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Authorities Investigate One of India’s Worst Aviation Disasters as Modi Visits the Site

This screengrab of video footage taken and released by the Narendra Modi Youtube Channel on June 13, 2025 shows India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi (L) meeting with Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, sole survivor of the Air India flight 171 crash, at a hospital in Ahmedabad. (Photo by NARENDRA MODI YOUTUBE CHANNEL / AFP)
This screengrab of video footage taken and released by the Narendra Modi Youtube Channel on June 13, 2025 shows India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi (L) meeting with Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, sole survivor of the Air India flight 171 crash, at a hospital in Ahmedabad. (Photo by NARENDRA MODI YOUTUBE CHANNEL / AFP)
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Authorities Investigate One of India’s Worst Aviation Disasters as Modi Visits the Site

This screengrab of video footage taken and released by the Narendra Modi Youtube Channel on June 13, 2025 shows India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi (L) meeting with Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, sole survivor of the Air India flight 171 crash, at a hospital in Ahmedabad. (Photo by NARENDRA MODI YOUTUBE CHANNEL / AFP)
This screengrab of video footage taken and released by the Narendra Modi Youtube Channel on June 13, 2025 shows India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi (L) meeting with Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, sole survivor of the Air India flight 171 crash, at a hospital in Ahmedabad. (Photo by NARENDRA MODI YOUTUBE CHANNEL / AFP)

Authorities are investigating one of India’s worst aviation disasters a day after an Air India plane crashed, killing all but one of the 242 passengers and crew onboard, officials said Friday, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the crash site.

The Indian government has launched an investigation into the fatal crash of the London-bound Air India plane that came down in a residential area in the northwestern city of Ahmedabad minutes after takeoff on Thursday.

Officials said most of the bodies were charred beyond recognition. There was no news early Friday on the cause of the crash, or on efforts to retrieve the black boxes — the flight data and cockpit voice recorders — as authorities continued to search the crash site.

The plane hit a building hosting a medical college hostel and burst into flames, killing several college students on the ground. Black smoke billowed from the site where the plane crashed near the airport in Ahmedabad, a city of more than 5 million and the capital of Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state.

“We are all devastated by the air tragedy in Ahmedabad. The loss of so many lives in such a sudden and heartbreaking manner is beyond words,” Modi said on social media after visiting the site. “We understand their pain and also know that the void left behind will be felt for years to come.”

There was only one survivor of the crash, who was seen in television footage meeting Modi at a local government hospital.

Dr. Dhaval Gameti told the Associated Press he had examined the man, whom he identified as Vishwashkumar Ramesh.

“He was disoriented with multiple injuries all over his body,” Dr. Gameti said. “But he seems to be out of danger.”

Another medic said Ramesh told him that immediately after the plane took off, it began descending and suddenly split in two, ejecting him before there was a loud explosion.

India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau has initiated a probe into the disaster in line with global protocols set by the International Civil Aviation Organization, said Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu in a statement on social media.

A team from the United States is expected to arrive in India to help. The National Transportation Safety Board, Federal Aviation Administration, Boeing and General Electric are all sending experts.

DNA tests for victims underway Medics are conducting DNA tests to identify those killed, the national president of the Federation of All India Medical Association, Akshay Dongardiv, said. Meanwhile, grieving families gathered outside the Civil hospital in Ahmedabad on Friday.

Thursday’s Air India crash involved a 12-year-old Boeing 787. Boeing planes have been plagued by safety issues on other types of aircraft.

According to experts, there are currently around 1,200 of the 787 Dreamliner aircraft worldwide, and this was the first deadly crash in 16 years of operation.

