Two people have been detained after a plane carrying 303 Indian citizens was grounded in France over human trafficking allegations.
Those on board the charter flight run by Romanian company Legend Airlines – including a 21-month-old toddler – were travelling from Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates to Managua, Nicaragua.
But the A340 plane was grounded at Vatry Airport, a small hub in Champagne, northeastern France, on Thursday, following a tip-off that the passengers may be the victims of people smugglers.
The two passengers were detained as part of an investigation by French police into suspected human trafficking by an organised crime group.
Legend Airlines lawyer Liliana Bakayoko said the company hoped the plane could head to Mumbai, India, on Monday, ”with as many passengers as possible”.
It is not clear whether the passengers, who have been kept at the airport, will be allowed to continue to Nicaragua.
In France, foreigners can be held for up to four days in a transit zone for police investigations, after which a special judge must rule on whether to extend that for eight days.
Image: The plane has been grounded since Thursday. Pic: AP
Passengers sleep on camp beds
While the airport was transformed into a hub for the human trafficking investigation, all other flights were cancelled or rerouted.
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All 15 crew members were questioned and released, according to a lawyer for the airline, who said they are deeply shaken by what happened.
Passengers were held in the airport, where they spent three nights on camp beds, according to an official with the local administration.
Some onboard were unaccompanied children, according to the local civil protection agency.
Emergency workers, Red Cross workers, a doctor and local volunteers arrived at the scene to look after the needs of the passengers, including providing regular meals, medical care and access to toilets and showers, the administration said in a statement on Saturday.
Image: Canvas put up to protect passengers’ privacy. Pic: AP
The Indian Embassy in France posted on X that embassy staff had obtained consular access to the passengers.
“I’m surprised at how things unfolded in the waiting area. People should have been informed of their rights, and clearly that was not the case,” Francois Procureur, the head of the Chalons-en-Champagne Bar Association, told BFM television.
He called the mass, hasty airport hearings “unprecedented”.
Airline denies role in possible human trafficking
Ms Bakayoko said Legend Airlines denies any role in possible human trafficking, and welcomed the release of the plane and its crew after questioning as “good news for the airline”.
A “partner” company that chartered the plane was responsible for verifying the identity documents of each passenger, and communicated the passengers’ passport information to the airline 48 hours before the flight, the lawyer said.
The customer, which she would not identify but said was not a European company, had chartered multiple flights on Legend Airlines from Dubai to Nicaragua, some of which had already made the journey without incident, she said.
The crew members, who are of multiple nationalities, “are rather traumatised”, she said, adding: “They wrote me messages that they want to see their families for Christmas.”
While it is not certain the Indians’ destination was the US, Nicaragua has frequently been used as a springboard for migrants because of relaxed or visa-free entry requirements for some nationalities.
Charter flights are sometimes used to make the journey before migrants travel north by bus with the help of smugglers.
The US is dealing with record numbers of people trying to reach the US border from Mexico with the issue of border security becoming a key Republican line of attack ahead of the 2024 election.
Thailand has launched airstrikes and said it has struck military targets along the border with Cambodia, as both sides accused the other of attacking first.
One Thai soldier was killed and eight others wounded, according to Thai army spokesperson Major General Winthai Suvaree, who also said Cambodian troops fired first into Thai territory.
Thailand used aircraft “to strike military targets in several areas to suppress Cambodian supporting fire attacks,” he added.
In Cambodia, Met Measpheakdey, deputy governor of Oddar Meanchey province, wrote in a Facebook post that three civilians had been seriously injured.
Cambodian officials said the Thai military attacked their troops first in Preah Vihear province.
“Cambodia urges that Thailand immediately stop all hostile activities that threaten peace and stability in the region,” said Cambodian defence ministry spokesperson Maly Socheata.
Tensions have simmered since the neighbouring countries signed a US-brokered ceasefire agreement in October, put forward by US President Donald Trump.
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Image: Thailand’s Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Manet shake hands next to US President Donald Trump in October. Pic: Reuters
Their territorial disputes led to five days of combat in July that killed dozens of soldiers and civilians.
Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said that military operations would be carried out as necessary to defend the country and protect public safety.
“Thailand has never wished for violence. I’d like to reiterate that Thailand has never initiated a fight or an invasion, but will never tolerate a violation of its sovereignty,” he said.
In Thailand, more than 385,000 civilians across several border districts are being evacuated, with over 35,000 already housed in temporary shelters, military officials said.
Image: People rest at a shelter in Buriram province, Thailand, after fresh military clashes. Pic: Reuters
Image: A concrete shelter in Thailand’s Ubon Ratchathani province. Pic: AP
Meanwhile, the Cambodian Education Ministry said several schools along the border had been shut.
Footage posted online showed what appeared to be students hurriedly leaving classes to meet their parents.
Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim urged Thailand and Cambodia to “exercise maximum restraint”.
