JAKARTA — Indonesian President Joko Widodo has warned that the country will face heatwaves and drought over the next four months, potentially leading to a food crisis.
“The BMKG has estimated that the heatwave and dry season will occur from July to October, bringing a high possibility of drought. This must be anticipated,” Widodo said in Bapeang village, East Kotawaringin regency, Central Kalimantan province, on Wednesday. He referred to Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG). (Indonesia-Food Crisis-Heatwave)
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KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia’s trade connectivity with China and Southeast Asia received a boost on Thursday with the launch of the ASEAN Express, an international freight train connecting Malaysia to Thailand, Laos and China.
The service connecting new trade routes and multiple inland ports across the region is expected to reduce the transit time of goods within the region significantly, for example taking just nine days from Kontena Nasional Inland Clearance Depot (KNICD) in Selangor state to southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality against the 14 to 21 days normally required by sea, Transport Minister Loke Siew Fook said in his speech at the flag-off ceremony. (Malaysia-China-Railway)
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ISLAMABAD — The United States spent the 20th century overthrowing democratically elected governments, Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said, in response to the U.S. Congress call for an impartial probe into Pakistan’s general elections held earlier this year.
Posting the screenshots of different reports of alleged intervention in the past U.S. Presidential Elections, Asif said on X, formally Twitter, that “let’s look at their history of irregularities in 2016 and 2020 elections, both Democrats and Republicans accused of foreign intervention and rigging, how about asking the United Nations for probe.” (Pakistan-U.S.-Ties)
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VIENTIANE — The member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) pledged to toughen their stance against transnational crime, with closer cooperation being emphasized during the 24th ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting on Transnational Crime (SOMTC).
According to the Lao Security News report on Thursday, the 24th SOMTC and its related meetings kicked off in Lao capital Vientiane on Wednesday. (Laos-ASEAN-Transnational Crime)
