KATMANDU, Nepal: Rescuers zeroed in on a possible location of a passenger plane with 22 people aboard that is feared to have crashed Sunday in cloudy weather in Nepal’s mountains, officials said.
The Tara Air plane was on a 20-minute scheduled flight from the resort town of Pokhara, 200 kilometers (125 miles) west of Katmandu, to the mountain town of Jomsom. The turboprop Twin Otter aircraft lost contact with the airport tower close to landing in an area of deep river gorges and mountaintops.
An army helicopter and private choppers were taking part in the search, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal said in a statement.
Army troops and rescue teams were headed to the possible site of the crash, believed to be around Lete, a village in Mustang district, Narayan Silwal, the army spokesman, said on Twitter.
But bad weather and nightfall caused the search to be suspended until Monday morning, Silwal said.
“Poor visibility due to bad weather is hindering the efforts. The plane has not yet been located,” he said. Rescuers were trying to reach an area where locals allegedly saw a fire, although it is still unclear what was burning, Silwal added. He said that officials can only verify the information once the troops reached the location.
Sudarshan Bartaula, spokesman for Tara Air, said that rescuers had narrowed down a possible location of the plane.
According to plane tracking data from flightradar24.com, the 43-year-old aircraft took off from Pokhara at 9:55 a.m. (04:10 GMT) and transmitted its last signal at 10:07 a.m. (04:22 GMT) at an altitude of 12,825 feet (3,900 meters).
There were six foreigners on board the plane, including four Indians and two Germans, according to a police official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to talk to the media.
The plane was carrying 19 passengers and three crew, Bartaula said.
It has been raining in the area for the past few days but flights have been operating normally. Planes on that route fly between mountains before landing in a valley.
It is a popular route with foreign hikers who trek on the mountain trails and also with Indian and Nepalese pilgrims who visit the revered Muktinath temple.
Nepal has had a spotty air safety record.
In 2016, a Tara Air Twin Otter flying the same route crashed after takeoff, killing all 23 people aboard. In 2012, an Agni Air plane also flying from Pokhara to Jomsom crashed, killing 15 people. Six people survived. In 2014, a Nepal Airlines plane flying from Pokhara to Jumla crashed, killing all 18 on board.
In 2018, a US-Bangla passenger plane from Bangladesh crashed on landing in Katmandu, killing 49 of the 71 people aboard.
The Twin Otter, a rugged plane originally built by Canadian aircraft manufacturer De Havilland, has been in service in Nepal for about 50 years, during which it has been involved in about 21 accidents, according to aviationnepal.com.
The plane, with its top-mounted wing and fixed landing gear, is prized for its durability and its ability to take off and land on short runways.
Production of the planes originally ended in the 1980s. Another Canadian company, Viking Air, brought the model back into production in 2010.
Rescuers close to plane that crashed in Nepal with 22 aboard
https://arab.news/6kfnf
Rescuers close to plane that crashed in Nepal with 22 aboard
- A spokesman for Tara Air said that rescuers had narrowed down a possible location of the plane
- Bad weather and nightfall caused the search to be suspended until Monday morning
Number of new German citizens hits another high last year, with many Syrians naturalized
About 200,100 people were granted German citizenship in 2023, the Federal Statistical Office said. That was an increase of about 31,000, or 19 percent, compared with the previous year.
The increase followed a 28 percent rise in 2022, which also was fueled by large numbers of Syrians being naturalized as increasing numbers of people who migrated to Germany between 2014 and 2016 fulfilled the requirements for citizenship.
Last year, 75,500 people from Syria were naturalized — the biggest single group, accounting for 38 percent of the total — the statistics office said. That number was up 56 percent compared with 2022. They had spent an average 6.8 years in Germany before becoming citizens.
About 10,700 citizens each of Turkiye and Iraq became German citizens last year, putting those groups in second place.
The overall number of new citizens was the highest since current records started in 2000 following a change in the law under which people of German ancestry from the former Soviet Union, who arrived in large numbers in the 1990s, were automatically granted citizenship rather than having to apply for it.
Requirements for being granted citizenship include a working knowledge of German and proof of being able to support oneself financially.
