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Tag: airports

  • Philly airport now has online booking for economy parking lot and will soon offer valet service

    Philly airport now has online booking for economy parking lot and will soon offer valet service

    Philadelphia International Airport is launching new programs designed to simplify the parking experience for travelers.

    Park PHL, which was launched Thursday in collaboration with the Philadelphia Parking Authority, allows online booking for the airport’s economy parking lot. Starting Nov. 18, the airport will also offer valet services for the first time.

    MORE: SEPTA’s website now shows bus detours on maps – and its app eventually will, too

    To reserve and pay for parking in the economy lot, customers can head to the Park PHL reserve section of the airport website and input their entry and exit dates and times. There is no additional fee for using the online booking, and guests can modify or cancel their parking — and receive a refund — up until two hours before their scheduled arrival. The online reservation service will expand to include the airport’s on-site garages early next year.

    When PHL Valet launches next month, customers can book it online for $50 per day. People utilizing the service will drop their car off at one of three “Departures Roadway” kiosks at Terminals A-East, B/C and E. Upon their return to PHL, they can pick up their car at baggage claim. In the future, the airport expects to offer premium add-ons to valet packages, such as a car wash.

    The current daily fee for PHL’s economy lot is $15, which includes shuttle transportation to and from the terminals and access to free emergency services like battery jump starts, flat tire assistance, auto lockout help and lost vehicle finder. 

    The economy lot, located along the 4400 block of Island Avenue, previously had more than 7,000 spots before it closed during the COVID-19 pandemic amid declining air travel. PHL began to reopen it gradually in 2022 as air travel began to rebound. It now has 4,200 spaces that are available on a first-come, first-served basis, according to the PHL website. Other parking options for PHL travelers include garages, short-term lots and multiple private lots near the airport

    Franki Rudnesky

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  • Waymo Is Picking Up at the Airport. That’s a Big Deal

    Waymo Is Picking Up at the Airport. That’s a Big Deal

    On Tuesday, Alphabet’s self-driving vehicle developer Waymo said it would begin operating all-day, curbside pickups and drop-offs at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport in Arizona. The announcement came with little fanfare—a post on X. But it signals that after years of delay, self-driving vehicles might be (literally) moving in the right direction.

    The new curbside airport service sends a good signal about Waymo’s business, says Mike Ramsey, an automotive analyst with Gartner. “The airport is the primary destination and departure point for any sort of mobility service, whether it’s a cab, shuttle bus—or an autonomous robocab,” he says. Almost a decade ago, then-upstarts Uber and Lyft fought hard to gain access to airports. Less price-sensitive business travelers, families lugging bags, and anyone who doesn’t want to spend money to park at the airport all want easy-to-access rides, making it an ideal place to base a taxi service.

    Even before all-day curbside service began, the airport was Waymo’s most popular destination in Phoenix, says Brad Gillette, Waymo’s market lead in the city. Waymo has operated self-driving vehicles in Arizona since 2017, and began offering rides to Phoenix’s airport at the end of 2022. For the first year of service, passengers could only get picked up and dropped off from the stations along the airport’s “Sky Train”—areas with less intense traffic. Late last year, Waymo began to offer nighttime curbside service between 10 pm and 6 am, also periods in which the airport was less hectic. Now, the service is open anytime, to anyone who downloads the company’s Waymo One app.

    The company says it has served nearly 100,000 rides to and from the airport since it first started its station service nearly two years ago, and is now serving thousands of travelers per week.

    The airport departures and arrivals curbs are also a really difficult place to drive. Cars pulling in and out, hunting for passengers, operating in tight spaces—this sort of thing is hard enough for a human. Gillette says it took Waymo a year of testing to ensure the company’s technology “can predict and react appropriately, with a certain level of assertiveness, in order to pull into the right place at the right time.”

    Waymos will pick up and drop off from designated terminal rideshare and electric vehicle pickup areas, Eric Everts, a public information officer for the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, said in an email. Through Waymo’s app, passengers will be given specific dwell times to load into vehicles, and the cars will leave them behind if they don’t hit the deadline, Everts wrote—implying that traffic cops won’t have to hassle the driverless vehicles to move along.

    Bumpy Ride

    Last summer, curbside pickup and drop-off became a point of contention as Waymo and competitor Cruise both applied to begin full-time paid passenger robotaxi service in San Francisco—to, basically, officially take on Uber and Lyft in the city where those services were born. In letters to the regulator overseeing the permitting, the city of San Francisco said it was concerned that robotaxis weren’t pulling close enough to curbs to pick up and drop off passengers.

    For California regulators, who control autonomous vehicle operations in the state, the concern wasn’t much of a sticking point: A commission approved the permits in August 2023. (Cruise has since had its permit to operate rides in the state revoked, after state officials alleged the company concealed details of an incident in which an autonomous vehicle dragged a pedestrian some 20 feet.) But for some city officials and residents, robotaxis’ behavior at the curb was enough to say, no thanks.

    Aarian Marshall

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  • I flew 3,400 miles with my golden retriever on a one-of-a-kind luxury airline for dogs—here’s what it was like

    I flew 3,400 miles with my golden retriever on a one-of-a-kind luxury airline for dogs—here’s what it was like

    As we taxied down the runway before takeoff, Lulu’s paw gripped my thigh and her claws dug in. She’s never much liked being in the car, but this time was different. This time, we were hitting the skies. She nestled her head in my lap, her big brown eyes gazing up at me with a look of anxiety and confusion. I kissed the top of her head and rubbed her silky, floppy ears, and cheerily told her, “it’s finally time for our big adventure!”

    My stomach felt that familiar drop as we ascended into the sky, but it was hard to feel too nervous with my beloved English cream golden retriever lounging in my lap. Plus, having grown up in Virginia, we were headed to a location I’ve dreamed of visiting since I was a little girl: London. And I had my best girl beside me. 

    And just like that, we’d successfully taken off on our first Bark Air flight, a six-and-a-half hour journey from a private airport in White Plains, New York, to London’s Biggin Hill Airport, about 22 miles south of the city. 

    Photo by Sydney Lake

    Bark Air isn’t some dusty old commercial airline. Launched in May 2024 after “more than 10 years of dreaming,” it was formed to create a premier experience for flying with your dog. Dogs don’t ride in cargo here; they ride in style in a 10-seater GulfStream private jet, an aircraft many dream of flying in but few get the chance to. 

    The airline was started by the same company that brought us BarkBox, the monthly subscription box that supplies your dogs with fresh toys and treats. To prove how truly petrifying flying in cargo can be for dogs, Bark CEO Matt Meeker actually flew in a crate under a plane for a four-hour flight and documented his experience. 

    It was “absolutely horrible,” Meeker tells Fortune. “It was loud, disorienting, cramped, and uncomfortable. I’m a human that knew what was going on and what I had gotten myself into. I can’t imagine how confusing, terrifying, and stressful it must be for a dog.”

    Our Bark Air experience was anything but that. In fact, it was undoubtedly the least stressful—and most pleasant—airport and airplane experience I’ve had in my 27 years of life. And it all started weeks before our actual flight departed, when we were first connected with our Bark Air “concierge,” Hernán Giraldo, who guided me through the process of flying with my dog. (He calls himself “a servant of the pups and people.”)

    While a Bark Air flight may be a dream for many—it is, after all, a luxury airline, where tickets cost between $6,000 and $12,000 one way—it’s important to understand that you get what you pay for here. (Our flight from New York to London cost $8,000). Bark Air is a high-end experience, for both the pups and their human companions. 

    Preparing for the flight

    Weeks before our flight, Lulu and I met our concierge over a Google Meet video call so he could ask about Lulu’s preferences and behaviors. Does she prefer chicken or salmon? In the car, is she a windows-up or windows-down girl? Is she playful and outgoing, or shy and timid?

    I adopted Lulu as a puppy back in March 2020, but despite the amount of time I’d spent with her during the pandemic, there was one thing I didn’t know about her until recently: her favorite type of music. Our concierge Giraldo wanted to know so Lulu could have her favorite music playing during our black-car ride from Biggin Hill to our Airbnb in London. While Dolly Parton and ABBA are mainstays in our Richmond, Virginia-based babe cave, apparently reggae is a popular choice for the pups, according to Giraldo. 

    That initial intake call was just one of the many touch points we had ahead of our June 27 flight. Giraldo was attentive to Lulu’s needs, but also mine. He addressed the anxieties many owners face having never done anything like this before: traveling a long distance with their pet. In my case, this was also the first time I had ever been to Europe, let alone traveled via air with Lulu. To say the weeks leading up to our departure were nerve-wracking would be an understatement. 

    Traveling domestically with pets can be challenging, especially when you consider the logistics of traveling with a four-legged friend—so flying internationally with a dog, as you might imagine, requires even more planning. The United Kingdom requires dogs undergo a thorough physical exam by a USDA-certified veterinarian, receive a parasite treatment before flying, and provide embossed documentation, which is sent from the USDA via overnight mail. Scheduling all of this is very tricky. Giraldo, thankfully, helped there, too. He scheduled Lulu’s vet appointments on my behalf to ensure they were done within the correct time frame, and made his best efforts to contact my vet and the USDA to ensure we had everything we needed before our flight.

    Despite the amount of planning, taking a trip with Lulu, who I consider my heart and soul, felt like a dream come true—and it was made better by my concierge’s pleasant intake call and intermittent texts and emails ahead of the flight. I even ordered Lulu a special dog “suitcase” from Amazon: a large pink backpack with travel dishes and special compartments for toys and treats. My friends were so excited for our journey, and sent London-themed toys and accessories to Lulu. 

    Lulu can always tell when I’m getting ready to go away—especially since she’s particularly anxious around suitcases. The day we drove up to New York from Richmond, she was apprehensive to get in the car, although she likely thought we were just visiting our favorite local dog park or headed to Starbucks for a pup cup. Little did she know we were about to embark on a 7-hour car ride to New York that would lead to the flight to an entirely new continent.

    The day of the flight

    Our alarm clock rang at 4:45 a.m. I had anxiously set seven alarms within a 10-minute span since Lulu and I were alone in the hotel room and couldn’t risk missing our 8 a.m. flight. Lulu lounged on the bed, still sleepy and disoriented from our long drive the day prior; she never gets sleep in the car due to her travel anxiety. It was hard for me to sleep the night before our flight as well, reminiscent of Christmas Eve when I was a kid. I chugged two cups of mediocre hotel coffee before lugging our suitcases back to the car in the pouring rain, which miraculously cleared up as we approached the airport. 

    When we arrived, I could see the excitement in Lulu’s eyes—and her tail. We were greeted outside the airport lounge by Giraldo, who was wearing a matching uniform to his other Bark Air concierges: a crisp white t-shirt marked with the airline’s logo. He patiently waited for Lulu to take care of her business outside before leading us into the intimate airport lobby where a chef-prepared meal of eggs, bacon, bagels, pastries, and more were waiting for us. 

    Photo by Sydney Lake

    The aura of the lobby was noticeably different from every other airport I’d been in. Not only was it filled with fluffy friends—but everyone seemed genuinely happy to be there. There wasn’t any pushing, shoving, dirty looks, sighs, foot tappings, or any other signs of frustration typical of an airport lobby. Pet parents happily introduced their pups to fellow passengers and compared paws-port photos and cooed over the boarding passes crafted for their dogs. Pups and their human companions are asked to arrive at the airport an hour early to allow the dogs to socialize ahead of the flight. This practice also allows concierges to assess any worrisome behavior between dogs, which influences boarding order.

    As I was sitting enjoying my breakfast, I chatted with a fellow passenger, Annette Thompson, 55, who was “starting life over again” by moving to London with her rescue pup, Sam, after the end of a 34-year marriage. Thompson was originally from Texas but had been living in Mexico for the past four years. She was the director of a dog-rescue service based in Ajijic, Mexico, aptly called the Bone Voyage Dog Rescue, and she had rescued Sam from a hoarding situation, where he had been one of about 80 dogs in a “little Mexican house.”

    “He was really shy, and he wouldn’t interact with the people that wanted to adopt him, and so I brought him to my house and he just flourished,” Thompson said. “I fell in love with him, and then I couldn’t give him to anyone else. He’s my baby now.” 

