CARACAS: Venezuela’s aviation authority said Wednesday that it banned multiple airlines accused of “terrorism” after they suspended routes, heeding warnings from the United States about military activity in the region.
The affected airlines — Spain’s Iberia, Portugal’s TAP, Colombia’s Avianca, Chile and Brazil’s LATAM, Brazil’s GOL and Turkish Airlines — will have their operational permits revoked for “joining the actions of state terrorism promoted by the United States government and unilaterally suspending air commercial operations,” the civil aviation authority said in an Instagram post.
Washington had warned of increased military activity in the Caribbean amid a deployment they say targets narcotics operations, which Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro insists is intended to overthrow his government.
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Venezuela bans airlines that halted flights per US warning: statement
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Venezuela bans airlines that halted flights per US warning: statement
Australian police probe threatening letter to country’s largest mosque ahead of Ramadan
- The Lebanese Muslim Association, which runs the mosque, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. (ABC) it had written to the government to request more funding for additional security guards and CCTV
SYDNEY: Australian police said on Thursday they had launched an investigation after a threatening letter was sent to the country’s largest mosque, the third such incident in the lead-up to the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
The letter sent to Lakemba Mosque in Sydney’s west on Wednesday contained a drawing of a pig and a threat to kill the “Muslim race,” local media reported. Police said they had taken the letter for forensic testing, and would continue to patrol religious sites including the mosque, as well as community events.
The latest letter comes weeks after a similar message was mailed to the mosque, depicting Muslim people inside a mosque on fire. Police have also arrested and charged a 70-year-old man in connection with a third threatening letter sent to Lakemba Mosque’s staff in January.
The Lebanese Muslim Association, which runs the mosque, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. (ABC) it had written to the government to request more funding for additional security guards and CCTV cameras.
Some 5,000 people are expected to attend the mosque each night during Ramadan. More than 60 percent of residents in the suburb of Lakemba identify as Muslim, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemned the recent string of threats.
“It is outrageous that people just going about commemorating their faith, particularly during the holy month for Muslims of Ramadan, are subject to this sort of intimidation,” he told ABC radio.
“I have said repeatedly we need to turn down the temperature of political discourse in this country, and we certainly need to do that.” Anti-Muslim sentiment has been growing in Australia since the war in Gaza War in late 2023, according to a recent report commissioned by the government.
The Islamophobia Register Australia has also documented a 740 percent rise in reports following the Bondi mass shooting on December 14, where authorities allege two gunmen inspired by Islamic State killed 15 people attending a Jewish holiday celebration.
The letter sent to Lakemba Mosque in Sydney’s west on Wednesday contained a drawing of a pig and a threat to kill the “Muslim race,” local media reported. Police said they had taken the letter for forensic testing, and would continue to patrol religious sites including the mosque, as well as community events.
The latest letter comes weeks after a similar message was mailed to the mosque, depicting Muslim people inside a mosque on fire. Police have also arrested and charged a 70-year-old man in connection with a third threatening letter sent to Lakemba Mosque’s staff in January.
The Lebanese Muslim Association, which runs the mosque, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. (ABC) it had written to the government to request more funding for additional security guards and CCTV cameras.
Some 5,000 people are expected to attend the mosque each night during Ramadan. More than 60 percent of residents in the suburb of Lakemba identify as Muslim, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemned the recent string of threats.
“It is outrageous that people just going about commemorating their faith, particularly during the holy month for Muslims of Ramadan, are subject to this sort of intimidation,” he told ABC radio.
“I have said repeatedly we need to turn down the temperature of political discourse in this country, and we certainly need to do that.” Anti-Muslim sentiment has been growing in Australia since the war in Gaza War in late 2023, according to a recent report commissioned by the government.
The Islamophobia Register Australia has also documented a 740 percent rise in reports following the Bondi mass shooting on December 14, where authorities allege two gunmen inspired by Islamic State killed 15 people attending a Jewish holiday celebration.
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