“The government is scrapping a $20 million prototype of its highly touted “virtual fence” on the Arizona-Mexico border because the system is failing to adequately alert border patrol agents to illegal crossings, officials said.” (AP)
“The European Union’s foreign policy chief said Pakistan should resist talking with al Qaeda in its efforts to quell militancy in tribal areas bordering Afghanistan. Javier Solana told a news conference in Islamabad that al Qaeda leaders were operating outside Pakistan’s law and constitution.” (Reuters)
“The U.S. government today will order commercial airlines and cruise lines to prepare to collect digital fingerprints of all foreigners before they depart the country under a security initiative that the industry has condemned as costly and burdensome.” (Washington Post)
“Airport screeners are about to get new security training designed to help them think creatively about possible threats _ including those they have never thought of. “We have to prepare for attacks that don’t fit our procedures,” such as the traveler who stuffed a block of cheese wrapped in wire into a checked bag, Transportation [...]
“The Homeland Security secretary is the point man for White House efforts to stop illegal immigration. He has an ambitious agenda — and a stubborn streak to match.” (LA Times)
“Terrorist groups are believed to be actively recruiting Western Europeans for possible attacks in Europe, or to use the continent as a springboard for strikes in the United States, the U.S. Homeland Security chief said Tuesday.” (International Herald Tribune)
“The U.S. government will soon begin collecting DNA samples from all citizens arrested in connection with any federal crime and from many immigrants detained by federal authorities, adding genetic identifiers from more than 1 million individuals a year to the swiftly growing federal law enforcement DNA database.” (Washington Post)
“The Homeland Security Department plans to begin a controversial airline passenger screening program as early as January — as long as it can win over skeptical lawmakers. The department’s Transportation Security Administration plans to take over the responsibility for screening passengers against government terrorist watch lists beginning in 2009, TSA Administrator Kip Hawley told the [...]
“The Nuclear Regulatory Commission wants to significantly expand the number and type of radioactive materials the agency will track in a Web-based system under development. The National Source Tracking System, which is to be fully implemented by Jan. 31, 2009, originally was conceived in late 2006 to account for the actions of 1,350 radioactive materials [...]
“The U.S. Supreme Court may get a chance to join the fractious debate over building fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border. A legal challenge by two environmental groups seeking to limit enhanced Department of Homeland Security powers to suspend more than 30 laws to build the fence is gathering support in Congress.” (Dallas Morning News)