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In a humanitarian move, Spain has refused entry to a ship carrying arms from India’s Chennai to Israel to dock at one of its ports, its Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares has said.

The Denmark-flagged cargo ship Marianne Danica sailed from Chennai on April 8 when people in Gaza were observing Ramadan fasting, and was headed to the port of Haifa in Israel, according to maritime tracking portals and Spanish media.

Spain has been extremely critical of the rising civilian casualties due to the Israeli offensive in Gaza and, along with Belgium, has suspended arms exports licenses to Tel Aviv. 

Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs Randhir Jaiswal, at the weekly press conference, only said that they have seen the report of the ship and will revert with more information.

Meanwhile, a source said, “Investigation will reveal if the items on board were cleared for export and if the end user is the same as reported by The Guardian because there are items that are not banned for exports.”

Speaking to reporters in Brussels on Thursday on the issue, Mr. Albares had said, “This is the first time we have done this because it is the first time we have detected a ship carrying a shipment of arms to Israel that wants to call at a Spanish port.”

“This will be a consistent policy with any ship carrying arms to Israel that wants to call at Spanish ports. The Foreign Ministry will systematically reject such stopovers for one obvious reason: the Middle East does not need more weapons, it needs more peace,” he stated.

The ship was carrying 27 tonnes of explosives according to local reports. It was to make a port call at Cartegena in Spain.
In February, Mr. Albares said that they had suspended arms export licences to Israel since October 7, which he said made them “realise” the importance of a “fair and lasting solution” to the Palestinian cause.

The incident comes amid an ongoing row between Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s party and his coalition partners over another ship, Borkum, that was due to dock at Cartegena port on Friday over allegations that it was carrying arms meant for Israel. However, the Spanish government has said that the arms it is ferrying are meant for the Czech Republic.

Belgium had suspended two arms export licences to Israel.

“We welcome the decision of the Spanish government to deny the transit authorisation of the vessel Marianne Danica, in accordance with Tratado (treaty) on Arms Trade and Spanish law,” Amnesty International Spain said on social media platform ‘X’.

The timing also coincides with the Israeli ground offensive inside Rafah. According to the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) at least 6,30,000 Palestinians have been forced out of Rafah since the launch of the incursion on May 7.

Madikeri, May 11: Kodagu police have apprehended the man allegedly responsible for the brutal murder of a minor girl within the confines of Kumbaragadige village in Karnataka's Somwarpet taluk. 

Kodagu Superintendent of Police, K Ramarajan, disclosed that the arrested individual is Prakash (32) from Hammiyala village in Somwarpet taluk. However, authorities are still in the process of recovering the severed head of the victim. The perpetrator had absconded with the victim's severed head after committing the crime. 

Search operations for the suspect commenced late on Thursday night (May 9), with officials diligently pursuing leads. Acting on information suggesting the suspect's presence in a forested area near the village, the police swiftly moved in and apprehended him.

The victim US Meena, 15, a student of Surlabbi High School, had passed the SSLC examinations, the results of which were announced on May. One same day, she was murdered. 

Reportedly, the engagement of the minor girl with the suspect was thwarted by officials from the Women and Child Development department. Subsequently, officials persuaded the girl's parents against proceeding with the marriage. 

However, despite these interventions, the suspect forcibly entered her residence during the night, purportedly abducted her, and later perpetrated the heinous crime in a wooded area on the outskirts of the forest, before absconding with her severed head.

The stage is all set for the third phase of voting for the Lok Sabha election, which will take place on Tuesday, May 7. The polling will take place across 94 Lok Sabha constituencies covering ten states and two union territories.

Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seats were also to vote in the third phase of polling. However, due to several connectivity issues, the Election Commission of India rescheduled it to May 25.

The voting in the third phase of the Lok Sabha election will begin at 7 am on Tuesday and conclude at 5 pm. The results will be declared on June 4.

Lok Sabha election Phase 3: List of states and constituencies:

Over 1,300 candidates, including 120 women, are in the fray in the third phase of the Lok Sabha election. Some of the key candidates include bigwigs such as union ministers Amit Shah, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Mansukh Mandaviya, Parshottam Rupala, Pralhad Joshi, and SP Singh Baghel. Former Madhya Pradesh chief ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Digvijaya Singh are also contesting the election in Madhya Pradesh. At the same time, the fate of former Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai will also be decided in the third phase. Meanwhile, several members of Mulayam Singh Yadav's family are also contesting in this phase in Uttar Pradesh.

List of key candidates and their constituencies

Amit Shah (BJP) - Gandhi Nagar, Gujarat

Digvijaya Singh (Congress) - Rajgarh, Madhya Pradesh

Shivraj Singh Chouhan (BJP) - Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh

Dimple Yadav (SP) - Mainpuri, Uttar Pradesh

Supriya Sule (NCP) - Baramati, Maharashtra

Purshottam Rupala (BJP) - Rajkot, Gujarat

Jyotiraditya Scindia (BJP) - Guna, Madhya Pradesh

Pralhad Joshi (BJP) - Dharwad, Karnataka

KS Eshwarappa (BJP) - Shimoga, Karnataka

Praniti Shinde (Congress) - Solapur, Maharashtra

Hasmukbhai Patel (BJP) - Ahmedabad East, Gujarat

Pallavi Dempo (BJP) - South Goa, Goa

Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury (Congress) - Berhampore, West Bengal

The Lok Sabha elections are being held in seven phases - with the first phases concluded on April 19 and April 26. The third phase will be held on May 7; the fourth phase will be held on May 13; the fifth phase will be on May 20; the sixth phase will be on May 25; and the seventh phase on June 1.