India extends suspension of international flights till Oct 31

News Network
September 28, 2021

The government of India on Tuesday, September 28, extended the suspension on international scheduled commercial flights till October 31 owing to the coronavirus diseases (Covid-19) pandemic.

The latest circular issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) continued to keep international cargo flights and those approved by the regulator to operate.

The DGCA also said that scheduled international flights might be allowed on selected routes on a case to case basis.

The Indian government banned international commercial flights since March 23, 2020, to check the spread of the Covid-19 infection. It eased the restrictions on flights in certain countries with which India has had an air bubble arrangement during the past year.

The air bubble pact between the two countries allows the operation of special international flights by the national carrier between their territories. India has formed air bubble pacts with around 25 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, the Maldives, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Qatar and Bhutan.

India was considering lifting the restrictions on international commercial flights on September 30. However, it extended the ban in the face of a looming threat of the third wave of infection and the rising cases of the Delta variant of the Covid-19 in several countries.

Even as the restrictions on international air travel continued, India allowed operating special flights on specific routes, especially to repatriate stranded citizens.

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News Network
October 17,2024

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US and British warplanes have bombed Yemen's capital city of Sana'a and several other areas, amid the country’s solidarity with the Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip and the Lebanese nation in the face of Israel's brutal aggression.

Yemen's al-Masirah television network said the US-British aggression targeted the al-Hafa and Jirban areas in the north and south of the capital with six airstrikes on Thursday morning.

The television network also said the warplanes struck the northwestern Yemeni city of Sa'ada as well as the Kahlan and al-Abla areas east of the city.

The US military has used "B-2 stealth bombers for the 1st time in airstrikes on Yemen,” the television network said.

Yemen's official Saba Net news agency reported that US-British aggression aircraft launched 15 raids on the capital Sana'a and the Sa’ada province.

The agency cited a security source as saying that the aircraft targeted with six raids the areas in the north and south of the capital, and launched nine raids in Sa'ada.

A US defense official confirmed that the strikes were conducted using the B-2 bomber, which is usually deployed to strike areas heavily defended by air defense systems.

Source: Airstrikes did not hit weapons depots 

A Yemeni military source told the Lebanese Al-Mayadeen TV channel that the airstrikes did not hit weapons depots belonging to Yemen's Ansarullah, and did not affect their capabilities as claimed by the Pentagon.

The source said the use of B-2 stealth bombers in the attacks indicates "panic" in the US military over the possibility of its drones being shot down in Yemeni airspace, after several MQ-9 drones were shot down by the Houthi movement in recent months.

Any American-British aircraft or weapon used to strike Yemen "cannot neutralize the strategic weapons that the Yemeni army has prepared and continues to prepare and develop," the source said.

He added that attacks on Yemen will not succeed in forcing the Ansarullah movement to stop its support of Gaza and Lebanon.

Nasreddin Amer, Deputy Minister of Information in the Sana'a-based administration, condemned the American and British aggression, saying, “The position of the Yemeni nation toward Palestine and Lebanon will not change with these attacks.”

Amer stressed that the United States will “pay the price” of the dawn aggression against Yemen.

"We confirm that the American aggression will not pass without a response," said a statement from Ansarullah's political bureau.

Earlier on Tuesday, US and British forces conducted four airstrikes on the al-Luhayyah district in Hudaydah Province, in western Yemen. The day earlier, they carried out two airstrikes on the al-Salif district in western Hudaydah.

Yemenis have declared their open support for Palestine’s struggle against the Israeli occupation since the regime launched a devastating war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, after the territory’s Palestinian resistance movements carried out surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Flood against the occupying entity.

The Yemeni Armed Forces have said they will not stop their attacks until unrelenting Israeli ground and aerial offensives in Gaza end.

So far, Israel has killed at least 42,409 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 99,153 others in Gaza. The regime has also intensified its deadly attacks against Lebanon over the past year, killing upwards of 2,300 Lebanese people.

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News Network
October 25,2024

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A recent survey has exposed a troubling rise in anti-Muslim racism across Europe, fueled by heightened conflicts in West Asia and Europe’s increasingly hostile climate for Muslims. The EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) revealed on Thursday that nearly half of European Muslims faced discrimination in the past five years, with the situation worsening notably over the last year as violence flared in Gaza.

Nicole Romain, a spokeswoman for FRA, confirmed reports of intensified anti-Muslim hate across several EU countries. "Even before the current escalation, it was already becoming increasingly challenging to live as a Muslim in the EU," she said, pointing to dehumanizing rhetoric and profiling practices that target Muslims based on religion, ethnicity, and even physical appearance.

The survey, conducted prior to Israel’s large-scale assault on Gaza, included data from over 9,600 Muslims across more than a dozen EU nations between October 2021 and October 2022. The results highlighted Austria as having the highest rate of discrimination against Muslims at 71 percent, followed closely by Germany (68 percent) and Finland (63 percent). France, home to Europe’s second-largest Muslim population, reported a rate of 39 percent.

Women and children are disproportionately affected, particularly those wearing religious attire such as the hijab. FRA's report sheds light on the pervasive racial profiling Muslims face, from random police checks to discrimination in employment despite high qualifications. Director Sirpa Rautio warned that as conflicts continue to escalate, the impact on Muslims in Europe is likely to worsen, compounding challenges for the EU’s 26 million-strong Muslim population, which makes up more than 5 percent of the bloc's residents.

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News Network
October 21,2024

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Mangaluru: Forest officials successfully captured a leopard that strayed into the kitchen of a house in Akkasaligara Keri, Mulki, on the outskirts of Mangaluru, during the early hours of Sunday, October 20.

Following multiple complaints from residents about leopard sightings, forest department officials had placed cages at various locations in Mulki. According to Deputy RFO Manjunath Ganiga, locals had reported spotting a leopard in the area, prompting the department to set up a cage about a kilometer from the affected house.

At approximately 10 p.m., the leopard entered the house and made its way into the kitchen. The family quickly locked the kitchen door and contacted the forest department for assistance. The forest officials, using a cage and a net, managed to trap the leopard around 2:45 a.m. The animal was later examined by veterinarians and released back into the wild.

Locals suspect that up to three leopards may be roaming the area.

The operation to capture the leopard was led by RFO Kiran Kumar, with assistance from Deputy RFOs Nagesh Billava and Manjunath Ganiga, along with forest department staff members Chandrashekar and Shankar.

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