    Two other passengers I spoke with were also using their Bark Air flight as a means to relocate with their dogs, one from Canada and the other from South Carolina. 

    Boarding time

    Bark Air concierges whisked away our checked bags, and our carry-on luggage was hand-checked by security officers (no long TSA lines here). Now, it was finally time to board the flight. Bark Air concierges had strategically assigned boarding orders based on which paw-sengers had been getting along the best in the lobby. That way, if any dogs weren’t too fond of each other, they’d have ample space from each other on the 10-seater plane. 

    Lulu proudly pranced across the tarmac, still unaware of the epic journey she was about to em-bark on. Bark Air rolled out a grand green faux-grass carpet that led to the front steps of the GulfStream, really emphasizing how special this flight was, so Lulu and I giddily partook in a mini photoshoot before heading up the stairs to the plane.

    Photo by Sydney Lake

    The flight was plenty spacious for the nine dogs and 10 human companions on our flight that day; Lulu and I enjoyed a full couch seat. We had a fairly eclectic group of pups on our flight that day, including a cavalier King Charles spaniel, a labrador retriever, a Great Pyrenees, a couple of doodles, and a couple of mixed-breed pups. As we waited on the tarmac, pups stayed close to their paw-rents, panting—but also sizing up the environment and variety of treats on board. Pups had to stay on their leashes just for taxi, takeoff, and landing, but were otherwise free to roam around the cabin when the plane reached cruising altitude, much like how humans can unbuckle their seatbelts on a commercial flight. 

    Ahead of takeoff, our concierges and flight attendants passed out treats for the pups to munch on to help with that annoying sensation of having your ears pop with increasing altitude (yes, dogs experience this, too). 

    Cruising time

    Once we were in the air, it didn’t take long for the surprises to start rolling. Our flight attendant and Bark Air concierge kept the Veuve Clicquot and dog chomp-agne (turkey broth) flowing. Pups also received a fully customized dining experience full of savory treats and Barkacinos—a similar, yet elevated version of a Starbucks’ pup cup—all served on a silver platter. As Lulu’s human companion, I got a chef-prepared lunch wrap and yogurt parfait with access to an ample snack tray with some of my favorites, including Oreos.

    Lulu was quite partial to our flight attendant, Kayla Iwane, not only for her kind and gentle nature, but for the snacks she stowed in the galley kitchen at the back of the aircraft. She had been working for about a year as a flight attendant through Talon Air, the private-jet charter company that paired with Bark to make the new airline possible, and had taken four flights with Bark Air thus far. 

    Lulu slurping down chomp-agne (turkey broth) served by her favorite flight attendant, Kayla Iwane.

    Photo by Sydney Lake

    “I love flying with dogs—sometimes more than humans,” she said. “This is the dream job. I love when [the dogs] follow me into the kitchen because the pups know I have snacks. I’m the good human to them.” (It’s worth noting that Iwane owns an 18-year-old—yes, you read that right—American cocker spaniel named Princess Coco Puff, so it’s no surprise that she was so delighted to work for Bark Air.) 

    Again, unlike most commercial airlines, passengers—perfect strangers, prior to the flight—actually chatted with each other, sharing life stories and what brought them on a flight like this. Despite the name “Bark Air,” the pups were relatively quiet—that was until the pilot came into the cabin mid-flight, which prompted Lulu to start barking. (She was actually the only dog who barked during the flight). Unlike commercial flights where loud noises are a nuisance, the other passengers, concierge, and flight attendant laughed about the ruckus Lulu had started. It was shortly after that Lulu donned her pilot’s hat to show who was really in charge. 

    Photo by Sydney Lake

    During the flight, I chatted with a couple from Naples, Florida, who were traveling with their cavalier King Charles spaniel, Theo, to England. Theo’s dad, Ted Pither, was from there, so they had taken the trip to Canterbury many times—but hadn’t enjoyed the traveling experience as much as they did with Bark Air. They travel from Naples each year to the United Kingdom to see his family and enjoy the English summer. Although Theo is only two-and-a-half years old, it was his third trip to the UK.

    “He’s seasoned,” Pither said. For this trip, they were originally scheduled to fly with Delta, but that trip had them going from Naples to Miami, Miami to Paris, Paris to Dover (a coastal county southeast of London) for the pet reception, and then Dover to Canterbury. “It’s a long trip,” he said, so Bark Air was attractive to them for the “time and ease.”

    “On the flight from Miami to Paris, [Theo] has to sit under the seat for nine hours,” Pither said. “That’s not comfortable.” But they said their Bark Air experience, in contrast, was excellent and very relaxed.

    And speaking of relaxation, once we’d reached the middle of our flight, it was time for the highly anticipated in-flight spa treatment. Lulu got a full fur brushing, a wipe down with a warm cloth, and moisturizing balm rubbed on her paw pads and nose. Then she was adorned in a rubber-ducky robe before getting a toothbrush treat, ensuring she was clean, comfortable, and relaxed upon our arrival to London. Each dog got their turn for their individual spa treatment, each one as silly as the last to watch.

    Photo by Sydney Lake

    After her spa treatment, Lulu was ready for a nap—and so was I. We took the liberty of our large couch seat to take a short snooze while the cabin was quiet. 

    The penultimate surprise in store was hidden under a silver cloche. The flight attendant lifted the dome to reveal… a shoe. The dogs had plenty of things to chew on during the flight, including Bark-branded treats including Fruity Toot Loops, but the shoe was a nice, funny touch. 

    As we approached London, our flight attendant and concierge handed out goodie bags for each of the pups for their owners to open in an “influencer unboxing” fashion. Lulu loved snuggling her new champagne plush toy and nibbling on some BarkBox treats while we started descending. 

    Within moments of landing, an official came on board to scan the dogs’ microchips to ensure they matched the paperwork we filed. Then it was back to the tarmac before—what I’ve heard—is about the quickest customs process ever. (I had been out of the country only once prior to this trip.) The customs desk, despite being a one-woman show, was a breeze, and soon we were ushered to our black-car service where our bags had already been loaded. The entire process took less than 10 minutes, from start to finish. Lulu and I were greeted by our driver who was holding a sign personalized for us, and we enjoyed our 40-minute drive to our Airbnb in Clapham. 

    As we rode in the backseat of a black Mercedes-Benz van, I reflected on the truly remarkable and once-in-a-lifetime experience we’d just had—and how I’d have to figure out a way to upkeep Lulu’s new posh lifestyle. 

    Sydney Lake

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  • Denver International Airport adds new nonstop destination — the longest direct flight from DIA

    Denver International Airport adds new nonstop destination — the longest direct flight from DIA

    A new nonstop Turkish Airlines flight from Denver International Airport will carry travelers 6,152 miles between Denver and Istanbul — the longest flight from DIA.

    The recruitment of Turkish Airlines brings the number of airlines at DIA to 26. Flight searches on Google on Thursday morning showed round-trip flights available starting June 11 for around $1,329 roundtrip.

    Denver Mayor Mike Johnston and DIA chief executive Phil Washington planned to announce the flight Thursday morning. The new service is expected to bring a $54 million annual economic impact in Colorado and support the creation of about 350 new jobs around the state. The flight will take about 13 hours, longer than the 12-hour direct flight between Denver and Tokyo.

    DIA officials in recent years have prioritized “expanding our global connections” as part of their strategic plan for serving 100 million passengers a year by 2027 and more than 120 million by 2045, the airport’s 50th anniversary. A primary goal is to “expand the air networks to the continent of Africa and other disconnected destinations.”

    A 21-person delegation of airport, city government, and business officials from Denver visited Ethiopia in February 2023 on a trade mission to build relationships. They offered economic incentives as part of their efforts to persuade Ethiopian Airlines and, eventually, Egypt Air to commit to starting service to Denver with several flights a week. Another delegation visited Turkey in October 2022 to explore possibilities for starting a Turkish Airlines flight between Denver and Istanbul.

    The new flight announced Thursday “does not diminish in any way our desire” to line up a flight to other cities, said Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce president J.J. Ament, who joined both delegations.

    “A flight to Istanbul opens up India, and it also opens up Africa for us,” Ament said.

    “The imperative is that we continue to increase Denver’s global reach and the reach of Colorado and the Rocky Mountain West with DIA as the gateway airport,” he said. “Being able to reach new parts of the world, growing parts of the world, is what is going to keep Colorado globally relevant.”

    DIA is the largest airport in the United States by size, covering 53 square miles of land. It also ranks among the busiest airports in the world. A record 77 million passengers went through DIA in 2023, up from 69 million in 2019.

    The airport offers flights to 217 destinations, predominantly domestic. But international air travel, including air cargo operations, has grown steadily and in 2023 brought more than 4 million travelers, up 21% since 2022.

    Earlier this year, airport officials announced new nonstop flights from DIA on Aer Lingus to Dublin, Ireland, starting on May 17. Other cities that DIA travelers can reach nonstop include London, Paris, Zurich, Reykjavik, Iceland, Munich, Frankfurt, Tokyo, and a dozen cities in Mexico and Central America.

    Bruce Finley

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  • Detained Americans Fast Facts | CNN

    Detained Americans Fast Facts | CNN



    CNN
     — 

    Here’s a look at some recent cases of foreign governments detaining US citizens. For information about missing Americans, see Robert Levinson Fast Facts or POW/MIA in Iraq and Afghanistan Fast Facts.

    Afghanistan

    Ryan Corbett
    August 2022 – Corbett, a businessman whose family lived in Afghanistan for more than a decade prior to the collapse of the Afghan government, returns to Afghanistan on a 10 day trip. Roughly one week into his visit, he was asked to come in for questioning by the local police. Corbett, his German colleague, and two local staff members were all detained. All but Corbett are eventually released. The Taliban has acknowledged holding Corbett, and he has been designated as wrongfully detained by the US State Department.

    China

    Mark Swidan
    November 13, 2012 – Swidan, a businessman from Texas, is arrested on drug related charges by Chinese Police while in his hotel room in Dongguan.

    2013 – Swidan is tried and pleads not guilty.

    2019 – Convicted of manufacturing and trafficking drugs by the Jiangmen Intermediate People’s Court in southern Guangdong province and given a death sentence with a two-year reprieve.

    April 13, 2023 – The Jiangmen Intermediate People’s Court denies Swidan’s appeal and upholds his death penalty.

    Kai Li
    September 2016 – Kai Li, a naturalized US citizen born in China, is detained while visiting relatives in Shanghai.

    July 2018 – He is sentenced to 10 years in prison for espionage following a secret trial held in August 2017.

    Iran

    Karan Vafadari
    December 2016 – Karan Vafadari’s family announces that Karan and his wife, Afarin Niasari, were detained at Tehran airport in July. Vafadari, an Iranian-American, and Niasari, a green-card holder, ran an art gallery in Tehran.

    March 2017 – New charges of “attempting to overthrow the Islamic Republic and recruiting spies through foreign embassies” are brought against Vafadari and Niasari.

    January 2018 – Vafadari is sentenced to 27 years in prison. Niasari is sentenced to 16 years.

    July 2018 – Vafadari and Niasari are reportedly released from prison on bail while they await their appeals court rulings.

    Russia

    Paul Whelan
    December 28, 2018 – Paul Whelan, from Michigan, a retired Marine and corporate security director, is arrested on accusations of spying. His family says he was in Moscow to attend a wedding.

    January 3, 2019 – His lawyer, Vladimir Zherebenkov, tells CNN Whalen has been formally charged with espionage.

    January 22, 2019 – At his pretrial hearing, Whelan is denied bail. Whelan’s attorney Zherebenkov tells CNN that Whelan was found in possession of classified material when he was arrested in Moscow.

    June 15, 2020 – Whelan is convicted of espionage and sentenced to 16 years in prison.

    August 8, 2021 – State news agency TASS reports that Whelan has been released from solitary confinement in the Mordovian penal colony where he is being held.

    Evan Gershkovich
    March 30, 2023 – Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter, is detained by Russian authorities and accused of spying. The Wall Street Journal rejects the spying allegations.

    April 3, 2023 – The Russian state news agency TASS reports Gershkovich has filed an appeal against his arrest.

