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Egypt’s private commandos are doing well during current instability
DestinationsAs angry protesters rampaged through Cairo in early 2011 and fought with police, Hesham Samy was dispatched with fellow naval commandos to guard upscale residential compounds. In what he saw as “awful” security, Samy spotted an opportunity. The officer, who had spent more than a year training with U.S. Navy SEALs, quit last year to [...]
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The 5 most popular guns found this year at TSA airport checkpoints
TransportDespite the focus on the Transportation Security Administration’s proposed and then scuttled plan allowing on board tiny knives and novelty sporting goods equipment, the agency has been busy as usual in 2013 finding loaded weapons and other banned items at airport checkpoints across the United States. The first three months of this year saw an [...]
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Despite a decade of work, TSA’s biometric ID cards still don’t work
TransportThe U.S. Transportation Security Administration, after more than a decade of work, hasn’t developed reliable technology to control port access with biometric identification cards, the Government Accountability Office said. A pilot program ordered by Congress in 2010 to fix card readers was so riddled with errors that lawmakers should push back their deadline for issuing [...]
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Corrected: Cathay Pacific on self-boarding tech at Hong Kong airport
TransportCorrection: Cathay spokesperson says the SCMP story is not accurate. ”Unfortunately, the story in the South China Morning Post is not accurate. Our representative simply confirmed our interest in the concept of a self-boarding device, not that any plans were underway. Any infrastructure changes would be an initiative of the airport authority.” Original curated post: Cathay Pacific [...]
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TSA expands its pre-check screening to international travel, too
TransportThe Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced today that beginning May 7, 2013, in addition to domestic travel, TSA Pre✓™ participants will be eligible for expedited screening on select international travel itineraries. Eligible passengers traveling on Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and US Airways will be allowed to leave on their shoes, [...]
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The 9/11 pilot’s widow who’s pressing Congress for better cockpit security
TransportA widow of a pilot who died on one of the jets that crashed into the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, is gaining congressional support in her campaign to add another barrier to airliner cockpits. Ellen Saracini, widow of United Airlines Flight 175 Captain Victor Saracini, says a flaw persists with cockpit doors, [...]
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Border politics: Laredo, Texas can’t shake its sister city’s negative image
DestinationsThis border city is trying to clear its name. It is so conjoined with its Mexican sister city across the Rio Grande, Nuevo Laredo, that the two are often referred to as “Los Dos Laredos,” or simply Laredo. That was great for tourism in happier days. But as drug cartel violence exploded in Nuevo Laredo [...]
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Government travel warnings do more harm than good, says Richard Branson
DestinationsForeign Office travel advisories do more harm than good, claims the Virgin founder. Sir Richard Branson has launched a scathing attack on the Foreign Office and other Western government departments for warning about terrorism in their travel advisories. In today’s newspaper, the Virgin founder demands an end to advice against visiting countries due to the [...]
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Op-Ed by Richard Branson: Defeat terrorism through travel
DestinationsWhat a wonderful reaction from marathon runners, supporters, businesses, charities, government and people all over the world in supporting those affected by the Boston bombings. As well as showing support for victims, getting on with life is the best way to show terrorists they will not win. Thomas L Friedman wrote eloquently in The New [...]
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Asian airports start screening flyers to prevent China’s bird flu from spreading
TransportSeveral governments in Asia have ordered tougher screening of air travelers from China in an effort to contain a possible spread of a new strain of bird flu that has killed 23 people in the mainland and infected one visitor from Taiwan. The H7N9 virus has infected 109 people in China since it was first [...]
