Free Republic

Over the objections of reputed gang figure Raymond "Shrimp Boy" Chow's lawyers, a federal judge has ordered that the government's evidence in a sweeping criminal case that includes political corruption charges against state Sen. Leland Yee must be kept secret for now. U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer imposed the restrictions Monday on every lawyer and defendant in the case, finding the material should be kept under wraps while both sides prepare for trial. Breyer rejected the free speech arguments of Chow's lawyer, J. Tony Serra, who insisted he should be able to reveal evidence to combat the government's public charges.

An Air France plane has been isolated at an airport in Madrid after a patient was reported to have a fever and shivers. The situation is being treated as a suspected case of ebola, a health ministry official was quoted as saying.

A 63-year-old man died during a flight from Nigeria to New York's JFK after vomiting profusely - but it was only a 'cursory' exam by the CDC that confirmed he did not have Ebola. The passenger boarded an Arik Air plane out of Lagos, Nigeria, on Wednesday night, but passed away before the plane reached its final destination. Flight attendants called the CDC, Port Authority and customs officials, who then boarded the plane as it touched down, forcing 145 worried passengers to remain on board. The authorities then conducted tests on the body and it was only a short evaluation...

Authorities say an airline passenger who bypassed security at New York City's Kennedy Airport is being questioned, and some flights have been delayed as a result. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey says the man passed through security in Terminal 8 without being screened at about 4:15 p.m. Saturday. Port Authority spokesman Joe Pentangelo (pehn-TAN'-jeh-loh) says passenger screening at the terminal was halted for about an hour and a half while authorities investigated the breach. The breach has caused delays of up to an hour on all American Airlines flights at the terminal. Authorities had no other...

A 9-year-old boy believed to have stowed away on a flight to Las Vegas last week was the same kid that stole a cube truck in downtown Minneapolis and led police on a chase through the city just days before, according to one of the victims of the escapade.

PORTLAND, OR (KPTV) - An Arizona man on an Alaska Airlines flight from Anchorage to Portland tried to open the emergency row exit door as the plane descended into Portland, officials said. The attempt happened on Flight 132 around the 10,000-feet level Monday morning, said Annie Linstrom, a spokeswoman for the Portland International Airport. The flight crew and some fellow passengers restrained 23-year-old Alexander Herrera until the plane landed. Port of Portland police then boarded the plane, which originated in Anchorage, AK, to take him into custody. Passengers told police Herrera made unusual statements before trying to open the door,...

<p>Looks Like DOJ HAS BEEN TAPPING AP NEWS TELEPHONE LINES TO DISCOVER THEIR CONFIDENTIAL SOURCES IN CONGRESS!</p> <p>The Justice Department secretly obtained two months of telephone records of reporters and editors for The Associated Press in what the news cooperative's top executive called a "massive and unprecedented intrusion" into how news organizations gather the news.</p>

Sources told FOX 25 there was an American Airlines flight that was headed to Chicago. There were two men on that plane – not sitting next to each other – and speaking Arabic. There were some concerned marathoners on the flight so the plane was brought back to the gate and the two men were escorted off the plane.

WASHINGTON, March 15 — A former EgyptAir pilot told American investigators two years ago that the co-pilot of EgyptAir 990 crashed the plane into the Atlantic Ocean to take revenge on a company executive who had just demoted him and was riding as a passenger, a person involved in the investigation said today. American aviation investigators say they do not know whether the explanation given by the pilot, which was first reported today in The Los Angeles Times, is true. Since the crash of the Boeing 767, Egyptian officials have argued that there was no evidence that the co-pilot, Gamil...

WASHINGTON – There remains frustration in trying to track down up to 20,000 missing shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles taken out of the bunkers during the waning days of the regime of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, according to a report in Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin. Now that they have disappeared, and despite a U.S. program worth tens of millions of dollars to try and relocate them, only 5,000 have been turned in. Concern is that many of them were acquired by al-Qaida elements in Libya and surrounding countries. Increasingly, intelligence sources also are seeing these weapons wind up in the hands of...

A Delta flight that was headed to Spain from Kennedy Airport turned around in the air and made an emergency landing after some cut wires were discovered in the plane's bathroom, sources said. Delta Flight 126 took off for Madrid at about 8:10 p.m. When an air marshal on board was alerted to some cut wires in a lavatory on the plane, officials decided to bring the plane back to Kennedy.

