March 16, 2017

An explosive device was left in the New York Port Authority bus terminal on Wednesday evening, and a suspect was taken into custody today. There were no injuries or deaths.

The New York Post reports:

“A PAPD K-9 unit inspected the suitcase and brought it to a police substation within the bus terminal, sources said. When officers opened the bag, they saw what appeared to be an improvised explosive device along with a knife, bolt cutters and screwdrivers, police sources added.”

The New York Daily News notes:

“No explosive material was recovered, said sources, who described the item as a ‘flash bang grenade.’ The bomb had the power to surprise and temporarily blind people nearby, but not cause any serious harm.”

According to U.S. News & World Report:

“Arsenio Mason was charged Thursday with possession of a weapon and possession of a controlled substance. He was being held without bail on a separate criminal case in California… Police said they also found methamphetamine.”

Please contact the PR Team if you have any questions or concerns: TravelLeadersGroupPR@TravelLeaders.com.

March 16, 2017

Today, Mount Etna erupted again, this time injuring 10 people. No fatalities were reported. Mount Etna, located on the Italian island of Sicily, is the largest active volcano in Europe.

According to NBC News:

“The blast was caused by a ‘phreatic eruption’ in which fast-moving lava moves over snow, creating high-pressure pockets of steam, Marco Neri, a volcanologist at Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology told NBC News.”

The Guardian reported:

“A BBC crew was among 10 people injured after a flow of lava triggered an explosion when it came into contact with snow on Mount Etna in Sicily on Thursday.

Six of the crew were taken to hospitals in Catania and nearby Acireale. Their injuries were not believed to be serious.”

The Associated Press noted:

“So far it [Mount Etna] has not disrupted traffic at the nearby Catania airport or created inconvenience for residents in the area.”

Please contact the PR Team if you have any questions or concerns: TravelLeadersGroupPR@TravelLeaders.com.

March 16, 2017

Alert – France: Letter Bomb Explodes at Paris IMF Office

Earlier today, a letter bomb exploded in the face of a female employee at the International Monetary Fund’s Paris office. The employee was injured with burns on her face and arms, but her life is not in danger.

According to Reuters:

A female employee of the International Monetary Fund was injured in the face and arms on Thursday when a letter bomb posted to the world lender’s Paris office blew up as she opened it, police said. The explosion was caused by a homemade device, said the head of the French capital’s police force.

“It was something that was fairly homemade,” police chief Michel Cadot told reporters. Cadot said there had been some recent telephone threats but it was not clear if these were linked to the incident at the IMF’s offices.

A police source said the woman who opened the letter suffered burns on her face and arms but her life was not in danger.

Separately, at least two people were injured in a shooting at a high school in the small southern French town of Grasse, a police source said.

France, which is in the middle of a presidential campaign ahead of elections in six weeks time, has been hit by attacks by Islamist groups in the last few years that have killed scores of people and the country is still in a state of emergency with army units patrolling the streets of Paris.

A militant Greek group, Conspiracy of Fire Cells, claimed responsibility for a parcel bomb mailed to German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble on Wednesday, but there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the Paris bomb.

The IMF has been involved in discussions between Greece and its international creditors on disbursing new loans to Athens under a bailout program.

President Francois Hollande said French authorities would do all they could to find those responsible.

IMF chief Christine Lagarde condemned the explosion as “a cowardly act of violence.”

“I … reaffirm the IMF’s resolve to continue our work in line with our mandate. We are working closely with the French authorities to investigate this incident and ensure the safety of our staff,” she said.

Please contact the PR Team if you have any questions or concerns: TravelLeadersGroupPR@TravelLeaders.com.

March 15, 2017

Alert – Federal Judge Halts U.S. Travel Ban

A U.S. Federal Court Judge has ruled against the revised U.S. travel ban, effectively halting it. The travel ban, which included six Muslim-majority countries, was scheduled to go into effect tomorrow.

According to The Washington Post:

A federal judge in Hawaii on Wednesday issued a sweeping freeze of President Trump’s new executive order hours before it would have temporarily barred the issuance of new visas to citizens of six Muslim-majority countries and suspended the admission of new refugees.

In a blistering 43-page opinion, U.S. District Judge Derrick K. Watson pointed to Trump’s own comments and those of his close advisers as evidence that his order was meant to discriminate against Muslims and declared there was a “strong likelihood of success” that those suing would prove the directive violated the Constitution.

Watson was one of three federal judges to hear arguments Wednesday about the ban, though he was the first to issue an opinion. Federal judges in Washington state and Maryland said they would issue opinions soon.

Watson’s decision might not be the last word. He was considering only a request for a temporary restraining order, and while that required him to assess whether challengers of the ban would ultimately succeed, his ruling is not final on that question. The Justice Department could appeal the ruling or wage a longer-term court battle before the judge in Hawaii.

