The Star Online: World Updates
The Star Online: World Updates |
- Heavy snow, dangerous cold snarl travel in north-eastern U.S
- U.S. spy agency developing computer to crack privacy codes - report
- China military to launch "joint command" to reorganise forces - report
| Heavy snow, dangerous cold snarl travel in north-eastern U.S Posted: 02 Jan 2014 07:35 PM PST NEW YORK/BOSTON (Reuters) - The governors of New York and New Jersey declared a state of emergency and pleaded with residents to stay indoors on Thursday as a major snowstorm bore down on the northeastern United States, delaying or canceling thousands of flights. The first major winter storm of 2014 brought bone-chilling temperatures and high winds from the lower Mississippi Valley to the Atlantic coast, with parts of New England, including Boston, bracing for up to 14 inches (36 cm) of snow by Friday morning. "As this winter storm unfolds, bringing heavy snow and high winds to many parts of the state, I strongly urge all New Yorkers to exercise caution, avoid travel and stay indoors," New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said. Amid flight cancellations that hit just as many travelers were returning from holiday breaks, officials at Boston's Logan International Airport said that up to a quarter of its scheduled flights had been canceled on Thursday afternoon and evening. But Ed Freni, aviation director of Massport, the state agency that operates Logan, said that two runways remained open and that he expected the airport to continue operating as long as it was safe to do so. Cuomo and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie both ordered state offices closed on Friday for non-essential employees, saying they expected the worst to hit between late Thursday and early Friday morning. The state of New Jersey said public schools would be closed in Hoboken and Jersey City on Friday. "The real action is going to get cranked up this evening and during the overnight hours. We'll have heavy snow, windy conditions, reduced visibilities," said Kim Buttrick, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Taunton, Massachusetts. DE BLASIO'S BIG TEST The storm posed the first major challenge to New York's new mayor, Bill de Blasio. Problems from digging out from snowstorms have been political havoc for mayors in the United States' biggest city for decades. After his first emergency management meeting, De Blasio pleaded with New Yorkers stay off the streets. "This is the first of many times I will say please stay indoors. Stay out of your cars. If you don't need to go out, please don't go out," he said. The powerful storm forced cancellation of nearly 2,500 U.S. flights with another 7,000 delayed. Chicago's O'Hare International and Newark's Liberty International Airport were hit the worst, according to FlightAware, a website that tracks air travel. New York's three major airports were preparing to accommodate stranded travelers whose flights were canceled. "We have a few hundred cots at each of the airports should you decide to become an overnight guest," said Thomas Bosco, an official with the Port Authority of New York and Jersey, at New York's LaGuardia Airport. The authority also runs Newark and John F. Kennedy International Airport. Ruben Raskin of San Jose, California, who was in the Boston area visiting his girlfriend, worried that his Friday flight out of Logan could be delayed or canceled. "It kind of reminds me why I moved to San Jose after going to college out here," said Raskin, 23. Conditions in Boston were bad enough by afternoon that the "Frozen Fenway" winter carnival, featuring sledding and college ice-hockey at the baseball stadium where the Red Sox play, was canceled for Thursday and Friday. TEMPERATURES TO PLUMMET The weather service said the mass of Arctic air would drop temperatures to levels 20 to 30 degrees below normal, with record lows possible on Friday. "Temperatures are expected to plummet tonight and tomorrow with wind chills dropping as low as 25 degrees below zero Fahrenheit (-32 Celsius)," said Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick. "That is a very dangerous set of circumstances." The low temperature in the contiguous United States on Wednesday was -47 Fahrenheit (-43 Celsius), reached in Van Buren, Maine, and tied in Babbitt and Embarrass, Minnesota, the weather service said. Patrick told non-essential state workers to head home at 3 p.m. ET (2000 GMT) as did his counterparts in neighboring Connecticut. Forecast snowfall varied widely, with Washington expected to see under an inch (2 cm), Philadelphia and New York 4 to 8 inches (10-20 cm), Hartford 6 to 10 inches (15-25 cm) and Boston 8 to 14 inches (20-36 cm). But even before the worst of the storm hit slippery road conditions made driving a hazard in many storm-hit areas. In Cleveland, Ohio, Chris Behm spent an hour trying to reach the vocational training center for developmentally disabled people where he works before calling the commute off and urging his 19 employees to stay home. "It was terrible on all of the roads and there is more weather on its way," Behm said. "It just wasn't worth it to open and possibly kill someone." Officials in Boston and Providence said schools would be closed on Friday, and in other districts throughout the region, parents were bracing for the possibility their children would be home on Friday. "It's tough with these storms because I end up using days off that I don't want to take," said Kristen Carson, who had taken the train into Manhattan from her home in suburban Montclair, New Jersey. "After the holiday, it's really kind of a pinch." (Additional reporting by Victoria Cavaliere, Marina Lopes and Scott DiSavino in New York, Daniel Lovering in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Ian Simpson in Washington, Kim Palmer in Cleveland and Mary Wisniewski in Chicago; Writing by Scott Malone and Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Ken Wills) |
