Dam bursts; hundreds lost in Laos floods

HONGKONG — Hundreds of people were missing on Tuesday after a billiondollar hydropower dam that was under construction in Laos collapsed, killing several people and displacing more than 6,600 others, a state news agency said.

KPL, the official Lao news agency, reported that the XePian Xe-Namnoy hydroelectric dam collapsed at 8 p.m. on Monday, releasing five billion cubic meters of water (roughly 175 billion cubic feet) and sweeping away homes in the southern province of Attapeu, which lies along the country’s border with Vietnam and Cambodia. The agency did not give an exact death toll.

Heavyrain and flooding caused the collapse, according toa South Korean engineeringa nd construction company that Reuters said was buildin gthe dam. The company, SK Engineering & Construction Co., has sent helicopters ,boats and personnel to aidr escue operations, the South Korean Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Scientists protest the wall

Thousands of scientists expressed alarm this week at the expansion of the wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. A report in BioScience outlined the dangers of building a continuous and impermeable border wall, saying it would harm animals and plants in this sensitive region. The scientists cite bypassed environmental laws, habitat destruction and losses to conservation and scientific research as the primary areas of concern.

The region is home to more than 1,500 native plant and animal species, including several endangered species. After posting the article, lead author Robert Peters of Defenders of Wildlife, a conservation advocacy group, put out a call for scientists to sign on to it. The report has 16 co-authors, including eminent scientists such as E.O. Wilson and Paul Ehrlich, and as of Tuesday has 2,700 signatures from almost 50 countries.

Thai boys enter monkhood

MAE SAI, Thailand — Three weeks after they emerged from a flooded cave complex, guided to safety by expert divers while their families and supporters around the world awaited word of their safety, the Thais known as the Wild Boars began a ceremony Tuesday to become novice Buddhist monks.

Wearing white, the boys and their coach walked in a line in the northern town of Mae Sai, holding their heads lowand their hands together.

Justa week after their release from the hospital, all butone of the boys began the ritual to serve as novice monks, or “nen.” In traditional Thai Buddhist culture, suchan ordination can signify the repayment of a debt. Forthe boys, their time in the temple will honor Saman Gunan, a 38-year-old retired Thai navy SEAL member who died while stocking air tanks along the underwater escape route. They will spend nine days praying and performing charity work in a Buddhist monastery.

Argentine economic crisis

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Argentina’s economy contracted 5.8 percent in May compared to the same period a year ago, the official INDEC statistics agency said Tuesday, raising concerns the country could fall into recession in 2018.

Argentina has been hit by a recent currency crisis. That led the government to seek a $50 billion financing deal with the International Monetary Fund aimed at strengthening the sputtering economy as the country fights double-digit inflation. Turning to the IMF has brought back bad memories for Argentines who blame its policies for the country’s worst economic crisis in 2001.