Risk Unclear, Some Fliers Grow Skittish Over Travel

As fears about swine flu spread, the airline industry is bracing for the worst, worried that travelers will cancel their plans to fly to or from not only Mexico, but also almost anywhere else in the world. (NY Times)

Senators urge more aggressive swine flu screening

Senior senators criticized the Homeland Security Department on Wednesday, saying it was not doing enough to prevent people infected with swine flu from entering the United States.

Lawmakers at a Capitol Hill hearing urged Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to take stronger steps than those now being used by Customs and Border Protection, who look for people who appear sick as they enter the USA. (USA Today)

World swine flu cases jump

The number of people infected with swine flu increased rapidly across the world Wednesday as health officials scramble to get more information about the virus for which there is no vaccine. (CNN)

Mexico’s Calderon Declares Emergency Amid Swine Flu Outbreak

Mexican President Felipe Calderon declared an emergency in his country’s swine flu outbreak, giving him powers to order quarantines and suspend public events.

Authorities have canceled school at all levels in Mexico City and the state of Mexico until further notice, and the government has shut most public and government activities in the area. The emergency decree, published today in the state gazette, gives the president authority to take more action.

“The federal government under my charge will not hesitate a moment to take all, all the measures necessary to respond with efficiency and opportunity to this respiratory epidemic,” Calderon said today during a speech to inaugurate a hospital in the southern state of Oaxaca.

At least 20 deaths in Mexico from the disease are confirmed, Health Minister Jose Cordova said yesterday. The strain is a variant of H1N1 swine influenza that has also sickened at least eight people in California and Texas. As many as 68 deaths may be attributed to the virus in Mexico, and about 1,000 people in the Mexico City area are showing symptoms of the illness, Cordoba said. (Bloomberg)

Swine Flu, Mexico Lung Illness Heighten Pandemic Risk

Disease trackers are asking U.S. hospitals to help follow a new strain of swine flu and are trying to determine whether it’s related to hundreds of illnesses and 57 deaths in Mexico.

A previously unseen variant of H1N1 swine influenza has sickened at least seven people in California and Texas, the Atlanta-based U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said yesterday. The World Health Organization said 57 people died among more than 800 in the Mexico City region who developed flu-like symptoms in the past month. (Bloomberg)

US man to be added to FBI Most Wanted list

An American wanted on domestic terrorism charges is being added Tuesday to the FBI’s list of Most Wanted Terrorists, the agency said.

US media reports identified the addition as Daniel Andreas San Diego, 31, an animal rights activist wanted in the bombings of two corporate offices in California in 2003.

The FBI’s assistant director for counter-terrorism, Michael Heimbach, was scheduled to make the announcement at a news conference later Tuesday. (AFP)

Heightened security at U.S.-Canada border catching few terror suspects

Two Border Patrol agents board a bus in upstate New York, asking everyone “What’s your nationality?” Prove you’re allowed to be here.

A canine barks at a knapsack. Its owner is a legal Chinese refugee with fear in her eyes. Border Patrol agents have found her with a marijuana cigarette. Hours later, she’s still being detained.

This is the face today of the U.S. Border Patrol in the North. Operating up to 100 miles from Canada with a federal mandate to catch terrorists, agents now crouch in the Vermont snow, ride horseback in Montana and patrol ferry terminals in Washington state. For thousands of working immigrant families, it is a frightening specter. (Seattle PI)

Homeland Security issues warning on right-wing extremist groups

DHS is warning law-enforcement agencies that we might see a spike in right-wing extremist groups because we have (A) the worst economy in 70 years and (B) our first black president. Take it away, Politico:

“The consequences of a prolonged economic downturn — including real estate foreclosures, unemployment, and an inability to obtain credit — could create a fertile recruiting environment for right-wing extremists and even result in confrontations between such groups and government authorities,” the report warns.

The report explains that threats so far have been “largely rhetorical,” but points to the April 4 shooting of three police officers in Pittsburgh as a “recent example of potential violence associated with right-wing extremism.” (KC Star)

New US administration, new take on the ‘war on terror’

Last month, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton acknowledged that the Obama administration has stopped using the phrase “war on terror.” This development is far more significant than a change of heart on diction.

For many years, terrorism rhetoric has been used as a blunt weapon by governments seeking to stifle dissent and escape international scrutiny. This new approach by the US is a key step in recasting the term and clarifying what exactly constitutes international terrorism. (CSM)