Sri Lankan Food Festival in Salem till May 26

Bottle grief you dont want to be a bore: Barbara Hulanicki

The fashion designer and Biba founder, 87, on the best business advice shes been given, why she wears black and the reason she never cries As a child living in Jerusalem, we used to visit churches and convents. I always wanted to redesign the nuns outfits they just werent dressed correctly. Jesus wasnt a very good designer. I have no temper. I like people too much. I really love them. I think its from living in a big family. I had a mum who was so beautiful it was embarrassing. I used to stand outside the front door and give away all her clothes from Paris to anyone who needed them, which was not very popular. Theres nothing Im scared of. When youre younger youre scared of dying. As you get older, it seems rather fun. I cant wait there must be a big party going on on the other side. Finding the person you are going to spend the rest of your life with is so instant, its so obvious, its absolutely amazing. It doesnt often come. Youre very lucky if you get one such person in your lifetime and I had one. It was so wonderful. Slowly, slowly, catchy monkey! Our first accountant at Biba gave me that advice and its the best advice Ive ever been given. We should have put that on a T-shirt. When I was very, very small I used to follow my father around like a little dog. He was the biggest person in my life and I get very angry that I didnt have longer with him. The thing to do with grief is to bottle it and it just keeps. You dont want to be a bore to people. Theyve got their own problems. Continue reading...

Two arrested for stealing motorcycle at Salem Collectorate

Israeli army finds bodies of 3 hostages in Gaza killed at Oct 7 music festival

JERUSALEM: The Israeli military said Friday its troops in Gaza found the bodies of three Israeli hostages killed by Hamas during its Oct. 7 attack, including German-Israeli Shani Louk. A photo of 22-year-old Louks twisted body in the back of a pickup truck ricocheted around the world and brought to light the scale of the militants attack on communities in southern Israel. The military identified the other two bodies as those of a 28-year-old woman, Amit Buskila, and a 56-year-old man, Itzhak Gelerenter. All three were killed by Hamas while fleeing the Nova music festival, an outdoor dance party near the Gaza border, where militants killed hundreds of people, military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said at a news conference. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the deaths heartbreaking, saying, We will return all of our hostages, both the living and the dead. The military said the bodies were found overnight, without elaborating, and did not give immediate details on where they were located. Israel has been operating in the Gaza Strips southern city of Rafah, where it says it has intelligence that hostages are being held. Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and abducted around 250 others in the Oct. 7 attack. Around half of those hostages have since been freed, most in swaps for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel during a weeklong cease-fire in November. Israel says around 100 hostages are still captive in Gaza, along with the bodies of around 30 more. Israels war in Gaza since the attack has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials. Netanyahu has vowed to both eliminate Hamas and bring all the hostages back, but hes made little progress. He faces pressure to resign, and the U.S. has threatened to scale back its support over the humanitarian situation in Gaza. Israelis are divided into two main camps: those who want the government to put the war on hold and free the hostages, and others who think the hostages are an unfortunate price to pay for eradicating Hamas. On-and-off negotiations mediated by Qatar, the United States and Egypt have yielded little.

US Evacuates 17 American Doctors Stuck In Gaza

The Americans who made their way out did so with the support of the US Embassy in Jerusalem. Seventeen of the 20 American doctors who were stuck in Gaza after... The post US Evacuates 17 American Doctors Stuck In Gaza first appeared on Asian Lite USA .

Israel prefers to avoid tough war with Hezbollah: Defence Minister

Jerusalem: Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has said that his country prefers to avoid a difficult war with the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah. Speaking with fighter soldiers near Israels northern border with Lebanon on Friday, Gallant noted that Israel will eventually return the northern region residents to their homes safely, and wants to exhaust every Get the latest updates in Hyderabad City News , Technology , Entertainment , Sports , Politics and Top Stories on WhatsApp & Telegram by subscribing to our channels. You can also download our app for Android and iOS .

Orange alert issued in five TN districts for May 18,19

CHENNAI: Several places across Tamil Nadu received widespread rains on Thursday and Friday. Mylaudy in Kanniyakumari district registered the highest rainfall of 7 cm in the 24 hours ending at 8.30 am on Friday. Tiruchendur in Thoothukudi, Valparai in Coimbatore, and Nannilam in Tiruvarur received 6 cm each; Cuddalore and Kottaram in Kanniyakumari received 5 cm each; and Kayalpattinam in Thoothukudi received 4 cm during the same period. Karur Paramathi received 4.5 cm of rain from 8.30 am to 7.30 on Friday. Coimbatore, Tiruchy, and Dharmapuri received 3.5 cm, 3.3 cm and 3.2 cm, respectively in the same period. The regional meteorological centre said that the Southwest monsoon is very likely to advance into the South Andaman Sea, some parts of the Southeast Bay of Bengal and Nicobar Islands around May 19. However, the monsoon will set in the mainland around May 31. TN usually receives 35-37% of annual total rainfall during this period. The moisture level in the interior districts will increase during this period. The rain the state is getting now is due to cyclonic circulation, said an official from the RMC. RMCs forecast said light to moderate rain at many places with thunderstorms, lightning and gusty winds with speed of 30-40 kmph at one or two places is likely to continue till May 21. It also added that moderate rainfall is likely in Chennai city. It also gave orange alerts to several districts over the next few days including Theni, Dindigul and Tenkasi for Saturday and Sunday. The alert also extends to Kanniyakumari and Tirunelveli on Sunday. Meanwhile, heavy rain is likely over The Nilgiris, Coimbatore, Erode, Salem, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Tirupattur, Kanyakumari, Tirunelveli, Tiruppur, Virudhunagar, Thoothukudi and Madurai districts on Saturday. On Friday, the maximum temperature of various districts was below normal. Meenambakkam in Chennai registered a maximum temperature of 31.6C, which was 6.8C below normal; Madurai 30.8C (6.7C below normal); and Palayamkottai 31C (6.3C below normal). On Thursday, Meenambakkam registered 10.3C below normal temperature.

Israeli forces uncover bodies of 3 hostages in Gaza

Israeli forces uncover bodies of 3 hostages in Gaza Jerusalem: The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Israeli Security Agency (ISA) have recovered in a joint night operation the bodies of three Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip, as announced by IDF Spokesman Daniel Hagari. The three Israelis, Shani Louk, Amit Buskila, and Itzik [] The post Israeli forces uncover bodies of 3 hostages in Gaza appeared first on Mangalorean.com .

Tamil Nadu: SC youth attacked as stone thrown at dog lands in graveyard

SALEM: In a disturbing incident that highlights the continuation of caste discrimination, two engineering students hailing from an SC community were assaulted by 10 inebriated people from a dominant caste near Jalakandapuram on Wednesday evening when they were returning home from college. Police arrested one suspect on Friday. According to police, the victims, R Kamalesh and Magi K, both 18-year-old, are studying in a private engineering college at Mecheri. The two were 500 metres away from their house when a street dog began chasing them. In an attempt to shoo the dog away, the youth threw stones, which landed near a funeral site where 10 to 15 intoxicated people were present. Upon questioning the boys about their background, the people learned that both Kamalesh and Magi belonged to the SC community and assaulted them. The students suffered injuries on their legs and neck and were admitted in Salem GH. Karthi, Magis father, said, The boys are severely traumatised by the incident and are scared to come out. Magi recounted the harrowing experience to TNIE, saying, I was beaten and subjected to humiliating remarks about my caste. One member of the mob even spat in my face and questioned what I hoped to achieve by pursuing education. I am afraid to leave my home. Jalakandapuram police registered a case under sections 143, 341, 294(b), 323,324, 506 and SC/ST Act. Sources said A Jayavel, one of the suspects, was arrested on Friday morning. We are investigating further and searching for others using CCTV footage. We will arrest all the 10 people responsible for this assault, Jalakandapuram police told TNIE.

Spain poised to announce Palestininian state recognition date

MADRID: Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said he will on Wednesday announce the date on which Madrid will recognise a Palestinian state along with several EU partners. We are in the process of coordinating with other countries so that we can make a joint declaration, Sanchez said Friday in an interview with private Spanish television station La Sexta when asked if this step would be taken Tuesday as announced by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell. I think on the 22nd of May...I shall be able to clarify before parliament the date on which Spain will recognise the Palestinian state, he added. Sanchez said in March that Spain and Ireland, along with Slovenia and Malta, had agreed to take their first steps towards recognition of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, seeing a two-state solution as essential for lasting peace. Borrell told Spanish public radio last week that Spain, Ireland and Slovenia planned to symbolically recognise a Palestinian state on May 21, saying he had been given this date by Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares. Ireland's Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said Tuesday that Dublin was certain to recognise Palestinian statehood by the end of the month but the specific date is still fluid. Israel army reports 'perhaps the fiercest' fighting in Gaza's Jabalia since October Israel has said plans for Palestinian recognition constitute a prize for terrorism that would reduce the chances of a negotiated resolution to the Gaza conflict, which began on October 7 when Hamas militants stormed into southern Israel. The unprecedented attack resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures. Vowing to destroy Hamas, Israel launched a blistering retaliatory offensive that has killed more than 35,000 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza. For decades, the formal recognition of a Palestinian state has been seen as the endgame of a peace process between Palestinians and their Israeli neighbours. The United States and most Western European nations have said they are willing to one day recognise Palestinian statehood, but not before agreement on thorny issues like the status of Jerusalem and final borders are agreed. EXPLAINER | What is the celebrity 'blockout' over the war in Gaza? But after Hamas' October 7 attacks and Israel's searing response during months of attacks on Gaza, diplomats are reconsidering once-contentious ideas. In 2014, Sweden, which has a large Palestinian community, became the first EU member in western Europe to recognise a Palestinian state. A state of Palestine had earlier been recognised by six other European countries: Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Romania.

Israel army reports 'perhaps the fiercest' fighting in Gaza's Jabalia since October

JERUSALEM: The Israeli army told AFP on Friday that renewed fighting in Gaza's northern town of Jabalia was perhaps the fiercest in over seven months of war. The army had said in early January that it had completed the dismantling of Hamas's military framework in the northern Gaza Strip and vowed to focus its war efforts on central and southern areas of the Palestinian territory. But intense fighting resumed less than a week ago in Jabalia, the second-most populous town in northern Gaza. Hamas was in complete control here in Jabalia until we arrived a few days ago, the Israeli army told AFP on Friday, four months after its spokesman Daniel Hagari claimed that militants were operating in the area only sporadically and without commanders. The current fighting in Jabalia is perhaps the fiercest we have encountered in this area since the start of the offensive in the Gaza Strip, the army said, adding that it was now operating in the town's refugee camp. Before the war, Jabalia was home to the largest refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, with more than 100,000 people packed into 1.4 square kilometres (0.5 square miles), according to the UN. The army said it had killed around 200 militants since the resumption of fighting in Jabalia on Sunday. Images provided by the Israeli army showed soldiers moving through a maze of heavily damaged and deserted buildings. Intense fighting, accompanied by shelling, also resumed at the beginning of May in the Zeitun neighbourhood in the southwest of Gaza City, also in the north of the Palestinian territory. Until recently, Israel claimed that the last four Hamas battalions were hiding out in Gaza's far-southern city of Rafah, on the Egyptian border. On May 7, the Israeli army sent tanks and troops into eastern Rafah, vowing to wipe out the militant group. Israel says South Africa 'genocide' case 'totally divorced' from facts According to Israeli military sources quoted in several media outlets, Hamas had about 30,000 fighters in the Gaza Strip, divided into 24 battalions before October 7. The Hamas attack on October 7 resulted in the death of more than 1,170 people in Israel, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures More than 35,303 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the war broke out, according to data provided by the health ministry of Hamas-run Gaza.

New Netherlands coalition plans to move embassy in Israel to Jerusalem

Amsterdam: The future right-wing coalition in the Netherlands on Thursday announced a radical change of course, including a crackdown on immigration as well as controversial plans to move the countrys embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The coalition agreement, which right-wing populist Geert Wilders presented together with three other right-wing parties in The Get the latest updates in Hyderabad City News , Technology , Entertainment , Sports , Politics and Top Stories on WhatsApp & Telegram by subscribing to our channels. You can also download our app for Android and iOS .

Arjun Erigaisi loses to Nikolas Theodorou in Sharjah Masters chess

Arjun Erigaisi loses to Nikolas Theodorou in Sharjah Masters chess Indian Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi was stunned by Nikolas Theodorou of Greece in the second round of Sharjah Masters chess tournament here. Erigaisi, however, bounced back to register a victory over Nikolzi Kacherava of Switzerland in the third round that puts back his status as world number eight in live ratings. It was not an easy day for the Indian contingent. Aravindh Chithambaram was the pick of the lot as he carved out an exceptional victory with white pieces. The two-time national champion, who is based in Chennai, got the better of Muradli Mahammad of Azerbaijan to be the only Indian in the leading group. Important and Indian results after Round 2: Nikolas Theodorou (GRE, 2) beat Arjun Erigaisi (1); Vasly Ivanchuk (UKR, 1) lost to Arjun Tabatabaei (IRI, 2); Temur Kuybokarov (AUS) lost to Vladimir Fedoseev (2); Hans Moke Niemann (USA, 2) Jahongir Vakhidov (IZB, 1); Muradli Mahammad (AZE, 1) lost to Aravindh Chithambaram (2); Marcin Krzyzanowski (POL, 2) beat Abhimanyu Mishra (USA, 1); Volodar Murzin (FID, 2) beat P Iniyan (1); Salem A R Saleh (UAE, 2) beat Shreyas Royal (ENG, 1); Parham Maghsoodloo, Parham (IRI, 1.5) beat S P Sethuraman; Denis Kadric (MNE, 1) drew with S L Narayanan (1); Nihal Sarin (1) drew with Mikheil Mchedlishvili (GEO, 1); B Adhiban (1) drew with Raunak Sadhwani (1); Shant Sargsyan (ATM, 0.5) lost to Sankalp Gupta (1.5); David Gavrilescu (ROU. 0.5) lost to Abhimanyu Puranik (1.5); Maurizzi Marcandria (FRA, 1) drew with D Harika (1); BIbisara Assaubayeva (KAZ, 0.5) lost to Aditya Mittal (1.5); Madaminov Mukhiddin (UZB, 1) drew with Abhijeet Gupta (1); Deac Bogdan-Daniel (ROU, 1) beat Bharath, Subramaniyam (0)); Yilmaz Mustafa (TUR, 0.5) drew with Pranav Anand (0.5); Raja Rithvik (0.5) drew with Leon Luke Menodonca (0.5); Eltaj Safarl (AZE, 1) beat Aditya Samant (0); V Pranav beat Alsiher Suleymenov (UZB).

One killed, two injured in blast at fireworks unit in Salem

Smuggling weapons to target the monarchy in Jordan.. Iran is in the crosshairs of accusations

Jordan king warns of red lines in Jerusalem as Israels new right-wing government takes office [Video screengrab/CNN] data-medium-file=https://cf-ent-cdn.easternherald.com/cdn-cgi/imagedelivery/-CGPfOWoVHcRcTbwHaRGUQ/easternherald.com/2024/05/jordan-king-abdullah.jpg/w=800,h=450 data-large-file=https://cf-ent-cdn.easternherald.com/cdn-cgi/imagedelivery/-CGPfOWoVHcRcTbwHaRGUQ/easternherald.com/2024/05/jordan-king-abdullah.jpg/w=800,h=450 /> When an official source revealed the thwarting of an attempt to smuggle weapons into Jordan last March, fingers were immediately pointed towards Iran and the militias it supports, although the officialnewspublished by the Jordanian News Agency, Petra, did not specify the country. Reuters quoted two unnamed sources as saying that the foiled plot was suspected []

Worker Killed, Several Injured In Explosion At Fireworks Unit In Tamil Nadu

A 45-year-old worker was killed in an explosion at a firecracker manufacturing unit in Salem district on Thursday, and a number of others were injured.

Explosion at firework unit kills one in Salem

Three, including couple, die of electrocution in Salem and Namakkal

Heavy to very heavy rain likely to pour in several districts of Tamil Nadu till May 20

CHENNAI: The regional meteorological centre on Thursday said that heavy to very heavy rain is likely to occur at isolated places in Kanniyakumari, Tirunelveli and Tenkasi districts till May 19. It also gave the same forecast for Thoothukudi and Theni on Friday; Theni, Coimbatore and The Nilgiris on Saturday and Sunday, and Dindigul on Sunday. The centre also added that isolated heavy to very heavy rain with extremely heavy rain at one or two places is likely to occur over the Ghat areas of Coimbatore, Nilgiris, Dindigul, and Theni, districts. Kanniyakumari, Tirunelveli and Tenkasi on May 20. According to the forecast, heavy rain is likely to occur at isolated places over Virudhunagar, Madurai, Pudukkottai, Tiruvarur, Thanjavur, Nagapattinam, Mayiladuthurai, Tiruppur, and Erode districts and Karaikal area. It is also likely to rain in Sivaganga, Ramanathapuram, Dindigul, Coimbatore, the Nilgiris on Friday, Tiruchirappalli, Karur, Namakkal, Salem, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Tirupattur, Thoothukudi, Ramanathapuram, Sivaganga, Dindigul on Saturday and Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Salem, Tiruchirappalli, Namakkal and Karur on Sunday. A father-daughter duo holds an umbrella while travelling on two-wheeler in Pondicherry on Thursday. As far as the general forecast, it said that light to moderate rain at many places with thunderstorms, lightning and gusty winds with speeds reaching 40-50 kmph at one or two places is likely to occur over Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal area till May 20. The maximum temperature is likely to fall gradually by 3-4C at many places for the next five days and it will be below normal to normal in most parts. In Chennai, the maximum temperature is likely to be around 29C and the minimum temperature is likely to be 26-27C on Friday. While sky conditions will be cloudy, moderate rain with thunderstorms and lightning is likely to occur in some areas. In the 24 hours ending on Thursday morning, Pattukkottai in Thanjavur district registered the highest of 16 cm of rain, Singampunari in Sivagangai district 14 cm and Mannargudi in Thiruvarur 13 cm. Chennai and suburban areas also received widespread rains on Thursday.

