WASHINGTON: A bomb threat cited by Belarusian authorities as the reason for forcing a Ryanair jetliner carrying a dissident journalist to land in Minsk was sent after the plane was diverted, privacy-focused email provider Proton Technologies AG said on Thursday.
The Belarusian authorities said they ordered the plane, which was in Belarusian airspace on its way from Greece to Lithuania, to land in the Belarusian capital on Sunday because of a bomb threat from the Islamist militant group Hamas.
Journalist Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega were arrested when the plane landed.
Hamas denied having any knowledge or connection to any bomb threat, and European leaders have accused Belarus of stat-sponsored piracy.
CAIRO: The Egyptian president held talks on Thursday with his counterpart in Djibouti as part of Egyptian diplomatic attempts to build more African alliances amid an ongoing water dispute with Ethiopia.
Abdel Fattah El-Sisi’s visit to the Horn of Africa nation is the first by an Egyptian president since Djibouti declared independence in 1977.
El-Sisi and Djibouti’s President Ismail Omar Guelleh agreed that the Ethiopian dam should be filled and operated according to “a fair and binding legal agreement” that could maintain regional stability and preserve the interests of all parties, El-Sisi’s office said in a statement.
“I stressed Egypt’s opposition to any attempt to impose a reality on the ground through unilateral decisions that do not consider the interests and the rights of the river’s two downstream countries,” said El-Sisi in reference to Egypt and Sudan in a joint news conference from Djibouti.
JEDDAH: The Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) announced the possibility of adding coronavirus (COVID-19) coverage to insurance policies for non-Saudi tourists visiting the Kingdom.
The bank said, in a statement, that possible coverage would remain for the duration of a visit and that it would communicate with the insurance company that issued the initial travel documents.
SAMA said this step comes in the interest of the health and safety of Saudis and expatriates alike so all can have access to necessary health care.
Insured travelers can contact the central bank website (Sama Cares) or call the toll-free number for more information.