Hundreds evacuated as helicopter crashes into roof of Hilton hotel

A helicopter has crashed into the roof of a Hilton hotel in a popular northern Australian tourist town, killing the pilot and sending debris flying across the grounds and into the swimming pool.

The crash occurred at around 2am on Monday at the Double Tree Hotel, a Hilton chain, in Cairns, a major gateway to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.

The twin-engine helicopter collided with the hotel roof, causing a fire to break out and prompting the evacuation of hundreds of guests, Queensland police said in a statement.

Police said forensic investigations were underway to formally identify the pilot. He was declared dead at the scene.

The helicopter had been taken from its hangar at Cairns airport for an “unauthorised flight”, they said, but did not elaborate on his reasons for making the flight or how it was approved for take off.

“There is no further threat to the community, and we believe this is an isolated incident,” Queensland Police Service acting chief superintendent, Shane Holmes, said.

The owner of the helicopter, Nautilus Aviation, also said the aircraft was on an “unauthorised” flight at the time of the crash, adding that they are working closely with the Australian Transport Safety Bureau and other authorities as they investigate the incident.

Two of the helicopter’s rotor blades came off and one landed in the hotel pool, media reports said.

“There were no injuries sustained by people on the ground,” the police statement said.

A forensic crash unit will work with Australia’s transport safety regulator to prepare an accident report, police said.

Cairns Airport chief executive Richard Barker said initial findings of a review on Monday showed “no compromise of the airport security programme or processes”.

Between 300 and 400 people were evacuated from the hotel building. At 5.30pm, the hotel was still closed, with guests moved elsewhere, said staff at the reception desk of Hilton’s Double Tree Hotel in Cairns. It remains cordoned off, as officials examined its structural integrity.

A man in his 80s and a woman in her 70s, who were taken to hospital in a stable condition, have been discharged, reported state broadcaster ABC.

“They were very stressed because, you know, their window had shattered in their room,” said Jill Ball, who was staying at the hotel with her husband Robert at the time of the crash.

“I was lucky enough that I put my clothes on, but some poor people came out in bare feet and pajamas,” she told The Guardian. She said her hotel room was diagonally opposite to where the crash occurred.

The couple could see flames after the collision, Ms Ball told the newspaper. They were initially told to wait in their room but soon asked to evacuate.

“It was just such a mess, in as much as there was no communication, it was so disorganised.”

Appreciating the bus driver from a tour group, she told the paper he was driving people to the evacuation point, taking them at the direction of the police.

“He was doing runs back and forwards and backwards, and he was really the only source of information we had…was just such a hero, he was very kind and caring.”

Another guest, Amanda Kay, told BBC News that she saw the helicopter flying “extra low” before it “turned round and hit the building”.

Another tourist, Alastair Salmon, described it to the ABC as “a colossal ear-deafening bang”.

Queensland Ambulance senior operations supervisor Caitlin Denning told the Australian Association Press that it was “too unsafe for us to enter the hotel”.

Queensland police had earlier declared it an exclusion zone.

North Korean defects to South by crossing Yellow Sea maritime border

A North Korean defected to South Korea crossing the maritime border in an apparent attempt to flee Kim Jong-un’s repressive regime, according to media reports.

The defector was one of two individuals who attempted to escape North Korea by sea and enter South Korea’s Gyodong Island, which is separated from the North by a narrow stretch of water less than five kilometres wide, reported Yonhap.

One of them made it to the South Korean land border on foot on a low tide day on Thursday. The defector crossed the Northern Limit Line in the Yellow Sea, the de facto inter-Korean sea boundary off the west coast.

The second person is believed to be missing after failing to cross the border, the Newsis agency said.

South Korea‘s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the person has been handed over to the authorities, which are conducting an investigation into the incident.

They would investigate how the person crossed the border and whether the person intended to defect.

Defence minister Shin Won-sik told parliament that the individual was tracked from the point of departure by the South Korean military, calling it a “successful defection”.

It marks the latest defection 10 months after a group of North Koreans that included three women and one man crossed the maritime border from the east on a wooden boat in October 2023.

North Koreans frequently flee their country to avoid poverty and political oppression, with an estimated 30,000 such cases reported since the peninsula was divided by war in the 1950s.