    April 7, 2023 – Gershkovich is formally charged with espionage.

    April 10, 2023 – The US State Department officially designates Gershkovich as wrongfully detained by Russia.

    April 18, 2023 – The Moscow City Court denies his appeal to change the terms of his detention. Gershkovich will continue to be held in a pre-trial detention center at the notorious Lefortovo prison until May 29.

    Saudi Arabia

    Walid Fitaihi
    November 2017 – Dual US-Saudi citizen Dr. Walid Fitaihi is detained at the Ritz Carlton hotel in Riyadh along with other prominent Saudis, according to his lawyer Howard Cooper. Fitaihi is then transferred to prison.

    July 2019 – Fitaihi is released on bond.

    December 8, 2020 – Fitaihi is sentenced to six years in prison for charges including obtaining US citizenship without permission.

    January 14, 2021 – A Saudi appeals court upholds Fitaihi’s conviction but reduces his sentence to 3.2 years and suspends his remaining prison term. Fitaihi still faces a travel ban and frozen assets.

    Syria

    Austin Tice
    August 2012 – Tice disappears while reporting near the Syrian capital of Damascus. The Syrian government has never acknowledged that they have Tice in their custody.

    September 2012 – A 43-second video emerges online that shows Tice in the captivity of what his family describe as an “unusual group of apparent jihadists.”

    Majd Kamalmaz
    February 2017 – Kamalmaz is detained at a checkpoint in Damascus. The Syrian government has never acknowledged Kamalmaz is in its custody.

    Cuba

    Alan Gross
    December 2009 – Alan Gross is jailed while working as a subcontractor on a US Agency for International Development project aimed at spreading democracy. His actions are deemed illegal by Cuban authorities. He is accused of trying to set up illegal internet connections on the island. Gross says he was trying to help connect the Jewish community to the internet and was not a threat to the government.

    March 12, 2011 – Gross is found guilty and sentenced to 15 years in prison for crimes against the Cuban state.

    April 11, 2014 – Ends a hunger strike that he launched the previous week in an effort to get the United States and Cuba to resolve his case.

    December 17, 2014 – Gross is released as part of a deal with Cuba that paves the way for a major overhaul in US policy toward the island.

    Egypt

    16 American NGO Employees
    December 2011 – Egyptian authorities carry out 17 raids on the offices of 10 nongovernmental organizations. The Egyptian general prosecutor’s office claims the raids were part of an investigation into allegations the groups had received illegal foreign financing and were operating without a proper license.

    February 5, 2012 – Forty-three people face prosecution in an Egyptian criminal court on charges of illegal foreign funding as part of an ongoing crackdown on NGOs. Among the American defendants is Sam LaHood, International Republican Institute country director and the son of US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

    February 15, 2012 – The US State Department confirms there are 16 Americans being held, not 19 as the Egyptian government announced.

    February 20, 2012 – South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham and Arizona Senator John McCain meet with top Egyptian military and political leaders in Cairo.

    March 1, 2012 – Some of the 43 detainees including American, Norwegian, German, Serbian and Palestinian activists leave Cairo after each post two-million Egyptian pounds bail.

    April 20, 2012 – CNN is told Egyptian officials have filed global arrest notices with Interpol for some of the Americans involved in the NGO trial.

    June 4, 2013 – An Egyptian court sentences the NGO workers: 27 workers in absentia to five-year sentences, 11 to one-year suspended jail sentences, and five others to two-year sentences that were not suspended, according to state-run newspaper Al Ahram. Only one American has remained in Egypt to fight the charges, but he also left after the court announced his conviction.

    Iran

    UC-Berkeley Grads
    July 31, 2009 – Three graduates from the University of California at Berkeley, Sarah Shourd of Oakland, California, Shane Bauer, of Emeryville, California, and Joshua Fattal, of Cottage Grove, Oregon, are detained in Iran after hiking along the unmarked Iran-Iraq border in northern Iraq’s Kurdish region.

    August 11, 2009 – Iran sends formal notification to the Swiss ambassador that the three American hikers have been detained. Switzerland represents the United States diplomatic interests in Iran since the United States and Iran do not have diplomatic relations.

    October 2009 – The Iranian government allows a Swiss diplomat to visit the hikers at Evin Prison.

    November 9, 2009 – Iran charges the three with espionage.

    March 9, 2010 – The families of the three detained hikers speak by phone to the hikers for the first time since they were jailed.

    May 20, 2010 – The detainees’ mothers are allowed to visit their children.

    May 21, 2010 – The mothers are allowed a second visit, and the detained hikers speak publicly for the first time at a government-controlled news conference.

    August 5, 2010 – Reports surface that Shourd is being denied medical treatment.

    September 14, 2010 – Shourd is released on humanitarian grounds on $500,000 bail.

    September 19, 2010 – Shourd speaks publicly to the press in New York.

    November 27, 2010 – Two days after Thanksgiving, Fattal and Bauer are allowed to call home for the second time. Each call lasts about five minutes.

    February 6, 2011 – Fattal and Bauer’s trial begins. Shourd has not responded to a court summons to return to stand trial.

    May 4, 2011 – Shourd announces she will not return to Tehran to face espionage charges.

    August 20, 2011 – Fattal and Bauer each receive five years for spying and three years for illegal entry, according to state-run TV. They have 20 days to appeal.

    September 14, 2011 – A Western diplomat tells CNN an Omani official is en route to Tehran to help negotiate the release of Fattal and Bauer. Oman helped secure the release of Shourd in 2010.

    September 21, 2011 – Fattal and Bauer are released from prison on bail of $500,000 each and their sentences are commuted. On September 25, they arrive back in the United States.

    Saeed Abedini
    September 26, 2012 – According to the American Center for Law and Justice, Saeed Abedini, an American Christian pastor who was born in Iran and lives in Idaho, is detained in Iran. The group says that Abedini’s charges stem from his conversion to Christianity from Islam 13 years ago and his activities with home churches in Iran.

    January 2013 – Abedini is sentenced to eight years in prison, on charges of attempting to undermine the Iranian government.

    January 16, 2016 – Iran releases four US prisoners including Abedini, Amir Mirzaei Hekmati, and Jason Rezaian, in exchange for clemency of seven Iranians imprisoned in the United States for sanctions violations.

    Amir Mirzaei Hekmati
    August 2011 – Amir Mirzaei Hekmati travels to Iran to visit relatives and gets detained by authorities, according to his family. His arrest isn’t made public for months.

    December 17, 2011 – Iran’s Intelligence Ministry claims to have arrested an Iranian-American working as a CIA agent, according to state-run Press TV.

    December 18, 2011 – Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency broadcasts a video in which a young man says his name is Hekmati, and that he joined the US Marine Corps and worked with Iraqi officers.

    December 19, 2011 – The US State Department confirms the identity of the man detained in Iran and calls for his immediate release.

    December 20, 2011 – Hekmati’s family says that he was arrested in August while visiting relatives in Iran. The family asserts that they remained quiet about the arrest at the urging of Iranian officials who promised his release.

    December 27, 2011 – Hekmati’s trial begins in Iran. Prosecutors accuse Hekmati of entering Iran with the intention of infiltrating the country’s intelligence system in order to accuse Iran of involvement in terrorist activities, according to the Fars news agency.

    January 9, 2012 – An Iranian news agency reports that Hekmati is convicted of “working for an enemy country,” as well as membership in the CIA and “efforts to accuse Iran of involvement in terrorism.” He is sentenced to death.

    March 5, 2012 – An Iranian court dismisses a lower court’s death sentence for Hekmati and orders a retrial. He remains in prison.

    September 2013 – In a letter to US Secretary of State John Kerry, Hekmati says that his confession was obtained under duress.

    April 11, 2014 – Hekmati’s sister tells CNN that Hekmati has been convicted in Iran by a secret court of “practical collaboration with the US government” and sentenced to 10 years in prison.

    January 16, 2016 – Iran releases four US prisoners including Hekmati, Abedini, and Jason Rezaian, in exchange for clemency of seven Iranians indicted or imprisoned in the United States for sanctions violations.

    Jason Rezaian
    July 24, 2014 – The Washington Post reports that its Tehran correspondent and Bureau Chief Jason Rezaian, his wife Yeganeh Salehi and two freelance journalists were detained on July 22, 2014. An Iranian official confirmed to CNN that the group is being held by authorities.

    July 29, 2014 – Iran releases one of three people detained alongside Rezaian, a source close to the family of the released detainee tells CNN. The released detainee is the husband of an Iranian-American photojournalist who remains in custody with Rezaian and his wife, according to the source.

    August 20, 2014 – The Washington Post reports the photojournalist detained with Rezaian in July has been released. At her family’s request, the Post declines to publish her name.

    October 6, 2014 – According to the Washington Post, Rezaian’s wife, Yeganeh Salehi, has been released on bail.

    December 6, 2014 – During a 10-hour court session in Tehran, Rezaian is officially charged with unspecified crimes, according to the newspaper.

    April 20, 2015 – According the Washington Post, Rezaian is being charged with espionage and other serious crimes including “collaborating with a hostile government” and “propaganda against the establishment.”

    October 11, 2015 – Iran’s state media reports that Rezaian has been found guilty, but no details are provided about his conviction or his sentence. His trial reportedly took place between May and August.

    November 22, 2015 – An Iranian court sentences Rezaian to prison. The length of the sentence is not specified.

    January 16, 2016 – Iran releases four US prisoners including Rezaian, Hekmati, and Abedini, in exchange for the clemency of seven Iranians indicted or imprisoned in the United States for sanctions violations.

    May 1, 2018 – Joins CNN as a global affairs analyst.

    Reza “Robin” Shahini
    July 11, 2016 – San Diego resident Reza “Robin” Shahini is arrested while visiting family in Gorgan, Iran. Shahini is a dual US-Iranian citizen.

    October 2016 – Shahini is sentenced to 18 years in prison.

    February 15, 2017 – Goes on a hunger strike to protest his sentence.

    April 3, 2017 – The Center for Human Rights in Iran says Shahini has been released on bail while he awaits the ruling of the appeals court.

    July 2018 – A civil lawsuit filed against the Iranian government on Shahini’s behalf indicates that Shahini has returned to the United States.

    Xiyue Wang
    July 16, 2017 – The semi-official news agency Fars News, citing a video statement from Iranian judicial spokesman Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejheie, reports that a US citizen has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after being convicted of spying. Princeton University identifies the man as Chinese-born Xiyue Wang, an American citizen and graduate student in history. According to a university statement, Wang was arrested in Iran last summer while doing scholarly research in connection with his Ph.D. dissertation.

    December 7, 2019 – The White House announces that Wang has been released and is returning to the United States. Iran released Wang in a prisoner swap, in coordination with the United States freeing an Iranian scientist named Massoud Soleimani.

    Michael White
    January 8, 2019 – Michael White’s mother, Joanne White, tells CNN she reported him missing when he failed to return to work in California in July, after traveling to Iran to visit his girlfriend.

    January 9, 2019 – Bahram Ghasemi, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, says White “was arrested in the city of Mashhad a while ago, and within a few days after his arrest the US government was informed of the arrest through the Swiss Embassy in Tehran.” Ghasemi denies allegations that White, a US Navy veteran, has been mistreated in prison.

    March 2019 – White is handed a 13-year prison sentence on charges of insulting Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and for publicly posting private images, according to his attorney Mark Zaid.

    March 19, 2020 – White is released into the custody of the Swiss Embassy on medical furlough. One condition of his release is that he must stay in Iran.

    June 4, 2020 – White is released, according to White’s mother and a person familiar with the negotiations.

    Baquer and Siamak Namazi
    October 2015 – Siamak Namazi, a Dubai-based businessman with dual US and Iranian citizenship, is detained while visiting relatives in Tehran.

    February 2016 – Baquer Namazi, a former UNICEF official and father of Siamak Namazi, is detained, his wife Effie Namazi says on Facebook. He is an Iranian-American.

    October 2016 – The men are sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined $4.8 million, according to Iran’s official news channel IRINN. Iran officials say five people were convicted and sentenced for “cooperating with Iran’s enemies,” a government euphemism that usually implies cooperating with the United States.

