India restricts religious festivals over new Covid surge fears

AFP

Indian authorities are restricting major religious festivals that start this week and attract huge crowds, warning that a new Covid-19 wave had already begun in the financial capital Mumbai.

State governments across the country of 1.3 billion people, which saw a devastating coronavirus surge in April-May, are clamping down on mass gatherings.

“The third wave is not coming, it is already here,” Mumbai’s mayor Kishori Pednekar told reporters on Tuesday.

“We can celebrate festivals later. Let us first prioritise the lives and health of our citizens,” added Uddhav Thackeray, the chief minister of Maharashtra, of which Mumbai is the capital.

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He was speaking ahead of the 11-day Hindu Ganesh Chaturthi festival, which starts Friday.

The last Covid-19 wave overwhelmed India’s hospitals and was known to have killed more than 200,000 people.

It struck after one of the world’s biggest religious gatherings, the Kumbh Mela, which attracted some 25 million Hindu pilgrims.

That gathering, large state election rallies and the infectious Delta virus variant — first detected in India — were blamed by experts for fuelling the surge.

Authorities said a recent spike in cases in the southern state of Kerala after the Onam festival in August should be cause for alarm.

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But festive crowds have still packed markets in Maharashtra and other states in recent days, ignoring the warnings.

The state government will limit the height of effigies of the elephant-headed god Ganesha to reduce the number of devotees carrying them during the festival.

Processions on the festival’s first and last days will be banned.

Restrictions on movements and activities are expected to be introduced this week as cases rise in another major Maharashtra city, Nagpur.

In the neighbouring state of Karnataka, a night curfew will remain in place and districts posting higher positive test levels will be banned from holding Ganesh celebrations.

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Karnataka health minister, K. Sudhakar, told AFP officials were also concerned the recent resumption of high school classes could increase cases.

Viti Kumar, a resident of Lucknow in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, said she feared people would let down their guards during the festivals.

“I cannot take chances with my daughter. I am not sending her to school,” she told AFP.

The southern state of Tamil Nadu has banned public festival celebrations, while the eastern state of West Bengal was expected to impose curbs on the nine-day Durga Puja in October.

India has the world’s second-highest known caseload, with more than 33 million infections, and 441,000 deaths.

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Two killed in shooting at restaurant near Frankfurt Airport

Two people were shot dead early Tuesday at a restaurant in Raunheim, near Frankfurt Airport, according to local police.

Preliminary findings indicate that an armed individual entered the establishment at around 03:45 local time (02:45 GMT) and opened fire on the victims, who died at the scene from their injuries.

The suspect fled and remains at large, while the motive behind the shooting is still unclear, German media reported. Authorities have launched a large-scale search operation.

U.S. counterterrorism chief resigns over opposition to war in Iran

Joe Kent, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, announced Tuesday that he has resigned from his post, citing his opposition to the ongoing war in Iran.

In a post on X, Kent said he could not, “in good conscience,” support the conflict, arguing that Iran did not pose an imminent threat to the United States. He also claimed that the war was driven by pressure from Israel and its lobbying influence in Washington.

In a resignation letter addressed to Donald Trump, Kent alleged that at the start of the current administration, senior Israeli officials and influential figures in U.S. media carried out a disinformation campaign that undermined the “America First” platform and fostered pro-war sentiment aimed at triggering a conflict with Iran.

Kent further stated that he could not support sending a new generation of Americans to “fight and die in a war that provides no benefit to the American people and does not justify the cost in American lives.”

Since the United States and Israel launched attacks against Iran on February 28, at least 13 U.S. service members have been killed, while 10 others have been seriously wounded and around 200 have sustained minor injuries, according to a report published by The Wall Street Journal.

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International

German president warns Iran war could spread and disrupt Strait of Hormuz

The president of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, warned Monday that the war involving Iran could expand and further disrupt shipping through the strategic Strait of Hormuz. He urged a swift end to hostilities between Iran, United States and Israel.

Speaking in Panama City during a joint appearance with Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino, Steinmeier said available information suggests Iran has significant capacity to disrupt maritime traffic through the key oil route.

“Iran has considerable potential to interfere with shipping through the Strait of Hormuz,” Steinmeier said through an interpreter. “We should therefore reach an end to the hostilities as soon as possible and call on all parties involved to make that happen.”

The remarks came during Steinmeier’s visit to Panama, the first by a German president to the Central American nation.

The German leader described the possibility of the conflict spreading as “very dangerous,” saying recent developments indicate that such a scenario cannot be ruled out.

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Over the weekend, U.S. President Donald Trump urged allied nations to help ensure safe passage for ships through the Strait of Hormuz after Iran moved to block the waterway in response to U.S. strikes. However, several allies—particularly in Europe—have shown little support for the proposal.

“Some are very enthusiastic, others are not, and some are countries we have helped for many years,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “We have protected them from terrible external threats, and they’re not that enthusiastic. And the level of enthusiasm is important to me.”

Meanwhile, Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s top diplomat, said the Strait of Hormuz falls “outside NATO’s scope” and stressed that “the war involving Iran is not Europe’s war.”