MSc graduate stabbed to death by boyfriend after her family rejects marriage proposal over caste differences

A day after a Vokkaliga seer publicly urged Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to step down in favour of his deputy D K Shivakumar, a prominent seer from the dominant Veerashaiva-Lingayat community on Friday called for ministers from his community to be considered if there is a change in the CM post.

Channasiddharam Swamiji of Srishail Peetham stated that if the Congress decides to change the state chief minister or create additional deputy chief minister positions, preference should be given to legislators from the Veerashaiva-Lingayat community.

Speaking to reporters at Yadur village in Chikkodi taluk, the seer emphasized that people from the Veerashaiva-Lingayat community have voted for Congress in large numbers.

"If the Congress wants to change the chief minister or create more deputy chief minister posts, community members like M B Patil, Ishwar Khandre, S S Mallikarjun, and veteran Shamnur Shivashankarappa should be considered. During the government formation, Veerashaiva-Lingayat votes were decisive. Therefore, Veerashaiva-Lingayat ministers should be given priority and their experience utilized. I urge that they be given an opportunity," he said.

Talks in this regard have been held with Kashi, Ujjani, and other seers of Panchapeethas, and there is an understanding about the chief minister's post within the Congress. The grand old party should walk the talk, he added.

On Thursday, Vishwa Vokkaliga Mahasamastana Math seer Kumara Chandrashekaranatha Swamiji had raised the pitch for Shivakumar as CM during the Kempegowda Jayanti event, which commemorates the birth anniversary of Bengaluru's founder, in the presence of both Siddaramaiah and the deputy chief minister on the dais.

Two persons narrowly escaped after their car fell into a river while driving through a forest in Kasaragod district of Kerala on June 27 morning.

Thashreef (36) of Pullur and his friend Abdur Rasheed (35) from 7th Mile were travelling from Ambalathara, Kanhangad, to Uppinangadi in Karnataka’s Dakshina Kannada when the accident occurred on the Palanji old bridge on the forest road connecting Kuttikol and Pandi at around 6 a.m.

Rashid was behind the wheels following the directions shown on Google Maps.

As they drove onto a bridge over the Pallanchi River, which lacked barricades and was submerged due to heavy rainfall, they mistook it as a road. It was dark outside and the path was not visible leading to the accident.

The car drifted about 150 meters before getting stuck in some plants. The duo managed to escape by lowering the side windows. Soon they informed their relatives about the accident via phone, who subsequently alerted fire force officials.

Fire force along with local residents rescued Rashid and Thashreef, who sustained minor injuries in the accident. Efforts to retrieve the car from the river are ongoing. 

Notably, a new, taller bridge was constructed 500 meters from the accident spot four years ago, but Google Maps still shows the old bridge.

The Yemeni Armed Forces say they have conducted new operations against Israel-linked ships in the nearby waters in support of Palestinian people and in retaliation for the US-British aggression against the country.

Spokesman for the Yemeni army, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, made the announcement in a Sunday statement.

“The naval forces of our Armed Forces carried out a second targeting operation against the ship Transworld Navigator in the Red Sea, using an uncrewed surface boat, which led to a direct hit against the ship,” he said.

Transworld Navigator had been already attacked by Yemeni forces in the Arabian Sea with a number of ballistic missiles on Saturday.

“The missile force of our Armed Forces carried out an operation targeting the ship Stolt Sequoia in the Indian Ocean with a number of cruise missiles, and the operation has successfully achieved its objectives,” Saree added in his statement.

He noted that the two ships were targeted after the companies owning them decided to violate the ban enforced by the Yemeni Armed Forces on the entry of ships to the ports in the occupied Palestinian territories.

The new operations came after earlier on Saturday, the Yemeni forces carried out a host of attacks targeting American and Israel-linked vessels, including the US aircraft carrier Eisenhower, which was hit for the second time.

In his Sunday statement, Saree said, “As part of retaliation for the American-British aggression against our country, the operations of the Yemeni Armed Forces forced the American aircraft carrier Eisenhower to leave the Red Sea.”

He once again warned all maritime companies to avoid doing business with the occupying regime of Israel, adding that “their ships will be directly targeted in the operation zone of the Yemeni Armed Forces regardless of their destination.”

He concluded by saying that operations carried out by the Yemeni Armed Forces will continue until the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip stops and the siege of the Palestinian territory is lifted.

Yemen’s Armed Forces have been carrying out countless operations against Israel-linked ships or those heading towards ports in the occupied Palestinian territories since October 7, 2023 when the Tel Aviv regime began its genocidal war on Gaza.

Nearly 37,600 Palestinians have been killed, most of them women and children, and over 86,000 others sustained injuries in the brutal Israeli military onslaught against the coastal sliver.

The Yemeni forces have also conducted many operations against American and British vessels in response to deadly attacks by the United States and the UK against their country, which have been seeking to stop the forces’ pro-Palestinian operations.