Dileep row: Actor-MLA Ganesh Kumar slams politicians, actresses
Thiruvananthapuram, June 30 : An audio clip of actor-turned-MLA K.B. Ganesh Kumar criticising the role of politicians and four actresses who resigned from the artistes body AMMA, surfaced on Saturday.
The Pathanapuram MLA can be heard calling the politicians "limelight hoggers" and the four actresses "perennial trouble-makers". Kumar was in conversation with Association of Malayalam Movie Artists general secretary Edavela Babu.
In the clip, Kumar advises Babu to "just keep silent" as the outburst over the revoking of Dileep's suspension in AMMA will die down in two days.
"These four actresses have never been active in AMMA, nor in the field of acting. They never participated in the AMMA shows and are perennial trouble makers.
"With regards to politicians, they are interested to give sound bites to TV channels just to stay afloat in public domain.
"You just keep quiet and need not respond. The media is out to create ruckus and the only thing they have is negativity in their news.
"What should be noted is AMMA is not a political body, but formed to look after our welfare and hence the public also need not be unduly concerned," says Kumar.
Leading actresses from the Malayalam film industry -- Rima Kallingal, Remya Nambisan, Geetu Mohandas had resigned on Monday along with the victim of the February 2017 kidnapping case in which Dileep was alleged to have been involved that landed him in jail for 85 days.
The audio clip has come a day after the CPI-M decided not to seek an explanation from Ganesh Kumar for his stand in the ongoing reinstatement row of accused actor Dileep's membership in the AMMA.
On Friday, the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist's Kerala Secretariat gave a clean chit MPs Innocent and Mukesh and Kumar by deciding not to seek any explanation from them on this issue.
Dileep was suspended from AMMA last year but on June 24, at the annual general body meeting of the body, the new set of office bearers led by superstar Mohanlal revoked his suspension.
Since then there has been a huge outcry from several quarters against this decision and it's at this time Kumar's audio clip surfaced.
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Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
