Armed with knives, Eritrean deportees hijacked a plane that left Libya carrying about 80 fellow Eritreans and forced the C-130 to land Friday in Khartoum before surrendering to security forces, officials said. Libyan officials said the plane departed al-Kafra late Thursday carrying about 80 Eritrean and 145 Nigerian deportees, who were being returned to their home countries after entering Libya illegally.
The Vatican returned a Russian icon venerated by Pope John Paul II to Moscow on Friday in a gesture aimed at improving strained relations with the Russian Orthodox Church and possibly clearing the way for a visit by the ailing pontiff. The Orthodox church accuses the Vatican of poaching converts in traditionally Orthodox lands in Russia and elsewhere in Eastern Europe. The icon of the Mother of God of Kazan, accompanied by a high-ranking Vatican delegation, will be turned over to Russian Orthodox leader Patriarch Alexy II today.
Japan: Visit to captured islands
Stoking an old nationalist obsession, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi announced he would make a symbolic visit by coast guard boat next week to survey four islands off Japan’s northeastern coast that were captured by Soviet troops in 1945 and remain Russian possessions. The move is aimed at reviving Japan’s foundering territorial claim to the scruffy, sparsely populated islands ahead of a visit here by Russian President Vladimir Putin in February.
Equatorial Guinea has asked South Africa to extradite Mark Thatcher, son of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who is under house arrest for his alleged role in a coup plot against the West African nation. South African authorities arrested the 51-year-old businessman at his Cape Town home Wednesday and charged him with helping to finance a plot to overthrow the government of the oil-rich nation. Lawyers for Thatcher said Friday that the extradition request had little chance of success.
From Herald news services
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