01/08/2025

FRIDAY | AUG 1, 2025

7

Cambodia urges Thailand to return captive soldiers

South Korean heatwave breaks century record SEOUL: A streak of super-hot tropical nights has broken a century old South Korean weather record, according to official data released yesterday, as the peninsula bakes in a prolonged heatwave. Overnight temperatures in Seoul sizzled above 25°C for 22 consecutive days in July, officials said, marking the longest such streak for the month since modern weather records began in October 1907. The capital was also on track to record its hottest July night in history on Wednesday, with the lowest temperature of the day at 29.3°C. Much of the world is enduring a summer of sweltering weather, with June being the hottest month ever recorded for 12 countries, according to an AFP analysis of data from the European climate monitor Copernicus. The intense heat in Seoul is expected to continue, according to the meteorology office. “The warm air from the North Pacific High began affecting South Korea a bit earlier than usual,“ said Seoul’s Meteorology Forecast Division director Youn Ki-han. “As that influence gradually built up, the heat accumulated. “Normally, if it is hot for just a day, temperatures spike and then quickly return to normal. But when warm conditions persist for several days, the heat does not fully dissipate. It lingers and accumulates with each day.“ Thirteen people have died from suspected heat-related causes this year, which is triple the number from the same period last year, according to data from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. – AFP WELLINGTON: FBI director Kash Patel yesterday opened a permanent office in New Zealand, citing the need for like-minded spy agencies to counter a rising China. Patel has spent recent days in the capital Wellington meeting with senior government ministers as well as intelligence bosses and law enforcement officials. “Some of the most important global issues of our times are the ones that New Zealand and the United States work on together.“ Patel singled out “countering the CCP” as a priority, referring to the Chinese Communist Party. New Zealand is a member of the intelligence-sharing alliance Five Eyes alongside the United States, Britain, Canada and Australia. “The FBI cannot do it alone,“ said Patel. “Our partners in the Five Eyes are our greatest partners around the world. But we need them to get after the fight and put the mission first.” The US Embassy in Wellington said the FBI office would investigate “terrorism, cyber crime and fraud, organised crime and money laundering, child exploitation, and foreign intelligence threats”. It would also cover FBI partnerships in Antarctica, Samoa, Niue, the Cook Islands and Tonga. – AFP FBI opens NZ office, citing China threat

PHNOM PENH: Cambodia called on Thailand yesterday to return 20 soldiers it said were taken captive hours after a ceasefire to halt the bloodiest border clashes in decades. The countries agreed to a truce on Tuesday following five days of clashes that killed at least 43 people on both sides, the latest eruption of a long-standing dispute over contested border temples on their 800km frontier. Bangkok said there were no reports of violence during the night up to 7am (0000 GMT), after both sides traded allegations of ceasefire breaches on Wednesday. Cambodian Defence Ministry spokesperson Maly Socheata said yesterday talks are under way for the release of the soldiers. “We will do our best to continue negotiations with the Thai side in order to bring all our soldiers back home safely and as soon possible. “We call on the Thai side to send all 20 military personnel back to Cambodia as soon possible.” She said the troops were captured at 7.50am on Tuesday, nearly eight hours after the ceasefire had come into effect. Thailand’s government said on Wednesday the detained soldiers were being treated in line with international humanitarian law and military regulations, and would be returned when the border situation stabilises. United Nations rights chief Volker Turk urged the neighbouring nations to implement their ceasefire deal in full and take rapid steps to build confidence and peace. “This crucial agreement must be with international humanitarian law, military regulations o Bangkok says detained troops being treated in line

under attack by small arms fire and grenade assaults launched by Cambodian forces” in an offensive that continued until Wednesday. Thai government spokesperson Jirayu Huangsab reported overnight clashes but noted that “the Thai side maintained control of the situation”. A Cambodian Defence Ministry official accused Thailand of twice breaching the ceasefire. National Assembly of Cambodia president Khuon Sudary urged other countries to help ensure the ceasefire is upheld. “To prevent the breach of the ceasefire, it is urgent to deploy international observers and inspection teams. Please hold accountable those who violate the ceasefire,“ she said at the sixth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament in Geneva. – AFP

of violence on the border, in which 28 were killed in sporadic fighting from 2008 to 2011. The armistice got off to a shaky start on Tuesday, with Thailand accusing Cambodia of continuing attacks in “a clear attempt to undermine mutual trust”, before peace generally prevailed. Meetings between rival commanders along the border, scheduled as part of the pact, went ahead, with Thailand’s army saying de-escalation steps were agreed upon, including “a halt on troop reinforcements or movements that could lead to misunderstandings”. However, Thailand and Cambodia exchanged allegations on Wednesday of breaching the ceasefire deal. Thailand’s Foreign Ministry said its troops in Sisaket province “came

fully respected, in good faith, by both sides as diplomatic efforts continue, in a bid to resolve the root causes of the conflict,” he said. The agreement to stop fighting was sealed in Malaysia after an intervention by US President Donald Trump, who Thailand and Cambodia are courting for a trade deal to avert his threat of tariffs. Nearly 300,000 people fled their homes as the two sides battled with jets, rockets and artillery along the rural border region, marked by a ridge of hills surrounded by wild jungle and agricultural land where locals farm rubber and rice. Thailand has said 15 of its soldiers and 15 civilians were killed while Cambodia has confirmed eight civilian and five military deaths. The death toll is significantly higher than in the last major flare-up

Funeral rites being held at a Buddhist temple in the Thai border province of Buriram on Wednesday for a Thai soldier who was killed during the conflict. – AFPPIC

Myanmar ends state of emergency in election run-up YANGON: Myanmar’s junta ended the country’s state of emergency yesterday, ramping up preparations for a December election being boycotted by opposition groups and criticised by international monitors. The military declared a state of emergency in February 2021 as it deposed the civilian government of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, sparking a many-sided civil war that has claimed thousands of lives. a United Nations expert dismissed as “a fraud” designed to legitimise the military’s continuing rule. “The state of emergency is abolished in order for the country to hold elections on the path to a multiparty democracy,“ said junta spokesperson Zaw Min Tun in a voice message shared with reporters. “Elections will be held within six months.“ of Myanmar yesterday. “Now, we are starting the second chapter,“ he told members of the junta’s administration council at what the newspaper called an “honorary ceremony” for its members. “The upcoming election will be held in December and efforts will be made to enable all eligible voters to cast their ballots,“ the newspaper reported, paraphrasing a part of the speech. But a census held last year as preparation for the election estimated that it failed to collect data from 19 million of the country’s 51 million people, provisional results said. The results cited “significant security constraints”as one reason for the shortfall, giving a sign of how limited the reach of the election may be amid the civil war. aiming to “destroy a part of the electoral process”.

Analysts predict that Min Aung Hlaing would keep a role as either president or Armed Forces chief following the election and consolidate power in that office, extending his tenure as de facto ruler. “We have already passed the first chapter,“ said Min Aung Hlaing in a speech in Naypyidaw reported in state newspaper The Global New Light

No date for the poll has yet been announced by the junta but political parties are being registered while training sessions on electronic voting machines have taken place. On Wednesday, the military government said it enacted a new law dictating prison sentences of up to 10 years for speech or protests

The order gave junta chief Min Aung Hlaing supreme power over the legislature, executive and judiciary, but he has recently touted elections as an off-ramp to the conflict. Opposition groups, including ex-lawmakers ousted in the coup, have pledged to snub the poll, which

Analysts have predicted that rebels would stage offensives around the election as a sign of opposition. But this month the junta began offering cash rewards to those willing to lay down their arms and “return to the legal fold” ahead of the vote. – AFP