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London Southend Airport has been shut down until further notice after a small aircraft crashed in a fireball shortly after take-off on Sunday afternoon. All flights scheduled for Monday have been rerouted, with passengers urged to check with their airlines, according to BBC.

Emergency services rushed to the scene around 4pm after the Beech B200 Super King Air went down near the runway. The number of casualties has not yet been confirmed.

The aircraft was operated by Dutch company Zeusch Aviation, which said it is working closely with investigators and shared its thoughts with everyone affected.

Witnesses described seeing the plane veer sharply and flip before crashing. The Air Accident Investigation Branch is now leading the inquiry, BBC reported.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said her thoughts are with those involved and thanked emergency crews for their swift response.

Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) have said that any ceasefire deal with Israel must include a full withdrawal from Gaza, the reopening of crossings, and reconstruction efforts.

In a joint statement issued after a leadership meeting, both groups stressed that ending the war and easing the humanitarian crisis are non-negotiable, BBC reported.

International mediators are presently facilitating talks in Doha, which have reached a difficult point. A Hamas source warned that Israel’s refusal to commit to clear withdrawal lines remains the main hurdle, risking the collapse of negotiations.

Nine people lost their lives and eleven others were injured after a truck overloaded with mangoes overturned in Andhra Pradesh’s Annamayya district on Sunday night.

The lorry, carrying around 40 tons of mangoes with 20 workers seated on top, toppled in Pullampeta area of Annamayya district, about 387 km southwest of Amaravati, the capital city of Andhra Pradesh while trying to avoid an oncoming car. Many were crushed under falling crates, according to Xinhua.

Rescue teams and locals rushed to help. Police suspect overloading played a major role, though investigations are ongoing.

About 59 percent of this season’s paddy plantation has been completed across the country, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development.

As of July 13, paddy has been planted on around 816,405 hectares of land. This is about 8 percent less than the same period last year.

Among the provinces, Sudurpaschim is leading with 93 percent of its target already completed, covering around 164,000 hectares of land while in Karnali Province, paddy plantation so far spreads on 64,000 hectares, reaching 83 percent of the target. In Lumbini, it is 73 percent, with 223,000 hectares of land planted with paddy.

Last year, by this time, the country had reported about 67 percent paddy plantation.

Paddy plantation is still ongoing in many areas and is expected to reach around 98 percent by mid-August.

Ministry spokesperson Mahananda Joshi said that the Tarai region is the most fertile and produces about 70 percent of the country’s total rice, while the hilly regions contribute the remaining 30 percent.

During the previous fiscal year 2080/81 (2023/24), the country had witnessed a total rice production of 5.724 million metric tonnes. Unfavorable weather conditions, natural disasters, excessive rainfall, and droughts create adversities for rice plantation, deferring the plantation schedule in some areas.

In Nepal, paddy is usually grown on about 1.4 million hectares of land. With the use of improved knowledge, skills, modern technologies, and better seed varieties, rice production is expected to increase in the coming years.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, a 10 percent change in rice production can lead to about 1 percent change in the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

This year, an estimated 6 million metric tonnes of rice will be produced, yielding approximately 3.5 million metric tons of edible rice, it has been said.