    January 28, 2018 – Baquer Namazi is granted a four-day leave by the Iranian government, after being discharged from an Iranian hospital. Namazi’s family say the 81-year-old was rushed to the hospital on January 15 after a severe drop in his blood pressure, an irregular heartbeat and serious depletion of energy. This was the fourth time Namazi had been transferred to a hospital in the last year. In September, he underwent emergency heart surgery to install a pacemaker.

    February 2018 – Baquer Namazi is released on temporary medical furlough.

    February 2020 – Iran’s Revolutionary Court commutes Baquer Namazi’s sentence to time served and the travel ban on him is lifted.

    May 2020 – According to the family, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) places a new travel ban on Baquer Namazi, preventing him from leaving the country.

    October 26, 2021 – Baquer Namazi undergoes surgery to clear a “life-threatening blockage in one of the main arteries to his brain, which was discovered late last month,” his lawyer says in a statement.

    October 1, 2022 – Baquer Namazi is released from detention and is permitted to leave Iran “to seek medical treatment abroad,” according to a statement from UN Secretary General spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric.

    March 9, 2023 – Siamak Namazi makes a plea to President Joe Biden to put the “liberty of innocent Americans above politics” and ramp up efforts to secure his release, in an interview with CNN from inside Iran’s Evin prison.

    September 18, 2023 – Siamak Namazi is freed, along with four other Americans as part of a wider deal that includes the United States unfreezing $6 billion in Iranian funds.

    North Korea

    Kenneth Bae
    December 11, 2012 – US officials confirm that American citizen Kenneth Bae has been detained in North Korea for over a month.

    April 30, 2013 – North Korea’s Supreme Court sentences Bae to 15 years of hard labor for “hostile acts” against the country.

    October 11, 2013 – Bae meets with his mother in North Korea.

    January 20, 2014 – A statement is released in which Bae says that he had committed a “serious crime” against North Korea. Any statement made by Bae in captivity is sanctioned by the North Korean government. The country has a long history of forcing false confessions.

    February 7, 2014 – The State Department announces that Bae has been moved from a hospital to a labor camp.

    November 8, 2014 – The State Department announces that Bae and Matthew Miller have been released and are on their way home.

    Jeffrey Fowle
    June 6, 2014 – North Korea announces it has detained US citizen Jeffrey Edward Fowle, who entered the country as a tourist in April. Fowle was part of a tour group and was detained in mid-May after leaving a bible in a restaurant.

    June 30, 2014 – North Korea says that it plans to prosecute Fowle and another detained American tourist, Matthew Miller, accusing them of “perpetrating hostile acts.”

    October 21, 2014 – A senior State Department official tells CNN that Fowle has been released and is on his way home.

    Aijalon Gomes
    January 25, 2010 – Aijalon Mahli Gomes, of Boston, is detained in North Korea after crossing into the country illegally from China.

    April 7, 2010 – He is sentenced to eight years of hard labor and ordered to pay a fine of 70 million North Korean won or approximately $600,000.

    July 10, 2010 – Gomes is hospitalized after attempting to commit suicide.

    August 25-27, 2010 – Former US President Jimmy Carter arrives in North Korea, with hopes of negotiating for Gomes’ release.

    August 27, 2010 – Carter and Gomes leave Pyongyang after Gomes is granted amnesty for humanitarian purposes.

    Kim Dong Chul
    October 2015 – Kim Dong Chul, a naturalized American citizen, is taken into custody after allegedly meeting a source to obtain a USB stick and camera used to gather military secrets. In January 2016, Kim is given permission to speak with CNN by North Korean officials and asks that the United States or South Korea rescue him.

    March 25, 2016 – A North Korean official tells CNN that Kim has confessed to espionage charges.

    April 29, 2016 – A North Korean official tells CNN that Kim has been sentenced to 10 years of hard labor for subversion and espionage.

    May 9, 2018 – Trump announces that Kim Dong Chul, Kim Hak-song and Kim Sang Duk, also known as Tony Kim, appear to be in good health and are returning to the United States with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

    May 10, 2018 – The three freed American detainees arrive at Joint Base Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.

    Kim Hak-song
    May 7, 2017 – The state-run Korean Central News Agency reports that US citizen Kim Hak-song was detained in North Korea on May 6 on suspicion of “hostile acts” against the regime. The regime describes Kim as “a man who was doing business in relation to the operation of Pyongyang University of Science and Technology.”

    May 9, 2018 – Trump announces that Kim Hak-song, Kim Dong Chul and Kim Sang Duk, also known as Tony Kim, appear to be in good health and are returning to the United States with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

    May 10, 2018 – The three freed American detainees arrive at Joint Base Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.

    Kim Sang Duk
    April 22, 2017 – US citizen Kim Sang Duk, also known as Tony Kim, is detained by authorities at Pyongyang International Airport for unknown reasons. Kim taught for several weeks at Pyongyang University of Science and Technology.

    May 3, 2017 – State-run Korean Central News Agency reports that Kim is accused of attempting to overthrow the government.

    May 9, 2018 – Trump announces that Tony Kim, Kim Hak-song and Kim Dong Chul appear to be in good health and are returning to the United States with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

    May 10, 2018 – The three freed American detainees arrive at Joint Base Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.

    Euna Lee and Laura Ling
    March 2009 – Journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling are arrested while reporting from the border between North Korea and China for California-based Current Media.

    June 4, 2009 – They are sentenced to 12 years in prison on charges of entering the country illegally to conduct a smear campaign.

    August 4, 2009 – Former US President Bill Clinton travels to Pyongyang on a private humanitarian mission to help secure their release.

    August 5, 2009 – Lee and Ling are pardoned and released.

    Matthew Miller
    April 25, 2014 – North Korea’s news agency reports that Matthew Todd Miller was taken into custody on April 10. According to KCNA, Miller entered North Korea seeking asylum and tour up his tourist visa.

    June 30, 2014 – North Korea says that it plans to prosecute Miller and another detained American tourist, Jeffrey Fowle, accusing them of “perpetrating hostile acts.”

    September 14, 2014 – According to state-run media, Miller is convicted of committing “acts hostile” to North Korea and sentenced to six years of hard labor.

    November 8, 2014 – The State Department announces Miller and Kenneth Bae have been released and are on their way home.

    Merrill Newman
    October 26, 2013 – Merrill Newman of Palo Alto, California, is detained in North Korea, according to his family. Just minutes before his plane is to depart, Newman is removed from the flight by North Korean authorities, his family says.

    November 22, 2013 – The US State Department says North Korea has confirmed to Swedish diplomats that it is holding an American citizen. The State Department has declined to confirm the identity of the citizen, citing privacy issues, but the family of Newman says the Korean War veteran and retired financial consultant has been detained since October.

    November 30, 2013 – KCNA reports Newman issued an apology to the people of North Korea, “After I killed so many civilians and (North Korean) soldiers and destroyed strategic objects in the DPRK during the Korean War, I committed indelible offensive acts against the DPRK government and Korean people.” His statement ends: “If I go back to (the) USA, I will tell the true features of the DPRK and the life the Korean people are leading.”

    December 7, 2013 – Newman returns to the United States, arriving at San Francisco International Airport. North Korea’s state news agency reports Newman was released for “humanitarian” reasons.

    Eddie Yong Su Jun
    April 14, 2011 – The KCNA reports that US citizen Eddie Yong Su Jun was arrested in November 2010 and has been under investigation for committing a crime against North Korea. No details are provided on the alleged crime.

    May 27, 2011 – Following a visit from the US delegation which includes the special envoy for North Korean human rights, Robert King, and the Deputy Assistant Administrator of the US Agency for International Development, Jon Brause, to North Korea, Yong Su Jun is released.

    Otto Frederick Warmbier
    January 2, 2016 – Otto Frederick Warmbier, a University of Virginia college student, is detained in North Korea after being accused of a “hostile act” against the government.

    February 29, 2016 – The North Korean government releases a video of Warmbier apologizing for committing, in his own words, “the crime of taking down a political slogan from the staff holding area of the Yanggakdo International Hotel.” It is not known if Warmbier was forced to speak.

    March 16, 2016 – Warmbier is sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for crimes against the state, a North Korean official tells CNN.

    June 13, 2017 – Warmbier is transported back to the United States via medevac flight to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. There, doctors say that he has suffered severe brain damage. Doctors say Warmbier shows no current signs of botulism, which North Korean officials claim he contracted after his trial.

    June 19, 2017 – Warmbier’s family issues a statement that he has died.

    April 26, 2018 – Warmbier’s parents file a wrongful death lawsuit against the North Korean government charging that the country’s regime tortured and killed their son, according to lawyers for the family.

    December 24, 2018 – A federal judge in Washington awards Warmbier’s parents more than half a billion dollars in the wrongful death suit against the North Korean government. North Korea did not respond to the lawsuit – the opinion was rendered as a so-called “default judgment” – and the country has no free assets in the US for which the family could make a claim.

    Russia

    Trevor Reed
    2019 – While visiting a longtime girlfriend, Trevor Reed is taken into custody after a night of heavy drinking according to state-run news agency TASS and Reed’s family. Police tell state-run news agency RIA-Novosti that Reed was involved in an altercation with two women and a police unit that arrived at the scene following complaints of a disturbance. Police allege Reed resisted arrest, attacked the driver, hit another policeman, caused the car to swerve by grabbing the wheel and created a hazardous situation on the road, RIA stated.

    July 30, 2020 – Reed is sentenced to nine years in prison for endangering “life and health” of Russian police officers.

    April 1, 2021 – The parents of Reed reveal that their son served as a Marine presidential guard under the Obama administration – a fact they believe led Russia to target him.

    April 27, 2022 – Reed is released in a prisoner swap.

    June 14, 2022 – Reed tells CNN that he has filed a petition with the United Nations (UN), declaring that Russia violated international law with his detention and poor treatment.

    Brittney Griner
    February 17, 2022 – Two-time Olympic basketball gold medalist and WBNA star Brittney Griner is taken into custody following a customs screening at Sheremetyevo Airport. Russian authorities said Griner had cannabis oil in her luggage and accused her of smuggling significant amounts of a narcotic substance, an offense the Russian government says is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

    July 7, 2022 – Griner pleads guilty to drug charges in a Russian court.

    August 4, 2022 – Griner is found guilty of drug smuggling with criminal intent and sentenced by a Russian court to 9 years of jail time with a fine of one million rubles (roughly $16,400).

    October 25, 2022 – At an appeal hearing, a Russian judge leaves Griner’s verdict in place, upholding her conviction on drug smuggling charges and reducing only slightly her nine-year prison sentence.

    November 9, 2022 – Griner’s attorney tells CNN she is being moved to a Russian penal colony where she is due to serve the remainder of her sentence.

    December 8, 2022 – US President Biden announces that Griner has been released from Russian detention and is on her way home.

    Turkey

    Serkan Golge
    July 2016 – While on vacation in Turkey, Serkan Golge is arrested and accused of having links to the Gulenist movement. Golge is a 37-year-old NASA physicist who holds dual Turkish-US citizenship.

    February 8, 2018 – Golge is sentenced to 7.5 years in prison.

    September 2018 – A Turkish court reduces Golge’s prison sentence to five years.

    May 29, 2019 – The State Department announces that Golge has been released.

    Andrew Brunson
    October 2016 – Andrew Brunson, a North Carolina native, is arrested in Izmir on Turkey’s Aegean coast, where he is pastor at the Izmir Resurrection Church. Brunson, an evangelical Presbyterian pastor, is later charged with plotting to overthrow the Turkish government, disrupting the constitutional order and espionage.

    March 2018 – A formal indictment charges Brunson with espionage and having links to terrorist organizations.

    October 12, 2018 – Brunson is sentenced to three years and one month in prison but is released based on time served.

    Venezuela

    Timothy Hallett Tracy
    April 24, 2013 – Timothy Hallett Tracy, of Los Angeles, is arrested at the Caracas airport, according to Reporters Without Borders. Tracy traveled to Venezuela to make a documentary about the political division gripping the country.

    April 25, 2013 – In a televised address, newly elected President Nicolas Maduro says he ordered the arrest of Tracy for “financing violent groups.”

