LONDON (AP) — The mail bombs discovered aboard cargo jets in England and Dubai could very easily have ended up on passenger planes, which carry more than half of the international air cargo coming into the U.S., experts say.
And experts caution that cargo, even when loaded onto passenger planes, is sometimes lightly inspected or even completely unexamined, particularly when it comes from countries without well-developed aviation security systems.
About 60 percent of all cargo flown into the U.S. is on passenger planes, according to Brandon Fried, a cargo security expert and executive director of the Airforwarders Association. New jumbo jets flying in from overseas — like the Boeing 777 — have "cavernous" bellies where freight is stored, he said.
Most countries require parcels placed on passenger flights by international shipping companies to go through at least one security check. Methods include hand checks, sniffer dogs, X-ray machines and high-tech devices that can find traces of explosives on paper or cloth swabs.
But air shipping is governed by a patchwork of inconsistent controls that make packages a potential threat even to passenger jets, experts said Saturday. Security protocols vary widely around the world, whether they're related to passenger aircraft or cargo planes.
That at least two parcels containing explosives could be placed on cargo-only flights to England and Dubai, one in a FedEx shipment from Yemen, was a dramatic example of the risks, but the dangers have been obvious for years, analysts said.
Some Western countries, perhaps belatedly, are trying now to manage the risks.
Britain's Home Secretary Theresa May said the device discovered early Friday morning at England's East Midlands Airport was potentially able to explode — and could have been used to bring down a plane. She said the U.K. has now banned the movement of all unaccompanied air freight originating from Yemen.
France's civil aviation authority also suspended air freight from Yemen, as did the world's largest package delivery companies — FedEx and UPS.
One particular vulnerability in the system: Trusted companies that regularly do business with freight shippers are allowed to ship parcels as "secure" cargo that is not automatically subjected to further checks.
And even where rules are tight on paper, enforcement can be lax. A U.S. government team that visited cargo sites around the world last year found a range of glaring defects, said John Shingleton, managing director of Handy Shipping Guide, an industry information service.
"They walked into a warehouse where supposedly secure cargo was," he said, declining to say where that was. "Generally security is high, but if you think it's perfect you're kidding yourself."
Cargo companies have long shipped on passenger airlines, for whom cargo provides extra income. Passenger planes often carry the most perishable goods shipped internationally, like live seafood, fresh flowers and even human organs.
Authorities are well aware of the risks cargo aboard passenger planes poses, as shown by the decision Friday to have American fighter jets escort an Emirates Airlines passenger jet down the coast to New York to keep track of it until its cargo had been inspected.
Air freight generally consists of the most expensive cargo, everything from designer clothing and prescription drugs to car parts and mobile phones. Freight is often transported in large pallets, which are generally not taken apart to inspect because the process would significantly slow down air travel and the movement of goods.
About 50,000 tons of cargo is shipped by air within the U.S. every day, according to the Transportation Security Administration. About 25 percent of that is shipped by passenger airlines. Mike Boyd, who heads an aviation industry consulting firm in Colorado, said cargo is often put onboard passenger flights at the last minute, similar to passengers flying on standby.
Inside the U.S., new rules that took effect in August require that every piece of cargo be checked for explosives. Cargo is increasingly screened by X-ray machines and handheld wands — the TSA has approved dozens of new machines in the past two years that can detect traces of explosive materials.
But those rules don't cover goods coming in from other countries.
"We've known for decades that freight isn't as secure — this isn't a surprise," security expert Bruce Schneier said. "You can't protect every package. There's no way."
Cargo that travels through airports in countries with high threat levels and advanced security systems is often safer. The system at London's busy Heathrow Airport is relatively effective because cargo is held for 24 hours, giving authorities time to check it properly, according to Shingleton.
Still, since August U.S. aviation officials have been pressing the European Union to require the X-raying of every package placed on passenger planes, but they have met resistance because of the cost and logistics involved in screening such a huge amount of material, aviation safety consultant Chris Yates said.