A Palestinian converted to Judaism. An Israeli soldier saw him as a threat and opened fire

A Palestinian converted to Judaism. An Israeli soldier saw him as a threat and opened fire At first, it seemed like the kind of shooting that has become all too common in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. A Palestinian aroused suspicions and an Israeli soldier killed him. But then the deceased was identified as David Ben-Avraham, a Palestinian who had made the almost unheard-of decision to convert from Islam to Judaism years earlier. His unusual journey had taken him across some of the deepest fault lines in the Middle East and led to some unlikely friendships. Most Palestinians saw him as an eccentric outcast, while many Israelis treated him as an unwelcome convert to a religion that doesn't proselytize. But in his final moments, he was once again viewed as a Palestinian who was in the wrong place, at a time of widespread anger and suspicion. A DIVIDED CITY He was born Sameh Zeitoun in Hebron, home to some 2,00,000 Palestinians as well as hundreds of Jewish settlers who live in enclaves guarded by Israeli troops. Tensions have run high for decades, often spilling over into violence. Rights groups have long accused Hebron's settlers of harassing Palestinian residents, and Palestinians have committed a number of stabbing and shooting attacks against Israelis over the years. At its most extreme, the bitter neighbors live just a few meters apart. In some narrow alleys of Hebron's Old City, metal netting protects Palestinian shoppers from objects thrown by settlers living on the upper floors. Zeitoun first made contact with Jewish settlers over a decade ago, asking for help converting to Judaism, according to Noam Arnon, a Jewish settler in Hebron who went on to befriend him. He said Zeitoun was inspired by family stories about his grandfather protecting Jews when riots erupted in 1929, when the Holy Land was under British colonial rule. Palestinians killed dozens of Jewish residents in the city. He went further, not only to live as a good neighbor but to join the Jewish community, Arnon recounted. A RARE CONVERSION Conversion to other faiths is deeply frowned upon in Islam. In much of the Muslim world, those who do so are cast out of their communities, sometimes violently. Judaism, unlike Islam and Christianity, has no tradition of proselytization. Such a conversion is even more fraught in Israel and the Palestinian territories, where religion and nationality usually overlap in a decades-old conflict. Judaism is the faith of most of the soldiers who patrol the territory and the settlers whom Palestinians see as hostile colonizers. Arnon said most of the settlers from Hebron's tight-knit community refused to accept Ben-Avraham. Only Arnon and a few others interacted with him, helping with his conversion application papers. Religious conversions are rare but legal in areas administered by the semi-autonomous Palestinian Authority. Most are undertaken by Palestinian Christians converting to Islam for marriage. In Israel, converting to Judaism requires an application to the government-run Conversion Authority. Ben-Avraham submitted two requests in 2018 but did not meet the requirements, according to a government official who was not authorized to speak with media and spoke on condition of anonymity. With that pathway closed, Ben Avraham turned to Israel's insular ultra-Orthodox community and eventually made his conversion official in 2020, according to documents published online. AN ARREST In the year before his conversion, Ben-Avraham was detained by the Palestinian Authority's intelligence unit in Hebron, according to Arnon and a local Palestinian activist, Issa Amro. The reason for his arrest was never publicly disclosed, but they believe his conversion and open connections with Israelis attracted unwanted attention. Palestinians can face arrest or even death if they're seen as collaborating with Israeli authorities. But few would have suspected Ben-Avraham of being an informant because his story was widely known. Ben-Avraham told the Israeli news site Times of Israel that he was held for two months in solitary confinement and beaten before being released. Around that time, a video emerged showing him holding what appears to be a Quran and pledging his Muslim faith. Arnon and Amro said his statement was likely made under duress during detention. The PA's prosecution office said it had no information about his case. After his release, Ben-Avraham moved in with Haim Parag, a Jewish friend who lived in Jerusalem. He returned to Hebron infrequently because of safety concerns and continued his Jewish studies. Parag said the pair regularly prayed together at a nearby synagogue. He was like a son to me, he said. Parag also said he met Ben-Avraham's wife and some of his children, and that several close family members maintained a relationship with him even after his conversion. The Zeitoun family declined to speak with The Associated Press, fearing reprisal. In the end, Ben-Avraham left little public record of what drove his personal convictions. A DEADLY SHOOTING Ben-Avraham was waiting outside a West Bank settlement for an Israeli bus to take him to Parag's apartment March 19 when he got into an argument in Hebrew with an Israeli soldier. Across the West Bank, Jewish settlers live apart from Palestinians in guarded settlements where they're subject to different laws. Palestinians are generally barred from entering settlements unless they have work permits. Are you Jewish? the soldier shouts in a video that circulated online and appears to have been shot by his body camera. Of course, Ben Avraham answers. What's your name? the soldier says. David. he replies. David? the soldier says. Ben-Avraham, stupid. The soldier then orders Ben-Avraham to step away from his bag on the ground and raise his hands in the air, before saying sarcastically, Jewish. A second video, apparently taken from a nearby security camera, appears to show two soldiers shooting Ben-Avraham from a close distance as he keels over backward onto the sidewalk. The army said a small knife was found in Ben Avraham's bag after the shooting. Parag said he gave him the knife for self-defense. The Israeli army said it's investigating the shooting, but rights groups say soldiers are rarely held accountable in such situations. Israeli forces have been on high alert as the West Bank has seen a surge of violence linked to the war in Gaza. Nearly 500 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the war's start, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Many have been shot dead in armed clashes during military raids, others for throwing stones at troops, and some who were posing no apparent threat. Palestinians have also carried out several stabbing and other attacks against Israelis. Arnon said the shooting was a tragic misunderstanding. Parag, Ben-Avraham's friend in Jerusalem, accused the soldiers of racial profiling, saying they saw Ben-Avraham for his background and not his unexpected beliefs. A FUNERAL Even in death, Ben-Avraham's identity was contested. Parag and another Israeli friend asked an Israeli court for the body to buried him at a Jewish cemetery, filing a petition against members of the Zeitoun family who wanted a Muslim funeral. Bezalel Hochman, a lawyer representing the two Israelis, said the Tel Aviv family court ruled in their favor. After his death caused a public outcry, the Interior Ministry granted him Israeli residency, saying it wanted to fulfill the will and desire of the deceased to be part of the nation of Israel. Ben Avraham was buried in April in a Jewish cemetery on the foothills of Mount Gerizim, near the Palestinian city of Nablus, Parag said. The hilltop is sacred for Samaritans a small, ancient religious minority that straddles the Palestinian-Israeli divide, just like Ben-Avraham. No one from the Zeitoun family attended the funeral, said Parag, who's designing his friend's gravestone. He said it will read: David Ben-Avraham Zeitoun Parag. The Holy Jew.

Israels Defence Minister says he would oppose Israeli rule in post-war Gaza

Jerusalem : Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has said that he would oppose the establishment...

Govt officials must follow safety measures during temple festivals to avert untoward incidents: Madras HC

CHENNAI: The guidelines framed by the government on safety measures must be followed by all officers of the departments concerned during temple festivals to avert untoward incidents, the Madras High Court said in a recent order. The first bench, consisting of Chief Justice S V Gangapurwala and Justice J Sathya Narayana Prasad, said, Naturally, guidelines which are framed by the government have to be adhered to by all the officers concerned and precautionary measures are also to be undertaken to avoid untoward incidents. It added that the mandate issued by the government pursuant to the guidelines has to be applied and followed. The order was passed on a petition filed by temple activist A Radhakrishnan of Salem. He filed the petition following the death of a person after the Pennagaram Kaliamman temple car toppled during a festival in 2022. The petitioner sought appropriate orders to the government on the precautionary and safety measures to be followed during festivals.

Palestinians across the Middle East mark their original 'catastrophe' with eyes on the war in Gaza

JERUSALEM: Palestinians across the Middle East on Wednesday are marking the anniversary of their mass expulsion from what is now Israel with protests and other events across the region at a time of mounting concern over the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. The Nakba, Arabic for catastrophe, refers to the 700,000 Palestinians who fled or were driven out of what today is Israel before and during the war surrounding its creation in 1948. More than twice that number have been displaced within Gaza since the start of the latest war , which was triggered by Hamas' Oct. 7 attack into Israel. U.N. agencies say 550,000 people, nearly a quarter of Gaza's 2.3 million people, have been newly displaced in just the last week, as Israeli forces have pushed into the southern city of Rafah, along the border with Egypt, and reinvaded parts of northern Gaza. We lived through the Nakba not just once, but several times, said Umm Shadi Sheikh Khalil, who was displaced from Gaza City and now lives in a tent in the central Gaza town of Deir al-Balah. The refugees and their descendants number some 6 million and live in built-up refugee camps in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and the Israeli-occupied West Bank. In Gaza, they are the majority of the population, with most families having relocated from what is now central and southern Israel. Israel rejects what the Palestinians say is their right of return, because if it was fully implemented, it would likely result in a Palestinian majority within Israel's borders. UN says its aid convoy was attacked by Israel despite being marked and announced in advance Painful memories The refugee camps in Gaza have seen some of the heaviest fighting of the war. In other camps across the region, the fighting has revived painful memories from earlier rounds of violence in a decades-old conflict with no end in sight. At a center for elderly residents of the Shatila refugee camp in Beirut, Amina Taher recalled the day her familys house in the village of Deir al-Qassi, in today's northern Israel, collapsed over their heads after being shelled by Israeli forces in 1948. The house was next to a school that was being used as a base by Palestinian fighters, she said. Taher, then 3 years old, was pulled from the rubble unharmed, but her 1-year-old sister was killed. Now she has seen the same scenes play out in news coverage of Gaza. When I would watch the news, I had a mental breakdown because then I remembered when the house fell on me, she said. What harm did these children do to get killed like this? Daoud Nasser, also now living in Shatila, was 6 years old when his family fled from the village of Balad al-Sheikh, near Haifa. His father tried to return to their village in the early years after 1948, when the border was relatively porous, but found a Jewish family living in their house, he said. Nasser said he would attempt the same journey if the border were not so heavily guarded. I would run. Im ready to walk from here to there and sleep under the olive trees on my own land, he said. More than half a million people flee Israel's military operations in Rafah and northern Gaza, UN says No end to war The latest war began with Hamas' rampage across southern Israel , through some of the same areas where Palestinians fled from their villages 75 years earlier. Palestinian militants killed some 1.200 people that day, mostly civilians, and took another 250 hostage. Israel responded with one of the heaviest military onslaughts in recent history, obliterating entire neighborhoods in Gaza and forcing some 80% of the population to flee their homes. Gaza's Health Ministry says over 35,000 Palestinians have been killed, without distinguishing between civilians and combatants in its count. The U.N. says there is widespread hunger and that northern Gaza is in afull-blown famine. Israel says its goal is to dismantle Hamas and return the estimated 100 hostages, and the remains of more than 30 others, still held by the group after it released most of the rest during a cease-fire last year. Israeli troops pushed into Rafah last week. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has portrayed the city on Gaza's southern border with Egypt as Hamas' last stronghold, promising victory. But the militants have regrouped elsewhere in Gaza, even in some of the hardest-hit areas, raising the prospect of a prolonged insurgency. The fighting in Rafah has made the nearby Kerem Shalom crossing Gaza's main cargo terminal mostly inaccessible from the Palestinian side. Israel's capture of the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing with Egypt has forced it to shut down and sparked a crisis of relations with the Arab country. Aid groups says the loss of the two crossings has crippled efforts to provide humanitarian aid as needs mount. In a statement on Tuesday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry accused Israel distorting the facts and condemned its desperate attempts to blame Egypt for the continued closure of the crossing. Egyptian officials have said the Rafah operation threatens the two countriesdecades-old peace treaty. Shoukry was responding to remarks by Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz, who said there was a need to persuade Egypt to reopen the Rafah crossing to allow the continued delivery of international humanitarian aid to Gaza. Egypt has played a key role in months of mediation efforts aimed at brokering a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas and the release of hostages. The latest round of talks ended last week without a breakthrough.

Intense rain likely in TN till May 18

CHENNAI: The maximum temperature in most parts of the state has remained below normal due to ongoing wet spell which has been bringing heavy rain. The regional meteorological centre has extended heavy rainfall warning in several districts till May 18. In the last 24 hours ending 8.30 am on Tuesday, Makkinampatti in Coimbatore received highest rainfall of 8 cm followed by Pollachi and Thoothukudi port weather stations at 7 cm. Several other weather stations in Virudhunagar, Dindigul, Theni, Nilgiris, Kanniyakumari and Tiruppur received heavy to moderate rainfall. The met office said there will be rainfall till May 20, but heavy showers are forecasted till May 18. Around 15 to 20 districts will receive heavy rain from May 16 to 18. The Nilgiris, ghat areas of Coimbatore, Salem, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Tirupattur, Dindigul, Namakkal, Karur, Tiruchy, Madurai, Sivaganga, Virudhunagar, Tiruvarur, Thanjavur, Nagapattinam, Mayiladuthurai, Pudukkottai, Theni,Tenkasi, Tirunelveli and Kanniyakumari districts and Karaikal area. In Chennai, sky will be partly cloudy with the possibility of light rain. Maximum temperature will be 36-37 C and the night time temperature will be around 28-29 for the next two days.

1 killed, 5 wounded in Hezbollah missile attack on Israel

Jerusalem: An Israeli civilian was killed and five soldiers were wounded in an anti-tank guided missile attack launched by the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and media. Throughout Tuesday, several anti-tank missile launches were identified from Lebanon toward the area of Adamit in western Galilee, northern Israel, and an Get the latest updates in Hyderabad City News , Technology , Entertainment , Sports , Politics and Top Stories on WhatsApp & Telegram by subscribing to our channels. You can also download our app for Android and iOS .

Gang attacks forest officials in Salem district

Settlers storm Al-Aqsa mosque, raise Israeli flag on compound

Israeli Jewish settlers raised the Israeli flag while storming into the Al Aqsa Mosque complex in the occupied East Jerusalem, Al Jazeera reported. According to the reports, following calls by extremist Israeli groups, Jewish settlers on Tuesday stormed into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, Islams third holiest site, during which one Israeli settler waved Israeli flag Get the latest updates in Hyderabad City News , Technology , Entertainment , Sports , Politics and Top Stories on WhatsApp & Telegram by subscribing to our channels. You can also download our app for Android and iOS .

Salem registers 91.30% and Namakkal 92.58% pass percentage in Class XI exams

Israel-India to deepen ties for greater prosperity: Israel FM

JERUSALEM, May 14: Israel and India will continue to deepen their bilateral ties and lead to greater prosperity, Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday. Katz was responding to Indias External Affairs Minister S Jaishankars message on the occasion of Israels 76th Independence Day. Thank you for the warm wishes, FM @DrSJaishankar. In celebration of our Independence Day, Israel and India will continue to deepen our ties and lead to greater prosperity, Katz said in a post on X. Earlier [] The post Israel-India to deepen ties for greater prosperity: Israel FM appeared first on Daily Excelsior .

Palestinians mark 76 years of dispossession as a potentially even larger catastrophe unfolds in Gaza

JERUSALEM: Palestinians on Wednesday will mark the 76th year of their mass expulsion from what is now Israel, an event that is at the core of their national struggle. But in many ways, that experience pales in comparison to the calamity now unfolding in Gaza. Palestinians refer to it as the Nakba, Arabic for catastrophe. Some 700,000 Palestinians a majority of the prewar population fled or were driven from their homes before and during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war that followed Israel's establishment. After the war, Israel refused to allow them to return because it would have resulted in a Palestinian majority within its borders. Instead, they became a seemingly permanent refugee community that now numbers some 6 million, with most living in slum-like urban refugee camps in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and the Israeli-occupied West Bank. In Gaza, the refugees and their descendants make up around three-quarters of the population. Israel's rejection of what Palestinians say is their right of return has been a core grievance in the conflict and was one of the thorniest issues in peace talks that last collapsed 15 years ago. The refugee camps have always been the main bastions of Palestinian militancy. Now, many Palestinians fear a repeat of their painful history on an even more cataclysmic scale. Slovenia launches Palestine recognition procedure All across Gaza, Palestinians in recent days have been loading up cars and donkey carts or setting out on foot to already overcrowded tent camps as Israel expands its offensive. The images from several rounds of mass evacuations throughout the seven-month war are strikingly similar to black-and-white photographs from 1948. Mustafa al-Gazzar, now 81, still recalls his family's monthslong flight from their village in what is now central Israel to the southern city of Rafah, when he was 5. At one point they were bombed from the air, at another, they dug holes under a tree to sleep in for warmth. Al-Gazzar, now a great-grandfather, was forced to flee again over the weekend, this time to a tent in Muwasi, a barren coastal area where some 450,000 Palestinians live in a squalid camp. He says the conditions are worse than in 1948, when the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees was able to regularly provide food and other essentials. My hope in 1948 was to return, but my hope today is to survive, he said. I live in such fear, he added, breaking into tears. I cannot provide for my children and grandchildren. The war in Gaza, which was triggered by Hamas' Oct. 7 attack into Israel, has killed over 35,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, making it by far the deadliest round of fighting in the history of the conflict. The initial Hamas attack killed some 1,200 Israelis. The war has forced some 1.7 million Palestinians around three quarters of the territory's population to flee their homes, often multiple times. That is well over twice the number that fled before and during the 1948 war. US vetoes widely supported resolution backing full UN membership for Palestine Israel has sealed its border. Egypt has only allowed a small number of Palestinians to leave, in part because it fears a mass influx of Palestinians could generate another long-term refugee crisis. The international community is strongly opposed to any mass expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza an idea embraced by far-right members of the Israeli government, who refer to it as voluntary emigration. Israel has long called for the refugees of 1948 to be absorbed into host countries, saying that calls for their return are unrealistic and would endanger its existence as a Jewish-majority state. It points to the hundreds of thousands of Jews who came to Israel from Arab countries during the turmoil following its establishment, though few of them want to return. Even if Palestinians are not expelled from Gaza en masse, many fear that they will never be able to return to their homes or that the destruction wreaked on the territory will make it impossible to live there. A recent U.N. estimate said it would take until 2040 to rebuild destroyed homes. The Jewish militias in the 1948 war with the armies of neighboring Arab nations were mainly armed with lighter weapons like rifles, machine guns and mortars. Hundreds of depopulated Palestinian villages were demolished after the war, while Israelis moved into Palestinian homes in Jerusalem, Jaffa and other cities. In Gaza, Israel has unleashed one of the deadliest and most destructive military campaigns in recent history, at times dropping 2,000-pound (900-kilogram) bombs on dense, residential areas. Entire neighborhoods have been reduced to wastelands of rubble and plowed-up roads, many littered with unexploded bombs. The World Bank estimates that $18.5 billion in damage has been inflicted on Gaza, roughly equivalent to the gross domestic product of the entire Palestinian territories in 2022. And that was in January, in the early days of Israels devastating ground operations in Khan Younis and before it went into Rafah. Yara Asi, a Palestinian assistant professor at the University of Central Florida who has done research on the damage to civilian infrastructure in the war, says it's extremely difficult to imagine the kind of international effort that would be necessary to rebuild Gaza. Even before the war, many Palestinians spoke of an ongoing Nakba, in which Israel gradually forces them out of Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories it captured during the 1967 war that the Palestinians want for a future state. They point to home demolitions, settlement construction and other discriminatory policies that long predate the war, and which major rights groups say amount to apartheid, allegations Israel denies. Asi and others fear that if another genuine Nakba occurs, it will be in the form of a gradual departure. It wont be called forcible displacement in some cases. It will be called emigration, it will be called something else, Asi said. But in essence, it is people who wish to stay, who have done everything in their power to stay for generations in impossible conditions, finally reaching a point where life is just not livable. 'Palestinians have been denied their homeland': EAM Jaishankar on Israel-Palestine conflict

No nod from Tamil Nadu governor to prosecute state BJP chief: Raj Bhavan

CHENNAI: In the wake of news reports that the government had issued an order according to sanction to prosecute state BJP president K Annamalai for an alleged speech promoting disharmony, Raj Bhavan issued a clarification on Monday saying that it is not aware of the criminal case against Annamalai and it had not issued any sanction order. Raj Bhavan said it was clarified after anxious inquiries from the public regarding the issue. The clarification came in the backdrop of some people interpreting the wordings By order of the governor and the governor of Tamil Nadu hereby accords sanction mentioned in the GO to mean that the sanction to prosecute was accorded by the governor. Official sources said such wordings are customarily mentioned as per the Secretariat Office Manual and the Tamil Nadu Government Business Rules since the governor is the executive head of the state and they do not necessarily mean that all such orders are issued after obtaining approvals from the Raj Bhavan. The GO, in this case, was issued by the state government based on a complaint filed by activist V Piyush before Salem collector regarding an alleged factually incorrect speech made by Annamalai in September 2023 with reference to a 1956 incident involving late leaders CN Annadurai, PT Rajan, Muthuramalinga Thevar.

