Assam flood: Death toll rises to 25
Guwahati(PTI): The flood situation in Assam has slightly abated even though the death toll rose to 25 as one more person died and over 6.5 lakh people remained affected by the deluge across 22 districts, an official bulletin said.
According to the daily flood report of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), one person in Silchar of Cachar district was lost to floodwaters.
With this, the total number of people losing their lives in this year's flood and landslides has gone up to 25 across the state, it said on Monday.
ASDMA said more than 6,50,400 people are hit due to floods in Barpeta, Cachar, Darrang, Dhubri, Dibrugarh, Dima Hasao, Goalpara, Golaghat, Hailakandi, Hojai, Jorhat, Kamrup, Kamrup Metropolitan, Karbi Anglong West, Karimganj, Lakhimpur, Majuli, Morigaon, Nagaon, Nalbari, Sonitpur and Udalguri districts.
Nagaon is the worst hit district with over 3.51 lakh people in distress, followed by Cachar (nearly two lakh people) and Hojai (more than 44,500 people).
Till Saturday, over 7.2 lakh people were affected by the deluge across 22 districts in the state. At present, 1,709 villages are under water and 82,503 hectares of crop areas have been damaged across Assam, ASDMA said.
It further said authorities are running 656 relief camps and distribution centres in eight districts, where 90,597 people, including 19,555 children, have taken shelter.
The bulletin said the Army, paramilitary force, National Disaster Response Force, SDRF, civil administration, trained volunteers, and fire & emergency services personnel have evacuated 110 people from various flood-hit areas.
The authorities have distributed 4,278.45 quintals of rice, dal and salt, 2,555.97 litres of mustard oil, 1,232.41 quintals of cattle feed and other flood relief items.
Massive erosions have been witnessed in Barpeta, Biswanath, Dhubri, Dibrugarh, Goalpara, Golaghat, Nalbari, Sivasagar, Sonitpur, Tinsukia and Udalguri districts.
Embankments, roads, bridges and other infrastructure have been damaged by floodwaters in Nagaon, Barpeta, Cachar, Darrang, Dhubri, Goalpara, Karimganj, Morigaon, Nalbari, Sonitpur, Hojai and Udalguri, ASDMA said.
A total of 2,27,529 domestic animals and poultry have been affected in the deluge across nine districts, ASDMA said.
Brahmaputra's tributary Kopili at Dharamtul and Kampur are flowing above the danger marks, the bulletin stated.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
