Free Republic

Could Mayor Rahm Emanuel be thinking about renaming Chicago’s airports, perhaps after President Barack Obama? Emanuel brought up the airports' names during a candidate forum Wednesday night at Chicago State University. The topic came up as the mayor fielded a question on why he quickly proposed, then abandoned efforts to name a new North Side high school after Obama and the South Side’s Stony Island Parkway after the late Arthur Brazier, a revered African-American civic leader who founded the Woodlawn Organization and was pastor of the Apostolic Church of God for 48 years. "We have to, in some way, whether...

Live coverage of the news conference regarding the machete attack Friday night (March 20) inside the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport starts here: New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu: "We're going to learn a lot from this incident." Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand: "We accomplished a lot of things last night with assistance of Kenner police, FBI, ATF and others." Normand clarifies some inaccuracies reported by sheriff's office last night. Says no traveler was grazed by a bullet as originally reported. TSA agent was being chased by Richard White as he waved the machete. JSPO lieutenant's first shot wounded female...

Jefferson Parish officials held a 2 p.m. press conference to provide the latest after Friday night's incident at New Orleans' Armstrong International airport. Here are some highlights from the press conference: -- Bomb squad went into aggressor White's car at the airport Friday night and found some smoke bombs and three tanks in trunk; intended purpose unknown. Acetylene, freon and oxygen tanks found. -- Bag that White had in security checkpoint area was found to have six half-pint mason jars with cloth wicks into gasoline; known as Molotov cocktails; BBQ lighter found in bag too along with plastic letter opener,...

I just got this from a friend. His brother works at the New Orleans Airport.

Officials said the woman exhibited unusual behavior and began making threatening remarks to responding officers. "They ran over to where the subject was, and that's when she began to yell in what appeared to be in Arabic language," said Zabaleta, "and then in English told the responding officers she had a bomb in her possession."

As the graphic from TSA shows, they interdicted over 2,200 firearms, mostly loaded, from travelers' carry-on bags, holsters, pockets and a few other places and items last year.  No doubt most of the interdicted firearms were those inadvertently brought into the security checkpoint by someone who otherwise could legally carry the firearm.  The top ten airports are all in places with lots of permit holders.  Three in Texas, three in Florida, one each in Arizona, Georgia, Tennessee, and Colorado.  The Crime Prevention Research Center shows that there were 11.1 million concealed carry permits in the  United States in July...

In a decision announced on Wednesday, a Frankfurt court upheld the dismissal of a man from his job at Frankfurt airport over his close friendship with a foreign citizen with ties to terrorist group ISIS. Judges found that the man, who was in regular contact with the terrorism suspect on a mobile number known only to his close friends, and had lent the suspect €2,000, was too much of a security risk to work in sensitive areas at the airport. The man had first come to police attention after being fined for a minor traffic offense, which was flagged up...

Three American contractors were killed in an apparent insider attack in the Afghan capital Kabul, an Afghan air force official told Reuters news agency. "It is unclear yet why he shot these advisers and no one else was there to tell us the reason," the official said, asking not to be named because he was not authorised to give statements to the media. "An investigation has been opened." The international force in Afghanistan also confirmed the shooting took place on Thursday evening. A rise in so-called "insider attacks" in Afghanistan has eroded trust between Afghan and international troops in the...

Dubai airport has soared ahead of London's Heathrow, riding a boom in long-haul flights between Asia and the West to become the world's top international travel hub, it said Tuesday. Traffic at the airport increased 6.1 percent last year to 70.47 million passengers, Dubai Airports said, adding that it expected a further surge in traveller numbers in 2015. Dubai International is home to Emirates, the Middle East's largest carrier, which along with Abu Dhabi's Etihad and Qatar Airways has seized a significant portion of travel between the West, Asia and Australasia.

The two men suspected of attacking a newspaper in Paris have stolen a car and reportedly have several hostages. A car chase is under way on the N2 motorway, and police sources say shots have been fired. The car is now on the outskirts of Paris - close to Charles de Gaulle airport - and several helicopters are reportedly hovering overhead. Sky's Ian Woods says the police focus now appears to have turned to an industrial building near to the airport. Two people with gunshot wounds have been taken to hospital in Meaux.

