Every airplane passenger who arrives in
Mexico is vetted against U.S. criminal and national security databases, a daily
dose of intelligence sharing aimed at finding fugitives and suspected
terrorists.
And The U.S. Government is ordering
passengers on nonstop, U.S.-bound flights from a handful of mostly Middle
Eastern and North African countries to pack electronic devices other than cell
phones in their checked baggage. Senior Trump administration officials said that
starting this morning airlines flying directly to the United States from 10
airports in eight countries could allow only cell phones and smartphones in
carry-on bags for U.S.-bound flights. Other electronics, including laptops and
tablets, will be indefinitely banned from the passenger cabin. The officials
said the airlines were to have 96 hours to implement the security order or face
being barred from flying to the United States. The officials spoke on the
condition of anonymity to discuss the security ban despite President Trump's
repeated insistence that anonymous sources should not be trusted. The
electronics ban affects flights from international airports in Amman, Jordan;
Kuwait City, Kuwait; Cairo; Istanbul; Jeddah and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia;
Casablanca, Morocco; Doha, Qatar; and Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab
Emirates. About 50 flights a day, all on foreign carriers, will be impacted. The
officials said no U.S.-based airlines have non-stop flights from those cities to
the United States. The officials said the decision was prompted by "evaluated
intelligence" about ongoing potential threats to airplanes bound for the United
States. The officials would not discuss the timing of the intelligence or if any
particular terror group is thought to be planning an attack. The ban would
affect laptops, iPads, cameras and most other electronics. Royal Jordanian
Airlines tweeted about the ban yesterday, telling passengers that medical
devices would also be allowed onboard with passengers. Details of the ban were
first disclosed by Royal Jordanian Airlines and the official news agency of
Saudi Arabia. In its statement, Royal Jordanian said the electronics ban would
affect its flights to New York, Chicago, Detroit and Montreal. Across the
Atlantic early today, problems and confusion ensued. Egyptian officials at the
Cairo International Airport said they had not received any instructions on
banning passengers from bringing laptops, iPads, cameras and some other
electronics on board direct flights to the United States. The officials said a
New York-bound EgyptAir flight departed and that passengers were allowed to take
their laptops and other electronics on board in their carry-on luggage. A
spokes-man for Royal Jordanian says the airline has not yet started to enforce
the new U.S. regulation. Basel Kilani said the airline was still awaiting formal
instructions from the relevant U.S. departments, which could possibly come later
today. However, the Mideast's biggest airline is confirming that U.S.-bound
passengers will be prevented from carrying electronic gadgets aboard aircraft.
Dubai-based Emirates said today the ban takes effect on Saturday. That guidance
differs from the information provided by senior Trump administration officials,
who have said the ban is in place from today. Brian Jenkins, an
aviation-security expert at the Rand Corp., said earlier that the nature of the
security measure suggested that it was driven by intelligence of a possible
attack. There could be concern about inadequate passenger screening or even
conspiracies involving insiders - airport or airline employees - in
some countries, he said. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly phoned lawmakers
over the weekend to brief them on aviation security issues that have prompted
the impending electronics ban, according a congressional aide briefed on the
discussion. The aide was not authorized to speak publicly about the issue and
spoke on the condition of anonymity. The administration officials who briefed
reporters about the ban said foreign officials were told about the impending
order starting on Sunday. A U.S. Government official said such a ban has
been considered for several weeks. The official spoke on the condition of
anonymity to disclose the internal security discussions by the federal
government. The ban would begin just before tomorrow's meeting of the U.S.-led
coalition against the Islamic State group in Washington, D.C.. A number of top
Arab officials were expected to attend the State Department gathering. It was
unclear whether their travel plans were related to any increased worry about
security threats. Another aviation-security expert, Jeffrey Price, said there
could be downsides to the policy. "There would be a huge disadvantage to having
everyone put their electronics in checked baggage," said Price, a professor at
Metropolitan State University of Denver, Colo. He said thefts from baggage would
skyrocket, as when Britain tried a similar ban in 2006, and some laptops have
batteries that can catch fire - an event easier to detect in the cabin than
the hold. Most major airports in the United States have a computer tomography,
or CT scanner, for checked baggage, which creates a detailed picture of a bag's
contents. They can warn an operator of potentially dangerous material, and may
provide better security than the X-ray machines used to screen passengers and
their carry-on bags. All checked baggage must be screened for explosives.
