Air France on Friday resumed flights between Paris and Los Angeles after a two-day suspension sparked by US fears that some of the planes might be used for a Christmas attack by Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network.
The alert was raised Wednesday, when US officials relayed what they said was specific intelligence that those flights could be used for attacks similar to the ones on Sept. 11, 2001.
The French government reacted by immediately cancelling the six flights -- three of them to Los Angeles and three on the return to Paris -- and carefully screening the passengers stranded in the French capital, but found no evidence linking any of them to any terror plot.
Police told reporters Friday that all the passengers had been checked, and that those who failed to turn up for check-in "are not being subjected to any special attention by any service whatsoever."
A source with France's anti-terrorist police unit said Thursday that the focus of the US warning was a Tunisian man with a pilot's license listed on one of the passenger lists.
But, the source said, it was determined that the man was still in Tunisia, not France, and he had no intention of travelling soon. He was also unknown to French anti-terrorist services.
Another seven passengers -- a Frenchman, an American and five Algerians -- whose names had also been given by the CIA were questioned but nothing suspicious was discovered, police sources said.
The Washington Post reported Friday that US authorities were investigating a number of the passengers who failed to check in, and that they remained suspicious of the Tunisian man.
"We still have an interest in talking to those people who didn't show up," an official close to the investigation told the daily.
"There might be more to come on this," the official said.
The scare was costly to Air France, which had to pay for accommodation for the passengers on the cancelled flights, as well as refunds or new tickets.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was