Not so pulpy mango business

KRISHNAGIRI: In Kondireddipatti, a hamlet not too far away from Krishnagiri, the fragrance of mango fills the hot air. But the usual chitter chatter is missing on the nine-acre mango orchard owned by KM Soundararajan. Like many other farmers, he also managed to harvest only half of last years production. In 2023, I had managed to produce over 23 tonnes of mangoes, though 50% was affected by disease. This year, we have had a harvest of about six tonnes until now, and at most, we can expect six more tonnes by the end of the season, says Soundararajan, who is also president of Mango Farmers Federation. The drastic drop in yield has led to a significant reduction in procurement by mango mandi owners, who supply fruits to the pulp industry. VI Mabhu Sheriff, a trader, confirms the fall. Last year, we procured 50 to 60 tonnes every day, which has now shrunk to 2-3 tonnes. Usually, we also procure only smaller quantities of mangoes from other states. It has gone up significantly this year owing to the situation in Krishnagiri. Apart from Krishnagiri, mangoes are also cultivated in Salem, Dharmapuri, Theni and Madurai. On average, a farmer spends Rs 40,000 per acre on irrigated land and Rs 30,000 on rain-fed areas. Of the total coverage of 32,300 hectares in Krishnagiri district, 3,000 hectares are irrigated and the rest are rain-fed. If pests played spoilsport last year, harsh climatic conditions have done the damage this year. Soundararajan adds, Usually, a mango tree flowers by December and January. Flowers shrivelled due to the intense heat this year and lack of sufficient rain in the early part of 2024 worsened the situation. The government should provide a compensation of Rs 20,000 per acre for mango farmers and provide an incentive of Rs 5 for every kg produced. With production taking a major dip, farmers are worried that the total annual yield will not help them recover even pesticide costs. A Abdul Rasheed of MTV Nagar in Krishnagiri cultivates Malgova, Alphonso and Senthora varieties on his 70-acre farm. The yield stood at 140 tonnes in 2022 and 160 last year. This year, I could harvest only five tonnes so far. I don't see total yield going higher than 15 tonnes, says Rasheed. Apart from climatic conditions, the export of mango pulp has taken a big hit owing to the Ukraine-Russia war and the Red Sea crisis. Export to Europe and various other countries stood at Rs 2,700 crore in 2023. Industry sources say the markets have been captured by exporters from South America. E Madhavan, general secretary, of Krishnagiri Mango pulp Processors Federation, says, Over one lakh tonnes of pulp (Totapuri variety) produced last year has been left unsold. In 2023, we procured about 9 lakh tonnes of mangoes and produced about 4.5 tonnes of pulp. Over 3 lakh tonnes of our procurement came from Krishnagiri. In 2022, we procured 5 lakh tonnes out of which one lakh tonne was from Krishnagiri. This year, we could procure only 500 tonnes so far. Madhavan wanted the state government to waive the demand charge for electricity incurred by the large pulp industry for using high-tension power as the pulp industry functions only three months a year. He also wanted interest to be waived for last year's loan. Concurring with the farmers, Krishnagiri Collector KM Sarayu says a recent survey by the horticulture department in the district shows a dip in yield with over 80% of crops being affected by climatic conditions. A report has been sent to the state government, she adds. Frost in December 2023 followed by intense summer heat this year, coupled with pest attacks, has also taken a toll on cultivation in Dharmapuri. Coverage in the district is 12,600 hectares and 1.4 lakh tonnes of mangoes are produced every year. K Perumal, a mango cultivator from Karimangalam, says farmers like him are staring at a loss of over 80% this year. Some of the farmers rue that yield has hit an all-time low in the last two decades. J Srinivasan, farmer-cum-retailer in Salem, says, Last year, we used to receive 100 tonnes of mangoes in the market every day, which has come down to 60 this year, which is a very significant dip. S Marimuthu, who owns a 60-acre farm in Konganapuram, laments that he is grappling with a huge loss, unable to recover any of his investments. (With inputs from Jevin Selwyn Henry and K Shakthivel) Mango variety price (Rs per kg) Senthura 80 Salem Bangalora 250 Malgova 240 Alphonso - 150 Banganapalli - 120 Totapuri - 13- 20 ( primarily used by pulp industry)

WRAPUP 6-Israeli forces press Gaza offensive from north and south

WRAPUP 6-Israeli forces press Gaza offensive from north and south Israeli forces pushed deep into the ruins of Gaza's northern edge on Monday to recapture an area from Hamas fighters, while in the south tanks and troops pushed across a highway into Rafah, leaving Palestinian civilians scrambling to find safety. Some of the most intense fighting for weeks is raging in both the north and south. Israeli operations in Rafah, which borders Egypt, have closed a main crossing point for aid, which humanitarian groups say is worsening an already dire situation. Hundreds of thousands of people are being forced to flee again after around half of Gaza's population took sanctuary there after Israel ordered evacuations from northern Gaza in October. Gaza's health authority appealed for international pressure to reopen access via the southern border to allow in aid, medical supplies and fuel to power generators and ambulances. The wounded and sick suffer a slow death because there is no treatment and supplies and they cannot travel, it said. A foreign U.N. staff member was killed on Monday when a vehicle travelling to a hospital in Rafah was struck - the first international U.N. casualty in the Gaza war, a U.N. spokesperson said. In northern Gaza's Jabalia, a sprawling refugee camp built for displaced Palestinians 75 years ago, Israeli forces pushed into an area where they claimed to have dismantled Hamas months ago. Residents fled along rubble-strewn streets carrying bags of belongings. Tank shells landed in the centre of the camp and health officials said they had recovered 20 bodies from overnight airstrikes. We don't know where to go. We have been displaced from one place to the next... We are running in the streets. I saw it with my own eyes. I saw the tank and the bulldozer. It is on that street, said one woman, who did not give her name. The Palestinian death toll in the war has now surpassed 35,000, with 57 killed in the past 24 hours, according to Gaza health officials, whose figures do not differentiate between civilians and fighters. Israeli troops are seeking to wipe out Hamas, which has said it is committed to Israel's destruction. The militant group burst into Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 and taking more than 250 hostages, by Israeli tallies. Hamas' armed wing said because of Israeli bombardments it had lost contact with militants guarding four Israeli hostages, including U.S.-Israeli citizen Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who appeared in a video released by Hamas in late April. Attending a Memorial Day ceremony to mark Israel's fallen soldiers in Jerusalem on Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the war against Hamas was a struggle to secure Israel's existence, liberty, security and prosperity. Our war of independence is not over yet, he said. In Rafah, Israel stepped up aerial and ground bombardments on the eastern areas of the city, killing people in an airstrike on a house in the Brazil neighbourhood. Residents said Israeli air and ground bombardments were intensifying and tanks had cut off the main north-south Salahuddin road dividing east of the city from the central area. The tanks cut the Salahuddin road east of the city, the forces are now in the southeast side, building up near the built-up area. The situation is dreadful and the sounds of explosions never stopped, said Bassam, 57, from the Shaboura neighbourhood in Rafah. People continue to leave Rafah ... no place looks safe now and people do not want to escape at the last minute, he told Reuters via a chat app. RAFAH ASSAULT SPLITS U.S. AND ISRAEL UNRWA, the main U.N. aid agency in Gaza, estimated that about 360,000 people had fled the southern city since the Israeli military gave its first evacuation order a week ago. They are moving to empty tracts of land, including Al-Mawasi, a small strip of land along the coast, designated as an expanded humanitarian area by Israel. But Shaina Low of the Norwegian Refugee Council aid agency said it was not set up to receive uprooted families. (There's) no space to install latrines or water points. There are huge piles of solid waste. My colleague spoke about seeing donkey carcasses on top of trash, so there are all sorts of health concerns, Low said. The assault on Rafah has caused one of the biggest splits in decades between Israel and its main ally the United States, which paused some deliveries of weapons for the first time since the war began. U.S. President Joe Biden, who is running for reelection this year, has faced heavy criticism from his own supporters domestically for his support of Israel. Some of those critics have accused Israel of committing genocide, a claim dismissed by the White House and Israel. We do not believe what is happening in Gaza is a genocide, U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters. Washington says Israel must not assault Rafah without a plan to protect civilians, which it has yet to see. Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant's office said on Monday he had briefed U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the precise operation in the Rafah area. In a sign that U.S. concerns persist, the State Department said Blinken spoke with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry on Monday and reaffirmed that Washington does not support a major military ground operation by Israel in Rafah. Hamas' armed wing said its fighters were engaged in gun battles with Israeli forces in one of the streets east of Rafah, and in the east of Jabalia. In Israel, the military sounded sirens several times in areas near Gaza, warning of potential Palestinian cross-border rocket and or mortar launches. Israeli protesters blocked aid trucks headed for Gaza, strewing food packages on the road at Tarqumiya checkpoint, west of Hebron in the Israeli occupied West Bank. Hamas and the armed wing of Islamic Jihad said in a joint statement that they fired mortar bombs against Israeli forces massing inside the Rafah crossing, which Israel captured last week.

Israel holds toned down Independence Day celebrations as Gaza war rages

Israel holds toned down Independence Day celebrations as Gaza war rages Israel began toned down Independence Day celebrations at sundown on Monday, with hopes for an end to the seven-month-old Gaza war dim, anti-government protests growing and internal divisions festering. As the country marks its 76th year, firework displays were cancelled and the traditional torch-lighting ceremony at the Jerusalem national cemetery will be taped for TV audiences instead of livestreamed. Opposition lawmakers blasted the move as an attempt at stifling protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has come under attack at live events from hecklers furious about his failure to bring home the 128 hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza. Simon Davidson, from the centrist Yesh Atid party, posted a video on the social media platform X, accusing Netanyahu's Transport Minister Miri Regev - responsible for organising the torch-lighting ceremony - of bypassing Israel's parliament, the Knesset, and using the event for political objectives. They don't give a damn about the Israeli Knesset, and that means they don't give a damn about Israeli citizens, he said on the video. They are doing a staged ceremony filled with everything they want to introduce politically and present to the country. No audience, no live broadcast, no committee that cares about this ceremony. The war began when the Gaza-based Palestinian militant group Hamas burst into border communities in southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostage, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, a further 273 Israeli soldiers have died, mostly in an assault on Gaza that Palestinian medics say has killed more than 35,000 people. Although this is not a regular Independence Day, it is a special opportunity for us to realize the significance of our independence, Netanyahu said in comments pre-recorded for TV audiences. Much public anger in Israel has focussed on the government of Netanyahu, a veteran conservative who continues to promote himself as guarantor of national security and who has stopped short of taking personal responsibility for the Oct. 7 attacks. Protests calling for Netanyahu and his government to resign and for a deal to bring back the hostages are gathering steam in Israel. A large anti-government protest, billed as an alternate Independence Day event and underscoring the country's deep political divide, was held Monday evening in Tel Aviv. This year, Independence Day is not a holiday, and it's certainly not a happy one, said Chen Avigdori, whose wife and daughter were released from captivity in Gaza. Is there glory in a state that has abandoned its citizens and continues to abandon (its hostages) for 220 days now? A growing number of Israelis - nearly 50% - support an end to the Gaza war in exchange for the release of hostages - a view that was extremely rare in the weeks, if not months, following the Oct. 7 attacks. Independence Day in Israel is observed from sundown on May 13 to sundown on May 14, immediately after the more sombre Memorial Day, in which Israelis pay tribute to the country's war dead, as well as those of have fallen victim to terror attacks. Israeli Independence Day marks the country's founding in 1948, in which the British partitioned historic Palestine into Arab and Jewish states. Palestinians lament the war that followed as the Nakba, or catastrophe, as some 700,000 of them fled or were driven from their homes. Israel contests the assertion that it forced out Palestinians.

Wagon catches fire at Sankagiri Railway Station in Salem

Not aware of criminal case against Annamalai, no sanction order issued: Tamil Nadu Raj Bhawan

Not aware of criminal case against Annamalai, no sanction order issued: Tamil Nadu Raj Bhawan Tamil Nadu Raj Bhavan on Monday issued a clarification informing that it is not aware of the criminal case against state BJP chief Thiru. K. Annamalai and that it has not issued any sanction order. The statement comes after, Raj Bhavan, Tamil Nadu received anxious inquiries from the public for the last two days regarding news circulating in the media that the Governor of the state has accorded sanction to prosecute Annamalai in a criminal case. Raj Bhavan, Tamil Nadu has been receiving anxious inquiries from the public for the last two days regarding news circulating in media that the Governor of Tamil Nadu has accorded sanction to prosecute Thiru. K. Annamalai, BJP State President of Tamil Nadu in a criminal case. It is hereby informed that Raj Bhavan, Tamil Nadu is not aware of the criminal case against Annamalai and has not issued any sanction order, the official statement said. The matter pertains to September 2023, when condemning TN Ministers Udayanidhi Stalin and Sekar Babu, the state BJP conducted a protest in Chennai where Annamalai made comments about former TN CM and DMK founder Annadurai and late freedom fighter Muthu Ramalinga Devar. Regarding the speech against former leaders, an activist complained in the Salem district. It was spread in social media that the Salem district collector had asked for a nod from TN Governor RN Ravi to permit to arrest of Annamalai and the governor permitted that two days back. (ANI)

Man murdered in drunken brawl in Salem

Farmers petition against STP in Salem

GO issued to prosecute TN BJP chief Annamalai for comments against CN Annadurai

CHENNAI: The state government has accorded permission to prosecute BJPs state president K Annamalai under sections of IPC, by the order of the governor. The permission came based a complaint by V Piyush of Salem with the district collector following which the latter requested sanction of prosecution from the state under Section 196. According to a GO issued by public (L&O department) secretary K Nandakumar, Piyush lodged a complaint regarding Annamalais speech in Salem last September. Annamalai cited an incident relating to the year 1956 when Forward Bloc leader Muthuramalinga Thevar allegedly threatened former chief minister CN Annadurai and PT Rajan by saying that if the non-believers spoke about Hindu faith as they do, instead of offering milk to Madurai Meenakshi Amman, human blood would be offered for Abishekham. Annamalai also claimed that Annadurai apologised to Thevar and ran away from Madurai. Piyush urged the Salem collector to take action against the speech which would promote enmity between different groups. Subsequently, the Salem district collector requested for sanction of prosecution under Section 196 as mandated by law. The order said that after careful consideration and deliberation and scrupulous study of the materials independently, the government is stratified that Annamalais statement is to promote disharmony, feelings of enmity, hatred and ill-will between different groups. Hence, under Section 196, the governor accords sanction for the prosecution for offences punishable under Section 153-A, sub-section(2), Section 153-B and others section to be taken cognizance by a court of complete jurisdiction. Soon after the GO was released, Annamalai said on X platform, In the last 3 years, the draconian DMK govt has filed plenty of cases against me and our karyakarthas for speaking the truth & has recently issued a sanction to prosecute me yet again. Welcoming the sanction, he added, I wholeheartedly thank the DMK govt for allowing us to recall what Thevar said in 1956, which they wish to erase from peoples memories. Criticising the government, he said, Our message to the DMK govt: You cant stop us from exposing what is what. File as many cases as you want. It may be recalled that the government has already accorded permission to prosecute Annamalai for his hate speech against a Christian missionary NGO. It was Piyush who had lodged a complaint against Annamalai following an interview in YouTube in which the BJP leader said Christian missionaries were behind the case that led to the Supreme Court restricting firecrackers during Deepavali.

Drop plan to scrap Palakkad railway division says Abdurahiman

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Minister V Abdurahiman on Sunday shot off a letter to Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw urging him to drop the move to scrap Palakkad railway division. In his missive, Abdurahiman, the state minister for railways, said Palakkad division was way ahead in terms of passenger traffic and revenue generated. The decision to scrap the division was part of a conspiracy against Kerala, he said in a statement. Abdurahiman said the railways has been neglecting the state when it comes to development and sought an end to the neglect towards demands such as doubling of tracks and allotment of new trains. During the UPA rule, Salem division was carved out of Palakkad division. Later, there were efforts made to undermine the Palakkad division. The Union government had made attempts to make Palakkad division part of Mangaluru division, but that was thwarted by the state by organising strong protests, the statement read. The minister also trained guns on UDF parliamentarians and accused them of doing little in the face of Union government apathy. He also accused Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan of being at the forefront of opposing Keralas demand.

Heavy rains predicted in TN districts till May 16; mercury may remain high in northern pockets

CHENNAI: In what could further bring the heat down in some parts of the state, the Regional Meteorological Centre has predicted heavy rain in isolated places over Tamil Nadu from Sunday until May 16. South Tamil Nadu is likely to benefit most from the heavy rains, with the weatherman predicting downpours in Dindigul, Theni, Virudhunagar, Tenkasi, Tirunelveli, Sivaganga and Kanniyakumari districts, while the western districts of Namakkal, Salem, Coimbatore, Tiruppur and Nilgiris are also expected to see heavy showers on Thursday. Furthermore, light to moderate rainfall is expected in some other parts of the state, while one or two places over Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, and Karaikal area may witness thunderstorms, lightning and gusty winds with up to 30-40 kmph speed until May 18, the bulletin added. In the interior districts of the state, temperature will still remain 2-3C above normal, likely hitting 40-41C in isolated pockets over the plains of the north interior districts, and 37-39C over the plains of the rest of the state, and 34-37C over coastal Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, and Karaikal. For Chennai, light or moderate rain is predicted in some areas for the next 48 hours (starting Sunday afternoon). Maximum and minimum temperature are likely to be 35-36C and 29-30C, respectively. On Sunday, Devakkottai in Krishnagiri received 3.2 cm of rainfall, Yercaud got 1.7 cm, Salem 1.3 cm, and Tirupattur 1.2 cm.

