Global Infrastructure Alliance for Internet Safety (GIAIS). Members include the German Telekom, British Telecom, MSN and Tiscali. The plan is to support the customer with tools and support. One of the first things they did together was fighting against the worm W32.Blaster. Currently, they are dealing with MyDoom.

Absurd US laws Recently, some old laws were dug up in the US and their origins tried to be determined. Some absurd yet amusing laws have been found that way. Some of these seem to be made up entirely. For example, in Raton it is prohibited to ride through the streets in a kimono, in Pasadena, a boss and his secretary may not be alone in one room together, in Miami, men are not allowed to wear strapless dresses, in Chicago, people are not allowed to go fishing in their pajamas. In Florida, single women may not skydive on a Sunday. Even animals are not safe from these laws. In Ventura County, for example, pets may not have sex without permission. In the town of Halethorpe there is a law stating for how long a couple is allowed to kiss. It says the kiss may be no longer than one second. None of these laws has probably ever been enforced...

Springfield: obese people can save taxes Tax authorities in the US offer obese people a new incentive to lose weight. Obese people may deduct medical treatment form their taxable income. Linda Webb Carilli, spokeswoman of Weight Watchers International was happy about the fact that the government finally realized the necessity of rewarding people for trying to obtain a more healthy figure. Her happiness is understandable, since the new law will mean more customers for her company that help roughly 50 million US citizens lose some weight. The reason - publication 502 of the Internal Revenue Service, the highest tax authority in the US. According to this, starting 2003, not only diseases resulting from obesity, such as high blood pressure and diabetes will be recognized by tax laws. Obesity itself can be listed as a disease from now, allowing obese people to pay less taxes.

Costs for surgery such as stomach stapling, in-patient treatment and prescription drugs are tax-deductible. The same applies to costs for nutritionists and programs to lose weight, such as Weight Watchers. Nondeductible are costs for diet foodstuffs and gyms. The new regulations for obese people are good news for a group of people that is growing continuously. Over the past twenty years, the number of obese people in the US has doubled, with 59 million, almost every third adult in the US is obese. The costs of treatment are $75 billion fro 2003, according to the Center for Disease Control.

Lottery ticket: winner gets $230 million Eleven US states renamed a lottery to Mega Millions Lottery in May 2002. The highest sum since that date now went to a man from Virginia, who won $230 million (€183 million). The largest jackpot in the US so far was $363 million. That was in May 2000. The chances of winning the jackpot in this lottery are currently about 1 to 135 million.

Girl (13) makes presents to 28,000 foster kids She already wrote letters to more than 28,000 foster kids in the US, in which she included some nice words and sometimes a stuffed animal. The girl is the 13-year old Makenzie. The little writer made it her mission to comfort kids who have been neglected. She said she likes to cheer up kids who have been forgotten. She recently received a national award for her work. Ever since she was seven years old she has been a champion for foster kids and she started collecting money when she was four. She already collected more than $50,000. For more information, please check the website childrentochildren.org.

Denver: March Pow Wow From March 19-21, 2004, one of the largest meetings of Native Americans takes place in Denver. More than 700 dancers and musicians from more than 70 tribes are expected at the Pow Wow. Find more information about this colorful event on www.denvermarchpowwow.org.