Scoot airlines to increase fleet, expand routes

SINGAPORE: Scoot, the low cost long haul subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, has flown about 600,000 passengers after seven months of operation.

This means carrying about 85,000 travellers per month.

The carrier also has a passenger load factor of about 81 per cent and currently flies to eight destinations, including Tianjin, Shenyang and the Gold Coast.

Speaking at the "world's low cost airlines" conference on Thursday, CEO of Scoot Airlines Campbell Wilson was asked if the airline will be increasing its fleet and expanding its routes to cope with the ever growing demand for low cost travel in Southeast Asia.

Mr Wilson said: "We're taking a fifth aircraft this year end of May, early June, and we'll use that to add two or three more routes to the network. In terms of partnership, currently we work most closely with Tiger Airways, they have affiliates in other countries that we would look to expand our routes to. And furthermore there are airlines outside of Singapore and indeed outside of Southeast Asia that are quite interested to work with us. But its too premature to reveal who."

Scoot has introduced ScooTV, streaming inflight entertainment for passengers, and was the first to introduce iPads for rent.

Mr Wilson said it does not add to their costs at all.

"We only introduce these where there is a business benefit to us. We target to get over 20 per cent of our revenue from ancillary products of which entertainment is one. But as well as earning us money, it also helps the passenger. It's a win-win all round," he said.

Mr Wilson also commented on Boeing's Dreamliner despite the latest safety hiccups.

"The next aircraft we take this year is a 777-200 and the ones after that are 787s. Boeing is keeping us fully informed of what's happening with the 787 investigations and rectification and we are confident in their ability to resolve the issue under the purview of the regulators, and we look forward to taking the aircraft on schedule in November 2014. We have commitment for 20 Dreamliners," he said.

Several Scoot flights were recently hit by a series of passenger complaints stemming from flight delays and alleged technical faults.

Mr Wilson said: "The challenges are real. When you have a small fleet flying high utilisation. Anything whether its a weather delay, whether its a typhoon, fog in Tianjin today or storms in Gold Coast on Monday, they do affect aircraft schedules and sometimes have consequential effects. There's no avoiding that with a small fleet, but the high utilisation of aircraft is what allows us to offer low fares, so it's a bit of a quid pro quo.

"We're very clear to people what it is that we offer, we also make no secret what it is that we give in terms of compensation. The compensation is not just S$50, it can be more ranging to a full refund depending on the circumstances.

"Clearly, unit costs is unavoidable for operating an airline, unit revenue and engagement. You can't operate a business if you don't have low cost, you can't cover those cost if you don't have decent revenue and you don't have revenue if people don't like you."

- CNA/de

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Much of U.S. on a weather roller coaster

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• In some areas, the difference in high temperatures will change by 40 degrees in a few days


• Cold air is meeting warm, humid air, resulting in turbulent weather


• The jet stream's impact on weather seems to be different so far this year, meteorologist says


• Don't put your warm coat back in the closet -- February might be pretty cold

(CNN) -- Charlie Gribble got a new sled and new ski pants for Christmas. But the presents the 3-year-old and his brother received still have the price tags on them.

While January in Chicago is usually a good time to play in the snow, Charlie's mom, Maureen, had different plans earlier this week. She told her sons they were going to the park to ride tricycles and play basketball.

"But when do we get to go sledding?" Charlie asked.

Well, Charlie, you should just have to wait about 48 hours.

Albany, New York

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It's been that kind of week in Charlie's hometown of Chicago, where it went from a record-breaking high temperature of 63 on Tuesday morning to thunderstorms moving in, followed by snowfall.

And the wacky weather wasn't just in the Windy City.

By the time the weekend arrives, much of the country will have experienced a temperature roller coaster taking folks from shorts and T-shirt weather to conditions that require heavy coats and gloves.

Kansas City saw highs into the mid-70s recently, but temperatures dropped 40 degrees over several days after a surge of Arctic air arrived. In Richmond, Virginia, it was 72 on Wednesday, and on Friday it is supposed to be in the upper 30s.