Under the law as it was last year, people were in principle required to have lived in Germany for at least eight years, though that didn’t apply to spouses and children. The period could be reduced to six years for people who show “special integration accomplishments” such as very good knowledge of the language, professional achievements or civic engagement.
Those rules are being eased under new legislation that will take effect on June 27. People will be eligible for citizenship after five years in Germany, or three in case of “special integration accomplishments.” German-born children will automatically become citizens if one parent has been a legal resident for five years, down from eight years now.
Restrictions on holding dual citizenship will also be dropped. In principle, most people from countries other than European Union members and Switzerland have had to give up their previous nationality when they gained German citizenship, though there were some exemptions.
Germany has about 84 million inhabitants.
UK’s Sunak proposes tax cuts for pensioners in new election pledge
- The number of pensioners in Britain rose by 140,000 to 12.6 million in the year to February 2023
- The new proposal, which the party termed “triple lock plus,” will cost 2.4 billion pounds a year by 2029/30
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday proposed tax cuts for millions of pensioners in his latest campaign pledge, highlighting the importance of older voters in the upcoming July election.
Sunak’s Conservative Party said it would introduce a new age-related allowance and deliver a tax cut of around 100 pounds ($128) for each of 8 million pensioners in 2025, rising to almost 300 pounds a year by the end of the next parliament.
“This bold action demonstrates we are on the side of pensioners. The alternative is Labour dragging everyone in receipt of the full state pension into income tax for the first time in history,” Sunak, who last week called a general election for July 4, said in the statement.
The number of pensioners in Britain rose by 140,000 to 12.6 million in the year to February 2023. Close to 50 million Britons will be eligible to vote in the election, which opinion polls predict is likely to end 14 years of Conservative rule in the country.
The Conservative Party said the proposal comes alongside the its commitment to the so-called triple lock, which guarantees increases to publicly funded pensions by the level of earnings, inflation or 2.5 percent, whichever is highest.
Labour has also committed to retain the policy, which was introduced by a Conservative government in 2011 to prevent pensioners from falling into poverty.
However, costs associated with it have come under increased scrutiny in recent years after British inflation soared, pushing up the government bill for state pensions by an additional 11 billion pounds last year.
The new proposal, which the party termed “triple lock plus,” will cost 2.4 billion pounds a year by 2029/30 and be funded through the government’s previously announced plan to raise an extra 6 billion pounds a year by clamping down on tax avoidance and evasion, the party said.
“This is just another desperate move from a chaotic Tory party torching any remaining facade of its claims to economic credibility,” Labour shadow paymaster general Jonathan Ashworth said in a statement on the plans.
The paymaster general falls under the Treasury and acts as a banker for most government departments.
Thousands protest as Taiwan’s parliament passes contested reforms
- Parliament reforms give lawmakers the power to ask the military, private companies or individuals to disclose information deemed relevant by parliamentarians
TAIPEI: Thousands of people protested outside Taiwan’s parliament on Tuesday after it passed a reform package to increase oversight of the government pushed by the opposition but opposed by the ruling party, which did not have the numbers to block it.
The peaceful protests, and sometimes violent confrontations in parliament over the reforms, have been taking place against a backdrop of broader concern about efforts by China, which views Taiwan as its own territory, to influence the island’s politics.
The Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) Lai Ching-te won the presidency in January elections, but the party lost its majority in parliament. Taiwan’s main opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), along with the small Taiwan People’s Party, together have the most seats.
The parliament reforms give lawmakers the power to ask the military, private companies or individuals to disclose information deemed relevant by parliamentarians.
They also criminalize contempt of parliament by government officials, and require the president to give regular reports to parliament and answer lawmakers’ questions, which would be a first for Taiwan.
The DPP says the reforms were forced through without proper consultation and their content either vague or an over-reach of power, and on Tuesday its lawmakers threw garbage bags and paper planes at their opposition counterparts.
“You can seize parliament but you cannot seize public opinion,” DPP parliament leader Ker Chien-ming said in an address to the chamber, adding that Beijing had influenced Taiwanese politics.
Opposition lawmakers, holding sun-shaped balloons, shouted “let sunlight into parliament.” Both parties covered the chamber with banners.
