Boys rescued from the Thai cave wear masks and rest at a hospital in Chiang Rai, Thailand.
Twelve boys and their soccer coach rescued from a flooded cave in Thailand planned to explore the cavern complex for only about an hour before treacherous flood waters rose to trap them for more than two weeks, one of the boys' fathers said.
All 12 of the boys and their 25-year-old coach were brought to safety over the course of a three-day rescue, organised by Thai navy SEALs and an international team of diving and caving experts, that ended on Tuesday.
They had gone into the Tham Luang cave in the northern province of Chiang Rai on June 23, for a quick excursion after soccer practice, when a rainy season downpour flooded the tunnels.
Pakistanis will go to general elections on July 25 to elect the new government for the next five years.Over 100 million voters, which constitute almost half of the country’s total population, will vote for some 272 general seats of the lower house -- the National Assembly -- and 577 general seats of the four provincial assemblies.Pakistan’s Parliament consists of the two Houses known as the National Assembly (lower house) and the Senate (upper house).US rejects French request for Iran exemptionsThe National Assembly members are elected through direct franchise for five years, whereas the senators are elected by the national Assembly members for a period of six years.The National Assembly has a total of 342 seats, of which 272 are filled through direct elections while 60 seats are reserved for women and 10 for religious minorities. Reserved seats are later allotted to the parties as per their number of general seats.According to data released by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), around 12,027 candidates are in the run for the national and provincial assembly seats. Of them, 3,631 candidates will contest for the general seats of National Assembly while 8,396 are running for the general seats of the four provincial assemblies.Kim wants North Korea to be 'normal': South's leaderPunjab -- the country’s most populous and richest province -- has the highest number of seats (148); whereas the mineral-rich Balochistan, the smallest province in terms of population but the largest in terms of land, has only 14 National Assembly seats.The Federal Administered Tribal Area (FATA), a conglomerate of several tribal regions along the Afghanistan border, has 12 seats, while three seats are allocated for the federal capital Islamabad.The second largest southern Sindh province, and northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhawa (KP) have 61 and 35 National Assembly seats, respectively.Over 100 held ahead of ex-PM Sharif’s return: PakistanPunjab, which constitutes around 60 percent of the country’s total population usually decides which party will form the federal government.Punjab Assembly comprises the highest number of members i.e. 371 followed by Sindh Assembly (168), KP Assembly (124), and Balochistan Assembly (65). Some 74, 38, 25 and 14 seats have been reserved for women and minorities in the provincial assemblies respectively.Twenty-four seats have been added to the incumbent strength of the KP Assembly following the merger of the tribal region with KP province following a constitutional amendment in May this year.However, elections on these 24 seats will be held next year.Also, the new election rules have bound the contesting parties to field at least 5 percent women candidates on general seats with a view to further increasing the women representation in the parliament.Leader of the HouseSince Pakistan follows the parliamentary government system, the National Assembly members will elect the new Leader of the House -- the prime minister -- with minimum 51 percent votes. The prime minister himself must be a member of the National Assembly.The four provincial assemblies elect their respective leaders of the house -- chief ministers -- in the same manner.The parties can forge an alliance in the parliament to form the government but no individual parliamentarian can vote against his or her party for the prime minister’s election.CONTESTING PARTIESAround 120 political, religious, and nationalist parties are registered with the Election Commission of Pakistan. However, a dozen parties had representation in the previous parliament from 2013 to 2018.In the upcoming elections, scores of parties have fielded their candidates but political analysts believe that three mainstream political parties, and a five-party religious alliance are likely to clinch a majority of seats in the national and the provincial assembly seats.Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz)The right-wing party is one of the several breakaway groups of Pakistan’s founding party established in 1906 before partition.Led by the three-time Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif , the PML(N) was founded in 1993, and since then it has ruled this South Asian nuclear Muslim state three times i.e. 1990 to 1992, 1997 to 1999, and 2013 to 2018.However, the party could only complete its constitutional five-year term only once (2013 to 2018).Sharif’s two previous governments were dismissed on corruption charges in 1992 and through a bloodless military coup in 1999 respectively.Sharif, who has been sentenced to 10 years in jail in a corruption case by the country’s top court, has already been disqualified for lifetime for holding any public office, including his party’s leadership. He, however, still enjoys a strong grip over his party and currently holds a title of “Quaid” (leader).Shehbaz Sharif, his younger brother and three-time chief minister of Punjab, has recently replaced elder Sharif as party president but the latter still calls the shots.The party has strong roots in Punjab, especially in the industrial part of the province. It has a solid vote bank in parts of KP and Balochistan provinces, but the party is mainly relying on Punjab.The party is also known as GT (Grand Trunk) Road party because of its popularity in the cities located along the historic road from garrison city of Rawalpindi to the border districts of KP province. It carries the election symbol of Lion.Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI)Founded by the country’s former cricket star, Imran Khan in 1992, the PTI emerged as the second largest party in terms of votes in the 2013 elections. The party not only amassed over 8 million votes -- second after PML(N) -- in 2013 but also managed to form government in the KP province.It is posing a serious threat to the PML(N) in Punjab with many dubbing the party as “favorite” in the forthcoming elections.PTI enjoys a huge support in Punjab, KP FATA, and even in Karachi that makes it the only party having a national posture.Many believe the upcoming elections are a one-to-one contest between the two right-wing parties -- PML(N) and PTI -- in Punjab, the main battlefield.Pakistan People's Party (PPP)The left-wing party has ruled Pakistan more than any other party since 1970. Founded by former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in 1967, the party came into power just three years after its inception in 1970.Bhutto’s government was toppled by the then army chief Gen Zia-ul-Haq in a bloodless coup on the charge of rigging in 1977 elections. He was later hanged in a murder case in 1979.His charismatic daughter and the first woman prime minister of the Muslim world -- Benazir Bhutto -- came into power twice in 1988 to 1990, and 1993 to 1996, but her both governments were dismissed before completion of the constitutional term on corruption charges.Bhutto was assassinated in garrison city of Rawalpindi in 2007 during an election rally. Her party, now jointly led by her widower Asif Ali Zardari and son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, came into power in 2008 elections and completed its five-year term in 2013.However, once Pakistan’s most popular party has now almost been wiped out in Punjab, KP and Balochistan provinces amid a series of corruption scandals.The party still has a strong vote bank in Sindh, where it has ruled for two consecutive terms from 2008 to 2018.It is again viewed as the single largest party in Sindh though it is facing a strong challenge from PTI, MMA, and a regional conglomerate Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) in different parts of the province.Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA)The alliance is a combination of five religious parties belonging to all major Sunni and Shia schools of thought in Pakistan. The parties included Jamat-e-Islami, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan, Tehrik-e-Islami and Jamiat Ahl-e-Hadit.Founded in 2002, The MMA had surprised the political pundits by emerging as the third largest group in the National Assembly, and the majority party in KP and Balochistan provinces in 2002 general elections.The alliance, however remained dormant for a decade due to differences between the two major components -- Jamat-e-Islami and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam. The poor performances of the two parties forced them to revive the alliance earlier this year.MMA has encouraging prospects in KP, Balochistan and Karachi. The alliance enjoys little support in Punjab.Other PartiesTwo newly-formed religious groups -- Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) and Milli Muslim League (MML) -- representing Barelvi and Ahl-e-hadith schools of thought respectively have made inroads in recent by-elections in Punjab.Analysts believe the two parties are not in a position to cause a major upset against PML(N) and PTI but they can still damage the vote bank of the two key parties in several constituencies in Punjab, and of MMA in KP and Karachi.Some consider TLP the third largest party in Punjab in terms of votes.Left-wing Awami National Party (ANP) and newly-formed Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) are also viewed as vote catchers in parts of KP and Balochistan respectively.
All you need to know about Pakistani elections
"He told me that as soon as they finished practice they went to play at the cave. They thought they'd only be an hour," Banpot Korncam, father of the 13-year-old captain of the "Wild Boars" team, told media.
"While they were inside the cave it rained, water flowed in and everyone took off," Banpot said.
Two British divers found the boys on July 2, squatting on a muddy mound in a flooded chamber several kiometres inside the complex, nine days after they went for their quick jaunt.
Then the problem became how to get them back out through the tunnels, some completely full of fast-flowing flood water.
Twitter began purging its platform of millions of suspicious or fake accounts Thursday.Some of Twitter’s most prominent users, including President Donald Trump, saw their follower counts decrease by hundreds of thousands of accounts.“Action on this starts today,” Twitter’s chief executive and co-founder Jack Dorsey tweeted, adding he lost 200,000 followers.Traffickers tap into India’s digital boom to lure girlsOn Wednesday, Twitter announced that it would begin deleting “locked” accounts, accounts that were deactivated because Twitter deemed them to be suspicious or fraudulent.Twitter’s own official account, @Twitter, was one of the purge’s biggest victims. The account lost roughly 10 million followers Thursday, dropping some 12 percent to about 55 million.Trump lost about 200,000 followers. Former President Barack Obama lost roughly 2.6 million followers. Musician Katy Perry, the most followed account on Twitter, lost about 2.7 million followers in the purge.China chemical plant blast kills 19, injures 12In the announcement, Twitter executive Vijaya Gadde said the company estimated the average user would lose four followers or fewer.“We understand this may be hard for some, but we believe accuracy and transparency make Twitter a more trusted service for public conversation,” Gadde said in a statement.Israel summons EU ambassador“Though the most significant changes are happening in the next few days, follower counts may continue to change more regularly as part of our ongoing work to proactively identify and challenge problematic accounts.”While the general reaction to the loss of followers was relatively calm, the purge was still controversial on social media. Some conservatives on Twitter argued that the purge was politically motivated.“Look, if they're genuinely fake or dead accounts, I have no problem with it,” tweeted former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain. “But how do we know?”Twitter said locked accounts were accounts that were opened by an authentic person but have likely been hacked, according to the company’s metrics.