High winds, tornado trap Georgia residents, turn over cars

Tuesday saw 240 record highs set across 27 states.

Portions of eastern Texas saw record highs -- it was 91 degrees Tuesday in Corpus Christi -- as warmer, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico surged into the central and eastern part of the country.

This kind of weather wouldn't be so unusual if it were spring or fall, but there seems to be something different about the jet stream -- the flow of air that divides cold and warm air -- this year, said CNN meteorologist Dave Hennen.

The jet stream flows west to east, typically at 100 mph, although its wind speed can often top 200 mph. If you visualize it as a line with a pattern of bumps and dips, those curves have been much taller in January, Hennen said.

"We've always had dips and valleys in the pattern, but this year they have been very large," he said. "It's also unusual that you have that much warm air that far north at this time of year. It's almost unheard of."

The unseasonably warm weather has been good for going to the park, but it also led to the severe weather that developed Tuesday night and Wednesday as cold air moved east, clashing with the warm, wet air.

"Where there is so much moisture in the air, the cold air won't let it stay there," CNN meteorologist Chad Myers said. "The cold air pushes into the warm air, (and) the rain and the humidity in the air has to fall out."

And here come the storms.

"It's the clash between warm and cold temperatures that enables such things as tornadoes, hail and strong winds to occur," Jim Hoke, the director of the Hydrometeorological Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland, said.

J. Shepherd Marshall, the president of the American Meteorological Society, said in an e-mail that the cold temperatures that preceded this week's record highs may have two factors behind them. One of those is what meteorologists call a stratospheric warming event.

That caused the pressure holding back the cold air in the Arctic to weaken -- as if someone opened the refrigerator door of the North Pole. That cold air will now slide into the United States, leading to a frigid February, the website Climate Central explained.

It's something that has been happening more often in recent years.

"Stratospheric warming events have been increasing in frequency the past decade or so -- possibly related to diminishing sea ice," Marshall said.

That might be linked to climate change, but he cautioned that one week of extreme temperature changes does not equal pinpoint evidence of global warming.

"Weather is to your mood as climate is to your personality. You cannot judge climate by a day or week," he said.

The other factor is a weather phenomenon that circles the world at the equator called the Madden-Julian Oscillation.

"Because the MJO influences (temperature) through tropical rainfall, it can modify weather patterns far away from the equator," Climate Central reported.

In Chicago, people like Corey Lubowich enjoyed a short break from the cold. Lubowich, a 24-year-old theater producer who grew up in the suburbs, said he doesn't ever remember a week like this in January.

"Chicago weather is generally unpredictable, but particularly so this winter," he said.

The other day he walked out of his place bound for the gym wearing just a hoodie and pants. But on Friday, it'll be back to the layer strategy -- T-shirt covered by hoodie covered by thick jacket. And add a scarf, hat and gloves.

Maureen Gribble, who also grew up in Chicago, said she had a friend who just moved there from California and was puzzled by the mild winter.

"I didn't want to burst her bubble," Gribble said.

The stay-at-home mom said she helped her buddy get set up for the real winter.

After all, there is no bad weather, just bad clothing choices.

It looks like Gribble and her family will be bundling up again this weekend when they head up to Wisconsin. It's going to be in the 20s. She hopes there'll be a lot of snow, and Charlie will get a chance to finally jump on that sled.

iReport: Finding art in icy weather

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Ala. child hostage situation enters third day

Updated at 8:02 a.m. ET

MIDLAND CITY, Ala. A standoff that started when a man boarded a school bus full of children near his home in a rural Alabama neighborhood, killed the driver and took one 5-year-old boy hostage entered its third day Thursday.

The suspect and the child hostage have not been identified by police.

People who live along the rutted red clay road said the suspect is a retired truck driver with a reputation, CBS News correspondent Manuel Bojorquez reports. They said he allegedly beat a dog to death and threatened to shoot kids who trespass on his property. He was reportedly due in court this week on a weapons charge.

