Foreign News
UK fighter jet stuck in India for five weeks is finally ready to fly
A state-of-the-art British fighter jet that has been stuck at an Indian airport for more than five weeks is set to fly out on Tuesday.
The F-35B is due to be “pulled back from the hangar today and the departure is scheduled for Tuesday”, an airport spokesman told the BBC. “We do not have any technical details,” he added.
The F-35B landed on 14 June at Thiruvananthapuram airport in the southern state of Kerala where it was diverted after it ran into bad weather during a sortie in the Indian Ocean. It then developed a technical snag.
Its prolonged presence on Indian soil sparked curiosity and raised questions about how such a modern aircraft could remain stranded in a foreign country for so long.
After the plane, which was part of the fleet of the HMS Prince of Wales, was unable to return, engineers from the Royal Navy’s flagship carrier visited it to fix it.
But they were unable to repair it, and a fortnight back, the UK ministry of defence said they had deployed a team of 14 engineers “to Thiruvananthapuram airport to assess and repair the F-35B aircraft”.
The team came with specialist equipment necessary for the movement and repair process, a statement said. Videos from the time showed the F-35B being towed away to a hangar.
There had been speculation that if the technicians failed to repair the aircraft, it would have to be dismantled and carried out in a bigger cargo plane such as a C-17 Globemaster transport aircraft.
Over the past two weeks, the UK high commission in India and the defence authorities have responded to the BBC’s messages saying they would not share details of repairs.
But on Monday, an airport official told the BBC that “the aircraft is confirmed to be airworthy”.
It is scheduled to be pulled out of the hangar on Monday morning, he said, adding that the exact time of its departure is “yet to be communicated, which airport will be used for refuelling on the way to London or when the backup aircraft will arrive to transport the technicians and equipment back”.
F-35Bs are highly advanced stealth jets, built by Lockheed Martin, and are prized for their short take-off and vertical landing capability.
Images of the “lonely F-35B”, parked on the tarmac and soaked by the Kerala monsoon rains, made it a subject of jokes and memes with many suggesting that it did not want to leave the scenic state of Kerala, described as “God’s own country” in tourism brochures.
The case of the stranded $110m (£80m) jet was also raised in the House of Commons.
[BBC]
Britney Spears has been arrested in California under suspicion of driving under the influence.
The singer was detained by California Highway Patrol at around 21:30 local time (05:30 GMT) on Wednesday. A representative for her told the BBC: “This was an unfortunate incident that is completely inexcusable.”
She was released in the early hours of Thursday morning and is due to appear at Ventura County Superior Court on 4 May.
The reason for the singer’s arrest was confirmed to CBS, the BBC’s US partner, by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office in southern California.
Spears’ representative told the BBC: “Britney is going to take the right steps and comply with the law and hopefully this can be the first step in long overdue change that needs to occur in Britney’s life.
“Hopefully, she can get the help and support she needs during this difficult time.
“Her boys are going to be spending time with her. Her loved ones are going to come up with an overdue needed plan to set her up for success for well being.”
The pop star appeared to have deleted her Instagram account on Thursday as news of her arrest broke.
Spears is one of the most successful pop stars ever, with hits such as Baby One More Time, Toxic, Everytime, Gimme More, Womanizer, and Stronger.
The singer said in January 2024 that she would “never return to the music industry”. Her last song was a duet with Elton John in 2022.
However, in a since-deleted social media post from earlier this year, Spears indicated that, although she would not perform in the US again, she was hoping to play live in the UK and Australia in the near future.
For 13 years until 2021, Spears was in a conservatorship – a legal guardianship that saw her finances and personal life controlled by her father.
The singer published her memoir in 2023 titled The Woman in Me, which saw her reflect on her career and detail her struggles living under the conservatorship.
Her ex-husband, Kevin Federline, released his own memoir, You Thought You Knew, at the end of 2025.
[BBC]
“It’s so good to be home.”
The statement sums up how almost 400 people felt after their flight from Dubai arrived in Dublin on Wednesday night.
The Emirates flight was the first in a number of days after the United States-Israeli attacks on Iran led to the closure of nearly all airspace in the Middle East.
One of the passengers, Norita Geary, said: “Everyone clapped when the plane landed and we all cheered.”
“It was unreal. I mean you see these things on television, you see them in movies but you just don’t think you’ll end up there yourself,” she added.
A second flight directly to Dublin from Dubai is scheduled for Thursday, with a further 400 passengers on it.
Rushali Lakhani said she is feeling “very happy” to be back [BBC]
Rushali Lakhani said she is “very happy” and “very grateful” to be back.
“It was quite a stressful time but grateful and thanking our lucky stars really.”
She said was “it was quite nerve wracking, we couldn’t really sleep much”.
“A lot of sleepless nights, a lot of bangs. There were no airplanes flying so whenever we heard some noises we knew that it wasn’t good news.”
So far 25,000 Irish citizens in the region have registered with the Department of Foreign Affairs – 2,000 of them have said they want to leave.
The Irish government has chartered a flight for Irish citizens from Muscat in Oman on Friday.
The Irish Embassy in the UAE thanked all those had registered but warned that registration is not an expression of interest in a flight.
Meanwhile, a flight chartered by the UK government which had been due to bring back some Britons stranded in the Middle East on Wednesday night did not take off as scheduled..
British citizens stuck in the Middle East have told the BBC there has been a lack of information about available routes to travel home.
The Foreign Office said two more chartered flights would depart by the end of the week.
Foreign Office officials said 138,000 British nationals in the Gulf had registered their presence, of whom 112,000 were in the UAE.
[BBC]
An eight-year-old Queensland girl has been killed after she was seriously injured in a snowmobile accident at a Japanese ski resort.
Chloe Jeffries, from the Gold Coast, was riding on a snowmobile with her mother in Hakuba Valley, Nagano prefecture, on Saturday when it overturned, trapping her underneath. She was airlifted to hospital but later died.
In a tribute from her netball club, Jeffries was remembered for her “beautiful nature” and “her cheeky, infectious smile”.
Tour operator Hakuba Lion Adventure said the vehicle flipped after going up an embankment along a forest road and that police were investigating. Jeffries is the fourth Australian to have died at a Japanese ski resort this year.
Hungary confirms it is holding seven Ukrainian bank workers and $80m
US and Venezuela agree to resume diplomatic ties after Maduro capture
Jamie Siddons appointed Sri Lanka Women head coach
Showers or thundershowers are likely at a few places in the Southern province and in Rathnapura, and Kaluthara districts during evening or night.
‘IRIS Dena was Indian Navy guest, hit without warning’, Iran warns US of bitter regret
Risk of power cuts due to use of low-quality coal,PUCSL warns
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
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