■ United Kingdom
Migrant income targeted
Britain should set an income target for immigrants and those who do not meet it should not be allowed to settle in the country, a think tank was set to propose yesterday. The Daily Telegraph reported that Migrationwatch would propose that migrants with an income of less than £27,000 (US$51,200) a year not be allowed to permanently settle in Britain. That income figure, which only one in five migrants reach, is the level at which a person begins making positive contributions whether measured by taxes paid or by contribution to gross domestic product, the think tank argues. Individuals with lower incomes put pressure on existing infrastructure. The average wage earned in Britain last year was £28,210 according to government statistics.
■ Brazil
Tainted candidates banned
Election authorities have banned about 1,500 candidates charged with fraud from running in Brazil's general election next month, officials said on Monday. The suspensions are part of a renewed effort to clean up Brazil's corruption-plagued political system following scandals over vote-buying and campaign financing last year that brought calls for Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's impeachment. "Authorities are more pro-active because pressure from society to deal with this huge corruption quagmire is bigger than ever before," Joao Paulo Peixoto, professor of politics at the University of Brasilia, said.
■ United States
More travel data requested
The government needs broader access to airline passenger information to identify potential hijackers, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said in an article published yesterday. "How do we thwart a terrorist who has not yet been identified?" Chertoff wrote in an op-ed article in yesterday's Washington Post. "One way is by using more of the detailed information collected by airlines and travel agencies when an individual books a flight," Chertoff wrote. "These passenger name records contain information, such as travel itineraries and payment details, that can be analyzed in conjunction with current intelligence to identify high-risk travelers before they board planes."
■ United States
Pilots noted lack of lights
Pilots of a Comair jet that crashed on takeoff noticed there were no lights as they prepared to take off, but they did not recognize they were headed down the wrong runway, investigators said. The only survivor in the crash that killed 49 people, first officer James Polehinke, was piloting the plane, National Transportation Safety Board member Debbie Hersman said on Monday. He remained in critical condition in a Kentucky hospital. The cockpit voice recorder showed that the pilots were talking about the absence of lights on the runway.
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