CNN reports:

The practical effect of the ruling — which applies nationwide — is that travelers from six Muslim-majority countries and refugees will be able to travel to the US.

While Watson signaled that this temporary freeze of the travel ban may not last forever, he nevertheless concluded that the changes made between the first and second versions of the travel ban weren’t enough.

“Here, it is not the case that the Administration’s past conduct must forever taint any effort by it to address the security concerns of the nation,” he wrote. “Based upon the current record available, however, the Court cannot find the actions taken during the interval between revoked Executive Order No. 13,769 and the new Executive Order to be ‘genuine changes in constitutionally significant conditions.'”

Please contact the PR Team if you have any questions or concerns: TravelLeadersGroupPR@TravelLeaders.com.

March 13, 2017

Roughly 650 flights have already been canceled for today at Schönefeld and Tegel airports in Berlin, Germany, as workers continue to strike. Last Friday nearly 700 flights were cancelled.

According to UPI:

A strike at two of Berlin’s airports was extended to Wednesday, the striking union announced Monday, with nearly 650 flights already canceled.

Verdi, the airport service workers union, is demanding higher wages for its 2,000 baggage handlers and passenger service employees.

The two affected airports said in a joint statement that 448 flights were canceled at Tegel and 194 at Schoenfeld airports, with more cancellations expected.

The work stoppage has effectively grounded all passenger flights to and from Berlin.

Deutsche Welle reports:

Monday’s strike is a continuation from last Friday, when ground crews held a strike that led to nearly 700 cancelled flights, leaving thousands of passengers stranded. Ground crews include personnel checking in passengers, loading and unloading planes and directing airplanes on the tarmac.

Lufthansa’s website states:

The union Verdi has announced a strike of the ground handling personnel at Berlin Tegel airport on Monday 13 March and Tuesday 14 March 2017. Lufthansa therefore has to cancel flights between Munich to/from Berlin and Frankfurt to/from Berlin.

Please contact the PR Team if you have any questions or concerns: TravelLeadersGroupPR@TravelLeaders.com.

March 9, 2017

On Thursday evening (German time), an unspecified number of individuals attacked and injured at least five people by axe. Two suspects have been arrested, while others are “on the run.”

According to the Associated Press:

German police say several people have been injured in an axe attack at Duesseldorf’s main train station.

A spokesman for federal police says two suspected attackers were arrested after the attack that took place at about 9 p.m. Thursday.

Police spokesman Rainer Kerstiens told The Associated Press that more suspected attackers are believed to be on the run.

Kerstiens says the number of people injured was around five. He was unable to say how serious their injuries were.

Please contact the PR Team if you have any questions or concerns: TravelLeadersGroupPR@TravelLeaders.com.

March 9, 2017

An Amtrak train carrying 111 passengers got stuck in a 25-foot-high by 200-foot-long snowbank in Rugby, North Dakota on Wednesday and was finally freed 13 hours later.

According to CBS Fargo, North Dakota affiliate KXJB-TV:

The St. Paul and Chicago-bound Amtrak’s Empire Building was delayed in Minot and got stuck about five miles west of Rugby, in north-central North Dakota. Crews failed three times to dislodge the train before succeeding at about 6:45 p.m. A passenger on the train told KXJB-TV that workers had to use bulldozers and shovel by hand to dig the train out.

In a statement, Amtrak said:

“We appreciate the offers of assistance from emergency responders in North Dakota, but our customers (111 eastbound and 96 westbound) stayed aboard the train and were kept comfortable by our Amtrak staff.”

Please contact the PR Team if you have any questions or concerns: TravelLeadersGroupPR@TravelLeaders.com.

March 6, 2017

Alert – France: Air Traffic Control Strike

A week-long air traffic control strike in France is impacting flights. Major airlines including Air France, American Airlines, British Airways, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines have instituted travel waivers.

Air France’s website states:

Following the call for strike action issued by a union for French air traffic controllers from Monday 6 to Friday 10 March 2017, the French Civil Aviation Authority (DGAC) has asked airlines to reduce their flight schedule between west and south of France, the Iberian Peninsula, Italy and North Africa.

Our flight schedule will be disrupted all week.

According to the UK’s Guardian:

Flights to and from the UK are among more than 1,000 likely to be scrapped this week.

With a separate strike by Air France workers on Tuesday, carriers have been asked to slash their services by 25%.

Flights to France as well as those crossing its airspace are affected, including UK flights to and from Italy, Switzerland and Spain. Brest and Bordeaux control centres are striking until 7pm on Friday, with the action in the south of France running from 5am on Tuesday until 5am on Friday.

Please contact the PR Team if you have any questions or concerns: TravelLeadersGroupPR@TravelLeaders.com.