"Is it possible one of these devices could get on passenger jets?" Yates said. "I'm not convinced it could on flights between London and the States, but it could get on from less secure parts of the world, including the Middle East. If you talk to anybody senior at airports, they will tell you freight is the weak link in the chain."
X-Ray machines are not an effective tool to screen bulk cargo because of the large size and number of the items that need to be inspected, said Philip Baum, editor of Aviation Security International, while more sophisticated technology, like gamma-ray machines, are extremely expensive.
Baum warned that it would be foolhardy to downplay the threat posed by cargo-only planes, since those could be loaded with an explosive device that could be detonated when the plane is on its final approach over a major city.
"Security in the UK is pretty good, the U.S. is not bad, but aviation is a global business and we need effective regimes around the globe," he said. "Cargo travels on both cargo-only and on combi-aircraft, which have passengers and cargo, and cargo is not subject to the same screening requirements as passengers' baggage."
Bomkamp reported from New York. Raphael G. Satter in London and Adam Schreck in Dubai contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
SEATTLE - Microsoft is giving a select group of technology-savvy testers an early peek at its Office 2010 software, but it's keeping a key development - free web-based versions of programs such as Word and Excel - under wraps a little while longer.
The launch of this "technical preview" indicates Office 2010 is still on track for release in the early part of next year.
Microsoft is updating the highly profitable desktop software package to add more ways for people to work simultaneously on documents, organise their email and edit videos and photos, among other changes. And for the first time, Microsoft is adding free companion versions that run in a web browser.
Microsoft Office is by far the most popular software package worldwide for making presentations, spreadsheets and other documents, and its dominance is in no immediate danger.
But the company is trying to defend against a long-developing trend in which software is moving from the desktop to the web. Google has been pushing its own free, web-based programs for more than two years, though it has yet to gain much traction with corporations.
With Office 2010, Microsoft must decide how much software it can give away online without undermining its lucrative desktop software business. If it doesn't make the right calculation, the software maker could find itself in the same position as newspapers that gave online content away and now are struggling to replace print revenue.
In Microsoft's case, the "Home and Student" version of Office 2007 is listed at US$150, though it can be found on Amazon.com for $90. Such sales deliver attractive margins - in 2008, the division responsible for Office logged $12.4 billion (NZ$19.6bn) in profit on nearly $20 billion in revenue.
The Office 2010 web programs will be Microsoft's first real attempt at an online office package. In 2007, Microsoft launched something called Office Live Workspace, which let people view and comment on documents, but it lacked tools for creating and editing files.
The browser-based programs are on a different development cycle from the desktop programs, and Microsoft says the web versions' "technical preview" will be ready in August.
The web version of Office 2010 will be free to consumers, in a version supported by advertising. Microsoft will let companies with long-term Office licensing agreements install the online programs on their servers for no extra charge. Companies will also be able to buy subscriptions to access the programs through Microsoft-operated data centres.
Microsoft has not said how much Office 2010 will cost, only that it will sell five variations on the suite, two for big corporations and three available to consumers and small businesses.
Microsoft says people attending its annual partner conference this week in New Orleans will be among the tens of thousands invited to try the new software.
take from http://www.nzherald.co.nz
Size: 10 MB
Format: PDF
Published: Osprey Publishing (August 20, 2003)
ISBN-10: 1841766046
Page count: 64
The techniques of European warfare were transformed during the 15th and 16th centuries by the use of gunpowder and by substantial progress in the effectiveness and destructive power of artillery. The series of conflicts in the 1640s, known collectively as the English Civil War, was the first in the British Isles that reflected this new reality. Sieges that aimed at isolating and reducing fortified places became the dominant instrument for prosecuting the war and protective fortifications were vital, for both the besieged as well as the besieger. This title describes how both the Parliamentarians and the Royalists made use of new fortification techniques throughout the course of this conflict.
