A report on the deadly shooting at Los Angeles International Airport last year was released Tuesday. It criticizes the response of public safety agencies, citing poor coordination and faulty technology.
By End the Lie
(Image credit: TijsB/Flickr)
The European Union agreed on a framework for their first round of sanctions on Russia since the Cold War in response to the situation in Crimea, including bans on travel and asset freezes on certain people and firms.
Read our latest: “Sen. Feinstein accuses CIA of spying on Senate computers, McCain considers probe” and “Ukraine updates: Russia holds air defense drills, Ukraine to reject Crimea referendum”
This comes after Secretary of State John Kerry indefinitely delayed a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Russian forces continued to take control of bases in Crimea and Russia held air defense drills.
The EU move was stronger than many had expected, according to Reuters, and will target “an as-yet-undecided list of people and firms accused by Brussels of violating the territorial integrity of Ukraine.”
The sanctions will be imposed on Monday if diplomatic progress is not made, according to German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The referendum that could make Crimea part of Russia will be held Sunday, even though the West continues to maintain that the vote is illegal.
While Washington has also announced a series of sanctions to be imposed on Russia, the measures imposed by the European Union would likely hit Russia harder.
Reuters points out that “Europe buys most of Russia’s oil and gas exports, while the United States is only a minor trade partner. The EU’s 335 billion euros of trade with Russia in 2012 was worth around 10 times that of the United States.”
Another Reuters article noted that the sanctions are being coordinated in concert with the U.S., Switzerland, Turkey, Japan and Canada.
This collaboration is part of “an effort to ensure the sanctions net is as tight and effective as possible.”
“Member states shall take the necessary measures to prevent the entry into, or transit through, their territories of the natural persons responsible for actions which undermine or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine,” Article 1 of the document states, according to Reuters.
The second article states “all funds and economic resources [in the EU] belonging to, owned, held or controlled” by those deemed responsible for undermining Ukrainian integrity “shall be frozen.”
The document was approved after none of the EU member states objected to the phrasing of the document, according to unnamed officials.
Foreign ministers of EU states will convene on Monday to formally sign off on the restrictions, unless Russia changes course significantly.
“When it comes to sanctions on Russia, a decision has in fact already been made, especially on the procedure of introducing sanctions,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said at a press conference, according to ITAR-TASS.
Officials reportedly stated that Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will not be on the sanctions list so that communications channels can remain open, according to Fox News.
Officials from the U.S., U.K., Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland and Japan met to discuss the issue in London on Tuesday, Fox News reports.
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Just in case the world did not have enough potential geopolitical flashpoints and near-crises, here comes old faithful – the simmering nationalist rivalry between China and Japan, which may have been pushed to the backburner in light of the grand return of Cold War 2.0, but is neither forgotten nor resolved. In fact, recent developments which have seen Japan fully back the US strategy in Ukraine while China has voiced its support for Russia, will probably only enflame the direct tension between the two Asian superpowers. Moments ago we got the latest manifestation of precisely this when Japan scrambled military jets on Sunday to counter three Chinese military planes that flew near Japanese airspace, defence officials said.
One Y-8 information gathering plane and two H-6 bombers flew over the East China Sea, travelling in international airspace between southern Japanese islands and went to the Pacific Ocean before returning towards China on the same route on Sunday morning, according to a spokesman at the Joint Staff of the Ministry of Defence.
“They flow above public seas, and there was no violation of our airspace,” he said, declining to release more details about the incident.
Japan and China are locked in a bitter territorial row over islands in the East China Sea administered by Japan as the Senkaku Islands, but which China calls the Diaoyu Islands.
Chinese government ships and planes have been seen off the disputed islands numerous times since Japan nationalised them in September 2012, sometimes within the 12 nautical-mile territorial zone.
And then there was the curious case of Libya which threatened on Saturday to bomb a North Korean-flagged tanker if it tried to ship oil from a rebel-controlled port, in a major escalation of a standoff over the country’s petroleum wealth. Because obviously the Mediterranean is far too boring with Greece and Italy now fixed.
