Bodies of pilgrims arrive from north India

Grief-stricken friends and relatives of pilgrims, who died on Monday near r the Jhansi railway station in Uttar Pradesh, crowded the railway station in Coimbatore on Thursday morning to receive their bodies.

Coimbatore, died on Monday near the Jhansi railway station in Uttar Pradesh. The deceased were part of a group undertaking a religious tour of north India.

The deceased were identified as Pachaiappan, 80, Balakrishnan, 67, Dhanalakshmi, 74, and Subbarayan, 87. According to co-passengers, the four elderly victims were unable to bear the intense heat wave conditions prevailing in north India.

Three of them are from Coimbatore and one from Coonoor.

A fifth member from the group, Kaladevi, 58, passed away before the group boarded the Kerala Express bound for Thiruvananthapuram at Agra.

Nicaragua releases political prisoners

Political prisoners, who according to local media were arrested for participating in a protest against Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega's government, shout slogans during a religious service after their release, in Masaya, Nicaragua.   | Photo Credit: REUTERS

Nicaragua on Tuesday it had released 56 political prisoners under a new law that frees people who were arrested in recent anti-government protests, while protecting police and others who violently clamped down on the demonstrations.

The release of the 56 opposition leaders follows Monday's release of 50 rank-and-file protesters by the administration of President Daniel Ortega.

Nicaragua's opposition has made the release of political prisoners a condition of dialogue with the administration.

Under the amnesty law, former prisoners are banned from participating in more anti-government protests.

Uneasy calm in Hong Kong

Protesters hold placards and shout slogans on a footbridge leading to the Legislative Council and blocked by police in Hong Kong, China, on Thursday, June 13, 2019.   | Photo Credit: Reuters

The events in the former British colony mark possibly its biggest political crisis since its handover to Chinese rule in 1997, and pose a profound challenge to Chinese president and head of the ruling Communist Party Xi Jinping.

Nearly two years ago, Mr. Xi issued a stern address in the city stating that Beijing would not tolerate Hong Kong becoming a base for what the party considers a foreign-inspired campaign to undermine its rule. Yet the mostly young throngs of well-organized protesters seemed little deterred by such threats, even as they took pains to remain anonymous by wearing masks, declining to give their full names to journalists and using cash rather than stored value cards to buy subway tickets.

(With inputs from agencies)