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page 18 CYPRUS EgyptAir hijack ends with passengers freed An EgyptAir plane flying from Alexandria to Cairo was hijacked and forced to land in Cyprus on Tuesday by a man with what authorities said was a fake suicide belt, who was arrested after giving himself up. The passengers and crew were unharmed. Eighty-one people, including […]
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CYPRUS
EgyptAir hijack ends with passengers freed
An EgyptAir plane flying from Alexandria to Cairo was hijacked and forced to land in Cyprus on Tuesday by a man with what authorities said was a fake suicide belt, who was arrested after giving himself up.
The passengers and crew were unharmed. Eighty-one people, including 21 foreigners and 15 crew, were on board the Airbus 320, Egypt’s Civil Aviation Ministry said in a statement.
Conflicting theories emerged about the motives of the hijacker, an Egyptian. A senior Cypriot official said he seemed unstable and the incident did not appear related to terrorism. The Cypriot state broadcaster said he had demanded the release of women prisoners in Egypt.
In the midst of the hijack, witnesses said he threw a letter on the apron at Cyprus’s Larnaca airport, written in Arabic, and asked that it be delivered to his Cypriot ex-wife.
After the aircraft landed at Larnaca, negotiations began and everyone on board was freed except three passengers and four crew, Egypt’s Civil Aviation Minister Sherif Fethy said.
NIGER
Niger’s opposition leader, Amadou granted bail
A court in Niger has ordered the release on bail of opposition leader Hama Amadou, who went to France earlier this month for medical treatment.
Mr Amadou was imprisoned in November to face baby-trafficking charges, which he denies – arguing they are politically motivated. He had campaigned for elections in February from behind bars.
His party boycotted the run-off vote on 20 March, won by President Mahamadou Issoufou with 92% of the vote.
“The decision [of the court of appeal] is clear, he is free as of today,” Mr Amadou’s lawyer, Mossi Boubacar, told reporters in the capital, Niamey.
Mr Amadou, who was airlifted to a US hospital in Paris four days before the run-off, is determined to return home, Mr Boubacar added.
FRANCE
Somalia-bound’ ship of weapons seized by French navy
French naval forces patrolling the northern Indian Ocean have seized a ship full of weapons they say was heading towards Somalia.
Hundreds of assault rifles, machine guns and anti-tank weapons were found.
They seized the weapons under a UN embargo to prevent arms from getting to Somali Islamist militants.
Earlier this month, the Australian navy intercepted a cache of arms on a fishing boat off Oman, also believed to be on its way to Somalia.
It was reported that the French helicopter that spotted the ship is part of the multinational Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) that patrols the Indian Ocean.
TANZANIA
U.S. agency freezes $472m aid to Tanzania over election
A US government aid agency has pulled $472m (£331m) of funding for a Tanzanian electricity project after criticising elections in Zanzibar.
The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) said the vote “was neither inclusive nor representative”.
The October election for president of the semi-autonomous archipelago was cancelled half way through the count.
The opposition boycotted the re-run in March which incumbent President Mohamed Ali Shein won with 91% of the vote.
The money was intended to be spent on improving the availability and reliability of electricity in rural areas.
This was in addition to $700m the US had given to the Tanzanian government in 2008 to improve transport, energy and water.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Augustine Mahiga said he was surprised that the MCC had not taken into account the huge strides Tanzania had taken in democracy.
It was people in villages with no electricity who would suffer most from their cut in funds, he added.
UNITED STATES
Trump campaign manager charged with battery of reporter
U.S. Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump’s campaign manager Corey Lewandowski was charged with battery in Florida on Tuesday after allegations that he forcefully grabbed a reporter at a campaign event.
Police in Jupiter, Florida, charged Lewandowski, 42, with intentionally grabbing and bruising the arm of Michelle Fields, a reporter at the time for the conservative news outlet Breitbart, when she tried to question Trump at a campaign event on March 8.
“Mr. Lewandowski is absolutely innocent of this charge,” Trump’s campaign said in a statement. “He will enter a plea of not guilty and looks forward to his day in court. He is completely confident that he will be exonerated.”
Police released a video showing the incident. It shows Fields walking alongside Trump, and Lewandowski grabbing her arm and pulling her backward as she tried to question the Republican candidate.
PAKISTAN
Lahore attack: Pakistan ‘detains 200’ after Easter blast
More than 200 people have been detained in Pakistan in the hunt for those behind the Easter Sunday bombing that killed at least 72 people in Lahore.
Punjab’s law minister said those held were among more than 5,000 questioned in a sweeping counter-terror offensive.
Weapons and ammunition have also been seized in raids by security forces.
Taliban splinter group Jamaat-ul-Ahrar said it carried out the attack against Christians celebrating Easter, although most of those killed were Muslims.
At least 29 of the victims were children. Another 300 people were injured, with officials saying they expected the death toll to rise.
“There are no militant safe-havens or no-go areas in Punjab,” law minister Rana Sanaullah told a news conference in Lahore.
He said 56 intelligence operations had been jointly carried out by police, paramilitary, army and intelligence forces.
JAPAN
Japan enacts laws allowing combat missions abroad
Japan has launched new security laws that allow its military to engage in conflicts abroad for reasons other than self-defence, a move critics see as a major deviation from the country’s pacifist constitution.
For the first time since World War II, Japan will be able to participate more in international peacekeeping compared with its previous, mostly humanitarian, missions.
The legislation, which took effect on Tuesday after being passed last year despite nationwide protests, have been backed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Defence Minister Gen Nakatani, who said it was needed to improve international co-operation of armed forces.
The use of force by the Japanese military has been limited to self-defence since World War II ended in 1945.
UNITED STATES
US orders families out of southern Turkey over security
The US says it has ordered families of defence personnel and diplomats out of southern Turkey amid security fears.
Dependants are being moved out of Adana, Izmir and Mugla provinces.
The US European Command said the decision was not permanent but “intended to mitigate the risk to [Department of Defense] elements and personnel, including family members”.
Key cities have been struck by a spate of deadly bombings. Meanwhile Turkey has been fighting Kurdish militants in its restive east and struggling to prevent violence spreading from across its border with Syria.
S/SUDAN
Hunger driving thousands of S/Sudanese to flee to Sudan
The United Nations refugee agency reports hunger as well as ongoing conflict are driving tens of thousands of South Sudanese to flee their war-torn country into Sudan in search of food and security.
The United Nations reports 2.3 million people in South Sudan have been forced to flee their homes since civil war erupted in December 2013.
UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards says the situation is particularly bad in the northwestern states of Northern Bahr el-Ghazal and Warrap. He says some 38,000 people have fled into the East Darfur and South Darfur regions of Sudan over the past two months.
YEMEN
Yemen conflict takes devastating toll on children
The year-old conflict in Yemen is taking a horrifying toll on the country’s youth, UNICEF said on Tuesday, warning that an estimated 320,000 children face life-threatening malnutrition.
In a new report marking the anniversary of the start of the Saudi-led campaign in Yemen, the agency said six children have been killed or injured daily over the past year – up nearly seven times compared to 2014.
“Children are paying the highest price for a conflict not of their making. They have been killed or maimed across the country and are no longer safe anywhere in Yemen. Even playing or sleeping has become dangerous,” said Julien Harneis, UNICEF’s representative in Yemen.