President Barack Obama tours a field with farmer Joe Del Bosque, his wife Maria, and California Gov. Jerry Brown in Los Banos, Calif., Feb. 14, 2014. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
On Friday, President Obama headed to California to tour drought-affected areas and talk to those affected by impacts of one of the state’s worst droughts in over 100 years. While there, President Obama announced new actions that the Administration will take to help the farmers, ranchers, small businesses, and communities being impacted.
President Obama laid out these Administration actions while touring fields from Joe and Maria Gloria Del Bosque’s farm that will lay fallow this year because of the drought:
First, we’re accelerating $ 100 million of funds from the farm bill that I signed last week to help ranchers. For example, if their fields have dried up, this is going to help them feed their livestock.
Second, last week, we announced $ 20 million to help hard-hit communities, and today, we’re announcing up to $ 15 million more for California and other states that are in extreme drought.
Third, I’m directing the Interior Department to use its existing authorities, where appropriate, to give water contractors flexibility to meet their obligations.
And fourth, I’m directing all federal facilities in California to take immediate steps to curb their water use, including a moratorium on water usage for new, non-essential landscaping projects.
Secretary Vilsack, who joined the President on Friday, has already declared 27 counties as primary natural disaster areas, making farmers and ranchers eligible for emergency loans. Over the past two weeks, the Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior have released new funds for conservation and irrigation; investments to upgrade water infrastructure; and have partnered with California to stretch the water supply as much as possible. In addition, last week as part of the Climate Action Plan that President Obama put forward last summer, the Department of Agriculture announced seven new “climate hubs” to help farmers and ranchers adapt their operations to a changing climate.
California is experiencing some of its driest years in a century — almost 99 percent of California is drier than normal. President Obama stated that:
Unless and until we do more to combat carbon pollution that causes climate change, this trend is going to get worse. And the hard truth is even if we do take action on climate change, carbon pollution has built up in our atmosphere for decades. The planet is slowly going to keep warming for a long time to come. So we’re going to have to stop looking at these disasters as something to wait for; we’ve got to start looking at these disasters as something to prepare for, to anticipate, to start building new infrastructure, to start having new plans, to recalibrate the baseline that we’re working off of.
That is why the budget President Obama will send to Congress next month will include $ 1 billion in new funding for new technologies to help communities prepare for a changing climate, and set up incentives to build smarter, more resilient infrastructure.
But Administration action doesn’t stop there. President Obama stated that:
My administration will work with tech innovators and launch new challenges under our Climate Data Initiative, focused initially on rising sea levels and their impact on the coasts, but ultimately focused on how all these changes in weather patterns are going to have an impact up and down the United States — not just on the coast but inland as well — and how do we start preparing for that. And that has to be work that we do together.
Learn more about the Administration-wide response to the drought.
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Sen. Mike Lee will deliver the Tea Party response to President Obama’s State of the Union address next week.
The Utah lawmaker was elected in the 2010, succeeding Bob Bennett, who was ousted at the state GOP convention and was one of the first Republican incumbents to fall in the Tea Party wave that year.
Since joining the Senate in 2011, Lee has been a favorite of the movement and an obstacle to the president’s and congressional Democrats’ agenda. Most recently, he joined Ted Cruz in the failed strategy to defund the health care law, an effort that led to October’s government shutdown.
Republicans give an official response to the president’s address each year, but a separate Tea Party retort has become a recent trend; it is streamed online and sometimes carried on broadcast and cable television. Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachman and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul have previously performed this role.
“For the Tea Party movement, 2014 is not just about taking back the Senate, but it is also about putting forward conservative ideas that will allow for America to prosper,” said Amy Kremer, chairwoman of the Tea Party Express. She called Lee “both a Tea Party hero for supporters across the nation, and a conservative leader in the upper chamber.”
House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell typically pick a Republican to deliver the GOP’s official response, but no one has yet been named. Last year, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio delivered the televised address, during which he famously stopped to take a sip of water.
While Republicans are preparing their own agenda to challenge the president’s, the White House is working to attract the public to the speech and to engage them during it. In a YouTube video released Tuesday, Chief of Staff Denis McDonough announced a new initiative to involve supporters, asking them to view the address via the White House website, which will offer “an enhanced” version of the speech featuring charts, graphics and data to further explain the remarks.