    April 27, 2013 – Tracy is formally charged with conspiracy, association for criminal purposes and use of a false document.

    June 5, 2013 – Tracy is released from prison and expelled from Venezuela.

    Joshua Holt
    May 26, 2018 – Joshua Holt and his Venezuelan wife, Thamara Holt, are released by Venezuela. The two had been imprisoned there since 2016. The American traveled to Venezuela to marry Thamara in 2016, and shortly afterward was accused by the Venezuelan government of stockpiling weapons and attempting to destabilize the government. He was held for almost two years with no trial.

    “Citgo 6”

    November 2017 – After arriving in Caracas, Venezuela, for an impromptu business meeting, Tomeu Vadell and five other Citgo executives – Gustavo Cardenas, Jorge Toledo, Alirio Zambrano, Jose Luis Zambrano and Jose Angel Pereira – are arrested and detained on embezzlement and corruption charges. Citgo is the US subsidiary of the Venezuelan oil and natural gas company PDVSA. Five of the six men are US citizens; one is a US legal permanent resident.

    December 2019 – The “Citgo 6” are transferred from the detention facility, where they have been held without trial for more than two years, to house arrest.

    February 5, 2020 – They are moved from house arrest into prison, hours after Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido met with US President Donald Trump

    July 30, 2020 – Two of the men – Cárdenas and Toledo – are released on house arrest after a humanitarian visit to Caracas by former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and a team of non-government negotiators.

    November 27, 2020 – The six oil executives are found guilty and are given sentences between 8 to 13 years in prison.

    April 30, 2021 – The men are released from prison to house arrest.

    October 16, 2021 – The “Citgo 6,” all under house arrest, are picked up by the country’s intelligence service SEBIN, just hours after the extradition of Alex Saab, a Colombian financier close to Maduro.

    March 8, 2022 – Cardenas is one of two detainees released from prison. The other, Jorge Alberto Fernandez, a Cuban-US dual citizen detained in Venezuela since February 2021, was accused of terrorism for carrying a small domestic drone. The releases take place after a quiet trip to Caracas by a US government delegation.

    October 1, 2022 – US President Biden announces the release and return of Toledo, Vadell, Alirio Zambrano, Jose Luis Zambrano, and Pereira.

    Matthew Heath

    September 2020 – Is arrested and charged with terrorism in Venezuela.

    June 20, 2022 – Family of Heath state that he has attempted suicide. “We are aware of reports that a US citizen was hospitalized in Venezuela,” a State Department spokesperson says. “Due to privacy considerations, we have no further comment.”

    October 1, 2022 – US President Biden announces the release and return of Heath.

    Airan Berry and Luke Denman

    May 4, 2020 – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro says two American “mercenaries” have been apprehended after a failed coup attempt to capture and remove him. Madura identifies the captured Americans as Luke Denman, 34, and Airan Berry, 41. On state television, Maduro brandishes what he claims are the US passports and driver’s licenses of the two men, along with what he says are their ID cards for Silvercorp, a Florida-based security services company.

    May 5, 2020 – Denman appears on Venezuelan state TV. He is shown looking directly at the camera recounting his role in “helping Venezuelans take back control of their country.”

    August 7, 2020 – Prosecutors announce that Berry and Denman have been sentenced to 20 years in prison.

    December 20, 2023 – It is announced that the US has reached an agreement to secure the release of 10 Americans, including Berry and Denman, held in Venezuela.

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  • 9 Travel Hacks That Will Save You Time and Money | Entrepreneur

    9 Travel Hacks That Will Save You Time and Money | Entrepreneur

    For even the most frequent traveler, tackling busy air travel can be an exercise in extreme patience and frustration. Having an arsenal of airport and airline flight hacks can be the difference between a smooth and turbulent journey.

    So we spoke to Megan Gougeon, founder of the Portable Professional, a popular YouTube travel vlog with 102,000 subscribers. Gougeon has taken more than 300 flights and worked remotely from 50 countries, so she knows her way around airports and an airplane.

    “My videos are all about helping travelers feel confident and capable so they can turn every aspect of their trip, from packing to airport navigation to the flight itself, into an enjoyable and stress-free experience,” she says.

    Here are nine travel hacks to make your next trip cheaper and hassle-free.

    Related: 6 Secret Tools for Flying First Class (Without Paying Full Price)

    1. Turn left at the TSA line

    Waiting in long lines to clear security can be a hassle. Some services allow for expedited airport security, such as TSA PreCheck or CLEAR, but they cost money and require you to complete a lengthy application beforehand. Savvy travelers know that another solution to avoid longer lines is to always turn left at the security checkpoint. Why?

    “Most people are right-handed and tend to veer to the right naturally. This means the left line might be shorter and faster,” Gougeon explains.

    2. Don’t buy water at the airport

    After clearing security, many thirsty travelers feel compelled to buy bottled water at the airport to manage the dry cabin air — a big mistake. Thanks to a monopoly by certain water companies at airports, the cost of a 20-ounce water bottle can be anywhere from $2.50 to $5.

    Gougeon suggests bringing a collapsable water bottle and filling it up for free at water fountains after passing through security. Another trick: You can ask the staff at Starbucks or one of the coffee shops to refill your water bottle.

    3. Wear layers

    What do you do if your carry-on luggage is too large or heavy to take on the flight? Gougeon recommends wearing heavier items on the flight and then stashing them away in an overhead compartment if you’re too warm. Another hack is to pack an extra shopping back in your luggage. Use it to carry additional items you must remove from your bag. Most airlines will let you board with a carry-on, backpack and shopping bag.

    4. Mark your luggage as “fragile”

    Putting a “Fragile” sticker on your luggage encourages baggage handlers to treat it more carefully. “This might also lead to your bag being placed on top of others, potentially resulting in it being among the first to come out at baggage claim,” Bougeon says.

    Related: Boomer Women Are Leaving Their Husbands Behind to Travel Solo — Here’s What’s Behind the Unprecedented Trend

    5. No power? No problem.

    We’ve all been there. We get to the airport, and our phones or computers cling to 8% battery power. Most airport waiting areas have charging stations with USB charging ports. But what if you forgot to pack a charging cord, or it’s in the bag you already checked? Gougeon recommends you head to the airport’s lost and found. “Travelers leave their chargest behind all the time, and they probably have one you can borrow,” Gougeon says.

    6. Don’t book an Uber or Lyft from the airport

    “It’s often more expensive to book an Uber or Lyft directly from the airport due to additional airport service charges. Walking a short distance from the airport before booking your ride can help you avoid these fees,” Gougeon says.

    7. Check these sites before you travel

    According to Gougeon, you should check several sites before traveling to get the most bang for your buck.

    • SeatGuru offers detailed airplane seating advice specific to the exact plane you are flying on.
    • Sleeping in Airports is excellent for finding airport amenities, gates and the best sleeping spots.
    • Expert Flyer provides real-time notifications on seat availability, which is especially useful for those looking to snag a more comfortable seat or wanting to monitor the availability of flights for potential changes or upgrades.

    8. The best seats for working and sleeping

    If you want to sleep, try a window seat at the back of the plane, Gougeon says. “It’s usually quieter and less crowded there, so you might get more space or even a whole row to yourself. Plus, the window gives you something to lean on.” She recommends picking the side of the plane that matches where you usually rest your head to sleep.

    If you plan on working during the flight, Gougeon suggests an aisle seat in the middle of the plane. It’s smoother flying over the wings, and you can stretch your arms into the aisle to make working on your laptop easier.

    9. Get access to airport lounges for cheap

    Most major airline hubs in the U.S. have airline lounges that offer ample seating, plenty of desk space and free food, coffee and WiFi. Some even had showers and napping spots. However, access to these lounges can cost anywhere from $99 to $499 a year. Some credit cards offer complimentary or discounted lounge access, so double-check yours. Gougeon also suggests “looking for discounted lounge passes on online marketplaces like Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist.”

    Related: I Tried the Semi-Private Air Carrier That Lets You Arrive 20 Minutes Before Your Flight. Here’s What It Was Like — And How to Do It Affordably.

    Photo courtesy of Megan Gougeon

    Jonathan Small

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  • Heavy snowfall hits Moscow as Russian media report disruption on roads and at airports

    Heavy snowfall hits Moscow as Russian media report disruption on roads and at airports

    MOSCOW (AP) — Heavy snowfall has hit the Russian capital, disrupting traffic on roads and flights in and out of three Moscow airports, officials and media reported on Monday.

    The snowfall that began Sunday and continued overnight has brought an additional 23 centimeters (nine inches) to already high levels of snow in Moscow, according to deputy mayor Pyotr Biryukov. About 135,000 people and 18,000 pieces of equipment were involved in the snow-clearing effort.

    Nearly 200 trucks got stuck in the snow over the past 24 hours, and required assistance from road traffic workers, the Moscow transport department reported.

    A total of 53 flights were delayed and five more were canceled on Monday morning in three out of four Moscow airports, Russian business daily Vedomosti reported. Most of the delays occurred at the Sheremetyevo airport north of the capital. The two airports to the south, Domodedovo and Vnukovo, also experienced delays, the report said. At the Zhukovsky airport southeast of the city, flights were departing from Moscow on schedule, according to Vedomosti.

    Heavy snow, as well as temperatures below -50 C (-58 F), were also reported in the Siberian region of Yakutia. In the neighboring region of Magadan, similar temperatures were expected in the coming days.

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  • Israeli President Herzog endorses Macron’s plan for a coalition to fight Hamas

    Israeli President Herzog endorses Macron’s plan for a coalition to fight Hamas

    Paul Ronzheimer is the deputy editor-in-chief of BILD and a senior journalist reporting for Axel Springer, the parent company of POLITICO. 

    Israel’s President Isaac Herzog has backed French President Emmanuel Macron’s plan for a joint coalition to fight Hamas.

    “I like Macron’s idea. I thought it was innovative, original, it makes sense,” Herzog told Axel Springer, POLITICO’s parent company. Referring to Hamas, Herzog added that “this threat must be eradicated by a major effort of the international community such as they’ve done to ISIS.”

    During Macron’s visit to Israel last week, the French leader suggested the remit of the international coalition fighting the Islamic State terror group should be widened to fight Hamas. “We should build a regional and international coalition to battle against terrorist groups that threaten us all,” he said.

    Macron’s office took a more cautious stance following the president’s comments, however, underlining that France was ready to “work on ideas of action against Hamas, with our partners and Israel.”

    But Herzog endorsed Macron’s suggestion, saying that it would allow allies to show active support. “There is a coalition fighting ISIS, now we have to analyze if it can be replicated also for fighting Hamas — it makes a lot of sense. It’s a test for all friends to show that they’re willing also to work on it,” Herzog said in an interview. 

    Israel has been gradually increasing its troop numbers in the Gaza Strip, as part of what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the “second stage of the war” without referring to a ground invasion.

    “We are operating in Gaza,” Herzog said. “It’s no secret we are operating in order to destroy their [Hamas’] military infrastructure, we’re also putting a top priority on bringing back the hostages. We’re working in parallel. That’s what I can comment right now, and our soldiers are doing what they need to do in order to protect our people,” Herzog said.

    Herzog also warned of antisemitic protests turning violent, in the wake of a huge crowd storming the main airport in the Russian region of Dagestan to protest the arrival of a plane from Israel. This was “shocking” and “extremely worrying,” Herzog said about the incident in which 20 people were injured, and 60 were arrested.

    It is “something that all governments should be very much on alert” for, he said, adding that it was “purely antisemitic, and of course instigated.”

    On Monday, the mother of Shani Louk, an Israeli-German woman thought to have been kidnapped by Hamas fighters at a music festival in Israel, said her daughter is dead.

    “They found her skull, which means these barbaric sadistic animals simply chopped off her head when they were attacking and torturing and killing Israelis, it’s a huge tragedy,” Herzog said.

    Paul Ronzheimer and Laura Hülsemann

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  • MI5 considers raising UK terror threat level

    MI5 considers raising UK terror threat level

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    LONDON — British intelligence chiefs are considering putting the U.K. on high alert for a terrorist attack, as tensions rise around the world after the outbreak of war between Hamas and Israel.