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World

EU to Take Part in Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ but Not as Member 

European Commissioner for the Mediterranean Dubravka Suica speaks during a debate on the “Situation in Northeast Syria, the violence against civilians and the need to maintain a sustainable ceasefire” as part of the European Parliament plenary session in Strasbourg, France, 10 February 2026. (EPA) 
European Commissioner for the Mediterranean Dubravka Suica speaks during a debate on the “Situation in Northeast Syria, the violence against civilians and the need to maintain a sustainable ceasefire” as part of the European Parliament plenary session in Strasbourg, France, 10 February 2026. (EPA) 
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EU to Take Part in Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ but Not as Member 

European Commissioner for the Mediterranean Dubravka Suica speaks during a debate on the “Situation in Northeast Syria, the violence against civilians and the need to maintain a sustainable ceasefire” as part of the European Parliament plenary session in Strasbourg, France, 10 February 2026. (EPA) 
European Commissioner for the Mediterranean Dubravka Suica speaks during a debate on the “Situation in Northeast Syria, the violence against civilians and the need to maintain a sustainable ceasefire” as part of the European Parliament plenary session in Strasbourg, France, 10 February 2026. (EPA) 

The European Union will take part in this week's inaugural meeting of US President Donald Trump's "Board of Peace", but a spokesman insisted Monday that Brussels would not be joining as a member.

The European Commissioner for the Mediterranean, Dubravka Suica, will head to Washington to represent the EU at the meeting Thursday.

"She will participate in the meeting of the Board of Peace for the specific part dedicated to Gaza. Let me stress that the European Commission, it's not becoming a member to the Board of Peace," EU spokesman Guillaume Mercier said.

He added the EU executive was participating as part of its "long-standing commitment" to the implementation of the Gaza ceasefire and "to support the reconstruction and the post-recovery in Gaza", he added.

The Board of Peace, of which Trump is the chairman, was initially designed to oversee the Gaza truce and reconstruction after the war between Hamas and Israel.

But its purpose has since morphed into resolving all sorts of international conflicts, triggering fears the US president wants to create a rival to the UN.

Some EU member states have raised concerns about the board.

"We still have a number of questions regarding several elements in the Board of Peace: one concerning its scope, two concerning its governance, and three, its compatibility with the UN Charter," EU spokesman Anouar El Anouni said.

World

Kremlin Rejects European Assessment Navalny Died of Poisoning

People queue to visit the grave of Alexei Navalny, the late Russian opposition leader, on the second anniversary of his death, at the Borisovskoye Cemetery in Moscow, Russia, 16 February 2026. EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV
People queue to visit the grave of Alexei Navalny, the late Russian opposition leader, on the second anniversary of his death, at the Borisovskoye Cemetery in Moscow, Russia, 16 February 2026. EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV
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Kremlin Rejects European Assessment Navalny Died of Poisoning

People queue to visit the grave of Alexei Navalny, the late Russian opposition leader, on the second anniversary of his death, at the Borisovskoye Cemetery in Moscow, Russia, 16 February 2026. EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV
People queue to visit the grave of Alexei Navalny, the late Russian opposition leader, on the second anniversary of his death, at the Borisovskoye Cemetery in Moscow, Russia, 16 February 2026. EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV

The Kremlin said Monday that it "strongly rejected" an assessment by five European countries that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny died from poisoning two years ago, as his supporters marked the anniversary of his death in prison.

Navalny, a charismatic anti-corruption campaigner who rallied hundreds of thousands to the streets in protest at the Russian leadership, was Russian President Vladimir Putin's fiercest domestic opponent for years.

He died in an Arctic prison colony in February 2024 while serving a 19-year sentence for "extremism", a charge that he and his supporters say was punishment for his opposition work, said AFP.

Britain, Sweden, France, Germany and the Netherlands issued a joint statement on Saturday saying they believed he had been poisoned with epibatidine -- a toxin found in poison dart frogs -- and that the Russian state had the "means, motive and opportunity" to administer it.

"We naturally do not accept such accusations. We disagree with them. We consider them biased and baseless," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, including AFP, during a daily briefing call.

"In fact, we strongly reject them," he added.

Dozens of people visited his grave in Moscow early Monday, among them foreign diplomats, according to an AFP reporter at the scene.

Some of those who attended wore masks or scarves over their faces.

Russian authorities designated Navalny and his organization "extremist" before his death, and anyone who mentions him or his exiled anti-corruption foundation are liable for prosecution.

Navalny, a Yale-educated lawyer, was the most widely known Russian opposition figure and galvanized thousands of young people to protest against Putin.

