Black box mystery
A UN investigation has been launched to determine if a 鈥渂lack box鈥� flight recorder, left on a shelf and forgotten for 10 years, is the one that went missing from a plane crash that killed the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi. The cause of the crash is still not known, but the leaders鈥� deaths are widely thought to have triggered the Rwandan genocide in 1994.
Kyoto in force
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The Kyoto Protocol came into force in the European Union on 10 February, following the European Parliament鈥檚 decision to make it binding in the EU ahead of the rest of the world. Each of the 15 member countries, soon to be 25, is now committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Virus ruse
Take care if you receive an email that includes a graphic of some distorted text: it could be the key to a computer virus. Virus writers have learned that by sending keys this way they can evade virus scanners, computer security experts warned on Sunday.
Vanishing tigers
Indonesia is set to lose its last tiger species, the Sumatran tiger, unless there is a crackdown on habitat destruction and illegal trade in tiger parts, the conservation group WWF reported on Tuesday. Between 1998 and 2002, poachers killed some 50 tigers a year. Their bones are used in traditional Asian medicine, as well as for charms and souvenirs. Only a few hundred now remain in the wild.
Researcher sentenced
Thomas Butler, the researcher at Texas Tech accused of irregularities in handling plague bacteria last year, has been sentenced to two years in prison, plus fines of $53,000. He plans to appeal. Most of the charges related to mishandling of funds for clinical trials. Butler has already repaid the university $250,000 and lost his job.