الكاتب: kafej

The gleaming Etihad Boeing 777 they stepped into could not have made for a more stark contrast from the apocalyptic scene they’ve left behind in Gaza.

And they emerged into the cabin lights looking mostly dazed. One elderly woman hugged the first female cabin crew member she saw.

She had plenty of reason to be both grateful and immensely relieved.

She – like the nearly 200 people slowly boarding with her – was on one of the few flights out of the hell that is Gaza right now – and they had just got a ticket offering their first real chance of survival.

Follow live: Israel-Gaza latest

The Sky News team joined them on the flight: one of the first mercy missions organised by the United Arab Emirates to airlift wounded, sick or vulnerable children and families out of the war zone.

They were taking advantage of the humanitarian pause in the bombing to try to evacuate as many sick, ill and wounded as possible.

Some of the elderly and sick were pushed in wheelchairs to the foot of the plane and then half carried, half helped up the steps.

Others cradled their babies or held their toddlers close.

One young girl, aged about 11, was tightly strapped to a stretcher and taken into the body of the aircraft via a hydraulic lift.

She was accompanied by her 16-year-old sister.

“She’s very ill,” one of the medics told us, “she was severely dehydrated. We struggled to get a drip inside her and she’s got multiple trauma injuries.”

Many of the passengers are cancer patients who’d been forced to leave the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital – the only cancer treatment hospital in the Gaza Strip – after it was bombed.

One orthopaedic surgeon, who herself is suffering from lung cancer, described the humanitarian situation inside Gaza as “catastrophic”.

“There are about 7,000-9,000 badly injured or sick people who urgently need to be taken out of Gaza for medical treatment,” Dr Hanan Azghbi estimated.

She said her own hospital – the Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital was overwhelmed with patients lying on floors and filled with people who’d sought refuge there.

It is now one of more than 20 hospitals completely out of action leaving only a fraction still functioning.

“I saw babies with double amputations,” she told us, “There are many, many people who’ve lost limbs. It is a catastrophe,” she repeated.

The medical team of 29 doctors, paramedics and emergency workers had flown into the Egypt-Gaza border unsure of who they were picking up, what the injuries or illnesses were and the extent of them.

So, they filled the plane with a range of medical equipment and medicines designed to help them cope with most eventualities.

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They set up a mini-ICU towards the rear of the plane and erected at least 10 stretchers positioned over rows of folded aeroplane seats, with resuscitation equipment and drips at the ready. In the event they needed to use only one.

Most of the passengers were able to be helped into their seats with a number receiving the first painkillers they’ve had access to in days or weeks.

Over the next week or so, the UAE will build a field hospital in Gaza with 150 beds. Compared to the huge numbers needing help right now, it is likely to be extremely busy.

The patients are being flown to Abu Dhabi where they’ll be placed in a number of hospitals able to respond to their medical needs.

Most have come with at least one family member accompanying them and these relatives will be accommodated nearby.

It was noticeable what few possessions the passengers arrived with.

Many came away from Gaza carrying just small plastic bags. That is all they’ve been left with.

Many have seen relatives killed and lost their homes, their jobs, their future. They leave Gaza not knowing if they’ll ever be back – and if they do return, just what exactly they’ll return to.

A groom in Thailand shot four people dead at his own wedding – including the bride – before turning the gun on himself. 

Former soldier and para-athlete Chaturong Suksuk, 29, killed his wife Kanchana Pachunthuek, 44, hours after they were married.

He abruptly left the wedding party late on Saturday and returned with a gun, according to reports by local media.

He shot dead the bride’s mother and younger sister, along with a wedding guest. Another guest was seriously injured, according to the Bangkok Post.

Guests noticed the groom did not look happy at the party, local media reported.

Chaturong “was quite intoxicated at the time”, police told the BBC, saying his motive remained unclear.

He had bought the gun and ammunition legally last year, they added.

It was also reported Chaturong felt insecure about the 15-year age gap between him and his wife, but police told the BBC this was still speculation.

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Officers told the Bangkok Post eleven bullets were found at the scene of the shooting, which took place in Wang Nam Khieo district.

