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Israel launches 'pre-emptive attack' on Iran

Explosions rocked Tehran on Saturday (February 28) morning as Israel warned of multiple missile strikes, raising alarm across a region already on edge over Iran's nuclear standoff with the United States.

As per the BBC, Israel has launched what it has called “pre-emptive attack” against Iran. In a statement, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has declared a "permanent state of emergency" across the country. Iran says it has shut down its airspace following the attacks.

(Details are awaited)

Cheetahs from Botswana land in India

Nine more cheetahs from Botswana landed safely at Kuno National Park (KNP) on Saturday, taking India’s total count of the big cats to 48, an official said.

The third batch of cheetahs from Africa arrived on IAF aircraft as part of a four-year population revival plan, the official said.

Union Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Bhupender Yadav will release the big cats into enclosures readied at the park, he said.

The new batch from Botswana was flown in to Gwalior on an Indian Air Force aircraft, and from there, IAF choppers transported them to KNP, Sheopur public relations officer Avantika Shrivastava said.

This was the third batch of cheetahs arriving from Africa, following earlier introductions from Namibia and South Africa, officials said.

The IAF has assisted the cheetah revival programme by bringing them from Africa. It had transported the animals from South Africa in February 2023, and brought big cats that arrived from Namibia in September 2022, Project Cheetah Director Uttam Sharma said.

"The arrival of more cheetahs will strengthen India's cheetah revival programme. With the support of the Central government, we aim to increase the population to 50 as soon as possible," he said.

Three cheetahs have been relocated to Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary, while 36 have remained at KNP, he said.

Officials said endangered animals are usually not kept in a single habitat due to the risk of disease outbreaks that can wipe out their entire population at one go.

DMK, Congress begin seat-sharing talks

The ruling DMK and its major ally the Congress on Saturday (February 28) began the formal seat-sharing talks for the upcoming Assembly election.

The Congress delegation under AICC incharge for Tamil Nadu Girish Chodankar, TNCC chief K Selvaperunthagai and AICC co-incharge Niveditha Alva arrived at the Anna Arivalayam, the DMK state headquarters and commenced the talks with the DMK panel led by senior Parliamentarian T R Baalu.

“Lets not speculate. We will get back to you with details,” Chodankar earlier told reporters when asked about the number of seats the grand old party would demand from the DMK and whether a Rajya Sabha seat has been promised to the Congress.

Congress, which is a key constituent of the DMK-led alliance has high expectation pitching for more number of seats than 25 Assembly seats that it contested in the 2021 Assembly election, and a Rajya Sabha seat besides a share in power. PTI

Chaos at Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru

Chaos prevailed at Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru on Saturday (February 28) after passengers bound for Nepal staged a protest against a private airline, alleging gross mismanagement that disrupted their travel plans for two consecutive days.

According to passengers, the flight departed Bengaluru for Kathmandu at 10.30 am on Thursday. However, the aircraft returned without landing in Kathmandu under circumstances that were not clearly communicated to travellers, they alleged.

The same aircraft reportedly took off again on Friday morning, but once again failed to land in Kathmandu and was diverted to Lucknow. Passengers alleged that they were made to remain seated inside the aircraft for several hours after landing in Lucknow.

"We were kept inside the plane for hours without proper information. No one clearly explained what was happening," a passenger said during their protest on Friday.

After prolonged waiting and exhaustion, travellers staged a protest inside the aircraft, forcing the airline to fly them back to Bengaluru.

Upon arrival, several passengers sat in protest near the immigration area at the airport, expressing anger over what they described as a waste of two days of their time.

Protesters claimed they were confined inside the aircraft for more than 30 hours in total and accused the airline of poor coordination and communication. "Our entire Nepal trip has been ruined. We planned this well in advance and suffered financial losses," another passenger said.

Personnel from the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) intervened and attempted to pacify the agitating passengers.

However, many continued their sit-in protest demanding accountability and compensation from the airline.

More than 40 Kannada-speaking travellers were among those on board, who said their long-planned Nepal trip was disrupted due to the airline's alleged failure to manage the situation effectively. There was no immediate reaction from the airline

Accident in Kerala's Kozhikode kills 4

Four persons died after a car rammed into a parked lorry in Kozhikode in the early hours of Saturday, police said.

The deceased have been identified as Dhinil of Ramanattukara and Ajeesh, Vimal and Shyamlal, all natives of Feroke.

Police said another person, identified as Dhijil of Pantheerankavu, who was travelling in the car, sustained serious injuries and was admitted to a hospital.

Officials of the Fire and Rescue Services, Meenchantha station, said they received a distress call at 3.25 am after a car carrying five persons hit a parked lorry at Modern Bazar in Ramanattukara. Although local residents who initiated rescue efforts managed to pull out one person from the vehicle, the other four were extricated after fire force personnel reached the spot and cut open the mangled car.

