May 7th, 2013 at 12:00PM: For some reason, people sometimes mistake me for a terrorist. Once I got interrogated by an air marshal for merely looking out a window, and the following year in London I totally freaked out several people on a bus.
The second incident was, I suppose, partially my fault. I boarded a city bus with a large suitcase, which I put on the luggage rack. Since the rack was right next to the door, I ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
terrorist posts
The Day I Was Mistaken For A Terrorist
May 7th, 2013 at 12:00PM: For some reason, people sometimes mistake me for a terrorist. Once I got interrogated by an air marshal for merely looking out a window, and the following year in London I totally freaked out several people on a bus.
The second incident was, I suppose, partially my fault. I boarded a city bus with a large suitcase, which I put on the luggage rack. Since the rack was right next to the door, I ...Scammer Found Selling Fake Bomb Detectors To Airports
Apr 24th, 2013 at 4:30PM: A British court has found a man guilty of selling fake bomb detectors to Iraq and Georgia, the BBC reports. James McCormick, 56, of Langport, Somerset, was found guilty of fraud after making a fortune from detectors he knew didn't work.
He's estimated to have made some $76 million from the worthless devices, which were modeled after a novelty golf ball finder. In his sales pitches he claimed ...Damage To Timbuktu's Antiquities Not As Bad As Originally Thought
Feb 1st, 2013 at 11:00AM:
Earlier this week we reported on the possible destruction of Timbuktu's collection of medieval manuscripts. Now it turns out those initial reports were exaggerated.
Timbuktu in Mali is a UNESCO World Heritage Site thanks to its many shrines to Muslim saints and its collection of some 300,000 manuscripts dating as far back as the beginning of the 13th century. They're in several languages and ...A Solo Stroll Through Baghdad
Dec 7th, 2012 at 11:30AM:
I am alone in Baghdad. After a farewell dinner and a visit to an Iraqi amusement park my travel companions have left for the airport. Our guards from the Interior Ministry have gone off to other duties and I'm staying unguarded in my hotel. I don't fly out until tomorrow.
I'm not supposed to leave the hotel. Guards are supposed to be with me at all times. While I understand why the government ...People Of Mali Fight Back Against Fundamentalists Destroying Their Heritage
Jul 12th, 2012 at 2:00PM:
We've been covering the turmoil in Mali for some time now. Three months ago, rebels in the north of the country took advantage of a coup in the capital to break away and set up the nation of Azawad. This new nation, as yet unrecognized by any other, was supposed to be a homeland for the Tuaregs, a people who complain of poor treatment from the central government.
All did not go as planned. ...Admiring Greenland From The Air While Freaking Out An Air Marshal
Jul 8th, 2012 at 2:00PM:
Intercontinental flights are usually pretty dull. The route between London and Chicago, however, is one I always look forward to. That's because it flies over the southern tip of Greenland. The airplane heads northwest over Ireland, then arcs across the North Atlantic, barely missing Iceland before crossing Greenland.
I always seem to be lucky with the weather and get a clear view of the ...The best way to fight terrorism is to ignore it
Mar 28th, 2012 at 10:30AM: Last week, the global intelligence company Stratfor finished a series about terrorism. Their final article, "Keeping Terrorism in Perspective" is especially important for travelers. The entire series is fascinating and enlightening and I recommend it highly.
In a nutshell, the analysts at Stratfor say terrorism is not going to go away and can never be entirely defeated. No government, even the ...Arab American National Museum examines legacy of 9/11
Sep 9th, 2011 at 9:00AM: With the tenth anniversary of 9/11 just two days away, the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, is examining how the Arab-American community has been affected by the terrorist attacks.
U.S. Rising: Emerging Voices in post-9/11 America runs from September 8-11 and is a series of forums and events both in Detroit and Dearborn. On the actual anniversary of September 11, the museum ...September 11 Memorial distributes more than 24,000 passes in first day
Jul 12th, 2011 at 7:30AM: As we mentioned yesterday, the National September 11 Memorial & Museum started handing out free passes on Monday in anticipation of their opening to the public on September 12. Everyone anticipated a huge response, and there certainly was one. In just the first few hours that tickets were available, 24,000 were been handed out. Figures for the whole day are not yet available.
The memorial ...Politics and people: an immigrant's impressions of Spain's Basque region
Jun 3rd, 2011 at 3:00PM: One downside to being an immigrant is that you have to learn a whole new set of politics and social divisions. Since moving to Madrid six years ago, I've heard a lot of people talking about Spain's Basque region. Everyone has an opinion about it but most haven't actually been there.