Neighbor Ronda Wilbur described the suspect to CBS News as "very anti-social, very anti-government" and that he "hates everybody."

"My granddaughter who just turned 7, when I have her visiting me this next weekend, I won't have to worry about 'mean man,'" Wilbur told CBS News. "One way or another he's not gonna be there. He will either be locked up, or he'll be dead."

Wilbur told The Associated Press that the suspect beat her 120-pound dog with a lead pipe for coming onto his side of the dirt road. The dog died a week later.

"He said his only regret was he didn't beat him to death all the way," Wilbur told the AP. "If a man can kill a dog, and beat it with a lead pipe and brag about it, it's nothing until it's going to be people."

The neighborhood near Midland City, population 2,300, remained under siege after the Tuesday shooting, with the suspect and child holed up in a bunker-type shelter on the man's property that was equipped with electricity, food and TV.

On Thursday, dozens of police cars and rental cars that had brought FBI agents to the site were parked about the state highway at the clay road's entrance. A large law enforcement truck also pulled up before dawn to a staging area for law enforcement agents that was lit by bright lights overnight.

At least one ambulance was parked nearby and numerous television news satellite trucks also lined up across the rural highway.

Homes on the road had been evacuated earlier after authorities found what they believed to be a bomb on the property. SWAT teams earlier had taken up positions around the gunman's property and police negotiators tried to win the kindergartener's safe release.

The situation remained unchanged for hours as negotiators continued talking to the suspect, Alabama State Trooper Charles Dysart told a news conference late Wednesday. Earlier in the day, Sheriff Wally Olson said that authorities had "no reason to believe that the child has been harmed."

Local TV station WDHN obtained a police dispatch recording of the moment officers first arrived at the site. On it, the officers are heard saying that they were trying to communicate with the suspect through a PVC pipe leading into the shelter.

Authorities gave no details of the standoff, and it was unclear if the suspect made any demands from the bunker, which resembled a tornado shelter.

State Rep. Steve Clouse, who met with authorities and visited the boy's family, said the bunker had food and electricity, and the youngster was watching TV.

At one point, authorities lowered medicine into the bunker for the boy after his captor agreed to it, Clouse said.

Bus driver Charles Albert Poland Jr. is seen in this undated picture released by the Dale County Board of Education.

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AP Photo/Dale County Board of Education

The standoff began after school Tuesday afternoon. Olson said the man shot the bus driver several times when he refused to hand over the child. The gunman then took the boy away.

"As far as we know there is no relation at all. He just wanted a child for a hostage situation," said Michael Senn, a pastor who helped comfort other traumatized children after the attack.

The bus driver, Charles Albert Poland Jr., 66, was hailed by locals as a hero who gave his life to protect the 21 students aboard the bus. Authorities say most of the students scrambled to the back of the bus when the gunman boarded and said he wanted two boys 6 to 8 years old.

But when the gunman went down the aisle, authorities said, Poland put his arm out to grab a pole near the front steps of the vehicle, trying to block the suspect. That's when authorities say the driver was shot four times before the gunman grabbed the child at random and fled.

Mike and Patricia Smith, who live across the street from the suspect and whose two children were on the bus, said their youngsters had a run-in with him about 10 months ago.

"My bulldogs got loose and went over there," Patricia Smith said. "The children went to get them. He threatened to shoot them if they came back."

"He's very paranoid," her husband said. "He goes around in his yard at night with a flashlight and shotgun."

The suspect had been scheduled to appear in court Wednesday to face a charge of menacing some neighbors as they drove by his house weeks ago. Claudia Davis said he yelled and fired shots at her, her son and her baby grandson over damage the suspect claimed their pickup truck did to a makeshift speed bump in the dirt road. No one was hurt.

"Before this happened, I would see him at several places and he would just stare a hole through me," Davis said. "On Monday I saw him at a laundromat and he seen me when I was getting in my truck, and he just stared and stared and stared at me."

