Quiet Please: French Jet's Sonic Boom Shakes Paris, Disrupts Tennis

A picture taken on June 4, 2018, from the observatory deck of the Montparnasse Tower in Paris, shows a view of the Eiffel Tower and the Défense business district in the background. (AFP)
A picture taken on June 4, 2018, from the observatory deck of the Montparnasse Tower in Paris, shows a view of the Eiffel Tower and the Défense business district in the background. (AFP)
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Quiet Please: French Jet's Sonic Boom Shakes Paris, Disrupts Tennis

A picture taken on June 4, 2018, from the observatory deck of the Montparnasse Tower in Paris, shows a view of the Eiffel Tower and the Défense business district in the background. (AFP)
A picture taken on June 4, 2018, from the observatory deck of the Montparnasse Tower in Paris, shows a view of the Eiffel Tower and the Défense business district in the background. (AFP)

A French fighter jet broke the sound barrier on Wednesday as it scrambled to join a commercial jet that had lost contact with air traffic control, causing a sonic boom that reverberated through Paris and its suburbs, the defense ministry said.

The boom rattled windows, scattered startled birds, briefly interrupted tennis at the French Open and prompted a flood of calls to emergency services.

In a city already tense after a knife attack outside the former offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo on Friday, the blast sent people on to their balconies to see what had caused it and prompted intense messaging on social media.

“A Rafale (warplane) based at Saint-Dizier, intervening to assist an airline which had lost contact, was allowed to break the sound barrier to join the airplane in trouble. It broke the sound barrier east of Paris,” army spokesman colonel Stephane Spet said in a statement.

He added that a seconds after the boom - which happened at an altitude of 10 km and was magnified by cloud cover - the passenger jet, an Embraer 145, reestablished contact with air traffic control.

France’s DGAC civil aviation authority said the warplane was dispatched after contact was lost with two civil aircraft.

It said that one was a Falcon 50, operated by a private Brazilian company, on a flight between Cape Verde and Brussels. The other was an Embraer 145, operated by regional airline Amelia, on a flight between the French cities of Brives and Saint-Brieuc.

DGAC said communication with both aircraft had been restored, adding that it would launch an inquiry into why contact had been lost.



Palestinian Activist Expecting US Citizenship Interview Is Arrested Instead by ICE in Vermont 

Mohsen Mahdawi, center, looks on during a pro-Palestinian protest at Columbia University, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023, in New York. (AP)
Mohsen Mahdawi, center, looks on during a pro-Palestinian protest at Columbia University, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023, in New York. (AP)
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Palestinian Activist Expecting US Citizenship Interview Is Arrested Instead by ICE in Vermont 

Mohsen Mahdawi, center, looks on during a pro-Palestinian protest at Columbia University, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023, in New York. (AP)
Mohsen Mahdawi, center, looks on during a pro-Palestinian protest at Columbia University, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023, in New York. (AP)

A Palestinian man who led protests against the war in Gaza as a student at Columbia University was arrested Monday at a Vermont immigration office where he expected to be interviewed about finalizing his US citizenship, his attorneys said.

Mohsen Mahdawi, a legal permanent resident who has held a green card since 2015, was detained at the US Citizenship and Immigration Services office in Colchester by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, his lawyers said.

The attorneys said they do not know where he is. They filed a petition in federal court seeking an order barring the government from removing him from the state or country.

"The Trump administration detained Mohsen Mahdawi in direct retaliation for his advocacy on behalf of Palestinians and because of his identity as a Palestinian. His detention is an attempt to silence those who speak out against the atrocities in Gaza. It is also unconstitutional," attorney Luna Droubi said in an email.

According to the court filing, Mahdawi was born in a refugee camp in the West Bank and moved to the United States in 2014. He recently completed coursework at Columbia and was expected to graduate in May before beginning a master's degree program there in the fall.

The petition describes him as a committed Buddhist who believes in "non-violence and empathy as a central tenet of his religion."

As a student, Mahdawi was an outspoken critic of Israel's military campaign in Gaza and organized campus protests until March 2024. He co-founded the Palestinian Student Union at Columbia with Mahmoud Khalil, another Palestinian permanent resident of the US and graduate student who recently was detained by ICE.

Khalil was the first person arrested under President Donald Trump’s promised crackdown on students who joined campus protests against the war in Gaza. On Friday, an immigration judge in Louisiana ruled that Khalil can be deported as a national security risk.

Christopher Helali, a friend of Mahdawi who lives near him in Vermont, was present outside the immigration office when Mahdawi was detained and recorded a video of Mahdawi being led away by authorities. In the video, which Helali released on social media Monday, Mahdawi is shown giving a peace sign with his hands and being led away to a car.

Helali described Mahdawi as a peaceful demonstrator who has worked to foster dialogue about the struggle of Palestinians in his homeland. Helali said he and Mahdawi were aware that Mahdawi could be detained today and that his friend went forward with the appointment anyway.

"And rightfully so, he was nervous for what was going on around him. But he was very much resolute in coming to this interview and coming today because he didn’t do anything wrong and was a law-abiding citizen, or soon-to-be citizen," Helali said.

Vermont's congressional delegation issued a statement condemning Mahdawi's arrest, saying that instead of taking one of the final steps in his citizenship process, he was handcuffed by armed officers with their faces covered.

"This is immoral, inhumane, and illegal. Mr. Mahdawi, a legal resident of the United States, must be afforded due process under the law and immediately released from detention," said the statement from Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Peter Welch and Rep. Becca Balint.