Day: January 4, 2023

PHNOM PENH– Cambodia reported 12,500 dengue fever cases in 2022, a significant increase from 1,811 cases in 2021, a health official said today.

 

Leang Rithea, deputy director of the National Centre for Parasitology, Entomology and Malaria Control, at the Ministry of Health, said, the rise of dengue fever cases last year was connected to inclement weather, and heavy and intermittent rain throughout the year across the country.

 

“The disease claimed 19 children’s lives in 2022, up from only eight deaths recorded in 2021,” he said.

 

Despite the increase, the country had brought the situation under control, by working with relevant stakeholders and local authorities, he added.

 

Dengue fever is a viral disease transmitted through the bite of an Aedes mosquito, which is a day-biting mosquito.

 

Rithea said, the centre would continue distributing the anti-dengue mosquito larvicide Abate, to households living in dengue fever-prone areas.

 

Dengue fever causes an acute illness that usually follows symptoms such as headache, high fever, exhaustion, severe muscle and joint pain, swollen glands, vomiting and rash.

 

In Cambodia, the peak of dengue epidemic period is during the rainy season, from May to Oct.

 

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

Heavy rainfall is bringing more dangerous flooding to Australia. The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe weather warning for Western Australia, and officials say once-in-a-century flooding has hit areas in the north of the state.

The Australian military has been called in to help rescue residents in Fitzroy Crossing, a remote town of about 1,200 people in Western Australia’s Kimberley region.

Homes have been inundated by floodwater and the region’s only main highway has been cut. Residents have been urged to move to higher ground.

Authorities fear the Fitzroy River that runs through the town could rise to more than 15 meters, breaking previous records.

The torrential rain is from ex-tropical cyclone Ellie, which has dumped up to 600 millimeters of water on the region since Saturday. More heavy falls are forecast.

Western Australia’s Fire and Emergency Services Commissioner Darren Klemm told reporters Wednesday that the situation is hazardous and that “We are currently having at least a one-in-one-hundred-year flood event in the Kimberley [region]. This is an incredibly serious situation.”

“The system is expected to slowly move west over the coming days and people in the warning areas need to get ready for this severe weather,” Klemm warned.

Australia’s tropical cyclone season runs from November 1 to April 30, according to the Bureau of Meteorology. It has forecast an above-average number of tropical cyclones for the 2022–23 season.

Major flooding is continuing in other parts of Australia, which were hit by record-rainfall in 2022. An evacuation order remains in place for vulnerable properties in the outback town of Menindee in New South Wales, 1,100 kilometers west of Sydney.

More than 3,000 properties along the Murray River in South Australia have been inundated by floodwaters. State Premier Peter Malinauskas Tuesday announced the state’s largest natural disaster support package worth $85 million to help homeowners and businesses.

The flooding in South Australia is caused by vast amounts of rain that have fallen in the eastern Australian states of Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria, over the past three years. Much of that water has slowly flowed into the Murray River in South Australia.

The climatic phenomenon La Niña has helped to fuel the flooding. It occurs naturally and is influenced by warmer ocean temperatures. During a La Niña phase waters in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean are cooler than average, typically bringing higher than average rainfall over much of Australia.

Climate experts believe the La Niña system has been super-charged by climate change.

In its State of the Climate 2022 report issued with the Bureau of Meteorology, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, or CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, noted an “increase in the intensity of heavy rainfall events in Australia.”

The report stated that despite three consecutive La Niña events leading to “exceptionally wet conditions” in many parts of eastern Australia, “the observed trends for the south-east and south-west of the country show a shift towards drier conditions.”

However, for northern Australia, the trend is different. The CSIRO said that rainfall in the north of Australia has been increasing.

 

 

 

Source: Voice of America

Ecuador, Japan, Malta, Mozambique and Switzerland got a formal welcome into the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday, taking the two-year seats they won unopposed in June.

In a tradition that Kazakhstan started in 2018, the five countries’ ambassadors installed their national flags Tuesday alongside those of other members outside the council chambers.

Mozambican Ambassador Pedro Comissário Afonso of Mozambique called it “a historic date” and Swiss Ambassador Pascale Baeriswyl said she felt “a deep sense of humility and responsibility” as their countries marked their first-ever terms on U.N.’s most powerful body. Malta joined for a second time, Ecuador a fourth and Japan a record 12th.

