The captain of a flydubai flight who was attacked by a co-pilot who intended to crash the plane has described blocking axe blows to the head and screaming for help as he reached for a knob to open the cockpit door.

Captain Smit Machchhar has been hailed as a hero for his role in averting disaster on the flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv last month, helping to thwart what the UAE attorney general has said was an attempted suicide attack by the co-pilot who intended to crash the plane into Ben Gurion Airport.

Speaking in an interview with The National newspaper from a hospital bed in Abu Dhabi, his head and left arm bandaged, Machchhar said that when the first blow landed, he thought something had gone “horribly wrong (with) the aircraft structure”, before quickly realising he was being attacked and things had “taken a drastic turn”.

“The next thought was I need to get help in here,” he said in the interview published on Saturday.

“My immediate action was to free myself from the seat belts and I tried to just block the blows as much as I could,” he said, pointing to his arm that was wounded as he defended himself. “The blows were coming on the head.

“Immediately my hand went to the knob which opens the door and screaming for my colleagues, screaming his name.

“I believe that was the first time when I lost my consciousness.”

The aircraft, flight FZ1073, was in Saudi airspace when the co-pilot attacked Machchhar with a crash axe, typically kept in the cockpit for emergency use.

The incident caused the airliner to plunge 16,000 feet (4,900 metres) in 30 seconds before the attacker was overwhelmed and two other pilots who were on board landed the aircraft safely in Saudi Arabia. The suspect, an Omani national, was transferred to the UAE, flydubai’s home country.

The plan was inspired by the Sept 11, 2001, attacks on the US, UAE public prosecutors say, as a result of their criminal investigation launched on October 1.

Machchhar said he heard the cockpit door opening and screaming “between my colleague and the guy”.

He said the scariest thing he felt was the aircraft nose “steeply going down”.

“I was not very sure that I’ll make it out alive from this. Did I give up? No.”

Novos confrontos eclodiram em Paris neste domingo (18), um dia depois de a França ter vivido um dos piores dias de agitação dos últimos anos, com protestos contra os preços altos que deixaram um manifestante morto, milhares de pessoas presas e lojas saqueadas ou danificadas em todo o país.

Manifestações em todo o país se transformaram em tumultos no sábado, com uma prefeitura incendiada, lojas saqueadas e prédios cobertos de pichações, enquanto grupos violentos entraram em confronto com a polícia em cidades por todo o país.

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Um manifestante morreu após sofrer uma parada cardíaca durante os protestos em Paris. A polícia realizou mais de 2 mil prisões em toda a França, enquanto mais de 600 policiais ficaram feridos, informou o ministro do Interior.
 

“Aqui parece uma zona de guerra”, disse o empresário holandês Tije De Boer, que havia vindo a Paris com seus filhos para visitar um amigo e afirmou que os protestos o forçaram a deixar seu hotel na Place de la République, um dos pontos mais conturbados no sábado (17).

A polícia voltou a lançar gás lacrimogêneo contra os manifestantes na Place de la République e bicicletas foram incendiadas na tarde de domingo, um sinal de que as tensões ainda não haviam se acalmado totalmente na capital.

Mais de meio milhão de pessoas participaram de marchas em dezenas de cidades no sábado, marcando a convergência de um movimento estudantil que já dura um mês com um descontentamento social mais amplo contra o aumento do custo de vida e o declínio dos serviços públicos.
 

O presidente Emmanuel Macron fará um pronunciamento à nação às 20h, horário local, no domingo, informou seu gabinete.

Os distúrbios de sábado revelaram a profunda raiva contra Macron, que deixará o cargo em 2027 após uma década no poder cada vez mais marcada pelo descontentamento social, uma economia fraca e uma dívida galopante.

O governo atribuiu a violência a grupos de extrema esquerda e ultra-esquerda, bem como a criminosos que, segundo o governo, instigaram os saques.

O líder da extrema direita francesa, Jordan Bardella, afirmou que a França havia sido “humilhada” e pediu que Macron renunciasse.

“Estamos pagando por décadas de negligência, perda de autoridade e pelo desarmamento moral, psicológico e material de nossas forças de segurança interna”, disse ele durante visita a uma delegacia de polícia em Paris.

Lojas danificadas
 

Enquanto centenas de milhares protestavam pacificamente, grupos marginais violentos atacaram prédios públicos, saquearam butiques de luxo e supermercados e atacaram veículos e policiais.

