Category: TOP STORIES

Blinken to visit Turkey for talks on Syria’s situation: Turkish foreign ministry

Istanbul, Dec 12 (IANS) US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to visit Turkey on Friday for high-level talks on Syria’s ongoing political upheaval following the ousting of President Bashar al-Assad, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.

Blinken is expected to meet Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Ankara to discuss Syria’s transition and broader regional issues, including developments in Israel, Gaza, and Lebanon, Xinhua news agency reported quoting a statement from the ministry.

The visit comes as Syria navigates a critical juncture, with a newly formed transitional government assuming power after al-Assad’s departure to Russia for asylum.

Turkey has long expressed concerns over the role of Kurdish groups in Syria.

Ankara views the US-backed Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, which it has battled for decades.

Blinken’s regional tour will also include a stop in Jordan, where he is expected to meet officials in Aqaba to build consensus on Syria’s future and address other pressing issues across the Middle East, the US State Department said on Wednesday.

–IANS

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Holiday declared for schools in Chennai, adjoining districts today due to heavy rains

Chennai, Dec 12 (IANS) The Tamil Nadu government declared a holiday for schools in Chennai and nearby districts on Thursday due to heavy rains that began on Wednesday night.

District Collectors of Villupuram, Thanjavur, Mayiladuthurai, Ramanathapuram, Dindigul, Cuddalore, and Pudukkottai have also announced holidays in schools there.

Meanwhile, the Union Territory of Puducherry has declared a holiday for both schools and colleges on Thursday.

A well-marked low-pressure area is currently positioned over the southwest Bay of Bengal off the Sri Lanka coast.

The system, with associated upper-air cyclonic circulation extending up to mid-tropospheric levels, is expected to move west-northwestward towards the Sri Lanka-Tamil Nadu coasts in the next 24 hours.

This is likely to result in heavy to very heavy rainfall in the region.

Several districts, including Chennai, Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram, Chengalpattu, Tiruvannamalai, Villupuram, Kallakurichi, Cuddalore, Perambalur, Tiruchy, Sivaganga, Ramanathapuram, Mayiladuthurai, Nagapattinam, Coimbatore, Tirupur, Karur, Theni, Dindigul, Madurai, Virudhunagar, Tenkasi, and Thoothukudi, have been placed under yellow alert due to the rain forecast.

The Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) has issued orange and yellow alerts for several districts of Tamil Nadu on Thursday, citing the low-pressure system.

The RMC has clarified that there is minimal chance of the system intensifying into a storm.

On Wednesday, Chennai and neighbouring districts experienced moderate to heavy rainfall, which is expected to continue over the next 24 hours.

During the northeast monsoon season (October 1 to December 10), Tamil Nadu has recorded 14 per cent excess rainfall, with 447 mm against the average of 393 mm.

Chennai has received 845 mm, which is 16 per cent above average, while Coimbatore witnessed a significant 47 per cent increase in rainfall.

Fishermen have been advised to avoid venturing into the sea, and those already at sea are urged to return to shore immediately.

This alert follows the devastation caused by Cyclone Fengal, which impacted Tamil Nadu and Puducherry between November 29 and December 1.

–IANS

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Turkey’s Erdogan hosts leaders of Somalia, Ethiopia to defuse tensions

Ankara, Dec 12 (IANS) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to address escalating tensions between the two Horn of Africa nations.

The high-level talks, attended by top Turkish officials including Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Defense Minister Yasar Guler, focused on diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the crisis sparked by Ethiopia’s signing of an agreement with Somaliland, a self-declared independent region of Somalia, in January, Xinhua news agency reported.

Somalia has strongly denounced the agreement as a violation of its sovereignty, which grants Ethiopia access to the Red Sea in return for its recognition of Somaliland as an independent state.

Turkey has positioned itself as a mediator seeking to reduce tensions between the two countries, with Wednesday’s trilateral discussions representing a diplomatic attempt to find a peaceful resolution.

–IANS

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Rajasthan: Five-year-old Aryan dies after being trapped in borewell for three days

Dausa (Rajasthan), Dec 12 (IANS) Five-year-old Aryan, who fell into a 150-foot-deep borewell in Kalikhad village, Dausa district, Rajasthan, on December 9, succumbed despite a 56-hour-long rescue operation.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), and local authorities worked tirelessly to save him, but he could not survive, the medical officials announced late on Wednesday night.

Aryan fell into the borewell around 3 p.m. on Saturday, just 100 feet from his house and in front of his mother. Rescue teams arrived swiftly and initiated efforts to save him. However, after being pulled out late Wednesday night, Aryan was rushed to the hospital, where doctors declared him dead.