March 4, 2017

Alert – United States: TSA Security Pat-downs to Become More “Comprehensive”

In a news report from Bloomberg, a U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) spokesman confirms that for those individuals requiring secondary screening at U.S. airports, they will be subject to more “comprehensive” physical screening that Bloomberg describes as more “invasive.”

Bloomberg reports:

While few have noticed, U.S. airport security workers long had the option of using five different types of physical pat-downs at the screening line. Now those options have been eliminated and replaced with a single universal approach. This time, you will notice.

The new physical touching—for those selected to have a pat-down—will be be what the federal agency officially describes as a more “comprehensive” physical screening, according to a Transportation Security Administration spokesman.

Denver International Airport, for example, notified employees and flight crews on Thursday that the “more rigorous” searches “will be more thorough and may involve an officer making more intimate contact than before.”

“I would say people who in the past would have gotten a pat-down that wasn’t involved will notice that the [new] pat-down is more involved,” TSA spokesman Bruce Anderson said Friday. The shift from the previous, risk-based assessment on which pat-down procedure an officer should apply was phased in over the past two weeks after tests at smaller airports, he said.

The TSA screens about 2 million people daily at U.S. airports. The agency doesn’t track how many passengers are subject to pat-down searches after they pass through an imaging scanner. People who decline to use this screening technology are automatically subject to physical searches.

While passengers may find the process more intrusive, the new screening procedure isn’t expected to increase overall airport security delays. However, “for the person who gets the pat down, it will slow them down,” Anderson said.

The change is partly a result of the agency’s study of a 2015 report that criticized aspects of TSA screening procedures. That audit, by the Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector General, drew headlines because airport officers had failed to detect handguns and other weapons. An additional change prompted by the report was the TSA’s decision to end its “managed inclusion” program, by which some everyday travelers were allowed to use PreCheck lanes to speed things up at peak times.

Physical screening has long been one of the traveling public’s strongest dislikes regarding airport security protocols. The TSA has all pat-downs conducted by an officer of the same sex as the traveler, and allows a passenger to request a private area for the screening, as well as to have a witness present. Likewise, the traveler can request that the pat-down occur in public view.

The new policy also applies to airline pilots and flight attendants, classified as “known crewmembers” who generally receive less scrutiny at checkpoints. The TSA conducts occasional random searches of these employees, and airlines this week inquired as to whether their employees would be subject to Travel Leaders • 3033 Campus Drive Ste W320 • Plymouth, MN 55441

more frequent pat-downs. The number of random searches for airline crews isn’t changing and will remain a “very small percentage” of the total, Anderson said. But airport employees may face more random checks.

The random searches also vary by airport, depending on the screening program, Anderson said. “Sometimes it’s random, sometimes they’re consistent, based on the door you enter,” he said of the searches given workers with airport ID badges. “Sometimes, those measures call for a pat-down.”

In their notice, Denver airport officials said employees are subject to search at random locations: “If a pat down is required as part of the operation, badged employees will be required to comply with a TSA officer’s request to conduct a full body pat down.”

In December, a CNN political commentator, Angela Rye, posted an article online describing her “humiliation” during a TSA agent’s search. Rye wrote in graphic detail about the pat down of her genitals during a search at the Detroit Airport before a flight to New York. TSA officials didn’t immediately address whether the new universal pat-down protocol will mandate touching of passenger genitals.

Please contact the PR Team if you have any questions or concerns: TravelLeadersGroupPR@TravelLeaders.com.

March 2, 2017

Earlier today, the European Union (EU) Parliament passed a non-binding resolution that would introduce visas for US citizens wishing to travel throughout the EU.

However, in order for the visa requirement to move forward, EU member states would have to approve the move, which would likely take years. The vote was in response to US rules requiring citizens of Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Poland and Romania to have visas in order to enter the United States.

According to BBC:

US citizens should be refused visa-free access to the EU in response to American visa rules affecting citizens from five EU countries, the European Parliament has said.

Citizens of Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Poland and Romania are currently denied visa-free access to the US.

The European Parliament passed a non-binding resolution on Thursday. However, member states would have to approve the move, a process that could take years.

Nevertheless, the resolution, passed by a show of hands, said the new visa rules should come into effect quickly and should remain in place until the US visa requirements were shelved.

Under these rules, “if a third country does not lift its visa requirements within 24 months of being notified of non-reciprocity, the EU Commission must adopt a delegated act… suspending the visa waiver for its nationals for 12 months”, the statement said.

It said a notification of non-reciprocity was first received in April 2014 – meaning the Commission should have taken action in April 2016 – but so far it has yet to do so.

Canada also has visa requirements for Bulgarian and Romanian citizens, the statement said, but it has announced that these will be shelved in December.

In January, President Donald Trump attempted to introduce a travel ban on people from seven mainly Muslim nations but it was blocked in the courts. He is working on a new executive order.