Hundreds of flights have been canceled due to volcanic ash, stranding thousands of passengers at Catania airport during peak holiday season Sicily is facing its worst aviation disruption in more than two decades as a prolonged eruption of Mount Etna forces hundreds of flight cancellations, stranding thousands during the peak summer holiday season. Europe’s tallest and most active volcano has been erupting continuously since August 6, producing lava fountains, fresh flows, and persistent ash emissions. Experts say the activity could continue for weeks or even months. Volcanic ash has caused the greatest disruption, with shifting winds carrying it toward Catania-Fontanarossa Airport, about 30 km south of Etna. On Tuesday, the airport extended restrictions due to “Etna’s eruptive activity and the simultaneous emission of volcanic ash,” limiting arrivals to ten per hour. In recen...
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Jordan wants to attract more Christian pilgrims for the 2,000-year anniversary in 2030 Jordan is preparing to mark the 2,000-year anniversary of Jesus Christ’s baptism in the Jordan River, with the Muslim nation investing more than $100 million to draw Christian pilgrims to one of the world’s holiest sites. Jordanian Prime Minister Jafar Hassan met with Christian leaders this month and signed agreements to develop the baptism site by building a village for Christian pilgrims and visitors, a museum dedicated to the baptism, a green corridor, and infrastructure upgrades leading to the site. The project is expected to cost $120 million, Vatican media reported. The year 2030 is widely accepted as the two millennium anniversary of Christ’s baptism by John the Baptist, a moment that marked the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. The ceremony took place at Bethany Beyond the Jordan on the...
New energy routes would take years to build and come at a heavy cost, IRGC adviser Mohammad Reza Naqdi has told RT The Strait of Hormuz will remain indispensable to global energy trade despite efforts by Persian Gulf states to develop alternative export routes, a top Iranian military advisor has told RT. In an exclusive interview with the outlet, Mohammad Reza Naqdi, a senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander and adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader, argued that the strategic waterway cannot easily be replaced given the concentration of oil and gas production in the Gulf. “The Strait of Hormuz will never lose importance. [The Persian Gulf] is the production site for oil and gas. Oil wells cannot be moved elsewhere,” Naqdi told RT correspondent Saman Kojouri. The veteran brigadier general also pointed to the time and expense involved in developing new energy infrastructure. ...
The cricketer-turned politician’s family and his Tehreek-e-Insaf party have raised concerns over Khan’s health amid the isolation in jail Pakistan’s top court has ordered imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan to be moved to a hospital amid intensifying concerns about his health. The Supreme Court issued the order after Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party and his family raised concerns about his health, citing medical reports from the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, where the 73-year-old cricketer-turned-politician has been held since August 2023. The court directed Khan to be moved to the private Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad within 48 hours, and to be kept there until September 16, reports quoted PTI spokesman Naeem Haider Panjutha as saying. Khan’s family members have been allowed weekly meetings with him. The court also directed a medical board to be formed, which...
RT India’s Runjhun Sharma has traveled to the country to see how life has changed under Taliban rule Afghanistan has marked five years since the Taliban swept back to power amid a chaotic US withdrawal. Celebrations have been held across the country, with officials describing Afghanistan as safer and “free.” The US invaded Afghanistan in late 2001 following the September 11 attacks, for which Washington identified Al-Qaeda as being responsible. The group’s leaders, including Osama bin Laden, were based in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan at the time. US forces withdrew as the country’s Western-backed government rapidly collapsed and the Taliban recaptured Kabul in August 2021. Once central to US foreign policy – with American taxpayers footing an estimated $2.3 trillion bill for the 20-year occupation – Afghanistan has since largely faded from Western attention. ...
Tankers sailing with transponders off are reportedly helping prevent a sharper oil-price surge by moving crude through the disrupted strait Gulf states are covertly shipping oil through the Strait of Hormuz on tankers with their transponders switched off despite severe disruptions to normal traffic and intermittent attacks, Bloomberg reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with the shipments. The de facto closure to normal traffic through the strait due to the US-Iran conflict has affected a strategic waterway that has historically been the route for around a quarter of the world’s seaborne oil trade. The conflict initially sent global oil prices soaring to nearly $120 a barrel. Some energy experts have warned that oil prices could reach $150 over the coming months. The volumes shipped through the heavily disrupted passage exceed market estimates of 4 million barrels per day, people familiar with ...