Thousands evacuated from pro-regime Syrian towns
Over 7,000 people from two Syrian pro-government villages in the country's northwest that were besieged by the rebels for three years have been evacuated, Syria's state-run media reported Thursday.
The emptying-out of villages of Foua and Kfarya under a deal negotiated between government forces and the rebels over the past few months marks one of the largest population transfers in Syria's civil war.
An agreement to evacuate Foua and Kfarya last year halted after a car bombing killed over 100 people at a parking lot for buses meant to bring the evacuees out.
Shortly after leaving, more than 19 buses carrying the villagers Thursday arrived at the al-Eiss crossing in the countryside of Aleppo, while more than 51 buses arrived at a makeshift center for displaced people in Jibreen, Al-Ikhbariya said.
Sluices of Stanley Reservoir in Mettur opened
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami showering petals to open the shutters of the Stanley reservoir, Mettur in Salem district on Thursday.
The sluices of the Stanley Reservoir, also known as Mettur dam, was opened on Thursday by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami for commencing agricultural operations in the delta districts.
The customary water release is for 230 days for raising paddy on about 16 lakh acres in the Cauvery Basin as per the irrigation calendar of the Public Works Department.
About 2,000 cusecs (cubic feet per second) was released initially. The Chief Minister said the discharge will be increased gradually to 20,000 cusecs gradually. Mr. Palaniswami said with the current inflow, the dam will achieve full reservoir level in the next three days. The water level in the dam stood at 109 ft on Thursday morning against its full reservoir level of 120 ft. The storage level stood at 76.996 tmc (thousand million cubic feet) against the full capacity of 93.47 tmc. The dam was receiving an inflow of 1,01,277 cusecs.
Water gushing out from the Stanley reservoir, Mettur in Salem district which was opened for irrigation on Thursday.
A host of state Ministers, senior bureaucrats, elected representatives, and a large number of members of various farmers’ associations were present on the occasion. Though it was customary to release water on June 12 every year, the same was deferred this year due to poor storage level. This was the 85th year that water was being released from Mettur Dam since it was constructed in 1934.
Kerala delegation meets Prime Minister
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan along with Members of Parliament from the state, after a meeting with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Parliament house in New Delhi Thursday.
An all-party delegation from Kerala, led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and apprised him of the reduction in the State’s ration quota, the uncertainty about setting up the long-awaited railway coach factory at Kanjikode in Palakkad and various other development issues.
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) had twice denied clearance for a meeting between a State delegation and Mr. Modi.
Another body pulled out from rubble today
Rescue workers look for survivors among the rubbles at the site of a collapsed residential building at Shah Beri village in Greater Noida on July 19, 2018.
Rescuers on Thursday pulled out another body from the debris of the two adjacent buildings that collapsed in Greater Noida on the outskirts of Delhi, pushing the death toll to nine, a fire department official said. A six-floor under-construction building crashed on a five-storey building next to it, bringing it down as well, in Shahberi village under Bisrakh police station on Tuesday night. Chief Fire Officer Arun Kumar Singh said the body was pulled out on July 19 morning. He has been identified as Naushad. Eight bodies were found until late Wednesday night. At least 12 labourers were in the under-construction building and all of them were feared trapped, according to Mr. Singh. - PTI
Thai soccer boys pray for fortune at temple
Coach Ekkapol Janthawong (fourth from right) and members of the rescued soccer team attend a Buddhist ceremony that is believed to extend the lives of its attendees as well as ridding them of dangers and misfortunes in Mae Sai district, Chiang Rai province, northern Thailand on July 19, 2018. The 12 boys and their soccer coach rescued from a cave in northern Thailand left the hospital where they had been recuperating and appeared at a news conference Wednesday, saying the ordeal made them stronger and taught them not to live carelessly.
The Thai soccer boys and their coach began their first day back home with their families since they were rescued from a flooded cave with a trip to a Buddhist temple on Thursday to pray for protection from misfortunes. The 11 boys and the coach kneeled and pressed their hands in prayer to the tune of chanting monks. They were joined by relatives and friends at the Wat Pra That Doi Wao temple, overlooking Myanmar on Thailand’s northern border. The remaining member of the Wild Boars soccer team Adul Sargon is not s Buddhist and did not attend the ceremony, meant to extend one’s life and protect it from dangers. - AP
Pope must sack Archbishop Wilson: Australian PM
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull speaks to the media in Sydney, Australia on July 19, 2018.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said on Thursday that Pope Francis must sack an Australian archbishop convicted of concealing child sex abuse. Archbishop Philip Wilson, 67, in May became the most senior Catholic cleric to be convicted of not disclosing to police abuse by another priest. Archbishop Wilson was sentenced to a year's detention earlier this month. He has stepped aside as archbishop of Adelaide in South Australia state, but has not resigned, insisting he would do so only if he is unsuccessful in an appeal. Mr. Turnbull, who has previously called on Archbishop Wilson to resign, escalated his criticism of Wilson remaining in office. - Reuters
71st anniversary of the 1947 assassination
Myanmar military chief Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing (centre) Myanmar Religious and Culture Minister Thura Aung Ko (right) and Upper House Speaker Mann Win Khaing Than (left) attend a ceremony to mark the 71st anniversary of the 1947 assassination, at the Martyrs' Mausoleum on July 19, 2018, in Yangon, Myanmar.
Myanmar's Independence hero Gen. Aung San and his Cabinet were gunned down in 1947.
(With inputs from news agencies)