Sgt. 1st Class Robert R.
Boniface, 34, of San Luis Obispo, Calif., died on March 19th in Logar Province,
Afghanistan, from a non-combat related incident. He was assigned to the 1st
Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), at Eglin Air Force Base,
Fla.
Lockheed Martin has built a
60 kW-class beam-combined fiber laser for the U.S. Army, capable of obliterating
targets from miles away.
The first version of the
U.S. Army's newest spy plane is in action in Africa and Latin America.
The U.S. Army Armament
Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC) is expected to conduct a
limited capability demonstration of the JTARV.
Coeur D'Alene (Idaho) high
school four-star quarterback Colson Yankoff is the newest addition to the U.S.
Army's All-American Bowl roster.
Hornell, Alaska, native
Lt. Col Bill Kays is retiring from the U.S. Army after 28 years of Army
Medical Department work.
The Army says nationwide,
plans are to increase the force by 28,000 in the Army, Army Reserve and the
Army National Guard. Active Army personnel will increase by 16,000, the
Army National Guard will add 8,000 soldiers, and the U.S. Army Reserve will add
4,000.
Having a brother can
be an adventure. Big brothers are always showing off, and little brothers are
always tagging along. And brothers fight - all the time. For
brothers Noel and Justin Larson, growing up was no different. "We
fought constantly as children - our poor mother. At the same time, we
always had each other's back," Noel said. "We could have a knock-down fight one
minute, and the next minute be building a fort together." It was
their competitive nature that brought out the drive to be successful and made
the afternoon of Feb. 11th special for the Larson brothers. With more than 54
years of combined military service, 10,000 flying hours and multiple overseas
deployments, Noel and Justin Larson were promoted to Chief Warrant Officer 5 and
Chief Warrant Officer 4, respectively, during a short and casual ceremony at the
Army Aviation Support Facility at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.
As artillerists
from the 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, build
interoperability with other NATO forces ahead of multinational exercises this
spring in Germany and Romania, they also are building solidarity with the Polish
community near a training area in Drawsko Pormoskie, Poland. Since
arriving in Poland in January as part of Operation Atlantic Resolve, soldiers
from the 3rd Battalion, 29th Field Artillery Regiment, have partnered with the
Mielenku Drawskim Primary School near the Drawsko Pomorskie Training Area. It’s
a relationship that carries forward the 4th Infantry Division’s Adopt-a-School
program back at their home station of Fort Carson, Colo.
And The
75th anniversary of World War II’s infamous Bataan Death March was observed by
7,200 people who gathered at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., in the
early-morning hours to participate in an 8.5-mile walk, on March 19th.
Once again, Ben Skardon, a retired Army colonel, was the oldest
participant and the only living survivor of the Bataan Death March to walk in
the event. Skardon, 99, walked through the unforgiving New Mexico
desert as temperatures reached 90 degrees Fahrenheit, refusing to quit until
he'd finished the same distance he'd covered in his previous nine marches.
Skardon is a beloved alumnus and professor emeritus of Clemson
University in South Carolina, so Clemson orange was the color of choice for the
64 members of "Ben’s Brigade" - his die-hard support group made up of friends,
family, former students and relatives of his fellow prisoners of war.
The swarm of orange T-shirts was only given competition as Skardon
crossed through several bright yellow fields of blooming California poppies
between the four- and six-mile markers. The Bataan Memorial Death
March event honors a special group of World War II heroes responsible for the
defense of the islands of Luzon, Corregidor and the harbor defense forts of the
Philippines. On April 9, 1942, tens of thousands of American and Filipino troops
were forced to surrender to Japanese forces. The U.S. service members were
soldiers, sailors, airmen from the Army Air Corps, and Marines. Among the
surrendering troops were large numbers of the New Mexico Army National
Guard’s 200th Coast Artillery - the reason the memorial march is held in New
Mexico. Often overlooked are the four months of fierce fighting
that took place before the American and Filipino forces surrendered. Skardon
earned two Silver Stars and four Bronze Stars during that short time span.
