WORLD After heatwave, typhoon compels

Sokor to evacuate scout jamboree

SEOUL—Organizers of the World Scout Jamboree asked host South Korea Monday to “urgently” evacuate tens of thousands of children from their campsite ahead of a typhoon, just days after a heatwave caused mass scout illnesses.

Typhoon Khanun, which killed at least two people in Japan, is due to make landfall in South Korea on Thursday, near where some 43,000 scouts have been camping in North Joella province for their problem-plagued jamboree.

Korean media have called the jamboree “a national disgrace” after an extreme heatwave caused hundreds of scouts to fall ill, and prompted American and British scout groups to withdraw as criticism grew over conditions at the campsite.

Organizers had insisted the event would continue but on Monday the World Organization of the Scout Movement said Seoul had told them that “due to the expected impact of Typhoon Khanun, an early departure will be planned for all participants.”

“We urgently call on the Government to expedite the plan for departure and provide all neces- sary resources and support for participants during their stay and until they return to their home countries,” it said in a statement.

Some 36,000 participants from 156 countries will begin evacuating from the campsite at 10 am (9 am in Manila) Tuesday, Vice Minister for Disaster and Safety Management Kim Sungho said on Monday.

South Korea’s weather agency said Typhoon Khanun is forecast to bring heavy rain and strong winds across the Korean peninsula, including winds with a maximum speed of up to 44 meters per second—powerful enough to derail a moving train.

The jamboree was scheduled to run until August 12. South Korea’s presidential office has suggested that its contingency plan is for the tens of thousands of young people to be relocated to Seoul for the rest of their stay. AFP

EARLY DEPARTURE. British scouts arrive at a hotel in Seoul during the weekend, after leaving the World Scout Jamboree in Buan, North Jeolla province. American and British scouts pulled out of the World Scout Jamboree in South Korea, citing scorching temperatures, as organizers weighed whether to cut short an event also reportedly plagued by dire campsite conditions. AFP

Typhoon forces Japan atomic bomb commemorations inside

TOKYO—Typhoon Khanun was on course Monday to dump prolonged, heavy rain on one of Japan’s main islands this week, forecasters said, forcing commemorations of the Nagasaki atomic bombing to be held inside.

The typhoon last week reportedly killed at least two people, injured more than 100 and cut off power for several hundred thousand people in the southern Okinawa region before barreling towards Taiwan.

The weather system has since swung back to the Okinawa area and was expected to rumble northwards to the west of Kyushu on Tuesday and Wednesday before veering towards South

Korea, the Japan Meteorological Agency said in a televised press briefing.

The typhoon “could bring significant rainfall in wide regions,” an agency official told the briefing, adding that “heavy rainfall will increase the risk of disasters.”

The storm forced Nagasaki, one of the main cities on Kyushu, to scale down its annual commemoration ceremony of the 1945 bombing scheduled for Wednesday.

The ceremony is traditionally held outdoors at the city’s Peace Park and is attended by government ministers, officials and thousands of guests including survivors of the bombing. AFP

Cambodian king appoints Hun Sen’s son new PM, ending nearly 4 decades rule

PHNOM Penh, Cambodia—Cambodia’s king appointed Hun Sen’s son the country’s new leader Monday, beginning a handover of power that ends nearly four decades of rule, but the outgoing premier promised this was “not the end” of his political career.

King Norodom Sihamoni issued a royal decree appointing Hun Manet as prime minister, after Hun Sen had announced last month that he was stepping down and handing power to his eldest son.

Hun Sen—one of the world’s longest-serving leaders—made the announcement days after a landslide victory in July polls that were widely decried as a sham, after main challenger the Candlelight Party was barred from participating.

To officially assume the post, 45-year-old Hun Manet and his cabinet must win an August 22 vote in parliament, where his father’s Cambodian People’s Party has all but five of 125 seats in the lower house.

Hun Sen has for years pursued a ruthless campaign against any opposition, banning parties and forcing adversaries to flee abroad.

While insisting he would not interfere with his son’s rule, Hun Sen promised on Monday he would continue to play a prominent political role.

“It is not the end yet,” he said, adding he would continue serving in other positions until at least 2033.

After stepping down, Hun Sen has said he will become president of the Senate early next year, making him acting head of state when the king is overseas. AFP