Author: User2

The number of people who have died or are missing due to heavy rains that have been pounding South Korea the past week has risen to 50, public broadcaster KBS reported Tuesday.

According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, as of 6 (am local time), 41 people had died, nine were missing and 35 were injured due to the persistent downpours that began on July 9.

It marks the largest number of deaths and missing persons since 2011, when it reached 78. Most of the deaths came in North Gyeongsang and Chungcheong provinces, with 27 dead or missing and 17 injured in North Gyeongsang caused by landslides. In North Chungcheong, the death toll came to 17, including 14 from a flooded underpass.

In about 120 cities, counties and districts, over 12,000 people from 8,000 households were evacuated to temporary shelters. Roughly 320 houses, six fishing vessels and some 60 vehicles have suffered water damage while over 900 public facilities, including roads and bridges, have been washed away or destroyed. In Seoul, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol pledged to eliminate state subsidies corruptly benefiting certain entities and redirect the funds toward the ongoing rain damage recovery and compensation for victims.

Source: Kuwait News Agency

Director General of Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) Dr. Fatima Al-Salem held talks on Tuesday with the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Bahrain to Kuwait, Salah Al-Maliki on boosting media cooperation between the two countries.

The discussions also touched on various common media files between KUNA and Bahrain’s News Agency (BNA).

Dr. Al-Salem affirmed Kuwait’s keenness on boosting media cooperation with Bahrain especially between KUNA and BNA to benefit experiences from both sides.

For his part, the Bahraini ambassador praised the role of Kuwaiti media for cementing relations with friendly states, particularly with his country affirming the joint media vision between the two states.

He underlined KUNA’s presentation of its media message with credibility and objectivity, also lauding its up-to-date news services.

Source: Kuwait News Agency

The Dhi Qar Crime Control Directorate revealed the circumstances of a mysterious murder that a criminal planned to kill his wife.

A statement by the Dhi Qar Police Command stated: “The town’s police station referred the accused (RSG) born in 1978 and the investigative papers related to the killing of his wife and the injury of his daughter in an accident that occurred on the ninth of this month in the city of Nasiriyah, and after investigation and gathering information and confronting the accused with evidence and proofs and professionally Aliyah led to the collapse of the accused, who confessed to planning the crime that led to the killing of his wife and the injury of his daughter, in agreement with the other fugitive accused, his son from his other wife.

The statement added that the accused agreed with his son to carry out the crime following family disputes, and his statements were recorded in the judicial confession, and the legal evidence was revealed and came in conformity with his confessions, and the investigating judge decided to arrest him based on Article 406 of the Iraqi Penal Code./ End

Source: National Iraqi News Agency

The aggression forces committed 77 violations of the ceasefire agreement in Hodeida province over the past 24 hours, an official at the operations room to monitor the violations said on Tuesday.

The official in the operations room told the Yemeni News Agency (Saba) that among the aggression forces violations were nine airstrikes by the spy warplanes on Maqbana, Al-Jabaliya and Hays.

He pointed out that the violations also included 11 spy planes flew over al-Jabaliya, Hays and Maqbana, 24 violations of artillery shell, and 310 violations of various gunshts.

Source: Yemen News Agency

Director-General of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) Dr. Salim bin Mohammed Al Malik affirmed that ICESCO contributes to bolstering cooperation between Islamic world states, alongside other states in digital transformation, sharing of expertise and the successful experiences in this field through electronic platforms that support knowledge transfer.

This came during his meeting with Director-General of the Digital Development Agency Dr. Mohamed Idrissi El Meliani at the ICESCO Headquarter in Morocco.

El Meliani praised the roles undertaken by ICESCO to serve its member states, underscoring the keenness of Digital Development Agency to upgrade partnership with ICESCO and the remaining Islamic world states.

The meeting discussed practical proposals for cooperation between the two sides, including the launch of award in digital development, strategic partnership in organizing GITEX Africa 2024 exhibition which is due to be held during May in Marrakech.

They also discussed convening a meeting for ministers in charge of technology and communications in the Islamic world states ahead of the exhibition.

Source: Qatar News Agency

European Union High Representative Josep Borrell Tuesday described the refusal by Russia to extend the Black Sea Grain Initiative as “one of the worst news for the world.” “Yes, we talked about it. It is really very bad news, this is one of the worst news for the world,” he told journalists ahead of a second-day meeting of EU leaders with leaders of Latin America and the Caribbean in Brussels today.

“The fact that once again, the Ukrainian grain cannot go out of Ukraine, it means that hundreds of thousands of people around the world will be deprived of basic food. I think this deserves some action at the level of the General Assembly of the United Nations,” he said.

“We cannot sit and just complain. It requires strong answer from the international community,” added Borrell.

The Black Sea Grain Initiative to allow exports of Ukrainian grain, which has been extended several times in recent months, expired on Monday after Moscow refused to extend it again.

Source: Kuwait News Agency

World Food Programme announced Tuesday that it is reducing the value of monthly aid by a third for all the 119,000 Syrian refugees in the Zaatari and Azraq camps in Jordan. According to a statement, starting next August, refugees in refugee camps would receive a reduced cash transfer of $21 per person instead of $32, meaning further cuts in food aid for refugees in Jordan have become inevitable due to lack of funding. The Country Director and Resident Representative of the WFP in Jordan, Alberto Correa Mendez, said the programme “is concerned” about the declining food security situation of refugee families due to lack of funding, adding that it is likely that the cuts would lead to an increase in negative coping strategies among beneficiaries. Mendez added that negative coping strategies include child labour, children dropping out of school, child marriage and the accumulation of more debts, which rose by 25 per cent among refugees in the camps compared to 2022. Despite the reduction in the value of aid and the exclusion of some 50,000 individuals from relief to give priority to the most needy, WFP still faces a severe funding shortfall of $41 million through 2023. The programme lauded the support of the Jordanian government and people in hosting Syrian refugees over the years. He affirmed the continuation of working with partners and donors to find more sustainable solutions.

Source: Jordan News Agency