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Passenger plane in Somalia overshoots the runway into shallow seawater near the airport

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — A passenger aircraft carrying 55 people overran the runway at Somalia’s main airport and ended up in shallow water at a nearby beach Tuesday during an emergency landing following a technical problem shortly after takeoff.

There were no injuries from the emergency landing at Mogadishu’s Aden Abdulle International Airport, and the 50 passengers and 5 crew members aboard the Starsky Aviation flight were safely evacuated, airline CEO Ahmed Nur said in a statement.

“The aircraft overran on the runway” before coming to a rest at on the shore of the Indian Ocean near the airport, Nur said, adding, “No injuries, no deaths.”

Transportation Minister Mohamed Farah Nuh said the rescue team managed to account for everyone aboard and that only the aircraft was damaged. He said the cause of the crash would be fully investigated.

The flight was bound for the northern city of Gaalkacyo when it developed a problem about 15 minutes after takeoff, Ahmed Moalim, director of Somalia’s Civil Aviation Authority, told local media. During the attempted landing, the aircraft veered off the runway and ended up at the shoreline, Moalim said.

Beijing bans 4 New Zealand lawmakers from entering China because they visited Taiwan

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Beijing banned four New Zealand lawmakers from traveling to China for a year and demanded they apologize because they visited Taiwan on a parliamentary trip, according to a message from the Chinese embassy conveyed via parliamentary officials and shown to The Associated Press on Thursday. China has hit lawmakers from other countries with sanctions related to contact with Taiwan before, but it's the first time for New Zealand parliamentarians, the government in Wellington said. Beijing has been increasing pressure in recent years on the democratically governed island that it claims as its own territory. Two lawmakers reached by the AP on Thursday rejected the demand for an apology, while the other two could not be immediately reached. New Zealand's government said it would express concern about the travel bans to Beijing. The elected officials visited Taipei in May, as New Zealand parliamentarians have done “for decades,” a spokesperson for Foreign Minister Winston Peters said in a statement.
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