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New York State gives company 45 days to fix problems
New York State awarded M/A Com a contract for building the infrastructure for the statewide wireless network for first responders; the contract was to be completed by December 2006; state comptroller office, citing the delay and nearly 20 other deficiencies, gives company 45 days to fix problem or see its contract revoked
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Blumenthal: Impact statement regarding Plum Island seriously flawed
Connecticut’s attorney general: “[DHS’s] draft environmental impact statement is profoundly flawed — factually deficient, and legally insufficient — mis-assessing the monstrous risks of siting a proposed national bio- and agro-defense facility on Plum Island”
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New York officials want Plum Island to remain a Level-3 BioLab
DHS is considering upgrading the Plum Island BioLab from Level-3 to Level-4 so it could conduct research into the deadliest diseases; the department argues that Plum Island’s relative isolation would make an accidental pathogen release less costly relatively to such release from a mainland-based lab; New York officials strongly disagree
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Scarcity of science, technology students worries military IT officials
Pentagon information technology officials: The dearth of Americans being trained in science and technology is one of the greatest threats to the U.S. military’s future
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Lawrenceville, PA bioterror lab opening on hold indefinitely
A state-of-the-art, $5.6 million BioLevel 3 lab was supposed to open in Lawrenceville, Pennsylvania, in 2002;
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Germany tightens data protection laws after scandals
After a wistle-blower revealtions, the German authorities decided o find for themselves how easy it was managed to obtain personal information on consumers; government agents managed, in only a few days, to buy six million items of personal data — for just €850 euros ($1,230); the government decided that tightening of regulations was necessary
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Upping the ante: U.S. forces begin operations inside Pakistan
A third — and distinct — phase of U.S. anti-al Qaeda campaign has opened: In the first phase, the U.S. relied on Pakistan to fight al Qaeda and Taliban operatives in that country’s Northwest Territories; disappointed with Pakistan’s performance, the U.S., six month ago, began the second phase — sending UAV’s across the border to attack targets inside Pakistan; yesterday, the third phase began, as U.S. special forces crossed the border into Pakistan to attack terrorist targets there
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Handgun to the front
Defending against a handgun threat is more difficult on the street than in a training facility; the right training under the right conditions would increase the chances of surviving a possibly lethal encounter with an armed assailant
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Israel foils Hezbollah attempts to kidnap Israelis abroad
In February, Hezbollah’s secretive head of operation, Imad Mughniyeh, was killed in a brilliant covert operation in the middle of Damascus; Israel denied any involvement, but the Lebanese organization said it would retaliate; Israel has since been worried about Israelis abroad being kidnapped
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U.S. funds advanced cryptography effort by European biometric comapnies
EU gives European companies $9 million in U.S. money to develop advanced cryptography for interoperable fingerprint biometric solutions
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Canada's crumbling infrastructure reaching critical point
New study says $200 billion needed to shore up Canada’s infrastructure in order to keep private sector competitive
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New fingerprint analysis technique to be used to identify bomb makers
University of Leicester researchers develop new technique to identify fingerprints on metal; technique can pick up fingerprints on metal even after they have been wiped off
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U.K. to spend £40 million on mobile biometrics for police
Project Midas will allow police to use fingerprint information to identify people at the scene of incidents in real or near real time
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Prisons of the future: High-rise structures, smart cards for inmates
Israel is building new prisons based on new concepts: High-rise structures which will deter escapes (how many prisoners will risk a jump from the tenth floor?), and smart cards which will allow inmates to roam unescorted — but monitored
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NYC airports to get $400 million for explosive detectors
Responding to post 9/11 federal mandates, three New York City-area airports invested about $400 million in security upgrades; the federal government has agreed to reimburse the airports for the expenses
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