    According to people familiar with the matter, officials are weighing up whether to raise the government’s terrorism alert level to “critical,” the maximum state of vigilance.

    The current level is set at “substantial,” which means an attack is “likely,” according to the government’s definitions. Raising it two levels to “critical” would mean that intelligence and security services regard an attack as “highly likely in the near future.”

    No final decision has been taken, according to the people, who discussed sensitive security matters on condition of anonymity. The level could also remain the same or be raised one notch to “severe.”

    Security officials across the West have been assessing the threat of violence inspired by the October 7 Hamas attacks in Israel, as well as by Israeli reprisals in Gaza. Europe has already seen two fatal attacks in recent days.

    France raised its security level after an attacker last week fatally stabbed a teacher and seriously wounded two others. Earlier this week, two Swedish citizens were killed in Brussels in a terror attack; the suspect was subsequently shot dead by police.

    The U.K.’s national threat level system is designed to give a broad indication of the likelihood of a terrorist attack, and is set by the government’s Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre and security service MI5.

    The country’s threat level was last rated as “critical” in September 2017 following a bomb attack on the London underground. It has been at “substantial” since 2019.

    When deciding whether to raise the threat level, officials sometimes have specific information about potential attacks, but consider a range of intelligence as well. They also look at likely targets, the scale of any potential plot, and whether an attack appears imminent.

    Speaking this week before a summit of intelligence chiefs in California, MI5 chief Ken McCallum said there “clearly is the possibility that profound events in the Middle East will either generate more volume of U.K. threat, and/or change its shape in terms of what is being targeted.”

    A higher terror threat level would prompt increased security activity such as more meticulous bag searches and checks at airports. The public would be asked to remain vigilant and report suspicious activity, but would not be expected to take any other action.

    Tim Ross and Andrew McDonald

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  • Record rain in New York City generates ‘life-threatening’ flooding, overwhelming streets and subways | CNN

    Record rain in New York City generates ‘life-threatening’ flooding, overwhelming streets and subways | CNN



    CNN
     — 

    Record-setting rain overwhelmed New York City’s sewer system Friday, sending a surge of floodwater coursing through streets and into basements, schools, subways and vehicles throughout the nation’s most populous city.

    The water rose fast and furious, catching some commuters off guard as they slogged through Friday morning’s rush hour. First responders jumped into action where needed, plucking people from stranded cars and basements filling like bathtubs.

    More rain fell in a single day at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport – nearly 8 inches – than any other since 1948. A month’s worth of rain fell in Brooklyn in just three hours as it was socked by some of the storm’s most intense rainfall rates Friday morning.

    Track travel delays: NYC airports hammered with heavy rain and flooding

    The prolific totals are a symptom of climate change, scientists say, with a warmer atmosphere acting like a massive sponge, able to sop up more water vapor and then wring it out in intense spurts which can easily overwhelm outdated flood protections.

    “Overall, as we know, this changing weather pattern is the result of climate change,” Rohit Aggarwala, New York City’s Chief Climate Officer said in a Friday morning news conference. “And the sad reality is our climate is changing faster than our infrastructure can respond.”

    A widespread 3 to 6 inches of rain had fallen across the New York City by late Friday afternoon. More rain was set to fall through the evening and then gradually taper off.

    New York Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency for New York City, Long Island and the Hudson Valley Friday morning as the worst of the flooding hit. In an interview with New York’s WNBC-TV, she urged residents to stay home because of widespread dangerous travel conditions.

    “This is a very challenging weather event,” Hochul said. “This a life-threatening event. And I need all New Yorkers to heed that warning so we can keep them safe.” New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy also declared a state of emergency for his state Friday afternoon.

    Firefighters performed rescues at six basements in New York City flooded by torrents of water, according to the New York City Fire Department.

    The water also found its way into 150 of New York City’s 1,400 schools, which remained open on Friday, New York City school chancellor David Banks said at a news briefing.

    One school in Brooklyn evacuated when floodwater caused the school’s boiler to smoke, he said.

    “Our kids are safe and we continue to monitor the situation,” Banks said.

    Floodwater spilled into subways and onto railways and caused “major disruptions,” including suspensions of service on 10 train lines in Brooklyn and all three Metro-North train lines. Gov. Hochul said the city was deploying additional buses to help fill the gap caused by the train outages.

    Limited service resumed by Friday evening on the Metro-North lines. And the Metropolitan Transportation Authority fully restored service on seven subway lines by Friday evening, according to Demetrius Crichlow, senior vice president of the New York City Transit Department of Subways.

    “Today was just not an easy day for us but like New Yorkers, we are resilient, we continue to press on,” Crichlow said.

    MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said Friday evening one of three Metro-North Railroad lines was back up and running – the Hudson line – and noted the Long Island Railroad also has good service. The MTA also said it is working to restore limited service to the remaining two lines on Friday night.

    Air travel didn’t fair any better. Flight delays hit all three New York City area airports Friday. Flooding inside the historic Marine Air Terminal in New York’s LaGuardia Airport forced it to close temporarily. The terminal, which is the airport’s smallest and serves Spirit and Frontier airlines, was open again Friday night.

    By late Friday, flood watches had expired for the region except in Suffolk County on Long Island in New York and parts of northwestern and southern Connecticut, where watches were set to be in effect until Saturday morning.

    A police officer from the NYPD Highway Patrol oversees a flooded street on Friday.
    A person carries sandbags on a flooded sidewalk in Hoboken, New Jersey, on Friday.

    The extreme rainfall rates produced prolific totals:

    • In Brooklyn: A month’s worth of rain, up to 4.5 inches, fell in only 3 hours on Friday morning, according to National Weather Service data. This three-hour rainfall total is only expected about once every 100 years in Brooklyn, according to NOAA estimates.

    • In Manhattan: Nearly 2 inches of rain fell in one hour in Central Park, the second-wettest hour there in 80 years. More than 5 inches of rain have fallen there so far.

    • In Queens: It’s the wettest day on record at John F. Kennedy International Airport, preliminary data from the National Weather Service shows. At least 7.88 inches of rain has fallen there since midnight.

    Correction: A previous version of this story misstated when the NYC travel advisory went into effect. It was 2 a.m. ET.

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  • These Airports Are the Highest Rated by J.D. Power in 2023 | Entrepreneur

    These Airports Are the Highest Rated by J.D. Power in 2023 | Entrepreneur

    Despite ongoing challenges in the airline industry due to increased traveler volume, pilot shortages, and weather-related disruptions, overall passenger satisfaction at North American airports increased by 3 points on a 1,000-point scale in 2023, according to a new report.

    The annual J.D. Power 2023 North America Airport Satisfaction Study, which compiled responses from over 27,000 individuals from the U.S. and Canada, found that the three-point increase to 780 from 773 last year was mainly driven by better terminal facilities, food and beverage services, retail services, and baggage claim experiences.

    “It has not been an easy year for North American airports, but major capital improvements they’ve made over the last several years and new investments in getting food, beverage and retail operations back up and running at full capacity have helped them manage the crush of passengers,” Michael Taylor, managing director of travel, hospitality and retail at J.D. Power, said in the report.

    Despite the improvement, elbow room remains a challenge for airports, with 60% of travelers reporting severe or moderate crowding within the terminals.

    Related: Airline Industry Executives Warn of Prolonged Air Travel Disruptions—For At Least Another 5 Years

    The study also found that satisfied passengers tend to spend more money at airports, with those who rate their experience as “delighted” spending an average of $44 in the terminal, compared to $29 for those who rate their experience as “disappointed.”

    Where are the best airports in North America?

    As for which airports rank the highest, J.D. Power named Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport No. 1 for traveler satisfaction with a score of 800 on a 1000-point scale, followed by Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport (796), and Harry Reid International Airport (787) In Las Vegas. The study ranks the top 20 “mega airports” (classified by the study as hubs with 33 million or more passengers annually) in North America.

    Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport had the highest customer satisfaction rating for North American airports in 2023. Walter Bibikow | Getty Images.

    The study collected 27,147 surveys from U.S. and Canadian travelers who rated their experiences at North American airports for both departures and arrivals, conducted between August 2022 and July 2023.

    Here are the top 10 North American mega airports with the highest traveler satisfaction rates on a 1000-point scale, according to the report.

    1. Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport

    Customer satisfaction: 800

    2. Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport

    Customer satisfaction: 796

    3. Harry Reid International Airport

    Customer satisfaction: 787

    4. Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport

    Customer satisfaction: 783

    5. Miami International Airport

    Customer satisfaction: 783

    6. San Francisco International Airport

    Customer satisfaction: 781

    7. Denver International Airport

    Customer satisfaction: 777

    8. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport

    Customer satisfaction: 777

    9. Orlando International Airport

    Customer satisfaction: 777

    10. George Bush Intercontinental Airport

    Customer satisfaction: 776

    You can view the full list, here.

    Madeline Garfinkle

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  • Airlines Want to Keep the Boarding Process Long — Here’s Why | Entrepreneur

    Airlines Want to Keep the Boarding Process Long — Here’s Why | Entrepreneur

    Nowadays, it feels like every step at the airport takes longer, including boarding the plane.

    In fact, it tends to be one of the more aggravating and arduous parts of air travel — but airlines have figured out how to monetize the process, and they’re not eager to overhaul it anytime soon, CNBC reported.

    Related: A ‘Very Frustrating’ Issue Could Thwart Your Summer Air Travel

    It took about 15 minutes to board a plane in the 1970s; now, it takes 30 to 40 minutes to board roughly 140 passengers on a domestic flight, according to research by Boeing, The New York Times reported.

    And airlines are cashing in on longer boarding times thanks to loyalty programs, which often allow passengers to board ahead of those without priority. The share of revenue generated by loyalty programs increased to 16% in 2021 from about 12% in 2019, Reuters reported.

    Last year, Delta saw $5.7 billion in cash sales from American Express and other partners, and American Airlines raked in $4.5 billion in cash payments from its partners including Citi and Barclays, according to the outlet.

    “The different boarding groups that we see today have emerged because people value their priority in boarding,” Kerry Philipovitch, former senior vice president of customer service at American Airlines, told CNBC. “So airlines are using that to generate more revenue and reward their best customers.”

    Related: One Airline Wants to Know How Much You Weigh. Can You Opt Out.

    Philipovitch admitted to the outlet that offering that “value” and “reward” could slow down the boarding process overall.

    Amanda Breen

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  • Thousands scramble to evacuate capital of Canada’s Northwest Territories as more than 200 ‘unprecedented’ wildfires blanket region | CNN

    Thousands scramble to evacuate capital of Canada’s Northwest Territories as more than 200 ‘unprecedented’ wildfires blanket region | CNN



    CNN
     — 

    Thousands of residents are rushing to evacuate the capital of Canada’s Northwest Territories as more than 200 fires burn, leaving many to face dangerous road conditions or stand in line for hours for desperately needed emergency flights. Evacuations were also under way in British Columbia.

    The Northwest Territories capital Yellowknife – home to about 20,000 – and several other Northwest Territories communities have been ordered to evacuate as crews battle 236 active wildfires, and a massive fire creeps toward the city and a major highway.

    The infernos in the Northwest Territories are among more than 1,000 fires burning across Canada as the country endures its worst fire season on record. Smoke from the fires has drifted into the US, bringing harmful pollution and worsening air quality.

    A little rain was possible but strong northwest and west-northwest winds could push the fire to the outskirts of Yellowknife by the weekend, according to a Facebook post from a government fire-monitoring account.

    At a Friday news briefing, Canadian leaders pledged no one would be left behind during the unprecedented evacuation from Yellowknife and getting residents out safely would continue through the weekend.

    “We’ll continue to focus on helping the most vulnerable and will be there for as long as it takes,” Defense Minister Bill Blair said.

    While most were encouraged to leave via the only road out of the community, as many as 5,000 residents had requested flights out of the city.

    Smoke continues to shroud Yellowknife, as it has for weeks, but an unpredictable wind and a raging fire, now about 10 miles from Yellowknife, forced officials to order a complete evacuation.

    However, federal officials said they were confident they could continue to protect the majority of the community from fire damage and are working on building fire breaks by clearing trees and applying fire retardant.