| U.S. spy agency developing computer to crack privacy codes - report Posted: 02 Jan 2014 06:40 PM PST (Reuters) - The U.S. National Security Agency is trying to develop a computer that could ultimately break most encryption programs, whether they are used to protect other nations' spying programs or consumers' bank accounts, The Washington Post reported on Thursday. The report, which the newspaper said was based on documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, comes amid continuing controversy over the spy agency's program to collect the phone records Internet communications of private citizens. In its report on Thursday, The Washington Post said that the NSA is trying to develop a so-called "quantum computer" that could be used to break encryption codes used to cloak sensitive information. Such a computer, which would be able to perform several calculations at once instead of in a single stream, could take years to develop, the newspaper said. In addition to being able to break through the cloaks meant to protect private data, such a computer would have implications for such fields as medicine, the newspaper reported. The research is part of a $79.7 million research program called "Penetrating Hard Targets," the newspaper said. Other, non-governmental researchers are also trying to develop quantum computers, and it is not clear whether the NSA program lags the private efforts or is ahead of them. Snowden, living in Russia with temporary asylum, last year leaked documents he collected while working for the NSA. The United States has charged him with espionage, and more charges could follow. His disclosures have sparked a debate over how much leeway to give the U.S. government in gathering information to protect Americans from terrorism, and have prompted numerous lawsuits. Last week, a federal judge ruled that the NSA's collection of phone call records is lawful, while another judge earlier in December questioned the program's constitutionality. The issue is now more likely to move before the U.S. Supreme Court. On Thursday, the editorial board of the New York Times said that the U.S. government should grant Snowden clemency or a plea bargain, given the public value of revelations over the National Security Agency's vast spying programs. (Writing by Sharon Bernstein; Editing by Dan Whitcomb, Bernard Orr) |
| China military to launch "joint command" to reorganise forces - report Posted: 02 Jan 2014 04:55 PM PST SHANGHAI (Reuters) - The Chinese military will establish a joint operational command over its military forces to improve coordination between different parts of the country's increasingly sophisticated military system, the official China Daily reported on Friday citing the Ministry of Defence. China has been moving rapidly to upgrade its military hardware, but military analysts say operational integration of complex and disparate systems across a regionalised command structure is a major challenge for Beijing. In the past, regional level military commanders have enjoyed major latitude over their forces and branches of the military have remained highly independent of each other, making it difficult to exercise the centralised control necessary to use new weapons systems effectively in concert. The report quoted comments made to China Daily by the Ministry of National Defence saying that China will implement a joint command system "in due course" and that it has already launched pilot programmes to that effect. China currently has seven military regions traditionally focused around ground-based army units, but China's changing security interests, over claims to potentially energy rich submarine reserves in the South China Sea, has highlighted its need to focus more on air and naval forces. China and Japan are engaged in an intensifying standoff over a set of uninhabited disputed islands, and the Japanese government appears to be ready to ramp up military spending and adjust its nominally pacifist stance to a more confrontational one as the two militaries circle each other. China is also engaged in similar disputes with Vietnam and the Philippines. "China has built an iron bastion in its border regions. The major concern lies at sea," said Li Qonggong, deputy secretary-general of the China Council for National Security Policy Studies, as quoted in the report. (Reporting by Pete Sweeney; Editing by Michael Perry) |
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