U.S. to Tighten Border Controls, Require Passports
Americans Visiting Canada, Mexico, Panama, Bermuda Will Need Passports to Return
By BARRY SCHWEID, AP
WASHINGTON (April 5) - Americans will need passports to re-enter the United States from Canada, Mexico, Panama and Bermuda by 2008, part of a tightening of U.S. border controls in an era of terrorist threat, three administration officials said Tuesday.
Similarly, Canadians will also have to present a passport to enter the United States, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Canadians have been the only foreigners allowed to enter the United States with just a driver's license.
An announcement, expected later Tuesday at the State Department, will specify that a passport or another valid travel document will have to be shown by U.S. citizens, the officials said.
Until now, Americans returning home from Canada have needed only to show a driver's license or other government-issued photo identification card.
Americans returning from Mexico, Panama or Bermuda currently need only a government-issued photo identification card plus proof of U.S. citizenship like an original birth or naturalization certificate, according to the State Department's Web site.
The new rules, to be phased in by Jan. 1, 2008, were called for in intelligence legislation approved last year by Congress.
Safeguarding U.S. borders are a top concern of U.S. intelligence and security officials. The concern increased after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and on the Pentagon.
The travel industry has raised concerns that the changes might hamper tourism, one official said.
The announcement follows a three-way summit last month that President Bush held with Prime Minister Paul Martin of Canada and President Vicente Fox of Mexico.
Speaking at Baylor University at Waco, Tex., Bush said border controls with Mexico had to be tightened to make sure that terrorists, drug runners, gun runners and smugglers do not enter the United States.
Besides a passport, re-entering Americans could use another approved travel document like frequent travel cards, which are issued to some people who travel often between the U.S. and Mexico. These cards typically are used to avoid long border-crossing lines.
But in most cases, only passports will do, another U.S. official said.
The new system will deal first with the Caribbean, then Mexico and Canada. It will start at airports and subsequently spread to land crossings, said an official speaking on condition of anonymity.
U.S. inspectors will bear less of a burden with the changes because they won't have to sift through different kinds of travel documents, the officials said.
(Associated Press reporters George Gedda and Lara Jakes Jordan contributed to this report.)
Source: AOL News
Sky-Watchers Await Solar Eclipse on Friday
(Day of Funeral)
By ALICIA CHANG, AP
Sky-watchers from the South Pacific to the Americas will witness the first solar eclipse of 2005 on Friday when the moon blots out part of the sun.
It will be a partial eclipse rather than a total one, in which the Earth is cast into darkness. But it will be the last partial solar eclipse visible from the continental United States until May 20, 2012.
Solar eclipses occur when the Earth, sun and moon line up in such a way that the moon casts a shadow over Earth.
Friday's eclipse will last from a few minutes to over an hour, depending on one's location. In much of the continental United States, people will see what looks like the moon taking a bite out of the sun, with the bite bigger over the South.
In Central America and the northern portion of South America, the sun will be reduced to a narrow ring of fire.
Astronomers warned people not to stare directly at the sun without eye protection.
''It's neat to see the moon take a bite of the sun,'' said Tom Fleming, an astronomer at the Steward Observatory at the University of Arizona in Tucson. ''Each eclipse is different because I remember who I was with and where I was when I was watching it.''
The path of the eclipse will stretch about 8,800 miles through a corridor beginning near New Zealand and extending across the Americas.
In the United States, people living north of a line extending from southernmost California to central New Jersey will see no dimming of the sun at all.
The maximum eclipse visible from the continental United States will be in Miami, where nearly half of the sun's diameter will be covered at 6:20 p.m. EDT.
For a while, the sun will be blotted out completely as the eclipse moves across the open Pacific, but it will be visible only to people at sea.
The next solar eclipse will be Oct. 3, crossing the Iberian Peninsula to Africa.
Source: AOL News
Lax passport controls need tightening: auditor says
Fraser: No federal plans for emergencies
Diamond, natural gas projects at risk : audit
Auditor General Sheila Fraser. (CP PHOTO/Fred Chartrand) OTTAWA (CP) - Three and a half years after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, airport screeners are letting fake bombs and guns get through security and the Public Safety Department still doesn't know who would be in charge in a disaster, Auditor General Sheila Fraser said Tuesday.
In her latest report, Fraser said there are still major gaps in emergency planning and air security. "There are some serious weaknesses that are left, areas that need to be looked at," she said. Fraser has pointed out similar problems in past reports.
"Last year, I said Sept. 11, 2001 changed our perception of how safe we are and led to higher expectations for our security," she said. "The government still has work to do to meet those expectations."
Among other things, she found that training to prepare police, firefighters and medical personnel to deal with chemical, biological or nuclear disasters is woefully behind. The government estimated it needed to train 6,000 people, but only about 200 are up to scratch.
She said Transport Canada doesn't know how well airport security systems work.
Excerpted
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2005/04/05/983571-cp.html