■■SÃO TOMÉ & PRÍNCIPE: Wise guy who made joke about bomb on an STP Airways flight to Lisbon to appear in court.

[UPDATE 12 MAY] A Portuguese national who made a wise-crack about having a bomb in his luggage that was ready to explode is due to appear in court in São Tomé today. The man, Manuel Ferreira, was travelling with his wife on STP Airways (8F) flight 8F508 from São Tomé International Airport to Lisbon earlier this week when he made the remarks.

■ SOMALIA: Mogadishu Aden Adde International Airport closed for 2 hours following bomb scare.

Mogadishu's Aden Adde International Airport was temporarily closed today after a vehicle belonging to ground-handling services provider, SKA Logistics, was suspected of carrying explosives.

► BURKINA FASO: Man suspected of being a terrorist hauled off Ethiopian Airlines flight after alleged "parcel bomb" found.

A man, on Sunday, was taken into custody in Burkina Faso after an alleged parcel bomb was found to be in his possession as he prepared to depart Ouagadougou on board an Ethiopian Airlines (ET) Boeing 737-800 operating flight ET926 from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. 

► NIGERIA: Passenger arrested after going crazy on Arik Air flight.

Nigeria's Aviation Minister, Stella Oduah-Ogiewonyi, moved quickly to dispel any rumours of an "attempted bombing" of an Arik Air (W3) domestic flight from Maiduguri to Abuja, in which a passenger is said to have suddenly started shouting "Allahu Akhabar!" (God is Great!), culminating in him being tackled by fellow passengers. 

► SENEGAL: Angry husband calls in bomb threat to delay Royal Air Maroc flight to Casablanca; gets backtraced.

The Senegalese press is reporting a bomb scare on-board a Royal Air Maroc Boeing 737-800 as it was about to depart from Dakar's Léopold Sédar Senghor (Yoff) International Airport early this morning, bound for the Moroccan city of Casablanca.

● NIGER: Remembering UTA Flight UT772, twenty three years ago today.

Today marks the 23rd anniversary of the bombing of UTA Flight 772 on 19 September 1989, a somewhat forgotten incident that bears strong similarity with a larger, more widely publicized bombing that occurred a year earlier; that of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in December 1988.

McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 "N54629" UTA772

► AUSTRALIA: Bomb scare on Air Mauritius flight ex-Melbourne.

Press reports out of Australia state that Air Mauritius flight MK943, en-route over south Australia, from Melbourne's Tullamarine Airport to Port Louis, Mauritius, was today (23 May) forced to turn round and return to Melbourne, after the discovery in the aft cabin, of a soft drink can with the word "bomb" scrawled on it.

Air Mauritius A340 "3B-NAU" (Axel J)

The aircraft, 3B-NAU, touched down at Melbourne again at 14h55 (Melbourne time) with all 197 passengers disembarking under the supervision of Australian authorities, before police conducted a thorough search of the plane. 

One report states that "a man was detained by federal police", though has not yet been corroborated.

The flight will now operate as MK3943 on 24 May leaving Melbourne at 11h30 (Melbourne time) and reaching Mauritius at 16h55 (Mauritius time).