News

A total of 21 people have died from heat-related illnesses in South Korea so far this year as the country grapples with intense heat, health authorities said Wednesday.

A total of 2,441 patients have visited emergency rooms for heat-related conditions as of Tuesday since mid-May, when authorities launched the heat-related illness surveillance system, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.

Although fewer people suffered heat-related illnesses this year than during the same period last year, more people died this year, with the death toll surpassing last year's total of 20.

One of the latest fatalities was a 60-year-old man, who was working outside on a farm in the county of Eumseong, North Chungcheong Province, on Tuesday.

Among the patients reported this year, heat exhaustion accounted for 61.7 percent, followed by heat stroke at 16.8 percent and heat cramps at 11.5 percent.

The state weather agency issued additional serious heat wave warnings for the greater Seoul area earlier in the day, placing 43 percent of the region under the highest alert level.

Temperatures in Seoul are expected to reach up to 39 C on Thursday, according to the agency.

A second-year student of the North Western University was fined Rs.410,000 by Kuliyapitiya Magistrate Mihil Chiranthana Satharasinghe after pleading guilty to charges related to possessing and selling hashish and smuggled cigarettes.

The suspect, a resident of Balangoda, was charged with possessing 254 grams of hashish and 500 foreign cigarettes smuggled into the country, and selling them in violation of the Tobacco Tax Ordinance.

Police informed the court that the illegal items were recovered during a search of the university hostels conducted by a marshal. During subsequent investigations into the incident, the suspect was arrested and was found to have allegedly been involved in the activity for some time.

Investigations were carried out by Kuliyapitiya Police Headquarters Inspector Chief Inspector Kamal Ratnayaka and Sub Inspector Ekanayaka, who arrested the suspect.

Opposition lawmaker S. M. Marikkar has warned Parliament that the government's proposed Investment Protection Act will fail to secure foreign direct investment without deep structural reforms to the legal system.

Speaking in Parliament yesterday (04), the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP emphasised that statutory guarantees alone cannot generate genuine international investor confidence or persuade foreign capital to enter the country.

Marikkar said that foreign entities scrutinise the stability of host country legislation and court impartiality before committing resources to overseas markets.

He noted that commercial disputes are inevitably resolved under local laws, making an uncorrupted and independent judiciary a fundamental prerequisite for mitigating financial risk.

Without structural guarantees ensuring zero political interference in judicial proceedings, predictable policy enforcement, and a stable legal framework, new legislation would remain mere words on paper that fail to attract major investments.

He further urged the administration to safeguard judicial independence as a means to sustain democratic institutions alongside its legislative agenda.

He stressed that institutional integrity, rather than statutory declarations in isolation, forms the true foundation for securing long-term economic stability and commercial trust.

India’s foreign secretary Vikram Misri called on Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa yesterday (05) during his official visit to Colombo.

The Opposoution leader's Office said the discussions focused on key regional developments and ways to further strengthen the longstanding relationship between Sri Lanka and India.

Both sides reaffirmed the importance of continued engagement and close cooperation in advancing the mutual interests of the two neighbouring countries and promoting regional stability.

The discussions also explored opportunities to expand cooperation in a range of sectors, including trade, investment, technology, development cooperation and people-to-people ties.

Calls have grown for urgent state regulation of app-based transport and delivery companies operating in Sri Lanka, following revelations that their profits have risen by more than fifty per cent in recent times.

The issue was raised during a discussion on the Ideas Front programme, hosted by veteran journalist Narada Bakmeewewa, which examined the socio-economic impact of the profit surge on the country's workforce and consumers.

Joining the discussion, political analyst and Leader of the Samabima Party, Deepthi Kumara Gunarathne, said the growth of the three-wheeler sector reflected the scale of Sri Lanka's informal economy, which he estimated accounted for roughly sixty per cent of the country's overall economic activity.

He noted that the sector, originally introduced as a temporary employment alternative in the late 1990s, had since become the primary livelihood for a large section of the workforce, largely because the state had failed to provide a policy capable of offering formal employment to young people entering the labour market.

Gunarathne argued that the integration of this informal workforce into technology driven app platforms represented the next stage of digital capitalism, one that had brought traditional, human relationship based service provision entirely under algorithmic control.

He warned that the expansion of this model into sectors such as food delivery carried the risk of deepening social isolation among workers.

The discussion further challenged the notion that workers on these digital platforms enjoyed genuine independence or freedom, with participants describing such claims as largely illusory.

It was noted that while workers bore the full costs of vehicle depreciation, fuel and health risks, they received little in the way of real social protection, and were instead subjected to strict control through algorithmic rating systems imposed by the companies.

Bakmeewewa observed that standards of professional training, discipline and courtesy that had once characterised the sector had eroded significantly under the current app-based model.

Both speakers agreed that while businesses retained a legitimate right to profit, state intervention and formal regulation were essential to prevent these digital platforms from operating as unchecked monopolies.

It was stressed that the Ministry of Finance and other relevant state institutions needed to urgently draw up limits and a legal framework governing app-based companies.

Gunarathne warned that the absence of such regulation could see local small-scale businesses fall entirely under the control of these digital platforms, eroding worker rights and generating significant social tension across the country.