An Infosys employee is among those being held hostage by an unidentified armed man who stormed a downtown cafe in Sydney, the IT major said on Monday.
Carter was in politics, but not a politician, certainly not a transactional politician, points out Shreekant Sambrani.
Accusing the Odisha government of failing to fulfill promises made during recent hostage crisis, top Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda on Sunday said rebels may turn violent if the administration resorted to suppression.
The two abducted Italians are safe and unharmed, the Odisha government claimed on Tuesday, a day after the Maoists named three negotiators to hold talks with the authorities on the six-day-long hostage crisis.
'We should be mindful that the religious minority community in one country is the majority in another (and) so treatment of the minority community in our respective countries will be an important variable in our relationship'
'They try and extend the hostage situation as long as they can to remain in the national headlines.'
'Netanyahu lured Trump into a trap by enticing him with a seductive scenario of massive lucrative business in Gaza's reconstruction.' 'Trump's imagination is running riot, completely disconnected from ground realities,' asserts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
In days of smart, networked technology and no shame over collateral damage, what will blow up next -- cars, mobile phones, TV sets, refrigerators? And where?, asks Shyam G Menon.
In his opening remarks at the virtual summit of Leaders of G20 countries, Modi made it clear that terrorism was "unacceptable" to everyone and the death of civilians, anywhere, was condemnable.
The leaders also noted the "negative impacts" of the war in Ukraine with regard to global food and energy security, especially for developing and least-developed countries.
Kamboj said the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas has led to a large-scale loss of civilian lives, especially women and children.
India abstained in the United Nations General Assembly on a resolution that demanded Israel end its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory within 12 months, with Delhi underlining that it is a strong advocate of 'dialogue and diplomacy' and efforts should be made towards 'building bridges', 'not furthering divides'.
Captain Sharan and Flight Engineer Anil Jaggia both confirm that the hijackers seemed to know a lot about flying an aircraft. Without help from the ISI or the Pakistan army, it was impossible, points out Utkarsh Mishra.
Inspired by the Olympics worlds away in Paris, some Palestinian youths played football against each other at a school sheltering the displaced in the war-torn Gaza Strip
A gunman took 180 passengers on board a plane hostage at a Jamaican airport late on Sunday evening, but released all its passengers unharmed later, according to a CNN report.However, five crew members of the Canadian plane were still being held as hostages, airline officials said.A spokeswoman for the airport told CNN that the hostage crisis took place while a CanJet flight was taking off from Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay to Halifax, Canada.
As the hostage crisis involving abducted Sukma Collector Alex Paul Menon entered the eighth day on Saturday, mediators from the rebel side left for Tadmetla forests apparently to brief Maoists on talks they had with the Chhattisgarh government on their demands for releasing the IAS officer. N Baijendra Kumar, principal secretary to Chief Minister Raman Singh, told PTI that the mediators, who have held two rounds of talks with the government-appointed interlocutors.
Dulat, however, pointedly said engagement with Pakistan has always been "influenced by domestic politics".
Maoists on Monday unconditionally released the three abducted Bihar policemen in Lakhisarai district, bringing an end to the nine-day-old hostage crisis.
Maoists on Sunday morning released the three policemen they had abducted a week ago. The release of the policemen was confirmed by Rajni Devi, wife of Abhay Kumar Yadav, one of the abducted cops.Rajni Devi told rediff.com over the telephone that a Maoist leader visited her house on Sunday morning and informed her that her husband and his two colleagues had been freed."He assured me that my husband will reach home as he was released along with the other policemen," she said.
India has voiced hope that Palestine's bid to become a full member of the United Nations, which was blocked by the United States last month, will be reconsidered and its endeavour to become a member of the world organisation will get endorsed.
The resolution did not include any explicit condemnation of the October 7 terrorist attacks by Hamas, they said, adding India abstained in the vote in absence of all elements of its approach not being covered in the final text of the resolution.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who addressed the virtual meeting on behalf of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also pointed out that in response to the crisis in Gaza, India has sent 70 tonnes of humanitarian assistance and will continue its relief assistance.
On August 1, Sheikh Hisham Al-Dulaimi had announced that he was pulling out of the negotiations because he could not arrive at any agreement with KGL. He represents the abductors.
India, which remains a strategic partner for the United States, is free to decide on its stance on any particular crisis or contingency around the world, including in the Middle East, the White House has said.
IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack begins by asking why the hijack lasted seven days and ends in wondering if the good guys fought the bad ones hard enough, observes Sukanya Verma.
The United States continues to monitor the situation in Israel very closely, President Joe Biden said Wednesday observing that the terrorist attack by Hamas has brought back painful memories of a millennia of antisemitism and genocide against the Jewish people.
In an update posted on X, the Israeli defense forces said that dozens of warplanes attacked more than 80 targets throughout Beit Hanon during the night.
The conflict between Israel and Hamas-led factions has killed more than 24,000 people on the Gaza side as affected people face pathetic living conditions sans water, power, food and medical aid.
Even as France mourns the bloodiest terrorist attack for 20 years, let's take a look at some major standoffs witnessed in the past:
Talks between Maoist-handpicked mediators and those of the Chhattisgarh government commenced on Thursday to end the hostage crisis involving Sukma Collector Alex Paul Menon who was abducted on Saturday, official sources said.
With the Maoists dropping the name of a hardcore ultra from the list of their 30 jailed associates and extending the deadline, the Odisha government on Monday expressed hope that Biju Janata Dal MLA Jhina Hikaka could be released on April 18.
Odisha government, grappling with the hostage crisis, on Tuesday said some demands made by Maoists like halt to combing operations, have been conceded as prospects of the release of the lone Italian national seemed to have brightened.
A top Maoist leader on Sunday said they would release Paolo Bosusco, the other Italian national still held captive by them, only after they feel that the Odisha government was serious about their demands.
Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi called his counterpart S M Krishna who assured that the Odisha government was taking all steps to secure early release of two Italians kidnapped by Maoists in the state.
Uncertainty prevailed over the fate of abducted Malkangiri District Collector R V Krishna following fresh demands made by Maoists, which were not acceptable, according to the Naxal-appointed mediators.The hostage crisis got complicated on Wednesday night after Maoists demanded that five other key activists should be freed immediately, apart from top leader Ganti Prasadam. Krishna was abducted by the left-wing ultras on February 16.
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