Air India flight makes emergency landing in Thailand after bomb threat, no devices found
[BANGKOK] An Air India flight from Phuket bound for New Delhi received an onboard bomb threat on Friday (Jun 13) and made an emergency landing back on the Thai island, airport authorities said.
All 156 passengers on flight AI 379 were escorted safely from the plane. No suspicious devices were found and there was no disruption to airport operations, authorities said.
The incident occurred after a message with a bomb threat was found in one of the plane's lavatories after takeoff, Phuket Airport general manager Monchai Tanode told a press conference,
'Police took suspects for questioning but could not clearly say who wrote the note,' he said.
Air India official Debasish Choudhury said there were initially three suspects and all had been cleared. India's airlines and its airports were inundated with hoax bomb threats last year, with close to 1,000 hoax calls and messages received in the first 10 months, nearly 10 times that of 2023. The incident follows the crash of an Air India flight in Ahmedabad on Thursday shortly after takeoff, in which more than 240 people were killed. REUTERS

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AsiaOne
3 hours ago
- AsiaOne
US Marines make first detention in LA as more protests expected, World News
LOS ANGELES - US Marines deployed to Los Angeles made their first detention of a civilian on Friday (June 13), the military said, part of a rare domestic use of its forces sent to the city after days of protests over immigration raids. The Marines joined National Guard forces already deployed to Los Angeles ahead of nationwide demonstrations expected on Saturday in what may be the biggest backlash to President Donald Trump since he returned to power. About 200 Marines will protect a federal building in Los Angeles, Army Major General Scott Sherman, who is in command of both the National Guard and Marine forces, said on Friday. The administration has authorised a total of 700 Marines to be deployed in the city. It is uncommon for active-duty troops to be used domestically during civil disturbances. The last time the military was used for direct police action was in 1992, when the California governor at the time asked then President George H.W. Bush to invoke the Insurrection Act to help respond to Los Angeles riots over the acquittal of police officers who beat Black motorist Rodney King. The Marines and National Guard deployed in Los Angeles are assigned to protect federal property and personnel and may temporarily detain people, but they are required to turn them over to civilian law enforcement for any formal arrest. "I would like to emphasise that the soldiers will not participate in law enforcement activities," Sherman said during a briefing. Reuters witnessed Marines detain one person at the Wilshire Federal Building, where the Marines had been posted. A Marine suddenly jumped over some benches and across a garden area to chase after a man, grabbed him and held him down until another Marine assisted him. Reuters images showed Marines restraining his hands with zip ties and then handing him over to civilians from the Department of Homeland Security nearly two hours later. US military confirmed the detention after being presented with Reuters images, in the first known detention by active duty troops. Asked about the incident, the US military's Northern Command spokesperson said active duty forces "may temporarily detain an individual in specific circumstances." "Any temporary detention ends immediately when the individual(s) can be safely transferred to the custody of appropriate civilian law enforcement personnel," the spokesperson said. The detained man, Marcos Leao, 27, an immigrant and a US Army veteran, said he was told to get on the ground after venturing into a restricted area, as he crossed a line of yellow tape to avoid walking around the building. Speaking to reporters after he was released, Leao said he was an Army veteran on his way to an office of the Department of Veterans Affairs when he crossed the yellow tape boundary and was asked to stop. Leao, who said he is Portuguese and Angolan and became a US citizen through the military, said he complied with all commands and that the Marines apparently mistook him for a protester when he simply had business with the Veterans Administration office inside the building. "They treated me very fairly," Leao said, adding that he was told, "Understand, this is a whole stressful situation for everybody, and we all have a job." Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell told a press conference he was unaware of the incident. "Their ability to detain, as I understand it, is to only detain very briefly in the immediacy, and then federal agents who are working with them would do the detention, arrest, or if appropriate, any other less lethal use of force," McDonnell said. Trump's use of the National Guard was allowed to continue, at least for now, after a federal appeal on Thursday paused a lower court ruling to return control of the California National Guard to Governor Gavin Newsom. The appeals court ruling does not mean it will ultimately side with Trump, as the matter is scheduled for another hearing next week. "We saved L.A. Thank you for the Decision!!!