Israeli military announces opening of new crossing for aid to reach Gaza

Israeli military announces opening of new crossing for aid to reach Gaza Jerusalem: The Israeli military has said that it has opened a new crossing to bring humanitarian aid into the famine-stricken Gaza Strip. In a press statement on Sunday, the military announced the opening of the Western Erez crossing between Israel and northern [] The post Israeli military announces opening of new crossing for aid to reach Gaza appeared first on Mangalorean.com .

Premalatha Vijayakanth, K Annamalai, wish Edappadi K Palaniswami on his 70th birthday

Edappadi K Palaniswami celebrated his 70th birthday in Salem with wishes from various political figures. A 70kg cake was cut during the celebration, and he was wished good health and a long life.

Israel pushes back into northern Gaza, ups military pressure on Rafah

Israel pushes back into northern Gaza, ups military pressure on Rafah Israel sent tanks into eastern Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip early on Sunday after a night of heavy aerial and ground bombardments, killing 19 people and wounding dozens of others, Palestinian health officials said. The death toll in Israel's military operation in Gaza has now passed at least 35,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry. The bombardment has laid waste to the coastal enclave and caused a deep humanitarian crisis. The war was triggered by a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7 in which some 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 people taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies. Israel says 620 soldiers have been killed in the fighting, more than half of them during the initial Hamas assault. Jabalia is the biggest of Gaza's eight historic refugee camps and is home to more than 100,000 people, most of whom were descendants of Palestinians who were driven from towns and villages in what is now Israel during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war that led to the creation the state of Israel. Late on Saturday, the Israeli military said forces operating in Jabalia were preventing Hamas, which rules Gaza, from re-establishing its military capabilities there. We identified in the past weeks attempts by Hamas to rehabilitate its military capabilities in Jabalia. We are operating there to eliminate those attempts, Israeli military's spokesperson Admiral Daniel Hagari told reporters. Hagari also said Israeli forces operating in Gaza City's Zeitoun district killed about 30 Palestinian militants. Israeli forces thrust deep into Jabalia camp, deeper than the first time when they invaded northern Gaza, with tanks close to the local market, residents said. They also reported the fiercest gun battles in months there. They were bombing everywhere, including near schools that are housing people who lost their houses, Jabalia resident Saed, 45, told Reuters via a chat app. War is restarting, this is how it looks in Jabalia. The army sent tanks back into Zeitoun, as well as Al-Sabra, where residents also reported heavy bombardments that destroyed several houses, including high-rise residential buildings. The army had claimed to have gained control of most of these areas months ago. The Israeli Defence Forces said air sirens had sounded in the southern Kerem Shalom area and it had successfully intercepted two rockets launched from the vicinity of Rafah. It said there were no injuries and no damage reported. Later on Sunday, sirens sounded in the Israeli city of Ashkelon as a result of incoming rocket fire from Gaza, which signalled militants there were still able to launch rocket attacks after over seven months of war. Hamas's Al-Aqsa TV said on its telegram account, the rockets were launched from Jabalia, despite the active army raid. GUNFIGHT ON DEIR AL-BALAH OUTSKIRTS Tanks did not invade eastern Deir Al-Balah city, residents and Hamas media said, but some Israeli tanks and bulldozers penetrated the fence on the outskirts of the city prompting a gunfight with Hamas fighters. In an air strike late on Saturday in Deir Al-Balah two doctors, a father and his son, were killed, health officials said. The armed wing of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad said their fighters attacked Israeli forces in several areas inside Gaza with anti-tank rockets and mortar bombs, including in Rafah, previously the Palestinians' last refuge where more than a million people were sheltering. The Palestinian Telecommunication company said internet services in southern areas of Gaza had resumed after several hours of cuts which it blamed on the ongoing Israeli aggression. On Sunday, more families, estimated in the thousands, were leaving Rafah as the Israeli military pressure intensified. Tank shells landed across the city as the army gave new evacuation orders covering some neighbourhoods in the centre of the city, which borders Egypt. Israel's military said on Sunday it had opened a new crossing in northern Gaza, called Western Erez, to transfer humanitarian aid to the strip. As I moved out of Rafah, I passed through Khan Younis, I cried, said Tamer Al-Burai, a resident from Gaza, who had been sheltering in Rafah. I saw a ghost city, all buildings on the two sides of the road, complete districts were wiped out. People are fleeing for safety, knowing there was no place safe, and there are no tents and no people to care for them, he told Reuters. Burai, a Palestinian businessman, said the Palestinians were abandoned by the world , with world powers failing to end hostilities and international mediation efforts to reach a ceasefire collapsing over Hamas and Israel disputes. No ceasefire, no U.N. decision, no hope, he said. Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri said Cairo would continue its mediation between Israel and Hamas and urged the two sides to show the flexibility and the will needed to reach a deal. (Reporting and writing by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Cairo; Additional reporting by Nayera Abdallah in Dubai, Emily Rose and Maytaal Angel in Jerusalem; Editing by Sharon Singleton and Tomasz Janowski)

TN BJP chief Annamalai booked by TN police for recalling 1956 event linked to Annadurai

TN BJP chief Annamalai booked by TN police for recalling 1956 event linked to Annadurai BJP Tamil Nadu unit president K Annamalai on Sunday said the DMK government has accorded sanction to prosecute him for recalling an event of 1956 that involved DMK founder C N Annadurai and freedom fighter Muthuramalinga Thevar. Tagging a copy of the government sanction, Annamalai, in a post on 'X', said: ''In the last 3 years, the draconian DMK Govt has filed plenty of cases against me & our BJP Karyakarthas for speaking the truth & has recently issued a sanction to prosecute me yet again.'' Now, the sanction was to prosecute him for ''recalling an event in the past,'' he said. Furthermore, Annamalai said: ''I wholeheartedly thank the DMK Govt for allowing us to recall what Deivathirumaganar Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar said in 1956, which they wish to erase from people's memories. Our message to the DMK Govt: You can't stop us from exposing what is what. File as many cases as you want! The sanction of prosecution for alleged hate speech has been given under Section 196 of the CrPc, which deals with cognizance of offences against the state and the prior sanction of the Central or the State government for offences such as promotion of enmity (Sec 153 A, IPC). The order says the District Collector of Salem had written to the government on a plea from a resident (social activist) V Piysuh requesting sanction for prosecution under Sec 196 CrPc as mandated by law. Following consideration, the order said sanction for prosecution is accorded for offences including promotion of enmity. On September 11, 2023, leading a demonstration against Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Minister P K Sekar Babu for his participation in the 'Sanatana Dharma' eradication conference here, Annamalai had made a comment on Annadurai. The BJP leader said Anna had in the 1950s made a critical remark in Madurai against the Hindu faith at an event, and that it was staunchly opposed by freedom fighter Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar. Days after, Annamalai insisted that he did not speak ill of Anna and had only mentioned an event from the pages of history and the manner in which Muthuramalinga Thevar had defended Sanatana Dharma. To substantiate his claim, the BJP leader said, he had copies of news reports that appeared in the month of June in 1956 in a top national English daily.''Anyone may read. It was a 10-day Tamil Sangam event.'' The Saffron party leader asked if he could not stand in defence of 'Sanatana Dharma' what use was there in him holding the position of state unit chief of the BJP. ''Look at history as history. I am very clear. Nowhere will I belittle anyone. I did not insult or underestimate anyone, anywhere; history should be spoken as it was and if it is not liked (by some people), it's okay,'' he had said last year. Muthuramalinga Thevar (1908-1963), a freedom fighter, was a noted Forward Bloc leader as well. DMK founder Annadurai (1909-1969) is popularly known as Anna (elder brother).

TN: Two arrested for denying haircut for Adi Dravidar people

DHARMAPURI: A 24-year-old hair dresser and his father, who allegedly denied to do haircut for a 17-year-old dalit boy near Harur were booked under SC/ ST ( Prevention of Atrocities) Act on Saturday. According to police source, A 17- year-old native of Kelaparai village near Harur, along with his friend had gone to a saloon shop for a haircut on Thursday evening, where the hairdresser identified as C Yogeshwaran (24) allegedly sent him out. Following this, the victim went to his village and informed a few youths about the incident, who then reached the saloon and enquired with Yogeshwaran, as to why the hair cut was denied.. Yogeshwaran's father Chinnaiyan (62) was also present at the shop then. He argued with the youth and informed them that denying hair cut for Adi Dravidar people has been a custom that has been followed for many years and refused the haircut, the police said. The group left the shop and the victim lodged a police complaint against Yogeshwaran and his father Chinnaiyan at Harur police station on Saturday. A case has been registered under sections 3 (1) (r) and 3 (1) (za) (D) of the SC / ST ( Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Both the accused has been remanded to Dharmapuri district jail on Saturday evening. Speaking to TNIE, Harur inspector of police, Senthil Rajmohan said that awareness against caste discrimination will be conducted soon at various places. In a similar incident, earlier this year, in February, a hairdresser was arrested and booked under the SC / ST ( Prevention of Atrocities) Act for denying haircut for a dalit man in Salem district. Two caste Hindu women near Harur were also arrested for serving tea for dalit women in coconut shells in the same month.

EVDM issues advisory as Hyderabad braces for heavy rainfall

Traffic at a standstill during heavy rain in Salem on Sunday (Photo:DC) Traffic at a standstill during heavy rain in Salem on Sunday (Photo:DC) Hyderabad: The Directorate of Enforcement Vigilance and Disaster Management (EV&DM) has on Sunday issued a heavy rainfall alert for the citizens of Hyderabad and advised them to call on 040-21111111 or 9000113667 for GHMC-DRF assistance. Heavy rainfall is expected today in Hyderabad city. Citizens may dial 040-21111111 or 9000113667 for GHMC-DRF assistance. @CommissionrGHMC @GHMCOnline pic.twitter.com/bslH6zMgMH Director EV&DM, GHMC (@Director_EVDM) May 12, 2024 The IMD-Hyderabad has earlier predicated light to moderate rainfall across various districts in Telangana till May 13. The Telangana Weatherman, a popular weather predictor on social media, also said that Thunderstorms have started forming over the state mainly in Kamareddy, Sangareddy, Medak, Sircilla and parts of Karimnagar. Rains will turn intense in the coming hours, he added. The EVDM has issued certain guidelines for safety during the rainfall. Guidelines: -Stay up-to-date on weather updates through reliable sources. -Respond quickly to the updates and move out of low-lying areas. -Avoid unnecessary travel and when you cannot avoid it stay cautious. -Stay away from power lines. -Be responsible and check on your neighbor especially elders.

Bottles filled with petrol, kerosene hurled at two houses in Salem

INSIGHT-Name and shame: Pro-Israel website ramps up attacks on pro-Palestinian student protesters

INSIGHT-Name and shame: Pro-Israel website ramps up attacks on pro-Palestinian student protesters Weeks after attending a pro-Palestinian demonstration, Egyptian-American student Layla Sayed received a text message from a friend drawing her attention to a website dedicated to exposing people it says promote hatred of Jews and Israel. I think they found you from the protest, the friend wrote. When Sayed visited the site, called Canary Mission, she found a photo from the Oct. 16 rally at the University of Pennsylvania with red arrows pointing to her among the demonstrators. The post included her name, the two cities she lives in, details about her studies and links to her social media accounts. Canary Mission later posted a photo of her on its X and Instagram accounts labeled Hamas War Crimes Apologist, a reference to the Palestinian militant group's Oct. 7 attack on Israel in which around 1,200 people were killed and 253 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies. In response to that raid, Israel launched a military offensive in the Gaza Strip that has killed nearly 35,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities. Comments about Sayed from social media users poured in. No future for that c.nt, one X user wrote. Candidate for deportation to Gaza, wrote another. Although Sayed has long supported Palestinian causes, she said it was the first time she had participated in a pro-Palestinian demonstration at Penn, and Canary Mission did not flag any other activities. My initial reaction was just absolute shock, Sayed, a 20-year-old sophomore, told Reuters. I wasn't there to say I supported Hamas. I wasn't there to say I hated Israel. I was there to say what's happening in Palestine is wrong. She said she did not realize at the time that a chant Canary Mission took issue with, When people are occupied, resistance is justified, is considered by some as an expression of support for Hamas' killings. She joined in the chants, she said, to show support for demonstrations. Responding to an inquiry submitted via its website, Canary Mission said it has been working around the clock to combat a wave of antisemitism on college campuses since Oct. 7, including by exposing people who endorse Hamas. Canary Mission did not respond to questions about Sayed's profile or the online abuse directed against its targets, according to the comments from the site provided by a spokesperson from a Tel Aviv-based public relations firm, Gova10. While Canary Mission relies on tips, it said it verifies what it publishes, drawing from publicly available sources. Canary Missions profiles include links to its targets' social media posts, public speeches and interviews with journalists. Penn officials did not respond to questions about Sayed's case. Penn is focused on the well-being of all members of the community, a university spokesperson, Steve Silverman, told Reuters, adding that staff reach out to offer support when aware of concerning situations. Canary Mission is one of the oldest and most prominent of several digital advocacy groups that have intensified campaigns to expose Israel's critics since the war broke out, often leading to harassment such as Sayed experienced. The people behind the site have kept their identities, location and funding sources hidden. Reuters reviewed online attacks and abusive messages directed at scores of people targeted by Canary Mission since Oct. 7. The site has accused over 250 U.S. students and academics of supporting terrorism or spreading antisemitism and hatred of Israel since the start of the latest Gaza conflict, according to the Reuters review of its posts. Some are leading members of Palestinian rights groups or were arrested for offenses such as blocking traffic and punching a Jewish student. Others, like Sayed, said they had just stepped into campus activism and were not charged with any crimes. Reuters spoke to 17 students and one research fellow from six U.S. universities featured on Canary Mission since Oct. 7. They include other students who chanted slogans during protests, leaders of groups that backed statements saying Israel bears sole responsibility for the violence and people who argued in social media posts that armed resistance by Palestinians is justified. All but one said they had received hate messages or seen vitriolic comments posted about them online. Messages reviewed by Reuters called for their deportation or expulsion from school or suggested they should be raped or killed. Several pro-Palestinian groups that use similar tactics to call out Israel's defenders have emerged in recent months. They include an X account called StopZionistHate and Raven Mission, a website launched in December that emulates Canary Mission by spotlighting people it accuses of Islamophobia or helping perpetuate atrocities against Palestinians. Raven Mission did not respond to requests for comment. StopZionistHate said it wanted to ensure that the American public is aware of the threat posed by Zionist extremism. ACCUSATIONS OF CYBERBULLYING Some critics accuse sites on both sides of cyberbullying or doxxing, which they note can have a chilling effect on free expression. Tensions have been mounting on U.S. college campuses, where Israel's war in Gaza has unleashed an outpouring of student activism. Some of the pro-Palestinian demonstrations have been met with counter-protesters accusing them of fomenting anti-Jewish hatred and intimidating Jewish students on campus. Both camps have clashed with police. The U.S. Department of Education has opened investigations into dozens of colleges since Oct. 7, noting an alarming nationwide rise in reports of antisemitic, anti-Muslim and other forms of discrimination and harassment. It declined to provide details about these investigations, including whether any concern Canary Mission, Raven Mission or StopZionistHate, or incidents these groups have highlighted. Across the U.S., pro-Palestinian student groups are advising followers to wear masks at protests, to avoid drawing unwelcome attention. Canary Mission and its defenders argue that those who promote hatred and bigotry should be held to account. On its site, Canary Mission provides academic and employer details for the people it profiles, calling on its tens of thousands of followers to ensure oday's radicals are not tomorrow's employees. Ten of the students interviewed by Reuters feared that appearing on the site could derail their careers. Canary Mission is often at the top of its targets' Google search results, and its social media posts can draw hundreds of comments. For those targeted, there are few options to seek redress, lawyers and advocacy groups say. Much of what Canary Mission publishes is protected by the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment on free speech, three lawyers told Reuters. It generally isn't illegal to publish information about someone without consent when the information is accurate and was acquired lawfully from the public domain, said Eugene Volokh, a law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. The legal standard for defamation is high, with the burden on claimants to prove the site made false statements about them, added Dylan Saba, an attorney at Palestine Legal, which represents pro-Palestinian activists. He could recall only a handful of cases where students succeeded in getting Canary Mission profiles changed or removed by threatening defamation suits. The low profile of Canary Mission's principals poses an additional hurdle. If you're going to sue somebody, you have to know where you're serving them, Saba said. Canary Mission says on its site that it will remove profiles of people who ecognize their earlier mistakes and reject what it describes as latent anti-Semitism in groups that campaign for boycotts against Israel over its policies in the Palestinian territories. It publishes what it says are their apologies on an ex-canary page but does not identify the individuals. Canary Mission told Reuters the site was established in 2015 to counter rising antisemitism on college campuses. It did not answer questions about its leadership and funding. LINKS TO ISRAELI NONPROFIT A 2016 tax filing by a prominent Jewish American philanthropic organization, the Helen Diller Family Foundation, revealed a financial link between Canary Mission and an Israeli non-profit called Megamot Shalom. That year, the Diller foundation gave $100,000 to the Central Fund of Israel earmarked Canary Mission for Megamot Shalom, according to the document, which was first reported by the U.S. Jewish news outlet the Forward and reviewed by Reuters. The Central Fund is a U.S.-based group that acts as a conduit for Americans to make tax-deductible donations to Israeli charities. Its president, Jay Marcus, told Reuters his organization only supports registered charities but would not confirm whether Megamot Shalom or Canary Mission were among them, citing the privacy of its donors and recipients. Despite several attempts, Reuters could not reach a representative of the Diller foundation. The organization that oversees the Diller foundation's giving, the Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund of San Francisco, referred Reuters to a 2018 statement confirming the donation was to support the work of Canary Mission and saying neither group would fund the site further. The statement said the federation had determined that the Central Fund did not comply with its giving guidelines but did not respond to requests to elaborate. Canary Mission did not respond to questions about Megamot Shalom or its connection to the nonprofit. Megamot Shalom was founded in 2016 o preserve and ensure the national strength and image of the State of Israel through media initiatives, according to documents obtained from Israel's corporations registry. As of 2022, the most recent year for which records are available, it employed 11 people, including four content writers. The only donor identified in the registry documents is the Central Fund, from which it received 13.2 million shekels ($3.5 million) between 2019 and 2022, the records show. Reuters was unable to reach Megamot Shalom's founder, Jonathan Bash, or any other listed employees. When Reuters visited the group's registered address in Beit Shemesh, a city 23 km (15 miles) southwest of Jerusalem, it found a locked one-story building with no sign of activity. A TARGET ON MY BACK Canary Mission has targeted at least 30 Penn students and academics since Oct. 7. The university is one of several elite campuses that have been at the center of unrest over the Gaza war. Its former president, Liz Magill, resigned in December after coming under fire for her handling of accusations of antisemitism on campus. On Friday, police dismantled an unsanctioned pro-Palestinian encampment on Penn's main lawn and arrested about 33 people following accusations of harassing and threatening behavior by protesters and the defacement of campus landmarks. After finding her profile on Canary Mission, Sayed consulted the Council on American-Islamic Relations, an advocacy group. Ahmet Tekelioglu, executive director of CAIR's Philadelphia branch, said the group offered her help to remove information from the internet but advised that it would be hard to take legal action against a group that isn't registered in the U.S. Despite the latant negative framing, Canary Mission's comments were presented as quotes or opinions, which typically cannot be the subject of a defamation claim, Tekelioglu told Reuters. Fearful for her safety, Sayed said she removed the Palestinian keffiyeh scarf she had tied to her backpack, which she said felt like a target on my back. She avoided walking alone on campus and put her LinkedIn profile in hibernation. Canary Mission also profiled seven Georgetown University School of Medicine students after they were featured in a Dec. 21 article by the conservative Washington Free Beacon news site headlined, At Georgetown Med, the Doctors of Tomorrow Aren't Hiding Their Support for Terrorism. One of them, Yusra Rafeeqi, 22, said the websites published a screenshot of a post she said she had shared privately with her Instagram followers showing a man atop an Israeli tank waving a Palestinian flag on the day Hamas militants broke through the border fence between Gaza and Israel. The image was captioned, No more condemning Palestinian resistance. Radical change requires radical moves. Fire her immediately, an X user commented on a Canary Mission post that tagged her school and a clinic where she volunteers. Rafeeqi told Reuters she reposted the image to support resistance to what she described as Israel's violent occupational forces and noted she did not comment on Hamas' killing of Israelis. A Georgetown representative referred Reuters to a statement issued by Edward Healton, the medical school's executive dean, calling the leaking of students' private information and reports of retribution against those believed responsible unacceptable. Healton said the school condemns antisemitism and Islamophobia, and encouraged students to report potential threats. Rafeeqi said she has had massive anxiety about how this might affect her ability to pursue a career in medicine and continue advocating for Palestinians. I no longer feel safe in this country I once called home, said Rafeeqi, whose parents immigrated from Pakistan. Canary Mission and the Washington Free Beacon did not respond to questions about Rafeeqi's case. ($1 = 3.7291 shekels) (Gabriella Borter reported from Washington, Joseph Ax from New York and Andrew Hay from Taos, New Mexico. Writing by Gabriella Borter. Editing by Paul Thomasch and Alexandra Zavis)

