Intel and Canadian firms to bring wireless Internet access to trains 
The world's largest chip maker Intel Corp. said Wednesday that it will work with Bell Canada and VIA Rail Canada to equip passenger trains with wireless Internet access for travelers between Montreal and Toronto. 

"For the first time in North America, wireless local area network or WLAN connectivity will be available within a moving passenger train car," Intel said in a statement. 

"The four-month pilot gives business and personal travelers with Wi-Fi enabled laptops or PDA devices another convenient option to wirelessly access the Internet, check email and connect to corporate networks while traveling on the train." 

The pilot service combines the technical expertise, products and services of Bell Canada in conjunction with Intel and PointShot Wireless. Bell technologies include Bell ExpressVu's satellite service, Bell Mobility's 1X next-generation wireless network and Bell's nationwide data network. Intel's services include Intel's "Wireless Verification Program" to enhance Intel Centrino mobile technology user experience on Bell's network. PointShot Wireless provides the wireless technology within the train. 

Bell Canada's WLAN pilot service on board VIA Rail Canada allows an Internet connection to be transmitted to the train from Bell ExpressVu's Internet satellite service to onboard equipment and then to the end-user's notebook. Responses from the end-user'snotebook are then transmitted back to the train's wireless networkequipment and then delivered over Bell Mobility's 1X wireless network to the Internet. 

Intel said a recent survey it conducted with PointShot showed that 90 percent of respondents saw benefits in having the ability to access the Internet and email while on a train. 

"Our research indicates that Canadian business people want to use their travel time to catch up on email, work on presentations and do other work-related tasks. They appreciate easy and convenient access to the Internet," said Doug Cooper, general manager of Intel Canada. "Our collaboration with Bell Canada and PointShot Wireless marks another step in making wireless technology more broadly available." 

Spanish PM backs Central America-EU association deal 
Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar Wednesday offered to Central American leaders his support for reaching an association agreement with the European Union (EU). 

In a joint declaration signed by Aznar and the Central Americanleaders who met in San Salvador, capital of El Salvador, the Spanish prime minister pledged to push for negotiations on the association deal, including a free trade agreement between the tworegions. 

It was agreed that the Central American states must first reachan agreement on political dialogue and cooperation with the European Union before negotiations on the association agreement could begin. Talks on political dialogue and cooperation between the two regions started in May during a meeting in Panama City.

Colombian troops escape rebel entrapment 
Colombian government troops successfully escaped a rebel entrapment in a jungle area in the south, a military press release said Wednesday. 

A contingent of soldiers were attacked by guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in La Solita, Caqueta state and were forced to be near a house set up by the FARC as a trap. 

Military bomb experts deactivated dozens of cylinder bombs in the house that contained no less than a ton of explosives. 

"The skills and experience of the troops prevented them from falling into the trap," the army said. 

It said the rebel attack lasted two hours and that there were no casualties among the troops. 

Government forces have been engaged in offensives in different areas of the country against FARC fighters. In the last six months,the army and police have destroyed four similar houses set up by the largest rebel group in Meta, Huila and Caqueta states. 

President Alvaro Uribe, sworn in August, has adopted a tough policy against the county's outlaw military groups in order to putan early end to a decades-long civil war that pits government forces, leftist rebels and far-right paramilitaries against each other, killing about 3,500 people each year.

US approves first test for West Nile virus 
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Wednesday cleared the first test to screen for West Nile, a mosquito-borne virus that sets to reappear in thecountry this year. 

The new test kit, manufactured by an Australian company named PANBIO, is intended for use in patients with clinical symptoms consistent with viral encephalitis or meningitis and takes only hours to make a diagnosis. 

It works by detecting the levels of a particular antibody, IgM,to the disease in a patient's serum. IgM can be detected within the first few days of the onset of illness. 

"This test provides a useful tool to combat the important public health problem of West Nile virus infection, just in time for the start of the West Nile season," FDA Commissioner Mark B. McClellan said in a statement. 

In clinical trials involving 1,000 patients, the test correctlyidentified the antibody in up to 90 to 99 percent of West Nile cases, the FDA said. 

Although the test is valuable in the diagnosis of West Nile virus encephalitis, the FDA cautioned that due to similarities with other viruses in the same family, the results must be confirmed by a follow-up test. 

West Nile virus can be transmitted when a mosquito feeds on infected birds and then bites a human to take in blood. 

While the virus often presents as a mild infection that clears without further treatment, some patients develop severe infection such as encephalitis which can result in death. 

The disease is most prevalent during the peak mosquito season which is expected to begin in July and end in October. Since its first appearance in the United States in 1999, the seasonal disease has spread to 44 states. Last year, the virus struck 4,156Americans, killing 284. 

So far this year, West Nile virus has been detected in 28 US states in birds, mosquitoes and animals, and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) this week confirmed the country's first human case of West Nile for 2003 in South Carolina.