Kathmandu: Captain Manish Raj Shakya, the lone survivor of a deadly plane crash in Nepal that killed 18 other people on board, was saved after the cockpit of the aircraft was sheared off by a freight container seconds before the rest of the aircraft went up in flames, a media report said on Thursday.

The Bombardier CRJ-200 aircraft of Saurya Airlines, carrying 19 people, including two crew members, technical staff of the airline and a child and his mother caught fire shortly after taking off from the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) here on Wednesday.

The aircraft was bound for the Pokhara International Airport for regular maintenance service.

Of the deceased, 15 died on the spot while three died during treatment at a local hospital, authorities said.

Airport security personnel said when the plane hit the container, the front part of the cockpit got stuck in it, while the rest of the plane fell to the ground reaching another side of the ground.

According to Deputy Inspector General and Chief of TIA Airport Security Office Ram Dutt Joshi, Captain Shakya, 37, was rescued from inside the container which was on the TIA premises.

“We rescued Captain Shakya from inside the container,” The Rising Nepal newspaper quoted DIG Joshi as saying.

Doctors have initiated an investigation into the brain scars of Shakya.

Shakya is currently receiving treatment at Kathmandu Medical College (KMC).

According to the doctors involved in treatment, although the injuries in different parts of the body and the broken bones at two places of the backbone have not caused serious problems, the doctors are investigating to find out the cause of the scars on Shakya’s brain.

Neurosurgeon Dr Amit Thapa said that he could provide further information only after the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan of Shakya’s brain scars.

Captain Shakya’s health condition showed improvement on Thursday as compared to Wednesday. The doctors said he is “free from danger” and can speak. He can also consume liquid food.

According to KMC sources, Captain Shakya sustained several internal injuries despite not being burnt in the fire. The doctors are preparing for surgery to address his broken bones.

In solemn tribute to the 18 lives lost, the Nepal government has decreed that the national flag will be flown at half-mast on Thursday.

In response to the tragedy, a five-member probe commission has been formed to investigate the incident. The commission will be led by Ratish Chandra Lal Suman, former Director General of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN).

The commission is tasked with delivering its report and recommendations within 45 days to prevent similar accidents in the future.

Authorities are conducting an autopsy on the 18 people who lost their lives in the accident.

The postmortem of the deceased began on Wednesday evening at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH). The postmortem of seven dead bodies has been completed.

According to the TUTH, the dead bodies will be handed over to the families after the postmortem of all bodies is completed.

The TUTH administration has assigned 25 doctors for the postmortem.

Meanwhile, family members and friends of the victims on Wednesday gathered at the TUTH and some of them alleged that the airlines and civil aviation authority permitted the flight despite knowing that the plane had technical problems.

Dirga Bahadur Khadka, a grand-uncle of co-pilot Sushant Katwal, said: “We suspect that the company put pressure on the pilots into flying the plane.

“Otherwise, no one would like to fly a plane with technical problems,” he told The Kathmandu Post newspaper.

“A question also arises about the civil aviation authority, the aviation sector regulator,” he further said. “How could it allow planes with technical problems to fly?”

Similarly, Gyanendra Khadgi, who lost his brother-in-law Purna Ratna Shahi, a technician of Saurya Airlines, echoed Khadka.

“This is complete negligence on the part of civil aviation to allow the flight of a plane with a technical issue,” he told the Post.

Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli on Wednesday directed the relevant authorities to take measures to prevent tragic incidents like plane crashes in the future.

After visiting the crash site, Prime Minister Oli received a briefing at the rescue coordination centre of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal. He emphasised that everyone must work to ensure such incidents do not recur. He urged the concerned authorities to determine the cause of the incident, whether it was due to human error or a technical failure.

He described the incident as very tragic and unimaginable.

According to Nepal’s civil aviation body, 914 people have died in air crashes in the country since the first disaster was recorded in August 1955.

Kathmandu: An aircraft belonging to a private airline company with 19 people on board crashed during takeoff at the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu on Wednesday morning.