The address “is not just a conversation with Congress, but a conversation with you, the American people,” McDonough says in the 2½-minute video, which begins with clips from previous addresses by former presidents, including John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush.
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You Tube
October 30, 2013
This is a video response to Russell Brand’s interview with Jeremy Paxman on ‘Newsnight’.
This article was posted: Wednesday, October 30, 2013 at 10:28 am
Print this page.Beginning this week, the Federal Emergency Management Agency is evaluating state and local emergency planning and preparedness agencies’ abilities to respond to an emergency at Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant in Lusby.
“These drills are held every other year to test government’s ability to protect public health and safety,” MaryAnn Tierney, regional administrator for FEMA Region III, said in a FEMA news release. “We will evaluate state and local emergency response capabilities within the 10-mile emergency-planning zone of the nuclear facility.”
This exercise is part of FEMA’s Radiological Emergency Preparedness program, which ensures the health and safety of citizens living around commercial nuclear power plants is adequately protected in the event of a nuclear accident, according to the release. The program, however, only covers off-site activities, such as state and local emergency planning and preparedness, the release states.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is responsible for activities within the nuclear power plant’s boundaries.
Within 90 days, FEMA will send its evaluation to the NRC for licensing decisions, and about 120 days after the exercise, the final report will be available to the public, the release states.
At 11 a.m. Friday, Oct. 25, FEMA will present its preliminary findings of the emergency preparedness exercise during a public meeting at the Sheraton of Annapolis, 173 Jennifer Road, Annapolis. Speakers include representatives from FEMA, the NRC and the state.
At the meeting, FEMA may request questions and/or comments be submitted in writing for review and response by emailing FEMAR3NewsDesk@fema.dhs.gov or by mail to MaryAnn Tierney, Regional Administrator, FEMA Region III, 615 Chestnut St., 6th floor, Philadelphia, PA 19106.
AMANDA SCOTT
Sent to us by Field McConnell who said: “What are the chances that on United Nations Day all of Congress would be herded into Air Force aircraft in the middle of a Nuclear Exercise by FEMA in Calvert Cliffs, MD?”
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(NaturalNews) For the past decade, nutrition scientists have known that certain whole foods that are consumed in their natural and unprocessed forms promote vibrant health by stimulating the innate immune response system, while virtually all refined foods and hydrogenated fats promote disease. Extensive research studies have determined that protective compounds that protect plants from disease can have a similar effect when eaten by humans. Resveratrol found most commonly in red grapes and pterostilbene sourced from blueberries work in concert with our own natural reserve of vitamin D to stimulate our immune system and prevent chronic disease.
A research team from the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University has released information about a study in the journal Molecular Nutrition and Food Research that explains how two natural compounds are shown to boost immune response and can significantly lower the risk of developing many chronic diseases. The scientists analyzed 446 naturally occurring compounds from fresh fruits and vegetables and found that resveratrol and pterostilbene from grapes and blueberries had a significant impact in raising the expression of the human cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide, or CAMP gene, which is involved in immune function.
The lead study author, Dr. Adrian Gombart, commented, “Out of a study of hundreds of compounds, just these two popped right out… their synergy with vitamin D to increase CAMP gene expression was significant and intriguing. It’s a pretty interesting interaction.” The studies were performed using laboratory cell cultures based on the established potential of some foods to improve human immune response. Dozens of prior studies have demonstrated that resveratrol can improve cardiovascular health and is preventive in the fight against cancer by squelching inflammation that fuels both diseases.
This study evolved around the discovery that the CAMP gene plays a key role in the innate immune system and provides the body’s first line of defense and ability to combat bacterial infection. This study is the first to show that consumption of red grapes and blueberries synergistically prompts the activation of vitamin D to express the CAMP gene and heighten our natural immune response to pathogenic invaders.
The research team concluded that resveratrol and pterostilbene (collectively known and stilbenoids) produced by plants to fight infections appear to affect some of the signaling pathways in humans that allow vitamin D to do its job. The scientists explained that combining these compounds with vitamin D has considerably more biological impact than any of them would separately. Health-minded individuals should eat three to five servings of red grapes and blueberries each week to boost immune health and fight immune-deficient disease proliferation.
