Yangon, July 31 (IANS) Myanmar’s National Defence and Security Council (NDSC) on Wednesday extended the state of emergency in the country for six more months, the state media reported.

At the NDSC’s meeting held in Nay Pyi Taw on Wednesday, all NDSC members present agreed to extend the emergency period, Myanmar Radio and Television (MRTV) said.

The extension was made in accordance with Section 425 of the State Constitution, Xinhua news agency reported.

The meeting also discussed issues related to election preparations, current development work, preparations for the national population and housing census, and education, health and agricultural sectors.

Myanmar declared a state of emergency in February 2021 for one year before making five six-month extensions until July 31 this year.

–IANS

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Washington, July 31 (IANS) United States President Joe Biden has signed an “All-American Flag Act,” which mandates the federal purchase of flags completely manufactured in the US.

The new act prohibits federal agencies from purchasing US flags that are not domestically manufactured, with certain specified exceptions, according to the White House, Xinhua news agency reported.

Currently, the federal government is only required to buy flags that have just 50 per cent of American-made materials. Supporters of the proposal said the change will support American jobs and manufacturers.

The US imports millions of American flags from overseas, mostly from China. It imported approximately 10 million American flags in 2017, with 99.5 per cent of them coming from China, ABC News reported.

The new act will go into effect in about six months.

–IANS

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Vientiane, July 31 (IANS) Laos’ Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare discussed a pay rise for low-income workers in the manufacturing, services and agriculture sectors.

According to the ministry’s report on Wednesday, the wage increase was being considered as a cost-of-living adjustment to match the spiralling cost of goods and services across the country.

The Laos government and businesses are operating on a very tight budget while having to cope with continuing rises in the price of fuel and all other products, and the depreciation of Lao kip, all of which negatively impact the economy and livelihoods of workers, Xinhua news agency reported.

In light of the situation, the ministry, the Laos Federation of Trade Unions and the Laos National Chamber of Commerce and Industry are discussing ways to resolve the problem of the low minimum wage and how to get more people into employment and boost productivity, especially in the manufacturing industry.

Solutions are being formulated to benefit workers, employers and the general interests of the state, which will be submitted to the Prime Minister’s Office for consideration.

–IANS

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Seoul, July 31 (IANS) Major Southeast Asian nations and their Indo-Pacific partners, including South Korea and the United States, have called for North Korea to “fully comply” with UN Security Council (UNSC) resolutions banning its nuclear and missile programmes, as they wrapped up an annual ministerial meeting in Laos last week.

The chairman’s statement from the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), released on Tuesday, also called on countries to “fully implement” UNSC resolutions on North Korea and make efforts towards denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula, Yonhap news agency reported.

“Many Ministers called on the DPRK (North Korea) to comply fully with all relevant UNSC Resolutions and called for peaceful dialogue among the concerned parties, and continue working towards the realisation of lasting peace, and stability in a denuclearised Korean Peninsula,” the statement read.

“Many Ministers called for the full implementation of all relevant UNSC Resolutions and noted international efforts to bring about the complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful manner,” it said.

DPRK is the acronym for the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

The ARF was one of the four meetings in Vientiane that brought together the top diplomats of 27 countries, comprising the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, South Korea, Japan, China, Russia, the United States and others, for a gathering on regional security.

It is also known as the only multilateral meeting in which North Korea participates.

This year’s ARF has drawn attention as it was held amid the deepening relationship between Pyongyang and Moscow, notably after Russian President Vladimir Putin visited North Korea for talks with the North’s leader Kim Jong-un.

Attending the meetings in Laos, Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul used the sessions to condemn the illegal military cooperation between North Korea and Russia as an outright violation of UNSC resolutions and a major threat to peace and security in the region and beyond.

But, Seoul’s efforts to include the denunciation of the Pyongyang-Moscow ties fell through amid apparent opposition from Russia and North Korea, both directly involved in the meetings.

Compared with last year’s version, the ARF statement addressed the call on North Korea being made by “Many Ministers,” as opposed to how similar calls were made by the “Meeting” in the previous statement, suggesting that not all countries had reached an agreement on the issue.

