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Nepal plans to drain four glacial lakes after deadly floods

Nepal will kick off a high-stakes effort this fiscal year to drain four glacial lakes perched high in the mountains, as it scrambles to reduce flood risks, officials said, after a recent disaster that killed more than 1,400. Rescuers are still searching for more than 5,000 people missing in the border region with China after August's glacier collapse unleashed landslides and a flash flood that tore through valleys. "Our aim is to lower the risk of the lakes breaching their natural dams and reduce the risk of downstream floods," said Subash Tuladhar, an expert with a government research centre tasked with overseeing the new project. Canals will drain water into nearby rivers in a regulated way, he said, adding that workers faced health risks as a result of the lengthy periods of high-altitude work required, in addition to the dangers of sudden flooding. Read: Floods, landslides kill 56 in India and 14 in Nepal Design work and detailed studies targeting t...
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Hundreds of prisoners freed in UK as early release scheme takes effect

Hundreds of eligible offenders are set to leave prisons in England and Wales as the government’s early-release scheme took effect Thursday. The scheme was introduced after the prison system came close to running out of capacity in the summer of 2024, with fewer than 100 spaces remaining. Under the new rules, eligible offenders serving sentences of up to 19 months can be released after serving a third of their term. The government has faced criticism over the plan, with the main opposition Conservative Party warning that dangerous criminals could be released under the early-release scheme. Read: UK rapper gets 12-year jail term for hit-and-run killing “I think what would make the public less safe is if we had no prison capacity in which to put people who are arrested, suspected of crimes, today,” Treasury minister James Murray told Sky News. Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s office said last month that more than 3,200 prison places had already been built under the current government, with 14,000 expected by 2031 under the largest prison expansion since the Victorian era. As of March, more than 70,000 people had been released under the early-release scheme introduced in 2024.

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At least 32 miners dead after bridge fails at cobalt site in southeast DR Congo

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Arab countries, Pakistan likely to observe Eid on same day

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Asma al-Assad reportedly given 50/50 chance of survival as leukemia returns

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