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Air-cargo screening100 percent air-cargo screening is going smoothly -- so far
On 1 August a law mandating 100 percent screening of cargo transported on passenger aircraft took effect; the shipping industry says that, so far, are off to a good start; experts point out that August is relatively slow shipping month, and that the real test will come in mid-September, when the busy air cargo shipping season begins
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GAO: TSA is yet to conduct risk assessments for U.S. transportation systems
GAO criticizes TSA for taking its time conducting comprehensive risk assessments across the transportation sectors it is responsible for securing; according to the GAO, DHS still does not use a comprehensive risk management framework to secure intermodal facilities across aviation and surface transportation sectors
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U.S. unveils Caribbean basin security plan
The deteriorating situation in the Caribbean region reflects the drug trade's deep entrenchment, with high murder rates becoming a fact of life in the tourist havens that traffickers use as transit points for South American drugs bound for Europe and the United States; Caribbean islands had one of their bloodiest years on record in 2009
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Air cargo securityTransport Canada turns inspection of air freight over to shippers
Transport Canada initiates a new air cargo security system requiring all companies involved in a supply chain to be part of inspecting the goods; critics say the program means that companies will be policing themselves; says once critic: "It's like me showing up at an [airport inspection] line and saying, 'Hey guys, there's no change in my pockets and I don't have any fluids, so I'm okay to get on the plane.' I don't think they'd let me on"
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TSA: Tablets and Netbooks need not be taken out of their cases to be screened
TSA allows that electronic items smaller than the standard sized laptop need to be removed from a bag or a case at an airport security check-point to be scanned; TSA says this applies to the Apple iPad and netbooks, as well as the Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble nook, and other e-book readers
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Art world worried about new rule on air cargo
As of 1 August, all items shipped as cargo on commercial passenger airplanes will have to go through airline security screening; as much as 20 percent of art shipped around the world travels this way, and museums, galleries, and collectors are worried: even the faint possibility of an airline inspector with a screwdriver uncrating a Calder sculpture or an early Renaissance tempera painting is enough to keep many in the art world awake at night
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Partnership aims to help air shippers meet security deadline
Congress has mandated that by August 2010, 100 percent of cargo on passenger planes must be screened; companies begin to position themselves to take advantage of the business opportunity involved in offering secure cargo warehousing and shipping
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Researchers propose a new way to scan cargo containers
In 2007 the U.S. government set itself the goal of screening all aviation cargo loaded onto passenger planes and all maritime cargo entering the country for both explosives and nuclear materials; this is an ambitious goal: there are more than ten millions containers entering the United States every year through sea ports and land border crossings, and there are more than 28,000 commercial flights
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2010: Topics for homeland security discussion
The only thing we can say for sure about 2010 is terrorists, criminals, and mother nature will surprise us at some point during 2010; still, based on what we do know, we offer a short list of topics we predict will dominate the homeland security discussion in the coming year – from whole-body scanners to 100 percent air cargo screening to social Web sites to communication interoperability to the consequences of climate change (or is there a climate change?)
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DHS IG says U.S. air cargo vulnerable to tampering
DHS IG on the state of air cargo handling: "Without regular vigilance, practice, and enforcement of access controls, TSA and the regulated entities provide opportunities for individuals to introduce explosives, incendiaries, and other destructive items into air cargo, potentially creating risks for the traveling public"
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Air cargo still vulnerable to terrorists
DHS's inspector general says there are many problems still with the TSA's program to stop terrorists from sneaking a bomb into any of the tens of thousands of cargo packages carried each day in the bellies of passenger planes
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Work to start soon on Nashville airport's new baggage-screening system
Nashville International Airport in a $31 million project to move the federally mandated explosive detection systems from the ticketing lobby to a space beneath the terminals
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PrivacyHawaii judge throws out child porn evidence found by TSA
U.S. judges keep telling TSA that the agency's security screeners at airport are there to prevent weapons and explosives from being taken on board -- nothing else; it is not the screeners' job to ask passengers why they carry a lot of cash in the luggage -- or child porn
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DHS misses deadline for certifying new radiation detectors
Back in June, the head of DHS's nuclear monitoring division said the agency would sign off this fall on two congressionally mandated certifications for the Advanced Spectroscopic Portal monitor system; the testing and evaluation of these innovative nuclear detection systems have not yet been completed, though; the new machines are designed to not only detect radiation but identify the nature of its source, thus eliminating time-consuming secondary inspections to determine whether a material is dangerous