After their surrender, the troops were force-marched 65 miles to
confinement camps throughout the Philippines. They were deprived of food, water
and medical care. About 10,000 men died on the march, while thousands of others
died in the camps. Those who survived weren't freed until 1945.
This was Skardon’s 10th, and he insists, not his last time walking
in the march there, which marks its 28th year.Skardon said he
considers a personal pilgrimage to participate in the walk. He also said it’s
his obligation to attend every year, and walk with the thousands of others who
come to honor his brothers-in-arms who didn't survive the Bataan Death March or
the years of confinement that followed.
Police
stories
An arrest has
been made in the deaths of two Colorado teenagers. The deaths were ruled
homicides, but the cause was not clear.
Supreme Court
nominee Neil Gorsuch pledged to be independent or "hang up the robe" as the U.S.
Senate began his confirmation hearing.
President Trump
has taken to Twitter to declare the possibility of collusion
between Russia and the Trump campaign "fake news."
Three-year-old
twins are dead after apparently wandering into a pond in Missouri. The
Kansas City Star reports the twins' father woke up yesterday morning and
realized the twins, a son and daughter, were missing from their Platte County
home. County Undersheriff Maj. Erik Holland says both toddlers were found in the
pond. The girl was found first and was rushed to a local hospital where she
later died. Responders did not immediately see the boy until a dive team
arrived. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Holland says authorities are
investigating but don't have information that indicates anything other than an
accident. The private pond sits behind a few houses, including the one where the
children lived.
A man who was
shot after a gun went off during an assault inside the MetroLink train near
Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Mo., on Sunday died today, police say. Police
identified the victim as Mac Payne, 57. The events began after a man, 51, and
his 29-year-old son, boarded a westbound train in Belleville shortly before
10:30 p.m. Four males and two females who appeared to know one another boarded
in East St. Louis, police said. The group wanted the man and his son to give
them money, St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson said at the crime scene. About the
time the train arrived at the Stadium station at 400 South Eighth Street shortly
before 11 p.m., the son reached to give them $5. Someone grabbed the money from
the son and began pistol-whipping him in the face. The gun apparently went off
during a struggle between the group and the son, and the bullet went through a
train window, hitting the victim, who had just exited the train. The attackers
fled. The man and his son who had been assaulted stayed on the train and met up
with police at the Central West End station. They were treated at a hospital for
injuries to their faces and released.
The new Kevin
Spacey production, Manifesto, is now casting for men between the ages
of 28 and 58 to play U.S. Marshals for a 3-day scene
shooting.
Four Ohio
children called 911 after finding their parents unresponsive.
The four children woke up and were about to start getting ready
for school when they found their parents, Brian and Courtney Halye, unresponsive
and cold in their bedroom. The children, ages 9 to 13, dialed 911. "My mom's on
the floor and my stepdad's basically pale and they're not waking up," Courtney
Halye's daughter told an emergency dispatcher through tears. Indeed, they were
dead, and Montgomery County Coroner's Office Director Ken Betz told The
Dayton Daily News that the "preliminary indication is probable accidental
drug overdose." Authorities think the culprit may be heroin that was mixed with
fentanyl - a deadly combination that has claimed countless lives across the
country. In a second 911 call last Thursday from the home in southwestern Ohio,
another child, a 13-year-old, tried to answer a dispatcher's questions as his
siblings could be heard wailing in the background. "Are they breathing?" the
dispatcher asked. "I don't think so," the boy responded. "Have they been feeling
ill?" a medic asked. "No, they were just fine," he replied. He called out to his
sisters, "Guys, did you see anything? What was wrong with them? They said that
my stepdad's face was pale and there was black lines all over his face," the boy
then said. "Are they warm or cold to the touch?" the medic said. "They were very
cold," he responded. "Do you guys have gas appliances?" the medic asked. "What's
a gas appliance?" he replied. When authorities arrived, the boy could be heard
directing them to his parents' bedroom at their home in Centerville, not far
from Dayton: "My parents are upstairs to the left - the last door to the left."
The boy continued talking to the dispatcher, telling her that he had stepped
outside. When asked whether he was cold, he replied, "A little bit; I'm fine."