Chief Medical Officer Deepak Sharma briefed media persons about Aryan’s condition. “He was immediately shifted to the hospital in the hope of saving him, but he could not survive,” Sharma said.

Sharma noted that Aryan likely sustained injuries upon falling. “It seems he hit a hard object, which may have caused fatal injuries. Additionally, the prolonged lack of food and water and the environmental conditions inside the borewell may have contributed,” he added.

The exact timing of Aryan’s death will be confirmed after the post-mortem report.

Rescue teams faced numerous challenges during the operation. Movement of the child ceased around 2 a.m. Monday, despite continuous oxygen supply. Collector Devendra Kumar informed that an umbrella was deployed beneath Aryan to prevent him from falling further.

Initially, a pit was dug 20 feet away from the borewell using a piling machine, but the machine broke down, delaying efforts for 3-4 hours. Makeshift tools, including an L-shaped hook and other “desi jugaad” methods, were also used but failed.

Eventually, the team resumed digging a pit near the borewell with another machine and managed to retrieve Aryan after a 56-hour operation.

Aryan’s tragic death has cast a shadow over the community. His fall and the prolonged rescue attempts gripped the nation’s attention, raising concerns about the safety of open borewells.

–IANS

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Stalin-Vijayan meeting today on Mullaperiyar dam maintenance issue

Chennai, Dec 12 (IANS) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin will meet his Kerala counterpart Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday to discuss the contentious Mullaperiyar dam issue.

The meeting will take place in Vaikom in Kerala’s Kottayam district where CM Stalin will inaugurate the renovated memorial of social reformer and Dravidian ideologue E.V. Ramasamy Periyar. Kerala CM Vijayan will preside over the event.

Tamil Nadu Water Resources Minister and senior DMK leader S. Duraimurugan, on Wednesday, said in the state Legislative Assembly that talks would be held in this regard.

The Mullaperiyar issue gained attention recently when vehicles belonging to the Tamil Nadu Water Resources Department, carrying materials for dam maintenance, were intercepted by Kerala authorities. This obstruction delayed critical repair activities, sparking unrest in Tamil Nadu.

Leader of the Opposition in Tamil Nadu, Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS), raised the issue in the Assembly, emphasising that the delays have caused unrest among residents of five beneficiary districts in Tamil Nadu. These residents recently staged protests in front of the John Pennycuick statue, demanding uninterrupted maintenance work on the dam.

In response, Duraimurugan reminded the Assembly of the Supreme Court’s clear directive that Kerala must not obstruct any maintenance work undertaken by Tamil Nadu on the Mullaperiyar Dam.

On December 4, two truckloads of M-sand transported by the Tamil Nadu Public Works Department (PWD) were stopped at the forest check post in Vallakadavu, located within the Periyar Tiger Reserve. The trucks, stranded since 3 p.m., had prior clearance from Kerala’s Minor Irrigation Department and the Deputy Director of the Periyar Tiger Reserve.

Tamil Nadu PWD officials expressed frustration, pointing out that detailed estimates for 16 maintenance works planned for 2024 had been submitted to Kerala authorities well in advance. Despite this, the works continued to face obstruction.

This incident prompted over 100 farmers to stage a road blockade at Lower Camp on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border. Their protest, aimed at preventing Kerala vehicles from entering Tamil Nadu, was called off after police intervention. The farmers condemned the Kerala government for hindering maintenance work on the baby dam and demanded an immediate resolution to the issue.

Several dignitaries, including Kerala Ministers V.N. Vasavan and Saji Cheriyan, along with Tamil Nadu Ministers Durai Murugan, E.V. Velu and M.P. Saminathan, are expected to address the event in Vaikom. Key officials such as Kerala Chief Secretary Sharada Muraleedharan, Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary N. Muruganandam, and Kottayam District Collector John V. Samuel are also expected to attend the event.

–IANS

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Paramilitary shelling kills 15 in Sudan’s North Darfur: Official

Khartoum, Dec 12 (IANS) At least 15 people were killed and 64 others wounded in an artillery attack by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on a displacement camp and a market south of El Fasher, the capital city of Sudan’s North Darfur State, a local health official said.

“So far, 15 people were killed and 64 others injured, while the RSF militia’s shelling on Zamzam camp and the livestock market is still continuing,” Ibrahim Khatir, director-general of North Darfur State’s health ministry, told Xinhua. He added that most of the casualties were children and women.