Sources for this article include:
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com
http://science.naturalnews.com
About the author:
John Phillip is a Certified Nutritional Consultant and Health Researcher and Author who writes regularly on the cutting edge use of diet, lifestyle modifications and targeted supplementation to enhance and improve the quality and length of life. John is the author of ‘Your Healthy Weight Loss Plan’, a comprehensive EBook explaining how to use Diet, Exercise, Mind and Targeted Supplementation to achieve your weight loss goal. Visit My Optimal Health Resource to continue reading the latest health news updates, and to download your copy of ‘Your Healthy Weight Loss Plan’.
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US Secretary of State John Kerry speaks during a news conference with Britain’s Foreign Minister William Hague at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London, Monday, Sept. 9, 2013. Kerry said Syria’s President Bashar Assad could resolve the crisis surrounding a chemical weapons attack simply by turning over “every single bit” of his weapons stock to the international community within a week. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, Pool)
US Secretary of State John Kerry speaks during a news conference with Britain’s Foreign Minister William Hague at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London, Monday, Sept. 9, 2013. Kerry said Syria’s President Bashar Assad could resolve the crisis surrounding a chemical weapons attack simply by turning over “every single bit” of his weapons stock to the international community within a week. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, Pool)
US Secretary of State John Kerry speaks during a news conference with Britain’s Foreign Minister William Hague at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London, Monday, Sept. 9, 2013. Kerry said Syria’s President Bashar Assad could resolve the crisis surrounding a chemical weapons attack simply by turning over “every single bit” of his weapons stock to the international community within a week. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, Pool)
Britain Foreign Secretary William Hague, left, greets US Secretary of State John Kerry outside the Foreign Office in London,Monday, Sept. 9, 2013. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, Pool)
Britain Foreign Secretary William Hague waits to greet US Secretary of State John Kerry outside the Foreign Office in London, Monday, Sept. 9, 2013. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, Pool)
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Syrian President Bashar Assad is warning the U.S. of repercussions if it launches a military strike against him. “You should expect everything,” Assad said in an interview, while denying that his troops used chemical weapons. “If you strike somewhere, you have to expect the repercussions somewhere else,” he said.
In London, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was unmoved by Assad’s denial, saying he would be confident going into any courtroom with the evidence gathered by the United States that Syria’s government used chemical weapons against its people.
“What does he offer?” Kerry asked of Assad. “Words that are contradicted by fact.”
At the White House, National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said, “It doesn’t surprise us that someone who would kill thousands of his own people, including hundreds of children with poison gas, would also lie about it.”
As the administration stokes its arguments for a limited military strike, President Barack Obama plans an intense round of TV interviews Monday evening and Kerry is returning to Washington from his trip seeking international support. The United States, citing intelligence reports, says the lethal nerve agent sarin was used in an Aug. 21 attack outside Damascus, and that 1,429 people died, including 426 children.
Obama administration officials plan more classified briefings on Capitol Hill. And White House national security adviser Susan Rice is scheduled for a Washington think tank speech timed to the public relations blitz aimed at assuring Americans the administration isn’t contemplating another Iraq-Afghanistan style commitment.
The all-points push sets up a prime-time speech by Obama Tuesday night, with votes looming in the Senate as early as Wednesday and likely next week in the House.
In the interview aired Monday on “CBS This Morning,” Assad said the evidence about chemical weapons that Kerry is presenting amounts to a “big lie” that resembles the case for war in Iraq that Secretary of State Colin Powell made to the United Nations over a decade ago.
Assad also suggested the rebels fighting his government might be responsible for the alleged gas attack in the Damascus suburbs.
Asked whether he was making a threat of direct military retaliation to any U.S. attack, Assad was vague, saying at one point, “I am not fortune teller to tell you what’s going to happen.”
“It’s not only the government (that’s) the only player in this region,” he said. “You have different parties. You have different factions. You have different ideology. You have everything in this region now. So you have to expect that.”
At a news conference in London with British Foreign Secretary William Hague, Kerry said that if Assad wanted to defuse the crisis, “he could turn every single bit of his chemical weapons over to the international community” within a week. But he said that Assad “isn’t about to do it.”
Kerry said the U.S. knows “that his regime gave orders to prepare for a chemical attack. We know they deployed forces,” Kerry said.
