thrissur l Wednesday l march 19, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l city EDITION Hope and despair Deal on Ukraine energy, infra targets truce done Ceasefire in bin as Israeli strikes kill 400 in Gaza J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi gaza strip: Israel launched airstrikes across the Gaza Strip early Tuesday killing at least 413 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and shattered a ceasefire in place since January with its deadliest bombardment in a 17-month asymmetrical war with Hamas. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the strikes after Hamas refused Israeli demands to change the ceasefire agreement. Officials said the operation was open-ended and was expected to expand. The White House said it had been consulted and voiced support for Israel’s actions. The Israeli military ordered people to evacuate eastern Gaza, including much of the northern town of Beit Hanoun and other communities further south, and head toward the centre of the territory, indicating that Israel could soon renew ground operations. “Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing m i l i t a r y An injured man being taken to Al-Ahli hospital following airstrikes by Israel across the Gaza Strip | AP strength,” it said. The attack during Ramzan could signal the full resumption of a war that has already killed tens of thousands of Palestinians across Gaza. It also raised concerns about the fate of the roughly two dozen Israeli hostages held by Hamas believed to still be alive. After two months of relative calm during the ceasefire, stunned Palestinians found themselves once again digging loved ones out of rubble and holding funeral prayers over the dead. “Nobody wants to fight,” Palestinian resident Nidal Alzaanin told AP over phone. Gaza war mediator Qatar denounced Israel’s onslaught. It warned that the attack will ultimately ignite the region and undermine its security and stability, leading to a full-fledged war. Hamas said the head of its government in the Gaza Strip, Essam al-Dalis, was among top officials killed in the strikes, along with interior ministry head Mahmud Abu Watfa and Bahjat Abu Sultan, director-general of internal security service in Gaza.  AP & AFP RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin on Monday agreed to pause strikes on energy targets in Ukraine for 30 days, Kremlin said. The commitment came during an extensive discussion over phone with US President Donald Trump. However, there was no agreement on a full-scale ceasefire as Putin set some conditions for the same. “President Trump and President Putin spoke about the need for peace and a ceasefire in the Ukraine war. Both leaders agreed this conflict needs to end with a lasting peace. They also stressed the need for improved bilateral relations between the United States and Russia. The blood and treasure that both Ukraine and Russia have been spending in this war would be better spent on the needs of their people,” a White House statement read. “The leaders agreed the movement to peace will begin with energy and infrastructure ceasefire, as well as technical negotiations on implementation of a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea, full ceasefire and per manent peace. These negotiations will begin immediately in the Middle East,” it said. Trump and Putin agreed that a future with an improved bilateral relation- US President Donald Trump and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin (File photos) | AFP ship between the US and Russia has huge upside, the statement added. The talks lasted for over two hours, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. This is the second time Trump and Putin have spoken over the phone since the former took office in January . Tuesday’s call comes after Ukrainian officials last week agreed to the American proposal during talks in Saudi Arabia led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy however, remains scepti, cal that Putin is ready for peace as Russian forces continue to pound Ukraine. Earlier in the day, Trump had said he expected to discuss with Putin land and power plants that have been seized during the grinding three-year war. “It’s a bad situation in Russia, and it’s a bad situation in Ukraine,” he told reporters on Monday . NASA's two stuck astronauts headed back to Earth on Tuesday to close out a dramatic marathon mission that began with a bungled Boeing test flight more than nine months ago the homecoming Butch Wilmore and Indian-origin Sunita Williams bid farewell to the International Space Station, ‘their home since last spring ‘ departing aboard a SpaceX capsule alongside two other astronauts The mission took an unexpected turn in January when Trump asked SpaceX founder Elon Musk to accelerate their return The capsule undocked shortly after 10.30 am IST and aimed for a splashdown off the Florida coast five hours later | P11 CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI ■ ■ Kerala’s beer consumption more than doubled in a year; toddy losing ‘fizz’ M S V i d ya n a n d a n @ T’Puram Kerala is experiencing a beer boom. Be it in cities or in rural areas, people seem to have developed a special liking for the beverage, resulting in a dramatic increase in beer consumption in the state. At the same time, the traditional drink of toddy is seemingly losing fizz, with its consumption witnessing a declining trend. As per the latest data, Kerala’s per capita beer EXPRESS READ 23 caught while taking bribe in three months T’Puram: The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau has arrested 23 government staff in 21 trap cases so far this year while they were receiving bribes. The arrests were made during ‘Operation Spot Trap’ launched to tackle corruption among public servants by catching them red-handed. P7 ‘2 clearances obtained for Messi’s Kerala visit’ T’Puram: Two important clearances have been obtained for the arrival of the Argentina football team, featuring Lionel Messi, to play in Kerala, Sports Minister V Abdurahiman told the assembly on Tuesday. P4 consumption has more than doubled in just a year. The ‘Household Consumption Expenditure Survey 2023-24’ from the National Statistics Office showed that beer consumption was high in the urban areas of the state, with monthly consumption increasing from 0.032 litres in 2022-23 and 0.066 litres in 2023-24. The corresponding data in the rural areas shows a rise from 0.029 litres to 0.059 litres. The estimated number of households with beer consumption in the state’s rural areas rose from 92,800 in 202223 to 1,73,000 in 2023-24, the report showed. In urban areas, the figures increased from 1,11,900 to 2,16,100 during the period. Among India’s rural areas, Sikkim topped the list in beer consumption in 2023-24, with a monthly per capita consumption of of 0.927 litres, followed by Goa (0.717 litres). While Kerala is ranked 17th in the segment, the lowest consumption was reported from Bihar and Himachal Pradesh (both ● More on P4 0.01 litres).  Democratic country must not function like a police state: SC S U CHIT R A K A LYAN M OHANTY @ New Delhi Expressing dismay over the habit of trial courts and high courts denying bail even in minor cases despite completion of investigation, the Supreme Court said that the practice is unacceptable in a democratic country and that it creates unnecessary strain on the higher judiciary . “A democratic country must not function like a police state, where law enforcement agencies exercise arbitrary powers to detain individuals without genuine necessity,” a bench of justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan said on Monday while granting bail to an accused who had been in custody for over two years in a cheating case. The accused had moved the top court after his bail plea was mechanically rejected by both the trial court and the Gujarat High Court, despite the investigation being completed and a chargesheet filed. “It is shocking that the Supreme Court is adjudicating bail pleas in cases that should be disposed of at the trial court level. The system is being burdened unnecessarily,” Justice Oka said.