06/07/2025

WORLD 7 ON SUNDAY JULY 6, 2025 Dalai Lama hopes to live beyond 130 years

Seoul to begin cash handouts

SEOUL: South Korea will begin distributing cash handouts to all citizens on July 21 as part of a government initiative aimed at stimulating domestic consumption. The move follows Cabinet approval of a 31.8 trillion won (RM97 billion) supplementary budget, passed by the National Assembly on Friday. The handout scheme is a key part of the first supplementary budget of the Lee Jae Myung administration. Under the plan, all South Korean citizens residing in the country as of June 18 will receive a one-time payment of 150,000 won (RM465). The government said the disbursement is intended to boost consumer spending. Additional targeted assistance will be provided based on income levels. Individuals in near-poverty households and single-parent families will receive 300,000 won, while recipients of the basic living allowance will get 400,000 won. To promote balanced regional development, residents outside the greater Seoul area, including Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, will receive an extra 30,000 won. A second round of payments from Sept 22 to Oct 31 will provide an additional 100,000 won to the bottom 90% of income earners. – Bernama Japan braces for more quakes TOKYO: Japan’s government warned of the possibility of more strong earthquakes in waters southwest of its main islands, but urged the public not to believe unfounded predictions of a major disaster. Authorities on Friday evacuated some residents from remote islands close to the epicentre of a 5.5 magnitude quake off the tip of the southernmost main island of Kyushu. That quake on Thursday, strong enough to make standing difficult, was one of more than 1,000 tremors in the islands of Kagoshima prefecture in the past two weeks that have fuelled rumours stemming from a comic book prediction that a major disaster would befall the country this month.

DHARAMSHALA: The Dalai Lama said yesterday he hopes to live until he is more than 130 years old, following his assurance to followers that he would reincarnate as the spiritual head of the faith upon his death. He was speaking during a Tibetan Buddhism head celebrates 90th birthday

prayers in his temple. The ceremony was attended by thousands of followers from around the world who gathered in the northern Indian hill town of Dharamshala, where he has lived since fleeing Tibet in 1959 in the wake of a failed uprising against Chinese rule. “We have lost our country and we live in exile in India, but I have been able to benefit beings. So, living here in Dharamshala, I intend to serve beings and the dharma as

ceremony organised by his followers to offer prayers for his long life, ahead of his 90th birthday today. “I have been able to serve the Buddhadharma (the teachings of Buddhism) and the beings of Tibet quite well,” he said between prayers. “And still, I hope to live over 130 years,” he said to applause and cheers. The 14th Dalai Lama, already the longest-lived head of Tibetan Buddhism, spent about 90 minutes at the

He described how his wife called him in a panic while saying that the building was cracking. “I told her to get out immediately,” he said at the scene. “She went to warn the neighbours, but one woman told her ‘this building will stand for at least 10 more years’,” he said. “Still, my wife took our daughter and left. About 20 minutes later, the building collapsed.” – AFP much as I can,” he said in Tibetan, which was translated to English and other languages. China, keen to consolidate its control over Tibet, views the Dalai Lama as a separatist. Beijing insists its leaders would have to approve his successor. The Dalai Lama has previously said he would reincarnate in the “free world” outside China and this week told his followers that the sole authority to recognise his reincarnation rests with his non-profit institution, the Gaden Phodrang Trust. The Dalai Lama is a charismatic figure whose following extends well beyond the millions of Tibetan Buddhists living around the world. He won the 1989 peace prize for what the Nobel committee said was keeping alive the Tibetan cause and seeking genuine autonomy to protect and preserve the region’s unique culture, religion and national identity without pressing for independence. At the prayers yesterday, he sat on a throne before a large statue of the Buddha, with dozens of monks seated in front of him. Marigold garlands hung from pillars as his followers and journalists crowded around the main temple area. Oracles and other figures, shaking in trance, arrived to pay their obeisance to their guru. Monks struck cymbals and played ornate long trumpets in honour of the Dalai Lama and others. The Dalai Lama said he prays daily to benefit all sentient beings and feels he has the blessings of Tibet’s patron deity, Avalokitesvara. “Looking at the many prophecies, I feel I have the blessings of Avalokitesvara. I have done my best. At the least, I hope to still live for 30 or 40 years more.” His birthday celebrations today will be attended by dignitaries. – Reuters

Dalai Lama praying in Dharamshala yesterday. – REUTERSPIC

Ryo Tatsuki, the artist behind the manga (comic) The Future I Saw , first published in 1999 and re-released in 2021, said she was “not a prophet”, in a statement issued by her publisher. Earthquakes are common in Japan. It accounts for about one-fifth of the world’s earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater. – Reuters Karachi building collapse kills 14

Jee, said her brother’s family was also trapped under the rubble. “It’s a tragedy for us. The world has been changed for our family,” she said. “We are helpless and just looking at the rescue workers to bring our loved ones back safely.” Shankar Kamho, 30, a resident of the building who was out at the time, said about 20 families were living inside.

Up to 100 people had been living in the building, said senior police officer Arif Aziz. Resident Jumho Maheshwari, 70, said all six members of his family were at his flat on the first floor when he left for work in the morning. “Nothing is left for me now. My family is all trapped and all I can do is pray for their safe recovery.” Another resident, Maya Sham

Abid Jalaluddin Shaikh, leading the government’s 1122 rescue service at the scene, said the operation continued through Friday night “without interruption”. “It may take eight to 12 hours more to complete,” he said. Police official Summiaya Syed, at a Karachi hospital where the bodies were sent, said the death toll yesterday stood at 14, half of them women, with 13 injured.

KARACHI: Rescue teams pulled more bodies from the rubble of a collapsed five-storey building here, taking the toll yesterday to 14 as the recovery operation continued for a second day. The residential block crumbled on Friday in the impoverished Lyari neighbourhood of Karachi, which was once plagued by gang violence and considered a dangerous area.