Chaturong was a former soldier who became disabled after one of his legs was run over by a train and cut off, according to police.

He won a silver medal in swimming at the Asean Para Games in Indonesia last year.

He was also on the list of athletes competing in the World Abilitysport Games in Thailand next month, local media reported.

Gujarat is not unfamiliar with rain-related calamities but big rainstorms are not expected in the state during winter months.

Twenty-four people have died by lightning strikes and about 23 injured in rain-related incidents in the western Indian state of Gujarat over the past two days, government officials say, with rains continuing on Monday morning.

The state was hit by heavy rainfall accompanied by thunderstorms and hailstorms on Sunday and Monday, with some places receiving up to 144mm (5.7 inches) of rain in the 24 hours ending Monday morning, according to state government data.

The rains caused damage to houses and loss of cattle across the state. At least 40 animals were also killed.

“We will begin a survey soon to assess the loss suffered,” Gujarat Agriculture Minister Raghavji Patel said on Monday, adding that compensation will be paid to victims on the basis of the survey’s results.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast rainfall to continue in parts of the state on Monday.

Federal Home Minister Amit Shah, who along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi hails from Gujarat, said he was “deeply saddened” by the deaths, in a post on social media platform X.

Gujarat is not unfamiliar with rain-related calamities, but such big rainstorms are not expected in the state during winter months, and fierce downpours caught many off guard.

In August 2020, 14 people died in the state over just two days in various incidents related to heavy rains and flooding. A year previously, in August 2019, 31 people died in the state in rain-related incidents.

While flash floods and lightning kill dozens of people in India each year, scientists warn that rising global temperatures are unleashing a cascade of extreme weather events.

More than 100 climate change activists have been arrested in Australia after a two-day blockade of the world’s largest coal port.

Climate activist group Rising Tide, which organised the action at the Port of Newcastle on Australia’s east coast, said around 1,500 people were at the protest.

Hundreds of them swam in the water or were in kayaks as they carried out a 30-hour blockade which ran until 4pm local time on Sunday (5am UK time).

Around 300 of the protesters were in the shipping channel at the port.

A Port of Newcastle spokesperson said on Saturday: “At present, due to the number of people currently in the shipping channel, all shipping movements have ceased due to safety concerns, irrespective of the cargo they are carrying or intend to load.”

Rising Tide called the blockade the “biggest act of civil disobedience for climate in Australia’s history”.

New South Wales Police said officers arrested 109 people after 4pm on Sunday when a “Form 1 relating to an authorised assembly in the Port of Newcastle expired”.

The force said in a statement: “Police will allege in court that a number of protesters purposely entered the harbour channel after this time despite appropriate warnings and directions by police.”

Police said 49 men and 60 women were arrested, with five juveniles among those detained.

Following the action after 4pm on Sunday, Rising Tide organiser Alexa Stuart had said more than 100 people, with the youngest being 15 and the oldest 97, were still on the water and risking arrest.

It is not clear if the 97-year-old, Revered Alan Stuart, was among those arrested.

He said of the blockade: “I am doing this for my grandchildren and future generations because I don’t want to leave them a world full of increasingly severe and frequent climate disasters.

“I am so sorry that they will have to suffer the consequences of our inaction. So, I think it is my duty to do what I can and to stand up for what I know is right.”

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Ms Stuart has said Rising Tide wants the Australian government of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to “say no to new coal projects” and agree to “tax coal exports at 75% to fund the transition” to cleaner fuel sources.

She added in a statement: “If the government will not take action on climate change the people will use civil disobedience. We wish we did not have to do this, but the Albanese government needs to understand we are serious.”

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Climate change is a divisive issue in Australia, the world’s biggest exporter of thermal coal behind Indonesia, and the top
exporter of coking coal, used to make steel.https://news.sky.com/topic/australia-4608

The Port of Newcastle, 105 miles (some 170 km) from New South Wales state capital Sydney, is the largest bulk shipping port on the east coast and Australia’s largest terminal for coal exports, according to the state government.