PARIS: Six unidentified hijackers today [June 27] seized an Air France airbus on a flight from Tel Aviv to Paris and forced it to land in Benghazi, Libya, according to reports reaching the French capital. The aircraft was parked at the end of the tarmac with the 245 passengers, 83 of them Israelis, and the six hijackers still on board. The hijackers’ demands were unknown. An Air France official … said it was the first time in history that an Air France plane had been hijacked. The … jet was hijacked after an Athens stopover on its Tel Aviv to Paris flight. An official at Benghazi airport … said the hijackers were six Palestinians… . — News agencies

[Meanwhile, as reported by news agencies from Victoria, Seychelles,] Ninety-two sun-soaked Indian Ocean islands, reported to have been the site of the original Garden of Eden, will become the independent Republic of Seychelles at midnight tomorrow [June 28]. After 160 years of colonial rule, the British flag will be lowered at a ceremony … attended by delegates from 61 countries. The Republic will start its new political life with a Right-wing poet as President, and a Left-wing pan-Africanist as Prime Minister.

Published in Dawn, June 28th, 2026