He could be heard sniffling as the recording cut out. As with much of the United
States, Ohio is in the throes of a ruthless opioid epidemic that shows no signs
of abating. Children have become innocent victims; some have seen their parents
shoot up and overdose, occasionally with fatal consequences. Others have
unwittingly faced overdoses themselves. In September 2016, a chilling photograph
distributed by the authorities captured the innocence lost on a 4-year-old's
face in East Liverpool, Ohio, where a man and woman were seen slumped over after
overdosing in a vehicle, the boy still strapped into his car seat in the back. A
week later and 600 miles away, at a Family Dollar store in Lawrence, Mass., a
hysterical toddler was captured on a cell phone video as she tried to wake her
mother after an apparent drug overdose. The video showed the toddler, dressed in
pink-and-purple "Frozen" pajamas, pulling her mother's fingers, then sitting
down beside her and shaking her mother's face. In October, a 7-year-old girl in
McKeesport, Pa., told her school bus driver that she hadn't been able to wake
the adults in her house for days, and that their bodies were beginning to change
colors. She had been caring for three other children in the home - ages 5, 3 and
9 months - and had gotten herself back and forth to school, police said. Her
parents were dead. Then, a couple in Washington state made news when authorities
said they had been injecting their young children with heroin, reportedly
calling it "feel good medicine." Synthetic opioids, including heroin and its
deadlier cousin, fentanyl, are the main drivers of overdose deaths across the
United States, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC). The Ohio Department of Health reports that the number of
opioid-related deaths in the state sky-rocketed from 296 in 2003 to 2,590 in
2015 - a 775 percent jump over a 12-year period. These numbers include deaths
involving prescription opioids, heroin and fentanyl, which is similar to
morphine but is 50 to 100 times more potent. Centerville police spokesman John
Davis said Brian and Courtney Halye were the city's fifth and sixth fatal
overdose victims this year. Last year, there were just five. "It doesn't matter
who you are or where you are - this epidemic knows no boundaries," Davis told
The Washington Post, adding that the Centerville case illustrates that.
Davis said the couple's deaths appeared to be drug-related because drug
paraphernalia was found at the scene and that it "meets all the criteria" for a
heroin-fentanyl overdose. But authorities are awaiting the toxicology results,
he said. Davis said the danger is that, in many cases, drug dealers have no idea
what they are selling - and users have no idea what they are buying. Brian
Halye, a 36-year-old pilot for Spirit Airlines, married Courtney in 2013,
according to his obituary. Each had two children from previous relationships,
police said. Spirit Airlines said in a statement that Halye had worked for the
company for more than nine years and had flown his final flight on March
10th. "Our hearts go out to the family, friends, and colleagues of Captain
Halye," Spirit Airlines spokesman Paul Berry said in a statement. Berry said
that Transportation Department and Federal Aviation Administration regulations
require airlines to conduct tests for pilots, flight attendants, mechanics and
dispatchers, including "random and reasonable suspicion drug and alcohol
testing." If someone in one of these "safety-sensitive positions" tests
positive, that person would be "immediately removed from their position," he
said. Another spokesman said the company would not be providing any further
comment. Courtney Halye, 34, was described in her obituary as "a kind loving
generous soul. She had a smile that lit up a room which made her very much loved
by all her family and friends," it read. "Courtney was a wonderful nurturing
mother to two beautiful children." The Dayton Daily News
reported that Courtney Halye apparently had a history that involved drugs. In
2007, Jacob Castor, her then-husband and father of her children, died of a drug
overdose, the newspaper reported, citing the Montgomery County Coroner's Office.
In 2009 she was convicted of felony drug possession, although the case was later
expunged, according to The Dayton Daily News. Nancy Casey,
Courtney Halye's mother, recently told NBC News that Courtney Halye had Type 1
diabetes and was on medication for depression; but she said she did not think
her daughter and son-in-law had a persistent drug problem. "I don't know if they
decided they were going to party, or went and they got a hold of this bad stuff
going around town," Casey said. But she added that she had been concerned since
she talked to them the day before the couple was found dead. "I had this
dreadful feeling all day," she told NBC News. "Something was off with her and
something was off with him."
The
Winston-Salem (N.C.) Police say U.S. Marshals have arrested a man
accused of shooting and killing 25-year-old Jahiml Ismailibn
Almin.
The U.S.
Marshals need your help to find Diego Cruz-Cavazos after he allegedly violated
the conditions of his supervised release.