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Negotiations Drag Out for 5-Year-Old Hostage

An Alabama community is on edge today, praying for a 5-year-old boy being held hostage by a retired man who police say abducted him at gunpoint Tuesday afternoon.

Nearly 40 hours have slowly passed since school bus driver Charles Albert Poland Jr., 66, heroically tried to prevent the kidnapping, but was shot to death by suspect Jimmy Lee Dykes, a former truck driver, police said.

Dykes boarded the bus Tuesday and said he wanted two boys, 6 to 8 years old. As the children piled to the back of the bus, Dykes, 65, allegedly shot Poland four times, then grabbed the child at random and fled, The Associated Press reported.

The primary concern in the community near Midland City, Ala., is now for the boy's safety. Dale County police have not identified the child.

"I believe in prayer, so I just pray that we can resolve this peacefully," Dale County sheriff Wally Olson said.

Mickey Welsh/Montgomery Advertiser/AP

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The boy is being held in a bunker about 8 feet below ground, where police say Dykes likely has enough food and supplies to remain underground for weeks. Dykes has been communicating with police through a pipe extending from the bunker to the surface.

It is unclear whether he has made any demands from the bunker-style shelter on his property.

The young hostage is a child with autism. Dykes has allowed the boy to watch television, and have some medication, police said

Multiple agencies have responded to the hostage situation, Dale County Sheriff Wally Olson said. The FBI has assumed the lead in the investigation, and SWAT teams were surrounding the bunker.

"A lot of law enforcement agencies here doing everything they possibly can to get this job done," Olson said.

Former FBI lead hostage negotiator Chris Voss said that authorities must proceed with caution.

"You make contact as quickly as you can, but also as gently as you can," he said. "You don't try to be assertive; you don't try to be aggressive."

Voss said patience is important in delicate situations such as this.

"The more patient approach they take, the less likely they are to make mistakes," he said.

"They need to move slowly to get it right, to communicate properly and slowly and gently unravel this."

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Why women belong on war front-lines

Vernice Armour says "bottom line is if you can do the job, you should be out there doing it...man or a woman. "

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Vernice Armour: In 2004 battle in Iraq, she saved a Marine squad by shooting a missile


• She says rescued Marines didn't care she was a woman. Now Pentagon lifting ban


• She says women in combat roles doesn't lower standards; they have long served in military


• Armour: Having more women on battlefield will up military's ability to carry out mission

Editor's note: Captain Vernice "FlyGirl" Armour is America's first African-American female combat pilot, having flown AH-1W Super Cobra Attack Helicopters for two tours of duty with the Marines in Iraq. She is author of the book "Zero to Breakthrough: The 7-step, Battle-Tested Method for Accomplishing Goals That Matter." She is a business coach and keynote speaker for corporations and organizations.

(CNN) -- I was sitting in the cockpit of my AH-1W Super Cobra attack helicopter when my division got a desperate call for help. It was August 2004, and I was a part of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit based in Iraq.

Insurgents were hitting our troops with mortar rounds. The Marine squad was out of ammunition and couldn't shoot back. They had just fought a long and fierce battle, supply reinforcements couldn't reach them and they didn't even have any green smoke to mark their position for us. They needed assistance immediately.

We took out the enemy target with the last remaining missile on our aircraft. Several months later, I was talking to a Marine. When he found out I flew Cobras, he started to recount an experience he had in Iraq in which a Cobra shot a missile and saved his squad. Turned out, it was the same mission; the missile came from my aircraft. He stared at me and said, "Ma'am, you saved my life." Did it matter that the one who fired that missile was a woman, or that she was black and gay? Absolutely not!

Vernice Armour

Fast forward almost 10 years to 2013, and history has been made for women in the military. The ban on women in military combat has been lifted, allowing women to apply for jobs in front-line positions and elite commando units.

