UK’s Starmer tells Netanyahu ‘alarmed’ by drone attack near residence

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer addresses a press conference at the British Embassy in Berlin, on October 18, 2024. (AFP)
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Updated 20 October 2024
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UK’s Starmer tells Netanyahu ‘alarmed’ by drone attack near residence

  • Starmer also “stressed the importance of getting much more aid into Gaza” it said, echoing similar calls made Friday in the joint statement he made along with the leaders of France, Germany and the US

LONDON: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu that he was “alarmed to hear about the drone launched toward” his residence earlier Saturday, the UK leader’s office said.
Netanyahu has accused Iran-backed Hezbollah of trying to assassinate him, after his office said a drone was launched Saturday toward his residence in the central town of Caesarea while he and his wife were elsewhere.
Iran’s United Nations mission later said that Lebanon’s Hezbollah group — armed and financed by Tehran — was behind the drone attack, which Netanyahu’s office has noted caused no injuries.
“The prime minister said he was alarmed to hear about the drone launched toward Prime Minister Netanyahu’s home this morning,” Starmer’s office said in a summary of the two leaders’ afternoon phone call.
“They discussed the situation in the Middle East following the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who the prime minister said was a brutal terrorist and that the world is a better place without him,” it added.
London’s readout of the discussion noted they also talked about “the opportunity presented by Sinwar’s death to halt the fighting and get the hostages out.”
Starmer also “stressed the importance of getting much more aid into Gaza” it said, echoing similar calls made Friday in the joint statement he made along with the leaders of France, Germany and the US.
 

 


Air India 777 aircraft turns back after drop in engine oil pressure, regulator says

Updated 22 December 2025
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Air India 777 aircraft turns back after drop in engine oil pressure, regulator says

  • The aircraft, which was headed to Mumbai, landed safely back in ‌Delhi and ‌the incident will be investigated
  • Air India has been under intense scrutiny this year after the June 12 crash of a Boeing Dreamliner killed 260 people

BENGALURU: An Air India Boeing 777 aircraft had to turn back after a drop in oil pressure forced the pilots to turn off one of the jet’s engines, India’s aviation regulator said on Monday.
The aircraft, which was headed to India’s financial capital of Mumbai, landed safely back in ‌Delhi and ‌the incident will be investigated, the ‌Directorate ⁠General ​of ‌Civil Aviation (DGCA) said in a statement. Modern aircraft are designed to safely fly and land on a single engine, if required. Air India has been under intense scrutiny this year after the June 12 crash of a Boeing Dreamliner killed 260 people. The DGCA has ⁠flagged multiple safety lapses at the airline, which was previously owned ‌by the government till 2022. An ‍Air India investigation into ‍why one of its planes conducted commercial flights ‍without an airworthiness permit found “systemic failures,” with the airline admitting it needed to do better on compliance, Reuters reported earlier this month.
On Monday, pilots observed a low ​engine oil pressure on the B777-300ER aircraft’s right-hand engine during flaps retraction after take-off. The pressure ⁠shortly thereafter dropped to zero and the crew shut down the engine and turned back as per procedure, the DGCA said.
“Air India sincerely regrets inconvenience caused due to this unforeseen situation. The aircraft is undergoing the necessary checks,” an Air India spokesperson said in a statement. The aircraft is 15 years old and has flown to locations such as Vienna, Vancouver and Chicago, according to Flightradar24. Boeing did not immediately respond ‌to a request for comment on the incident.