Case against two grocery shops in Salem

Salem Railway Division collects 2.17 crore in ticket checking drives

Travel tips: Israel opened for tourism, know the safe and beautiful places to visit here

Hamas and Israel have been fighting a war for the last few months. Israel has opened for tourism after the war conflict. Israel announced that tourist places are safe. The country was closed to tourists in the past months due to the conflict. During this period, flights were suspended, although now services are gradually being resumed. According to the report, from May 16, Air India is starting non-stop flights from Delhi to Tel Aviv five times a week. Tourism is likely to get a boost again after flights to Israel start. In such a situation, know about the tourist places of Israel. Tourist places in Israel Jerusalem Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. This place is the birth place of Jesus Christ. This place is considered very sacred for the Christian community as well as for the Jews and Muslims. It is considered one of the religious places. There is also the famous Holocaust Museum here. This museum is spread over 4200 square meters on the slopes of the Mount of Remembrance which tells the story of the history of the Jews. Tower of David Israel's Tower of David is one of the favorite places of tourists. It is known as Burj Dawood or Dome of Dawood. King Solomon is believed to be buried at this place. Solomon's Temple King Solomon of Israel built the holy temple for the Jews in the 10th century BC, which is named Solomon's Temple. This temple was destroyed during the battle with the Romans. Later, Temple Mount and Al Aqsa Mosque were built in the same place. (PC: Google)

Tamil Nadu: 2-year-old child hospitalized after consuming spoiled birthday cake in Salem - News9 LIVE

Tamil Nadu: 2-year-old child hospitalized after consuming spoiled birthday cake in Salem News9 LIVE

Class X results: Erode at 7th spot, Dharmapuri way behind at 28th place

COIMBATORE: The western region of Tamil Nadu couldn't match its recent excellent higher secondary (Class 12) board examination results in the Class 10 Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) examination results announced by the Tamil Nadu Directorate of Government Examinations on Friday. As far as the western region is concerned, Erode district secured the 7th place out of the 38 districts in the state in the Class 10 final exams with a pass percentage of 95.08%, followed by the Coimbatore district with 94.01% in the 12th position, Namakkal with 93.51% at 14th spot, Tiruppur with 92.38% at 21st place, Salem with 91.75% at 24th place, Krishnagiri with 91.43% at 25th place, Nilgiris with 90.61% at 26th place and Dharmapuri with 90.45% at 28th place. While Tiruppur district secured the first spot in HSC exams, its pass percentage in SSLC exam has fallen to the 21st spot. Social activists blame the rise in smartphone usage among boys as the primary reason. According to official records, the SSLC pass percentage in Tiruppur in 2021-2022 was 88.64% (State Rank 30). The pass percentage improved in 2022-23 to 93.93% (State Rank 11), but it has now dropped to 92.38% (State Rank 21). Speaking to TNIE, Su Moorthy, a social activist said, For the past two years, I find boys are distracted in studies. As a history teacher in a government school in Tiruppur, I have noticed boys are more addicted to smartphones than girls. There is a rise in the usage of smartphones for playing video or interactive games in the past two years. Besides, they watch videos and other entertainment on social media platforms. Parents who are daily wagers are forced to buy smartphones for their boys. The price of good quality smartphones is in the range of Rs 8000 to Rs 12,000. Many boys in the 9th and 10th standard classes take up part-time jobs in garment units and other enterprises on Saturday and Sunday. Most of them are deployed as unskilled labourers in packaging and other minor works. This too drains their focus on studies, he added. As in the previous years, the number of girls passing the SSLC exams is higher than the number of boys. The performance of government schools in the Class 10 board exam in the western districts was also not great this year. Of the 38 districts, Erode was placed at 7, Namakkal at 14, Salem at 18, Coimbatore at 20, Krishnagiri at 22, Tiruppur at 26, Dharmapuri at 27 and Nilgiris at 29.

Three held in Salem for murdering businessman from West Mogappair

The victim had cheated them to the tune of 12.5 crore by promising to get them government jobs

Food safety officials raid snack shop at Ammapet in Salem

Class X results | Salem registers 91.75 pass percentage, Namakkal 93.51

UGD pipeline laying works to begin from Javulikadai to Moongapadi Junction in Salem; traffic diversion announced

UGD pipeline laying works to begin from Javulikadai to Moongapadi Junction in Salem; traffic diversion announced

UGD pipeline laying works to begin from Javulikadai to Moongapadi Junction in Salem; traffic diversion announced - The Hindu

UGD pipeline laying works to begin from Javulikadai to Moongapadi Junction in Salem; traffic diversion announced The Hindu

Medical student dies in accident in Salem

Israeli tanks encircle eastern half of Rafah

Israeli tanks encircle eastern half of Rafah Israeli tanks captured the main road dividing the eastern and western halves of Rafah on Friday, effectively encircling the entire eastern side of the city in the southern Gaza Strip. Residents described almost constant explosions and gunfire east and northeast of the city on Friday, with intense fighting between Israeli forces and militants from Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Hamas said it ambushed Israeli tanks near a mosque in the east of the city, a sign the Israelis had penetrated several kilometres from the east to the outskirts of the built-up area. Israel has ordered civilians out of the eastern half of Rafah, forcing tens of thousands of people to seek shelter outside the city, previously the last refuge of more than a million who fled other parts of the enclave during the war. Israel says it cannot win the war without assaulting Rafah to root out thousands of Hamas fighters it believes are sheltering there. Hamas says it will fight to defend it. Aid agencies say the battle puts hundreds of thousands of already displaced civilians in harm's way. It is not safe, all of Rafah isn't safe as tank shells landed everywhere since yesterday, Abu Hassan, 50, a resident of Tel al-Sultan west of Rafah told Reuters via a chat app. I am trying to leave but I can't afford 2,000 shekels to buy a tent for my family, he said. There is an increased movement of people out of Rafah even from the western areas, though they were not designated as red zones by the occupation. The army is targeting all of Rafah not only the east with tank shells and air strikes. The Israeli military said its forces in eastern Rafah had located several tunnel shafts and troops backed by an air strike fought at close quarters with groups of Hamas fighters, killing several. It said Israeli jets had hit several sites from which rockets and mortars had been fired towards Israel in recent days, including at the Kerem Shalmon crossing point. Israeli tanks have already sealed off eastern Rafah from the south, capturing and shutting the only crossing between the enclave and Egypt. An advance on Friday to the Salahuddin road that bisects the strip completed the encirclement of the ed zone where they have ordered residents out. The prospect of an assault on Rafah this week has opened up one of the biggest rifts for generations between Israel and its closest ally the United States, which has blocked shipments of weapons to Israel for the first time since the war began. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday Israel would fight with our fingernails if it must. In a U.S. television interview, he said he hoped Israel would overcome its disagreements with President Joe Biden. Ceasefire talks broke up on Thursday with no agreement to halt the fighting and release hostages captured in the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks that precipitated the war. Hamas had said it agreed at the start of the week to a proposal submitted by Qatari and Egyptian mediators that had previously been accepted by Israel. Israel said the Hamas proposal contained elements it cannot accept. More than 34,000 Gazans have been killed in the seven months of war, according to health authorities in the Hamas-controlled enclave who say thousands more dead are probably buried under rubble. Israel launched the assault to annihilate Hamas after the Oct. 7 attacks, in which 1,200 people were killed according to Israeli tallies. (Additional reporting by James Mackenzie in Jerusalem; Writing by Peter Graff; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

Chennai man beaten to death over Rs 12 cr fraud near Krishnagiri, wife held hostage

CHENNAI: A 54-year-old man from West Mogappair in Chennai was allegedly beaten to death by three men near Salem on Monday. Kundrathur police said the deceased man, K Venkatesan, had taken Rs 12 crore from one of the suspects under the pretext of securing government jobs for some persons. On Sunday, after dropping his younger son Santhosh at a college in Kundrathur for NEET exam, Venkatesan and his wife Lakshmi (40) left for Salem in their car. They had told Santhosh that they were visiting a relative. However, when Santhosh tried to contact his parents later, the call did not go through. When he contacted his relatives in Salem, they said the couple had not reached there. When he went to the local police station to lodge a missing complaint, police personnel said since the parents were last seen at Kundrathur, Santhosh should file a case there itself. So, he went to the Kundrathur station and lodged a complaint, a police source said. On Monday night, Santhosh managed to video call his mother and she asked him to leave immediately for Uthangarai in Krishnagiri district as his signature was needed to sell a property. He alerted the police and went to Uthangarai along with a police team. When they reached the spot, they found that some men had detained Lakshmi at a stone-crushing unit. Police rescued the woman and arrested Ganesan (50) of Thippampatti, Nithyanandham (39) of Pollachi and Vignesh (28) of Uthangarai, the source added. Venkatesan and Ganesan were relatives. The trio revealed to police that Venkatesan had cheated Ganesan of Rs 12 crore after promising to secure government jobs for the latters friends and other relatives. When Ganesan recently came to know that Venkatesan was coming to Salem to sell a property, he hatched a plan with his friends. They abducted Venkatesan and his wife to the stone-crushing facility. The trio then beat Venkatesan to death and forced Lakshmi to talk to her son over the video call. They then buried the body on the crushing unit premises itself, the police said. Venkatesans body was exhumed on Wednesday, and sent for postmortem. Kundrathur police have altered the missing person story to murder. The arrested men were taken to Chennai on Thursday.

Netanyahu vows to continue attacks in Gaza despite Bidens threat to halt weapon shipment

Netanyahu vows to continue attacks in Gaza despite Bidens threat to halt weapon shipment Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said in a video statement that the Israeli forces will continue their attacks in Gaza despite the US threat to halt some weapon shipments. If Israel is forced to stand alone Israel [] The post Netanyahu vows to continue attacks in Gaza despite Bidens threat to halt weapon shipment appeared first on Mangalorean.com .

BSP candidates for Ballia, Salempur file nomination

WRAPUP 9-Israel strikes eastern Rafah as ceasefire talks end with no deal

WRAPUP 9-Israel strikes eastern Rafah as ceasefire talks end with no deal * LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: * Hamas will not make new concessions after accepting proposal, Al-Aqsa TV says * Israeli envoy to US says hold on arms sends 'wrong message' * UNRWA chief says Israeli residents set fire to perimeter of its headquarters in East Jerusalem * United Nations aid chief says nothing allowed into Gaza for three days * Israeli PM Netanyahu says Israelis will fight with only their fingernails, if they must * Ceasefire talks make some headway, but no deal, say Egyptian security sources By Nidal al-Mughrabi, Mohammad Salem and Jarrett Renshaw CAIRO/RAFAH, Gaza Strip/WASHINGTON, May 9 (Reuters) - I sraeli forces bombarded areas of Rafah on Thursday, Palestinian residents said, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed U.S. President Joe Biden's threat to withhold weapons from Israel if it assaults the southern Gaza city. A senior Israeli official said late on Thursday that the latest round of indirect negotiations in Cairo to halt hostilities in Gaza had ended and Israel would proceed with its operation in Rafah and other parts of the Gaza Strip as planned. Israel has submitted to mediators its reservations about a Hamas proposal for a hostage release deal, the official said. If we must, we shall fight with our fingernails, Netanyahu said in a video statement. But we have much more than our fingernails. In Gaza, Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad said their fighters fired anti-tank rockets and mortars at Israeli tanks massed on the eastern outskirts of the city. Residents and medics in Rafah, the biggest urban area in Gaza not yet overrun by Israeli ground forces, said an Israeli attack near a mosque killed at least three people and wounded others in the eastern Brazil neighbourhood. Video footage from the scene showed the minaret lying in the rubble and two bodies wrapped in blankets. An Israeli air strike on two houses in the Sabra neighbourhood of Rafah killed at least 12 people including women and children. Among the dead was a senior commander of the militant Al-Mujahedeen Brigades, and his family, and the family of another group leader, medics, relatives and the group said. Israel says Hamas militants are hiding in Rafah, where the population has been swelled by hundreds of thousands of Gazans seeking refuge from the bombardments that have reduced most of the coastal enclave to ruins. In the United States, the White House repeated its hope that Israel would not launch a full operation in Rafah, saying it did not believe that would advance Israel's aim of defeating Hamas. Smashing into Rafah, in [President Biden's] view, will not advance that objective, spokesperson John Kirby said. Kirby said Hamas had been pressured significantly by Israel and there were better options to hunt down what remains of the group's leadership than an operation with significant risk to civilians. Israel's assault on Gaza has killed nearly 35,000 Palestinians and wounded nearly 80,000, most of them civilians, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said. It launched its offensive in response to a cross-border attack by Hamas militants on Israel on Oct. 7 in which they killed about 1,200 people and abducted 252. Some 128 hostages remain in Gaza and 36 have been declared dead, according to the latest Israeli figures. Biden on Wednesday issued his starkest warning yet against a full ground invasion in Rafah, telling CNN that: I made it clear that if they go into Rafah...I'm not supplying the weapons. Israel's ambassador to the United States said the decision to withhold weapons from Israel over Rafah sends the wrong message to Hamas and the country's foes. It puts us in a corner because we have to deal with Rafah one way or the other, Ambassador Michael Herzog told a Carnegie Endowment for International Peace webinar. The Israeli military has the munitions it requires for operations in Rafah and other planned operations, chief armed forces spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said. Israeli armed forces have already killed 50 Palestinian gunmen in east Rafah and uncovered several tunnels, Hagari said. Hamas had no immediate comment. TALKS END In Cairo, delegations from Hamas, Israel, the U.S., Egypt and Qatar had been meeting since Tuesday. The talks in Egypt's capital made some headway but no deal was reached, according to two Egyptian security sources. Izzat El-Risheq, a member of Hamas' political office in Qatar, said the Hamas delegation had left Cairo, having reaffirmed its approval of the mediators' ceasefire proposal. The plan entails the release of Israeli hostages held captive in Gaza and a number of Palestinians jailed by Israel. Hamas blames Israel for the lack of agreement, and its Al-Aqsa TV's Telegram account said the group would not make any concessions beyond those in the proposal it had accepted. Israel has said it is open to a truce, but has rejected demands for an end to the war. U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Washington continued to engage with Israel on amendments to a ceasefire proposal, adding work to finalize the text of an agreement was incredibly difficult. MEDICAL SECTOR COLLAPSING Israeli residents set fire twice to the perimeter of the headquarters of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees in East Jerusalem, causing extensive damage to the outdoor areas but no casualties, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini wrote on X. There was no immediate comment from Israeli police. Once again, the lives of U.N. staff were at a serious risk, Lazzarini wrote, adding he had decided to close the compound until security is restored. On Tuesday, Israeli tanks seized the Gaza side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, cutting off a vital aid route and forcing 80,000 people to flee the city this week, according to the United Nations. Israel kept up tank and aerial strikes across Gaza and tanks advanced in the Zeitoun neighbourhood of Gaza City in the north, forcing hundreds of families to flee, residents said. The Israeli military said it was securing Zeitoun, starting with a series of intelligence-based aerial strikes on approximately 25 militant targets. Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza was packed with people who had fled Rafah in recent days. Palestinian medics said two people, including a woman, were killed when a drone fired a missile at a group of people there. The closure of the Rafah crossing with Egypt has prevented the evacuation of the wounded and sick and the entry of medical supplies, food trucks and fuel needed to operate hospitals, the Gaza health ministry said on Thursday. The only kidney dialysis centre in the Rafah area had stopped operating due to the shelling. The entire medical sector has collapsed, said Ali Abu Khurma, a Jordanian surgeon volunteering at Al Aqsa hospital in Deir al-Balah. United Nations aid chief Martin Griffiths said that for three consecutive days, othing and no one has been allowed in or out of Gaza. It means no aid. Our supplies are stuck. Our teams are stuck. Civilians in Gaza are being starved and killed, and we are prevented from helping them. This is Gaza today, even after 7 months of horrors, Griffiths posted on X. (Additional reporting by Maytaal Angel in JERUSALEM, Ahmed Mohamed Hassan in CAIRO, Doaa Rouqa in GAZA and other Reuters bureaux; Writing by Ros Russell, Alexandra Hudson and Deepa Babington, Editing by Philippa Fletcher and Angus MacSwan)

