Massive crowds in Iran for commander's funeral, daughter warns US of 'dark day'

Washington, May 29: Reiterating his offer to mediate on the border dispute between India and China, US President Donald Trump has said that he spoke with Narendra Modi about the "big conflict" and asserted that the Indian Prime Minister is not in a "good mood" over the latest flare-ups between the two countries.

Speaking with the reporters in the Oval Office of the White House on Thursday, Trump said a "big conflict" was going on between India and China.

"I like your prime minister a lot. He is a great gentleman," the president said.

"Have a big conflict …India and China. Two countries with 1.4 billion people (each). Two countries with very powerful militaries. India is not happy and probably China is not happy," he said when asked if he was worried about the border situation between India and China.

"I can tell you; I did speak to Prime Minister Modi. He is not in a good mood about what is going on with China," Trump said.

A day earlier, the president offered to mediate between India and China.

Trump on Wednesday said in a tweet that he was "ready, willing and able to mediate" between the two countries.

Responding to a question on his tweet, Trump reiterated his offer, saying if called for help, "I would do that (mediate). If they thought it would help" about "mediate or arbitrate, I would do that," he said.

India on Wednesday said it was engaged with China to peacefully resolve the border row, in a carefully crafted reaction to Trump's offer to arbitrate between the two Asian giants to settle their decades-old dispute.

"We are engaged with the Chinese side to peacefully resolve it," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said, replying to a volley of questions at an online media briefing.

While the Chinese Foreign Ministry is yet to react to Trump's tweet which appears to have caught Beijing by surprise, an op-ed in the state-run Global Times said both countries did not need such a help from the US President.

"The latest dispute can be solved bilaterally by China and India. The two countries should keep alert on the US, which exploits every chance to create waves that jeopardise regional peace and order," it said.

In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Wednesday that both China and India have proper mechanisms and communication channels to resolve the issues through dialogue and consultations.

Trump previously offered to mediate between India and Pakistan on the Kashmir issue, a proposal which was rejected by New Delhi.

The situation in eastern Ladakh deteriorated after around 250 Chinese and Indian soldiers were engaged in a violent face-off on the evening of May 5 which spilled over to the next day before the two sides agreed to "disengage" following a meeting at the level of local commanders.

Over 100 Indian and Chinese soldiers were injured in the violence.

The incident in Pangong Tso was followed by a similar incident in north Sikkim on May 9.

Beirut, Jun 12: Angry Lebanese protesters blocked roads across the country with burning tyres, debris and their vehicles, incensed over the local currency's depreciation by more than 25 percent in just two days.

The demonstrations from northern Akkar and Tripoli to central Zouk, the eastern Bekaa Valley, Beirut and southern Tyre and Nabatieh on Thursday were some of the most widespread in months of upheaval over a calamitous economic and financial crisis.

Protesters set ablaze a branch of the Central Bank, vandalised several private banks and clashed with security forces in several areas. At least 41 people were injured in Tripoli alone, according to the Lebanese Red Cross.

"I'm really pissed off, that's all. If politicians think they can burn our hearts like this the fire is going to reach them too," unemployed computer engineer Ali Qassem, 26, told Al Jazeera after pouring fuel onto smouldering tyres on a main Beirut thoroughfare.

Tens of thousands of Lebanese have lost jobs in the past six months and hundreds of businesses have shuttered as a dollar shortage led the Lebanese pound to slide from 1,500 to $1 last summer - where it was pegged for 23 years - to roughly 4,000 for each US dollar last month.

But the slide turned into a freefall between Wednesday and Thursday when the pound plummeted to roughly 5,000 to $1 on black markets, which have become a main source of hard currency. There was widespread speculation the rate hit 6,000 or even 7,000 pounds to the dollar, though most markets stopped trading.

Protesters began amassing on streets across the country before sunset and increased into the thousands across the country as the night fell.

Prime Minister Hassan Diab cancelled all meetings scheduled for Friday to hold an emergency cabinet session at 9:30am and another at 3pm at the presidential palace to be headed by President Michel Aoun.

The pound's collapse is the perhaps the biggest challenge yet for Diab's young cabinet, which gained confidence in February after former prime minister Saad Hariri's government was toppled by an unprecedented October uprising that had the country's economic crisis at its core.

Economy Minister Raoul Nehme told Al Jazeera that there was "disinformation" being circulated about the exchange rate on social media and said he was investigating possible currency manipulation.

"I don't understand how the exchange rate increased by so much in two days," he said.

Many protesters have pitted blame on Central Bank governor Riad Salameh, nominally in charge of  keeping the currency stable. But they have also called on the government to resign.

"If people want reform between dawn and dusk, that's not going to work, and if someone thinks they can do a better job then please come forward," Nehme said.

"But what we can't have is a power vacuum - then the exchange rate won't be 5000, it'll be a catastrophe."

'Everyone paying the price'

When protesters set a large fire in Beirut's Riad al-Solh Square, which lies at the foot of a grand Ottoman-era building that serves as the seat of government, firefighters did not intervene to extinguish it.

It later became clear why: Civil Defence told local news channel LBCI they had run out of diesel to fuel their firetrucks.

Basic imports such as fuel have been hit hard by the currency crisis, making already-weak state services increasingly feeble.

A half-dozen or so police officers with Lebanon's Internal Security Forces observed the scene unfolding in front of them in the square.

"Why do you destroy shops and things and attack us security forces - do you think we're happy? Go and f****** break that wall or go to the politicians' houses," one police officer told Al Jazeera, referring to a large concrete barrier separating protesters from the seat of government.

"In the end we are with you and we want the country to change. Don't you dare think we're happy. My salary is now worth $130," the officer said.

The currency's spectacular fall seems to have pushed many Lebanese to put common interests above their differences.

Large convoys of men on motorbikes from Shia-majority areas of southern Beirut joined the demonstrations on Thursday, though they have clashed with protesters many times before - including at a protest on Saturday.

Some chanted sectarian insults, leading to brief clashes in areas that were formerly front lines during the country's devastating 15-year civil war.

Instead, the motorbike-riding demonstrators on Thursday chanted: "Shia, Sunni, F*ck sectarianism."

"We are Shia, and Sunnis and Christian are our brothers," Hisham Houri, 39, told Al Jazeera, perched on a moped with his fiancee behind him just a few metres from a pile of burning tyres.

The blaze sent thick black smoke into the sky towards an iconic blue-domed mosque and church in downtown Beirut.

"Politicians play on these sectarian issues and sometimes succeed, but in the end, they'll fail because all the people have been hurt," he said. "The dollar isn't just worth 6,000 for Shias or for Sunnis, everyone is paying that price."

Sharjah, Apr 20: Air Arabia announced on Monday it will operate new repatriation flights from four cities in India to Sharjah carrying UAE nationals back home.

The special flights will operate from Mumbai and Delhi to Sharjah International Airport on April 20 while special flights will operate from Kochi and Hyderabad to Sharjah International Airport on April 22.

Air Arabia remains committed to bring stranded citizens back home as well as supporting requests to operate repatriation flights and is working closely with UAE authorities in this regard, the airline said.

Air Arabia announced earlier that it’s operating a mix of repatriation flights as well as cargo flights during the month of April to multiple destinations.

Further information about the repatriation and cargo flights is available on the website or can be obtained by contacting the Air Arabia call centre on 06 5580000 or respective travel agent.