Pomona,
Calif., has ended an agreement with the U.S. Marshals Service to house
federal prisoners - who may include undocumented
aliens.
A 44-year-old
man living in the Myerstown area has been arrested as a Rhode Island Megan's Law
violator, the U.S. Marshals Service said yesterday.
And the U.S.
Marshals Service's Regional Fugitive Task Force captured Wayne Marc Williams,
25, of Biloxi, yesterday in Jackson County, Miss. The Biloxi police said he
was arrested on a warrant charging him with burglarizing a home in
Biloxi.
U.S. Coast
Guard
An MH-60 Jayhawk
Helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod, Mass., has assisted a
damaged charter boat off the state's coast, with help from the U.S.
Navy.
The U.S. Coast
Guard, which controls a drawbridge's operating schedule in St. Augustine,
Fla., is looking for public comments about whether to adjust how often the
bridge opens and closes.
The U.S. Coast
Guard continues ice-breaking activities this week, in anticipation of the
opening of the Soo Locks on Saturday.
The U.S. Coast
Guard has intercepted 65 Cubans trying to reach Florida or Puerto Rico since
Jan. 12th.
And Airman
Gregory Jacquet was named the U.S. Coast Guard's Enlisted Person of the Year,
yesterday.
Exercise commences in
Nepal
Shanti
Prayas III, a multinational peacekeeping exercise, kicked off yesterday with an
opening ceremony at the Birendra Peace Operations Training Center in Panchkhal,
Nepal.
Shanti
Prayas III is a Global Peace Operations Initiative
capstone exercise designed to train defense personnel for participation in
United Nations peacekeeping missions.
At
the ceremony, U.S. Navy Adm. Harry Harris Jr.,
commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, reaffirmed
the U.S.' commitment to U.N. peacekeeping initiatives
and the importance of working together. "The United States is
committed to U.N. peacekeeping missions, mandates and tasks that support the
rules-based international order, a system that benefits all nations," the
admiral said. "That’s why we continue to work together with partners from the
countries you all represent. Here in a center where the motto is ‘Peace with
Honor’ and involved in an exercise whose name translates as ‘Efforts for Peace,’
you will enhance our interoperability and engage in vital, realistic
training."
Multinational
peacekeeping exercises supporting the Global Peace Operations Initiative have
been conducted annually in Pacom’s area of responsibility since 2006. Previous
iterations of Shanti Prayas took place in Nepal in 2000 and 2013.
Exercise participants train in skills required to carry out U.N.
peacekeeping mission mandates and tasks during staff and field training events
and U.S.-Nepalese bilateral U.N. capabilities enhancement courses that run
concurrently.
U.S.
Ambassador to Nepal Alaina B. Teplitz said the
United States is a proud partner in the production of the Shanti Prayas III
exercise. "Support to peacekeeping falls in line with the United
States’ goals in the Asia-Pacific region," she said. "Peacekeeping affects the
stability of regions and thereby can set the conditions where democracy and
prosperity can flourish. United Nations peacekeeping is very
important to the U.S.," she continued, "and we routinely put valuable resources
into partnering with the global community to ensure peacekeepers have the
resources they need to accomplish this very important mission."
Teplitz also praised members of the Nepalese army for their
selfless service and dedication to peacekeeping. In particular, she paid tribute
to Major Kabindra Jung Thapa, who lost his life in the line of duty on June 1,
2005, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. A training complex in the
Birendra Peace Operations Training Center is dedicated to Thapa, and Teplitz
said that’s a fitting way to honor his life and sacrifice. "His
willingness to give his life in defense of the defenseless and sacrifice to
peace cannot be forgotten," Teplitz said. "I think it’s appropriate that the
building shares his name.”
Shanti
Prayas III provides an opportunity for participating nations’ militaries to
train together, building interoperability and establishing good working
relationships. Military personnel from Nepal, the United States, Australia,
Bangladesh, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, Fiji, Germany, Ghana,
India, Indonesia, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Singapore, South Korea,
Malaysia, Mexico, Mongolia, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Paraguay, the
Philippines, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Uruguay, Vietnam and
Zambia are participating.
In
total, some 68 U.S. service members and 540 Nepalese army personnel will
participate, along with 460 personnel from the other participating
nations.
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