WRAPUP 8-Israel strikes eastern Rafah as ceasefire talks end with no deal

WRAPUP 8-Israel strikes eastern Rafah as ceasefire talks end with no deal * LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: * Israeli envoy to US says hold on arms sends 'wrong message' * UNRWA chief says Israeli residents set fire to perimeter of its headquarters in East Jerusalem * United Nations aid chief says nothing allowed into Gaza for three days * Israeli PM Netanyahu says Israelis will fight with only their fingernails, if they must * Ceasefire talks make some headway, but no deal, say Egyptian security sources By Nidal al-Mughrabi, Mohammad Salem and Jarrett Renshaw CAIRO/RAFAH, Gaza Strip/WASHINGTON, May 9 (Reuters) - I sraeli forces bombarded areas of Rafah on Thursday, Palestinian residents said, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed U.S. President Joe Biden's threat to withhold weapons from Israel if it assaults the southern Gaza city. A senior Israeli official said late on Thursday that the latest round of indirect negotiations in Cairo to halt hostilities in Gaza had ended and Israel would proceed with its operation in Rafah and other parts of the Gaza Strip as planned. Israel has submitted to mediators its reservations about a Hamas proposal for a hostage release deal, the official said. If we must, we shall fight with our fingernails, Netanyahu said in a video statement. But we have much more than our fingernails. In Gaza, Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad said their fighters fired anti-tank rockets and mortars at Israeli tanks massed on the eastern outskirts of the city. Residents and medics in Rafah, the biggest urban area in Gaza not yet overrun by Israeli ground forces, said an Israeli attack near a mosque killed at least three people and wounded others in the eastern Brazil neighbourhood. Video footage from the scene showed the minaret lying in the rubble and two bodies wrapped in blankets. An Israeli air strike on two houses in the Sabra neighbourhood of Rafah killed at least 12 people including women and children. Among the dead was a senior commander of the militant Al-Mujahedeen Brigades, and his family, and the family of another group leader, medics, relatives and the group said. Israel says Hamas militants are hiding in Rafah, where the population has been swelled by hundreds of thousands of Gazans seeking refuge from the bombardments that have reduced most of the coastal enclave to ruins. In the United States, the White House repeated its hope that Israel would not launch a full operation in Rafah, saying it did not believe that would advance Israel's aim of defeating Hamas. Smashing into Rafah, in [President Biden's] view, will not advance that objective, spokesperson John Kirby said. Kirby said Hamas had been pressured significantly by Israel and there were better options to hunt down what remains of the group's leadership than an operation with significant risk to civilians. Israel's assault on Gaza has killed nearly 35,000 Palestinians and wounded nearly 80,000, most of them civilians, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said. It launched its offensive in response to a cross-border attack by Hamas militants on Israel on Oct. 7 in which they killed about 1,200 people and abducted 252. Some 128 hostages remain in Gaza and 36 have been declared dead, according to the latest Israeli figures. Biden on Wednesday issued his starkest warning yet against a full ground invasion in Rafah, telling CNN that: I made it clear that if they go into Rafah...I'm not supplying the weapons. Israel's ambassador to the United States said the decision to withhold weapons from Israel over Rafah sends the wrong message to Hamas and the country's foes. It puts us in a corner because we have to deal with Rafah one way or the other, Ambassador Michael Herzog told a Carnegie Endowment for International Peace webinar. The Israeli military has the munitions it requires for operations in Rafah and other planned operations, chief armed forces spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said. Israeli armed forces have already killed 50 Palestinian gunmen in east Rafah and uncovered several tunnels, Hagari said. Hamas had no immediate comment. TALKS END In Cairo, delegations from Hamas, Israel, the U.S., Egypt and Qatar had been meeting since Tuesday. The talks in Egypt's capital made some headway but no deal was reached, according to two Egyptian security sources. Izzat El-Risheq, a member of Hamas' political office in Qatar, said the Hamas delegation had left Cairo, having reaffirmed its approval of the mediators' ceasefire proposal. The plan entails the release of Israeli hostages held captive in Gaza and a number of Palestinians jailed by Israel. Hamas blamed Israel for the lack of agreement so far. Israel has said it is open to a truce, but has rejected demands for an end to the war. U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Washington continued to engage with Israel on amendments to a ceasefire proposal, adding work to finalize the text of an agreement was incredibly difficult. MEDICAL SECTOR COLLAPSING Israeli residents set fire twice to the perimeter of the headquarters of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees in East Jerusalem, causing extensive damage to the outdoor areas but no casualties, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini wrote on X. There was no immediate comment from Israeli police. Once again, the lives of U.N. staff were at a serious risk, Lazzarini wrote, adding he had decided to close the compound until security is restored. On Tuesday, Israeli tanks seized the Gaza side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, cutting off a vital aid route and forcing 80,000 people to flee the city this week, according to the United Nations. Israel kept up tank and aerial strikes across Gaza and tanks advanced in the Zeitoun neighbourhood of Gaza City in the north, forcing hundreds of families to flee, residents said. The Israeli military said it was securing Zeitoun, starting with a series of intelligence-based aerial strikes on approximately 25 militant targets. Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza was packed with people who had fled Rafah in recent days. Palestinian medics said two people, including a woman, were killed when a drone fired a missile at a group of people there. The closure of the Rafah crossing with Egypt has prevented the evacuation of the wounded and sick and the entry of medical supplies, food trucks and fuel needed to operate hospitals, the Gaza health ministry said on Thursday. The only kidney dialysis centre in the Rafah area had stopped operating due to the shelling. The entire medical sector has collapsed, said Ali Abu Khurma, a Jordanian surgeon volunteering at Al Aqsa hospital in Deir al-Balah. United Nations aid chief Martin Griffiths said that for three consecutive days, othing and no one has been allowed in or out of Gaza. It means no aid. Our supplies are stuck. Our teams are stuck. Civilians in Gaza are being starved and killed, and we are prevented from helping them. This is Gaza today, even after 7 months of horrors, Griffiths posted on X. (Additional reporting by Maytaal Angel in JERUSALEM, Ahmed Mohamed Hassan in CAIRO, Doaa Rouqa in GAZA and other Reuters bureaux; Writing by Ros Russell, Alexandra Hudson and Deepa Babington, Editing by Philippa Fletcher and Angus MacSwan)

Elderly couple found dead in a house in Salem

Childless elderly couple found dead near Salem

TIMELINE-Bidens move on weapons supplies is latest test of US-Israel relations

TIMELINE-Bidens move on weapons supplies is latest test of US-Israel relations Here are some milestones in Israel's ties with the United States, now strained by Israeli government plans for a major assault on Rafah in southern Gaza and a warning by President Joe Biden that U.S. weapons sales will be withheld if it goes ahead: 1948 President Harry Truman becomes the first world leader to recognize the newly-established Israel. 1956 Furious with Israel's capture of the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza Strip from Egypt in a campaign with France and Britain, the administration of President Dwight Eisenhower insists on unconditional Israeli withdrawal and threatens to suspend vital U.S. financial aid to Israel unless it pulls out. It does so. 1967 The U.S. stands behind Israel in its June war with surrounding Arab states. But relations are jolted by Israel's attack in international waters on the Liberty, a U.S. spy ship. Thirty-four American seamen are killed and 174 wounded. Israel apologized, saying it had mistaken the Liberty for an Egyptian ship. 1973 President Richard Nixon airlifts military hardware to Israel after Egypt and Syria, which lost territory in the 1967 war, launched a surprise attack on Israel on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur. 1975 The U.S. administration of President Gerald Ford threatens to reappraise ties with Israel unless it signs a disengagement treaty with Egypt to pull back from the Sinai peninsula, captured in 1967. 1979 President Jimmy Carter hosts the signing of a peace treaty between Israel and Egypt, concluded in talks at Camp David. Israel eventually withdraws from the Sinai peninsula. 1981 The U.S. condemns Israel's bombing of Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor. 1982 President Ronald Reagan expresses what a spokesman calls outrage to Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin over Israeli bombing raids in Beirut during a war in Lebanon, and pressures him into a ceasefire. Reagan imposed a six-year ban on cluster bombs sales to Israel after a Congressional investigation found Israeli forces had used the weapons in populated areas of Lebanon. 1990 Secretary of State James Baker says the U.S. is growing weary of Israeli foot-dragging over peace negotiations with the Palestinians and recites a White House telephone number, urging both sides o call us when you are serious about peace. 1991 President George Bush Sr. pushes Israel to stay out of first Gulf War, concerned that an Israeli attack on Iraq would cause a U.S.-led coalition to disintegrate. Washington withholds $10 billion in loan guarantees sought by Israel to absorb the immigration of Soviet Jews, piling pressure on Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir to attend the Madrid peace conference. Bush says he will not grant the guarantees unless Israel freezes settlement-building in territories captured in the 1967 war. 1992 Bush approves Israel's loan guarantees request after Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin offers a limited curtailment of settlement-building. 1993 President Bill Clinton hosts a handshake between Rabin and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat at the signing of a Declaration of Principles on interim Palestinian self-government. 1998 Clinton hosts a summit between Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Wye River, Maryland. Netanyahu agrees to hand over more occupied land to Palestinian self-rule. 2003 President George W. Bush announces a oad map peace plan, three years after the start of a Palestinian uprising, setting an outline for an end to violence and return to statehood talks. 2004 Bush tells Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that existing major Israeli population centers - an indirect reference to Jewish settlement enclaves in the occupied West Bank - make it unrealistic to expect Israel to return to armistice lines drawn in 1949. 2009 Bush tells Israel's parliament the unbreakable bond between Israel and the U.S. runs deeper than any treaty and is grounded in the shared link to the Bible. 2010 Israel announces the building of more settler homes around Jerusalem during a visit by President Barack Obama's vice president, Joe Biden. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton calls the move insulting. 2011 Netanyahu lectures Obama in the White House Oval Office days after Obama stated publicly that he borders between Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines. 2015 Obama says the international community does not believe that Israel is serious about a two-state solution. 2016 Obama, in the final weeks of his presidency, allows a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlement building to be adopted by withholding the U.S. veto. It breaks with a history of U.S. shielding Israel at the United Nations. 2017 Reversing decades of U.S. policy, President Donald Trump recognises Jerusalem as Israels capital. The new U.S. embassy opens there in 2018. 2019 The Trump administration recognizes Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, territory captured from Syria in the 1967 war. The U.S. is the only country to do this. 2023 Oct. 7 - U.S. President Joe Biden offers Israel all appropriate means of support after the Palestinian militant group Hamas launches its Oct. 7 attack on Israel from Gaza, and warns any party hostile to Israel not to seek advantage. Dec. 12 - Biden warns Israel it is losing international support because of its indiscriminate bombing of Gaza civilians in its war against Hamas militants. 2024 Feb. 8 - Biden says he seeks a sustained pause in the fighting and that Israel's military response in Gaza had been over the top. Feb. 11 - Biden tells Netanyahu Israel should not launch a military operation in Gaza's southernmost town of Rafah without a credible plan to ensure the safety of the roughly 1 million people sheltering there. March 12 - Netanyahu says Israel will press forward with its military campaign into Rafah. May 8 - President Joe Biden publicly warns Israel for the first time that the U.S. would stop supplying it with weapons if Israeli forces make a major invasion of Rafah. May 9 - Israeli forces mass tanks close to built-up areas of Rafah. (Compiled by Tom Perry; Editing by Philippa Fletcher)

Rafah Hospitals Face Imminent Fuel Shortage, Warns WHO

Rafah Hospitals Face Imminent Fuel Shortage, Warns WHO The World Health Organization says it has only three days of fuel for its medical operations in southern Gaza, with shortages already forcing one of three remaining hospitals in the city of Rafah to shut down. The Rafah border crossing with Egypt has been closed since Israel's military took control of the Palestinian side early Tuesday, blocking the entry of desperately needed humanitarian aid. The U.N. says northern Gaza is already in a state of full-blown famine. Israel said it reopened Kerem Shalom crossing, the other main entry point for aid, on Wednesday. U.N. officials say no aid has entered Gaza, and there is no one to receive it on the Palestinian side because of ongoing fighting. The war in Gaza has driven around 80% of the territory's population of 2.3 million from their homes and caused vast destruction to apartments, hospitals, mosques and schools across several cities. The death toll in Gaza has soared to more than 34,500 people, according to local health officials. The war began Oct. 7 when Hamas attacked southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting about 250 others. Israel says militants still hold around 100 hostages and the remains of more than 30 others. Here's the latest: ISRAELI DRONE STRIKE ON CAR IN LEBANON KILLS 4, GROUP SAYS Beirut Lebanon's Civil Defense paramedic group says an Israeli drone strike on a car in a Lebanese village near the border with Israel killed four people. It was not immediately clear if the four killed Thursday in the village of Bafliyeh were members of Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group. Hezbollah started attacking Israeli army posts along the Lebanon-Israel border a day after the Israel-Hamas war broke out on Oct. 7. Since then, more than 350 people have been killed in Lebanon, including 275 Hezbollah members and more than 70 civilians and non-combatants. In Israel, 15 soldiers and 10 civilians have been killed. Foreign officials have been visiting Lebanon over the past month in attempts to bring calm to the border, but Hezbollah has repeatedly said it will not stop fighting until there is a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip. ISRAEL'S NATIONAL SECURITY MINISTER SAYS HAMAS LOVES BIDEN Tel Aviv Far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir posted Hamas loves Biden on X, formerly called Twitter, a day after U.S. President Joe Biden said he would not supply offensive weapons that Israel could use to launch an all-out assault on Rafah. Biden, in an interview with CNN on Wednesday, said the U.S. was still committed to Israel's defense and would supply Iron Dome rocket interceptors and other defensive arms, but that if Israel goes into Rafah, we're not going to supply the weapons and artillery shells used. There is widespread concern over the well-being of the more than 1 million civilians sheltering in Rafah. Ben Gvir, who used a heart emoji in his tweet regarding Biden and Hamas, has pushed for a punishing military response and has threatened to leave the government if Israel does not carry out a wide-ranging military operation in Rafah. Hamas' exercises and games have only one answer: an immediate order to occupy Rafah! he wrote on X on Monday. ISRAELI AIRSTRIKE KILLS 8 PEOPLE, INCLUDING 4 CHILDREN Cairo An Israeli airstrike on a residential building killed eight people including four children late Wednesday, according to hospital records. The strike hit a residential building in Tel al-Sultan in western Rafah. Israel's military took control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing early Tuesday after issuing evacuation orders for eastern parts of the city, home to some 100,000. It then sent tanks to seize the nearby Rafah crossing with Egypt, shutting it down. Associated Press journalists heard sporadic explosions and gunfire in the area of the Rafah crossing overnight Tuesday, including two large blasts early Wednesday. On Wednesday afternoon, hospital records showed at least 25 people were wounded when Israeli artillery fire struck part of central Rafah, an area that Israel did not tell Palestinians to evacuate ahead of its operation. The military had no immediate comment. ISRAELI SOLDIER KILLED BY MORTAR LAUNCHED FROM LEBANON AS TENSIONS RISE Tel Aviv An Israeli soldier was killed by a mortar launched from Lebanon, as tensions between Israel and Lebanon continue to rise during the war in Gaza. The soldier was killed on Wednesday and the army announced the death on Thursday. It was the third fatality in a week in Israel on the northern border from launches from Lebanon. The Israeli army said fighter jets struck Hezbollah military structures in southern Lebanon on Wednesday in response. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant also toured Israel's northern border on Wednesday and warned that a war with Hezbollah would have a heavy cost for Israel and a catastrophic one for Hezbollah and Lebanon. He added that while Israel was open to a diplomatic solution on the northern border, the army was also preparing for a possible military operation to allow citizens to return to their homes. Tens of thousands of civilians have been evacuated from Israel and southern Lebanon since the war began. A total of 15 soldiers and 10 civilians have been killed in Israel by Lebanese launches. In Lebanon, more than 370 people have been killed by Israeli strikes, including more than 70 civilians and non-combatants. ISRAELI STRIKE HITS BUILDING IN DAMASCUS SUBURB, SYRIAN MEDIA SAY Damascus Syrian state media say an Israeli strike on a building in a suburb of the capital, Damascus, caused damage but no casualties. State news agency SANA cited a military official as saying that Syrian air defenses shot down some of the Israeli missiles before they reached their targets early Thursday. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said the strike targeted Iran-backed fighters in the southern Damascus suburb of Sayida Zeinab. It did not report any casualties. There was no comment from Israel's military on the strike. Israel rarely acknowledges such strikes, although it has carried hundreds over the past years, mainly targeting Iran-backed fighters such as Lebanon's Hezbollah group. The strike was the second on Syria since an April 1 attack blamed on Israel struck the Iranian Consulate in Damascus, killing seven people, including two Iranian generals. Iran responded days later by launching hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel. Most were shot down, Israel said. YEMEN'S HOUTHI REBELS CLAIM 2 ATTACKS IN GULF OF ADEN Yemen's Houthi rebels on Thursday claimed two missile attacks in the Gulf of Aden on two Panama-flagged container ships that caused no damage, while also saying they targeted a ship in the Indian Ocean in a previously unreported assault. The claims by Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree come as the tempo of the rebel attacks have waned in recent weeks as they've been targeted by repeated airstrikes launched by a U.S.-led coalition warship in waterways crucial to international trade. The Houthis insist their assaults will continue as long as Israel's war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip goes on. Saree in a prerecorded statement claimed attacks on the MSC Diego and MSC Gina. The Joint Maritime Information Center, a U.S.-led coalition of nations operating in the Mideast, said those two missile attacks happened early Tuesday. BIDEN SAYS US WON'T SUPPLY WEAPONS FOR ISRAEL TO ATTACK RAFAH President Joe Biden said Wednesday that he would not supply offensive weapons that Israel could use to launch an all-out assault on Rafah the last major Hamas stronghold in Gaza over concern for the well-being of the more than 1 million civilians sheltering there. Biden, in an interview with CNN, said the U.S. was still committed to Israel's defense and would supply Iron Dome rocket interceptors and other defensive arms, but that if Israel goes into Rafah, we're not going to supply the weapons and artillery shells used, that have been used. The interview marked Biden's toughest public comments yet about the potential Israeli military operation and followed his decision to pause a shipment of heavy bombs to Israel last week over concerns that the U.S. ally was moving closer to an attack on Rafah despite public and private warnings from his administration. UN IS NEGOTIATING WITH ISRAEL AND EGYPT TO RESUME FUEL SHIPMENTS INTO GAZA United Nations The United Nations is engaged in intensive discussions with Israeli and Egyptian authorities to restart fuel shipments to Gaza as soon as possible in order keep providing humanitarian operations. U.N. humanitarian staff in Gaza are rationing fuel to stretch what's available for as long as possible, but it is clear that it is a matter of hours, if not days, where we will have no more fuel, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters Wednesday Between May 1 and May 5, a daily average of 48 trucks carrying more than 160,000 liters of fuel entered Gaza through the now-closed Rafah crossing with Egypt, Dujarric said. The U.N. spokesman confirmed that nothing has entered Gaza from the Kerem Shalom crossing, which Israel said it reopened Wednesday, because fighting is still ongoing. With rockets falling and other military activities, there is an issue of safety of humanitarian personnel, he said. A THIRD MASS GRAVE IS FOUND AT SHIFA HOSPITAL, GAZA'S HEALTH MINISTRY SAYS Jerusalem Dozens of bodies were buried in a mass grave on the grounds of Shifa hospital in northern Gaza, where Israeli forces staged two major operations during the war, the Health Ministry in Gaza said Wednesday. It is unclear who was buried in the grave or how they died. The Health Ministry says it was the third mass grave found at Shifa since the war began. A two-week Israeli raid in March left Gaza's largest medical complex in ruins. Mass graves have also been uncovered at other hospitals Israel raided. In some cases hospital officials said they had been dug purposely to bury the dead until it was safe to move the bodies to a final resting place. Israel says it has nothing to do with the mass graves, claiming the people buried there either died in battle or were patients who died in the hospital. The United Nations has called for a clear, transparent and credible investigation of the mass graves. CIA DIRECTOR IN ISRAEL AS MEDIATORS PUSH FOR A CEASE-FIRE Washington -A U.S. official says that CIA Director William Burns is in Israel as international mediators push for a cease-fire. The official said Burns arrived on Wednesday and was meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss closed-door negotiations. The official gave no details on the discussions. But Burns has been in the region meeting with Egyptian and Qatari officials in recent days. He had been scheduled to travel to Israel from Qatar earlier this week, but that meeting was postponed without explanation. All three countries have been involved in months of talks aimed at halting the seven-month war between Israel and Hamas. Hamas announced on Sunday that it had accepted an Egyptian-Qatari cease-fire plan. But Israel says the proposal does not meet its core demands.