According to statistics from Women In Military Service For America Memorial Foundation, as of September 2011, there were 214,098 women serving on active duty in the military. While that might sound like a large number, these women make up only 14.6% of all active-duty service personnel. In the Marine Corps, women make up just a little more than 6%. The Pentagon says women have been barred from roughly 237,000 positions, and they will now start looking to qualified women to fill these roles. This is long overdue.

The debate the move has raised presents an obvious reality check: Our American community needs to be educated that women are capable of taking on military roles and have done so throughout the nation's history.

Women have already proven we can handle ourselves on the front lines. And in recent times, even with the ban on women in combat in place, women have been POWs. The Lioness Program, the Marine Corps all-female search team, is an example of why we can't accomplish our front line missions without women. The reality of modern warfare is that there are no front lines.

Honestly, I am offended by how many times I hear "women in combat" and "lowering standards" used in the same sentence. True, the average man is physically stronger than the average woman. Standards should not be lowered and women don't want them to be. No one should be in a job where he or she doesn't meet the standards -- not every man, for example is fit to be a Navy SEAL.

The argument that women in combat will have a negative impact on unit cohesion and morale is the same argument that was used to keep blacks and gays out of the military. At what point do we bring a stop to these ridiculous arguments and address what really matters?

Having more women on the battlefield will improve the military's ability to carry out its mission. During my two tours flying helicopters in Iraq, my unit experienced many dangerous and potentially life-threatening scenarios. The ultimate sacrifice wasn't meted out by gender.

For those who are against women serving on the front line, know this: Opening up combat roles for women is merely formalizing the reality of what was already happening; it's just opening more roles and opportunities. The bottom line is if you can do the job, you should be out there doing it, whether you're a man or a woman.

The military has been a personal journey for me. My grandfather served in World War II and was a Montford Point Marine. My stepdad was a Marine and served three tours in Vietnam, and my father retired as a major from the Army Reserves after 24 years. I love being part of this legacy, and the legacy of service to our great nation. It's time we give women the same opportunity to serve this great country. We're all in this together.

Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion.

Join us on Facebook/CNNOpinion.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Vernice Armour.

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UE plans to launch rival bid for WBL Corp

SINGAPORE: Another corporate fight is brewing as property and engineering group United Engineers plans to launch a rival bid for WBL Corp at S$4 a share.

United Engineers said the company's growth has reached its peak after the property and construction firm raked in record revenue of S$1.19 billion in 2011.

The company is now looking for more recurring income.

To do that, United Engineers said it has to look beyond its home ground in Singapore for inorganic growth.

That is why it has offered to buy the remaining 61.7 per cent of WBL Corp that it does not own for S$687 million in an all-cash offer.

Jackson Yap, group managing director and chief executive officer of United Engineers Limited, said: "In property development, the earnings could be quite lumpy. When you have the project finishing, you have a spike in your earnings. So we are trying to spread it out and have a more recurring income.

"The auto business offers us that opportunity. It is a great business. We have seen quite good growth for them. We think that that is one of our core businesses if we are looking to take over."

United Engineers is eyeing on WBL Corp's business outside Singapore, particularly in China.

These include automotive, property development, technology and engineering.

Jack Wang from Lexico Advisory said there could be lucrative spin-offs if the acquisition is successful.

Mr Wang said: "You are not just buying one company. You are actually buying three segments of the business which I think if anyone is confident of about the fundamentals, you can spin-off some of the business, and you can get lots of value out of it."

United Engineers has the support from WBL Corp's major shareholders which include OCBC Group, Great Eastern, and the Lee Family.

Together they hold 38.3 per cent stake in WBL Corp.

United Engineers said it will fund the acquisition by internal funds and external borrowings.

WBL Corp's shares were halted for trading on Wednesday. Its shares last traded at S$4.20 apiece.

Major shareholder Straits Trading with some 44.6 per cent stake in WBL Corp has not commented on United Engineers' latest offer.