At least 19 people, including aircrew, were aboard the Pokhara-bound Saurya Airlines plane which met with the accident at around 11 am, sources said.

The pilot of the aircraft has been taken to a hospital, a security official deployed at the airport told PTI without giving further details.

A fire that broke out from the aircraft has been put off, he added. Police and firefighters are carrying out rescue operations at the accident site. Details about the condition of the passengers were not known.

US President Joe Biden

Washington: US President Joe Biden on Sunday announced that he will end his candidacy for re-election, saying “it is in the best interest of my party and the country”.

The 81-year-old president’s decision comes four months before Americans go to the polls on November 5.

Biden’s decision follows weeks of intense pressure from fellow Democrats after a disastrous presidential debate performance against his Republican rival and former US president Donald Trump at the end of June.

In a letter posted to his social media account, he said it had been the greatest honour of his life to serve as president.

“And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling the duties as President for the remainder of my term”.

Deir Al-Balah (Gaza Strip): Israeli airstrikes killed at least 15 people including women and children overnight in Gaza, according to hospital officials and a body count by an Associated Press journalist on Sunday.

The latest strikes occurred as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepared to leave Monday for the United States, where he is expected to meet with President Joe Biden and address Congress to make his case for the nine-month war against Hamas while cease-fire negotiations continue.

The already precarious humanitarian conditions inside besieged Gaza have worsened with the discovery of the polio virus as water and sanitation services have suffered for the territory’s population of 2.3 million, most of it displaced.

Traces of the virus were found in sewage samples in Gaza. The World Health Organisation has said no one has been treated for symptoms caused by infection.

Israel’s military said solders would be vaccinated, and it would work with organisations to bring in vaccines for Palestinians.

Israel’s latest airstrikes were in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, where nine people including two children were killed, and the southern city of Khan Younis, where at least six people were killed including two girls. Men and women wept and embraced the small bodies in white shrouds.

“Unknown body of five-month baby” was written on one.

Smoke also rose from the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, but there was no immediate word on casualties.

The war in Gaza has killed more than 38,900 people, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count. The war began with an assault by Hamas group on southern Israel on October 7 that killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took about 250 hostage. About 120 remain held, about a third of them believed to be dead, according to Israeli authorities.

Netanyahu has vowed to wipe out Hamas’ military and governing capabilities and secure the return of the remaining hostages. Families of hostages and thousands of other Israelis have rallied in weekly demonstrations urging the prime minister to reach a cease-fire deal that would bring loved ones home.

Mediators Egypt, Qatar and the United States continue to push Israel and Hamas toward a phased deal that would stop the fighting and free the hostages.

Concerns about a wider regional conflict continue. Israel on Saturday struck the port of Hodeida in Yemen in the first known Israeli strikes there since the war in Gaza began. The strikes, in response to a deadly Houthi drone strike in Tel Aviv, threatened to open a new front as Israel battles Iranian proxies in the region including Hezbollah in neighbouring Lebanon.

On Sunday, the Israeli military said it intercepted a missile fired from Yemen as the Houthis vowed “impactful strikes”.

K P Sharma Oli

Kathmandu: K P Sharma Oli, CPN-UML chairman and seen as a pro-China leader, was appointed Nepal’s Prime Minister for a fourth term on Sunday to lead the new coalition government that faces the daunting challenge of providing political stability in the Himalayan nation.

Oli, 72, succeeds Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda who lost the vote of confidence in the House of Representatives on Friday, leading to the formation of the new government process as per Article 76 (2) of the Constitution.

President Ram Chandra Paudel appointed Oli as the new Prime Minister under Article 76-2 of the Constitution of Nepal, according to a notice issued by the President’s Office.

Oli became the Prime Minister with the support of the Nepali Congress, the largest party in Parliament.

Oli’s swearing-in ceremony is scheduled to take place at 11 am on Monday at Shital Niwas, the main building of Rashtrapati Bhawan.