China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States are permanent, veto-wielding members of the group. Its 10 other members are elected by the 193-nation General Assembly for staggered, two-year terms. They’re allocated by global regions.

To many countries, winning a council seat is considered a signature diplomatic accomplishment that can raise a nation’s global profile and afford small countries a bigger voice than they might otherwise have in the major international peace and security issues of the day.

The council deploys peacekeeping missions, can approve sanctions and speaks out — sometimes — on conflicts and flashpoints, while also surveying such thematic issues as terrorism and arms control. While many matters are perennials on the agenda, council members also can use the platform to spotlight emerging concerns or topics of particular interest to them.

Countries often campaign for the council for years. Some 60 nations have never had a seat since the group’s formation in 1946.

The five latest members are replacing India, Ireland, Kenya, Mexico and Norway. Their terms ended December 31.

The other current two-year members are Albania, Brazil, Gabon, Ghana and United Arab Emirates.

 

 

 

Source: Voice of America

Myanmar’s ruling military leader, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, detailed plans for an election later this year and called for national unity in a speech on Wednesday as he led a ceremony marking the 75th anniversary of independence from Britain.

He urged other nations and international organizations, as well as his country’s own people, to support “the genuine, discipline-flourishing multiparty democratic system,” a concept the ruling military has defined as its goal since it ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021.

Min Aung Hlaing also announced a pardon for 7,012 prisoners to mark the occasion, along with a partial commutation of the sentences of other inmates not convicted of serious crimes. Some political detainees were among those being released, but there was no sign that the gesture would include Suu Kyi, who has been held virtually incommunicado by the military since it seized power.

The 77-year-old Suu Kyi is serving 33 years imprisonment after being convicted of a series of politically tinged prosecutions brought by the military, including for illegally importing and possessing walkie-talkies, violating coronavirus restrictions, breaching the country’s official secrets act, sedition, election fraud and corruption charges. She has been held since June in a custom-built bungalow at the main prison in the capital, Naypyitaw, kept company by three women guards but isolated from other prisoners.

Suu Kyi’s supporters and independent analysts say the cases against her constitute an attempt to discredit her and legitimize the military’s seizure of power while keeping her from taking part in the election that the military has said would take place by August this year.

The first real move toward holding polls could occur at the end of this month, when the latest six-month extension of a state of emergency is completed. The state of emergency was instituted to allow military rule after its takeover in 2021.

The army’s takeover reversed nearly a decade of progress toward democracy after five decades of military rule. The military has said it acted due to massive voting fraud in the poll, though independent election observers did not find any major irregularities.

“Upon accomplishing the provisions of the state of emergency, free and fair elections will be held in line with the 2008 constitution, and further work will be undertaken to hand over state duties to the winning party in accordance with the democratic standards,” Min Aung Hlaing declared in his speech in the capital, Naypyitaw, where he also presided over a large-scale parade.

Military units and civil servants marched in formation close to the grandiose parliament complex while fighter jets, bombers and helicopters flew overhead.

The plan for a general election is widely seen as an attempt to normalize the military’s seizure of power through the ballot box and to deliver a result that ensures the generals retain control. The military will control the entire process and has spent the past two years enfeebling any credible opposition.

Although not officially outlawed, the National League for Democracy, the popular former ruling party, has effectively been broken up, with its leaders and many of its members either in jail or in hiding. All forms of dissent are currently suppressed by the security forces, sometimes with lethal force.

The NLD, led by Suu Kyi, won a second successive landslide victory in the 2020 general election, a result that triggered its overthrow by the military the following year.

The army’s seizure of power led to peaceful nationwide protests that the security forces quashed with deadly force, triggering armed resistance that some U.N. experts characterize as civil war.

Myanmar’s history even before the 2021 takeover was marked marked by decades of armed conflict between the central government and ethnic minorities seeking greater autonomy, mostly in border regions.

Armed conflict still rages through most of the country, and Min Aung Hlaing stressed that “the cessation of internal armed conflicts to ensure national solidarity and peace which are absolute necessities for our country and strenuous efforts are being made towards that end.”

Min Aung Hlaing’s government’s toppling of democracy and fierce repression of all opposition have also made it a pariah state among many other countries, which have instituted political and economic sanctions against the ruling generals.

