As many as 1.7 billion people are ‘highly exposed’ to the war’s affects, report warns

ថ្ងៃព្រហស្បតិ៍ ១៣កើត ខែចេត្រ ឆ្នាំខាល ចត្វាស័ក ព.ស.២៥៦៥ ត្រូវនឹងថ្ងៃទី១៥ ខែមេសា គ.ស.២០២២
Thursday the 13th Waxing Moon of Citta B.E.2565 equivalent to April 14, A.D.2022 Year of the Tiger
Fox News

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine appears to have set off a “perfect storm,” sparking multiple crises across the globe in the areas of food, energy, and debt, with devastating impacts for developing countries, the United Nations warned in a report Wednesday.

“The war in Ukraine, in all its dimensions, is producing alarming cascading effects to a world economy already battered by COVID-19 and climate change, with particularly dramatic impacts on developing countries,” the report warns. “Recent projections by UNCTAD [the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development] estimate that the world economy will be a full percentage point of GDP growth lower than expected due to the war, which is severely disrupting already tight food, energy, and financial markets.”

The report describes this disruption as a “perfect storm,” coming “on the brink of a global debt crisis.”

Ukraine and Russia provide around 30% of the world’s wheat and barley, around 20% of its maize, and more than half of its sunflower oil. Russia is the world’s top natural gas exporter and the second-largest oil exporter. Russia and its neighbor Belarus together export about 20% of the world’s fertilizers.

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The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on Thursday calling for Russia to be suspended from the Human Rights Council.
ថ្ងៃព្រហស្បតិ៍ ៦កើត ខែចេត្រ ឆ្នាំឆ្លូវ ត្រីស័ក ព.ស.២៥៦៥ ត្រូវនឹងថ្ងៃទី៧ ខែមេសា គ.ស.២០២២
Thursday the 6th Waxing Moon of Citta B.E.2565 equivalent to April 7, A.D.2022 Year of the Cow
UN

The resolution received a two-thirds majority of those voting, minus abstentions, in the 193-member Assembly, with 93 nations voting in favour and 24 against.

Fifty-eight abstained from the process.

Russia, China, Cuba, North Korea, Iran, Syria, Vietnam, were among those who voted against.

Those abstaining, included India, Brazil, South Africa, Mexico, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, Iraq, Pakistan, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Cambodia.

The meeting marked the resumption of a special emergency session on the war in Ukraine and followed reports of violations committed by Russian forces.

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ថ្ងៃពុធ ៥កើត ខែចេត្រ ឆ្នាំឆ្លូវ ត្រីស័ក ព.ស.២៥៦៥ ត្រូវនឹងថ្ងៃទី៦ ខែមេសា គ.ស.២០២២
Wednesday the 5th Waxing Moon of Citta B.E.2565 equivalent to April 6, A.D.2022 Year of the Cow
The Phnom Penh Post

The annual National Reading Day is a significant event for every Cambodian as it provides updates on the competency levels of Cambodians and the role the government has played in promoting reading culture and literacy among the people.

I have been following the events annually and over the years to understand how the preparations are done and what the government aims to achieve through the national reading day. I have been impressed by the preparations and activities conducted towards making the event a success.

The previous events have been held in a physical space, thus allowing students and professionals to interact one-on-one with their peers. However, due to Covid-19, last year’s national event was held online to promote the safety of all people (Dara, 2021). The event’s theme was “Reading in the Context of Covid-19.” The 2022 event also had some activities held online. This year’s event was themed “Reading helps promote quality of life in the digital age.”

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ថ្ងៃពុធ ៥កើត ខែចេត្រ ឆ្នាំឆ្លូវ ត្រីស័ក ព.ស.២៥៦៥ ត្រូវនឹងថ្ងៃទី៦ ខែមេសា គ.ស.២០២២
Wednesday the 5th Waxing Moon of Citta B.E.2565 equivalent to April 6, A.D.2022 Year of the Cow
AP
The U.N. General Assembly will vote Thursday on whether to suspend Russia from the U.N.’s premiere human rights body. The move was initiated by the United States in response to the discovery of hundreds of bodies after Russian troops withdrew from towns near the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, sparking calls for its forces to be tried for war crimes.

U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield made the call for Russia to be stripped of its seat on the 47-member Human Rights Council in the wake of videos and photos of streets in the town of Bucha strewn with corpses of what appeared to be civilians. The videos and reporting from the town have sparked global revulsion and calls for tougher sanctions on Russia, which has vehemently denied responsibility.

“We believe that the members of the Russian forces committed war crimes in Ukraine, and we believe that Russia needs to be held accountable,” Thomas-Greenfield said Monday. “Russia’s participation on the Human Rights Council is a farce.”