On Friday night, Oli staked his claim to become the next Prime Minister with the backing of NC president Sher Bahadur Deuba and submitted the signatures of 165 House of Representatives (HoR) members — 77 from his Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) party and 88 from the Nepali Congress. (NC).

CPN-Maoist Centre Chairman Prachanda lost the vote of confidence in HoR during a floor test on Friday.

Earlier last week, Nepali Congress president Sher Bahadur Deuba and CPN-UML chairman Oli inked a seven-point deal to form a new coalition government replacing Prachanda. The two leaders agreed that the remaining term of the Parliament would be shared between them turn by turn. In the first phase, Oli will become the Prime Minister for 18 months as per the agreement.

Prime Minister Oli will form a small cabinet on Monday, according to sources close to him.

Other political parties including Rastriya Prajatantra Party, Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal, Lokatantrik Samajwadi Party, Janamat Party and Nagarik Unmukti Party are also likely to join the government.

Oli served as Nepal’s prime minister from October 11, 2015, to August 3, 2016 and then, from February 5, 2018, to July 13, 2021. He continued to serve from May 13, 2021, to July 13, 2021 — because of an appointment by the then President Bidya Devi Bhandari, described by local media as a success of Oli’s Machiavellian tricks. Later, the Supreme Court ruled that Oli’s claim to the post of prime minister was unconstitutional.

Palestinians evacuate a body from a site hit by an Israeli bombardment on Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip

Khan Younus: Israel said it targeted Hamas’ shadowy military commander in a massive strike Saturday in the crowded southern Gaza Strip that killed at least 71 people, according to local health officials.

Hamas immediately rejected the claim that Mohammed Deif was in the area.

Israeli officials confirmed that Deif and a second Hamas commander, Rafa Salama, were the targets. It was not immediately known whether Deif was among the dead.

A military official later said they were “still checking and verifying the result of the strike,” and did not deny it took place in an area the Israeli military had designated as safe for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.

Deif and Hamas’ top official in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, are believed by Israel to be the chief architects of the October 7 attack that killed some 1,200 people in southern Israel and triggered the Israel-Hamas war.

Not seen in public for years, Deif has long topped Israel’s most-wanted list and is believed to have escaped multiple Israeli assassination attempts. On October 7, Hamas issued a rare voice recording of Deif announcing the “Al Aqsa Flood” operation.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un exchange documents during a signing ceremony

Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a partnership that includes a vow of mutual aid if either country is attacked, during a Pyongyang summit on Wednesday that came as both face escalating standoffs with the west.

It was not clear what kind of assistance the deal, described as a “comprehensive strategic partnership,” would call for.

Putin’s first visit to North Korea in 24 years comes amid growing concerns over an arms arrangement in which the country provides Moscow with badly needed munitions for its war in Ukraine in exchange for economic assistance and technology transfers that could enhance the threat posed by Kim’s nuclear weapons and missile program.

Speaking after a signing ceremony, Putin said that security and international issues took up a large part of the talks with Kim, according to Russian state media. He was also quoted to say that Russia would not rule out developing military-technical cooperation with North Korea under the deal.

Kim was quoted as saying that the agreement was of a peaceful and defensive nature. “I have no doubt it will become a driving force accelerating the creation of a new multipolar world,” he was quoted to say.

Russia and North Korea also signed agreements on cooperation in the fields of healthcare, medical education, and science, Russian state media reported, citing the kermlin website.

Putin was met upon his nighttime arrival by Kim, who shook his hands, hugged him twice and rode with him from the airport in a limousine in a huge motorcade that rolled through the capital’s brightly illuminated streets, where buildings were decorated with giant Russian flags and portraits of Putin.

After spending the rest of the night at a state guest house, Putin attended a lavish welcoming ceremony at the city’s main square, where he and Kim saluted an honor guard and walked across a red carpet. Kim then introduced key members of his leadership including Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui; top aide and ruling party secretary Jo Yong Won; and the leader’s powerful sister, Kim Yo Jong.

