Airline passenger fought flight attendant, tried to open exit door midair: authorities
"He's in a fight with our flight attendant right now, trying to open the emergency exit,' the pilot said, according to audio captured by LiveATC. The disturbance happened shortly after the SkyWest flight departed from Omaha, Nebraska, around 5:30 p.m. Thursday, according to police. The flight was diverted to and landed safely at the Cedar Rapids airport, according to a statement from the Federal Aviation Administration. Once on the ground, local police boarded and arrested the 23-year-old Omaha man, Cedar Rapids police said.
The flight was able to travel on to Detroit later Thursday night, according to a statement issued by SkyWest Airlines, a Utah-based regional carrier that operates flights for major airlines like United, Delta, American and Alaska Airlines. "SkyWest has zero tolerance for unruly behavior as safety for our customers and crew is our top priority,' the statement read.
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Arab Times
2 hours ago
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Boat capsizes in Nigeria's Niger state and at least 25 people feared dead
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Arab Times
3 hours ago
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As Dubai cracks down on crowded jerry-rigged apartments, expat workers have nowhere else to go
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In a statement, it said authorities have conducted inspections across the emirate to curb fire and safety hazards - an effort it said would "ensure the highest standards of public safety' and lead to "enhanced quality of life' for tenants. It didn't address where those unable to afford legal housing would live in a city-state that's synonymous with luxury yet outlaws labor unions and guarantees no minimum wage. Dubai has seen a boom since the pandemic that shows no signs of stopping. Its population of 3.9 million is projected to grow to 5.8 million by 2040 as more people move into the commercial hub from abroad. Much of Dubai's real estate market caters to wealthy foreign professionals living there long-term. That leaves few affordable options for the majority of workers - migrants on temporary, low-wage contracts, often earning just several hundred dollars a month. Nearly a fifth of homes in Dubai were worth more than $1 million as of last year, property firm Knight Frank said. 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Only Emirati nationals, who are outnumbered nearly 9 to 1 by residents from foreign countries, are eligible for an array of government benefits, including financial assistance for housing. Large employers, from construction firms and factories to hotels and resorts, are required by law to house workers if they are paid less than $400 a month, much of which they send home to families overseas. However, many migrants are employed informally, making their living arrangements hard to regulate, said Steffen Hertog, an expert on Gulf labor markets at the London School of Economics and Political Science. The crackdown will push up their housing costs, creating "a lot of stress for people whose life situation is already precarious,' he said. Hassan, a 24-year-old security guard from Uganda, shares a bed in a partitioned apartment with a friend. So far, the government hasn't discovered it, but he has reason to be nervous, he said. "They can tell you to leave without an option, without anywhere to go.' Dubai has targeted overcrowded apartments in the past amid a spate of high-rise fires fueled by flammable siding material. The latest round of inspections came after a blaze in June at a 67-story tower in the Dubai Marina neighborhood, where some apartments had been partitioned. More than 3,800 residents were forced to evacuate from the building, which had 532 occupied apartments, according to a police report. That means seven people on average lived in each of these units in the tower of one-, two- and three-bedroom flats. Dozens of homes were left uninhabitable. There were no major injuries in that fire. However, another in 2023 in Dubai's historic Deira neighborhood killed at least 16 people and injured another nine in a unit believed to have been partitioned. Ebony, a 28-year-old odd-job worker from Ghana, was recently forced to leave a partitioned apartment after the authorities found out about it. 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Arab Times
a day ago
- Arab Times
Strong bomb explosion targets Greek prison guard's home
THESSALONIKI, Greece, July 27, (AP): A bomb explosion targeted the home of the president of the Greek association of prison guards early Saturday morning in the country's north. The guard, named Konstantinos Varsamis on the association's website, was left unharmed after about 3 kilograms (about 6.6 pounds) of explosives went off at 2:10 am local time, police said. Two people suffered minor injuries from shattered glass. The explosives were placed outside his apartment building's front door in Sykies, a suburb in the northern city of Thessaloniki, where he lives on the first floor, according to authorities. The blast damaged three apartment buildings, shattering their windows and collapsing a shared wall, according to an Associated Press reporter on-site. "I woke up because of the very loud bang of the explosion," Tzetno Kelo, 52, who lives in an adjacent apartment building, said. "Shattered glass from a window fell on my bed and I was covered in blood." He was treated at a hospital before being discharged Police said a witness saw a man walking in the densely built street shortly before the explosion. Varsamis has worked for many years at Diavata prison, west of Thessaloniki, known for housing many criminal gang members as well as convicted terrorists. Two police officers said they are focusing their efforts on criminal gangs rather than terror groups. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not supposed to comment on an ongoing investigation. The police have already deposed Varsamis, they said. The police's Organized Crime Unit is leading the investigation.
