Daily Report Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Daily Highlights


USA TODAY reports the Associated Mail and Parcel Centers estimates that each year thousands of packages with potentially hazardous materials are loaded onto cargo planes all over the U.S. (See item 21)
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The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that Chikungunya, a severe and sometimes deadly infectious disease that has devastated the islands of the Indian Ocean, has arrived in the United States: several states have reported cases of travelers returning from visits to Asia and East Africa sick with the mosquito−borne virus. (See item 29)

Information Technology and Telecommunications Sector

36. November 20, IDG News Service — Check Point adds encryption with Pointsec buy. Check Point Software Technologies plans to acquire Pointsec Mobile Technologies in an effort to extend its security offering to laptops and other remote access devices. Check Point made the $586 million offer for Protect Data, the owner of Pointsec, on Monday, November 20. With the Pointsec acquisition, Check Point hopes to extend its security offering to include corporate data, the company said.
Source: http://www.infoworld.com/article/06/11/20/HNcheckpointpoints ecbuy_1.html

37. November 20, IDG News Service — U.S. government clears Alcatel−Lucent merger. President George Bush has accepted a recommendation that he not suspend or prohibit the planned merger of Alcatel and Lucent Technologies on security grounds after an agency that oversees foreign investment said the deal should be allowed, apparently clearing it to go forward. The companies announced in April they would merge, creating a giant communications equipment vendor that would be based in Paris. The deal faced scrutiny on both sides of the Atlantic, partly because both companies have sensitive government contracts related to national security. Approval by the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment, an inter−agency panel led by the Secretary of the Treasury, was to be the last hurdle to the deal, according to the companies.
Source: http://www.infoworld.com/article/06/11/20/HNalcatellucentcle ars_1.html

38. November 20, Agence France−Presse — European cities launch IT and telecoms research network. About 20 European cities have launched a network for information sharing, research and testing in the fields of mobile and information technology. The "Living Labs Europe" project enables companies, research institutes and investors to share information on technical and commercial testing of new technologies and mobile services. The European Union, which lags behind the United States and Japan in terms of funding for research and development, aims to become the world's most competitive and dynamic knowledge−based economy by 2010.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061120/tc_afp/eutelecomitresea rchranddsector