India Issues Heat Wave Alert as Delhi Posts Record High Temperature 

A man splashes water from a roadside tap on his face to cool off on a hot summer day in Lucknow, India, Monday, May 27, 2024. (AP)
A man splashes water from a roadside tap on his face to cool off on a hot summer day in Lucknow, India, Monday, May 27, 2024. (AP)
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India Issues Heat Wave Alert as Delhi Posts Record High Temperature 

A man splashes water from a roadside tap on his face to cool off on a hot summer day in Lucknow, India, Monday, May 27, 2024. (AP)
A man splashes water from a roadside tap on his face to cool off on a hot summer day in Lucknow, India, Monday, May 27, 2024. (AP)

India's weather department issued a red alert for several parts of the country's northwest on Wednesday, warning of a severe heat wave a day after parts of the capital Delhi recorded their highest temperature ever at almost 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit).

A red alert implies a "very high likelihood" of people developing "heat illness and heat stroke", and calls for "extreme care" for vulnerable people, according to the India Meteorological Department.

India has been grappling with unusually high temperatures this summer, and the weather department has said "heat wave to severe heat wave" conditions are likely to continue in several parts, including the capital, through Wednesday.

India declares a heat wave when the maximum temperature of a region is 4.5 C to 6.4 C higher than usual, while a severe heat wave is declared when the maximum temperature is 6.5 C higher than normal or more.

Local weather stations in Delhi's Mungeshpur and Narela neighborhoods recorded a temperature of 49.9 degrees Celsius on Tuesday - an all time record for the city and 9 C above normal.

Delhi's local government also restricted the supply of water because of the heat. It said water levels in the Yamuna River, the main source, were low.

The city does not have uninterrupted water supply at any time, but the government said neighborhoods which received water for some hours two times a day would be subject to further restrictions.

"I appeal to all the residents that whether there is a water problem in your area or not, please use water very carefully," the local government's Water Minister Atishi, who used only one name, said on Tuesday.

Billions of people across Asia, including India's neighbor Pakistan, have been experiencing a hotter summer this year - a trend international scientists say has been worsened by human-driven climate change.

Three more deaths were attributed to heat stroke on Tuesday in Jaipur in Rajasthan state, local media reported, taking the city's toll to four and that of the state to at least 13.

Rising temperatures also prompted India's polling body to make additional arrangements when Delhi voted in the national elections last week, including deployment of paramedics at polling stations, which were also equipped with mist machines, shaded waiting areas, and cold water dispensers.

The elections conclude on June 1 with counting set to take place on June 4.



Tangled Humpback Whale Sparks Rescue Mission off Australia

This handout frame grab taken from video footage provided by whale rescue group Organization for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans in Australia (ORRCA) on June 9, 2025 shows a distressed humpback whale tangled in a rope swimming south of Sydney Harbor. (Handout and Clay Sweetman / ORRCA / AFP)
This handout frame grab taken from video footage provided by whale rescue group Organization for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans in Australia (ORRCA) on June 9, 2025 shows a distressed humpback whale tangled in a rope swimming south of Sydney Harbor. (Handout and Clay Sweetman / ORRCA / AFP)
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Tangled Humpback Whale Sparks Rescue Mission off Australia

This handout frame grab taken from video footage provided by whale rescue group Organization for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans in Australia (ORRCA) on June 9, 2025 shows a distressed humpback whale tangled in a rope swimming south of Sydney Harbor. (Handout and Clay Sweetman / ORRCA / AFP)
This handout frame grab taken from video footage provided by whale rescue group Organization for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans in Australia (ORRCA) on June 9, 2025 shows a distressed humpback whale tangled in a rope swimming south of Sydney Harbor. (Handout and Clay Sweetman / ORRCA / AFP)

Wildlife rescue teams scoured Australia's east coast on Monday to find and free a distressed humpback whale tangled in a rope.

Aerial footage showed the whale swimming south of Sydney Harbor trailing a rope attached to a floating buoy.

"It makes it more difficult for the whale to dive," said Pip Jacobs from whale rescue group ORRCA.

"It's tiring for the whale, which is already in a state of distress being tangled."

The whale was about eight meters (25 feet) long, Jacobs said, indicating it was still "quite young".

The rope appeared to be tangled around the whale's left pectoral fin, she said.

"The way it is moving is quite erratic," Jacobs told AFP.

"It's moving south which is unusual.

"They should be heading north as part of their migration."

Teams of volunteers and wildlife rescue experts were searching the coastline to pinpoint the whale's location, she said.

But efforts had been hindered by choppy waters and blustery winds.

"If conditions allow and we have eyes on the whale, the best-case scenario is we have a successful disentanglement.

"If they are dragging gear, it hinders their ability to swim freely. The worst-case scenario is the whale can't feed or swim."