Massachusetts stranded-dolphin death toll up to 92
Posted by Ayman Hussen
The unexplained beachings of scores of dolphins over the past month along Cape Cod, Massachusetts, is the largest "single-species event" of its kind on record in the northeastern United States, a marine mammal specialist said Monday.
A total of 129 common dolphins have been found since the animals began stranding themselves in early January, said Katie Moore, marine mammal rescue and research manager for the International Fund for Animal Welfare.
Team members have been able to successfully release 37 of the 54 they were able to recover alive, but 75 others were dead or had to be euthanized on the spot, for a total of 92 dead, Moore told reporters in a conference call.
Specially equipped trailers have been used to treat and transport the living dolphins. The ones that are healthy enough are taken to the outer Cape Cod coast to be released.
Nine of the dolphins have been tagged with satellite tracking devices, Moore said, and most of the six that are still transmitting are north of Cape Cod, "where dolphins should be."
Nissan Invitation brings high-tech safety to small car segment
Posted by Khaled Ali
Think small cars aren’t safe? Nissan is interested in changing that perception.
China bars airlines from EU tax plan
Posted by Peter Fawzy
The Chinese government has barred the country's airlines from complying with a European Union charge on carbon emissions, escalating a dispute that officials have warned could turn into a trade war.
Chinese airlines had previously said they would not pay the EU carbon tax, but the formal prohibition by the State Council, or cabinet, puts Beijing in direct opposition to Brussels.
The announcement, published on Monday by Xinhua, the official news agency, comes a week before Chinese and European leaders are to meet at a summit and just days after Wen Jiabao, China's premier, said Beijing was looking to provide more financial support to help Europe out of its debt mess.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China has notified all Chinese airlines that, without government approval, they cannot join the EU emissions trading scheme or charge customers extra because of it, Xinhua said.
The impact on Chinese airlines with routes to Europe was unclear. Although the EU's carbon scheme went into effect for airlines on January 1, Brussels has not started charging them yet. But all airlines using EU airports have been brought into the scheme. Those that do not comply face fines while persistent offenders could be banned from EU airports.
"China hopes that Europe will directly address our concerns, in light of the overall situation of global climate change, the sustainable development of international aviation and Chinese-European relations," the Chinese aviation authority said.
It also said the EU should adopt a "practical and constructive attitude" to come up with a solution that would be acceptable to both sides.
Republican Voters Moving Towards Romney as Pace of GOP Primaries Picks Up
Posted by Maha Shawki
Republican voters are beginning to coalesce around the presidential candidacy of front-runner Mitt Romney, even as his opponents vow to continue their campaigns into a series of contests this month and beyond.
Republicans will cast ballots this week in Colorado, Missouri, Minnesota and Maine, all states where Romney has a financial and organization advantage over his remaining three opponents. He won a double-digit victory in the Nevada caucuses Feb.4, just days after his 14-point triumph in the Florida primary.
While some party loyalists and elected officials already support Romney, his show of strength in recent contests demonstrates that socially and fiscally conservative voters -- long critical of his ideological credentials -- are starting to accept his march toward the nomination.
“Newt Gingrich had what was likely to be in the final analysis his best moment in South Carolina,” said Tea Party leader and former House Majority Leader Dick Armey on CNN’s “State of the Union,” referring to Gingrich’s Jan. 21 win. “We are not going to get a reliable, small government conservative out of this nominating process.”
Tea Party
In Nevada, Romney won nearly every voting group, including those traditionally skeptical of his candidacy such as Tea Party supporters, according to entrance polls. Among self-described “very conservative” voters, 51 percent supported him at the polls, as did 48 percent of evangelical Christians.
The polling also showed he won support from three-quarters of those who listed the ability to beat Obama in November’s general election as the most important candidate quality for them, a group that was 44 percent of the electorate.
“We would rather have a Republican president that’s not fully the guy we adore wanting our affections than a Democrat president who despises us,” said Armey.
Next week, Romney and his rivals are scheduled to address party activists at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C., where Tea Party favorite Sarah Palin is scheduled to give the keynote address. The reception they give Romney will be a test of his support within the base of his party.
U.S. government, military to get secure Android phones
Posted by Randa Fathy
Some U.S. officials this year are expected to get smartphones capable of handling classified government documents over cellular networks, according to people involved in the project.
The phones will run a modified version of Google's Android software, which is being developed as part of an initiative that spans multiple federal agencies and government contractors, these people said.
The smartphones are first being deployed to U.S. soldiers, people familiar with the project said. Later, federal agencies are expected to get phones for sending and receiving government cables while away from their offices, sources said. Eventually, local governments and corporations could give workers phones with similar software.
The Army has been testing touchscreen devices at U.S. bases for nearly two years, said Michael McCarthy, a director for the Army's Brigade Modernization Command, in a phone interview. About 40 phones were sent to fighters overseas a year ago, and the Army plans to ship 50 more phones and 75 tablets to soldiers abroad in March, he said.
"We've had kind of an accelerated approval process," McCarthy said. "This is a hugely significant event."
Currently, the United States doesn't allow government workers or soldiers to use smartphones for sending classified messages because the devices have not met security certifications.
Officials have said they worry that hackers or rogue apps could tap into the commercial version of Android and spill state secrets to foreign governments or to the Web through a publisher such as WikiLeaks. As many as 5 million Android users may have had their phones compromised by a recent virus outbreak rooted in apps found on Google's market, said security software maker Symantec.
But with a secure smartphone, a soldier could see fellow infantry on a digital map, or an official could send an important dispatch from Washington's Metro subway without fear of security breaches.
Developers in the government program have completed a version that has been authorized for storing classified documents but not transmitting them over a cell network, said two people contributing to the initiative. Smartphones cleared for top-secret dispatches -- high-level classified information that would compromise national security if intercepted -- are expected to be ready in the next few months, they said.
Rather than building special handsets hardwired with secure components, the government plans to install its software on commercially available phones, the people familiar with the project said. This approach is far less expensive and allows the government to stay up to date with the latest phones on the market, they said.