I've recently returned from six days hiking in the Basque region with a group of Americans and two Basque guides. ...Hiking in France's Basque Region
May 31st, 2011 at 2:00PM:
The Basque region straddles the border between northeastern Spain and southwestern France. For the past five days I've been hiking in Spain's Basque region, and today I and my group are crossing the border into France.
One of our Basque guides, Josu, says the culture on the other side of the border isn't as strong. While only 28% of Spanish Basques can speak Basque (Euskara), that number goes ...Hiking and politics in the Basque region's Grand Canyon
May 21st, 2011 at 2:00PM:
"The Basques have the oldest history in Europe," says Dr. Alberto Santana, historian and co-founder of Aunia, a Basque cultural magazine. "We have been here since the Stone Age and have the most distinct language in the world. There are some 6,000 languages in 12 language families. Basque is in a family by itself."
The Basque language, Euskara, is the heart of Basque identity, he tells our ...Terrorist attacks forces closure of Russian ski resort
Feb 27th, 2011 at 8:00AM: A wave of terrorists attacks in Russia last weekend has left three dead and a burgeoning tourist region closed off to travelers. Those attacks prompted Russian officials to impose a a counter-terrorism regime in two areas of the North Caucasus Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria near Mt. Elbrus, the highest mountain in Europe.
The first attack occurred last weekend when a bus carrying travelers to a ...Terrorist gets 15 years for JFK airport plot
Jan 14th, 2011 at 7:30AM: A terrorist who plotted to blow up fuel tanks at JFK airport has been given 15 years in prison, the BBC reports. Abdel Nur, a citizen from Guyana, tried to meet an Al-Qaeda explosives expert in order to blow up JFK airport's fuel depot, and the fuel lines that run below an adjoining neighborhood. He hoped to kill thousands in the attack.
Russell Defreitas, Kareem Ibrahim , and Abdul Kadir were ...Somalia's Al-Shabab bans handshakes between men and women
Jan 8th, 2011 at 9:00AM:
As if you didn't have enough reasons to avoid visiting Somalia, Al-Shabab has given you another. BBC reports that the Islamist group has banned handshakes between men and women in the town of Jowhar. It's also illegal to walk with or chat with a member of the opposite sex you're not related to.
It's not clear what the punishment would be for committing these "crimes", but BBC's ...Pilot body scans and counter-terror operations: distant consideration for special forces
Nov 24th, 2010 at 3:00PM:
The uproar over TSA body scanners and pat-downs has hit every corner of the aviation world, from passengers to pilots. The vocal consensus, at least, is that nobody likes them, even though 64 percent of Americans support the practice and 70 percent don't expect it to impact their travel. A friend of mine, flying today, tweeted that he made it through security at New York's JFK airport in a mere ...Suspected bomb on airplane was a "dummy"
Nov 19th, 2010 at 12:00PM: Yesterday's potential bomb on an Air Berlin flight from Namibia to Germany turns out to have been an American-made "dummy" used by security officials for training, BBC reports.
The "bomb" consists of a detonator, wires, and a ticking clock and is put in a suitcase and through the system to measure the efficiency of an airport's security. The device did not contain explosives and was detected ...Breaking news: Suspected bomb found on German airline
Nov 18th, 2010 at 11:15AM: A flight from Namibia to Germany was delayed earlier today after a suspected bomb was found in a suitcase. The package included a detonator, batteries, and a clock, the BBC reports. Details are unclear at this moment and it is not known if the device was an actual bomb or simply meant to intimidate.
The suspected bomb was found before it was loaded onto an Air Berlin flight from Windhoek to ...Al Qaeda Yemen connection suspected in cargo plane bomb scares
Oct 29th, 2010 at 2:30PM: The simultaneous bomb scares in Newark, Philadelphia and London are now being linked to al Qaeda activity, according to the latest reporting from CNN. On its live blog covering the suspicious item discoveries, CNN reports, "U.S. officials believe that al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula was behind the plot that caused a security scare at English and American airports on Friday."
In Washington, a ...Travel warning for Europe--U.S. government asks citizens to be on alert
Oct 3rd, 2010 at 8:30AM: The U.S. government will issue a travel warning today for its citizens going to Europe. The warning is in response to intelligence regarding plans by terrorists to launch Mumbai-style commando attacks in European cities.
The attacks in Mumbai in 2008 were carried out by small groups of heavily armed terrorists who attacked several spots in the city simultaneously. They killed at least 173 ...
