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Bali hijack alert passenger 'mistook cockpit for toilet'
Chinese ships return to disputed waters after Obama Tokyo visit
Strong 6.5-magnitude quake strikes off Tonga

Bali hijack alert passenger 'mistook cockpit for toilet'

Posted: 26 Apr 2014 12:40 AM PDT

DENPASAR, Indonesia, April 26, 2014 (AFP) - An Australian passenger who sparked a hijack alert on a flight to Bali has denied being drunk and claimed he banged on the door of the cockpit after mistaking it for the toilet, Indonesian police said Saturday.

Matt Christopher Lockley also said he was in a state of depression during the Virgin Australia flight Friday to the resort island, as he was searching for his Indonesian wife with whom he had lost contact, they said.

Security forces rushed to the airport on the Indonesian island when the Boeing 737-800 from Brisbane touched down following a report from the pilot of a hijacking attempt after a passenger started thumping on the cockpit door.

Lockley, wearing flip-flops, white shorts and a T-shirt, was dragged off the plane by heavily armed air force personnel and arrested by police. The alert prompted a shutdown of the airport and the diversion of several flights.

Indonesian officials initially said he had been drunk but police said Saturday the 28-year-old, who is in custody but has been admitted to hospital suffering from fatigue, has denied being under the influence of alcohol.

He told police that before flying he had taken only two pills of Voltaren, four pills of Panadol - both types of painkiller - and drank two bottles of Coca-Cola, Bali police spokesman Hery Wiyanto told AFP.

"According to him, he was not drunk but suffering from depression due to a family problem," the spokesman said, adding police were waiting for alcohol test results but there was no smell of drink on his breath when he was detained.

Lockley, from the northeast Australian state of Queensland, said that he was on his way to Bali to search for his Indonesian wife, with whom he had lost contact two weeks earlier, according to the spokesman.

In his depressed state, Lockley claimed to have been "having hallucinations that somebody followed him and wanted to steal his bag", Wiyanto said.

"According to him, he banged the cockpit door as he thought it was the toilet door."

Police said earlier that a stewardess said Lockley had asked for medicine before thumping on the cockpit door.

After this, the crew handcuffed him and put him in a seat at the back of the plane until it arrived in Bali.

Wiyanto said Lockley could be charged for breaking a law against risking passenger safety, punishable by a maximum jail term of two years and a fine of 500 million rupiah ($43,000).

A spokesman for the Australian embassy in Jakarta said: "We can confirm the arrest of a Queensland man following an incident on board the Virgin airline flight to (Balinese capital) Denpasar.

"The Australian consulate will provide consular assistance as required."

Chinese ships return to disputed waters after Obama Tokyo visit

Posted: 26 Apr 2014 12:36 AM PDT

TOKYO, April 26, 2014 (AFP) - Two Chinese coastguard ships sailed into waters around disputed islands in the East China Sea Saturday, the Japanese coastguard said, two days after US President Barack Obama delared his support for Japan.

The vessels entered 12 nautical miles (22 kilometres) into Japan's territorial waters off one of the Senkaku islands, which China also claims and calls the Diaoyus, around noon (0300 GMT), the coastguard said.

It was the first such move since Obama announced Thursday that Washington would defend Japan, under the bilateral military alliance, if China initiates an attack in the tense territorial dispute.

China has already dismissed Obama's position, saying that the islands are "China's inherent territory."

Chinese ships last entered the area on April 12, according to the Japanese coastguard.

Chinese vessels and aircraft regularly approach the East China Sea archipelago - thought to harbour vast natural resources - after Japan nationalised some of the islands in September 2012, setting off the latest spate of incidents in a long-running territorial dispute.

Relations between Tokyo and Beijing have fallen to their lowest point for years.

Some observers warn they might come to blows over the islands, where ships from both sides lurk to press claims for ownership.

Strong 6.5-magnitude quake strikes off Tonga

Posted: 26 Apr 2014 12:34 AM PDT

NUKU'ALOFA, Tonga, April 26, 2014 (AFP) - A strong 6.5-magnitude earthquake struck off the Pacific nation of Tonga on Saturday, the US Geological Survey said, but there was no immediate tsunami warning or reports of significant damage.

The undersea quake hit 71 kilometres (44 miles) northeast of the Tongan capital Nuku'alofa at a shallow depth of 10 kilometres, the USGS said.

Residents reported a "short, very violent" jolt at around 0600 GMT that knocked items off shelves and sent people fleeing for higher ground, though there was no indication of a tsunami.

The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center did not issue an alert, and the USGS said there was a low likelihood of casualties and damage.

Geoscience Australia estimated the tremor at a magnitude 6.3 and said it was likely to have been felt within a wide radius but damage was unlikely.

Tonga sits on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, a region of frequent seismic activity due to collisions between continental plates.

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

Sabtu, 26 April 2014