A Muslim armed with knives tried to buy a ticket at the Ohio airport and when questioned attacked the police. He was shot dead. Perhaps he was inspired by the Paris cop killing this morning, A 41-year-old Ohio man armed with several knives tried to buy a plane ticket with a fake ID before being gunned down by police after lunging at an officer with a blade outside the Columbus airport, police said. Hashim Hanif Ibn Abdul-Rasheed had parked illegally outside the ticketing terminal and was acting bizarrely as he tried to buy a ticket to an undisclosed location Wednesday...

<p>A baggage handler for Delta Air Lines moved a lot more than just luggage, authorities say — he also helped smuggle firearms.</p> <p>And his accomplice managed to board a flight with 18 guns and ammunition in his carry-on bag, an affidavit states.</p>

The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency guides its people how to enter and exit Israel through Ben-Gurion International Airport without blowing their cover during security checks, according to a secret document revealed by WikiLeaks Sunday night. The CIA document provides further evidence that Israel serves as a target for operations by the spy agency. The document, titled "CIA Assessment on Surviving Secondary Screening at Airports While Maintaining Cover" and dated September 2011, contains a long list of guidelines for operatives using false identities. According to the document, it is based on original intelligence reports, opinions and testimonies of CIA operatives collected...

As reported LifeNews a source in the airport of Igarka, state of emergency happened to the liner the day before in the morning. Before take-off stem of thermometer fell to-52 degrees therefore the chassis froze to a surface of an airfield, without allowing the plane to leave on a runway and to make dispersal.

India has quarantined a man who was cured of Ebola in Liberia but continued to show traces of the virus in samples of his semen after arriving in the country, the Health Ministry said on Tuesday. The ministry said in a statement that the Indian national had been shown to be negative for Ebola in tests conforming to World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines, but had been quarantined as a precautionary measure when he arrived at New Delhi airport on November 10. Later, tests of his semen detected traces of the virus. "It is a known fact that, during convalescence from...

A few months ago, Dr. Steinmetz decided to make a political statement by carrying a slung AR15 type rifle at the Phoenix Airport.  Enforcers at the Airport decided that they would punish his statement.  Because of surveillance video, it became clear that Dr. Steinmetz had not broken any law.   Instead, it was likely that the police had broken the law with false arrest. This did not put Dr. Steinmetz in the clear.  Prosecutors have extremely strong immunity.   They can make your life miserable for months and years, and not face any consequences, especially if they have the backing of...

The video is just shy of 7 minutes and 30 seconds in length and contains some foul language, so be advised.

A West African passenger aboard a United Airlines flight that landed in Newark on Tuesday has been hospitalized to be checked for Ebola, the CDC said. The news comes the same day the feds announced a rule that would funnel passengers from Ebola-afflicted West African nations to one of five U.S. airports - including Newark Liberty International. “During the enhanced screening process for individuals arriving to the United States from Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea, an individual was identified as reporting symptoms or having a potential exposure to Ebola," Carol Crawford, a CDC spokeswoman, said in a statement sent to...

The leader of U.S. military efforts to fight ISIS in Iraq says the terror group came within 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) of the Baghdad airport. Offering what appeared to be previously unreported details, Gen. Martin Dempsey told ABC's "This Week" that the United States had to risk bringing in low-flying attack helicopters to keep ISIS at bay. "The tool that was immediately available was the Apache [helicopter]. The risk of operating in a hostile environment is there constantly," the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. "You're not going to wait until they're climbing over the wall," Dempsey said....

An email has been making the rounds for at least 3-4 years which claims the world's best airport security team at Ben Gurion, Israel has deployed a next generation 'simple solution' for a complex problem... Namely, a special bomb-proof security booth that requires passengers to enter with sealed-doors behind them, as an electronic device detonates any explosives they may have on their person (better hope you left that Bic lighter in the tray!). And although some seemed to have bought into it, the truth is that the story was long-ago disproven -if Snopes is to be believed, anyway. I've never travelled...