NEWS OF THE DAY
From Around the World
1 Nightclub deaths: Thirteen people died in a stampede at a disco in Peru after a police raid to enforce the country’s shutdown during the coronavirus pandemic, officials said Sunday. About 120 people had gathered at the Thomas disco in Lima for a party Saturday night, the Interior Ministry said. People tried to escape through the only door of the secondfloor disco, trampling each other and becoming trapped in the confined space, according to authorities. Officers detained 23 people. Police Chief Gen. Orlando Velasco said no firearms or tear gas were used during the raid. Nightclubs have been prohibited from operating since March because of the pandemic.
2 Brazil evacuation: About 2,000 people in the city of Jati, in Ceara state, were ordered to leave their homes after a pipe in a water diversion project ruptured. Rogerio Marinho, minister of regional development, said water shooting from the ruptured conduit damaged a dam. The dam is part of a major project to divert water from the Sao Francisco, the most important river in northeastern Brazil, to supply arid regions in three states.
3 Kashmir crackdown: Half a dozen political parties are demanding restoration of the special status that was stripped last year from Indianadministered Kashmir, setting off widespread anger amid a harsh security clampdown. Four proIndia Kashmiri political parties and two Indian political parties, including the main opposition Congress Party, said in a joint statement that India’s move “unrecognizably changed the relationship” between the region and New Delhi. It called the changes “spitefully shortsighted and unconstitutional“and sought to “collectively fight” them. On Aug. 5, 2019, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government passed legislation in Parliament that stripped Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood and scrapped its separate constitution. Since then, the Indian government has imposed curfews, communication blackouts, and enacted new laws that have created a climate of fear.
4 Mosques attacked: More than 60 survivors and family members this week will confront the white supremacist who committed the worst atrocity in New Zealand’s modern history when he slaughtered 51 worshipers at two Christchurch mosques in March 2019. Australian Brenton Harrison Tarrant, 29, pleaded guilty to 51 counts of murder, 40 counts of attempted murder and one count of terrorism — the first terrorism conviction in the nation’s history. Tarrant intends to represent himself during sentencing starting Monday. Tarrant could become the first person in New Zealand to be sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. New Zealand abolished the death penalty for murder in 1961, and the longest sentence imposed since then has been life imprisonment with a 30year nonparole period.
5 Turkey floods: Six people have died in floods caused by heavy rain along Turkey’s Black Sea coastline, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday. Ten others were missing around the mountain town of Dereli in Giresun province. Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu, who traveled to Giresun to oversee rescue efforts, said 153 people had been saved. One of the dead was a police officer whose vehicle was swept away by the floods. Bridges, roads and buildings in Dereli were washed away by what Agriculture and Forestry Minister Bekir Pakdemirli said was more than five inches of rain in less than a day. “This is the first time I’ve seen such a natural disaster,” Pakdemirli said. “The town’s skyline has changed.” Soylu said 98 villages in the region were cut off and 38 had no electricity.