Most escapees from the North try to enter the South through China and Southeast Asia, avoiding the heavily defended maritime frontier.

However, some have taken the shorter but more arduous sea route following tighter land-border controls imposed by Pyongyang during the Covid-19 outbreak when many people, including diplomats tried to flee the country.

The number of successful escapees drastically declined from 2020, after Pyongyang sealed its border and issued shoot-on-sight orders on the frontier with China to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

In 2023, the number of people who escaped South Korea tripled to 196 with more elites such as diplomats as well as students trying to escape. It was significantly up from 76 defections in 2022.

In one of the high-profile defections, a North Korean diplomat in Cuba defected to South Korea with his family in November last year, the South Korean spy agency said last month.

This app alerts humans to movement of wild elephants near them

A northeastern state in India has launched a mobile app aimed at mitigating human-elephant conflict by alerting people to the movement of these animals around them.

The Haathi (elephant in Hindi) app, designed by local biodiversity conservation group Aaranyak in Assam, was launched over the weekend by the state’s cabinet minister for power, sports and youth welfare, Nandita Gorlosa.

The app is aimed at sharing early warning about the movement of wild elephants to help villagers avoid negative interface with the wild animals, said Aaranyak’s senior conservation scientist and the head of elephant research and conservation division, Bibhuti P Lahkar.

“The app will also have the ex-gratia application forms against damages caused due to depredition by wild elephants,” he was quoted as saying by Deccan Herald.

Explaining the function of the app, he said: “Once they install the app on their phones, they’ll have access to a large contact, and whenever they see elephants in their area, they can update the forest department about it quickly. This will help the people to be aware and the officials to take immediate action.”

Assam, home to 5,700 elephants, has the second highest elephant population in the country after Karnataka with 6,049. However, due to shrinking habitat from deforestation and development, the state is seeing a surge in human-elephant conflict.

At least 394 people have died between April 2019 and March 2024, reported the outlet.

According to official figures, 1,330 elephants died between 2001 and 2022, of which only 509 died of natural causes, reported the Telegraph India. Others were poisoned, electrocuted and poached, the outlet reported.

Extending state support to the initiative, Ms Gorlosa said this app would help in mitigating the human-animal conflict.

“We must learn to coexist,” said animal conservation activist Parbati Baruah as she appreciated the initiative. The state minister raised concerns about the illegal use of electricity to deter elephant movement, reported the Hindustan Times.

“The common people in some of the (human-elephant conflict) hotspots use illegal electric power connections against wild elephants out of fear, which sometimes leads to the death of elephants …. With the help of these two techniques, we can reduce such incidents.”

Thousands evacuated and flights cancelled as storm Maria lashes Japan

Tropical storm Maria caused widespread disruptions across northern Japan, prompting the evacuation of thousands of residents, halting transportation, and leading to emergency warnings.

The slow-moving storm, which has now weakened but still dangerous, made landfall as severe near Ofunato City in Iwate prefecture on Monday morning, bringing intense rainfall and strong winds.

As of Monday afternoon, the Japan Meteorological Agency reported winds up to 72kph (45mph) as Maria moved northwest at a speed of 20kph (12mph) across the Tohoku region.

This is only the third tropical storm to make landfall on Tohoku’s Pacific coast since records began.

Up to 46cm (18in) of rain has fallen over the past two days in the Iwate city of Kuji. Despite weakening, Maria’s slow pace means the region could face prolonged rainfall, with up to 25cm (9.8in) more expected through Tuesday morning.

The Fire and Disaster Management Agency asked 170,000 residents across Iwate, Aomori, and Miyagi prefectures to evacuate, with about 2,000 people taking shelter in Iwate by early Monday.

In the city of Kuji, an emergency Level 5 warning was issued for parts of the Nagauchi and Kokuji areas, affecting 4,177 households and 8,300 people, as a controlled release of water from the Taki Dam threatened potential flooding.

Prime minister Fumio Kishida has pledged rapid government support for those affected.

The prefecture of Iwate initiated an emergency water release into a river to prevent a dam from overflowing, further heightening the risk of flooding in riverside towns like Osanai and Kuji.