- CNA/fa

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Hear what LeBron said to Obama

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Giffords to Senate: 'Americans Are Counting on You'

Former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, whose congressional career was ended by a bullet wound to her head, opened a Senate hearing on gun violence today by telling the panel, "Speaking is difficult, but I need to say something important."

She told the Senate to be "courageous" because "Americans are counting on you."

Giffords sat alongside her astronaut husband Mark Kelly as she delivered her emotional statement just over a minute long imploring Congress to act on gun policy.

"This is an important conversation for our children, for our communities, for Democrats, and Republicans," the former Arizona congresswoman said. "Speaking is difficult but I need to say something important: Violence is a big problem too many children are dying. Too many children. We must do something. It will be hard, but the time is now. You must act. Be bold, be courageous, Americans are counting on you. Thank you," Giffords said before being helped out of the hearing room.

Giffords was shot by a gunman in her Arizona district two years ago, and was a last-minute addition to the hearing about the nation's gun laws as lawmakers grapple with how to curb gun violence in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary school tragedy that left 20 children and six adults dead late last year.

Today's hearing is a showdown on guns, featuring two powerful but conflicting forces in the gun control movement. Giffords' husband will also testify, as will Wayne LaPierre, the fiery executive vice president and CEO of the National Rifle Association.

They will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee today in the first congressional hearing on gun violence since the deadly shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. last month.

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Giffords has recently launched Americans for Responsible Solutions, an organization promoting the implementation of universal background checks and limits on high capacity magazines.

"Overwhelmingly, you told us that universal background checks and limiting access to high capacity magazines were top priorities, and I'll make sure to address each of those ideas in my opening remarks," Kelly wrote in an email to supporters Tuesday. Kelly asked the group's allies to sign a petition calling on Congress to pass legislation on both issues.

LaPierre, who states the NRA's opposition to universal background checks and urges legislators not to "blame" legal gun owners by enacting new gun control laws.

"Law-abiding gun owners will not accept blame for the acts of violent or deranged criminals. Nor do we believe the government should dictate what we can lawfully own and use to protect our families," LaPierre was to say Wednesday, according to prepared remarks released by the NRA.

"Proposing more gun control laws -- while failing to enforce the thousands we already have -- is not a serious solution to reducing crime," says LaPierre in his prepared text.

In the wake of the Newtown shooting, the NRA advocated placing armed security guards in every school in America, an initiative LaPierre will promote in Wednesday's hearing, arguing that "it's time to throw an immediate blanket of security around our children."

In an interview with ABC News' Diane Sawyer earlier this month, Kelly and Giffords said they hope the Sandy Hook shooting, in which 20 children and seven adults died, will spur legislative action on gun policy.

Today's hearing is the first meeting ever for Kelly and LaPierre, according to an interview Kelly gave to CNN Tuesday. Kelly, who has shot at an NRA practice range with his wife, noted that he is a gun enthusiast but is not a member of the NRA.

"You would think with my background I would be a member of the NRA. I own a gun. I recently bought a hunting rifle a few months ago. I went through a background check. It took I think about 20 minutes. It's a small price to pay to make us safer. We're not going to stop every one of these mass shootings. We're not going to stop every murder with a handgun in our cities, but I think we'd go a long way to reducing the violence and preventing some," Kelly told CNN.

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Why haven't we learned from fires?

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Pyrotechnics, overcrowding, poor exits have contributed to tragic fires in recent years


• You would think the world would have learned from past incidents, John Barylick says


• Concertgoers have to be their own fire marshals, he says

Editor's note: John Barylick, author of "Killer Show," a book on the 2003 Station nightclub fire in Rhode Island, is an attorney who represented victims in wrongful death and personal injury cases arising from the fire.

(CNN) -- Sunday morning we awoke to breaking news of another tragic nightclub fire, this time in Brazil. At last report the death toll exceeded 230.

This tragedy is not without precedent. Next month will mark the 10th anniversary of a similar nightclub fire in Rhode Island. At this sad time, it's appropriate to reflect on what we've learned from club fires -- and what we haven't.