In a post on social media, he added: “Our region cannot afford to see long-standing disputes slip into cycles of confrontation.”
Si Sa Ket, Surin and Ubon Ratchathani provinces in Thailand, and Cambodia’s Preah Vihear and Oddar Meanchey provinces were among the areas said to be caught up in the latest clashes.
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On Sunday, both nations accused each other of opening fire along the border in what the Thai army said was an incident that lasted around 20 minutes and resulted in the injury of two of its soldiers.
But Cambodia said that the Thai side fired first and that Cambodian troops did not retaliate.
For more than a century, Thailand and Cambodia have contested sovereignty at points along their 508-mile (817km) land border.
Donald Trump’s eldest son has said his father may walk away from the Ukraine peace process, claiming the issue is not a priority for Americans, and signalling Europe needs a better plan.
In a wide-ranging discussion with Sky’s lead world news presenter Yalda Hakim at Doha Forum 2025, Donald Trump Jr addressed issues including the US administration’s recent diplomatic efforts around the world.
He was speaking in his capacity as a business leader, setting out his agenda for “America first” investments in defence technology and artificial intelligence (AI), drawing a direct line between global stability and economic prosperity.
Image: Donald Trump meeting Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Washington earlier this year. Pic: Reuters
When asked directly if he believed the US president would walk away from Ukraine, he answered: “I think he may, what’s good about my father and what’s unique about my father is you don’t know what he’s going to do. He’s unpredictable.”
President Trump has led renewed efforts for a ceasefire deal with Russia in recent months.
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Drawing a parallel with his father’s current “war” on drug cartels, Donald Trump Jr described gangs bringing illegal drugs into America as a “far greater clear and present danger to the US than anything [going on] in the Ukraine or Russia”.
While he said he did not believe Ukraine would be “abandoned”, he said: “The American public doesn’t have the appetite [for endless wars and further funding of Ukraine’s military efforts].”
Describing Ukraine as “a far more corrupt country than Russia”, he characterised Ukrainian President Zelenskyy as “one of the great marketeers of all time”, who he said had become “a borderline deity, especially to the left”.
He went on to describe President Trump’s approach as “common sense”.
China rivalry was the focus, but Musk got a mention
In a country and at a conference which is friendly, even admiring of the Trump administration, Don Jr was in his element.
He’s here in his capacity as a business leader, promoting his venture, 1789 Capital which claims to be focused on “America First” investments.
But he wasn’t shy about discussing his father’s foreign policy achievements, boasting that Donald Trump had resolved seven or eight wars – conflicts that most ordinary Americans were unaware of.
His pitch is bullish and direct – the current US administration is projecting strength globally, stopping wars and creating investment opportunities which serves the American economy. It’s the MAGA mentality for the global audience.
It’s clear that the rivalry with China is their biggest focus, especially finding ways to combat their dominance over critical minerals.
“America can no longer just sit there and hope that China is going to be a good actor… I think the rest of the world understands that they want America to be at the forefront of all of that.”
When I asked him about recent efforts by President Trump to bring the war in Ukraine to an end, he responded forcefully. “We want peace, we want to stop the death.”
But he went on to say that Europe needed to shoulder the burden and currently they have no plan.
As he sat on the stage in Qatar, the country which has been at the centre of the ceasefire efforts for Gaza, he expressed hope that peace would prevail, but balanced expectations America would fund its re-construction. This would have to be a global effort.
“If there’s one thing my father is, it’s a builder… I think he can be the greatest construction manager in the history of the world, but no one in America wants to bear the entire responsibility of that.”
And, away from international diplomatic efforts, he was happy to announce a breakthrough closer to home.
The “bromance” with Elon Musk and President Trump is back on – calling the entrepreneur a “generational talent, a generational level of genius”.
‘Bromance’ back on
He also confirmed that Tesla billionaire Elon Musk was “100% back in the fold”, after previously appearing to fall out with the president.
Earlier this year, Donald Trump Jr’s investment company, 1789 Capital, heavily invested in some of Musk’s companies, including SpaceX.
Image: Elon Musk and Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House in May. Pic: AP
Directly comparing President Trump with Musk, he said: “Imagine dealing with one Donald Trump – now I have to deal with two.
“They’re very similar that way, so it created some headaches… but the reality is they’re both very much aligned, they’re on message with what we want to do with our country. What we want to do with freedom of speech.”
He went on: “Elon did incredible things for Twitter, really allowed the democratisation of truth and freedom and free speech to occur. That’s something that is a true threat in America right now.”
He also praised Musk as “changing the face of free speech, science and technology”, adding, “we have to protect our geniuses”.
When asked whether Mr Trump would stand for a third term, he joked that he could be “just trolling” those on the left.
He went on, “He’s the most unpredictable person, probably in the history of politics. Which is why he’s able to get something done. We’ll see.”