The storm has also severely impacted transportation. Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways have cancelled some flights to and from the region, with further disruptions expected into Tuesday.

Public transportation is also affected, with services on the Akita Shinkansen suspended between Morioka and Akita stations. The Tohoku and Yamagata Shinkansen lines, along with expressways in the region, may also experience closures or delays, according to JR East and the East Nippon Expressway Company.

Maria’s impact on Japan’s infrastructure is significant, particularly during the Obon holiday, a time when many people travel to commemorate their ancestors.

Footage from NHK public television shows muddy waters flooding rivers in towns like Iwaizumi, where a 2016 typhoon claimed nine lives.

A woman who was at an Iwaizumi shelter told NHK that she came early as she learned a lesson from the last typhoon, which destroyed her house, The Associated Press reported.

Last week, a 7.1 magnitude earthquake jolted Japan, triggering tsunami warnings for a number of the country’s western islands and causing mostly minor injuries.

Why is the world’s most populous nation 71st in Olympics medal table?

India had to wait until the 13th day of the Paris Olympics to secure a medal higher than bronze, with flag-bearer Neeraj Chopra’s silver in the men’s javelin sending a wave of celebration tinged with relief through the medal-starved country.

India sent a contingent of 117 athletes to Paris, yet have a paltry haul of five bronze medals and Chopra’s solitary silver to show for it. They rank 71st in the medals table, below the likes of Hong Kong, Taiwan, North Korea, Cuba and Saint Lucia – a Caribbean island of just 180,000 people.

It’s a disappointing return to the norm for a country that registered its best-ever performance at the last Games in Tokyo in 2021: seven medals, including one gold. For the most populous nation on Earth, a sports-mad country of 1.4 billion which also boasts the world’s fifth largest economy, it’s a record as frustrating as it is puzzling.

India have won just two golds in the last three decades: the men’s 10m rifle shooting at Beijing 2008 and Chopra’s javelin heroics three years ago. Until Tokyo, it had won a grand total of 28 medals across 36 Olympics, the same tally as the individual record of American swimmer Michael Phelps.

Speaking to The Independent, experts and former Indian Olympians explain that there’s no one quick fix that could bring the country a gold rush at Los Angeles 2028. Widespread poverty and malnourishment remain serious issues preventing millions of young people from reaching their sporting potential – but there is also a chronic lack of investment even at the elite level in the country.

After star wrestler Vinesh Phogat’s dramatic disqualification earlier this week, when she failed to make the weight for her women’s 50kg final, India’s sports minister Mansukh Mandaviya sparked controversy by defending the government’s 7.5 million rupees (around £75,000) expenditure on Phogat’s training and support team. This would be a drop in the ocean compared to the amounts being spent on wealthier nations’ top medal hopes, or indeed the vast sums flowing around the Indian Premier League (IPL), the wealthiest cricket league in the world.

An increase in investment is needed from the grassroots up, says former Olympian Dipa Karmakar. Athletes need to be provided the right resources over the long term, she says, not just for the few months running up to major competitions.

“Simone Biles pulled out of the Tokyo gymnastics finals to deal with her mental health but she still had consistent investment for three years. Here, players are given resources for three or four months once they qualify for the Olympics,” says the gymnast, who came fourth at the Rio 2016 Games.

“If our players receive such resources from a year or two before, our medal count might increase.”

Karmakar, the first Indian female gymnast to compete at the Olympics, says “it is a very tough journey” for a gymnast going from playing locally to competing at a state level, then national and international.

“I didn’t have any infrastructural support when I started out. It was only after 2016 that I got a foam pit and good equipment,” Karmakar tells The Independent.

Tripura, her home state in India’s remote northeast, is some 2,400km from the national capital. “I would travel to Delhi for training camps,” she says. “Now, there is infrastructure here in Tripura as well.”

Nobel laureates Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo point to high malnutrition as a significant contributor to India’s Olympics underperfomance, and urge the need for better investment in the health sector as a whole.

“Of course India is poor but not as poor as it used to be, and not nearly as poor as Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Haiti, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda, each of which, per head, has more than 10 times India’s medal count,” the economists note in their book Poor Economics.