Rhode Island's Station nightclub fire of 2003, in which 100 concertgoers lost their lives, began when fireworks set off by Great White, an 80s heavy metal band, ignited flammable packing foam on the club's walls.

Deadly blazes: Nightclub tragedies in recent history

John Barylick

Panicked patrons stampeded toward the club's main exit, and a fatal pileup ensued. Contributing to the tragedy were illegal use of pyrotechnics, overcrowding and a wall covering that would have failed even the most rudimentary flammability tests.

Video images of the Station fire were broadcast worldwide: A concert begins; the crowd's mood changes from merry, to curious, to concerned, to horrified -- in less than a minute. You'd think the world would have learned from it. You would be wrong.

The following year, the Republica Cromanon nightclub in Argentina went up in flames, killing 194 people. The club was made to hold about 1,000 people, but it was estimated that more than 3,000 fans were packed inside the night of the fire, which began when fans began lighting flares that caught the roof on fire.

Echoes of the past: Rhode Island victims 'can't help but watch'

Then, in January 2009, at least 64 New Year's revelers lost their lives in a nightclub in Bangkok, Thailand, after fire ignited its ceiling. Many were crushed in a rush to get out of the club. In December of that same year, a fire in a Russian nightclub, ignited by pyrotechnics, killed 156 people. Overcrowding, poor exits, and indoor fireworks all played roles in these tragedies; yet no one bothered to learn from mistakes of the past.

While responsibility for concert disasters unquestionably lies with venue operators, performers and promoters, ultimately, we, as patrons of clubs and concerts, can enhance our own safety by taking a few simple steps. The National Fire Protection Association urges concertgoers to:

• Be observant. Is the concert venue rundown or well-maintained? Does the staff look well-trained?

• As you proceed to your seat, observe how long the process takes. Could you reverse it in a hurry? Do you pass through pinch points? Is furniture in the way?

• Once seated, take note of the nearest exit. (In an emergency, most people try to exit by the door they entered, which is usually not the closest, and is always overcrowded.) Then, share the location of that nearest exit with your entire party. Agree that at the first sign of trouble, you will all proceed to it without delay.

• Once the show begins, remain vigilant. If you think there's a problem, LEAVE IMMEDIATELY. Do not stay to "get your money's worth" despite concerns about safety. Do not remain to locate that jacket or bag you placed somewhere. No concert is worth your life. Better to read about an incident the next day than be counted as one of its statistics.

Read more: How to protect yourself in a crowd

To be sure, all fire codes must be vigorously enforced, and club and concert hall operators must be held to the highest standards. A first step is banning indoor pyrotechnics in all but the largest, stadium-type venues.

But, ultimately, we are our own best "fire marshals" when it comes to avoiding, and escaping, dangerous situations. We can still enjoy shows. But it is up to us to look out for our own safety.

In coming days, Rhode Islanders will follow the unfolding news from Brazil with a sense of queasy deja vu -- the rising body counts, the victim identification process, the grieving families, and the assigning (and dodging) of blame. If only they had learned from our tragedy.

Eerie sounds of cell phones amid disaster adds to first-responder toll

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of John Barylick.

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US Senate committee approves Kerry nomination

 

WASHINGTON: Senator John Kerry easily cleared the first hurdle of his confirmation as the next secretary of state Tuesday with a unanimous vote of approval by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Kerry, President Barack Obama's pick to replace Hillary Clinton as the nation's top diplomat, must still be confirmed by a vote of the full Senate later in the day, but that was expected to be a shoo in.

His colleagues on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which Kerry chairs, gave him a unanimous vote of approval, with Republicans joining Democrats.

Kerry, who did not vote, said he was "humbled" and gratified.

"They've been wonderful, they've been really superb," he said of his colleagues on the committee, adding, "I'm very wistful about it, it's not easy" leaving.

- AFP/fa

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