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Thai teenagers feared trapped in 3km-long cave

A search is underway to rescue 12 teenage soccer players and their coach who are thought to be trapped in a cave in northern Thailand

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A search is underway to rescue 12 teenage soccer players and their coach who are thought to be trapped in a cave in northern Thailand.

Investigators believe the group, who have been missing since Saturday, crawled into the Tham Luang Nang Non Cave through a narrow 15-meter long channel.

Rising waters then blocked the path, which is about as wide as a single person, leaving the group stuck inside the cave network, Kamolchai Kotcha, an official with Thailand’s national parks authority, told CNN.

“We have been working almost 24 hours but there are many limitations, the caves are pitch dark and very low level of oxygen in some areas, and scattering rains just made our task more difficult,” said Kotcha.

Park officials, local police and 17 members of the SEAL diving team from the Royal Thai Navy have been deployed to assist in the search and rescue efforts. The divers entered the cave chamber on Monday morning to search for the missing group.

The caves, which authorities estimate are up to 3 kilometers long in parts, are located in a well-known spot for local explorers and tourists in the northern province of Chiang Rai’s Mae Sai District.

Northern Thailand is famous for its remote and untouched caves, which draw visitors from around the world.

Musings From Abroad

China, Zambia’s major creditor, cooperating on debt rework— Official

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A spokesperson of Zambia’s foreign ministry has stated that one of its major creditors, China, has remained supportive of Zambia’s debt restructuring.

The diplomat did not, however, disclose whether China approved of a planned agreement the country in southern Africa made with foreign bondholders.

On Monday, Zambia and the bondholder group announced that they had come to a fresh understanding to restructure $3 billion in foreign notes. The proposal was given the go-ahead by Zambia’s formal creditors, the largest of which is China.

On Monday, Zambia announced that it has reached a deal with a group of private creditors on the restructuring of $3 billion of its foreign notes, which is a noteworthy achievement that brings the country closer to ending its lengthy debt restructuring.

Being the first nation in Africa to miss payments on its foreign debt during the Covid-19 outbreak, they have expressed a strong desire for the debt to be restructured. Unfortunately, the protracted delays in the process have strained the local financial systems, impeded desperately needed investments, and delayed economic progress.

Zambia defaulted more than three years ago and its debt rework process has hit many obstacles, including in November when the official creditors rejected a previous bond deal because it did not offer comparable debt relief to theirs.

“China, as co-chair of the Zambian Debt Committee, has made concerted efforts with all parties concerned to promote significant progress in the disposal of Zambia’s debt,” Lin Jian, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in a regular press conference.

“China will also continue to coordinate and cooperate with all parties concerned to steadily advance the work related to Zambia’s debt disposal,” he said when asked for China’s response to the latest bondholder deal.

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Musings From Abroad

India arrests 35 Somali pirates as part of operations around Red Sea

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Following 100 days of anti-piracy operations east of the Red Sea, where piracy has reappeared for the first time in almost a decade, the Indian navy turned up 35 Somali pirates to the police in Mumbai on Saturday.

After a hundred days of anti-piracy operations east of the Red Sea, where piracy has reappeared for the first time in almost ten years, the Indian navy turned up 35 Somali pirates to the Mumbai police on Saturday.

Three months after it was taken over off the coast of Somalia, India, the biggest country in the Gulf of Aden and northern Arabian Sea, apprehended the pirates from the cargo ship Ruen last week.

Pirates have attempted more than 20 hijackings since November, taking advantage of Western forces’ attention being diverted to defending shipping against attacks in the Red Sea by Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi militants. The development has increased insurance and security costs and created a crisis for international shipping companies.

The Houthis, who declare their support for Palestinians in Gaza in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, have been attacking the area since November, and as a result, shipping via the region has decreased by half as ships are choosing to circumnavigate southern Africa instead, according to the Indian navy.

According to the navy, India has responded to 18 instances by rotating the deployment of 21 ships and 5,000 people, boarding and inspecting more than 1,000 vessels. Several days have seen the deployment of almost a dozen warships due to its unparalleled presence.

“The task is to ensure that there is safety, security and stability” in the region, Kumar said.

“We can live up to the requirement of being a first responder and a preferred security partner… to ensure that the Indian Ocean region is safe, secure and stable.”

Before the Ruen was captured, Somali pirates had not been able to seize control of a cargo ship since 2017. In January, India sent at least a dozen warships east of the Red Sea to fend off pirate attacks and has examined more than 250 vessels.

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