Los Angeles, July 3 (IANS) Authorities have ordered more than 13,000 people to evacuate amid a fast-moving wildfire that broke out in Northern California.

According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the Thompson Fire, which erupted near the City of Oroville in Butte County, has already consumed over 2,100 acres (about 8.5 square km) of land as of Tuesday evening, with no containment achieved yet, reported Xinhua news agency.

Mandatory evacuations and evacuation warnings have been issued in part of Butte County due to the wildfire.

Meanwhile, Oroville declared a local emergency Tuesday evening, noting the fire is expected to continue to affect substantial geographic areas within the city for an unknown duration due to extremely high temperatures and high winds.

The fire has caused and is substantially likely to cause extreme conditions, such as power outages, damage to infrastructure, burned trees, slope failures, and structural damage, said Oroville authorities.

California Governor Gavin Newsom announced that the western US state has secured federal assistance to support the response to the Thompson Fire.

–IANS

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Dhaka, July 3 (IANS) Devastating floods have left large swaths of land in Bangladesh’s northeastern Sylhet division underwater, marking the third wave of flooding in less than a month in the region.

More than 1 million people in the northeastern Bangladesh districts including Sylhet and nearby Sunamganj and Moulvibazar were stranded due to extensive flooding after days of heavy rains, reported Xinhua news agency.

Sheikh Russel Hasan, deputy commissioner, and district magistrate in Sylhet said that the fresh spell of flood triggered by heavy rainfall submerged low-lying areas in parts of the Sylhet region.

“Some 800,000 people in Sylhet district are currently grappling with the third wave of flooding,” he said, adding that tens of thousands of people were left homeless in the low-lying northeastern parts of the country.

According to the official, prolonged torrential rains and runoff from upstream hilly regions on the Indian border caused the main rivers in the region to swell beyond their danger levels.

Water levels at 90 river stations monitored by the South Asian country’s Flood Forecasting and Warning Center (FFWC) have reportedly marked a rise while 19 stations recorded a fall.

FFWC executive engineer Sardar Udoy Raihan forecasted the flood situation in the Sylhet region will be prolonged as almost the entire country experienced heavy rainfall triggered by active monsoon.

Sylhet reportedly recorded 294 mm of rainfall from 6.00 a.m. Monday through 6.00 a.m. on Tuesday. “If the rainfall increases, the flooding will worsen in Sylhet. It is already raining in Sylhet. The rivers are flowing over their warning levels,” said Deepak Ranjan Das, executive engineer of the Sylhet Water Development Board, according to a media report. Officials said there are so far no known injuries or deaths to have occurred in the districts as a result of the ongoing floods.

Sylhet additional deputy commissioner Mohammad Mubarak Hossain said people are coming to the shelters. They are distributing relief and aid to those affected.

Millions of people in Bangladesh, criss-crossed by hundreds of rivers, suffer from flooding as the low-lying country experiences seasonal floods every year during the June-September monsoon when rivers that feed into the Bay of Bengal burst their banks.

Last month, flash floods displaced more than 2 million people during two rounds of flooding in the region, affecting hundreds of areas and causing untold suffering to the dwellers.

–IANS

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Cairo, July 3 (IANS) Egypt’s new cabinet has been sworn in before Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi at the Al-Ittihadiya Palace in the Egyptian capital Cairo on Wednesday.

Before the swearing-in ceremony, Sisi promoted Abdel-Maguid Sakr to the rank of lieutenant general and appointed him as the minister of defense and military production, succeeding Mohamed Zaki, reports Xinhua news agency.

The new cabinet is headed by Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, who has been in the post since 2018.

Comprising 30 ministers, the new government saw the merging of some ministries and the introduction of new ones, especially the economic portfolios.

On Sunday, the Egyptian president said the new government’s top priority is to mitigate the impact of rising prices and create more job opportunities.

–IANS

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Tokyo, July 3 (IANS) Hundreds of Japanese citizens have gathered here in Tokyo to strongly protest against the Japanese government for concealing the alleged sexual assault cases involving US military personnel in Japan from the public.

Over 350 protesters gathered in front of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the heart of Tokyo to express their outrage over the silence of the government on Tuesday evening, wielding placards and banners that read “Silenced Cries of Okinawan Girls,” “Restore Dignity to Okinawan Women,” and “No More Govt Cover-Ups of US Troop Crimes”, reported Xinhua news agency.

