“MOSCOW — The strongman president of Belarus sent a fighter jet to intercept a European airliner traveling through the country’s airspace on Sunday and ordered the plane to land in the capital, Minsk, where a prominent opposition journalist aboard was then seized, provoking international outrage.
The stunning gambit by Aleksandr G. Lukashenko, a brutal and erratic leader who has clung to power despite huge protests against his government last year, was condemned by European officials, who compared it to hijacking. It underscored that with the support of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, Mr. Lukashenko is prepared to go to extraordinary lengths to repress dissent.
The Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius, Lithuania, carrying some 170 passengers — among them the journalist, Roman Protasevich — was flying over Belarus when Belarusian air traffic controllers notified its pilots of ‘a potential security threat on board’ and directed the plane to divert to Minsk, the Ireland-based airline said in a statement.
Mr. Lukashenko, often referred to as ‘Europe’s last dictator,’ personally ordered a MiG-29 fighter jet to escort the Ryanair plane to the Minsk airport after a bomb threat, his press service said. According to the statement, Mr. Lukashenko gave an ‘unequivocal order’ to ‘make the plane do a U-turn and land.’
After about seven hours on the ground, the Ryanair Boeing 737-800 took off for Vilnius from Minsk with its passengers and crew, and landed safely at its final destination 35 minutes later.
But not Mr. Protasevich.
During the plane’s stop in Minsk, he was arrested, the country’s interior ministry said in a statement that was later deleted from its official Telegram channel.” Read more at New York Times
“RIGA, Latvia — European leaders on Monday were considering a plan to sever Belarus from the rest of the continent's airspace, a day after Belarusian authorities forced down a commercial airliner and arrested a dissident journalist who had been flying from Athens to Lithuania.
Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics said that AirBaltic, a major airline in the region, would no longer fly over Belarusian airspace after a Sunday Ryanair flight was forced down by a Belarusian MiG-29 fighter jet. The plane was about to land in Vilnius, Lithuania on Sunday before Belarusian authorities turned it around, forced it to land in their capital of Minsk, and arrested journalist Roman Protasevich, the founder of an opposition media outlet. He faces the death penalty.
Rinkevics said that he would push for a European ban on flights from Belavia, the Belarusian national airline, as well as a tough package of sanctions against Belarusian authorities. E.U. leaders plan to meet Monday evening at a previously-scheduled summit in Brussels, where the reaction to Belarus will now be the top priority. A ban on Belavia would be a blow to Belarus’s already shaky economy.” Read more at Washington Post
“STRESA, Italy (AP) — Italy’s transport minister vowed Monday to establish the cause of a cable car disaster that killed 14 people, after the lead cable apparently snapped and the cabin careened back down the mountain until it came off the line and crashed to the ground.
The lone survivor of Sunday’s horrific incident, a 5-year-old Israeli boy living in Italy, remained hospitalized in Turin on Monday with multiple broken bones.
The Israeli foreign ministry identified him as Eitan Biran. His parents, younger brother and two great-grandparents were among the dead, the ministry said, correcting an earlier statement that had included Eitan among the victims.
Italian media identified all the other victims as residents of Italy.
The disaster, in one of the most picturesque spots in northern Italy — the Mottarone mountaintop overlooking Lake Maggiore and other lakes near Switzerland — raised questions anew about the quality and safety of Italy’s transport infrastructure.” Read more at AP News
“KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. (AP) — Standing on the 18th tee with a two-shot lead in a championship he refused to imagine himself winning, Phil Mickelson took one last violent swing with a driver — the club that betrayed him 15 years earlier in the U.S. Open.
His tee shot Sunday in the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island landed only a few yards off the fairway, but it still nestled among the people — the gallery packed tightly between the ropes and a row of hospitality tents — screaming the name of their aging hero.
After Mickelson’s approach shot settled on the green, assuring the 50-year-old of becoming the oldest major champion in history, the crowd swallowed him up entirely.
Phil Mickelson, the people’s champion.
‘It’s an incredible experience. I’ve never had something like that,’ Mickelson said. ‘It was a little bit unnerving, but it was exceptionally awesome, too.’” Read more at AP News
FILE - In this Dec. 11, 2019, file photo, Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi waits to address judges of the International Court of Justice on the second day of three days of hearings in The Hague, Netherlands. Myanmar’s ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi appeared in court in person Monday, May 24, 2021, for the first time since the military arrested her when it seized power on Feb. 1, Myanmar media reported.(AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File)
“BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar’s ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi appeared in court in person Monday for the first time since the military arrested her when it seized power on Feb. 1, Myanmar media reported.
One of her lawyers, Min Min Soe, told The Associated Press by phone that Suu Kyi was able to meet with her defense team before her hearing began at a special court set up inside the city council building in Naypyitaw, the capital. The hearing’s purpose was procedural.
The lawyers also met with Win Myint, who was president in the government that Suu Kyi led as state counsellor, and a defendant on some of the same charges she faces.
Suu Kyi had been charged with several criminal offenses, but her only previous court appearances had been by video link, and she had not been allowed to meet in person with any of her lawyers.
Min Min Soe said Suu Kyi had a message for Myanmar’s people to the effect that her National League for Democracy party would stand by them.” Read more at AP News
Palestinians in the Israeli city of Haifa demonstrated Tuesday to mark a nationwide strike and express solidarity for those in Gaza. PHOTO: MATI MILSTEIN/ZUMA PRESS
“After the Gaza clash, a new solidarity has arisen among Palestinians.
The latest Israeli-Palestinian conflict has brought together Palestinians living in the West Bank, Gaza and Israel in ways unseen since 1948, the year of Israel’s creation. Without providing unanimity on solutions, the moment is giving rise to new voices and has unleashed new energy among young Palestinians across the region as they seek a fresh approach to the future. ‘Israel was able to divide us. But now, after the events of this month, there are no more borders between us—we are all united as Palestinians,’ said Muna el-Kurd, 23 years old, who has led protests against Israeli plans to evict her family and neighbors from east Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
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