J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti resigns after BJP ends alliance with PDP
New Delhi, June 19 : After the BJP pulled out of the coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir, a surprised Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday submitted her resignation to Governor N.N. Vohra.
Immediately after she learnt about the Bharatiya Janata Party's decision, Mehbooba Mufti rushed to Raj Bhawan.
Later she called an emergency meeting of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
In a surprise development, after summoning all its Ministers in the state government to New Delhi, the BJP announced that it had decided to exit from the PDP-BJP coalition.
BJP leader Ram Madhav said the continuation of the BJP in the government had become untenable. "We have, therefore, decided to pull out of the ruling coalition."
He said the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir had worsened to such a level that keeping the integrity of the county in mind the decision was taken to end the alliance.
Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Kavinder Gupta, a senior BJP leader, said that the resignations of all BJP Ministers had been sent to the Chief Minister.
"The Governor is being intimated of the decision and it is now for the Governor to decide the next constitutional step in the state," Gupta said.
After the 2014 Assembly elections, the PDP and the BJP cobbled up a coalition government based on a mutually agreed agenda of alliance.
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First direct US-Venezuela commercial flight in 7 years to land in Caracas
Caracas (Venezuela) (AP): The first direct commercial flight between the United States and Venezuela is scheduled to land on Thursday in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, seven years after the US Department of Homeland Security ordered an indefinite suspension, citing security concerns.
The resumption of a commercial flight between the two countries comes in the wake of the US capture of Nicolás Maduro in a stunning nighttime raid on his residence in Caracas, Venezuela's capital, in early January.
It also comes a month after the US formally reopened its embassy in Caracas following the restoration of full diplomatic relations with the South American country.
Flight AA3599 operated by Envoy Air, a subsidiary of American Airlines, was scheduled to depart from Miami at 10:16 a.m. local time and arrive three hours later in the Venezuelan capital, returning to Florida later in the afternoon.
Earlier, the airline said a second daily flight between Miami and Caracas will start on May 21.
In late January, US President Donald Trump said he informed Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodríguez that he would open up all commercial airspace over Venezuela, allowing Americans to visit.
“American citizens will be very shortly able to go to Venezuela, and they'll be safe there,” Trump said at the time.
The flights mark the resumption of nonstop travel between the US and Venezuela for the first time since diplomatic ties were severed in 2019. For the past seven years, passengers have relied on international airlines and indirect routes through neighbouring Latin American countries.
In January, when the airline announced the resumption of flights it said it would give customers the opportunity to reunite with families and pursue new business opportunities.
American Airlines was the last US airline flying to Venezuela. It suspended flights in 2019 between Miami and Caracas, as well as flights to the oil hub city of Maracaibo. Delta and United Airlines pulled out in 2017 amid a political crisis that forced millions to flee the country.