According to local media reports, a 21-year-old US Marine in the southernmost Japan prefecture of Okinawa has been indicted on charges of nonconsensual sexual intercourse resulting in injury in May, following the indictment of a US Air Force member for the alleged kidnap and sexual assault of a girl under 16 in December.

The Japanese government, however, did not disclose the cases until local media exposed them at the end of June, sparking widespread anger across the nation.

“The Japanese government, especially the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, knew it but chose to remain silent. This is undemocratic. They are ignoring the people of Japan, the women of Japan, and the people of Okinawa,” condemned Mizuho Fukushima, head of the opposition Social Democratic Party, during her speech at the protest.

“While claiming to protect the victims, the government is sheltering the offenders,” criticised Suzuyo Takazato, leader of an Okinawan civic group.

Hatsuko Aoki, a 76-year-old protester from the Okinawan city of Nago, could barely hold back her anger when recalling witnessing her elders being threatened by US military men during her childhood.

“As long as US military bases remain in Japan, such incidents will continue to take place,” bellowed the elderly citizen.

“I can’t forgive the government for concealing the US military sexual assault cases,” Aoki told Xinhua, condemning the Japanese government for colluding with the US military to conceal these crimes, not only to manipulate the election results but also to suppress protests against the construction of US military’s new Henoko base in Japan.

In the mid-June Okinawa Prefectural Assembly elections, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its coalition partner, Komeito, who support the relocation plan of the US Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, gained a majority for the first time in 16 years.

Representatives from multiple civil groups at Tuesday’s protest stressed that if the assault cases had been disclosed before the elections, the LDP would have struggled to secure a majority, indicating ulterior motives of the government.

Amid overcast skies and drizzly rain, many female citizens brought bouquets to the site to show solidarity with the victims of the assaults. Among them was Rei Saito, who came to express her empathy as a young woman.

She said, “What’s even more unforgivable is that the Okinawa police didn’t report the cases to the prefectural government. They seem to believe they can act with impunity, a trend of which is becoming more blatant”.

Okinawa hosts 70 per cent of all US military bases in Japan while accounting for only 0.6 percent of the country’s total land area. Crimes committed by US service members and nonmilitary personnel have been a constant source of grievance for locals.

Tragedies continue to occur decades after massive protests in Japan when in 1995 a 12-year-old girl was raped by three US servicemen. “Okinawans do not know how much similar harm they have to endure for the Japanese government,” a protester lamented.

–IANS

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Moscow, July 3 (IANS) Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday sent a condolence message to President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the stampede in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras district.

“Esteemed Mrs President, Esteemed Mr Prime Minister, kindly accept the most sincere condolences over the tragic accident in Uttar Pradesh. Please convey words of sympathy and support to the near and dear ones of the deceased as well as wishes for a speedy recovery of all injured,” Putin said in his condolence message.

PM Modi is expected to visit Moscow next week to hold bilateral talks with the Russian President.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday that the preparations for Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Russia are in the “final stages”, and the dates will be announced soon.

“We will announce this visit officially a little later, by agreement with our Indian friends. I can only confirm to you once again that the visit is in the final stage of preparation,” Peskov was quoted as saying by local media during a media briefing.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Press Secretary also stated that PM Modi’s visit, widely expected to be around July 8, is a “very important” event.

In New York, as Russia took over the monthly Presidency of the UN Security Council on Monday, the country’s Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia highlighted the special privileged strategic partnership between the two countries and asserted that “serious messages” will come out of PM Modi’s visit to Moscow.

“India is a longtime friend of Russia. We cooperate in so many areas, and I think there will be substantive conversations on the whole range of issues that our countries cooperate on,” he told reporters.

“I’m not aware of what kind of documents will be the result of that visit, but I’m sure that there will be serious messages coming out of it, and, I presume, in the form of joint documents as well. I expect Russian-Indian relations to blossom even better,” added the Russian diplomat.

Prime Minister Modi last visited Russia for the 20th India-Russia Bilateral Summit held on the sidelines of the 5th Eastern Economic Summit – where he was the guest of honour – at Vladivostok in September 2019.

The visit acted as a game-changer as far as India’s focus on the Russian Far East was concerned and paved the way for New Delhi’s larger cooperation with Moscow in the fields of oil and gas, road transport, defence, trade and investment sectors.

PM Modi, who is not attending the SCO Heads of State meeting being held in Astana, last paid an official visit to Moscow in 2015.

–IANS

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