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. The Trump administration "far overreached its authority," the California Attorney General's office said, adding that it remained confident in its case ahead of making arguments to court on Tuesday. Democrats, including Newsom, have said the use of military force was unnecessary and an example of Trump's authoritarianism. Los Angeles and other local officials have also opposed the recent ramp-up of federal immigration enforcement. Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said there was a "big difference" between legitimate protesters and "people who are coming out to cause problems, estimating the latter at less than one per cent of those present. Luna spoke at a press conference in which law enforcement welcomed peaceful protests on Saturday but warned they would arrest those who harm others or damage property. Cities across the US were bracing for demonstrations on Saturday, when those also opposed to a weekend military parade in Washington are expected to take to the streets. Organisers of the "No Kings" events, formed as a counter to the military parade, expect some 1,800 demonstrations. Police in California said they expected 200 demonstrations in the state and asked demonstrators to march peacefully. "They've defied our courts, deported Americans, disappeared people off the streets, attacked our civil rights, and slashed our services," the group No Kings, which is organising the day of action, wrote on its website. Demonstrations against the immigration raids have also taken place in other cities this week, including New York and Chicago, and there have been some disturbances. The Los Angeles Police Department said 33 people were arrested downtown overnight for failing to disperse as protests continued in the city for a seventh day, and 13 arrests were made for violating the curfew. More than 200 people were arrested last Sunday and Monday nights, police said. [[nid:719051]]


AsiaOne
3 hours ago
- AsiaOne
US pushes Mexico to prosecute politicians with ties to drug cartels, World News
MEXICO CITY - The Trump administration is pressuring Mexico to investigate and prosecute politicians with suspected links to organised crime, and to extradite them to the United States if there are criminal charges to answer there, according to sources familiar with the matter. The requests - raised at least three times by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his team in bilateral meetings and conversations with Mexican officials - seek to push President Claudia Sheinbaum's government to investigate current elected officials and launch an unprecedented crackdown on narco corruption, four people familiar with the matter said. In their discussions, the US officials have called for action against several politicians from Sheinbaum's own Morena party and threatened to levy further tariffs if Mexico did not take action, two of the sources said. The conversations between US and Mexican officials have not been previously reported. Mexico's foreign ministry did not respond to Reuters' questions before this story was published. After its publication, the foreign ministry denied in a post on social media that the US had requested that any official be investigated. In a daily press conference, Sheinbaum then said it was "false" that the US had asked Mexico to give names of Mexican politicians. The US State Department, in a comment also sent after the story published, did not dispute that requests had been made that politicians with cartel links be investigated, but said no "tariff relief" has been offered in exchange. "It is in the interest of both the United States and Mexico to work together to combat the cartels and the corrupt actors that enable them," the statement said. A Reuters spokesperson said: "We stand by our reporting." Baja California Governor Reuters could not determine if the US provided Mexico with a list of politicians suspected of links to organised crime, or evidence against them. Nor was Reuters able to independently confirm if any individuals flagged by the US had engaged in any wrongdoing. Two sources said five current Morena officials and one former senator were mentioned - including Baja California Governor Marina del Pilar Avila. In a statement to Reuters on Wednesday (June 11), Avila said her government had fought organised crime and had managed to reduce homicide rates. "I affirm categorically that it is totally false any information that seeks to link me to any organised crime group," Avila said. The Mexican presidency, Attorney General's Office, Security Ministry and Foreign Ministry did not respond to requests for comment on the talks. The White House, State Department, Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security