He had already survived a suspected poisoning with the Novichok nerve agent in 2020.

- Ecuadoran dart frog -

Navalny's mother Lyudmila told reporters she felt vindicated by the European statement and called for those responsible to be held accountable.

"This confirms what we knew from the very beginning. We knew that our son did not simply die in prison, he was murdered," she said outside the cemetery where he was buried in Moscow.

"I think it will take some time, but we will find out who did it. Of course, we want this to happen in our country, and we want justice to prevail," she added.

Navalny's widow, Yulia Navalnya, said on Saturday it was now "science proven" that her husband had been murdered.

She had previously said in September that laboratory analysis of smuggled biological samples found that her husband was poisoned.

Epibatidine, found in the Ecuadoran dart frog, causes muscle paralysis and eventual asphyxiation.

Experts have said the toxin can also be produced synthetically, instead of extracting it directly from the frog itself.

The European statement did not say how it was administered or by whom.

Britain's foreign office said the poison is not found naturally in Russia and that "only the Russian state had the means, motive and opportunity to deploy this lethal toxin."

Russia's prison service said he died after going for a walk and falling ill.

Since Navalny's death, Russia's opposition has remained largely exiled and fragmented.

Navalny's widow Yulia vowed to take the mantle of Russia's opposition in the wake of his death but has struggled to galvanize widespread support.

Inside Russia, Moscow has intensified a crackdown on anybody who had links with the late opposition leader.

In addition to targeting his allies and backers, photographers who covered his court hearings and lawyers who represented him at trial have been sentenced to lengthy prison terms.

World

Madagascar Cyclone Death Toll Rises to 59 

General view of the city center of Toamasina on February 14, 2026 following the passage of tropical cyclone Gezani during the night of February 10, 2026. (AFP)
General view of the city center of Toamasina on February 14, 2026 following the passage of tropical cyclone Gezani during the night of February 10, 2026. (AFP)
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Madagascar Cyclone Death Toll Rises to 59 

General view of the city center of Toamasina on February 14, 2026 following the passage of tropical cyclone Gezani during the night of February 10, 2026. (AFP)
General view of the city center of Toamasina on February 14, 2026 following the passage of tropical cyclone Gezani during the night of February 10, 2026. (AFP)

Flooding and fierce winds have pushed Madagascar's death toll from Cyclone Gezani to 59, with more than a dozen people still unaccounted for, the country's disaster agency said on Monday.

It is the latest in a string of tropical storms to batter the southern African island in recent months, underscoring its vulnerability to increasingly extreme weather fueled by climate change.

At least 59 people had been killed countrywide by the cyclone, which slammed into Madagascar on February 10, the National Office for Risk and Disaster Management (BNRGC) said, while more than 16,000 people have been displaced by storm waters.

A previous report had put the death toll at 43.

Most of the fatalities were reported in the port city of Toamasina on the east coast, formerly known as Tamatave, Madagascar's second-largest urban center with around 400,000 inhabitants.

Another 15 people remain missing nearly a week after the cyclone struck, according to BNRGC.

The damage to housing was extensive, with some 25,000 homes destroyed, 27,000 others flooded and more than 200 classrooms partially or completely wrecked, it said.

Gezani made landfall last week with winds topping around 250 kilometers (160 miles) per hour, prompting the government to declare a national emergency.

AFP images showed a trail of destruction across Toamasina, with streets in the city center still swamped by muddy floodwater and debris strewn between shuttered shops and damaged homes.

Residents queued for food at a primary school turned relief hub, while health workers screened families for malaria as the city began the slow clean-up and took stock of the cyclone's toll.

The World Food Program warned Friday that "the scale of destruction is overwhelming," with the city running on roughly five percent of its electricity and without water.

China and France have sent support for search and rescue efforts.

The storm largely spared neighboring Mozambique, skirting about 50 kilometers (30 miles) off its coast and causing far less damage, though authorities reported at least four deaths.

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday offered condolences and prayers for "the people of Madagascar, who have been struck by two cyclones in quick succession".

In early February, Madagascar's northwest was hit by Tropical Cyclone Fytia, which killed at least seven people and displaced more than 20,000.