Israels Army says commander of Hamas Naval unit in Gaza city killed

Jerusalem: The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have said Ahmed Ali, the commander of the naval unit of the Palestinian movement Hamas in Gaza City, has been killed in an airstrike. In a joint IDF and ISA [the Israel Securities Authority] activity based on Israeli Navy and ISA intelligence, an IAF [Israeli Air Force] aircraft eliminated []

Gazas militants fire rockets at Israels Kerem Shalom area: army

Jerusalem, May 9 (UNI) Militants in Gaza fired eight rockets from the Rafah area toward the Kerem Shalom Crossing area in Israel shortly after it reopened on Wednesday, injuring one Israeli soldier, according to the Israeli army. The soldier sustained light injuries and received medical treatment at the scene, the army said in a statement.... The post Gazas militants fire rockets at Israels Kerem Shalom area: army first appeared on Central India's Premier English Daily .

At least 30 killed during Israels continuing ground assault in Gazas Rafah

Jerusalem, May 9 (UNI) Israels army announced on Wednesday that it was continuing its ground assault on Gazas Rafah, reporting approximately 30 casualties since the offensive began on Monday night. According to an army statement, the 30 casualties were militants, while Gaza health officials reported about 35 deaths, including a four-month-old baby. The army said... The post At least 30 killed during Israels continuing ground assault in Gazas Rafah first appeared on Central India's Premier English Daily .

Showers temper heat in Tamil Nadu, rain likely till may 11

CHENNAI: After an intense spell of heatwave, the maximum temperature in many parts of Tamil Nadu, including Chennai, has dropped below normal. The regional meteorological centre (RMC) on Wednesday said heavy rainfall, due to cyclonic circulation, in interior districts and hilly areas of Nilgiris and Coimbatore will continue till May 11. Thunderstorm, lightning and winds with speed up to 30-40 kmph likely over TN, the RMC said. Except Karur, Erode and Madurai, the temperature has dropped significantly across TN due to the rainfall. Karur recorded the highest temperature of 41.2Celsius, which was 4.9C above normal. But Dharmapuri, which was inching closer to 43C till last week, recorded 35C --- about 1.5C below normal. Chennais Meenambakkam weather station, which was breaching 40C mark, has clocked below-normal temperature of 37.1C. P Senthamarai Kannan, director, Area Cyclone Warning Centre, said maximum temperature may fall by up to 2C in next five days over TN, Puducherry and Karaikal region. Temperature to rise in 3rd week of May In interior Tamil Nadu, the temperature will generally be 2-3 degrees above normal. On May 9, heavy rainfall is likely over Nilgiris, Coimbatore, Tiruppur, Dindigul, Karur, Erode, Namakkal and Salem district and it will spread to places like Kallakurichi, Theni, Virudhunagar, Madurai, Tenkasi, Tirunelveli and Kanniyakumari during subsequent two days. In Chennai, the sky condition is likely to be partly cloudy with possibility of light to moderate rainfall. Maximum temperature will be around 35-36 degree Celsius. In the last 24 hours ending 8.30am on Wednesday, KRP Dam weather station in Krishnagiri and Keelpennathur in Tiruvannamalai received the highest rainfall of 9cm. Till 5.30 pm, Valparai in Coimbatore received 29.8 mm of rainfall. Mahesh Palawat, vice-president, Meteorology and Climate Change, Skymet weather service, said the heatwave spell has ended but the temperature will start to rise again in the third week of May as the current rainfall activity subsides.

Tamil Nadu government school boys to get Rs 1k college aid from July

CHENNAI: Chief Secretary Shiv Das Meena on Wednesday said the Tamil Pudhalvan scheme, under which `1,000 per month will be provided to male students of government schools joining higher education, will be implemented from this academic year beginning July. Meena said this while inaugurating the Kalloori Kanavu scheme under Nan Mudhalvan programme at the Anna Centenary Library on Wednesday. Under the Kalloori Kanavu scheme, career guidance programmes will be conducted across various districts till May 13 to help students make informed decision regarding higher education courses. Last year 30,000 more students joined higher education courses after Class 12 and the number may increase this year, the officer said. While TN has the highest gross enrolment ratio, initiatives like Kalloori Kanavu are essential to ensure that all students get higher education including polytechnic, engineering, law, arts and medicine. Students across the state will be informed about the various opportunities available to them through the scheme, he said. He also added that inter-department teams including education, revenue and local body officials have been formed in the districts to track students who are not pursuing higher education. These students will be encouraged to enrol for higher education. This will help improve the gross enrolment ratio gradually, he added. Last year, out of the 3,3,628 students who cleared Class 12 examinations in government schools, 2,43,70 joined higher education. The career guidance event was held in Chennai, Tiruchy, Coimbatore, Nagapattinam, Madurai, Tirunelveli and Salem on Wednesday. It will take place in Tiruvallur, The Nilgiris, Perambalur, Myladuthurai, Dindigul, Dharmapuri on Thursday, Chengalpattu, Tiruppur, Ariyalur, Cuddalore, Theni, Kanniyakumari, Krishnagiri on May 10, Kancheepuram, Erode, Thanjavur, Villupuram, Virudhunagar, Thoothukudi, Tirupattur on May 11, and Ranipet, Thenkasi, Namakkal, Karur, Tiruvarur, Pudukkottai, Kallakurichi, Sivagangai, Ramanathapuram, Tiruvannamalai and Vellore on May 13. Experts will interact with students in these programmes. This apart, universities will set up stalls at each location to clarify doubts of students on educational opportunities available to them. These stalls will showcase the various programmes offered. The 2022 edition of Kalloori Kanavu benefited over 75,000 students across state.

Groundwater level dips in 26 districts, west TN worst hit

CHENNAI: The groundwater levels in 26 districts of Tamil Nadu have witnessed a significant drop compared to April last year, exacerbating the water shortage across the state. Eleven districts, however, have seen a slight improvement in the water table. According to the Water Resources Departments (WRD) groundwater data for the month of April accessed by TNIE, some of the western districts have witnessed the steepest decline in water level. For instance, the average depth at which groundwater is available in Dharmapuri plummeted from 5.78 metres last April to 8.98 metres this year. Similarly, in Namakkal, the level dropped from 6.15 metres to 9.34 metres. Salem, Krishnagiri and Tiruppur are some of the other western districts that saw a significant drop. Coimbatore was among the worst hit, with water level dropping from 9.4 metres to 10.85 metres compared to last year. On an average, Chennai region has witnessed a 0.5 metre dip in groundwater level. Other districts that saw significant decline include Perambalur, Tiruchy, and Tirupattur (see table). In contrast, groundwater level has gone up in the southern districts of Tirunelveli, Tenkasi, Thoothukudi, and Virudhunagar due to the heavy rain during northeast monsoon which led to flooding in many areas in these districts. K Balasubramani, general secretary, Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Munnetra Kazhagam, expressed concern over the poor efforts by the state in promoting rainwater harvesting. The impact of dwindling water level is acutely felt by farmers particularly in the western regions where groundnut, coconut and other cash crops are traditionally grown, he said. TNs budget for water management insufficient, says farmers association This year, due to water scarcity, farmers have refrained from sowing crops. The situation is grim in Mettur Dam, a vital water source for irrigation and drinking purposes, which has dried up entirely, leaving farmers anxious about the future, Balasubramani said. KV Elankeeran, president of the Federation of Cauvery Delta Farmers Association, said, It is essential to raise awareness about rainwater harvesting among farmers and the public to replenish the states groundwater levels. He also noted that existing rain harvesting tanks are in disuse. Echoing these concerns, a senior WRD official told TNIE, The budget allocation by Tamil Nadu for water management compared to neighbouring states like Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh is insufficient. The WRDs dependency on external funding agencies like Japan International Cooperation Agency to implement vital projects is also delaying projects. However, efforts are under way to convert non-functional borewells into rainwater-recharging units to improve groundwater levels, the official said. In an attempt to address these challenges, the state planning commission and WRD are collaborating with experts and farmers to implement updated water policies introduced in 1994 and 2012, the official said.

Hamas naval commander killed in Gaza: Israeli army

Hamas naval commander killed in Gaza: Israeli army Jerusalem: Commander of Hamas naval unit in Gaza City, Ahmed Ali, was assassinated in an Israeli airstrike, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has announced in a statement. IDF and Shin Bet security agency said on Wednesday that an attack drone killed Ali in the Palestinian enclave, Xinhua [] The post Hamas naval commander killed in Gaza: Israeli army appeared first on Mangalorean.com .

WRAPUP 8-Hamas says it will not compromise further with Israel to win Gaza ceasefire

WRAPUP 8-Hamas says it will not compromise further with Israel to win Gaza ceasefire * LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: * Hamas says it will not compromise further to win ceasefire * Ceasefire talks in Cairo continue into the night -Egypt TV By Nidal al-Mughrabi, Steve Holland and Mohammad Salem CAIRO/WASHINGTON/RAFAH, Gaza Strip, May 8 (Reuters) - P alestinian militant group Hamas said on Wednesday it was unwilling to make more concessions to Israel in negotiations over a ceasefire for Gaza, although talks were still under way in Cairo aimed at pausing Israel's seven-month-old offensive. Israel continued tank and aerial strikes on the southern Gaza city of Rafah on Wednesday and has threatened a major assault on it. Its forces moved in via the Rafah border crossing with Egypt on Tuesday, cutting off a vital aid route and the only exit for the evacuation of wounded patients. Izzat El-Reshiq, a member of Hamas' political office in Qatar, said in a statement late on Wednesday that the group would not go beyond a ceasefire proposal it accepted on Monday, which would also entail the release of some Israeli hostages in Gaza and Palestinian women and children detained in Israel. Israel isnt serious about reaching an agreement and it is using the negotiation as a cover to invade Rafah and occupy the crossing, said Reshiq. There was no immediate comment from Israel, which on Monday declared that the three-phase proposal approved by Hamas was unacceptable because terms had been watered down. Delegations from Hamas, Israel, the U.S., Egypt and Qatar have been meeting in Cairo since Tuesday. Citing a senior source, Egypt's state-affiliated Al Qahera TV said the talks in Cairo continued throughout Wednesday and into the night. The U.S. said on Tuesday that Hamas had revised its ceasefire proposal and the revision could overcome an impasse in negotiations. Just a few hours before Hamas' latest statement, Washington continued to say the two sides were not far apart. We believe there is a pathway to a deal ... The two sides are close enough they should do what they can to get to a deal, U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters. The U.S. aims to stave off a full Israeli invasion of Rafah, and a senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Washington paused a shipment of 1,800 2,000-pound (907-kg) bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs. U.S. President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that Israel had used those bombs to kill Palestinian civilians. Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which they go after population centers, he told CNN. Israel's U.N. ambassador, Gilad Erdan, called Washington's decision very disappointing although he did not believe the U.S. would stop supplying arms to Israel. Israel says it must hit Rafah to defeat thousands of Hamas fighters it says are holed up there. But the city is also a refuge for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who fled combat farther north in Gaza. Hamas said its fighters on Wednesday were battling Israeli forces in Rafah's east and Islamic Jihad's fighters attacked Israeli soldiers and military vehicles with heavy artillery near the city's long abandoned airport. Israeli tank shells landed in the middle of Rafah wounding at least 25 people on Wednesday, medics said. Residents said an Israeli air strike killed four people and wounded 16 others in western Rafah. The Israeli military said it troops had discovered Hamas infrastructure in several places in eastern Rafah and were conducting targeted raids on the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing and airstrikes across the Gaza Strip. AID SHORTAGE The U.N., Gaza residents and humanitarian groups say further Israeli incursion into Rafah will lead to a humanitarian catastrophe. A U.N. official said no fuel or aid had entered the Gaza Strip due to the military operation, a situation disastrous for the humanitarian response in Gaza where more than half the population is suffering catastrophic hunger. Palestinians have crammed into tented camps and makeshift shelters, suffering from shortages of food, water and medicine. Rafah's main maternity hospital, where nearly half of Gaza's births take place, has stopped admitting patients, the United Nations Population Fund told Reuters on Wednesday. The streets of the city echo with the cries of innocent lives lost, families torn apart, and homes reduced to rubble, Rafah Mayor Ahmed Al-Sofi said, appealing to the international community to intervene. Israel has told civilians in Rafah, many of whom have been uprooted several times already, to go to an expanded humanitarian zone in al-Mawasi, some 20 km (12 miles) away. Estimates of how many Palestinians have left Rafah since Monday ranged from 10,000, according to U.N. agency UNRWA, to tens of thousands, according to the Hamas-run Gaza government media office. Some streets look like a ghost town now, Aref, 35, told Reuters via a chat app. Israel's offensive has killed 34,844 Palestinians in seven months of war, most of them civilians, the Gaza health ministry said. The war began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people and abducting 252 others, of whom 128 remain hostage in Gaza and 36 have been declared dead, according to the latest Israeli figures. (Additional reporting by Henriette Chacar and Dan Williams in Jerusalem, Andrea Shalal aboard Air Force One and Susan Heavey and Phil Stewart in Washington; Writing by Cynthia Osterman; Editing by Philippa Fletcher, Josie Kao and Daniel Wallis)

WRAPUP 7-Hamas says it will not compromise further with Israel to win Gaza ceasefire

WRAPUP 7-Hamas says it will not compromise further with Israel to win Gaza ceasefire * LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: * Hamas says it will not compromise further to win ceasefire * Ceasefire talks in Cairo continue into the night -Egypt TV By Nidal al-Mughrabi, Steve Holland and Mohammad Salem CAIRO/WASHINGTON/RAFAH, Gaza Strip, May 8 (Reuters) - P alestinian militant group Hamas said on Wednesday it was unwilling to make more concessions to Israel in negotiations over a ceasefire for Gaza, although talks were still under way in Cairo aimed at pausing Israel's seven-month-old offensive. Israel continued tank and aerial strikes on the southern Gaza city of Rafah on Wednesday and has threatened a major assault on it. Its forces moved in via the Rafah border crossing with Egypt on Tuesday, cutting off a vital aid route and the only exit for the evacuation of wounded patients. Izzat El-Reshiq, a member of Hamas' political office in Qatar, said in a statement late on Wednesday that the group would not go beyond a ceasefire proposal it accepted on Monday, which would also entail the release of some Israeli hostages in Gaza and Palestinian women and children detained in Israel. Israel isnt serious about reaching an agreement and it is using the negotiation as a cover to invade Rafah and occupy the crossing, said Reshiq. There was no immediate comment from Israel, which on Monday declared that the three-phase proposal approved by Hamas was unacceptable because terms had been watered down. Delegations from Hamas, Israel, the U.S., Egypt and Qatar have been meeting in Cairo since Tuesday. Citing a senior source, Egypt's state-affiliated Al Qahera TV said the talks in Cairo continued throughout Wednesday and into the night. The U.S. said on Tuesday that Hamas had revised its ceasefire proposal and the revision could overcome an impasse in negotiations. Just a few hours before Hamas' latest statement, Washington continued to say the two sides were not far apart. We believe there is a pathway to a deal ... The two sides are close enough they should do what they can to get to a deal, U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters. The U.S. aims to stave off a full Israeli invasion of Rafah, and a senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Washington paused a shipment of 1,800 2,000-pound (907-kg) bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs out of concern for civilians in Rafah. Israel says it must hit Rafah to defeat thousands of Hamas fighters it says are holed up there. But the city is also a refuge for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who fled combat farther north in Gaza. The U.N., Gaza residents and humanitarian groups say further Israeli incursion into Rafah will lead to a humanitarian catastrophe. Hamas said its fighters on Wednesday were battling Israeli forces in Rafah's east and Islamic Jihad's fighters attacked Israeli soldiers and military vehicles with heavy artillery near the city's long abandoned airport. Israeli tank shells landed in the middle of Rafah wounding at least 25 people on Wednesday, medics said. Residents said an Israeli air strike killed four people and wounded 16 others in western Rafah. Israel's offensive has killed 34,844 Palestinians in seven months of war, most of them civilians, the Gaza health ministry said. The war began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people and abducting 252 others, of whom 128 remain hostage in Gaza and 36 have been declared dead, according to the latest Israeli figures. (Additional reporting by Henriette Chacar and Dan Williams in Jerusalem, Andrea Shalal aboard Air Force One and Susan Heavey and Phil Stewart in Washington; Writing by Cynthia Osterman; Editing by Philippa Fletcher, Josie Kao and Daniel Wallis)

Chennai: Government Schools to Get 100 Mbps Internet Connection

Chennai : All government schools, starting from the primary to higher secondary level, would be provided with 100 Mbps internet connections with the help of the public sector BSNL in the coming academic year, starting in June, with a view to providing a better learning experience to students and also equipping them to face the future in the hi-tech world. An official press release on Wednesday said that the modern facility had already been set up in 5907 of the total 6023 higher secondary and high schools, 3267 of the total 6992 middle schools and 8711 of the 24,338 primary schools in the State and the rest of the 19,668 schools would be equipped with 10 Mbps internet connection by May end. The State government that was keen on expanding technology to schools had already set up 8,180 hi-tech labs at a cost of Rs 519.73 crore and 22, 931 smart classrooms, costing Rs 455.32 crore benefitting 46,12,742 students, the release said, adding that those schools were getting 5 to 6 Mbps internet connection. Now, by June all the schools would get the 100 Mpbs connection and be equipped with the labs that would go a long way in preparing the students to face the developing technological world and making education easy and enjoyable for them. The ushering in of digital technology in education would help over 46 lakh students to learn their lessons through videos, assess their own learnings online, develop their computer applications skills, improve their English language skills and get career guidance, among other things. Also all government school students enrolling for higher education courses would receive Rs 1000 as assistance from June. Hitherto, only girls who studied from Class VI to XII in government schools were getting the assistance but now it has been extended to male students, too. Announcing that the male students would get the assistance from the coming academic year at a Kalluri Kanavu (College Dreams) event organized in Chennai as part of the Chief Ministers ambitious Naan Mudhalvan scheme, Chief Secretary Shiv Das Meena said four more such events would be held in the coming days at different places to cover all the districts. The Chennai event was for students who had passed higher secondary education in the districts of Chennai, Trichy, Coimbatore, Nagapattinam, Madurai, Tirunelveli and Salem. The rest of the events would be on May 9, 10, 11 and 13, he said.

