Decomposed body near Kovalam may be of missing Latvian woman
Thiruvananthapuram, April 21: Ths sister and friend of a Latvian woman, Liga Skromane, who went missing in March, on Saturday identified a decomposed body recovered from near Kovalam to be of the victim, Kerala Police said.
However, a detailed forensic examination would be done to scientifically confirm this.
The head of the body was found lying away from the rest of it, in a marshy spot.
Late on Friday, fishermen found the body in highly decomposed state and alerted the police .
On Saturday, Skromane's sister and friend arrived and identified the body from her dress and the hair.
The police will conduct an autopsy, which will be followed by a DNA test that is likely to be done at the city-based Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology.
Skromane had come to Kerala along with her sister Ilzie for ayurvedic treatment at a hospital in the capital outskirts here following complaints of depression.
She, however, went missing on March 14 and was last reported to have taken an auto-rickshaw ride to the famed tourist destination at Kovalam. She was without a passport or mobile phone at the time.
Her husband Andrew and her sister had printed her posters and distributed them around to help them lead to any clue. The Kerala Police had also launched a detailed probe to locate her, but failed.
Empty bottles, cigarettes and a lighter have been recovered from the place where the body was found
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismisses defence minister in surprise announcement
Jerusalem, Nov 5: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday dismissed his popular defence minister, Yoav Gallant, in a surprise announcement that came as the country is embroiled in wars on multiple fronts across the region.
Netanyahu and Gallant have repeatedly been at odds over the war in Gaza. But Netanyahu had avoided firing his rival. Netanyahu cited “significant gaps” and a “crisis of trust” between the men in his Tuesday evening announcement.
“In the midst of a war, more than ever, full trust is required between the prime minister and defence minister,” Netanyahu said. “Unfortunately, although in the first months of the campaign there was such trust and there was very fruitful work, during the last months this trust cracked between me and the defence minister.”
In the early days of the war, Israel's leadership presented a unified front as it responded to Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack. But as the war dragged on and spread to Lebanon, key policy differences have emerged. While Netanyahu has called for continued military pressure on Hamas, Gallant had taken a more pragmatic approach, saying that military force has created the necessary conditions for a diplomatic deal that could bring home hostages held by the Hamas group.
Gallant, a former general who has gained public respect with a gruff, no-nonsense personality, said in a statement: “The security of the state of Israel always was, and will always remain, my life's mission."
Gallant has worn a simple, black buttoned shirt throughout the war in a sign of sorrow over the October 7 attack and developed a strong relationship with his US counterpart, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin.
A previous attempt by Netanyahu to fire Gallant in March 2023 sparked widespread street protests against Netanyahu. He also flirted with the idea of dismissing Gallant over the summer but held off until Tuesday's announcement.
Gallant will be replaced by Foreign Minister Israel Katz, a Netanyahu loyalist and veteran Cabinet minister who was a junior officer in the military. Gideon Saar, a former Netanyahu rival who recently rejoined the government, will take the foreign affairs post.
Netanyahu has a long history of neutralising his rivals. In his statement, he claimed he had made “many attempts” to bridge the gaps with Gallant.
“But they kept getting wider. They also came to the knowledge of the public in an unacceptable way, and worse than that, they came to the knowledge of the enemy - our enemies enjoyed it and derived a lot of benefit from it,” he said.