“It is seen that some organizations and countries had meddled in the internal affairs of Myanmar. However, we have decided to stand firm globally, while adhering to our foreign policy in order to safeguard the sovereignty, security and interests of our nation,” he said.

 

 

 

Source: Voice of America

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos said Wednesday he hoped to strengthen ties with Beijing on his first state visit to China since taking office.

China and the Philippines are at odds over the hotly disputed South China Sea, with Marcos expected to sign a deal in Beijing this week to establish direct communication on maritime issues.

Manila considers it “of primary importance to… strengthen the relationship between China and the Philippines”, Marcos said in a meeting on Wednesday with top Chinese legislator Li Zhanshu.

Marcos, who is also expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping, said he hoped for “partnerships that will stabilize and strengthen all of our economies”.

Up to 14 bilateral agreements are expected to be signed during Marcos’s visit, which ends on Thursday.

The Philippine government said last week both sides would sign a communication agreement to “avoid miscalculation and miscommunication in the West Philippine Sea”, referring to the part of the South China Sea that it claims.

Marcos has insisted he will not let China trample on the Philippines’ maritime rights in the area — in contrast to his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte, who was reluctant to criticize the superpower.

The Philippines ordered its military last month to boost its presence in the contested waters after a Bloomberg report that China had started reclaiming several unoccupied land features around the Spratly Islands.

Beijing claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea and has ignored an international court ruling that its claims have no legal basis.

The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei have overlapping claims to parts of it.

Marcos said on Tuesday before leaving for China he hoped to address “political security issues of a bilateral and regional nature.”

“The issues between our two countries are problems that do not belong between two friends,” he said.

 

 

 

Source: Voice of America

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Wednesday pledged to deepen his country’s alliance with the United States under Japan’s new defense policy that breaks from its exclusively self-defense-only stance in the face of growing regional tensions.

Kishida, speaking in a news conference after visiting Ise Shrine in central Japan, said he will visit Washington for talks with President Joe Biden to underscore the strength of the Japan-U.S. alliance and highlight closer cooperation between the countries under Japan’s new security and defense strategies adopted last month.

The U.S. visit is part of Kishida’s upcoming trip to most of the Group of Seven countries beginning Monday. Japan will host this year’s G-7 summit in Hiroshima. Kishida said his meeting with Biden will be “very important” and “more significant than showing my face as G-7 president.”

“We will show to the rest of the world an even stronger Japan-U.S. alliance, which is a lynchpin of Japanese security and diplomacy,” Kishida said. “We will also show our further cooperation toward achieving a ‘free and open Indo-Pacific.’”

Japan, under the new security and defense plans, is purchasing hundreds of U.S.-developed Tomahawks and other long-range cruise missiles to preempt possible attacks and also building up defenses in southwestern Japan amid growing worries of a Taiwan emergency. Japanese media said the U.S. and Japan are expected to discuss how they would cooperate in the event of a conflict over Taiwan.

Earlier Wednesday, the White House announced that Biden will host Kishida for economic and security consultations on Jan. 13.

Biden and Kishida are expected to discuss North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs, amid concerns over the potential for another nuclear test by the reclusive nation, as well as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, stability across the Taiwan Strait, climate change and economic issues, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.

The two leaders last met in Bali, Indonesia, during November’s Group of 20 summit.

Kishida will also visit France, Italy, Britain and Canada to meet their leaders during his Jan. 9-15 trip, according to Japan’s Foreign Ministry.

Kishida on Wednesday also vowed to tackle Japan’s dire problem of declining births, while pushing his “new capitalism” policy that he said will generate a “virtuous cycle of growth and distribution of wealth” to achieve a steady increase in salaries that have stalled for decades.

The number of babies born in Japan last year is expected to fall to a new record below 800,000 as part of a steady decline that is seen as eroding national strength.

“We cannot wait any longer,” Kishida said. “From an economic perspective, we also need to allay the concerns of those saying they cannot invest in Japan because it’s shrinking from declining births.”

Kishida said the government will do more to expand support for childcare and reduce gender gaps in salaries and working environments to lower barriers for women.

Japan is the world’s third-biggest economy but living costs are high and wage increases have been slow. The conservative government has lagged in making society more inclusive for children, women and minorities.

So far, the government’s efforts to encourage people to have more babies has had limited impact despite introducing subsidy payments for pregnancy, childbirth and child care.

 

 

Source: Voice of America