also did not reply to Reuters questions prior to publication. Political risk President Donald Trump's administration has justified its declarations of tariffs on Mexico on the growing influence of the cartels over the government. A crackdown - potentially targeting high-ranking elected officials while they are in office - would mark a dramatic escalation of Mexico's efforts against drug corruption. But it carries political risks for Sheinbaum, as some of the allegations involve members of her own party, a member of her security cabinet told Reuters. The US first raised the request at a meeting in Washington on Feb 27 led by Rubio and Mexican Foreign Minister Juan Ramon de la Fuente, the four people familiar with the matter said. US Attorney General Pam Bondi and other officials from the Departments of Homeland Security and Justice as well as Treasury attended the meeting, the four people said. Mexico's Attorney General Alejandro Gertz and Secretary of Security Omar Garcia Harfuch were also at the meeting. Mexico sent 29 cartel figures to the US in late February - the largest such handover in years - following Trump's threats to impose across-the-board tariffs on Mexican goods. The possibility of expediting the capture and/or deportation of priority DEA and FBI targets was also discussed, two of the sources said. As part of the discussions, two of the people familiar with the matter said, US officials floated the idea of appointing a US fentanyl czar to liaise directly with Sheinbaum on progress to combat the deadly synthetic opioid. Washington also pressed Mexico for more thorough inspections of US-bound cargo for drugs and travellers at the US-Mexico border. Although Mexico's federal prosecutor's office is independent of Sheinbaum's administration under the country's constitution, Washington has long accused Mexico of protecting politicians alleged to have links to the cartels. Serving state governors and federal lawmakers are immune from prosecution for most crimes and can only be prosecuted for serious federal crimes like drug trafficking or racketeering if authorised by Mexico's Congress. [[nid:718510]]

Straits Times
6 hours ago
- Straits Times
Judge rejects release of pro-Palestinian activist Khalil
FILE PHOTO: Mahmoud Khalil speaks to members of media about the Revolt for Rafah encampment at Columbia University during the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in Gaza, in New York City, U.S., June 1, 2024. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon/File Photo A U.S. judge on Friday denied Mahmoud Khalil's request to be released from detention, after federal prosecutors changed their rationale for holding the Columbia graduate student as part of its crackdown on pro-Palestinian activists. Newark, New Jersey-based U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz on Wednesday said the government could not use foreign policy interests to justify Khalil's detention. On Friday the government said it was also holding Khalil, a legal permanent resident of the United States, on a charge of immigration fraud. In response, Farbiarz said Khalil's lawyers had not successfully argued why it was unlawful for the government to hold him on the charge, which he has denied. The ruling marked the latest turn in Khalil's fight to be freed from a Louisiana detention center after his March arrest for involvement in the pro-Palestinian protest movement, which President Donald Trump has called antisemitic. His detention was condemned by civil rights groups as an attack on protected political speech. Marc Van Der Hout, a lawyer for Khalil, said the government practically never detained people for immigration fraud and the Syrian-born student was being punished for opposing Israel's U.S.-backed war in Gaza following Hamas' October 2023 attack. "Detaining someone on a charge like this is highly unusual and frankly outrageous," said Van Der Hout. "There continues to be no constitutional basis for his detention." Farbiarz had previously suggested legal residents like Khalil were rarely detained on the basis of immigration fraud. On Friday he said Khalil should seek bail from the immigration lawyer in his case. As lawyers for the Syrian-born activist sought his release, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, another immigrant targeted by the Trump administration, pleaded not guilty to migrant smuggling charges after his wrongful deportation. Khalil, a graduate student at Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs, was arrested by immigration agents in the lobby of his university residence in Manhattan on March 8. His U.S. citizen wife, Dr. Noor Abdalla, gave birth to the couple's first child while Khalil was detained in April. Ahead of Father's Day in the U.S., a group of celebrities including actors Mahershala Ali, Mark Ruffalo and Mo Amer, called for Khalil to be freed. They also sent him a video showing the celebrities reading aloud a letter that the activist had sent to his infant son. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.