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reports three dead at Riyadh airport as UN envoy says Yemen is back at full-scale warPanama counts damage after 7.7 earthquake, canal unaffectedUkraine-US talks open in Florida as Kyiv's grid failsCongo Ebola cases pass 8,700 as Kenya tightens border controls after first deathUS sanctions the International Criminal Court as a wholeEU says China accepts deep cuts to hybrid car exports after Beijing talksEthiopia and Eritrea trade accusations of aggression as fighting spreads in TigrayDrone strike kills about 30 at Sudan displacement campBond selloff persists as Pimco warns of 6% Treasury yieldsHurricane Isaias reaches Gulf coast as offshore oil and gas output is shut inUkraine hits second Yandex data centre and disrupts Moscow air trafficNavi Pillay wins Nobel Peace Prize, Israel denounces choiceUAE says flydubai co-pilot planned suicide attack on Tel Aviv terminalOpenAI revenue about $20bn below reported figure, unsettling AI stocksIran war fuel shock hits airlines and freight as UN cuts growth outlookPentagon plans to livestream firing-squad execution of Fort Hood shooterTrump opens White House inquiry into Fed governor Lisa CookICE agent shoots man in car with child in New YorkIndia shuts down parts of Delhi to block youth protest over voter-roll purgeAnthropic says rogue AI agents tried to access government sitesGaza ceasefire 'exists in name only', more than 100 NGOs sayArrest warrant issued for Eduardo Bolsonaro as runoff polls show tight raceSpaceX spectrum deal hits telecom stocksMontenegro detains Rybar administrator Zvinchuk and moves to expel himUN raises concern over police as French student protests go onIndonesian haze closes Malaysian schools as super El Niño identifiedUS suspends Microsoft, Adobe and others from green card programmeSoftBank seeks up to $100bn from Gulf investors for AIChina adds provincial stimulus as yuan reaches four-year highPalestinian Authority to postpone legislative electionsNvidia-backed Firmus pulls $5bn IPO in SydneySouth Africa withdraws asylum directive after anti-migrant violenceSettler attacks hit West Bank olive harvestLabour holds Starmer's former seat against GreensEurope weighs response to Russian shadow warOversight committee orders special audit of BNDApple cuts iPhone 18 Pro orders on soft demandAirtel Money slips below IPO price in London debutUS moves to disrupt hacking infrastructure run by China's Integrity Tech GroupJapan declares cyber space emergency as attacks soarItaly passes Meloni's electoral reformMerz outraged after Schröder attends Putin's birthdayErik Prince's forces suffer losses in CongoSponsors withdraw from Vilnius disinformation conference amid reported US pressure
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Symbolic image: UAE says flydubai co-pilot planned suicide attack on Tel Aviv terminalSymbolic image

UAE says flydubai co-pilot planned suicide attack on Tel Aviv terminal

13 sources

The UAE attorney general said on Friday that the Omani co-pilot who tried to seize a Dubai-Tel Aviv flight meant to crash it into a Ben Gurion airport terminal. The suspect says he acted alone.

Attorney General Hamad Saif Al Shamsi said in a statement carried by the state agency WAM that the plot was premeditated and aimed at the greatest possible loss of life, modelled on the 11 September 2001 attacks. According to him, the 29-year-old flew twice to Tel Aviv beforehand to learn the route and the airport, and prepared with extremist material and boxing lessons. The suspect, whom media but not the UAE have named as Hamam al-Hammami, gave a detailed confession in the presence of his lawyer. Investigators are still checking for accomplices.

Questions over vetting

Al Shamsi said the man joined flydubai in January 2026 after Oman Air and Royal Air Maroc and met all hiring requirements, including a certificate of good conduct; no check showed extremism. Le Monde, citing US outlets and Al-Araby, reports that Oman had barred him from flying over extremism fears. Flydubai declined to comment on its vetting.

Australia and New Zealand

Al Shamsi dated the first signs of extremism to 2017, when the man studied in Australia. The Guardian reports that Australian agencies and New Zealand, where he later trained as a pilot, have opened their own inquiries.

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