The KMT has denounced the DPP for trying to “paint them red,” the color of China’s Communist Party, and says the DPP is trying to stymie efforts to investigate corruption cases and sow unfounded fears about the reforms.
Outside parliament, protesters showed their anger at the reforms being passed, and also shouted “refuse Chinese political interference,” among other slogans.
“This is the people’s voice,” said Zheng Hung-gun, 33, who works in the food industry. “Taiwanese are not afraid of enemies from outside but we are worried about our internal enemies.”
On Friday night, tens of thousands thronged the roads around parliament protesting the reforms.
Several senior KMT leaders have visited China this year, in what the party says is an effort to keep lines of communication open. It denies being pro-Beijing.
China refuses to speak to Lai or the DPP, saying they are “separatists.” Lai says only Taiwan’s people can decide their future and has repeatedly offered talks with China, but been rebuffed.
UAE President arrives in Seoul for two-day state visit
DUBAI: UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan arrived in Seoul on Tuesday for a two-day state visit after an invitation from South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol.
After his arrival, Sheikh Mohamed, on X, said he and Yoon would discuss “ways to advance the special strategic partnership between the UAE and Republic of Korea. Through economic partnership and close people-to-people ties, our nations are determined to achieve further progress that benefits all.”
The president’s plane was escorted by military aircraft in a gesture of respect and welcome as it entered South Korean airspace, UAE state news agency WAM reported.
Sheikh Mohamed is accompanied by a high-level delegation including Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, managing director of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority; Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan; Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Tahnoun Al-Nahyan, adviser for special affairs at the presidential court; Ali bin Hammad Al-Shamsi, secretary-general of the Supreme Council for National Security; and Sultan bin Ahmed Al-Jaber, minister of industry and advanced technology.
Sheikh Mohamed is expected to discuss bilateral ties with his South Korean counterpart focusing on trade, investment, energy and technology.
They will also address regional and international developments of common interest, WAM reported.
“The meeting comes within the framework of strategic partnership between the UAE and South Korea in line with their vision to achieve a better and more prosperous future for the countries,” according to the WAM report.
The UAE president is expected to travel to China on May 30 for a state visit when Beijing hosts Arab leaders for the opening ceremony of the 10th Ministerial Conference of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum.
The forum aims to deepen “consensus between China and Arab countries” and “issue a common voice between China and Arab countries on the Palestinian issue,” said China’s Vice Foreign Minister Deng Li.
Russia invites Afghanistan’s Taliban to major economic forum
- Russia has been slowly building ties with the Taliban, though the movement is still officially outlawed in Russia
- In 2003, Russia formally labelled the Taliban a terrorist organization, though it had periodic informal contacts with them
MOSCOW: Russia has invited Afghanistan’s Taliban to its biggest annual economic forum as Moscow moves to remove a ban on the Islamist movement, a senior Russian diplomat was quoted as saying on Monday.
Since the Taliban seized power in August 2021 as US-led forces withdrew after 20 years of war, Russia has been slowly building ties with the Taliban, though the movement is still officially outlawed in Russia.
Russia’s foreign and justice ministries have reported to President Vladimir Putin on the issue of removing the ban, Zamir Kabulov, director of the Second Asia Department at the Russian Foreign Ministry, told state news agency TASS.
Some questions remain, Kabulov was quoted as saying, though he said that an invitation to attend the June 5-8 St. Petersburg international economic forum had been extended to the Taliban.
Afghan leaders, he said, were traditionally interested in the purchase of oil products.
The St. Petersburg forum, which once hosted Western CEOs and investment bankers from London and New York, has changed significantly amid the Ukraine war which has triggered the biggest crisis in Russia’s relations with the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.
Western investors seeking a slice of Russia’s vast resource wealth have now been replaced by businesses from China, India, Africa and the Middle East.
The Taliban, which means “students” in the Pashto language, emerged in 1994 around the southern Afghan city of Kandahar. It was one of the factions fighting a civil war for control of the country following the withdrawal of the Soviet Union and subsequent collapse of the government.
It originally drew members from so-called “mujahideen” fighters who, with support from the United States, repelled Soviet forces in the 1980s.
In 2003, Russia formally labelled the Taliban a terrorist organization, though it had periodic informal contacts with the movement.
