HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwe has detained the leading opponent to planned constitutional amendments that would extend the rule of the country’s 83-year-old president and make the post elected by Parliament, not the people. Former finance minister Tendai Biti was set to appear in court on Monday.
It's the highest profile detention yet of critics of the attempt to allow President Emmerson Mnangagwa to extend his rule, due to end in 2028, by two years. Police in recent months have banned meetings or arrested people for gathering to express opposition.
Biti leads the Constitutional Defenders Forum, a group campaigning against the amendments. CDF spokesman Jacob Rukweza said Biti and programs director Morgan Ncube are accused of holding a public meeting without notifying police. They were detained on Saturday in the eastern city of Mutare.
There was no comment from Zimbabwe authorities. But in the past they have rejected accusations that they are eroding promises of democratic reform made after decades of rule by former leader Robert Mugabe.
Mnangagwa, who came to power after a popular military coup against Mugabe in 2017, has said he will step down when his second term ends in 2028.
But Mnangagwa has not publicly opposed his ruling ZANU-PF party’s push to extend his term. His Cabinet approved the amendment proposal in February before sending it to Parliament, where the ruling party holds a majority.
The proposed changes would postpone elections to 2030, allow the president to be elected by Parliament instead of by popular vote and extend both the presidential term and those of members of Parliament from five to seven years.
Biti and other critics say any amendment extending presidential terms must be approved in a referendum. But Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi and Mnangagwa’s supporters say Parliament can pass the changes without one because the two-term limit would remain, even though terms would be longer.
Opposition has grown, and challenges have been filed in courts. But physical meetings have become increasingly risky. Amnesty International has described arrests as an “escalating crackdown on peaceful dissent.”
Earlier this month, law professor and opposition figure Lovemore Madhuku was admitted to a hospital after being beaten by unidentified men he claimed were police officers following a party meeting on the proposed changes. Police denied involvement, saying the gathering had been banned.
Last year, offices of the think tank SAPES Trust were set on fire hours before it was due to host a press conference by opponents of the amendments.
Mnangagwa won re-election in a disputed poll in 2023, but international rights groups alleged a crackdown on opposition officials and supporters by the ruling party.
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FILE - Zimbabwean opposition official Tendai Biti arrives at the magistrates courts in Harare, on Aug. 9, 2018. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi, File)
FILE - Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa attends the African Union-European Union summit in Luanda, Angola, on Nov. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — Two people were killed and several others badly hurt when an Air Canada regional jet struck a fire truck on a runway while landing at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, officials said.
The pilot and copilot were killed in the late Sunday night collision, which crushed the nose of the aircraft, while around 40 passengers and crew members were taken to area hospitals, some with serious injuries. Most have since been released from treatment, authorities said Monday.
Two Port Authority employees who were traveling in the fire truck also suffered injuries that were not believed to be life-threatening, aid Kathryn Garcia, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airport.
The airport was shut down and air traffic was diverted, and on Monday morning operations also were halted at Newark Liberty International Airport in neighboring New Jersey. Air traffic controllers evacuated the tower because of a burning smell from an elevator, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
The shutdowns happened during long waits for travelers due to the busy spring break travel season and a shortage of Transportation Security Administration officers because of a lack of routine funding for the Department of Homeland Security.
The pilot and copilot who died were both based out of Canada, Garcia said during a news conference.
The airport will remain closed until at least 2 p.m. Monday to facilitate the investigation, which is being led by the National Transportation Safety Board.
“Two pilots were killed and dozens injured in this tragedy. Our thoughts are with the victims, their families, and everyone affected,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul posted online.
The fire truck was traveling across the runway to respond to a separate incident aboard a United Airlines flight, whose pilot had reported “an issue with odor,” said Garcia, who deferred additional questions about the sequence of events leading up to the crash to the NTSB.
There were 72 passengers and four crew members aboard the aircraft, a Jazz Aviation flight operating on behalf of Air Canada, according to a statement from the airline. The flight originated at Montreal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport, the major airport serving Montreal.
Photos and videos from the scene showed severe damage to the front of the aircraft, with cables and debris hanging from a mangled cockpit. Nearby, a damaged emergency vehicle lay on its side.
