Manila, July 31 (IANS) The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Wednesday said that it has approved two policy-based loans totalling $400 million to support Uzbekistan’s initiatives to enhance its financial markets and develop a sustainable, market-led power sector.

A loan of $300 million for subprogram 2 of the Power Sector Reform Program provides budget support for policy actions to improve the power sector’s structure, legal and regulatory framework, and governance to encourage private sector investment and promote financial sustainability, Xinhua news agency reported.

A loan of $100 million for subprogram 2 of the Financial Markets Development Program supports regulatory and institutional reforms on improving market facilitation to streamline financial transactions and services as well as increasing supply and demand measures to grow Uzbekistan’s capital and money markets.

“Strong participation of the private sector is vital to Uzbekistan’s economic growth and transformation,” said ADB Director General for Central and West Asia Yevgeniy Zhukov.

“Reforms supported by these programs will help shape an enabling environment for regulators and firms to play their part in boosting development by building robust domestic financial markets and addressing energy needs while tackling climate change,” said Zhukov.

–IANS

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Manila, July 31 (IANS) A 10-year-old boy died in a fire that gutted three houses in the Philippine capital on Wednesday, the Bureau of Fire Protection said.

The bureau said the fire broke out in a residential area in Paco district in Manila City at around 10:30 a.m. (local time) and quickly spread to the neighborhood, Xinhua news agency reported.

Firefighters later found the body of the boy on the second floor.

Initial investigation showed the victim’s family scampered out of the house, thinking the boy was in tow. The father tried to run back to the burning house upon realising the boy was missing, but extreme heat and smoke prevented him from entering the house.

It took firefighters a little over an hour to put out the fire. The bureau is investigating the cause of the fire.

–IANS

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Moscow, July 31 (IANS) The third stage of Russia’s non-strategic nuclear exercises has begun, which focuses on the preparation of units for the combat use of non-strategic nuclear weapons, the Russian Ministry of Defense said on Wednesday on its Telegram channel.

It said that the exercises involve the central and southern military districts as well as the Aerospace Forces, Xinhua news agency reported.

“As part of this stage, personnel from the missile formations of the central and southern military districts will work on training and combat tasks, including receiving special training munitions for the Iskander-M operational-tactical missile systems, equipping missile carriers, and covertly moving to designated positional areas to prepare for electronic launches,” said the ministry.

It added that personnel from the aviation units of the Aerospace Forces involved in the exercise would practice equipping aviation strike assets with special warheads and flying to designated patrol areas.

Earlier, as part of the first and second stages of the exercise of non-strategic nuclear forces, issues of preparing units of the southern and Leningrad military districts, units of the Aerospace Forces and the navy for the combat use of non-strategic nuclear weapons were worked out.

–IANS

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Seoul, July 31 (IANS) South Korea’s intelligence agency is closely watching relations between North Korea and China amid increasing signs of the two countries growing apart, officials said on Wednesday.

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) said it is monitoring any unusual moves after learning that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has apparently instructed his diplomats stationed in China “not to mind Beijing” when they are on the job, Yonhap news agency reported.

South Korea’s JoongAng Ilbo newspaper reported that Kim had given the directive to North Korean diplomats in China, quoting unidentified sources.

If true, it would add to the growing speculation that a rift is growing between Pyongyang and Beijing, in contrast to the North’s deepening ties with Moscow that became more evident after Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Pyongyang last month.

The possibility of Pyongyang and Beijing drifting apart has gained traction after China removed a footprint plaque installed on a road in Dalian in May. The road was where Kim and Chinese leader Xi Jinping had taken a walk together during Kim’s visit to Liaoning Province in 2018.

Following a trilateral summit among South Korea, China and Japan in May, North Korea strongly denounced their joint statement, a highly unusual reaction from Pyongyang to the outcome of a diplomatic meeting involving Beijing, its traditional ally and longtime economic benefactor.

Some North Korean defectors have claimed that North Korean authorities began to limit Chinese yuan-based transactions at markets.

–IANS

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Beirut, July 31 (IANS) Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Wednesday condemned the deadly attack in Beirut’s southern suburb Dahieh, warning of a deteriorating situation if Israel continues its “reckless and murderous criminal madness”.

“We fear the situation will worsen if the concerned countries and the international community do not rush to stop this dangerous chaos,” Mikati said during a Cabinet meeting held to discuss the latest developments, according to a statement released by the Lebanese Council of Ministers.

Mikati called on countries that have been witnessing Israel’s violent actions to urge it to cease the attacks, adhere to international resolutions and laws, and implement the Security Council Resolution 1701 which calls for full cessation of hostilities, and deployment of Lebanese forces to Southern Lebanon among other issues, Xinhua news agency reported.

Mikati also vowed to work to save Lebanon and protect its society from any danger, saying “my appeal to the Lebanese is for us all to stand together and be able to prove our unity and confirm our solidarity with our people and our rejection of any aggression that affects any region of Lebanon”.

“We will remain in constant contact with Lebanon’s friends and Arab brothers to prevent the escalation of the situation, which will have major repercussions,” he added.

Earlier, Hezbollah said that civil defence teams were still searching for Fouad Shokor, a senior military advisor to Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, in the rubble after he was attacked by an Israeli drone in southern Beirut.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Tuesday that an Israeli drone conducted a targeted strike on a position near the Shura Council of Hezbollah in Dahieh, “eliminating Fouad Shokor”.

While not confirming Shokor’s death, Hezbollah, a Lebanese militant group and political party, said that since the incident, civil defence teams have been working diligently but slowly to remove the debris due to the condition of the destroyed floors.

Tensions along the Lebanon-Israel border escalated on October 8, 2023, following a barrage of rocket attacks launched by Hezbollah toward Israel in solidarity with the Hamas attack on Israel one day before. Israel then retaliated by firing heavy artillery toward southeastern Lebanon.

–IANS

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