Latest news with #crisisResponse
Arab News
14 hours ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Australia closes Iran embassy citing deteriorating security environment
SYDNEY: Australia has suspended operations at its embassy in Tehran due to the deteriorating security environment in Iran and has directed the departure of all Australian officials, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Friday. Australia's ambassador to Iran will remain in the region to support the government's response to the crisis, Wong said. 'We are continuing planning to support Australians seeking to depart Iran, and we remain in close contact with other partner countries,' Wong said in a statement.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Families of British Air India crash victims 'feel utterly abandoned' and hit out at government
The families of three of the British victims of last week's Air India crash in Ahmedabad have criticised the UK government's response to the disaster, saying they "feel utterly abandoned". It comes after an Air India Dreamliner from Ahmedabad airport in western India, killing 229 passengers and 12 crew. One person on the flight survived. Among the passengers and crew on the Gatwick-bound aircraft were 169 Indian nationals, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese nationals and one Canadian national. In a statement, the families of three British citizens who lost their lives said they were calling on the UK government to "immediately step up its presence and response on the ground in Ahmedabad". The families say they rushed to India to be by their loved ones' sides, "only to find a disjointed, inadequate, and painfully slow government reaction". "There is no UK leadership here, no medical team, no crisis professionals stationed at the hospital," said a family spokesperson. "We are forced to make appointments to see consular staff based 20 minutes away in a hotel, while our loved ones lie unidentified in an overstretched and under-resourced hospital. "We're not asking for miracles - we're asking for presence, for compassion, for action," another family member said. "Right now, we feel utterly abandoned." Read more: The families listed a number of what they called "key concerns", including a "lack of transparency and oversight in the identification and handling of remains". They also demanded a "full crisis team" at the hospital within 24 hours, a British-run identification unit, and financial support for relatives of the victims. Sky News has approached the UK's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office for comment. Families and friends of the victims have already - mostly aimed at the authorities in India - over the lack of information. This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the latest version. You can receive breaking news alerts on a smartphone or tablet via the Sky News app. You can also follow us on WhatsApp and subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with the latest news.
Sky News
4 days ago
- Politics
- Sky News
Families of British Air India crash victims 'feel utterly abandoned' and hit out at government
The families of three of the British victims of last week's Air India crash in Ahmedabad have criticised the UK government's response to the disaster, saying they "feel utterly abandoned". It comes after an Air India Dreamliner crashed shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad airport in western India, killing 229 passengers and 12 crew. One person on the flight survived. Among the passengers and crew on the Gatwick-bound aircraft were 169 Indian nationals, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese nationals and one Canadian national. In a statement, the families of three British citizens who lost their lives said they were calling on the UK government to "immediately step up its presence and response on the ground in Ahmedabad". The families said they rushed to India to be by their loved ones' sides, "only to find a disjointed, inadequate, and painfully slow government reaction". "There is no UK leadership here, no medical team, no crisis professionals stationed at the hospital," said a family spokesperson. "We are forced to make appointments to see consular staff based 20 minutes away in a hotel, while our loved ones lie unidentified in an overstretched and under-resourced hospital. "We're not asking for miracles - we're asking for presence, for compassion, for action," another family member said. "Right now, we feel utterly abandoned." The families listed a number of what they called "key concerns", including a "lack of transparency and oversight in the identification and handling of remains". They also demanded a "full crisis team" at the hospital within 24 hours, a British-run identification unit, and financial support for relatives of the victims. A local doctor had "confirmed" the delays in releasing the bodies were "linked to severe understaffing", according to the families. Sky News has approached the UK's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office for comment. Families and friends of the victims have already expressed their anger and frustration - mostly aimed at the authorities in India - over the lack of information.
Sky News
4 days ago
- Politics
- Sky News
'We feel utterly abandoned': Families of British Air India crash victims criticise UK government's response
The families of three of the British victims of last week's Air India crash in Ahmedabad have criticised the UK government's response to the disaster, saying they "feel utterly abandoned". It comes after an Air India Dreamliner crashed shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad airport in western India, killing 229 passengers and 12 crew. Among the passengers and crew on the Gatwick-bound aircraft were 169 Indian nationals, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese nationals and one Canadian national. In a statement, the families of three British citizens who lost their lives said they were calling on the UK government to "immediately step up its presence and response on the ground in Ahmedabad". The families say they rushed to India to be by their loved ones' sides, "only to find a disjointed, inadequate, and painfully slow government reaction". "There is no UK leadership here, no medical team, no crisis professionals stationed at the hospital," said a family spokesperson. "We are forced to make appointments to see consular staff based 20 minutes away in a hotel, while our loved ones lie unidentified in an overstretched and under-resourced hospital. "We're not asking for miracles - we're asking for presence, for compassion, for action," another family member said. "Right now, we feel utterly abandoned." Please refresh the page for the latest version.
BBC News
6 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
UK's careful diplomacy faces test ahead of G7 meeting
The telephone calls and WhatsApp messages continue apace this weekend between leaders, foreign ministers and diplomats, with the expectation that there are many more days to come in this conflict between Israel and are currently two so-called "crisis centres" running in the Foreign Office, both stood up in the last 48 is handling the situation in the Middle East, the other the plane crash in Ahmedabad in India on British government's public response is very carefully calibrated. In an interview the prime minister has done with Bloomberg and in the read outs of the conversations Sir Keir Starmer has had with fellow leaders, there is no explicit endorsement of Israel's there is a repeated acknowledgement of what are described as the UK's "long held grave concerns" about Iran's nuclear programme – the very thing Israel is attempting to officials say they had anticipated the prospect of Israel striking were told that UK preparations for potential Israeli strikes on Iran began in April last Monday, there was what was described as a "table top exercise" chaired by the Foreign Secretary David Lammy, where the nature and steps of the UK's response was discussed."We were hugely conscious of the risk of this happening at some point," one source said."But we are not getting into an assessment of the rights and wrongs of it," said another prime minister's conversation with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu happened at Mr Netanyahu's request, we are told, and lasted around 15 was a conversation of similar length between Sir Keir and President Trump where, beyond birthday greetings (Donald Trump is 79 on Saturday and it is the King's Official Birthday too), the only topic discussed was Israel and foreign secretary is expected to have calls with further counterparts in the Middle East on Saturdy, after he held talks with representatives from Iran, Jordan and Saudi Arabia on Lammy also had a joint meeting with the foreign ministers of France, Germany and Italy, as well as the EU's foreign affairs chief Kaja ministerial-level Cobra meeting is expected today, but officials from multiple government departments will be meeting to discuss the latest throughout the understood that French officials informed the UK government last night that the upcoming UN summit on a two-state solution had been prime minister will fly to Ottawa in Canada later for talks with the Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney expected to focus on security and of the G7 group of countries will gather in the Canadian province of Alberta on Sunday for their annual summit, with the situation in the Middle East at the top of their agenda.
