Death toll in Indonesian school collapse rises to at least 60

More bodies have been discovered by rescuers in Indonesia after a collapsed school, causing at least 60 deaths.

A week after students at the Al-Khoziny Islamic boarding school in East Java province’s boys, who were mostly boys between the ages of 12 and 19, performed afternoon prayers, the authorities revised the fatalities count on Monday.

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When the multi-story building collapsed, hundreds of other students suffered injuries.

Orange body bags were being carried away from the school, according to footage released by the Indonesian search-and-rescue agency on Monday.

According to Mohammad Syafii, the agency’s director, the death toll has increased to 65, according to Reuters news agency. The number is closer to 60, according to other sources, though.

Syafii added that the operation would continue until rescuers “sure that no victims are left.”

The national search-and-rescue agency’s operations director, Yudhi Bramantyo, stated at a press conference on Monday that the search for more victims was almost over.

“We hope we can conclude the recovery today, and we will bring the bodies [to the families],” Bramantyo said.

The country’s worst disaster so far this year is thought to be the result of the collapse.

The building’s foundations were weak enough to support construction work on the upper floors, according to authorities.

A pesantren or religious boarding school, Al-Khoziny is what it is known as. According to Indonesia’s Ministry of Religious Affairs, it is one of approximately 42, 000 students serving the country’s largest Muslim-majority nation.

Public Works Minister Dody Hanggodo, who was quoted by local media as saying that only 50 of these Islamic schools have permits, was quoted as saying on Sunday.

Syria’s first elections since Assad’s fall conclude

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The first elections in Syria since Bashar al-Assad’s assassination are over. Analysts are defending the process as an interim step after years of chaos because the public did not directly vote for the new parliament members, and President Ahmed al-Sharaa is choosing several dozens.

Syria shares results of first parliamentary poll amid inclusivity concerns

The results of Syria’s first parliamentary election since the ouster of former president Bashar al-Assad’s regime were revealed, revealing that the majority of the newly reformed People’s Assembly’s members are mostly Sunni Muslims and men.

Only two Christians and only four percent of the 119 people chosen in the indirect vote were women, according to a press release from the electoral commission on Monday, raising questions about inclusivity and fairness.

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The election marks a historic turning point for Syria’s fragile transition after nearly 14 years of conflict, but critics claim it favors well-connected individuals and will likely allow the country’s new rulers to maintain control while preventing genuine democratic change.

Najmeh, according to AFP, claimed that the proportion of women in the parliament was “not proportional to the status of women in Syrian society and their place in political, economic, and social life.”

In light of the number of Christians in Syria, he described the representation of Christians as “weak.”

Following the war, which left millions of Syrians dead and millions of people displaced, the authorities switched to an indirect voting system rather than universal suffrage.

About 75% of Syrians are believed to be Sunni Muslims. After a nearly 14-year civil war, the former al-Assad regime, which was overthrown in December, was largely led by Alawite minority members.

Around 6, 000 regional electoral colleges selected candidates from preapproved lists for Sunday’s vote, a nearly two-thirds of the new 210-seat body’s members. The final three will be chosen in the future by President Ahmed al-Sharaa.

Authorities delayed the vote in areas that were not under the control of the government, including the Druze-held province of Suwayda and parts of the north and northeast of Syria, where the Kurdish-held regions are located. 21 seats were left empty as a result of those suspensions.

AFP-cited Najmeh as saying that the state was “serious” about having “supplementary ballots” to fill the assembly’s seats.

Osama Bin Javaid, a journalist from Damascus, quoted Al Jazeera’s Osama Bin Javaid as saying, “The elections were not representative if you ask the Druze in the south or the Kurds in the north.

People in major cities like Aleppo, Damascus, Hama, and other parts of the nation are hopeful that this will be their first real election, they say.

By the end of the year, Syria’s Kurds and Damascus have reached an agreement to incorporate Kurdish-administered civil and military institutions into the state, but negotiations on implementing the agreement have stalled.

According to Najmeh, the implementation of the March 10 agreement was delayed by the lack of timetables for the elections in Raqqa and Hasakeh.

Najmeh opposed the idea of a quota-based system, saying that the president’s choice might “perhaps” make up for some “underrepresented components of Syrian society.”

Nour al-Jandali, a rights activist in the city of Homs in central Syria, quoted by AFP as saying that the new lawmakers “have a great responsibility.”

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