The square was filled with what appeared to be tens of thousands of spectators, including children holding balloons and people wearing coordinated t-shirts in the red, white and blue of the Russian and North Korean flags. Huge crowds lined up on the streets to greet Putin’s motorcade, chanting “Welcome Putin” and waving flowers and North Korean and Russian flags.

As the talks began, Putin thanked Kim for North Korea’s support for his war in Ukraine, part of what he said was a “fight against the imperialist hegemonistic policies of the U.S. and its satellites against the Russian Federation.”

He said the two planned to sign a “new fundamental document (that) will form the basis of our ties for the long term,” hailing ties that he traced back to the Soviet army fighting the Japanese military on the Korean Peninsula in the closing moments of World War II, and Moscow’s support for Pyongyang  during the Korean War.

Kim said Moscow and Pyongyang “fiery friendship” is now even closer than during Soviet times, and promised “full support and solidarity to the Russian government, army and people in carrying out the special military operation in Ukraine to protect sovereignty, security interests and territorial integrity.”

Kim has used similar language in the past, consistently saying North Korea supports what he describes as a just action to protect Russia’s interests and blaming the crisis on the U.S.-led West’s “hegemonic policy.” It wasn’t immediately clear what that support might look like.

North Korea is under heavy U.N. Security Council sanctions over its weapons program, while Russia also faces sanctions by the United States and its Western partners over its aggression in Ukraine.

U.S. and South Korean officials accuse the North of providing Russia with artillery, missiles and other military equipment for use in Ukraine, possibly in return for key military technologies and aid. Both Pyongyang and Moscow deny accusations about North Korean weapons transfers, which would violate multiple U.N. Security Council sanctions that Russia previously endorsed.

Along with China, Russia has provided political cover for Kim’s continuing efforts to advance his nuclear arsenal, repeatedly blocking U.S.-led efforts to impose fresh U.N. sanctions on the North over its weapons tests.

In March, a Russian veto at the United Nations ended monitoring of U.N. sanctions against North Korea over its nuclear program, prompting Western accusations that Moscow is seeking to avoid scrutiny as it buys weapons from for use in Ukraine.

Putin’s foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov told reporters in  that the two leaders exchanged gifts after the talks. Putin presented Kim with a Russian-made  limo and other gifts, including a tea set and a naval officer’s dagger. Ushakov said that Kim’s presents to Putin included artworks depicting the Russian leader.

Russia media said earlier that Kim will host a reception, and Putin is expected to leave Wednesday evening for Vietnam.

In Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Putin’s visit to North Korea illustrates how Russia tries, “in desperation, to develop and to strengthen relations with countries that can provide it with what it needs to continue the war of aggression that it started against Ukraine.”

The North may also seek to increase labor exports to Russia and other illicit activities to gain foreign currency in defiance of U.N. Security Council sanctions, according to a recent report by the Institute for National Security Strategy, a think tank run by South Korea’s main spy agency. There will likely be talks about expanding cooperation in agriculture, fisheries and mining and further promoting Russian tourism to North Korea, the institute said.

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula are at their highest point in years, with the pace of both Kim’s weapons tests and combined military exercises involving the United States, South Korea and Japan intensifying in a tit-for-tat cycle.

The Koreas also have engaged in Cold War-style psychological warfare that involved North Korea dropping tons of trash on the South with balloons, and the South broadcasting anti-North Korean propaganda with its loudspeakers.

Copenhagen (Denmark): Food authorities in Denmark have recalled three types of spicy instant noodle products imported from South Korea over possible risks for “acute poisoning”. Consumers are asked to discard them or return the noodles to the retailer.

The noodles are made by Seoul-based Samyang Foods, one of South Korea’s largest companies, and sold across the globe. The recalled noodles include Buldak Samyang 3 x Spicy; Hot Chicken, Buldak Samyang 2 x Spicy; Hot Chicken and Buldak Samyang Hot Chicken Stew.

The Danish Veterinary and Food Administration said the products contain an overly high dose of capsaicin, an active ingredient in chile peppers but also a chemical that can be a neurotoxin and a health hazard.