Twitter begins purging locked accounts
The boys, aged 11 to 16, had to dive for part of their journey out before they were put on green plastic toboggan-like stretchers and carried, at times through steep, rocky tunnels, with ropes strung overhead.
Many people in Thailand have credited the coach, Ekkapol Chantawong, or Ek as he is known, for keeping the boys safe during the ordeal.
"They just sat quietly without doing anything because it was dark," said Banpot, recounting what his son, who is still in hospital, had told him.
"When they were hungry Coach Ek would use a flashlight to shine on the stalactites above," he said.
European Union countries are completely united on trade and will not be divided by the threat of further U.S. import tariffs, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Friday.Asked about the threat that U.S. President Donald Trump could extend increased import tariffs from steel and aluminium to EU cars, Le Maire said EU states were determined to maintain a united stance."Nobody will divide France and Germany never, never, never, and nobody will divide the EU member states. Everybody is aware that the unity of the European countries is the right response to the raise of tariffs," he told reporters before a meeting of EU finance ministers.Trump claims victory after forcing NATO crisis talksEU tells UK financial firms time running out for Brexit licencesTrump keeps up spending demands at NATO but turns on charm
'EU will not be divided over US tariffs'
'CALCULATING, CALM'
The group survived by drinking water that dripped off the stalactites and the cave walls, rescue officials said.
Initially isolated in hospital in Chiang Rai because of fears of infection, the boys have now been allowed to meet their families. They will stay in hospital at least a week.
"The boys' health is improving ... relatives can now visit them in close proximity," said Thongchai Lertwilairatanapong, a health ministry inspector.
A major explosion at a chemical plant in southwestern China has killed 19 people and injured 12, authorities said on Friday, the latest deadly industrial incident in the world's largest producer of chemicals.It comes amid a drive to strengthen industrial safety, with China ramping up checks over the last year, in the wake of some high-profile incidents at coal mines and chemical plants.The cause of Thursday evening's blast at Yibin Hengda Technology in an industrial park several hours southeast of Chengdu, the capital of the southwestern province of Sichuan, is not yet known, the local government in Jiang'an county said.Japan struggles to restore water supply to flood-hit towns as temperatures soar"I heard seven explosions in ten minutes," an eyewitness told domestic news agency Beijing News. "It took a couple dozen firefighter trucks to put out the fire."The injured are in stable condition and an investigation has begun, state news agency Xinhua said.The company, which makes chemicals for the food and pharmaceutical industries, did not immediately answer telephone calls from Reuters to seek information.Photographs on Chinese social media showed a huge fire and plumes of smoke rising from the facility. The fire, which broke out early on Thursday evening, was put out by 11:30 p.m. (1530 GMT), the government said in its statement.US says reunification of young migrants completed"I heard a big explosion, it was really loud and I felt the ground shaking," Liu Ping, a manager from the industrial park told China Newsweek, who was in his office at the time of the eruption."My first response was that something was wrong and I went the window and saw thick smoke rising from the east."A trio of three-storey buildings were reduced to their steel frames by the explosion, the Sichuan Daily newspaper said, citing eyewitness accounts. Footage on its website on Friday afternoon showed the skeleton of the burnt-out buildings.Video: Blast in chemical plant in China kills 19, injures 12Windows of nearby buildings were shattered by the explosion at the factory, which is surrounded by a sand and gravel plant, it added.The plant has three production lines, making 300 tonnes per year (tpy) of benzoic acid, which is used in food preservatives, and 2,000 tpy of 5-nitroisophthalic acid, for medicines and dyes, the regional environmental protection bureau says.China's breakneck pace of economic growth during the last decade has resulted in a spate of industrial accidents.In 2015, an explosion in a chemical warehouse in the northern port city of Tianjin killed 165 people. Last year, a blast at a petrochemical plant in eastern Shandong province killed eight people and injured nine.
China chemical plant blast kills 19, injures 12
The rescue gripped the world, with much praise focusing on the navy SEALs and international team of divers who helped them, toiling for days in dangerous conditions to get the boys out. A former Thai navy SEAL diver died during the mission.
John Volanthen, one of the two British divers who found the boys, played down the gallantry.
