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‘Race against time’ to rescue Laos villagers

NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned of the dangers of “extreme heat” gripping the world’s most populous country yesterday, with troops battling forest fires and local authorities reporting deaths from heatstroke. International air-quality monitoring platform AQI recorded that the top 45 hottest cities in the world were all in India yesterday, all with temperatures above 43°C. “Different parts of India are witnessing soaring temperatures, and the challenges that come with it. “This heat is harsh on all of us, and I urge you all to take as many precautions as possible,“ he said in a statement issued by his office. Extreme heat could lead to dehydration that thickens the blood and, in particularly severe cases, causes organs to shut down. At least 16 individuals died of heatstroke in southern Telangana state last week. Modi added that ignoring warning signs “can quickly turn dangerous and may even lead to heatstroke”. “Children, the elderly and those working outdoors are especially vulnerable during extreme heat.” The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Tuesday recorded the highest temperature of 47.4°C in the city of Banda in Uttar Pradesh state, 465km southeast of New Delhi, 3.8°C above normal. The man was on a 3.3m boat with a 10-horsepower motor when he was spotted about 38 nautical miles off the west coast on Monday by a fishing vessel whose crew alerted authorities, the Taean coast guard said in a statement. It added that the individual was arrested and is being questioned on suspicion of immigration law violations. The location where he was picked up was inside South Korean territorial waters, the statement said. A coast guard official declined to confirm the name of the suspect or explain how he may have reached Minister Vivian Balakrishnan met his North Korean counterpart Choe Son Hui on Tuesday in Pyongyang and discussed strengthening bilateral ties, KCNA state news agency said yesterday. Balakrishnan and Choe also exchanged views on regional and global affairs, KCNA reported. He is expected to visit South Korea following his stop in the North, a rare trip to both Koreas by a Singaporean envoy.

The city hit 48.2°C earlier this month. Temperatures in New Delhi were 40°C at midday yesterday, according to IMD. Years of scientific research have found climate change is causing heatwaves to become longer, more frequent and more intense. Soaring temperatures that come before monsoon rains also increase the risk of forest fires. The Indian army yesterday issued photographs of its soldiers, who battled for more than 16 hours to contain a raging blaze near the Himalayan hill town of Kasauli. Air force helicopters dropped giant buckets of water, which the army said was “decisive in containing the blaze”, but firefighting operations were ongoing. IMD also warned about water shortages as the heatwave stretches on. “From drying rivers and falling groundwater levels to drought and water scarcity, every drop matters,“ it said yesterday, urging residents to conserve water. In addition to searing midday heat, India’s minimum temperatures during the night are still hot, giving residents little respite. The country’s highest officially recorded temperature is 51°C, measured at Phalodi in Rajasthan in 2016. – AFP the location, but described him as a Chinese male in his sixties. The time and the circumstances of his arrest matched the case of a Chinese dissident identified by The New York Times as Dong Guangping, who it said had previously escaped to Thailand, Vietnam and Taiwan, only to be sent back to China. The location where he was found is located approximately on the shortest line between South Korea and China of about 310km. Officials at the Chinese embassy in Seoul could not be reached for comment. The Chinese foreign ministry in Beijing did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In 2023, another Chinese

resumed to perform a traditional spiritual ceremony, offering chickens and rice alcohol to sacred spirits believed to protect the mountain and rescuers, a Laotian rescue group said. Images shared by rescue teams on social media showed the offerings laid beside the cave entrance. The cave system, located in a remote area, extends deep underground, with multiple levels and narrow passages. Paasi said inside the cave “you have to navigate hundreds of metres of constant restrictions, flood waters, collapse hazards and high risk of contaminated air quality”. He added that the missing seven “should be trapped in the terminal chamber” about 300m from the exit. “We are still in high spirits that we will find the miners alive as they entered the mine with resources to stay sub-terrain for several days.” – AFP

o Seven trapped in flooded cave for one week

VIENTIANE: Rescuers were “racing against time” to extract seven individuals trapped in a flooded cave for a week in Laos, a specialist diver involved in the operation said yesterday. “If all the possible safety matters could be met today, we are considering a final search dive into the last chamber to locate them,” Finnish diver Mikko Paasi said in a social media post. “We are racing against time as today marks the seventh day and the way in is full of challenges,” added Paasi, one of the rescuers who aided the 2018 retrieval of a football team from a flooded cave in Thailand. The villagers entered the cave in central Xaysomboun province, about 125km northeast of the capital

Vientiane on May 20, Laotian state media said this week. They were searching for gold but instead got trapped inside the cave – what Paasi called an “abandoned gold mine” – after heavy rain triggered flash flooding, blocking their exit. Authorities and villagers have worked to pump water out, but rescue teams were not able to reach the group, state media said on Monday. Yesterday, the water level in the cave had dried up considerably, with rescuers continuing to pump it out, state-run Lao Economic Daily reported. Laotian rescuers, local officials and villagers gathered outside the cave before rescue operations

S. Korea detains China refugee SEOUL: South Korean authorities are questioning a Chinese national found in a rubber boat off the west coast, the coast guard said yesterday, with a media report identifying him as likely to be a dissident who had repeatedly tried to flee China.

national, who a South Korean activist said was fleeing authorities at home, was detained by South Korea’s coast guard after riding more than 300km on a jet ski with five containers of fuel. – Reuters Singapore minister visits N. Korea SEOUL: Singaporean Foreign

FAITHFUL FOLLOWERS ... Muslims performing Eid-al-Adha prayers at Baiturrahman Grand Mosque in Banda Aceh yesterday. – AFPPIC

Japan to launch new intelligence council TOKYO: Japan’s parliament passed legislation yesterday to launch a new intelligence council, a key move in Prime Minister Sanae Takichi’s push to bolster the nation’s security agenda. Officials have long argued for enhanced intelligence capabilities to deter foreign spies, prevent terrorism, safeguard sensitive technologies and improve national security. row erupted with Beijing, after Takaichi suggested in November 2025 that Tokyo might intervene militarily in any Chinese attempt to take Taiwan. Takaichi on Tuesday told the legislature that the step enables Japan to integrate intelligence activities, currently fragmented across multiple ministries, such as police, the foreign ministry and the defence ministry.

Under the new law, which was approved by the upper house yesterday and cleared by the lower house last month, the government will upgrade an existing intelligence body to serve as the central command for collecting and analysing information related to security and public safety. The new council will be chaired by the prime minister. However, Takaichi’s critics have voiced concerns that the upgraded intelligence apparatus might lead to the government’s overreach and infringe upon individual freedom and privacy. – AFP

He was a member of Cabinet in Singapore when it hosted the first summit meeting between the leaders of North Korea and the United States in 2018. United States President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a joint statement in June 2018 to open new peaceful relations and work on ending Pyongyang’s nuclear programme. Trump has said he wants to meet Kim again for talks but North Korea has not responded. – Reuters

“To maintain peace and prosperity and pre-empt serious crises, it is of the utmost importance to establish a system in which the intelligence community provides robust support for sound decision-making by policymakers,“ Takaichi said.

Tokyo has faced criticism that its existing policies and law enforcement against espionage are too relaxed, with some labelling the nation a “spies’ paradise”. The issue has gained a renewed sense of urgency since a diplomatic