India’s stunting and wasting figures are devastating. At 18.7 per cent, according to the Global Hunger Index of 2023, the south Asian country has the highest child-wasting rate in the world, reflecting acute undernutrition. Even war-torn and famine-stricken Yemen (14.4 per cent) and Sudan (13.7 per cent) fare better.

There has been some increase in investment in sports in recent years with the lion’s share going to the Khelo India (Play India) programme launched by the Narendra Modi government in 2017, says Ronojoy Sen, senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore’s Institute of South Asian Studies.

“The overall budget for the sports ministry increased to Rs 34.4bn (£320m) this year from Rs 33.9bn (£310m) in the previous financial year,” he tells The Independent.

“I think India’s government investment in sports is much higher than most developing countries but of course, it is for a much larger population too.”

The impact sustained investment can have is noticeable in some sports that have received more attention, such as field hockey, a sport in which India won a second straight bronze at Paris after ending a 41-year medal drought at Tokyo.

India once dominated hockey, winning a record 11 Olympic medals, including eight gold, in the sport until 1980. A steady decline over the following quarter century reached a nadir in 2008 when it did not even qualify for the Beijing Games.

The embarrassment sparked a process of rebuilding that culminated in a bronze medal at Tokyo, says former hockey goalkeeper and coach AB Subbaiah.

“Everybody worked very hard to win but we never had scientific support behind us,” he tells The Independent. “When to peak, when not to peak and how much training we have to take to prevent injury. Now scientific approaches have been introduced.” There is a physio now, a dietician, mental trainer, scientific adviser and analytical coach, he says.

“If you are building champions, you need to support them in every area. The players should be only thinking of going and giving their best on the ground.

“The manager has to take care of his players, visas, passports, travel plans, everything,” he says, drawing a contrast with his days playing for India between 1988 and 1998 when managers would sometimes “take support from players to carry their baggage”.

The change came about, he says, when the old Indian Hockey Federation was disbanded in 2008 and replaced with Hockey India.

As an example of poor sporting administration in India, Karmakar recalls how she missed the last Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, last year.

“I did not face a lot of politics but there was an administrative problem during the last Asian Games when we were informed about the criteria after the trial,” she says. “As a result of which I could not go. And this despite securing the first spot during the trials.”

The federal sports ministry had informed the Gymnastics Federation of India that only two of its nine qualified athletes met the selection criteria for the Games.

“We were sent the criteria for qualification after seven or eight days of the trials,” the gymnast says. “If the administration had been more proactive, I would have received the criteria ahead of the trials, not a week after.”

At the Paris Games, Phogat’s dramatic exit has shone a spotlight on what critics have decried as the lack of support from sports administrators who were supposed to look out for her.

Phogat was guaranteed to win at least a silver medal, and had a good chance at gold, before she was disqualified on the morning of the final for coming in overweight – by as little as 100 grams, according to some reports. Officials said she tried to cut weight through the night before the final, cycling and running, but to no avail.

“I am surprised and I feel very bad for the athlete,” says Subbaiah. “I’m also surprised that she was training the whole night. Without eating, I mean that could have been life-threatening. The support staff and coach should have taken a little more care.”

Phogat’s journey from Delhi to Paris was itself wrought with challenges. She wanted to compete in the 53kg category but a younger rival, Antim Panghal, had claimed the spot, SportStar reported.

When Vinesh sought a trial to determine who should be given the spot in her preferred weight category, the wrestling federation, with which she had locked horns while leading a street protest against its then chief over sexual abuse allegations, denied the request.

It meant competing in the 50kg category was her only chance of going to Paris.

Panghal, who was sent to compete in the 53kg, was deported from Paris on Thursday following a “disciplinary breach” by her entourage, including younger sister Nisha. She had already been knocked out in her quarter-final bout a day earlier, losing 10-0 to Turkey’s Zeynep Yetgil.

The Independent contacted India’s chef de mission in Paris, Gagan Narang, with a detailed questionnaire. He did not respond.

India’s sustained underperformance in sports stands in stark contrast to China, the country it overtook in terms of total population around mid-2023 according to the UN.