Expectations had run high that North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui could attend the meeting, but the North sent its ambassador to Laos, Ri Yong-chol, instead.

–IANS

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New Delhi, July 31 (IANS) His first full formal day as Iran’s President couldn’t have started on a worse note for Masoud Pezeshkian. Hours before daylight, came the shock news of the assassination of Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh, a guest at his inauguration, exacerbating what is already a toxic atmosphere in the Middle East.

How this development will pan for Iran’s new government and if could presage escalation to a much wider conflict in the volatile region beyond Gaza and the Israel-Lebanon border remains to be seen, but the initial effect will be on the off-and-on negotiations for a halt to fighting in Gaza and the release of the remaining hostages.

Details of the assassination incident are still sketchy but according to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a residence for war veterans in north Tehran where the Hamas leader was living was hit by a projectile at around 2 a.m., killing him and one of his bodyguards. There have not been any claims of responsibility, but Iran and the Hamas have blamed Israel.

The development is awkward for Iran, as the incident came hours after representatives from 88 countries were in the country for Pezeshkian’s inauguration and its response was unequivocal and strident.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said that by assassinating Haniyeh, the Israeli regime has “prepared the ground for harsh punishment for itself”, as per Iranian media reports.

Iran considers its duty to take revenge for the assassination of Haniyeh who was martyred in the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran, he added.

Pezeshkian’s reaction was no less strong, as he stressed that the country would defend its “territorial integrity and dignity”.

“…Yesterday I raised his victorious hand and today I have to carry his coffin on my shoulders”, he said in a post on X.

“The bond between the two proud nations of Iran and Palestine will be stronger than before, and the path of resistance and defence of the oppressed will be followed stronger than ever”, he said, adding that Iran “will defend its territorial integrity and honour and would make the terrorist occupiers regret their cowardly action”.

The IRGC, in a statement, warned “the Zionist regime” of a “harsh and painful response” for the assassination.

Meanwhile, the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee of the Iranian Parliament was slated to hold an emergency meeting on Wednesday itself over the assassination.

“The issue is under investigation and the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee will announce the necessary information regarding the next actions and meetings,” Committee spokesman Ebrahim Rezaei told reporters, IRNA reported.

The targeting of Haniyeh comes shortly after Israel attacked Beirut to eliminate a top Hezbollah leader and claimed success, though local authorities did not confirm the fate of Fuad Shukr.

As noted Qatar, which was leading the negotiation efforts along with Egypt, has reacted strongly to the assassination of Haniyeh, who used to live in exile in the country.

Its Foreign Ministry termed it “a heinous crime, a dangerous escalation, and a flagrant violation of international and humanitarian law”, underlining that “the assassination and reckless targeting of civilians will lead the region into chaos and undermine the chances of peace”.

Qatar’s PM and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani was more blunt. “Political assassinations & continued targeting of civilians in Gaza while talks continue leads us to ask, how can mediation succeed when one party assassinates the negotiator on the other side? Peace needs serious partners & a global stance against the disregard for human life,” he said in a post on X.

On the other hand, the targeting of Haniyeh, one of the most prominent Hamas leaders along with Khaled Meshal – the target of a bungled Israeli assassination plot decades back – and Mahmoud Zahar, makes for good optics for the supposed beneficiary but is scarcely a strategic advantage.

Considered a pragmatist, if not moderate, and open to political solutions, Haniyeh’s removal from the scene could mean the leadership mantle switch back to shadowy – and more unrestrained – figures like Yahya Sinwar, perceived as the mastermind of the October 7, 2023 attacks.

The long-term implications could be similar for Israel – and the West at large, after the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, when secular nationalist rulers like Egypt’s charismatic Gamal Abdel Nasser were humbled, and the stage set for Islamist fundamentalists to come to the fore. Israel repeated the same mistake in the 1970s when it backed the incipient Hamas to undermine Yasser Arafat and the left-leaning and secular PLO, and in the process, ended up creating a bigger problem for itself.

The actions of the principal actors in days to come will determine if the Tehran assassination remains a one-off incident or a trigger to more instability, and suffering.

(Vikas Datta can be contacted at vikas.d@ians.in)

–IANS

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