Uma operação maciça de limpeza teve início em cidades que vão de Lille, no norte, a Marselha, no sul, e de Estrasburgo, no leste, a Bordeaux, no sudoeste, onde uma multidão mascarada invadiu a residência do prefeito local.

O ministro do Interior, Laurent Nunez, afirmou que várias centenas de lojas foram danificadas no sábado.

Em Limoges, no sudoeste da França, o prefeito Guillaume Guerin denunciou o caos após a prefeitura da cidade, de 143 anos, ter sido incendiada e amplamente destruída em um ataque criminoso no sábado, o que gerou comparações com o incêndio de 2019 que devastou a Catedral de Notre-Dame, em Paris.

“Houve uma intenção clara e premeditada de incendiar a prefeitura, e as pessoas que estavam lá dentro temeram por suas vidas”, disse Guerin à Reuters. Ele ameaçou renunciar caso a cidade não recebesse os recursos necessários para reparar a prefeitura.
 

Eleições

Os distúrbios aumentaram a pressão sobre o presidente Macron e seu governo antes da eleição presidencial prevista para o próximo ano. O primeiro-ministro Sébastien Lecornu atribuiu os distúrbios à “extrema esquerda” e aos criminosos.

O ministro da Economia, Roland Lescure, prometeu apoio no domingo aos empresários que sofreram prejuízos. “Quem destruir coisas vai pagar, reparar os danos e ser responsabilizado por sua intenção de semear o caos”, disse Lescure em comunicado.

O prefeito de Bordeaux, Thomas Cazenave, disse que até 100 lojas foram saqueadas em sua cidade, enquanto o prefeito de Marselha, Benoit Payan, anunciou ajuda financeira de emergência para apoiar as empresas afetadas pela violência.

O presidente-executivo da rede francesa de varejo Carrefour, Alexandre Bompard, disse à emissora francesa BFMTV que 50 lojas da empresa foram danificadas, incluindo 20 que foram saqueadas, com prejuízos decorrentes dos danos chegando a dezenas de milhões de euros.

Os protestos começaram no mês passado devido às condições das escolas e à escassez de professores nos subúrbios da classe trabalhadora, antes de se transformarem em um movimento contra a desigualdade, os cortes nos gastos públicos e o aumento do custo de vida.

*Reportagem adicional de Natasa Bansagi, Janis Laizans, Abdul Saboor e Clotaire Achi

Capt Smit Machchhar said he screamed for help as he reached to open the cockpit door on flight FZ1073

The captain of a flydubai flight who was attacked by a co-pilot who intended to crash the plane has described ⁠blocking axe blows to his head and screaming for help as he reached to open the cockpit door.

Capt Smit ⁠Machchhar has been hailed ⁠as a ​hero for his role in averting disaster on the flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv last month, helping to thwart what the UAE ⁠attorney general has said was an attempted suicide attack by the co-pilot who had intended to crash the plane into Ben Gurion airport.

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© Photograph: Israel's Foreign Ministry/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Israel's Foreign Ministry/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Israel's Foreign Ministry/AFP/Getty Images

DUBAI, Oct 18 (Reuters) – Iran’s offer to the United States to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days is still on the table, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told Iranian media...

United States President Donald Trump on Sunday endorsed his ally Benjamin Netanyahu as the longtime Israeli prime minister struggles for an edge in next week’s parliamentary election.

Trump praised Netanyahu as a “great warrior prime minster” and peace partner, crediting him with joining the United States in launching strikes on Iran in February. The conflict, in its seventh month, has disrupted energy markets globally and wreaked havoc across the Middle East, damaging critical infrastructure and destabilising regional economies.

“Bibi Netanyahu has been Strong, Brave, and Brilliant in the face of tremendous opposition, including that coming from even Israel, itself,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

“Despite all of that, he has endured and, in fact, he has thrived! I have watched Bibi under the most trying of times. Normal men or women in such situations would have wilted under the pressure But Bibi did not wilt, he actually got stronger, and maintains that same Strength today.”

In his message, addressed to “the Great People of Israel”, Trump added, “Please let this Letter serve to represent my Complete and Total Endorsement of Bibi Netanyahu in his upcoming Race for Re-Election as Prime Minister of Israel.”

The Trump endorsement is not certain to give Netanyahu and his right-wing Likud party a boost in the Oct 27 national election, as Israeli public support for Trump has diminished amid Israeli-US disagreements over Iran.

Polls have suggested no candidate has a clear path to power. Israel’s prime minister is chosen through coalition-building in parliament rather than by direct popular vote.

