Belarus
Pretty fierce reactions (if only by diplomatic standards) coming through to yesterday’s extraordinary events in Belarus. The Belarusian government itself has issued, I think it’s fair to say, a laughable explanation involving the Palestinian group Hamas.
Here it is.
And some of that reaction:
Strong from the UK. It has suspended the license of Belarus’s state carrier.
Ireland’s foreign minister (Ryanair, the airline on which Roman Protasevich was traveling, is Irish). Coveney also said Ireland believes that four passengers who did not continue to Lithuania when the plane was released were “secret service" people (Protasevich’s girlfriend Sofia Sapega was arrested alongside him, bringing to six the number of passengers who remained in Minsk).
White House spokesperson Jen Psaki: “This was a shocking act, diverting a flight between two EU member states for the apparent purpose of arresting a journalist.”
Still awaiting a coordinated response from the EU, which will be key. The European Council is deliberating as I write.
BBC is running a live blog here as reaction comes in.
Al Jazeera has a brief profile of Protasevich here.
Israel-Palestine
This has faded from the headlines somewhat since the Israeli bombardment of Gaza stopped. Tensions remain high, though, and Israeli police have now announced they're going to arrest hundreds of Palestinians for taking part in protests and sit-ins.
More from Al Jazeera here.
Ethiopia
The US has imposed sanctions on Ethiopia and Eritrea over the ongoing conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region (which the neighbouring Eritrea is also involved in).
More from NPR here.