WRAPUP 6-Battles rage around Rafah after US halts some weapons to Israel

WRAPUP 6-Battles rage around Rafah after US halts some weapons to Israel * LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: * Israel's U.N. ambassador, Gilad Erdan, calls Washington's decision to suspend weapons supplies 'very disappointing' By Nidal al-Mughrabi, Steve Holland and Mohammad Salem CAIRO/WASHINGTON/RAFAH, Gaza Strip, May 8 (Reuters) - H amas battled Israeli troops on the outskirts of the Gaza Strip's crowded southern city of Rafah on Wednesday and Washington said it had held up a shipment of powerful bombs to Israel to prevent Palestinian civilian casualties. The United States, which aims to stave off a full Israeli invasion of Rafah, said it believes a revised Hamas ceasefire proposal may lead to a breakthrough in an impasse in negotiations, with talks resuming in Cairo on Wednesday. Israeli tanks rolled into Gaza at the Rafah border crossing with Egypt on Tuesday, cutting off a vital aid route and the only exit for the evacuation of wounded patients. A U.N. official said no fuel or aid had entered the Gaza Strip due to the military operation, a situation disastrous for the humanitarian response in Gaza where more than half the population is suffering catastrophic hunger. Israel has threatened a major assault on Rafah to defeat thousands of Hamas fighters it says are holed up there. But the city is also a refuge for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who have fled combat further north in the coastal enclave following Israel's previous evacuation orders. They have crammed into tented camps and makeshift shelters, suffering from shortages of food, water and medicine. Rafah's main maternity hospital, where nearly half of Gaza's births take place, has stopped admitting patients, the United Nations Population Fund told Reuters on Wednesday. Hamas said its fighters were battling Israeli forces in the east and Islamic Jihad's fighters attacked Israeli soldiers and military vehicles with heavy artillery near the airport. Israeli tank shells landed in the middle of Rafah wounding at least 25 people, medics said. The streets of the city echo with the cries of innocent lives lost, families torn apart, and homes reduced to rubble. We stand on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe of unprecedented proportions, Rafah's mayor Ahmed Al-Sofi said, appealing to the international community to intervene. A senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Washington had carefully reviewed the delivery of weapons that might be used in Rafah and as a result paused a shipment consisting of 1,800 2,000-pound (907-kg) bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs. This would be the first such delay since the Biden administration, offered its ironclad support to Israel after Hamas' Oct. 7 attack. Washington is Israel's closest ally and main weapons supplier. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the decision was taken in the context of Israel's plan to invade Rafah, which Washington opposes without civilian safeguards. We've been very clear...from the very beginning that Israel shouldn't launch a major attack into Rafah without accounting for and protecting the civilians that are in that battlespace, he told a Senate hearing. Israel's U.N. ambassador, Gilad Erdan, called Washington's decision very disappointing although he did not believe the U.S. would stop supplying arms to Israel. U.S. President Joe Biden can't say he is our partner in the goal to destroy Hamas while on the other hand delay the means meant to destroy Hamas, Erdan told Israel's Channel 12 News. An Israeli government spokesperson said he had nothing to add to the reports. While Israel has stated its intention to destroy Hamas entirely, it is unclear how they would do so and experts doubt that is even possible. The Israeli military said it troops had discovered Hamas infrastructure in several places in eastern Rafah and were conducting targeted raids on the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing and airstrikes across the Gaza Strip. It has told civilians, many of whom have been uprooted several times already, to go to an expanded humanitarian zone in al-Mawasi, some 20 km (12 miles) away. The mayor said the coastal area lacked all he necessities of life. Around 10,000 Palestinians have left Rafah since Monday, said Juliette Touma, spokesperson for UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees. The Hamas-run Gaza government media office put the number at tens of thousands. Some streets look like a ghost town now, Aref, 35, told Reuters via a chat app. We don't fear death and martyrdom but we have kids to care for and live for another day when this war ends and we rebuild the city. Armed groups of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Fatah said in separate statements that gunfights continued in the central Gaza Strip, while residents of northern Gaza reported heavy Israeli tank shelling against eastern areas of Gaza City. Israel's offensive has killed 34,844 Palestinians in seven months of war in Gaza, most of them civilians, the Gaza health ministry said. The war began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people and abducting 252 others, of whom 128 remain hostage in Gaza and 36 have been declared dead, according to the latest Israeli figures. CEASEFIRE TALKS In Cairo, delegations to negotiations from Hamas, Israel, the U.S., Egypt and Qatar reacted positively to their resumption on Tuesday, two Egyptian sources said. The talks are ongoing, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said. CIA Director William Burns travelled from Cairo to Israel on Wednesday and met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, an Israeli official said. Israel on Monday declared that a three-phase proposal approved by Hamas was unacceptable because terms had been watered down. White House spokesperson John Kirby said a new text presented by Hamas suggests gaps could be closed. The proposal included a first phase with a six-week ceasefire, an influx of aid to Gaza, the return of 33 Israeli hostages, alive or dead, and the release by Israel of 30 detained Palestinian children and women for each released Israeli hostage, according to several sources. UNRWA said no aid was getting into Gaza, despite desperate need. Israel said it was reopening the other crossing in southern Gaza, Kerem Shalom, but two Red Crescent sources said aid was still waiting on the Egyptian side of the border on Wednesday afternoon. (Additional reporting by Henriette Chacar and Dan Williams in Jerusalem, Andrea Shalal aboard Air Force One and Susan Heavey and Phil Stewart in Washington; Writing by Ros Russell and Angus MacSwan; Editing by Philippa Fletcher and Josie Kao)

WRAPUP 5-Battles rage around Rafah after U.S. halts some weapons to Israel

WRAPUP 5-Battles rage around Rafah after U.S. halts some weapons to Israel * LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: * U.S. Defense Secretary says arms shipment paused to prevent civilian casualties * UNRWA said no aid getting into Gaza * Israeli government spokesperson has 'nothing to add' to report on weapons shipment * Red Crescent sources say aid was still waiting on the Egyptian side of Kerem Shalom crossing By Nidal al-Mughrabi, Steve Holland and Mohammad Salem CAIRO/WASHINGTON/RAFAH, Gaza Strip, May 8 (Reuters) - H amas battled Israeli troops on the outskirts of the Gaza Strip's crowded southern city of Rafah on Wednesday and Washington said it had held up a shipment of powerful bombs to Israel to prevent civilian casualties. The United States, which aims to stave off a full Israeli invasion of Rafah, said it believes a revised Hamas ceasefire proposal may lead to a breakthrough in an impasse in negotiations, with talks resuming in Cairo on Wednesday. Israeli tanks rolled across the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt on Tuesday, cutting off a vital aid route and the only exit for the evacuation of wounded patients. A U.N. official said no fuel or aid had entered the Gaza Strip due to the military operation, a situation disastrous for the humanitarian response in Gaza where more than half the population is suffering catastrophic hunger. Israel has threatened a major assault on Rafah to defeat thousands of Hamas fighters it says are holed up there. But the city is also a refuge for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who have fled combat further north in the enclave. They have crammed into tented camps and makeshift shelters, suffering from shortages of food, water and medicine. Rafah's main maternity hospital, where nearly half of Gaza's births take place, has stopped admitting patients, the United Nations Population Fund told Reuters on Wednesday. Hamas said its fighters were battling with Israeli forces in the east and Islamic Jihad's fighters attacked Israeli soldiers and military vehicles with heavy artillery near the airport. The streets of the city echo with the cries of innocent lives lost, families torn apart, and homes reduced to rubble. We stand on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe of unprecedented proportions, Rafah's mayor, Ahmed Al-Sofi, said in an appeal to the international community to intervene. A senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Washington had carefully reviewed the delivery of weapons that might be used in Rafah, and as a result paused a shipment consisting of 1,800 2,000-lb bombs and 1,700 500-lb bombs. This would be the first such delay since the Biden administration, offered its ironclad support to Israel after Hamas' Oct. 7 attack. Washington is Israel's closest ally and main weapons supplier. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the decision was taken in the context of Israel's plan to carry out an offensive in Rafah that Washington opposes without civilian safeguards. We've been very clear ... from the very beginning that Israel shouldn't launch a major attack into the Rafah without accounting for and protecting the civilians that are in that battlespace, he told a Senate hearing. An Israeli government spokesperson said he had nothing to add to the reports. The Israeli military said it had uncovered Hamas infrastructure in several locations in eastern Rafah and its troops were conducting targeted raids on the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing and airstrikes across the Gaza Strip. It has told civilians, many of whom have been uprooted several times already, to go to an expanded humanitarian zone in al-Mawasi, some 20 km (12 miles) away. The mayor said the coastal area lacked all he necessities of life. Around 10,000 Palestinians have left Rafah since Monday, said Juliette Touma, spokesperson for UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees. The Hamas-run Gaza government media office put the number at tens of thousands. Some streets look like a ghost town now, Aref, 35, told Reuters via a chat app. We don't fear death and martyrdom but we have kids to care for and live for another day when this war ends and we rebuild the city. Armed groups of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Fatah said in separate statements that gunfights continued in the central Gaza Strip, while residents of northern Gaza reported heavy Israeli tank shelling against eastern areas of Gaza City. CEASEFIRE TALKS In Cairo, delegations to negotiations from Hamas, Israel, the U.S., Egypt and Qatar reacted positively to their resumption on Tuesday, two Egyptian sources said. The talks are ongoing, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Air Force One on Wednesday. CIA Director William Burns travelled from Cairo to Israel on Wednesday and met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, an Israeli official said. Israel on Monday declared that a three-phase proposal approved by Hamas was unacceptable because terms had been watered down. White House spokesperson John Kirby said a new text presented by Hamas suggests gaps could be closed. The proposal included a first phase with a six-week ceasefire, an influx of aid to Gaza, the return of 33 Israeli hostages, alive or dead, and the release by Israel of 30 detained Palestinian children and women for each released Israeli hostage, according to several sources. Israel's offensive has killed 34,844 Palestinians in seven months of war in Gaza, most of them civilians, the Gaza health ministry said. The war began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people and abducting 252 others, of whom 128 remain hostage in Gaza and 36 have been declared dead, according to the latest Israeli figures. UNRWA said no aid was getting into Gaza, despite desperate need. We're not receiving any aid into the #GazaStrip, Scott Anderson, deputy director at UNRWA Affairs in Gaza, posted on X. Israel said it was reopening the other crossing in southern Gaza, Kerem Shalom, but two Red Crescent sources said aid was still waiting on the Egyptian side of the border on Wednesday afternoon. (Additional reporting by Henriette Chacar and Dan Williams in Jerusalem, Andrea Shalal aboard Air Force One and Susan Heavey and Phil Stewart in Washington; Writing by Michael Perry and Ros Russell; Editing by Philippa Fletcher)

Israeli extremists sabotage humanitarian efforts: Jordanian aid trucks targeted, 6 arrests made

Israeli activists intercept, halt, and attack aid destined for Gaza from Jordan, sparking controversy. Reports suggest around 250 Israelis targeted the aid truck near Jerusalem, blocking the road for hours. Allegedly affiliated with the right-wing organization Tzav 9, protesters punctured tires and vandalized goods, demanding hostages' release by Hamas. U.S. Secretary of State condemns the disruption as 'unacceptable.' Meanwhile, Israel reopens Erez Crossing but closes Kerem Shalom Crossing after a Hamas attack. Gaza aid convoys face relentless attacks, including an IDF airstrike killing seven aid workers, drawing global criticism. Hamas agrees to a ceasefire proposal, but Israel rejects it, citing unmet demands.

Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu meets with military widows and orphans

Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu meets with military widows and orphans Tel Aviv [Israel], May 8 (ANI/TPS): Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Tuesday at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem met with Israel Defence Forces (IDF) widows and orphans, who have lost the father of a family, the Swords of Iron War against Hamas terrorists in Gaza. The Prime Minister heard from the widows and orphans about their fathers and husbands - dedicated and loving family men - who have fallen. He also listened to the stories of their heroism during the events of October 7 and in the fighting in the Gaza Strip. Prime Minister Netanyahu embraced the family members and shared in their pain, and said that their loved ones fell in defence of the homeland. He added that the testament of the fallen is to complete the mission until total victory over Hamas, an objective that Israel will not shrink from. There are stories of great heroism here, said Netanyahu. It is not just thousands of people; it is the State of Israel that owes them its existence. This is neither a phrase nor mere words. IDF Widows and Orphans Organization CEO Shlomi Nahumson said, When you go around the streets of Jerusalem, the south, in Tel Aviv, you look left and right and you see the people, who are alive today, and they are going to work, and they are going to school and to kindergarten, and they are maintaining their daily routine, thanks to your fathers. (ANI/TPS)

Burglars decamp with 60 sovereigns of gold jewellery, 65 lakh in Salem

Police said the burglary took place when the owner was not at the house; the thieves had changed the direction of the CCTV cameras and had also taken away the hard disc recording the footage

Burglars decamp with 60 sovereigns of gold jewellery, 65 lakh in Salem - The Hindu

Burglars decamp with 60 sovereigns of gold jewellery, 65 lakh in Salem The Hindu

Heatwave ends in TN, Chennai sees marginal dip in mercury level

CHENNAI: The worst of the summer heat is over as the maximum temperature has dipped across Tamil Nadu, thanks to pre-monsoon showers. The weather in Chennai has improved marginally with cloudy skies. Maximum temperature will be around 36-37 degree Celsius for the next two days. Tamil Nadu has received 69% deficit rainfall from March 1 to May 7. The Chennai region has received zero rainfall making it one of the driest spells in the state capital. On Tuesday, Tiruchy recorded the highest temperature of 42.1 degree Celsius. While the State has not received any significant rainfall, places in Nilgiris, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri and other interior districts, which endured one of the torrid heatwave spells, received good rainfall in the last couple of days bringing down the temperature. The regional meteorological centre said there would be heavy rainfall in ghat and interior districts on May 8 and 9 as well. As per the forecast, Nilgiris, Coimbatore, Tiruppur, Theni, Dindigul, Tenkasi, Tirunelveli, Erode, Salem, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Tirupattur, Vellore and Virudhunagar districts would receive heavy rain on Wednesday. Moderate showers are predicted till May 13.

Logistics firms vehicle carrying 810 kg gold overturns in Erode's Chithode

ERODE: A vehicle of a private logistics company that was carrying 810 kg gold bars, worth approximately `562 crore from Coimbatore to Salem overturned on the roadside near Chithode early on Tuesday. Police said the gold belonged to a private dealer and there was no illegality in it. An officer in Erode district police said, The van left Coimbatore for Salem on Monday mid-night carrying 810 kg of gold bars. It was driven by Sasikumar and Balraj was the gunman. Both are employees of the company. Around 2 am on Tuesday, when the van reached Samathuvapuram near Chithode on Kochi - Salem National Highway, the driver lost control and the van overturned on the left side of the road. Both Sasikumar and Balraj were injured. Chithode police rescued the injured and sent them to Bhavani Government Hospital for treatment. The officer added, On investigation, it came to light that the van was loaded with gold bars. After that the vehicle was safely brought to Chithode police station. The gold belongs to a private dealer. Probably transported for jewel stores in Salem. But no illegality was found. So we allowed the gold to be transferred to another vehicle and taken to Salem by the logistics company. Erode SP G Jawahar said, The logistics company often used to carry gold belonging to private dealers. Our investigation did not find any illegal stuff. The Commercial Tax Department also conducted an investigation. No complaints have been received in this regard.

Showers sweep across Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri and Salem

DHARMAPURI: After temperature reached a blistering 41.6C on Monday, Salem district was blessed with a much-needed respite as rainfall swept through the region on Tuesday morning, bringing an average of 8.74 mm of precipitation. The rainfall offered a glimmer of hope for the water reservoirs in the area, particularly the Mettur dam. As of 8 am, the dams water level stood at 52.100 feet, and the storage was 19,160 mcft. Inflow to the dam was 54 cusecs while 1500 cusecs of water was discharged for drinking water requirements. No water is being released into the canals. Additionally, the Aanaimaduvu dam in Vazhaapadi and the Kariyakovil dam in PethanaikanPalayam experienced a slight uptick in water levels following the rainfall, albeit with no significant inflow or outflow reported. The level in Aanaimaduvu dam currently stands at 10.72 feet with a capacity of 13.01 mcft, while the Kariyakovil Dam recorded a level of 13.35 feet with a capacity of 17.31 mcft. Rain was reported in Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri districts also. Dharmapuri received 203.2 mm total rainfall till Tuesday morning with Pennagaram receiving the maximum rain of 59 mm, followed by Dharmapuri 40 mm. The average rainfall in the district was 22.57 mm. Krishnagiri district received 276.54 mm total rainfall, Nedungal received the highest as 47.2 mm, Barur 46.2 mm, KRP dam 33.6 mm and other places, and average rainfall is 17.28 mm. Sources in Krishnagiri district disaster management told TNIE, Since last week, six cattle died in lightning strike at Shoolagiri, Denkanikottai taluk. Three asbestos roof houses were partially damaged in Shoolagiri due to rain and strong wind. On Monday evening, the roof of anganwadi centre was damaged due to wind near Denkanikottai.