    In West Kelowna, officials confirmed several structures were lost in the fire, including many homes. However, officials said there were no reports of loss of life despite descriptions of harrowing rescues.

    The Canadian Armed Forces are assisting with firefighting and airlifting efforts in the Northwest Territories. The Royal Canadian Air Force has deployed several planes and helicopters to support regional emergency crews.

    The first CAF aircraft, a CC-130 J Hercules, conducted an evacuation flight Thursday and transported 79 passengers to Edmonton, the CAF said. Additional flights are scheduled for Friday.

    Incoming and outgoing commercial flights at airports in the Northwest Territories have been canceled because of the wildfires. Commercial flights in and out of Yellowknife Airport will stop after the last flight departs on Friday evening, according to an update on the government website.

    Evacuation flights will still be able to operate out of the airport as well as medical evacuations, firefighting and military-related flights, the government site said.

    More than 1,000 people were flown out of Yellowknife on emergency flights Thursday, and close to an additional 2,000 seats were available Friday, territory officials said in an online update. Many hoping to fly out Thursday stood for hours in a winding, slow-moving line only to be told they would need to try again on Friday, CNN partner CBC reports.

    People line up in Yellowknife to register for an evactuation flight on August 17.

    “We understand that this is deeply frustrating for those who have been in line for several hours and who will need to line up again tomorrow,” the territory update said. It added people who are immunocompromised, have mobility issues or have other high-risk conditions were moved up in the line.

    Officials are encouraging people to leave by car, if possible, and carpool to reduce traffic and assist those without vehicles.

    “Evacuation flights should be used as a last resort for those who do not have the option to evacuate by road,” territory officials said.

    But some driving out of the area have faced thick smoke and roadways flanked with flames. Yellowknife resident Ruoy Pineda told CNN he and his family struggled to navigate through the heavy haze after the evacuation order was announced Wednesday.

    “We were not actually fully prepared,” Pineda said. “On the road, we were all scared of what we saw ahead of us, but we keep reminding ourselves it is better to be out than stranded.”

    Pineda described the dangerous road conditions as he and others tried to flee the capital.

    “On the road you could see the fire and we were struggling because of the smoke,” he said. “The visibility on the road was very bad. We couldn’t even see if someone was ahead of us.”

    He and his family were still on the road Thursday morning and were headed to seek shelter in Edmonton, about 900 miles to the south.

    “We are very exhausted right now. We’ve barely slept and are very worried about our house in Yellowknife and if we’ll still have a home,” Pineda said.

    People line up outside a school to be evacuated in Yellowknife.

    Fires in Canada have burned more than six times more land this year when compared to the 10-year annual average, according to data from the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System.

    There have been more fires in Canada this year than compared to the 10-year average, with a 128% difference. Yet the fires appear to be spreading much wider than before, and so far this year, more than 13 million hectares have been burned – an area larger than Pennsylvania.

    The data, current as of August 9, show the 10-year average of area burned to date sits at just over 2 million hectares.

    British Columbia evacuates thousands

    Approximately 4,500 people are under evacuation orders in British Columbia due to threats from wildfires, Canadian officials said in a press conference Friday.

    “People who choose to ignore evacuation orders put themselves and emergency personnel at risk,” said Bowinn Ma, the province’s Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness.

    Another 23,500 people in British Columbia are under evacuation alerts, which means they must be prepared to evacuate immediately if an order is issued, Ma said.

    Some fires have reached over 400 feet tall and are moving “faster than we can effectively put firefighting resources on them,” said Cliff Chapman, director of provincial operations for BC Wildfire Service.

    “There is very little that response tactics can do with these winds and that type of fire behavior,” Chapman said.

    The McDougall Creek fire near West Kelowna has experienced “significant growth” in the past 12 hours and currently spans more than 6,000 hectares, he said.

    Kelowna International Airport closed to commercial flights to allow space for fire fighting activity to take place, according to a news release from the airport.

    British Columbia has more than 360 active fires – more than any other Canadian province, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre. The forecast winds and lightning may cause fires to move and grow quickly, officials have warned. Chapman said that lightning has been the primary cause of new fires.

    Nearly 60 evacuation orders were in effect across the province Thursday, the British Columbia Wildfire Service said.

    Among the displaced are residents of at least 4,800 properties who were ordered to evacuate in the province’s West Kelowna area on Wednesday and Thursday as the McDougall Creek fire advanced, local emergency officials announced.

    A state of emergency has been declared in Kelowna, as crews are combating spot fires coming from across the Central Okanagan Lake, stemming from the McDougall Creek fire, according to a news release Friday.

    Video taken by resident Todd Ramsay shows a lake rimmed by large hills engulfed in a wall of fire.

    “Absolutely devastating,” Ramsay said of the devastation in a Facebook post. “The fire jumped the lake and was right behind our house.”

    Ramsay said he was eventually able to evacuate to safety.

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  • Russia downs 3 drones over Moscow, in 6th straight day of attacks

    Russia downs 3 drones over Moscow, in 6th straight day of attacks

    Russia said it shot down three Ukrainian drones flying toward Moscow and its surrounding regions on Wednesday, in the sixth consecutive day of attacks on the capital region.

    In the early hours of Wednesday morning, Russian air defense systems shot down two drones over the Mozhaisk and Khimki districts, the country’s defense ministry said on Telegram. A third drone was jammed with electronic warfare and lost control, hitting a building under construction in the Moscow City district. According to the ministry, there were no casualties.

    “City emergency services are inspecting the area in the perimeter of the City for the consequences of the strike,” Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on his Telegram channel. “Several windows in two neighboring five-story buildings were blown out.”

    Russian state-owned media outlet RIA Novosti reported that the third drone damaged the glazing of a Moscow tower and windows on two floors of a residential building. Wreckage of the drone that fell over the Khimki region also caused minor damage to a private house and a non-residential building.

    Russia accused Kyiv of attempting to carry out a “terrorist attack,” but Ukraine did not immediately comment on the attacks or claim responsibility.

    RIA also reported that air traffic at Moscow’s Vnukovo, Domodedovo and Sheremetyevo airports was disrupted, with several delays and cancelations. Air traffic later returned to normal, according to Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency.

    A separate drone attack in Russia’s Belgorod region near the Ukrainian border killed three people on Wednesday, the governor of the region said.

    These are the latest in a series of drone attacks that have increasingly targeted Russian territory, including its capital in recent weeks. Wednesday’s strike was the sixth straight night of aerial attacks on the Moscow region, according to AFP.

    On Wednesday, a spokesperson from the U.S. State Department said the United States does not encourage attacks inside Russian territory, but that it is Ukraine’s choice how it defends itself from Russia.

    Claudia Chiappa

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  • Russia kills two people in massive air attack on Kyiv

    Russia kills two people in massive air attack on Kyiv

    Debris from a large-scale Russian missile attack on Kyiv has killed two people and injured several more, in the largest air strike on the Ukrainian capital since spring.

    In the early hours of Wednesday morning, Russia launched 28 missiles and 16 drones, according to the Ukrainian Air Force. Ukrainian air defense forces destroyed all missiles and 15 out of the 16 drones within the regions of Kyiv, Cherkasy, Odesa, Mykolaiv and Zhytomyr.

    “Tonight, almost all enemy air targets destroyed,” Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk said on Telegram. “Thanks to all the defenders who joined in repelling the air attack!”

    Debris from the downed missiles and drones fell in the Darnytskyi and Shevchenkivskyi districts of Kyiv, killing two people and injuring three more. The two victims were security guards, aged 26 and 36 years old. Several fires broke out in the two districts, damaging nonresidential buildings.

    This was the largest strike on Kyiv in months, said Kyiv’s City Military Administration.

    “Kyiv has not experienced such a powerful attack since spring,” Sergey Popko, head of CMVA, said on Telegram. “The enemy carried out a massive, combined attack using drones and missiles.”

    Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the head of Zelenskyy’s office, called the attack on Kyiv an “unquestionably deliberate attack on the civilian population.”

    Some fires were reported outside of the city as well, in the wider Kyiv region, where several residential buildings were damaged.

    Also in the early hours of Wednesday morning, Russia said it shot down multiple attempted air strikes by Ukrainian forces over several regions.

    In the Pskov region, located on Russia’s western flank near the borders of Latvia and Estonia, several military transport aircraft caught fire as a result of the attack, reported Russian state-run news agency TASS.

    In central Russia, the Russian defense ministry said it shot down all attempted air strikes and no casualties were reported. Alexander Bogomaz, governor of the Bryansk region where seven drones were reportedly shot down, said Ukrainian forces tried to attack a TV tower in the region, without success.

    Three airports in Moscow were temporarily closed Wednesday, but the restrictions were later lifted, TASS reported.

    Moscow also said it thwarted an attack east of Snake Island in the Black Sea on Wednesday, destroying a Ukrainian high-speed military boat.

    Ukraine’s drone attacks have increasingly targeted Russian territory in recent months, including its capital, Moscow. Ukraine did not immediately comment on the attacks or claim responsibility.

    Claudia Chiappa

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  • Emergency evacuation slide from United flight falls into neighborhood near Chicago O’Hare International Airport | CNN

    Emergency evacuation slide from United flight falls into neighborhood near Chicago O’Hare International Airport | CNN



    CNN
     — 

    A United Airlines Boeing 767 plane lost its emergency evacuation slide in mid-air Monday – and it ended up in the backyard of a home near Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, officials and a witness said.

    Patrick Devitt lives in the neighborhood where the slide came down, several miles from the runways at O’Hare. He told CNN affiliate WLS his father-in-law and son were inside their home and heard a boom in their backyard around 12:15 p.m. CT. Devitt’s father-in-law walked outside, saw the slide in the backyard and told Devitt’s son to call 911.

    Devitt was on his way home from work at the time. When he got to the house, he dragged the slide from his backyard to the front of the home. He said the large piece of equipment damaged the roof of the home and a kitchen window screen, WLS reported.

    “When it’s all stretched out,” Devitt told the Chicago station, “it’s larger than a small car. It’s a very, very big piece of equipment that fell.”

    Maintenance workers at O’Hare discovered the plane was missing its slide after it landed, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. United Airlines said, “We immediately contacted the FAA and are working with our team to better understand the circumstances around this matter.”

    The Chicago Police Department said it responded to the incident in the 4700 block of North Chester Avenue but deferred questions about the investigation to the FAA, the lead agency.

    In 2019, a slide fell off a Delta flight landing at Boston’s Logan International Airport. It, too, fell in a residential area. There were no injuries.

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  • Patriots’ Jack Jones arrested after two loaded guns found in carry-on luggage, police say | CNN

    Patriots’ Jack Jones arrested after two loaded guns found in carry-on luggage, police say | CNN



    CNN
     — 

    New England Patriots cornerback Jack Jones was arrested Friday at Boston Logan International Airport after two firearms were discovered in his carry-on luggage, according to Massachusetts State Police.

    The Transportation Security Administration issued a press release saying TSA officers had found two loaded firearms and ammunition in a Los Angeles-bound male passenger’s luggage.

    The TSA, which did not identify the passenger, said it notified police after detecting the weapons “during the routine X-ray screening of carry-on luggage at the airport’s security checkpoint.”

    Police said Jones was charged with two counts each of the following offenses: possession of a concealed weapon in a secure area of an airport, possession of ammunition without a firearm identification card, unlawful possession of a firearm, carrying a loaded firearm, and possession of a large-capacity feeding device.

    Under Massachusetts law, any magazine that holds more than 10 rounds of ammunition is considered “large capacity.”

    Jones’ bail was set at $50,000. It was lowered to $30,000, which Jones posted, police say.

    He was released from custody and is scheduled to be arraigned in East Boston District Court next week.

    CNN has reached out to Jones’ representatives for comment.

    The Patriots confirmed the arrest in a statement, saying, “We have been notified that Jack Jones was arrested at Logan Airport earlier yesterday. We are in the process of gathering more information and will not be commenting further at this time.”

    New England selected the cornerback out of Arizona State University in the fourth round (121st overall) of the 2022 NFL Draft.

    In his rookie season, Jones had 30 combined tackles and two interceptions in 13 games.