“I think there are different reasons for different underperformances,” says Rahul De, associate professor at Azim Premji University and host of the podcast series Economics of Khel which looks at the business of sporting subcultures.

“The first is, if you look at which countries dominate the Olympics, winning the most medals, you have nations that have historically invested a lot in sports,” he says.

Then there are countries such as China and Qatar which see winning sports medals as being important to their global brands.

“China is well known as almost a factory production where they identify children from the age of four and five years, and put them into public hostels and in training,” he says.

“So it is kind of strange, they have ignored some sports that are popular while focusing on those that they have better chances winning, even if those sports have no fans.”

Gymnastics, he points out, is one sport that receives high investment.

China has more than 2,183 state schools that train children as young as five to groom them for the Olympics, Reuters reported in 2016.

Calling China’s approach “authoritarian”, De says there are very few countries that can emulate such a system which also significantly limits access to sports for the general public.

India cannot take such an approach, he says, partly because the country’s system of devolved powers to state government makes it harder to roll out such a rigid policy nationwide.

But there is also no indication that the Modi administration sees it as a budget priority to do so. Considering “the amount of investment you need, the government has never allocated that much”, he says.

The message appears to be that if India is to turn around its fortunes at the Olympics, it will have to be through improving health and welfare across the board – rather than a sudden influx of investment in elite sports from the government.

Indian telecoms giant Bharti to take 24.5% stake in BT

Indian conglomerate Bharti Global is poised to become a 24.5% shareholder in BT, buying French media giant Altice’s stake in the firm, it said on Monday.

The business giant said it has entered into a binding agreement with Altice to buy a 9.99% stake in BT.

A further 14.51% stake is pending national security clearance from the UK Government, it said, adding that it has “no intention of making an offer to acquire the company”.

Bharti Global said the investment is “a vote of confidence in the UK as an attractive global destination for investment, with a stable business and policy environment attractive for long-term investors”.

Altice, which is controlled by French-Israeli billionaire Patrick Drahi, had been upping its stake in BT in recent years, and had already faced a national security probe in 2022.

Founded by billionaire Sunil Bharti Mittal in 1976, Bharti Global is one of India’s largest conglomerates, with interests in telecoms, media, space and other sectors. Mr Bharti Mittal, 66, is the company’s chairman.

Allison Kirkby, chief executive of BT, said: “We welcome investors who recognise the long-term value of our business, and this scale of investment from Bharti Global is a great vote of confidence in the future of BT Group and our strategy.

“BT has enjoyed a long association with Bharti Enterprises, and I’m pleased that they share our ambition and vision for the future of our business.

“They have a strong track record of success in the sector, and I look forward to ongoing and positive engagement with them in the months and years to come.”

Mr Bharti Mittal said: “This investment demonstrates the confidence we have in BT and in the UK.

“BT has a strong portfolio of market-leading brands, high-quality assets and an experienced management team with a compelling strategy mandated by the BT board to deliver value over the long term, which we fully support.”

Between 1997 and 2001, BT owned a 21% stake in Bharti Global’s telecoms arm Bharti Airtel, and had two seats on the board of the company.

Shravin Bharti Mittal, Sunil Bharti Mittal’s son and managing director of Bharti Global, said: “We review global investment opportunities in the world of technology from digital infrastructure to software.

“BT is well known to us from the long association with Bharti, so we are pleased to have this opportunity to acquire a significant stake in the company.

“We believe that BT is poised for leadership in the telecom arena, especially home broadband services.”

When approached about a national security probe, the Cabinet Office declined to comment.

Australia’s ‘friends’ among nations interfering in diaspora community

Australia’s spy chief says the public would be shocked to learn the identities of supposedly friendly nations that have been found actively interfering in the country’s diaspora communities.

Mike Burgess, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation’s (ASIO) director, warned that he would name the nations involved if the threat persisted and became a significant risk to Australians.

“I can think of at least three to four that we have actually actively found involved in foreign interference in Australian diaspora communities,” the domestic spy chief told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s (ABC’s) Insiders programme.

Mr Burgess said he could confirm one of the nations was Iran, given a minister had already spoken publicly about Tehran’s involvement.

“Some of them would surprise you, some of them are also our friends,” Mr Burgess said, adding that if the threat persisted for Australia, the officials would call out the nations.

