Karachi, Nov 13 (PTI) The Chinese and Pakistani navies are holding week-long drills in the Arabian Sea during which the two all-weather allies will also conduct joint maritime patrols for the first time, a media report said on Monday.

The Chinese and Pakistani navies at a naval base in Karachi on Saturday kicked off the 'Sea Guardians-3' exercise in the waters and airspace of the northern Arabian Sea in drills that include anti-submarine operations, Dawn News reported on the exercises which will end on Friday.

11 November 2023; MEMO: The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) spokesperson, Jens Laerke, stated: “If there is a hell on earth today, its name is northern Gaza.”

His remarks were made at a press conference held by Laerke on Friday at the UN office in Geneva, Switzerland.

New Delhi, Nov 13 (PTI) People associated with the BJP instigated residents to burn firecrackers on Diwali, leading to an overnight increase of over 100 points in the national capital's air quality index, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai alleged on Monday.

At a press conference here, he said the firecrackers burnt in Delhi were sourced from Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, and that certain individuals, including police personnel from these states, permitted the transportation of those firecrackers to the city.

12 November 2023; MEMO: German police temporarily detained a Jewish Israeli woman who held up a sign condemning Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, amid an increased crackdown on pro-Palestinian voices in the country.

New Delhi, Nov 13 (PTI) Delhi recorded a jump in pollution levels and a smoky haze returned on Monday morning after residents flouted the ban on firecrackers on Diwali night.

The city recorded its best air quality on Diwali day in eight years on Sunday, with its 24-hour average Air Quality Index (AQI) settling at 218 at 4 pm.

However, firecracker bursting till late Sunday night led to a spike in pollution levels amid low temperatures.

12 November 2023; MEMO: Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune appointed Nadir Larbaoui as the country’s new prime minister, replacing Aymen Benabderrahmane, reports Anadolu Agency.

This came after Tebboune dismissed Benabderrahmane, according to state television.

No information was given about the reason for the dismissal of Benabderrahmane, who served as prime minister for about 2.5 years, leading a government of technocrats and representatives from parties supporting Tebboune.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles motorists should expect traffic snarls during the Monday commute as crews assess how much damage was caused by a raging fire over the weekend that closed a major elevated interstate near downtown, officials said.

Hazardous materials teams were clearing burned material from underneath Interstate 10 to make way for engineers who will ensure the columns and deck of the highway can support the 300,000 vehicles that typically travel that route daily, Gov. Gavin Newsom said at a news conference Sunday.

BERLIN (AP) — Five U.S. servicepeople were killed when a military helicopter crashed over the eastern Mediterranean Sea during a training mission, U.S. officials said Sunday.

The military’s European Command said all five crew members on board were killed when the aircraft went down “during a routine air refueling mission as part of military training.”

12 November 2023; MEMO: Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned Lebanon on Saturday about getting into its war against the Gaza Strip and said Israel knows how to replicate its actions in Beirut, reports Anadolu Agency.

The comment was in reference to Palestinians walking with white flags along the coast toward the south on orders from the Israeli army.

"I see Gaza residents walking with white flags along the coast, heading south" he said.

GENEVA, Nov 13 (Reuters) - United Nations workers observed a minute's silence on Monday to honour the more than 100 employees killed in Gaza since the Israel-Hamas war began last month, the largest toll of humanitarian workers in the organisation's 78-year history.

Staff at U.N. offices in Geneva bowed their heads as a candle was lit in memory of the 101 employees of U.N. Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA killed in the Israeli assault on Gaza. U.N. flags across the world flew at half mast.

A FRENCH ARMY BASE, France (AP) — Battle cries pierce the smoke and rat-a-tat-tat of gunfire as Ukrainian soldiers fight through and take enemy trenches and dugouts that hide gruesome, bloody remains.

“Grenade!” one screams in Ukrainian. Another yells: “Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!”

This time, no lives or limbs were lost. Because this time, the rounds fired were blanks and the “enemy” troops were, in fact, French soldiers whose intention was not to kill the Ukrainians but instead to help shape them into better, more lethal warriors.

DUBAI, Nov 13 (Reuters) - The exhibition stands of Israeli weapons makers Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems were empty at the start of the opening day of the weeklong Dubai Airshow on Monday, amid the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

It was not immediately clear why there were no staff at either exhibition stand, which were located close to the pavilion of United Arab Emirates state arms maker EDGE. IAI and EDGE signed joint development programmes at the last Dubai Airshow in 2021.