Minors exempt from new U.S. passport rules

The Bush administration announced on Thursday that children under 18 will not have to have a passport when entering the U.S. at land or sea borders. For kids 15 or younger, they will be able to cross with parental consent, as well as certified copies of their birth certificates. Young adults aged 16-18 traveling with school, religious, cultural or athletic groups and under adult supervision will also be allowed to travel with only their birth certificates. This relaxation in rules comes as a result of Canada and U.S. border states expressing concerns that the stricter passport requirements could hurt legitimate travel and commerce.
(Click here to read the full article written up by Beverley Lumpkin.)

U.S. warns of Canadian spy coins (Yes, seriously)

The U.S. Defense Department has cautioned its American contractors about seemingly normal Canadian coins that may have a tiny radio frequency transmitter hidden inside. So far, the high-tech coins have been found planted on U.S. contractors with classified security clearances on at least three separate occasions between October 2005 and January 2006, the government is claiming. The U.S. isn't suggesting who might be behind this latest act of espionage, or even which Canadian coins carried the transmitters. No word yet on if Sydney Bristow or Jack Bauer will be involved in the investigation.
(Click here to read the full article by Associated Press writer Ted Bridis.)

Report: Man removed from airplane because of prayer

On September 1st, an Orthodox Jew started to pray on board a Air Canada Jazz flight that was taxing down the runway, en route from Montreal to New York City. He was described by one passenger as "clearly a Hasidic Jew," with a head covering on and reading from a book. The passenger, Yves Faguy, said that the man "wasn't exactly praying out loud but he was lurching back and forth." Reportedly, the action didn't really seem to bother anyone. Anyone, that is, except the flight crew. A flight attendant approached the man and told him that his praying was making other passengers nervous. The woman apologized for the situation and then escorted the man off the plane.

According to a spokeswoman for Jazz airlines, the crew had acted "in the interest of the majority of passengers" when it removed the man from the flight. The airline isn't saying if the man was told that he was not allowed to pray, but they confirmed that the man as back on board the next flight to New York.