The Coordination of Resistance Committees in El Fasher, a local non-governmental group, confirmed in a statement that the RSF attack on the market and Zamzam camp had resulted in more than 60 injuries and 15 deaths, including children, women, and elderly people, Xinhua news agency reported.

An eyewitness described Wednesday’s shelling, which took place at 6:00 a.m. local time, as “the most violent” since the RSF began besieging El Fasher on May 10.

“About six shells fell in the middle of the Zamzam camp, which is crowded with displaced people, while four others fell in the livestock market south of El Fasher,” the eyewitness said.

Sudan has been embroiled in a conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF since mid-April 2023, resulting in more than 27,000 deaths and the displacement of over 14 million people, according to international organisations’ estimates.

–IANS

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Canada’s indigenous peoples continue to be overrepresented as homicide victims

Ottawa, Dec 12 (IANS) Canada’s Indigenous peoples continued to be overrepresented as homicide victims, Statistics Canada said.

Just over one in four homicide victims were Indigenous in 2023, despite representing 5 per cent of the overall population, Xinhua news agency reported quoting the national statistical agency.

Similarly, in 2022, 27 per cent of homicide victims were Indigenous and this heightened risk is deeply rooted in the ongoing effects of colonisation, including systemic discrimination, poverty and a legacy of trauma, the agency said.

In 2023, police services reported 778 homicides across the country, 104 fewer victims than the previous year. As a result, the national homicide rate decreased by 14 per cent, from 2.27 to 1.94 homicides per 100,000 population, according to the agency.

This overrepresentation translates to a homicide rate of 9.31 per 100,000 Indigenous people, a figure more than six times higher than the rate for non-Indigenous Canadians, said Statistics Canada.

–IANS

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11-year-old shipwreck survivor rescued in Italy

Rome, Dec 12 (IANS) A young girl was rescued from the Mediterranean Sea and brought to Italy’s southern Lampedusa island after being found alone in the water, local media reported.

The rescue was carried out on Wednesday by a ship operated by the charity group Compass Collective, Xinhua news agency reported.

The girl is believed to be the sole survivor of a group of about 45 migrants who set sail from Sfax, Tunisia, last week, according to initial accounts.

Rescuers said they discovered the girl in the early hours of Wednesday.

Thousands of migrants perish each year while attempting the perilous Mediterranean crossing to reach southern Europe, with Italy, Spain, and Greece being primary destinations.

So far this year, 64,021 migrants and asylum seekers have arrived in Italy via the central Mediterranean route, compared to 153,126 during the same period in 2023, according to Italy’s interior ministry. In total, 185,623 migrants have reached southern Europe in 2024, with over 175,000 crossing the Mediterranean, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

While overall arrivals have decreased compared to the peak years of 2015-2016, the death toll remains alarmingly high. So far in 2024, approximately 2,250 people have been declared missing or dead, following 4,110 in 2023 and 3,017 in 2022, UNHCR reported.

–IANS

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Iran, Turkey aim to raise bilateral trade to 30 bln USD

Tehran, Dec 12 (IANS) Iran and Turkey have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to increase bilateral trade to $30 billion within five years.

The agreement, focused on enhancing economic ties, was signed in Tehran by Iranian Roads and Urban Development Minister Farzaneh Sadegh and Turkish Trade Minister Omer Bolat, Xinhua news agency reported quoting Iran’s state news agency IRNA.

The signing marked the conclusion of the 29th session of the joint economic cooperation commission, a three-day meeting aimed at fostering trade, banking, and investment collaboration.

Currently, annual trade between the two neighbors stands at $11.7 billion according to IRNA. The MoU outlines plans for expanded trade and economic cooperation in the coming year, laying the groundwork for further discussions at the 30th meeting of the joint commission.

–IANS

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Large wildfire in Southern California scorches nearly 4,000 acres

Los Angeles, Dec 12 (IANS) The large wildfire in Malibu in Southern California continues to burn and it has reached nearly 4,000 acres, according to the city authorities of Malibu.

The fire, codenamed Franklin Fire, started Monday night near the Malibu Creek State Park in Los Angeles County, Xinhua news agency reported.

The fire grew an additional 600 acres Wednesday morning. There are over 1,500 firefighters assigned to the incident, said city officials.

There were approximately 18,000 people and 8,100 homes and businesses under evacuation orders or warnings, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna told reporters Tuesday. There are several shelters for displaced residents.

A Red Flag Warning remains in effect until Thursday afternoon, according to the city of Malibu. Currently the fire is 7 per cent contained.

–IANS

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