UK suspends electronic visas for Jordanians over ‘violations’

UK suspends electronic visas for Jordanians over ‘violations’
The ETA was first launched on Nov. 15, 2023, for nationals of Qatar, before being expanded in February 2024 to include nationals of Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan), Oman, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. (AFP File Photo)
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Updated 11 September 2024
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UK suspends electronic visas for Jordanians over ‘violations’

UK suspends electronic visas for Jordanians over ‘violations’

AMMAN: The British Embassy in Amman has notified the Jordanian foreign ministry that it was suspending the visa-exempt status for Jordanian nationals wishing to travel to the UK, state news agency Petra reported.
The Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) facilitates the granting visas to visitors including Jordanians was being suspended due to ‘continued violations’ by Jordanian visitors to the UK, according to a statement.
The ETA was first launched on Nov. 15, 2023, for nationals of Qatar, before being expanded in February 2024 to include nationals of Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Ministry spokesperson Sufian Qudah said there has been “continued misuse” despite efforts by Jordanian Embassy officials in London to explore solutions with British authorities to the violations of Jordanian travelers of British residency and immigration laws.
The British decision is subject to amendment in the future and discussions are ongoing with the British to re-enact the ETA under conditions that would address violations, Qudah added.
The UK Home Office said the change was being made because the number of asylum claims from Jordanians increased from 17 in Oct. 2023 to 261 in June 2024.


Syria state media says 3 civilians killed in Israel strikes

Syria state media says 3 civilians killed in Israel strikes
Updated 10 sec ago
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Syria state media says 3 civilians killed in Israel strikes

Syria state media says 3 civilians killed in Israel strikes
DAMASCUS: Syrian state media said three civilians were killed in Israeli air strikes on Damascus early Tuesday and nine others wounded, citing a military source.
“The Israeli enemy launched an air aggression with warplanes and drones from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan, targeting several points in Damascus,” the official news agency SANA said.
“Three civilians were killed and nine others injured,” it added.
AFP correspondents heard four rounds of heavy bombardment over around half an hour, whose sound resonated across the Syrian capital.
In the Mezzeh neighborhood that is home to Syrian security headquarters and embassies, an AFP correspondent saw two mini-buses burnt to cinders in the area that was hit.
A resident of a building that was hit, a 57-year-old who gave his name as Abu Mohammad, told AFP: “We heard the sound of strong blast that threw me out of bed onto the floor, and seconds later we heard people scream and cry.”
“From our balcony, we saw fire everywhere,” he said of himself and his family.
“We found a dead lady on the first floor with her children screaming beside her, but we couldn’t do anything for her.”
State television said one of its anchors had also been killed.
Safaa Ahmad was “martyred in the Israeli aggression on the capital Damascus,” it said.
Since Syria’s civil war erupted in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in the country, mainly targeting army positions and Iran-backed fighters, including Hezbollah.
Israeli authorities rarely comment on individual strikes in Syria, but have repeatedly said they will not allow arch-enemy Iran to expand its presence there.
These strikes have increased in recent days, including on areas near the border with Lebanon.
Tens of thousands of people have been crossing over into Syria during the past week, fleeing heavy Israeli air strikes on Lebanon.

Lebanon and UN launch $426 million appeal for humanitarian aid

Lebanon and UN launch $426 million appeal for humanitarian aid
Updated 38 min 57 sec ago
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Lebanon and UN launch $426 million appeal for humanitarian aid

Lebanon and UN launch $426 million appeal for humanitarian aid
  • Joint call to help civilians affected by the escalating conflict

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, and UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon Imran Riza launched on Tuesday a $426 million appeal to help civilians affected by the escalating conflict, the UN said in a statement.


France says it is sending helicopter carrier to eastern Mediterranean

France says it is sending helicopter carrier to eastern Mediterranean
Updated 53 min 52 sec ago
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France says it is sending helicopter carrier to eastern Mediterranean

France says it is sending helicopter carrier to eastern Mediterranean

PARIS: A French helicopter carrier will arrive in the eastern Mediterranean in the next five to six days and take up position in case a decision is taken to evacuate foreign nationals from Lebanon, a French army spokesperson said on Tuesday.
Western nations have been weighing their options on how to get nationals out of Lebanon safely if a full-scale war breaks out there, with Cyprus and possibly Turkey seen as offering sanctuary to tens of thousands of people.
Israel said intense fighting had erupted with the Hezbollah movement in south Lebanon after its paratroops and commandos launched raids there, at the start of a ground incursion that followed airstrikes against Hezbollah's leadership.
France, which has about 20,000 citizens in Lebanon, sent its Dixmude helicopter carrier from the naval port of Toulon to the region on Monday, the French army spokesperson said.