Stairways used to evacuate passengers from the aircraft were pushed up to the emergency exits on the jet, a Bombardier CRJ. The impact left the jet with its crumpled nose tilted upward.
In the moments before the crash, an air traffic controller could be heard on a radio transmission giving clearance to a vehicle to cross part of the tarmac, then trying to stop it.
“Stop, Truck 1. Stop,” the transmission says. The controller can then be heard frantically diverting an incoming aircraft from landing.
Air traffic controllers are not impacted by the partial government shutdown that has caused long delays at airport security checkpoints in recent days. They have been affected by past shutdowns.
As passengers straggled out of the airport into the dark early Monday, some described having arrived at LaGuardia hours before their flight, hoping to beat the lines.
Arturo Davidson said his Miami-bound flight was on the tarmac Sunday night when fellow passengers saw the collision or its aftermath and reactions rippled through the cabin.
The passengers were soon told there had been an accident. About 20 minutes later, they were informed the airport was closing and they must return to the terminal, he said later Monday, gazing at a departure board filled with cancellations.
“I don’t think we’re going at two,” he sighed, referring to the time Monday afternoon that officials gave as the earliest for reopening LaGuardia.
LaGuardia was 19th busiest in 2024 out of more than 500 U.S. airports, with over 16.7 million passengers boarding there, according to a 2025 FAA database.
The airport, which opened to commercial traffic in 1939, covers 680 acres (275 hectares) and borders Flushing and Bowery bays in Queens. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey describes it as “one of the nation’s leading domestic gateways for business and leisure travel” in its 2024 Airport Traffic Report.
LaGuardia is one of 35 major airports across the country equipped with an advanced surface surveillance system that uses radar and data from locator systems on planes to alert controllers to potential conflicts on runways, according to the FAA.
There are three different models of Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting trucks, according to a video put out last month about the unit by the Port Authority. One carries 1,500 gallons (5,678 liters) of water and firefighting chemicals. Two others carry 3,000 gallons (11,356 liters) of water. One of those models is also equipped with a turret that can extend 65 feet (20 meters) to penetrate inside an aircraft and discharge firefighting chemicals.
It’s still too early to tell what went wrong, and investigators from the NTSB will now start collecting facts, interviewing people, downloading recordings and reviewing data from flight recorders, aviation safety expert Jeff Guzzetti said.
“It might be easy enough just to say, ‘Oh, the controller made a mistake.’ But there’s got to be deeper questions,” he said.
An Air Canada Jet sits on the runway at LaGuardia Airport, Monday, March 23, 2026, after colliding with a Port Authority aircraft rescue and firefighting vehicle after landing in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
A Port Authority aircraft rescue and firefighting vehicle lays on its side off of runway 4 after colliding with an Air Canada jet after it landed at LaGuardia Airport, Monday, March 23, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
An Air Canada Jet sits on the runway at LaGuardia Airport, Monday, March 23, 2026, after colliding with a Port Authority aircraft rescue and firefighting vehicle after landing in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
Firetrucks lineup outside LaGuardia Airport, Monday, March 23, 2026, in New York, after an Air Canada Jet collided with a Port Authority vehicle on a runway. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
An Air Canada Jet sits on the runway at LaGuardia Airport, Monday, March 23, 2026, after colliding with a Port Authority aircraft rescue and firefighting vehicle in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
An Air Canada Jet sits on the runway at LaGuardia Airport, Monday, March 23, 2026, after colliding with a Port Authority vehicle in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
An Air Canada Jet sits on the runway at LaGuardia Airport, Monday, March 23, 2026, after colliding with a Port Authority aircraft rescue and firefighting vehicle in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
An Air Canada Jet sits on the runway at LaGuardia Airport, Monday, March 23, 2026, after colliding with a Port Authority vehicle in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
An Air Canada Jet sits on the runway at LaGuardia Airport, Monday, March 23, 2026, after colliding with a Port Authority vehicle in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
Firetrucks lineup outside LaGuardia Airport, Monday, March 23, 2026, in New York, after an Air Canada Jet collided with a Port Authority vehicle on a runway. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
FILE - A control tower is seen at Laguardia International Airport on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Olga Fedorova, File)
An Air Canada Jet sits on the runway at LaGuardia Airport, Monday, March 23, 2026, after colliding with a Port Authority vehicle in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
