Author: Anadolu Agency
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on Saturday discussed the investigation of this week’s plane crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines flight near a Caspian Kazakh city. The call, initiated by Russia, saw both leaders exchanging condolences, according to the Kazakh presidency. Tokayev told Putin that a government commission is investigating the crash with experts from Azerbaijan, Russia, and Brazil. Both leaders emphasized the importance of maintaining transparency in the investigation. On Wednesday, the flight from Azerbaijan’s capital Baku to Grozny in Russia’s Chechen Republic crashed near Aktau, Kazakhstan, killing 38 people and leaving 29 survivors. While Azerbaijan…
One more Israeli soldier was killed and another injured in fighting in the northern Gaza Strip, the army said on Sunday. A military statement said the soldier, from the army’s 9th Battalion in the 401st Brigade, lost his life in clashes in northern Gaza, without giving further details. Another soldier from the 931st Battalion was seriously wounded in clashes in northern Gaza, the army said in another statement. According to Israeli military figures, at least 824 soldiers have been killed and 5,541 others injured since the outbreak of the Gaza conflict on Oct. 7, 2023. The Israeli army has continued…
The bodies of 24 Azerbaijani citizens killed in an Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) passenger plane crash near Aktau, Kazakhstan, have been brought to the capital Baku. The bodies were brought to Heydar Aliyev International Airport by plane and received by officials from the Azerbaijani Ministry of Health late Saturday night. The bodies, which include three crew members and 21 passengers, will first undergo autopsy before being handed over to their families. On Thursday, Baku had received 14 injured passengers and the bodies of four more from the crash site. The AZAL flight, en route from Baku to Grozny in Russia’s Chechen…
Türkiye is “deeply saddened” by Sunday’s plane crash in South Korea that killed at least 177 people, the Foreign Ministry said. “We extend our condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in this tragic accident, as well as to the people of the Republic of Korea, and wish a speedy recovery to the injured,” the ministry said in a statement. After reportedly experiencing landing gear problems, a Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 carrying 181 passengers and crew caught fire this morning while landing at Muan International Airport in the southern part of the country. South Korean authorities confirmed…
Another Palestinian detainee from Gaza died in an Israeli hospital on Sunday, prisoners’ affairs groups said. Ashraf Fakhri Abu Warda, 51, breathed his last at Soroka Medical Center in the southern city of Beersheba, two days after he was transferred from the Negev Desert Prison in southern Israel, the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner Society said in a joint statement. His family said that Abu Warda, who was detained by Israeli army forces in Gaza on Nov. 20, 2023, had no known health issues before his detention. His death brought the number of Palestinians who died in…
Asma Assad, the British-born wife of ousted Syrian regime leader Bashar Assad, has been effectively barred from returning to the UK after her British passport expired, according to local media. Without a valid passport, Asma Assad cannot return to her hometown London, according to the Sunday Times. Moscow confirmed earlier this month that the Assads had fled Damascus and been granted asylum in Russia, though their exact whereabouts are unknown. The report further suggests she is in critical condition due to leukemia, with only a 50-50 chance of survival. “The disclosure about her passport status came as her father, Fawaz…
Russia said on Sunday that it has taken control of another settlement as part of its ongoing offensive in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region. Russian forces captured the village of Novotroitske, located some 12 kilometers (7.4 miles) southwest of the city of Pokrovsk, a key front in Moscow’s operations in the area, said Russia’s Defense Ministry. Recent months have seen frequent claims by Russia of territorial gains, particularly in the Donetsk region, where fighting has intensified around Pokrovsk. The city serves as a critical logistics hub for Ukraine’s military in the region, which shares a border with Russia. Ukrainian authorities have…
Ahmed al-Sharaa, the leader of Syria’s new administration, vowed Sunday that his government would prevent the terrorist group PKK/YPG from using Syria as a base of operations. Speaking to the Saudi Al-Arabiya/Al-Hadath television channel, al-Sharaa laid out his vision for Syria’s future, highlighting plans for constitutional reforms and elections. Stressing that Kurds are an integral part of Syria, al-Sharaa said his administration would not allow the country to serve as a base for the terrorist PKK/YPG and reiterated that Syria must remain united. Addressing ongoing negotiations with the terrorist PKK/YPG, which also operates under the name SDF, he said the…
At least 13 Palestinians, including children, were killed and several others injured in Israeli bombardment in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, a medical source said. Fighter jets hit a home in the northern town of Beit Hanoun, leaving six people dead, the source said. A mother and her three children were among the victims, while several people were injured in the attack, it added. Medics and residents were unable to reach the site to rescue the wounded due to the intensive Israeli bombardment, according to eyewitnesses. Seven people, including children, also lost their lives in Israeli artillery shelling in the…
Lebanese authorities recovered the bodies of five people in southern Lebanon on Sunday and counted three new Israeli violations of a cease-fire agreement. The Lebanese Civil Defense Service said that the bodies of the victims were retrieved in the town of Khiam. It remains unclear whether the five victims were killed by Israeli fire before or after the cease-fire. Meanwhile, Israeli army forces carried out two large detonations in the southern town of Meiss El Jabal, with the blasts heard in nearby villages, the state news agency NNA reported. The Israeli army also blocked a road between the southern towns…