Flash flood kills 15 in Iran

Flash flood kills 15 in Iran
Updated 01 October 2024
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Flash flood kills 15 in Iran

Flash flood kills 15 in Iran
  • Almost all of those killed in Monday’s flood were Afghan nationals living in the Islamic republic

Tehran: A flash flood that swept through a southern city of Iran killed 15 people, state media reported on Tuesday, updating an earlier toll of six dead.
“After finding the last body of Halil River flood incident in Jiroft, a total of 15 are pronounced dead,” said the official IRNA news agency.
The search and rescue operation had been brought to an end, it added.
Almost all of those killed in Monday’s flood were Afghan nationals living in the Islamic republic, Iran’s ISNA news agency reported.
Jiroft is a city located in the normally dry southern province of Kerman.
Scientists say climate change amplifies extreme weather, including droughts as well as the potential for the increased intensity of rainstorms.
Iran has endured repeated droughts in the past decade, but also regular floods, a phenomenon made worse when torrential rain falls on sun-baked earth.
In 2022, heavy rains in Iran’s south left at least 80 people dead and caused damage estimated at about $200 million.


Suspected Yemen Houthi rebel attacks target shipping in Red Sea

Suspected Yemen Houthi rebel attacks target shipping in Red Sea
Updated 01 October 2024
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Suspected Yemen Houthi rebel attacks target shipping in Red Sea

Suspected Yemen Houthi rebel attacks target shipping in Red Sea
  • The Houthis did not immediately claim the attacks. However, they sometimes take hours or days acknowledge one of their assaults

DUBAI: Suspected attacks Tuesday by Yemen’s Houthi rebels targeted at least one ship in the Red Sea, likely marking their first assault on commercial shipping in weeks as the Israel-Hamas war threatens to become a regional conflict.
The attack comes as Israeli ground forces entered Lebanon after days of Israeli airstrikes that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and other top leaders and the earlier explosions of sabotaged electronic devices used by the Shiite militia. The Houthis had threatened “escalating military operations” targeting Israel on Monday after they apparently shot down a US military drone flying over the country.
The first attack Tuesday morning took place some 110 kilometers (70 miles) off the port city of Hodeida in the Red Sea, which has become a battlefield for shippers since the Houthis began their campaign targeting ships traveling through a waterway that once saw $1 trillion a year of cargo pass through it.
A captain on a ship saw four “splashes” near his vessel, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said in a warning. That likely would have been missiles or drones launched at the vessel.
“All crew are safe and the vessel is proceeding to (its) next port of call,” the UKMTO said.
The UKMTO later reported a second attack north of the first. The private intelligence firm Ambrey similarly reported two separate attacks. However, it wasn’t immediately clear if the same vessel had come under attack again.
The Houthis did not immediately claim the attacks. However, they sometimes take hours or days to acknowledge one of their assaults.
Houthis have targeted more than 80 merchant vessels with missiles and drones since the war in Gaza started in October. They have seized one vessel and sank two in the campaign that has also killed four sailors. Other missiles and drones have either been intercepted by a US-led coalition in the Red Sea or failed to reach their targets, which have included Western military vessels.
The rebels maintain that they target ships linked to Israel, the US or the United Kingdom to force an end to Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the conflict, including some bound for Iran.
The last attack on a merchant ship by the Houthis came on Sept. 2.
The Houthis claimed an attack targeted American warships last week. The rebels fired more than a half dozen ballistic missiles and anti-ship cruise missiles and two drones at three US ships that were traveling through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, but all were intercepted by the Navy destroyers, a US official said Friday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details not yet publicly released.
The Houthis also continue to launch missiles targeting Israel, drawing retaliatory airstrikes from the Israelis this weekend on Hodeida.