Children and teenagers in Denmark have been daring each other on social media to eat “a strong bowl of noodle soup”, referring to the three South Korean products, the agency said.

“The noodle dishes marketed as extremely strong must no longer be sold because consumers and especially children risk acute poisoning,” it said late Tuesday. “The capsaicin content is so high that it can pose a health hazard.”

Children and frail adults and the elderly are at risk, said Henrik Dammand Nielsen of the Danish Food and Drug Administration. Possibly symptoms include burning and discomfort, nausea, vomiting and high blood pressure, he said.

“That is why we are now demanding shops remove the products from their shelves,” the agency said.

Samyang Foods said they understood the recall came because of the spiciness of the noodles and not because of the product quality, according to a Samyang Foods company statement provided to the media in South Korea.

Spicy food challenges have been around for years. From local chile pepper eating contests to restaurant walls of fame for those who finished extra hot dishes, people around the world have been daring each other to eat especially fiery foods.

In September, a Massachusetts teen with a congenital heart defect who participated in a spicy tortilla chip challenge on social media died from eating a large quantity of chile pepper extract. An autopsy report obtained by The Associated Press showed that the 10th grader died on September 1, 2023, after eating the Paqui chip as part of the manufacturer’s “One Chip Challenge”.

In Denmark, a puzzled consumer reached out to the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration and asked how the instant noodles could be legal, the agency said, after which it had a lab assessing the products and determined the three noodle brands can be harmful to health, instigating the recall.

“It is important that parents are aware of the extreme noodle varieties and avoid them, Dammand Nielsen said.

Abu Dhabi: Palestinian author Basim Khandaqji, who has been imprisoned by Israel since 2004, has been named the winner of the 2024 International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) for his novel “A Mask, the Colour of the Sky”.

Khandaqji’s publisher Rana Idriss, of the Lebanon-based Dar al-Adab publishing house, accepted the award on his behalf at a ceremony in Abu Dhabi.

The book tells the story of Nur, an archaeologist living in a Palestinian refugee camp in Ramallah, who adopts a “mask” when he finds a blue identity card belonging to an Israeli in the pocket of an old coat.

Born in Nablus, Khandaqji has been imprisoned by Israel since he was 21 years old. He studied political science at Al-Quds University from prison with a thesis on Israeli studies and has published several poetry collections and novels.

In an interview in January, Khandaqji’s brother said his family had not been able to speak with him for four months, a problem many Palestinians held in Israeli prisons have faced since October 2023.

Khandaqji wrote the award-winning book in prison in 2021, when he would manage to write about two pages each day between 5am and 7am, although “very often, the papers are taken from him and destroyed by the guard”, his brother said.

Palestinian photojournalist Motaz Azaiza, known for documenting the impact of Israel’s war on Gaza, has been named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people of 2024 in the ‘Icons’ category.

Time magazine described Motaz as, “The world’s eyes and ears in his native Gaza for 108 days. Armed with a camera and a flak jacket marked ‘PRESS.’”

“The 25-year-old Palestinian photographer spent nearly four months documenting life under Israeli bombardment: families displaced from homes, women mourning loved ones, a man trapped beneath the rubble.”

His images offered a glimpse into Gaza that few in the international press, which has been all but barred from accessing the Strip, could rival. He did so at great risk; at least 95 journalists have been killed in Gaza since Oct. 7.

Since his evacuation, Azaiza has been raising awareness of the crisis and calling for international intervention.

“What is happening in Gaza is not content for you,” he was quoted as saying by the magazine. “We are not telling you what is happening … for your likes or views or shares. No, we are waiting for you to act. We need to stop this war.”

“I am really blessed to share my country name with me wherever I go or whatever I achieve,” Motaz wrote on X.

“For those who don’t recognize Palestine as a state, or for those who claim that it is their land. Palestine gonna be free one day from Zionists and occupation. Everyone does his part, and my part is not done yet,” he added