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  • Patriots Player Jack Jones Arrested At Boston Airport After Guns Found In Luggage: Police

    Patriots Player Jack Jones Arrested At Boston Airport After Guns Found In Luggage: Police

    EAST BOSTON, Mass. (AP) — A New England Patriots player was arrested Friday evening at a security checkpoint at Boston’s Logan Airport after two guns were found inside carry-on luggage, Massachusetts State Police said.

    Police said 25-year-old Jackie K. Jones of Arizona was arrested Friday evening, WCVB-TV reported. He had been planning to travel from Boston to Arizona, according to police.

    Police were called to the Transportation Security Administration security checkpoint in Terminal B at about 5:30 p.m. after two firearms were found in a traveler’s carry-on luggage. Police said they identified the person as Jones and arrested him.

    Jones is facing charges including unlawful possession of a firearm, carrying a loaded firearm, possession of a large-capacity feeding device and possession of ammunition without a firearm identification card, police said. He was booked at the State Police Logan Airport Barracks and had bail set at $50,000, police said.

    It wasn’t immediately known if Jones has a lawyer to comment on his behalf. He is scheduled to be arraigned in East Boston District Court next week, according to police.

    The Patriots confirmed the arrest in a statement.

    “We have been notified that Jack Jones was arrested at Logan Airport earlier today,” the statement said. “We are in the process of gathering more information and will not be commenting further at this time.”

    Jones is entering his second year as a cornerback for the Patriots. Patriots minicamp practice was held this week at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough.

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  • FAA lifts ground stop at NYC airport but delays flights due to smoke | CNN Business

    FAA lifts ground stop at NYC airport but delays flights due to smoke | CNN Business



    CNN
     — 

    The Federal Aviation Administration lifted a ground stop for flights bound for New York’s LaGuardia airport due to smoke but has delayed some flights on the ground.

    Flights into Philadelphia are also being impacted because of the wildfire smoke, the FAA says. It reported the average delay is about a half-hour. A similar delay to the one at LaGuardia is in place in Newark.

    “The FAA has slowed traffic to and from the New York City area airports due to reduced visibility from wildfire smoke,” the FAA told CNN in a statement. “The agency will adjust the volume of traffic to account for the rapidly changing conditions.”

    As of 2:45 p.m. ET, airlines in the US have canceled 120 flights and delayed another 1,928, according to data from tracking site FlightAware.

    The Federal Aviation Administration says the extreme wildfire smoke haze lingering over the Northeast US due to Canadian wildfires could delay flights through Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C.

    US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg tweeted Wednesday that, “Smoke from Canada’s wildfires is affecting visibility in our airspace and leading to delays. The FAA is fully prepared to modify operations as needed.”

    This story has been updated from the original.

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  • It’s 5 a.m. Somewhere

    It’s 5 a.m. Somewhere

    JFK Terminal 8—It is 9:22 a.m., and I am learning about consumer protections from a food-safety inspector who is on her second Bloody Mary. There is nothing quite like alcohol to facilitate an expansive conversation: I should encourage young people, she tells me, to consider careers in food safety. She’s on her way back from a work trip, and I learn that she always drinks Bloody Marys when she travels, which is often, but never drinks them at home. We move on to other topics: reincarnation, ExxonMobil, karma, the state of labor unions. The only thing that seemed to be off limits was her full name (her job, she said, prevents her from speaking to the media).

    We’re sitting in the New York Sports Bar across from Gate 10, which is next to Solstice Sunglasses and a vending machine selling ready-to-eat salads in plastic mason jars. In the corner, two blond women drank white wine. A passing traveler pops her head in: Does the bar serve French fries? The bartender says no, they don’t start serving French fries until 10:30. It is too early for French fries. But it is not too early for white wine.

    By the time security spit me out into JFK Terminal 8 at 7:02 a.m., the bars were already slinging drinks. At least four bars had patrons, including O’Neal’s Restaurant (a “cozy wood-paneled pub,” according to the JFK directory) and Bobby Van’s Grill (“elegant ambiance and upscale menu”). At JFK, alcohol service can begin at 6 a.m., the same time bars open at LAX. That’s hardly early for major airports. At MSP, outside Minneapolis, opening time was once also 6 a.m. but is now 4 a.m.; at Tokyo Narita Airport and London’s Heathrow, there are no restrictions. Early-morning drinking at airports is not just accepted but pervasive, Kenneth Sher, a University of Missouri expert on alcohol habits, told me. The internet has noticed, too. “What’s with all these people drinking pints in the airport at 6am?” wondered a Redditor in one of the many threads devoted to the topic.

    Outside the airport, this is not how drinking works—or at least, not how it works in public. Morning drinking, with few exceptions (brunch, tailgating), tends to be “a sign of pretty severe alcohol dependence,” Sher said. Legally, it is discouraged: Non-airport bars in New York State are not allowed to start serving alcohol until 8 a.m. (10 a.m. on Sundays), and most hold out until at least the early afternoon, if not happy hour, Andrew Rigie of the New York City Hospitality Alliance, told me. But in the airport, the normal rules of drinking do not apply. “I’m not judging,” the bartender at Bobby Van’s Grill said, pouring vodka into a flute of orange juice. “It’s 5 o’clock somewhere.”

    I’d woken up at 4 a.m. to get to the airport, and by the time I met the food inspector, five hours later, I would have believed it was any time you told me. I was hopped up on adrenaline—feeling glamorous and vaguely ill—even though I had accomplished nothing. Mostly, travel is standing in different types of lines. I waited for people to look at my ticket. I waited for different people to inspect my shoes. None of this especially made me want alcohol, even though the idea of drinking at the airport felt romantic, in a novelistic sort of way.

    At Bobby Van’s, perhaps the most dignified dining option in Terminal 8, I ate lukewarm potatoes next to a sad-eyed man drinking coffee and red wine. Mostly, the terminal was quiet. How Do I Live played, which seemed like a reasonable question. I watched a man in a zip-up cardigan eat eggs.

    What are any of us doing here, sipping early-morning drinks at the airport Bobby Van’s? I am here because I am trying to answer that question. Other people have other reasons. You can, by observation and experience, put together a basic taxonomy of airport-drinking types. There is the solo business traveler with time to kill and no particular interest in working. There is the festive couple for whom airport drinks signal the beginning of vacation, and their corollary, the festive group of friends. And then there is the anxious traveler, motivated less by excitement than by ambient terror of being in a pressurized metal tube at 36,000 feet.

    For a place where everyone is watching clocks, there is no real sense of time at an airport. “If you look out, all you see is the tarmac, a few airplanes,” says Michael Sayette, an alcohol researcher at the University of Pittsburgh. There are very few cues that you shouldn’t drink, and maybe it is actually happy hour for you. “You’ve got people coming in from all over the world who are on different times,” he points out. “It really is 5 p.m. where they woke up.” The airport perhaps is best understood as what French anthropologist Marc Augé has called a “non-place:” a blip in space and time. “A person entering the space of non-place is relieved of his usual determinants,” he wrote in his book on the subject. “He becomes no more than what he does or experiences in the role of passenger.” It is perversely freeing, if lightly dehumanizing, to be alone in the airport.

    Once you pass security—the transition, in the language of the business, between “landside” and “airside”—you assume another version of yourself. Landside, you are still anchored in your normal life, which is to say that you can come and go and hang out with your family and carry as many ounces of water as you want. Airside, you have assumed a new identity. You have become a traveler. You have no legible context and no obvious history. Are you a person who orders cocktails on a weekday morning? Who’s to say? You belong to the airport now.

    So does everybody else there. There is a sense of solidarity: As fellow travelers, we are all indefinitely trapped in the same timeless, placeless boat. Why not drink? “It’s exciting for people to take an activity that is normally very, very regulated, time-wise, and then be embedded in a space where everything’s okay,” Edward Slingerland, the author of Drunk: How We Sipped, Danced, and Stumbled Our Way to Civilization, told me. Alcohol signals the transition from one set of rules to another. “We use this, on a small scale, at the end of the workday, to transition to leisure time at home,” he suggests. “Drinking in airports is just kind of a bigger version of that. It’s a way of transitioning from our normal everyday lives to whatever unusual thing we’re off to.”

    From the bartender at New York Sports Bar, I learn that women drink white wine and men order whiskey. I learn that back in Terminal 4, where she worked until recently, she’d go through five or six bottles of prosecco every morning shift. Luckily, for the travelers, JFK has no shortage of drinking opportunities, also including but not limited to Tigín Irish Pub, Soy & Sake Asian Eats, Blue Point Brewery, and Buffalo Wild Wings. And that’s not counting the multitude of private lounges, where elite passengers (or those with certain credit cards) are treated to an oasis of snacks and free-flowing booze. The American Express Centurion Lounge in Terminal 4, in fact, has three distinct bars, including a Prohibition-inspired speakeasy with drinks curated by a James Beard Award–winning mixologist.

    None of this is an accident. The modern airport produces a captive, thirsty audience. Airports were once permeable by design, says Janet Bednarek, a historian of airports at the University of Dayton. Bars and shops and restaurants were open to everyone, and “airports depended upon non-travelers to spend money,” she told me. Then 9/11 happened, airports locked down, security tightened, and once you were airside, you’d passed a point of no return. For airports, Bednarek said, that provedt to be a business opportunity rather than a problem: People were now getting to the airport hours early, and they had to do something to pass the time, whether it was shopping or eating or lounging at the bar. “Airports are looking for any way they can to generate revenue,” Henry Harteveldt, a travel-industry analyst, told me. Airports charge airlines huge fees, and still, pre-pandemic, retail concessions accounted for approximately 30 percent of airports’ total revenue, according to data from the Airports Council International.

    Here is the thing about the airport, though: Nobody has control. You cannot control the people sitting next to you, or their children, or the security line, or the prepackaged sandwich options at CIBO Express. And most of all, you cannot control when the plane comes, or whether it comes, or how long it is delayed. More than 20 percent of arrival flights in the U.S. in the first three months of this year were delayed, more than the same stretch in any year since 2014. And that’s not even considering the epic meltdowns that can leave travelers stranded for days. “In a way, alcohol may be crucial for air travel, because it allows you to relax into passive helplessness,” said Slingerland, who was in an airport when we spoke. “I’ve been on, like, 10 flights in the last week and a half, and every single one of them was delayed.” Alcohol, he explains, turns down your brain’s ability to focus, suppress distractions, delay gratification, and do all the things you need to do to succeed in your daily life as a functional adult. But you are not a functional adult in the airport. You are a giant suitcase-wielding baby.

    There is, perhaps, a darker read. “I think 80 percent of what you’re seeing is people who, in their normal lives, would never drink in the morning,” Slingerland said. But that leaves a good number of people whose regular behavior is presumably on display at 7 a.m. No one at JFK seemed all that bothered by the white wine and whiskey passengers were sipping so early in the day, but it’s hard to not see it as yet another sign of what everyone keeps saying: Americans drink too much.

    “Drinking is acceptable in all sorts of other places it didn’t used to be,” wrote The Atlantic’s Kate Julian in 2021. “Salons and boutiques dole out cheap cava in plastic cups. Movie theaters serve alcohol, Starbucks serves alcohol, zoos serve alcohol.” A study published last year traced one in five deaths of people ages 20 and 49 to booze. Another paper found that one in eight American adults drank in a way that met the criteria for alcohol use disorder, a figure that seems to have worsened during the pandemic. And drunken passengers cause problems. Although all-hours drinking is useful for airports, airlines have been less thrilled. “It’s completely unfair,” a Ryanair executive said in a statement arguing for stricter policies in 2017, “that airports can profit from the unlimited sale of alcohol to passengers and leave the airlines to deal with the safety consequences.”

    Alcohol in the airport, I had thought, isn’t like alcohol in the world outside. But perhaps airport drinking isn’t different at all. It still facilitates transition from one state to another—only literally. It still provides the illusion of easing the low-grade misery of life. And it still fosters camaraderie. I thought about the food-safety inspector, whom I’d talked with for most of an hour and surely will never see again. Our conversation had been lovely, I thought. Why don’t I talk to people more? This is the weird duality of alcohol: It can simultaneously blunt and enhance the world. In the airport, you desperately need both.

    Rachel Sugar

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