TWO men who allegedly tried to hijack a plane in China were beaten to death by passengers and crew. The Global Times newspaper reported that two of the suspects died in hospital from injuries they suffered during the ensuing fight with passengers and crew on board. The men were part of a six-strong gang involved in the foiled hijack of a Tianjin Airlines flight bound for the regional capital of Urumqi last Friday. Just minutes after the flight took off from Hetian, southwest Xinjiang, the men, all aged between 20 and 36, stood up and announced their plans to terrified...

BRITAIN has resorted to detaining as an illegal immigrant a man regarded as one of al-Qaeda’s most dangerous terrorists. Abu Doha, whose various aliases include “The Doctor”, has been in Belmarsh highsecurity jail for almost six years facing extradition to the United States on charges of running a jihad training camp in Afghanistan and plotting to blow up Los Angeles airport. But the US has been forced to drop the case against him after an informer refused to give evidence. A British judge described the extremist network created by Abu Doha as “one of the most significant groups of terrorists...

NEWARK, NJ (CBS SF) — A New Jersey woman headed to San Francisco International Airport was briefly detained Tuesday after Transportation Security Administration screeners found explosive devices inside a suitcase she had checked for the flight, federal authorities told CBS San Francisco. TSA explosives experts said the woman’s luggage contained three small Claymore land mine casings, two of which were “packed with shrapnel.” .. ... TSA and local police confiscated the weapons, but allowed the woman – identified only as a resident of Union, New Jersey – to travel on a later flight to San Francisco.

For twenty years – long before 9/11 – the danger of terrorists armed with surface to air missiles shooting at passenger planes has been the secret fear of many top political leaders. In the late 90s, a terrorist network was nabbed trying to bring them into Newark Airport, but the airline industry and the government have done nothing to equip passenger airplanes with any defense against these always deadly missiles. Now Barack Obama has committed the ultimate sin: He has let 20,000 surface-to-air missiles escape from military depots in Libya. According to ABC News “U.S. officials had once thought there...

APRIL 25, 2010 2:02 AM SNIPPET: "MONTREAL — A British Airways flight bound for London was reportedly held up for almost two hours on the tarmac at Montreal's Pierre Elliott Trudeau airport Saturday night as officials questioned a passenger who exhibited suspicious behaviour just before the plane was scheduled to take off." SNIPPET: "Fellow passengers reportedly told the cabin crew that the man had been behaving oddly and was in possession of a small quantity of clear liquid. "It was more than what you would normally be allowed to have, and passengers said he was doing something suspicious with it,"...

An unruly passenger causes a Continental Express jet to make an emergency landing at BWI. Captain Mike Perry reports around 6:30 p.m. Thursday County police and fire marshals were requested to respond to the airport for an unruly passenger on the Continental Express jet. At this point, it is not clear whether the flight originated from BWI or was en route. Passengers on the flight had to be deplaned as officials and a dog boarded the plane. There's no further information on what the passenger may have done. Stay with WJZ.COM for updates to this developing story. ************** supplement with...

Chicago-To-Germany Flight Diverted Because Of Unruly Passenger July 8, 2011 6:05 PM Federal agents investigate after a disruption on an international flight from Chicago to Germany that was diverted to Cleveland. (Photo provide by a passenger) Federal agents investigate after a disruption on an international flight from Chicago to Germany that was diverted to Cleveland. CHICAGO (WBBM) – Some Chicagoans have quite a story to tell about a flight from O’Hare to Frankfort, Germany that was diverted Friday to Cleveland when a passenger was found hiding in the bathroom and went ballistic when he was confronted. Joe Shulfer of Woodstock...

Examiner.com Drew Mandy, a terrorist if ever there was oneDrew Mandy, a terrorist if ever there was one Credits: TSA takes toy away from mentally challenged man By Howard Portnoy, Libertarian Examiner June 10, 2011 10:43 am ET We can all sleep easier tonight knowing that Drew Mandy’s plastic toy hammer is in the trash rather than terrorizing passengers and crew on the plane he and his parents boarded for Walt Disney World. If you’re looking for someone to thank for depriving a mentally challenged 29-year-old of his much-beloved security blanket, look no further than the Transportation and Security Administration....

The Rev. Jacob Jester wasn’t trying to start anything. But when he saw security screeners at Kansas City International Airport patting down a baby — a baby — he took a picture. And then he shared that picture on Twitter. It went viral, and voila: Jester’s snapshot is the flashpoint of the day in the debate over who should be considered a threat to the flying public. Not what he intended, Jester said Tuesday, after the image had been picked up by The Drudge Report and the Daily Mail in London, among others, and viewed nearly 300,000 times. “I thought...