Australia recently uncovered a plot by an international intelligence agency to eliminate an Australian resident by luring them to an offshore location, ABC reported. The resident had been critical of an unnamed foreign regime.

Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese said he did not plan to identify the other nations involved. Asked on Sunday if he would do so, he replied: “No, in a word.

“Our priority here isn’t to get a headline. Our priority here is to keep Australians safe. First, second and third priority. Gold, silver and bronze, in the spirit of the Olympics.”

“They are our priorities, and so we are careful about, I’m careful about, information that I give out being consistent with the advice that I receive from the agencies,” Mr Albanese added.

In 2021 the Scott Morrison government flagged China and Cambodia’s foreign interference in diaspora communities within Australia, and asked them to cease these efforts. “We take these reports seriously and we have, on occasion, conveyed our concerns directly to Chinese officials as well as to Cambodian officials,” said Neil Hawkins, then acting first assistant secretary.

Sunday’s comments were the second major public intervention involving the country’s spy chief in less than a week. Last Monday, Australia raised its terror threat level to “probable”, the mid-point of the country’s five-tier warning system, for the first time since November 2022.

Mr Burgess revealed that intelligence agencies had disrupted eight possible terror incidents in just the last four months, as he warned that the security environment in Australia had become more volatile as “more Australians are being radicalised and radicalised more quickly… (and) embracing a more diverse range of extreme ideologies”. He added: “More Australians are willing to use violence to advance their cause.”

He added that the situation in 2024 is “completely different” from a decade ago when the terror alert was last raised.

“Social economic grievances, conspiracy theories is up also in the mix along with traditionally religiously motivated [including] Islamist violent extremism and nationalism and racism,” he said, adding that there was a “broad range of ideologies” threatening Australia’s social fabric.

Japanese urged to avoid panic-buying over ‘megaquake’ warning

Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida has cancelled his high-level diplomatic visit to Central Asia in the wake of the first-ever warnings of a “megaquake” off Japan’s southern coast from scientists.

People have also reportedly been advised to avoid panic buying and hoarding daily necessities and disaster supplies amid the warning.

Shortly after a 7.1 magnitude earthquake shook Japan’s eastern coast of Kyushu island on Thursday, the Japan Meteorological Agency issued its first-ever “megaquake advisory” and warned of a possible major earthquake from the underwater Nankai Trough.

Mr Kishida was set to visit Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Mongolia from 9 to 12 August for a diplomatic visit but announced that he has cancelled the visit due to the advisory.

“I have decided to stay in the country at least for about a week to make sure that government measures and communication are fully in place,” he said.

The Japan Meteorological Agency stated that the likelihood of a major earthquake occurring in the Nankai Trough is higher than usual. The trough, which runs along Japan’s Pacific coast, has been the source of past devastating earthquakes.

People in the quake-hit areas have been advised to exercise high caution for about a week, according to seismologists at the agency. They held an emergency meeting after Thursday’s quake to assess whether it had impacted the nearby trough and to reevaluate the risk of a major earthquake.

At least 16 people were injured on Thursday after the earthquake rocked southwestern Japan, however, no major damages were reported. Authorities also issued tsunami warnings for several areas but lifted them hours later.

At least 707 municipalities have been identified as at risk from a Nankai Trough earthquake by the fire and disaster management agency, and have been asked to review their disaster response measures and evacuation plans.

The advisory has triggered public unease and prompted local government offices, rail operators and other agencies to begin introducing precautionary measures, affecting holiday travellers during the summer “Obon” holiday week. Rail companies serving the Wakayama prefecture said their trains will operate at slightly reduced speeds as a precautionary measure.

Additionally, signages have been pasted in supermarkets apologising to customers over shortages of certain products due to “quake-related media reports”.

“Potential sales restrictions are on the way,” a sign at a Tokyo supermarket said, adding bottled water was already being rationed due to “unstable” procurement.

Some municipalities have also closed parks or cancelled events for the coming week, although officials and experts stressed that there was no need to shut down any normal activity. They said the advisory was aimed only at raising awareness of an increased probability over the long term, and that it was not for any specific timeframe or location.