News In Brief

Delhi on high alert after terror attack on Hindu pilgrims in Kashmir
AFP, New Delhi
The Indian capital has been put on high alert, following Monday’s terror attack in Indian controlled Kashmir that killed at least seven Hindu pilgrims and injured 19 others.
In an advisory, Delhi police said, “It is advised that proper anti-terror arrangements should be put in place at all vital installations, business establishments and other vulnerable targets, including crowded markets, malls, religious places, metro stations, airport, railway stations etc.”

Japan floods death toll rises to 25
AFP, Tokyo
The death toll from torrential rains and flooding that swept through Japan’s south has reached 25, the government said Tuesday, as rescue teams battled through thick mud to rescue more than 100 still stranded.
Further downpours were predicted to pound Kyushu after swathes of the southwestern island were devastated last week by overflowing rivers-sweeping away roads, houses and schools and forcing thousands of people into makeshift shelters.

India’s top court stays controversial cattle slaughter ban
AFP, New Delhi
India’s top court on Tuesday stayed a nationwide ban imposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government on the sale of cattle for slaughter that had provoked outcry in many states.
The Supreme Court upheld a decision by a lower court staying the ban imposed in May, which prohibited the sale and purchase of cows-an animal considered sacred for Hindus-for slaughter.

Madonna in Malawi to open kids’ hospital wing
AFP, Blantyre
US pop superstar Madonna was due Tuesday to formally open a children’s hospital wing that her charity has built in Malawi and which is named after one of her four adopted Malawian children.
The Mercy James paediatric hospital unit in Blantyre, the country’s second city, has taken two years to build and includes three operating theatres and a 50-bed ward.
It is the first specialist health unit for children in the poor southern African nation, doubling the capacity for paediatric care at the Queen Elizabeth hospital.