Sri Lanka will carry out the death sentence for 19 convicts over serious drug offences, the government said, a day after the country decided to reinstate capital punishment for drug-related crimes. Cabinet approval had been obtained to implement the death penalty on repeat offenders related to large scale drug offenses," said Cabinet spokesman and minister Rajitha Senaratne. He said President Maithripala Sirisena will sign the documents to implement the death penalty. This was following a unanimous Cabinet decision to reinstate capital punishment for drug-related crimes. The Cabinet decision came despite Sri Lanka voting in favour of a UN moratorium on the death penalty. Although capital punishment is in the statute of Sri Lanka, the country had stopped hangings since 1976 and death row prisoners spend life terms in jail. Executions have not been carried out as successive presidents since 1978 have refused to issue death warrants.
Turkey to sell 30 attack helicopters to Pakistan
Turkey's state-run news agency says Turkey and Pakistan have reached an agreement for the sale of 30 Turkish-made attack helicopters in a deal that has been billed as Turkey's largest single defence industry export. The agency said the deal for the sale of Turkey's T129 ATAK helicopters was signed between Turkish Aerospace Industries, TUSAS, and the Pakistan Defence Production Ministry. Turkey would also provide logistics, spare parts, training and ammunition, agency said. The agency did not say how much the deal was worth. However, Turkish media reports put the value at around $1.5 billion.
India unveils world's largest visa centre in Bangladesh
Visiting Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday inaugurated the world's largest state-of-the-art visa centre in Dhaka with modern facilities, promising shorter waiting times for applicants. Singh inaugurated the integrated centre at Jamuna Future Park (JFP) along with his Bangladeshi counterpart Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal. Indian High Commissioner Harsh Vardhan Shringla, who was also present, told the media that "this is the largest Indian visa centre in the world and possibly the largest anywhere". The new centre will replace the existing centres in Motijheel and Uttara from July 15. The remaining two centres in Dhaka - at Gulshan and Mirpur Road - will also be shifted to this centre, located in a spacious 18,500 square feet commercial area, by August 31. The existing e-token (appointment) system for submission of visa applications will also be withdrawn from July 15. India has 12 visa centres in Bangladesh, which is the highest number the former has in any country in the world, the report said.
Lanka court orders release of 16 Tamil fishermen
RAMESWARAM: A court in Sri Lanka ordered the release of 16 Tamil Nadu fishermen arrested by the island nation's navy recently for crossing its territorial waters, a fishermen association leader said in Rameswaram which is 559 km from Chennai. According to State fishermen association president, N Devadoss, the judge imposed certain conditions, including one that if the released fishermen were found and caught by the Lankan navy in their territory again within five years they would be detained in prison for one to two years. They would be brought back after all the formalities were completed, he added. Regarding the release of three boats of the fishermen, he said the owners have been directed to appear in court on July 28 with relevant documents adding if they failed to do so the boats would be impounded. The 16 fishermen were arrested by the Lankan Navy on separate occasions on July 5 and July 8 on charges of crossing the international maritime boundary line (IMBL) and poaching in the island nation's waters.
Indonesian mob slaughters 'hundreds' of crocodiles
An angry mob has slaughtered nearly 300 crocodiles in Indonesia after a local man was killed by one of the reptiles, authorities said. The revenge killing happened in Papua province following the funeral of the man, who perished when he fell into an enclosure at a crocodile farm while looking for grass to feed his livestock, officials said. The victim, identified as 48-year-old Sugito, was bitten on the leg and then fatally struck with a tail of one of the crocodiles, which are a protected species, they said. Sugito's relatives and local residents, angry over the farm's location near a residential area marched to the crocodile farm with knives, machetes and slaughtered some 292 crocs, authorities said
Suspect in killing of Indian student in US shot dead
A man who was a suspect in the killing of an Indian student in Kansas City has been shot dead by police after he shot and wounded three officers on Sunday, media reports said. The man, who had been under surveillance in connection with the fatal shooting of Sharath Koppu on July 6 at a restaurant, was killed during an exchange of fire with police on Sunday, the Kansas City Star newspaper reported. Koppu, 25, a student from Telengana, was shot dead at the restaurant during what appeared to be a robbery. He had come to the US in January and was doing his master's in computer science at University of Missouri-Kansas City. Police had been on the lookout for the suspect, who has not been identified, at several locations and he "popped up" at a motel, the newspaper quoted city police chief Rick Smith was quoted as saying.
Flash floods, landslides kill 204 in Japan
Flash flooding and landslides have claimed at least 204 lives in Japan. Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met the survivors and promised all possible help. The toll from the record rainfall has continued to rise, as rescue workers dig through the debris and find the remains of dozens of people reported missing. Top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said that the toll was now 204 dead, with 28 people still missing. Around 73,000 rescue workers. including police and troops "are working as hard as they can, with the priority on saving lives", he said. Abe, who earlier this week cancelled a foreign tour, travelled for a second time to areas hit by the disaster. Television footage showed him visiting Seiyo in Ehime prefecture, where he visited homes damaged in the disaster and talked to residents trying to clean up. The government has already said it would tap around $18 million in reserve funds from this year's budget, and Abe said $312 million in tax grants would be disbursed early to local governments in affected areas.
Sikh, Hindu victims of Afghan attack honoured in Washington
Condemning the terrorist attack on Sikhs and Hindus that killed 18, US Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard has called for confronting "hatred with love, fear with understanding, and darkness with light". Speaking at a memorial meeting for the victims, Gabbard, who is the first Hindu elected to US Congress, said;: "We must continue to stand up to bigotry and hatred in Afghanistan, here at home, and around the world." The Islamic State has owned up responsibility for the suicide bombing on July 1 that struck members of the Sikh and Hindu communities waiting to meet President Ashraf Ghani. Ten people were injured. Sam Brownback, the head of the State Department's Office of International Religious Freedom, said in a message to the meeting, "Our office will continue to monitor the conditions faced by religious minorities in Afghanistan. I stand with you and will work toward an Afghanistan that is peaceful and secure for all its people." He added, "The loss of these community leaders was a terrible blow, not only to Afghanistan, but also to the international community." The meeting was organised by the Afghan Hindu Association (AHA), in conjunction with the Embassy of Afghanistan, with the assistance of the Hindu American Foundation (HAF), and held in front of a mural at the mission depicting the ancient relics of the Buddhas of Bamiyan.
