- - - - - - + From the Rocky Mountain News
Stating that it was acting "on behalf of the lynx," an environmental group claimed responsibility on Wednesday for the seven fires that ravaged Vail Mountain, the country's busiest ski resort, on Monday, causing $12 million in damage to three buildings and four ski lifts. The group, the Earth Liberation Front, wrote in an e-mail sent to local law enforcement, environmental organizations and the media that it was protesting the resort's expansion plan because it would "ruin the last, best lynx habitat in the state. Putting profits ahead of Colorado's wildlife will not be tolerated," the group wrote.
- - - - - - + From CNN
Pack a peanut, go to jail. Well, it hasn't quite come to that yet -- but those small, round, crunchy vegetables have come under fire from allergy sufferers, who claim they can cause life-threatening problems. Since peanuts are standard snack fare on virtually all airlines, allergic flyers want to establish "peanut-free zones" on planes, a proposal put forth in August by the Department of Transportation. But peanut farmers aren't buying it, and Congress isn't convinced either: On Wednesday it passed legislation requiring a scientific study of the nut's health risks before any more federal money is spent creating the zones.
- - - - - - + From MSNBC
It's been 20 years since the Airline Deregulation Act, the landmark legislation that transformed the airline business. Rudy Maxa looks back and tries to assess whether consumers are better off now -- or were better off pre-deregulation. On the one hand, tickets prices are down 38 percent, but on the other, 95 percent of the newly created airlines, and a few old ones, shut down in the '90s due to fare wars, leaving seven major airlines dominating the markets today. Is it time to re-regulate?
- - - - - - + From Central Europe Online
Only airlines from Great Britain and Hungary are currently allowed to fly between Budapest and London. And Malev Hungarian Airlines Rt wants to keep it that way, at least for several years. The financially shaky airline and other small Hungarian carriers have asked for a reprieve on the "open skies" agreement Hungary is negotiating with the European Commission. Membership in the European Union requires, among other things, that the air routes between member countries be open to other members' airlines. But the Hungarian airlines worry that if comparatively rich, established carriers start competing on their routes, they will be grounded.
- - - - - - + From the Korea Herald
Twelve foreign airlines have stopped flying to Korea since financial crisis hit the country last December, the transportation minister announced Thursday. Airlines that have suspended flights include Air New Zealand, Qantas Airways, British Airways and, most recently, Vietnam Airlines. Korea's outbound traffic has already decreased an estimated 25 percent this year.
- - - - - - + From Outside Online
Last weekend, some 150 pilot whales wandered into shallow waters off Tasmania's east coast. By Monday, 100 of them had died. Rescue efforts helped save at least 40 whales, but were complicated because the beachings happened in three separate locations. No one yet knows why the whales beached themselves.
Shares