He added: “So the evidence is powerful and the question for all of us is, what are we going to do about it. Turn our backs? Have a moment of silence?”
Meanwhile, Russian and Syrian foreign ministers said they will push for the return of United Nations inspectors to Syria to continue their probe into the use of chemical weapons. Russia’s Sergey Lavrov said after Monday’s talks with his Syrian counterpart Walid al-Moallem that Moscow will continue to promote a peaceful settlement and may try to convene a gathering of all Syrian opposition figures who are interested in peaceful settlement.
Lavrov said that a U.S. attack on Syria will deal a fatal blow to peace efforts.
Obama plans interviews Monday evening with the network TV newscasts as well as CNN, Fox and PBS.
On Tuesday, he will meet with Senate Democrats about Syria, according to two Senate Democratic aides. The meeting at the Capitol would come just hours before Obama addresses the nation in a prime-time speech on Syria from the White House.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who is scheduled to speak Monday at a White House event on wildlife trafficking, planned to reiterate her support of Obama’s efforts to pass the Syria resolution, according to a Clinton aide who spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak publicly.
Obama and his allies are arguing that the United States needs to remind hostile nations such as Iran and North Korea of American military might while working to reassure the nation that the lessons of the last decade were fresh in their minds.
“It is not Iraq, Afghanistan or Libya,” White House chief of staff Denis McDonough said Sunday during one of his five network television interviews. “This is a very concerned, concentrated, limited effort that we can carry out and that can underscore and secure our interests.”
But McDonough conceded the administration lacks “irrefutable, beyond-a-reasonable-doubt evidence” that skeptical Americans, including lawmakers who will start voting on military action this week, are seeking.
“It’s an uphill slog,” said Rep. Mike Rogers, the Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, who supports strikes on Assad. “I think it’s very clear he’s lost support in the last week,” Rogers added, speaking of the president.
A survey by The Associated Press shows that House members who are staking out positions are either opposed to or leaning against Obama’s plan for a military strike by more than a 6-1 margin.
“Lobbing a few Tomahawk missiles will not restore our credibility overseas,” said Rep. Mike McCaul, the Texas Republican who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee.
Added Rep. Loretta Sanchez, D-Calif.: “For the president to say that this is just a very quick thing and we’re out of there, that’s how long wars start.”
Despite public backing from leaders of both parties to strike, almost half of the 433 current members in the House and a third of the 100-member Senate remain undecided, the AP survey found. They will be the subject of intense lobbying from the administration — as well as outside groups that have formed coalitions that defy the traditional left-right divide.
Public opinion surveys show intense American skepticism about military intervention in Syria, even among those who believe Syria’s government used chemical weapons on its people.
The United States, citing intelligence reports, says the lethal nerve agent sarin was used in an Aug. 21 attack outside Damascus, and that 1,429 people died, including 426 children.
Top administration officials, including Kerry, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power, planned to brief lawmakers ahead of the Wednesday vote on a resolution that would authorize the “limited and specified use” of U.S. armed forces against Syria for no more than 90 days.
The measure bars American ground troops from combat. A final vote is expected at week’s end and the House is expected to take up the issue the following week.
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Follow Philip Elliott on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/philip_elliott
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Associated Press writers Jim Kuhnhenn and Ken Thomas contributed to this report.
Reuters
August 27, 2013
Secretary of State John Kerry has issued a tough statement, saying that the suspected chemical weapons attack was a “moral obscenity” and accused Syria’s government of covering it up.
He added that the Obama administration was consulting with allies and members of Congress and would decide soon how to respond.
But some politicians and congressional staff members, particularly Republicans, have called for more communication with Congress by the Democratic administration, even as many expressed strong support for “decisive” action against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner had “preliminary communication” with the White House about the situation in Syria on Monday afternoon, said Brendan Buck, a spokesman for the Republican leader.
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This article was posted: Tuesday, August 27, 2013 at 4:42 am
Print this page.NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — A massive fire destroyed the arrivals hall at Kenya’s main international airport early Wednesday, forcing the closure of East Africa’s largest airport and the rerouting of all inbound flights.
No injuries were reported, said Michael Kamau, the cabinet secretary for transport and infrastructure.