"We're not heroes," he told the BBC after arriving back in London.
"What we do is very calculating. It's very calm, it's quite the opposite ... But it's really the international team I would like to focus on and the Thai SEALs."
In preparing for his first summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, U.S. President Donald Trump has provoked a rare agreement among Democrats and Republicans alarmed by the possibility of a cozy meeting.While Republican Trump has gone softer on Putin, calling him a "competitor" and "not my enemy" on Thursday, lawmakers from both parties hardened their warnings to Trump before he sits down with the Russian leader in Helsinki on Monday.Trump says May's Brexit plan kills hope of a US trade deal"Putin is not America's friend, nor merely a competitor. Putin is America's enemy — not because we wish it so, but because he has chosen to be," Republican Senator John McCain said."It is up to President Trump to hold Putin accountable for his actions during the meeting in Helsinki," McCain said in a statement. "Failure to do so would be a serious indictment of his stewardship of American leadership in the world.”Trump has touted the summit as an opportunity to reduce tensions, inflamed by Russia's annexation of the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine in 2014, its military backing of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, which turned the tide of the Syrian civil war in 2015, and accusations of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election.Twitter begins purging locked accountsU.S. lawmakers want Trump, both privately with Putin and publicly, to condemn Russia's actions.Congress has taken a hard anti-Russia stance, nearly unanimously approving last year a tough sanctions law targeting Moscow. But lawmakers worry Trump will fail to take Putin to task, particularly over the election meddling, which the Russian leader has denied.U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that Moscow interfered and Trump has said he would discuss it, although he has stated both a willingness to believe Putin's denials and U.S. agencies. Trump has described a special counsel investigation into possible collusion between Trump campaign aides and Russia as a political witch hunt.Blast reported near Cairo’s international airport"Our goal must be to demonstrate to the world that the community of democratic nations does not intend to accede to Putin's or any other authoritarian's view of the world. We will resist Russia's aggression," Democratic Senator Mark Warner and Republican Senator Marco Rubio said in an op-ed in USA Today on Thursday.Senior Trump administration officials also have voiced fears about what he might give Putin to the detriment of allies in Europe, especially after seeing how Trump appeared to get only vague commitments from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at their June 12 summit in Singapore to discuss denuclearization.White House orders greater access to files on FBI informantTrump declared that he had ended the nuclear threat from North Korea, but one senior U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said: "Who's to say he won’t come out of Helsinki saying he and Putin agreed that Russia no longer poses a threat to the rest of Europe?"'EASIEST' PART OF TRUMP TRIPWorries over Trump's commitment to European allies and his deference to Russia loomed large at the NATO summit that wrapped up on Thursday. Trump claimed a personal victory after telling European allies to increase their defense spending or lose Washington's support. He particularly railed against Germany and Chancellor Angela Merkel.Trump took another swipe at U.S. allies when he told reporters in Brussels that he thought his meeting with Putin would be "the easiest" part of his week-long European trip.U.S. Senator Jeff Flake, a Republican, criticized Trump for saying that."The Russian president is a man schooled in treachery and espionage. He jails and murders his opponents, presides over a mafia state and he is an enemy of democracy. Why would a meeting with Putin be easier than a meeting with the allies that we rely on most to be a bulwark against him?" Flake asked in a Senate speech.Putin won re-election for six more years in March with opposition leader Alexei Navalny barred from running on what he says was a false pretext.Europeans and some U.S. officials are particularly concerned about whether Putin will ask Trump to suspend NATO military drills in the Baltic states on Russia's doorstep.Another senior U.S. official said that if Putin came away from the meeting with Trump thinking he had permission to act in the Baltics, Estonia might become the epicenter of what NATO has helped to prevent.Trump's assertion that Russia is a competitor and not an adversary is contrary to the judgments of U.S. intelligence agencies and his chief diplomat, Mike Pompeo, who at his April confirmation hearing to be Secretary of State, said the United States needs "to push back in each place we confront them," referring to the Russians.While Trump said on Thursday that he expects the Helsinki summit to be "just a loose meeting," some at home are hoping it will be a "non-event" with nothing groundbreaking."Based on just the way things are shaping up, I think a non-eventful Helsinki meeting might be best for our country," Republican Senator Bob Corker, chairman of the Foreign Relations committee, told Reuters.
Trump says Putin 'not my enemy'
Volanthen was the first person the boys heard after nine days trapped in the flooded cave. A video posted by the Thai SEALs captured the moment.
"How many of you?" he asked, a torch beam scanning the boys crowded on the bank.
"Thirteen? Brilliant."
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said on Thursday international members of the rescue team would be given a "Thailand Elite" card worth 500,000 baht ($15,000) with benefits including a 5-year visa in thanks.