03/10/2025

FRIDAY | OCT 3, 2025 7 S. Korea apologises for adoption malpractice SEOUL: South Korean President Lee Jae Myung apologised yesterday for the first time over state-sanctioned malpractices that involved sending tens of thousands of children overseas for adoption, adding that “unjust human rights violations” were committed. An official inquiry held the government accountable earlier this year for facilitating adoptions through fraudulent practices, including falsifying documents and switching identities. The country, now Asia’s fourth-largest economy and a global cultural powerhouse, was for decades one of the world’s biggest exporters of children, having sent more than 140,000 overseas for adoption between 1955 and 1999. International adoptions began after the 1950-1953 Korean War as a way to remove mixed-race children, born to local mothers and American GI fathers, from a society that emphasised ethnic homogeneity. “Recent court rulings and investigations by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission have revealed that in some cases, unjust human rights violations occurred during overseas adoption procedures,“ Lee said in a statement. “At such times, the state did not fully meet its responsibilities. On behalf of the Republic of Korea, I offer my heartfelt apology and words of comfort to overseas adoptees, their families and their birth families who have endured suffering.” Overseas adoption became a big business in South Korea in the 1970s and 1980s, generating millions of dollars for international adoption agencies as the country emerged from post-war poverty and pursued rapid economic development. – AFP Vietnam typhoon casualties reach 36 HANOI: A government disaster management agency stated in a report yesterday the death toll in Vietnam from Typhoon Bualoi and the floods it triggered has risen to 36. Bualoi made landfall on Monday in northern central Vietnam, bringing huge sea swells, strong winds and heavy rains that also left 21 people missing and injured 147 others, according to the report. The agency also raised its estimate of property damage caused by the typhoon and its flooding to 11.5 trillion dong (RM238.5 million). The typhoon severely damaged roads, schools and offices, and caused power grid failures that left tens of thousands of families without electricity, the report said. More than 210,000 houses were damaged or inundated, and more than 51,000 hectares of rice and other crops were destroyed. – Reuters Beatles fan among hopefuls for PM post TOKYO: The photogenic son of a former premier, a hardline nationalist hoping to become Japan’s first woman prime minister and an experienced, Beatles-loving moderate are leading the race to take the country’s highest political post. Shinjiro Koizumi, 44, is the son of a popular former prime minister who commands constant media attention with his cleancut image and reformist pledges. Sanae Takaichi, 64, is a popular nationalist who is known for her hardline attitude towards China, although she has softened her rhetoric in the current LDP race in an apparent attempt to expand her support base. Takaichi has focused her policy messages on strengthening national defence and economic security. Yoshimasa Hayashi, 64, served as the chief Cabinet secretary for two successive moderate prime ministers and is also a Beatles fan who plays in a band with fellow politicians. – AFP

Philippines earthquake death toll rises to 72

BOGO: Rescuers said the death toll from a powerful earthquake in central Philippines rose to 72 yesterday, as officials turned their efforts to the hundreds injured and thousands left homeless. Firefighters pulled a woman and her child from the rubble of a collapsed hotel on Wednesday in the city of Bogo, near the epicentre of the 6.9-magnitude quake that struck on Tuesday. The body of another woman was also retrieved from the site earlier, AFP reported. The government said 294 people were injured and about 20,000 had fled their homes. Nearly 600 houses were wrecked across the north of Cebu island and many are sleeping on the streets as hundreds of aftershocks shake the area. Cebu provincial governor Pamela Baricuatro made several urgent appeals for help on Thursday, adding that thousands are o 294 injured, 20,000 flee homes and 600 houses destroyed, says govt

a long time.” Many areas remain without electricity and dozens of patients were sheltering in tents outside the Cebu provincial hospital in Bogo. “I would rather stay here under this tent. At least I can be treated,” said 22-year-old Kyle Malait as she waited for her dislocated arm to be treated. More than 110,000 people in 42 communities affected by the quake would need assistance to rebuild their homes and restore their livelihoods, according to the regional civil defence office. Search and rescue efforts appeared to be winding down in Bogo as of yesterday. “As of now, all those who were reported missing were already found,” said Cebu fire bureau official Liewellyn Lee Quino. Rescuers were sent to re-check a collapsed hotel hours after three bodies were retrieved. “The final check is important so that we can assure the community that no one is forgotten inside these establishments, and that they could choose to destroy this place completely (for redevelopment).” Earthquakes are a near-daily occurrence in the Philippines, which is situated on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, a seismic activity zone stretching from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin. – AFP

in need of safe drinking water, food, clothes and temporary housing, as well as volunteers to sort and distribute aid. “Many homes were destroyed and many families are in need of help to recover. They need our help, prayers and support.“ President Ferdinand Marcos flew to Cebu with senior aides yesterday to inspect the damage and coordinate relief efforts. He did not immediately speak to the press. A village chapel is serving as a post-quake home for 18-year-old Bogo resident Diane Madrigal and 14 of her neighbours after their houses were destroyed. “The entire wall (of my house) fell, so I really do not know how and when we can go back again,” Madrigal said. “I am still scared of the aftershocks, it feels like we have to run again.” Mother-of-four Lucille Ipil, 43, added her water container to a 10-metre queue of similar containers along a road in Bogo, where residents desperately waited for a fire truck scheduled to bring them water. “The earthquake really ruined our lives. Water is important for everyone. We cannot eat, drink or bathe properly.” “We really want to go back to our old life before the quake, but we don’t know when that would happen. Rebuilding takes

Indonesian rescuers race to save trapped students SIDOARJO: Disaster authorities said yesterday rescuers were racing against time to extricate about 60 teenagers trapped under the remains of an Islamic boarding school in East Java that collapsed earlier this week due to foundation failure. trapped under the rubble, based on the school’s list of absence and missing person reports filed by families. Search and rescue agency official Nanang Sigit said rescuers are still assessing whether there are signs of life by calling out the names of the students, having found no such signs on Wednesday. agency said yesterday it was still at five. “We cannot let our minds wander. Maybe there is still hope for (them to be found alive),“ Bramantyo said. An excavator and a crane were on-site to help rescuers shift the debris, but disaster officials ruled out their use for fear it could set off a wider collapse. Al Khoziny is an Islamic school known locally as a pesantren . DRAMATIC DISPLAY ... Hindu devotees dressed as deities Krishna and his consort Radha take part in a procession to celebrate the Maha Navami festival on the occasion of the Dussehra-Vijaya Dashami festival in Amritsar, India. – AFPPIC

The Al Khoziny school, located in town of Sidoarjo about 480 miles east from the capital Jakarta, collapsed when its foundations could not support ongoing construction work on the upper floors, trapping dozens of students under rubble. Disaster mitigation agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari said in a statement yesterday 59 individuals remained

He added that the assessment would be used to determine further evacuation efforts. Search and rescue operations director Yudhi Bramantyo said on Wednesday the total death toll from the collapse had reached six, although the country’s disaster mitigation

Indonesia has a total of about 42,000 such schools, serving seven million students, according to data from the country’s religious affairs ministry. – Reuters