The fire broke out on the 15th anniversary of the U.S. Embassy bombings in Nairobi and neighboring Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, but there were no immediate signs of terrorism. Kenya’s anti-terror police boss, Boniface Mwaniki, told The Associated Press that he was waiting for the fire to be put out so that he could inspect the scene before making a judgment.
Dark black smoke that shot skyward was visible across much of Nairobi as emergency teams battled the blaze. Passengers reported a slow response by the under-resourced fire brigade, and the blaze raged for four hours before being contained.
“It was huge, the smoke billowing, and it didn’t seem to be stopping,” said Barry Fisher, who had hoped to fly to Ethiopia on Wednesday morning.
The fire gutted the international arrivals hall, where passengers pass through immigration and retrieve their luggage. The Kenya Airports Authority closed Jomo Kenyatta International Airport until further notice.
“We reassure international and local travelers that arrangements are being put in place to restore normal operations. The airlines are working to assist stranded passengers and advise them on the measures being put in place to resume services at JKIA,” said Stephen Gichuki, the director of the Kenyan Airports Authority.
The Nairobi airport is the busiest in East Africa, and its closure is likely to affect flights throughout the region.
Kamau said the fire began at 5 a.m. in the immigration section of the arrivals hall. Inbound flights were diverted to the coastal city of Mombasa.
As in many countries in East Africa, public sector services like police and fire units in Kenya are hobbled by small budgets and outdated or no equipment. Many of the responding units to Wednesday’s fire were from private security firms.
A British passenger, Martyn Collbeck, said he was surprised that the airport wasn’t shut sooner so that emergency vehicles could respond.
“When I arrived there were one or two fire engines parked outside the international arrivals. It spread very fast,” said Collbeck, who had been scheduled to fly back to London on an early morning KLM flight. “There were a couple of explosions which I think were a couple of gas canisters.”
“I would have expected more fire engines to respond faster,” he added.
There may not have been fire engines available to respond. The country’s largest newspaper, The Daily Nation, reported last month that Nairobi County doesn’t have a single working fire engine, and that three fire engines were auctioned off in 2009 because the county hadn’t paid a $ 1,000 repair bill.
“It is a disgrace of biblical proportions that the entire Nairobi County does not have a public fire engine in working condition,” the paper wrote in an editorial last month. “When (government leaders) were debating their budgets, they did not deem it fit to set aside money either to buy new ones or repair the old ones. But they did set aside money to build mansions for governors, (buy) big vehicles for county executives and other needs without a direct benefit to Kenyans.”
The paper said the collapse of the fire department means responses to disasters is in the hands of private companies and the military.
Fisher, a trade specialist who lives in Nairobi, described the scene as chaotic.
“There was no one stopping any traffic going to the road to the airport,” he said. “A number of fire trucks and ambulances were trying to negotiate their way through the lane. … They were trying to weave their way through a solid two lanes of cars.”
A blaze rages the International arrivals hall at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, Kenya Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2013. The Kenya Airports Authority said the Kenya’s main international airport has been closed until further notice so that emergency teams can battle the fire. (AP Photo/Sayyid Azim)
A blaze rages the International arrivals hall at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, Kenya Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2013. The Kenya Airports Authority said the Kenya’s main international airport has been closed until further notice so that emergency teams can battle the fire. (AP Photo/Sayyid Azim)
A traveler with his luggage stands on a sidewalk as the fire rages at the international arrivals unit of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi, Kenya, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2013. A massive fire engulfed the arrivals hall at Kenya’s main international airport early Wednesday, forcing East Africa’s largest airport to close and the rerouting of all inbound flights. Dark black smoke that billowed skyward was visible across much of Nairobi as emergency teams battled the blaze. (AP Photo/Sayyid Azim)
A policeman stands guard as a fire engulfs the arrivals hall of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, Kenya Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2013. The Kenya Airports Authority said the Kenya’s main international airport has been closed until further notice so that emergency teams can battle the fire. (AP Photo/Sayyid Azim)
Policemen look at the fire near the international arrivals unit of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi, Kenya, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2013. A massive fire engulfed the arrivals hall at Kenya’s main international airport early Wednesday, forcing East Africa’s largest airport to close and the rerouting of all inbound flights. Dark black smoke that billowed skyward was visible across much of Nairobi as emergency teams battled the blaze. (AP Photo/Sayyid Azim)
A policeman stands guard as a fire engulfs the International arrivals hall at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, Kenya Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2013. The Kenya Airports Authority said the Kenya’s main international airport has been closed until further notice so that emergency teams can battle the fire. (AP Photo/Sayyid Azim)
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NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — A massive fire destroyed the arrivals hall at Kenya’s main international airport early Wednesday, forcing the closure of East Africa’s largest airport and the rerouting of all inbound flights.