It will be Israel’s first vote since the Hamas attack on Oct 7, 2023. Israel has launched an assault on Gaza and carried out strikes in Lebanon and Iran since.

The election could determine whether Netanyahu remains in power after one of the most consequential periods in Israel’s history, or is defeated by centrist rivals promising to usher in a new era.

Netanyahu promptly expressed his thanks to Trump on X, saying, “Together we will complete the mission!”

Trump has broken with longtime US tradition by endorsing candidates in elections in foreign countries, including Hungary, Colombia, Argentina, Japan and Honduras.

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Egypt is ready to provide Saudi Arabia with the support it needs to defend its security and stability, the presidency said on Sunday.

Earlier in the day, the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis said two officers were killed when their helicopter crashed near the Yemen border, after the rebel group claimed it shot the aircraft down.

The coalition blamed a “technical malfunction” for the helicopter crash, which inflicted its first military fatalities since the long-running conflict with the Houthis reignited in July.

The incident comes a week after strikes by the Houthis killed 13 people at Riyadh’s international airport, the deadliest attack in Saudi Arabia in more than a decade.

An AH-6i reconnaissance helicopter belonging to the Saudi Ministry of National Guard crashed “inside Saudi territory in Najran Region due to a technical malfunction”, coalition spokesman Turki al-Malki said, according to the official Saudi Press Agency.

“The accident resulted in the martyrdom of its aircrew, consisting of two officers.”

Late on Saturday, Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree claimed the group had “downed an Apache helicopter belonging to the Saudi enemy” in the same area.

Egypt ready to give ‘all necessary and possible forms of support’

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi had requested an urgent parliament session to authorise the military, one of the region’s largest and most powerful, to help defend Saudi Arabia if the kingdom requested its support.

“Egypt will provide Saudi Arabia with all necessary and possible forms of support to defend its security and stability, protect its resources, territorial integrity and Islamic holy sites,” the Egyptian presidency said in a statement on Sunday.

It followed a meeting of Egypt’s National Defence Council chaired by Sisi and attended by the parliamentary speaker, the prime minister and the army chief.

A parliamentary vote had been expected on authorising the request for military support on Sunday, but discussions were due to continue on Monday, two lawmakers and local media reports said.

Sisi said in a speech on Saturday that Egypt would act in accordance with guidance from Saudi King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who visited Sisi on Sept 15, after fighting in Yemen reignited.

Dar, Egypt FM condemn Houthi attacks

On the diplomatic front, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar held a telephone conversation with Egypt’s FM Dr Badr Abdelatty, the Foreign Office (FO) said.

“The two leaders exchanged views on recent regional developments and strongly condemned the Houthi attacks against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, reaffirming their full solidarity with the Kingdom and support for its sovereignty, territorial integrity and security.”

They also discussed cooperation under the R-4 (Pakistan, Egypt, Türkiye and Saudi Arabia) framework and looked forward to the next meeting of the R-4 soon to further strengthen mutual ties and to coordinate on the regional issues, the statement added.

The foreign ministers of the four countries last met on Sept 21 in New York, where they had reaffirmed their support for Riyadh’s sovereignty and supported its right to self-defence.

Pakistan, which has signed two defence agreements with Riyadh, has repeatedly expressed solidarity with Saudi Arabia.

The first one, the Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement (SMDA), was signed in Sept 2025, under which the two countries pledged that any attack on either nation would be treated as an act of aggression against both.

The two countries are also parties to the Makkah Defence Alliance, which also includes Turkiye. The pact was signed on August 7 and provides that an attack on one member state would be treated as an attack on all.

Yemen fighting

After an uneasy, four-year truce, Yemen’s conflict has surged back to life, with the Houthis declaring a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia in July.

The conflict intensified when Houthis captured territory around the Bab al-Mandeb strait, the Red Sea chokepoint and vital export route for Saudi oil since Iran blockaded the Gulf’s Strait of Hormuz.

The Houthis have also hit Saudi targets including tankers in the Red Sea, oil facilities and Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport.

On the other hand, the Saudi-led coalition backing the internationally recognised government has launched repeated air raids on Houthi territory.

The coalition said overnight that it intercepted two drones in the Riyadh area and a third over the oil-rich Eastern Province. Saudi authorities had earlier issued a threat alert in the capital.

Two ballistic missiles “launched by the terrorist Houthi militia towards Khamis Mushait” were intercepted in the kingdom’s south, the coalition added.

On Saturday, the Houthis reported that Saudi strikes killed 12 people in Yemen, including three children.

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