By Thom Shanker
WASHINGTON: After a successful test last week, the tracking radars and interceptor rockets of a new American missile defense system can be turned on at any time to respond to an emerging crisis in Asia, senior military officers said Tuesday.
General Victor Renuart Jr., the senior commander for defense of United States territory, said that the antimissile system could guard against the risk of ballistic missile attack from North Korea even while development continues on a series of radars in California and the Pacific Ocean and on interceptor missiles in Alaska and California.
While the new system is limited, it is the most extensive anti-ballistic missile system the Pentagon has fielded since the Safeguard ABM system near Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota was briefly operated, starting in 1975. Congress immediately voted to shut it down, and it operated for only a few months.
"We can bring missiles up or take them down as need be so that they can continue doing the testing," said Renuart, commander of the military's Northern Command, based in Colorado Springs. But, he added, "I'm fully confident that we have all of the pieces in place that, if the nation ...   more »

By LARRY MARGASAK
WASHINGTON (AP) - Federal terror-fighting agencies can't identify all the American research laboratories that could become targets of attackers, congressional investigators have found.
The Government Accountability Office asked a dozen agencies whether they kept track of all the labs handling dangerous germs and toxins, or knew the number. All responded negatively.
The findings were prepared for a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing Thursday.
The government regulates 409 laboratories approved to work with 72 of the world's deadliest organisms and poisons, including anthrax, bird flu virus, monkeypox and plague-causing bacteria.  
But less is known about other labs that work with organisms that cause whooping cough, tuberculosis, gonorrhea, meningitis, typhoid fever, hepatitis, herpes, several strains of flu, rabies, HIV and SARS.
The GAO said U.S. intelligence agencies, including the FBI, told its investigators they need to track all labs that could be vulnerable to terrorism.
U.S. intelligence agencies said they already are handicapped by the failure of some foreign countries to regulate the shipment or possession of biological agents.
The Associated Press reported this week that American laboratories handling the world's deadliest germs and toxins have experienced more than 100 accidents and missing shipments since 2003, and ...   more »

By Ker Than,
(Oct. 3) - Astronomers have spotted evidence of a second Earth being built around a distant star 424 light-years away.  
NASA A belt of dust surrounding a nearby star has the potential to congeal into an Earth-like planet, scientists said.
 Using NASA 's Spitzer Space Telescope, astronomers have spotted a huge belt of warm dust swirling around a young star called HD 113766 that is just slightly larger than our sun. The dust belt, which scientists suspect is clumping together to form planets, is located in the middle of the star system's terrestrial habitable zone where temperatures are moderate enough to sustain liquid water. Scientists estimate there is enough material in the belt to form a Mars-sized world or larger.
At approximately 10 million years old, the star is just the right age for forming rocky planets, the researchers say. Their finding will be detailed in an upcoming issue of Astrophysical Journal.
NASA Searches for New Spacesuit Tailors
"The timing for this system to be building an Earth is very good," said study team member Carey Lisse of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Baltimore, Md.
If the star system were too young, the ...   more »

WASHINGTON — More than $2.1 billion in counterfeit checks have been seized and 77 people arrested in an international crackdown on scams, the U.S. Postal Service said today.
The crackdown involved officials of the United States, Canada, Nigeria, United Kingdom and Netherlands, the Postal Inspection Service said at a briefing.
"There is no room in the mail for any of these phony come-ons," Postmaster General John Potter said.
Most of the cons start with e-mails telling of an inheritance or lottery win and ask the victim to help bring the money to the United States. The victim is asked to cash a check and send part of the money back to the person sending it, explained Postal Inspector Greg Campbell.
Then that person disappears with the money and the original check bounces, leaving the victim with a loss.
Retired people have lost their next eggs and young families have been defrauded of their savings for a home, Potter said.
Many of the cases originate in the Netherlands, where West African con artists operate from Internet cafes, said Johan Van Hartskamp of the Amsterdam police.
In what he called "Operation Dutch Treat," police have arrested 60 people in the Netherlands. Three ...   more »

Jim Brown and Jody Brown
The U.S. House of Representatives has voted for the first time to honor the Islamic holiday of Ramadan, but some conservative lawmakers wanted no part of it.
The language of the resolution sponsored by Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas) reads: "Recognizing the commencement of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting and spiritual renewal, and commending Muslims in the United States and throughout the world for their faith." The measure passed 376-0, with 42 members voting "Present."
Among those who voted present was freshman Congressman Doug Lamborn (R-Colorado). "I couldn't bring myself to vote 'yes' on that resolution," he admits. "I hope that we have more and more moderate Muslims speaking out about the cause of peace in the future." Lamborn says a recent attempt in Congress to honor Christmas was met with a great deal of opposition.
His colleague GOP presidential candidate and Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-Colorado) also voted "present" on the measure. Tancredo released a press statement after the vote, citing the resolution as "an example of the degree to which political correctness has captured the political and media elite" in America.
"I am not opposed to commending any religion for their faith," ...   more »