No injuries were reported, said Michael Kamau, the cabinet secretary for transport and infrastructure.
The fire broke out on the 15th anniversary of the U.S. Embassy bombings in Nairobi and neighboring Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, but there were no immediate signs of terrorism. Kenya’s anti-terror police boss, Boniface Mwaniki, told The Associated Press that he was waiting for the fire to be put out so that he could inspect the scene before making a judgment.
Dark black smoke that shot skyward was visible across much of Nairobi as emergency teams battled the blaze. Passengers reported a slow response by the under-resourced fire brigade, and the blaze raged for four hours before being contained.
“It was huge, the smoke billowing, and it didn’t seem to be stopping,” said Barry Fisher, who had hoped to fly to Ethiopia on Wednesday morning.
The fire gutted the international arrivals hall, where passengers pass through immigration and retrieve their luggage. The Kenya Airports Authority closed Jomo Kenyatta International Airport until further notice.
“We reassure international and local travelers that arrangements are being put in place to restore normal operations. The airlines are working to assist stranded passengers and advise them on the measures being put in place to resume services at JKIA,” said Stephen Gichuki, the director of the Kenyan Airports Authority.
The Nairobi airport is the busiest in East Africa, and its closure is likely to affect flights throughout the region.
Kamau said the fire began at 5 a.m. in the immigration section of the arrivals hall. Inbound flights were diverted to the coastal city of Mombasa.
As in many countries in East Africa, public sector services like police and fire units in Kenya are hobbled by small budgets and outdated or no equipment. Many of the responding units to Wednesday’s fire were from private security firms.
A British passenger, Martyn Collbeck, said he was surprised that the airport wasn’t shut sooner so that emergency vehicles could respond.
“When I arrived there were one or two fire engines parked outside the international arrivals. It spread very fast,” said Collbeck, who had been scheduled to fly back to London on an early morning KLM flight. “There were a couple of explosions which I think were a couple of gas canisters.”
“I would have expected more fire engines to respond faster,” he added.
There may not have been fire engines available to respond. The country’s largest newspaper, The Daily Nation, reported last month that Nairobi County doesn’t have a single working fire engine, and that three fire engines were auctioned off in 2009 because the county hadn’t paid a $ 1,000 repair bill.
“It is a disgrace of biblical proportions that the entire Nairobi County does not have a public fire engine in working condition,” the paper wrote in an editorial last month. “When (government leaders) were debating their budgets, they did not deem it fit to set aside money either to buy new ones or repair the old ones. But they did set aside money to build mansions for governors, (buy) big vehicles for county executives and other needs without a direct benefit to Kenyans.”
The paper said the collapse of the fire department means responses to disasters is in the hands of private companies and the military.
Fisher, a trade specialist who lives in Nairobi, described the scene as chaotic.
“There was no one stopping any traffic going to the road to the airport,” he said. “A number of fire trucks and ambulances were trying to negotiate their way through the lane. … They were trying to weave their way through a solid two lanes of cars.”
