Suspect in Louvre attack quizzed for first time Qatar Airways launches world's longest flight Romania demos keep pressure on govt 'thieves'

Suspect in Louvre attack quizzed for first time

02/05/2017 - 13:34 French investigators Sunday began questioning a suspect in the attack on troops outside the Louvre Museum in Paris, but the man refused to speak, a judicial source said.

Suspect in Louvre attack quizzed for first time

AFP / JACQUES DEMARTHON The attack at the Louvre museum has thrust the issue of security back into the headlines

French investigators Sunday began questioning a suspect in the attack on troops outside the Louvre Museum in Paris, but the man refused to speak, a judicial source said.
The suspect, believed to be an Egyptian national, was shot in the stomach and seriously wounded after lunging at soldiers with two machetes on Friday.
Investigators decided to question him in hospital after his condition improved, the source said.

The man "is refusing to speak to investigators for now", the source added.
The suspect has been held at a Paris hospital since Friday's attack near the historic museum, which thrust the issue of security back into the headlines three months ahead of the French presidential election.
Based on his phone and visa records, he is thought to be Abdallah El-Hamahmy, a 29-year-old Egyptian national living in the United Arab Emirates, who entered France legally on a flight from Dubai on January 26.
Investigators believe Hamahmy rented an expensive apartment near the Champs Elysees.
- 'No sign of radicalisation' -
Police were examining Hamahmy's Twitter account after around a dozen messages were posted in Arabic just minutes before the attack.
"In the name of Allah... for our brothers in Syria and fighters across the world," he wrote, before referring to the Islamic State jihadist group in another tweet a minute later.
Speaking to AFP in Cairo on Saturday, a retired police general, Reda El-Hamahmy, said he believed the wounded suspect was his son, Abdallah, who had been in Paris on a business trip.
But he said there were no signs his son had been radicalised.
"He went on a company trip and when it was over visited the museum. He was supposed to leave on Saturday," he told AFP, saying his son was married and his pregnant wife was currently staying in Saudi Arabia with their seven-month-old son.
"He is a simple guy," he said. "I can show you pictures where he has no beard," he said. Beards are often grown by devout Muslims.
Over the past two years, France has suffered a string of bloody attacks by Islamic extremists and has been under a state of emergency since November 2015.
Security, immigration and the economy are all major issues for voters ahead of this year's presidential and parliamentary elections which are expected to confirm the country's shift to the right after five years of Socialist rule.

02/05/2017 - 13:00

Qatar Airways launches world's longest flight

Qatar Airways launched the world's longest scheduled commercial service with its inaugural flight from Doha to Auckland taking off eight minutes early on Sunday, a company spokeswoman said.

Qatar Airways launches world's longest flight

AFP/File / A Boeing 777 will 16 hours and 20 minutes to travel the 14,535 kilometres (9,032 miles) from Doha to Auckland

Qatar Airways launched the world's longest scheduled commercial service with its inaugural flight from Doha to Auckland taking off eight minutes early on Sunday, a company spokeswoman said.
Flight QR920 left the Qatari capital at 05:02 (0202 GMT) and is set to land in New Zealand at 07:30 local time on Monday (1830 GMT).
The Boeing 777 flight will take 16 hours and 20 minutes, pass over 10 time zones, five countries and travel 14,535 kilometres (9,032 miles) before reaching Auckland.

But even that flying time may be looked on jealously by passengers on the return flight which, due to high-altitude winds, will take 17 hours and 30 minutes, according to the company website.
This will make it the world's longest passenger service in terms of flying time, according to tracking website flightradar24.
Qatar Airways did not immediately have a figure for the number of passengers who boarded on Sunday, but it is believed there are four pilots and 15 crew on the plane.
In March last year, Emirates airline launched what was then thought to be the world's longest non-stop scheduled commercial flight, with a service from Dubai to Auckland, spanning 14,200 kilometres (8,824 miles).

02/05/2017 - 11:23

Romania demos keep pressure on govt 'thieves'

Romanians braced for a sixth day of protests Sunday, seeking to maintain pressure on the government despite its climbdown over contentious corruption legislation that sparked the biggest protests since 1989.

Romania demos keep pressure on govt 'thieves'

AFP / DANIEL MIHAILESCU An estimated 330,000 people demonstrated across the country in the biggest turnout since the toppling of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu in 1989

Romanians braced for a sixth day of protests Sunday, seeking to maintain pressure on the government despite its climbdown over contentious corruption legislation that sparked the biggest protests since 1989.
Late on Saturday, the government pledged to repeal a decree widely seen as easing the penalties for corruption that sparked days of furious protests, saying it would meet to do so on Sunday.
But demonstrators were not convinced.

"Today we are going to break new records," Florian, 40, told AFP in Bucharest, saying he didn't trust the government to retract the legislation as promised.
"We don't believe that," the electrician said as he distributed free pretzels and tea at Victory Square, the epicentre of this week's protests.
By midday (1000 GMT) on Sunday, several hundred people could be seen gathering in the square but the crowd was expected to swell with thousands arriving on buses from outside the capital.
On Saturday, an estimated 330,000 people demonstrated across the nation, TV reports said, in what was the biggest turnout since the toppling of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu in 1989.
The crowds, largely young, have chanted, waved banners, blown vuvuzela horns in the national colours and paraded effigies of government officials in black-and-white prison uniforms.
Critics say that the emergency government decree issued late on Tuesday represents a retreat on corruption, long the scourge of this ex-communist nation.
The government said it would align the penal code with the constitution but protesters saw it as a brazenly transparent attempt by the ruling Social Democrats (PSD) to let off many of its own officials and lawmakers.
In addition, the government, in office for barely a month, wants to release some 2,500 prisoners serving sentences less than five years, ostensibly to reduce overcrowding in jails.
In recent years Romania, a European Union member since 2007, has won praise for its considerable progress tackling graft, but Tuesday's decree sparked a chorus of alarm from both Washington and Brussels.
- 'Must stay vigilant' -
On Saturday evening as the crowds swelled, Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu finally announced the climbdown, saying the government would meet Sunday to repeal the decree.
"I do not want to divide Romania," a pale and tired-looking Grindeanu said in a televised address, sparking cheers and celebrations late into the night from protestors outside.
But he said the government still needed to bring laws into line with the constitution, slamming what he called a campaign of misinformation and "distortion".
Raluca, a demonstrator in her 30s, said she was delighted but that the government was still not to be trusted.
"People are going to remain very vigilant with this government," she told AFP late Saturday.
Her words were echoed on Sunday morning by Rado, one of a sweaty trio cycling on bikes fixed to the ground at Victory Square, who said he was "sick" of corruption.
"Usually we do a Sunday trip, we cycle around 100-150 kilometres (60-90 miles)," said the 27-year-old who works for an online sports shop.
"And since we have to look out for the thieves in our government, we decided just to come here and train," he told AFP.
"We just want someone competent to run the state for the people. Not for themselves, for their own benefit and bank accounts."
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