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Nine killed in blast at police station in Indian-administered Kashmir
At least nine people have been killed and 29 injured after a cache of confiscated explosives detonated in a police station in Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir’s main city.
The stockpile exploded late on Friday night at a police station in the Nowgam area, south of Srinagar.
One unnamed source told the Reuters news agency that identification efforts are under way as some bodies “have been completely burned”.
“The intensity of the blast was such that some body parts were recovered from nearby houses, around 100-200 metres [110-220 yards] away from the police station,” the source said.
Most of those killed were policemen and forensic team officials who were examining the explosives at the time of the detonation, unnamed sources told Indian broadcaster NDTV. Two officials from the Srinagar administration also died in the blast.
With five people still in critical condition, the death toll could continue to climb, according to the media outlet.
“Not a terror attack. Police say it’s a very unfortunate incident,” NDTV’s senior executive editor Aditya Raj Kaul said in a post on social media.
“The blast happened when a forensics team and the police were checking the explosive material stored at the police station,” he said.
The huge blast comes days after Monday’s deadly car explosion in New Delhi, which killed at least 12 people near the city’s historic Red Fort and which officials have called a “terror” incident.
The explosion in the Indian capital occurred just hours after police arrested several people and seized explosive materials as well as assault rifles.
Police said the suspects were linked to Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM), a Pakistan-based group that is seeking to end Indian rule in Kashmir, and Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, a Kashmir offshoot linked to JeM.
Police in Indian-administered Kashmir also detained more than 650 people as part of their investigation following the New Delhi car blast.
[Aljazeera]
World and Olympic champion Mondo Duplantis added another centimetre to his own world pole vault record*, clearing 6.31m at the Mondo Classic – a World Athletics Indoor Tour Silver meeting – in Uppsala on Thursday (12).
The pole vault superstar had no failures on his way to his record-breaking performance, opening with 5.65m before scaling 5.90m and 6.08m at the first time of asking.
Norway’s Sondre Guttormsen finished second with 6.00m, his second six-metre vault of the season.
Zachery Bradford, Sam Kendricks and Kurtis Marschall all cleared 590m to place third, fourth and fifth respectively.
[World Athletics]
Qantas Airways has agreed to pay A$105m (£55m; $74m) over claims that it should have issued cash refunds for cancelled flights during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The class action lawsuit was made on behalf of passengers whose flights were cancelled by the carrier between 2020 and 2022 and received travel credits instead of cash.
The settlement is almost double the amount that Qantas had expected to pay, according to its results published in February.
The national flag carrier said on Friday that it has agreed to pay the sum “with no admission of liability”.
The settlement is subject to court approval and details of how customers can claim refunds will be made soon, said Echo Law, the legal firm leading the class action.
The firm had alleged that Qantas breached its contracts with customers by failing to provide cash refunds for cancelled flights in a timely manner, and instead offered travel credits.
The airline engaged in “misleading or deceptive conduct” over the rights of customers over their cancelled flights in violation of Australian law, Echo Law said.
By doing so, Qantas “unlawfully benefited from customers by holding for years a very significant amount of customer funds that ought to have been refunded,” it added.
Qantas said in its statement that in 2023 that it had removed the expiry date on flight credits issued during the pandemic so that customers could request a cash refund right away.
The airline told investors in its half-year report that it expected to pay A$55m to settle the case.
Echo Law is leading a similar class action lawsuit against Australian budget carrier, Jetstar, over allegedly issuing customers travel credits that were worth less than the refunds that customers were entitled to.
“By acting in this way, Jetstar has enjoyed significant financial benefits at its customers’ expense,” said Echo Law.
BBC News understands that Jetstar is continuing to defend the case.
Qantas was fined a record A$90m in August 2025 for illegally sacking more than 1,800 ground workers during the pandemic.
The penalty was the largest ever imposed by an Australian court for violations of industrial relations laws.
At the rime, Qantas said it had agreed to pay the fine and that the ruling holds it accountable for actions that caused “real harm” to its employees.
“We sincerely apologise to each and every one of the 1,820 ground handling employees and to their families who suffered as a result,” Qantas Group chief executive Vanessa Hudson said.
(BBC)
The Sri Lanka Navy during yet another successful operation on the high seas south of Sri Lanka, intercepted two (02) local multi-day fishing trawlers.
One trawler, along with 05 individuals, was suspected of attempting to smuggle a consignment of narcotics and weapons. The second trawler and the remaining 05 suspects are believed to be linked to the same illicit operation.
On 12 Mar 26, the multiday fishing trawlers and crew were brought to the Dickowita Fishery Harbour.
After a meticulous examination the Police Narcotic Bureau (PNB) detected 478kg of crystal methamphetamine, 176kg of heroin as well as 03 mechanical weapons, 08 sidearms and
communication equipment.
The Honourable Deputy Minister of Defence, Major General Aruna Jayasekara (Retd), along with the Commander of the Navy, Vice Admiral Kanchana Banagoda and the Inspector General of Police, Priyantha Weerasooriya, were present to inspect the seized narcotics and weapons.
Duplantis breaks world pole vault record in Uppsala
Qantas agrees to pay $74m over Covid-19 travel voucher refunds
Navy seize 654kg of narcotics and haul of arms off South Coast
Heat Index likely to increase up to ‘Caution level’ at some places in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Southern and North-western provinces and in Monaragala and Mannar districts
Showers above 50 mm can be expected at some places in the Western and Sabaragamuwa provinces and in the Galle and Matara districts
Govt. bends rules, lowers coal standards in favour of errant company: FSP
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
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