A blaze rages the International arrivals hall at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, Kenya Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2013. The Kenya Airports Authority said the Kenya’s main international airport has been closed until further notice so that emergency teams can battle the fire. (AP Photo/Sayyid Azim)
A blaze rages the International arrivals hall at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, Kenya Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2013. The Kenya Airports Authority said the Kenya’s main international airport has been closed until further notice so that emergency teams can battle the fire. (AP Photo/Sayyid Azim)
A traveler with his luggage stands on a sidewalk as the fire rages at the international arrivals unit of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi, Kenya, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2013. A massive fire engulfed the arrivals hall at Kenya’s main international airport early Wednesday, forcing East Africa’s largest airport to close and the rerouting of all inbound flights. Dark black smoke that billowed skyward was visible across much of Nairobi as emergency teams battled the blaze. (AP Photo/Sayyid Azim)
A policeman stands guard as a fire engulfs the arrivals hall of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, Kenya Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2013. The Kenya Airports Authority said the Kenya’s main international airport has been closed until further notice so that emergency teams can battle the fire. (AP Photo/Sayyid Azim)
Policemen look at the fire near the international arrivals unit of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi, Kenya, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2013. A massive fire engulfed the arrivals hall at Kenya’s main international airport early Wednesday, forcing East Africa’s largest airport to close and the rerouting of all inbound flights. Dark black smoke that billowed skyward was visible across much of Nairobi as emergency teams battled the blaze. (AP Photo/Sayyid Azim)
A policeman stands guard as a fire engulfs the International arrivals hall at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, Kenya Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2013. The Kenya Airports Authority said the Kenya’s main international airport has been closed until further notice so that emergency teams can battle the fire. (AP Photo/Sayyid Azim)
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NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — A massive fire destroyed the arrivals hall at Kenya’s main international airport early Wednesday, forcing the closure of East Africa’s largest airport and the rerouting of all inbound flights.
No injuries were reported, said Michael Kamau, the cabinet secretary for transport and infrastructure.
The fire broke out on the 15th anniversary of the U.S. Embassy bombings in Nairobi and neighboring Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, but there were no immediate signs of terrorism. Kenya’s anti-terror police boss, Boniface Mwaniki, told The Associated Press that he was waiting for the fire to be put out so that he could inspect the scene before making a judgment.
Dark black smoke that shot skyward was visible across much of Nairobi as emergency teams battled the blaze. Passengers reported a slow response by the under-resourced fire brigade, and the blaze raged for four hours before being contained.
“It was huge, the smoke billowing, and it didn’t seem to be stopping,” said Barry Fisher, who had hoped to fly to Ethiopia on Wednesday morning.
The fire gutted the international arrivals hall, where passengers pass through immigration and retrieve their luggage. The Kenya Airports Authority closed Jomo Kenyatta International Airport until further notice.
“We reassure international and local travelers that arrangements are being put in place to restore normal operations. The airlines are working to assist stranded passengers and advise them on the measures being put in place to resume services at JKIA,” said Stephen Gichuki, the director of the Kenyan Airports Authority.
The Nairobi airport is the busiest in East Africa, and its closure is likely to affect flights throughout the region.
Kamau said the fire began at 5 a.m. in the immigration section of the arrivals hall. Inbound flights were diverted to the coastal city of Mombasa.
As in many countries in East Africa, public sector services like police and fire units in Kenya are hobbled by small budgets and outdated or no equipment. Many of the responding units to Wednesday’s fire were from private security firms.
A British passenger, Martyn Collbeck, said he was surprised that the airport wasn’t shut sooner so that emergency vehicles could respond.
“When I arrived there were one or two fire engines parked outside the international arrivals. It spread very fast,” said Collbeck, who had been scheduled to fly back to London on an early morning KLM flight. “There were a couple of explosions which I think were a couple of gas canisters.”
“I would have expected more fire engines to respond faster,” he added.
There may not have been fire engines available to respond. The country’s largest newspaper, The Daily Nation, reported last month that Nairobi County doesn’t have a single working fire engine, and that three fire engines were auctioned off in 2009 because the county hadn’t paid a $ 1,000 repair bill.
“It is a disgrace of biblical proportions that the entire Nairobi County does not have a public fire engine in working condition,” the paper wrote in an editorial last month. “When (government leaders) were debating their budgets, they did not deem it fit to set aside money either to buy new ones or repair the old ones. But they did set aside money to build mansions for governors, (buy) big vehicles for county executives and other needs without a direct benefit to Kenyans.”
The paper said the collapse of the fire department means responses to disasters is in the hands of private companies and the military.
Fisher, a trade specialist who lives in Nairobi, described the scene as chaotic.
“There was no one stopping any traffic going to the road to the airport,” he said. “A number of fire trucks and ambulances were trying to negotiate their way through the lane. … They were trying to weave their way through a solid two lanes of cars.”
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