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When the all-new CBR1000RR debuted last year, it represented the pinnacle of literbike performance. Brimming with MotoGP-bred DNA, it was simply the best, most innovative open-class sportbike we’d ever built.
Well, guess what? This year it gets even better with the introduction of Combined Anti-Lock Braking, Honda’s latest groundbreaking performance option and the first-ever ABS system on a production supersport machine. Just think: standard-setting power and handling proven on both the track and street, eye-catching styling, and now the most advanced braking system in sportbiking. Calling the CBR1000RR a superbike almost doesn’t do it justice. more info
President Obama is using the coming week to work on a budget for the next fiscal year that puts government in the direction of spending only half as much beyond its means than will be spent this year.
Republican governors reacted skeptically Sunday to news that President Obama plans to halve the record budget deficits to more than a half trillion dollars by 2013, the end of the current presidential term.Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty told "FOX News Sunday" that the markets reacted badly to the $787 billion stimulus bill signed into legislation this past week -- the market is now down more than 41 percent off its mark of one year ago -- and it's only going to get worse if the president raises taxes.
Pawlenty said if voters think raising taxes will solve the deficit, he's got "hunting land for you in northern Minnesota."
South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, who vehemently opposed the stimulus bill, said cutting in half the annual deficit is a drop in the bucket.
"The operational deficit is a very small component of the larger deficit this country is running," he said.
An administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Saturday that the president plans to cut back the annual budget deficit to $533 billion by time he ends his current term in office. That would be down from the $1.3 trillion deficit expected in fiscal year 2009.
The president is holding a fiscal policy summit on Monday, while the governors are still in town for their National Governors Association Winter meeting.
On Tuesday, the president will give a joint address to Congress. On Thursday he plans to send an outline of his first budget request to Capitol Hill.
The official said the deficit will be shrunk by scaling back Iraq war spending, ending the temporary tax breaks enacted by the Bush administration for those making $250,000 or more a year, and streamlining government.
"We can't generate sustained growth without getting our deficits under control," Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address that seemed to preview his intentions. He said his budget will be "sober in its assessments, honest in its accounting, and lays out in detail my strategy for investing in what we need, cutting what we don't, and restoring fiscal discipline."
Pennsylvania Democratic Gov. Ed Rendall said that tax increases that may be offered will do no harm to the country. He pointed to President Clinton's first term in office, when he raised taxes on the wealthy. The Clinton administration had four years of budget surpluses in its second term.
Obama's budget is expected to find ways to establish universal health care and lessen the country's reliance on foreign oil.
Obama has pledged to make deficit reduction a priority both as a candidate and a president. But he also has said economic recovery must come first.
Last week, he signed into law the stimulus measure that is meant to create jobs but certainly will add to the nation's skyrocketing national debt. He also is implementing the $700 billion financial sector rescue passed on Bush's watch; about $75 billion of which is being used toward Obama's plan to help homeowners facing foreclosure.
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The new size of the multilateral fund is expected to be $120bn (£83.7bn), up from $80bn proposed in 2008, regional grouping Asean said.
Emergency funds would be made available to enable nations to borrow foreign currency on a short-term basis.
The plan was agreed at a meeting of Asean finance minister in Thailand.
It is hoped final agreement on the fund will be reached in May, said ministers.
Last year, the ten members of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean) promised to make bilateral currency swap arrangements available to each other under the so-called Chiang Mai Initiative.
Japan, China and South Korea also joined the scheme.
"The Chiang Mai is important because it gives a signal to everybody in Asia and outside Asia that if there was a big crisis, there is financing available," said Jean Pierre Verbiest, Asian Development Bank country director for Thailand.
Asian nations have typically relied heavily on exports and have as a result been hard hit by the global slowdown.
Japan, China and South Korea are set to contribute 80% of the capital to the fund.
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