All five were shifted to different hospitals, but four succumbed to their injuries, police said. Police have examined nearby CCTV footage to ascertain the cause of the accident. A case has been registered and an investigation has been launched, officials said.

The Motor Vehicles Department (MVD) will also conduct an inquiry into the cause of the accident, police added.

The bodies of the deceased will be handed over to their relatives after the postmortem, police said

Not happy with N-talks with Iran, says Trump

US President Donald Trump said Friday he's “not happy” with the latest talks over Iran's nuclear programme but indicated he would give negotiators more time to reach a deal to avert another war in the Middle East.

He spoke a day after US envoys held another inconclusive round of indirect talks with Iran in Geneva. As American forces gather in the region, Trump has threatened military action if Iran does not agree to a far-reaching deal on its nuclear program, while Iran insists it has the right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes and denies seeking a nuclear weapon.

“I'm not happy with the fact that they're not willing to give us what we have to have. I'm not thrilled with that. We'll see what happens. We're talking later,” Trump told reporters as he left the White House on Friday. “We're not exactly happy with the way they're negotiating. They cannot have nuclear weapons." Despite Trump's negative assessment, one of the mediators of the talks later Friday appeared to issue a public plea to let the negotiations continue. Oman's Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi, who has been mediating the talks, said on CBS's Face the Nation that he felt a deal was within reach if the process could play out.

“If I was Preisdent Trump, my only advice is just to give those negotiators enough room, enough space to really close these remaining areas that we need to discuss and agree upon,” he said.

Bolivian cargo plane crashes; 15 killled

A cargo plane carrying money crashed Friday near Bolivia's capital La Paz, damaging about a dozen vehicles on a highway, scattering bills on the ground and leaving at least 15 people dead, an official said.

Fire Chief Pavel Tovar did not clarify whether the dead were on the plane or in the cars on the highway near the airport in La Paz. He said there were people injured.

The aircraft struck vehicles in the city of El Alto, which is adjacent to La Paz, before coming to rest in a field, according to images circulating on social media. There were conflicting reports of whether the plane was taking off or landing when it crashed.

Debris from the aircraft, destroyed cars, and bodies littered the road. According to Tovar, at least 15 vehicles were involved. Firefighters managed to extinguish the flames engulfing the aircraft.

The plane, a Hercules aircraft belonging to the Bolivian air force, was transporting new banknotes from the Central Bank to other cities and a large number of bills scattered on the ground at the crash site.

Images circulating on social media showed people rushing to collect the bills while police in riot gear tried to disperse them. Authorities temporarily suspended all flights to and from the terminal.

Shirtless protest at AI summit: Two more arrested

The police arrested two more Indian Youth Congress workers from Delhi in connection with a 'shirtless' protest at the AI Summit, an officer said on Friday.

The accused, identified as Girdhar and Kuber Meena, take the total number of arrests in the case to 14, the officer said.

The Delhi police is also examining the financial trail behind the protest, which was staged during the high-profile summit earlier this week. Investigators suspect that funds allegedly collected for the upcoming Bihar assembly elections may have been diverted to finance the protest.

A senior Delhi police officer said multiple bank accounts linked to the arrested accused are under scrutiny.

The police suspect that funds originally collected for the 2025 Bihar assembly elections may have been diverted for the demonstration.

Not trying to defame Kerala, say Kerala Story-2 makers

Producer Vipul Shah has said "The Kerala Story 2: Goes Beyond" does not portray Kerala or its people in a negative light, hours after the Kerala High Court paved the way for the film's release.

A division bench of justices Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and P V Balakrishnan stayed a single judge's order that had put the film's screening on hold for 15 days. The bench passed the interim order on an appeal moved by Shah late Thursday night, shortly after the stay on the movie's release was granted.

Addressing a press conference shortly after the Kerala High Court order, Shah, who has co-written and produced the film under his banner Sunshine Pictures, said the film has been made with a lot of hard work and honesty.

“Neither our film, nor me, my crew members are against the state of Kerala, its God’s own country. It’s a beautiful and wonderful (state), but if something wrong is happening over there then I’m just bringing it out to people’s notice. Once you watch the film, you will see that we’ve not said anything negative about Kerala or the people of Kerala," Shah told reporters.

According to the producer, the movie on religious conversion exposes a "few criminals who are from Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan".

"Hence the movie is titled ‘The Kerala Story 2: Goes Beyond’. We are not trying to defame or are showing Kerala and people of Kerala in a negative light,” Shah told reporters here, adding that their film is not going to damage the culturally rich state.

The trailer of the Hindi film, directed by Kamakhya Narain Singh, came out earlier this month and courted a major controversy, much like its 2023 predecessor, with many on social media and political circles calling it hate propaganda.

The movie tracks the stories of three Hindu women from three different states going against their families to marry Muslim men and then being forced to convert.