Yangon, July 30 (IANS) Over 10,000 acres of monsoon paddy have been submerged in Kyonpyaw township of Myanmar’s Ayeyarwady region in recent days, the state-run daily Myanma Alin reported on Tuesday.

The report said that the rise of a creek in the township and torrential rains have caused the paddy fields to be submerged, Xinhua news agency reported.

As of July 28, in Kyonpyaw township, 10,307 acres of monsoon paddy, 15 acres of tapioca fields and two acres of banana fields were flooded, with over 60 houses from three villages submerged, the report said.

Local authorities and rescue organisations have provided the affected residents with food and drinking water, it added.

Additionally, Ayeyarwady’s Kangyidaunt township reported over 3,800 acres of submerged monsoon paddy.

–IANS

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Phnom Penh, July 30 (IANS) A Cambodian military helicopter, that went missing on July 12, was found in the Cardamom Mountains, with both two people aboard confirmed dead, a defence spokesperson said on Tuesday.

“At 10:30 a.m. local on July 30, 2024, the search team of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) found the body of pilot Sun Phalla at the foot of the Yav Yai Mountain, about 210 meters from the crash site,” Gen Chhum Socheat, a secretary of state and spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense, announced in a post on social media.

According to Socheat, the corpse of pilot assistant Kheng Chhaiyuth was discovered on Monday at around 5 p.m. local time in the crashed chopper, Xinhua news agency reported.

“I am shocked and saddened by the news of the deaths of the two pilots and pray for their souls to rest in peace,” the spokesperson said.

The search team found the missing helicopter at the Yav Yai Mountain in Thmor Da commune of Pursat province’s Veal Veng district on Monday afternoon after a 17-day search operation.

The helicopter had lost contact with the Air Force headquarters while flying over the densely forested Cardamom Mountain range in Pursat and Koh Kong provinces during a training flight on July 12 due to bad weather, according to the Ministry of National Defence.

Gen Ith Sarath, deputy commander-in-chief of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF), who led the search and rescue operation, said more than 1,000 ground and air forces carried out the work.

–IANS

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Seoul, July 30 (IANS) North Korea appointed new ambassadors to Vietnam and Singapore on Tuesday after years of delay due to the North’s COVID-19-related border shutdown.

North Korea appointed Ri Sung-guk as the country’s new top envoy to Vietnam, replacing his predecessor Kim Myong-gil, according to the foreign ministry.

The post had remained vacant since Kim returned to North Korea in April 2019, months before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Yonhap news agency reported.

Details about Ri were not available as the North’s state media have not carried any report about him so far.

The North also appointed Ri Kil-song as the country’s ambassador to Singapore. He appears to be a former vice foreign minister who had handled Asian affairs until 2020.

It marked the first time in about more than three years that North Korea has named new ambassadors following the appointment of Ri Ryong-nam, the North Korean ambassador to China, in 2021.

North Korea has allowed new top envoys from China, Mongolia and Cuba to begin their official duty in the North since last year, as it started easing its border restrictions in August 2023.

–IANS

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Manila, July 30 (IANS) The US and the Philippines held a Foreign and Defence Ministerial Dialogue (2+2) on Tuesday in Manila.

Philippines Secretary for Foreign Affairs Enrique Manalo and Secretary of National Defence Gilberto Teodoro Jr met with their counterparts, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin in Quezon City, for the fourth such dialogue between the two countries.

The four Secretaries discussed how to further enhance the two countries’ commitment to the alliance between the US and the Philippines while enabling a common programme supporting the rules-based international order, enhanced economic ties, broad-based prosperity, and solutions to evolving regional and global security challenges.

The third iteration of the 2+2 dialogue was held in April 2023 in Washington and concluded in a joint statement that reaffirmed full support for international law, modernising shared defence capabilities of the alliance, advancing economic and environmental security, and cultivating the vibrant and robust people-to-people ties between the two countries.

Blinken and Austin were also scheduled to pay a courtesy call on Philippines President Ferdinand R Marcos, Jr during their visit to Manila.

–IANS

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Brisbane, July 30 (IANS) Australia and New Zealand on Tuesday called for a “rapid and effective global response” to climate change in this “critical decade” while expressing their commitment to working together with Pacific partners to ensure the resilience and prosperity of the region.

The two countries held a 2+2 Climate and Finance Ministers Dialogue in Brisbane which was attended by

Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen attended the dialogue from the Australian side while New Zealand was represented by Minister of Finance Nicola Willis and Minister of Climate Change Simon Watts.

This was the second such annual discussion held between the two countries since the inaugural 2+2 Dialogue held in June 2023.

In the Joint Statement that was released after the meeting, both countries acknowledged the need for urgent yet orderly action to tackle climate change.

“Australia and New Zealand also recognise that climate change is the single greatest existential threat to the livelihoods, security and wellbeing of the peoples of the Pacific. We remain committed to working together with Pacific partners to ensure the resilience and prosperity of the region,” it mentioned.

During Tuesday’s meeting, the two sides agreed to conduct a review into regulatory barriers to the net zero transformation, with an initial focus on regulatory interactions with standards for batteries and electric vehicle charging.

It was also decided to convene sector-based roundtables with representatives from the maritime sector including exporters, shipping lines, ports and other stakeholders to identify the conditions required for trans-Tasman green shipping corridors and the opportunity to strengthen supply chain resilience.

–IANS

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