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ថ្ងៃសុក្រ ១៥រោច ថ្ងៃសីល ខែផល្គុន ឆ្នាំឆ្លូវ ត្រីស័ក ព.ស.២៥៦៥ ត្រូវនឹងថ្ងៃទី១ ខែមេសា គ.ស.២០២២
Friday the 15th Waning Moon, Holy Day, of Phagguṇa B.E.2565 equivalent to April 1, A.D.2022 Year of the Cow
WHO

How do you design a malaria elimination programme for hard-to-reach communities who already have difficulty accessing health care? This is the question confronting malaria workers across the Greater Mekong subregion.

Malaria cases in Cambodia and Lao People’s Democratic Republic are mostly found among people living and working in or around the remote forests that cover parts of both countries. Dense trees and plenty of shade provide the perfect breeding grounds for the mosquitoes that carry malaria.

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U.S. told Cambodia that China’s military threatened security

ថ្ងៃព្រហស្បតិ៍ ១៤រោច ថ្ងៃកោរ ខែផល្គុន ឆ្នាំឆ្លូវ ត្រីស័ក ព.ស.២៥៦៥ ត្រូវនឹងថ្ងៃទី៣១ ខែមីនា គ.ស.២០២២
Thursday the 14th Waning Moon, Head Shaving Day, of Phagguṇa B.E.2565 equivalent to March 31, A.D.2022 Year of the Cow
Bloomberg News

The Chinese and Cambodian armies have signed a memorandum of understanding, as Beijing seeks to deepen regional security ties amid increasing competition with the U.S.

Senior commanders from the ground forces of the two militaries sealed the agreement in a video call Thursday, Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Senior Colonel Wu Qian told a regular news briefing in Beijing. He didn’t elaborate on the details of the agreement.

“China and Cambodia are close neighbors and iron-clad friends,” Wu said. “In recent years, the pragmatic cooperation between the two militaries in various fields, including strategic communication, joint exercises and training, exchanges and personnel training, has continued to deepen.”

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ថ្ងៃពុធ ១៣រោច ខែផល្គុន ឆ្នាំឆ្លូវ ត្រីស័ក ព.ស.២៥៦៥ ត្រូវនឹងថ្ងៃទី៣០ ខែមីនា គ.ស.២០២២
Wednesday the 13th Waning Moon of Phagguṇa B.E.2565 equivalent to March 30, A.D.2022 Year of the Cow
AP

The United Nations chief said Wednesday that one-quarter of humanity — two billion people — are living in conflict areas today and the world is facing the highest number of violent conflicts since 1945 when World War II ended.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres cited conflicts from Yemen, Syria, Myanmar and Sudan to Haiti, Africa’s Sahel, “and now the war in Ukraine — a catastrophe shaking the foundations of the international order, spilling across borders and causing skyrocketing food, fuel and fertilizer prices that spell disaster for developing countries.”

He told the U.N. Peacebuilding Commission on Wednesday that last year 84 million people were forced to leave their homes because of conflict, violence and human rights violations. And that doesn’t include the Ukraine war which has already seen 4 million people flee the country and displaced another 6.5 million within the country, according to U.N. agencies.

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ថ្ងៃអង្គារ ១២រោច ខែផល្គុន ឆ្នាំឆ្លូវ ត្រីស័ក ព.ស.២៥៦៥ ត្រូវនឹងថ្ងៃទី២៩ ខែមីនា គ.ស.២០២២
Tuesday the 12th Waning Moon of Phagguṇa B.E.2565 equivalent to March 29, A.D.2022 Year of the Cow
RSF

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on Cambodia’s information ministry to immediately restore the licences it withdrew from three online media outlets for alleged ethical violations after they covered corruption cases. The ministry failed to follow procedure when it revoked the licences and its accusations are spurious, RSF says.

With no prior warning and no possibility of appeal, the three news outlets – Bayong Times, Khmer Cover TV (KCTV) and Cambodia Today – learned that their licences had been rescinded in a letter issued by the information ministry on 15 March accusing them of violating journalistic ethics and their contracts with the ministry.

By way of ethical violations, what the three news sites have in common is having recently published investigative stories about the rampant corruption within Cambodia’s political and economic elites.

Cambodia Today editor Touch Yuthea told RSF he suspected that the withdrawal of his licence was a “personal decision by senior ministry officials in charge of licences” in response to a story about a corrupt contract bidding process at the labour ministry.

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ថ្ងៃអង្គារ ១២រោច ខែផល្គុន ឆ្នាំឆ្លូវ ត្រីស័ក ព.ស.២៥៦៥ ត្រូវនឹងថ្ងៃទី២៩ ខែមីនា គ.ស.២០២២
Tuesday the 12th Waning Moon of Phagguṇa B.E.2565 equivalent to March 29, A.D.2022 Year of the Cow
Fox News
Roman Abramovich , the sanctioned Russian oligarch reported to have suffered symptoms from a suspected poisoning attack, is said to be observing ongoing peace talks between Ukrainian and Russian negotiators in Istanbul, Turkey.

Ukrainian Presidential Adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said “intensive consultations are underway right now on some important issues, the most important of which is agreement on international security guarantees for Ukraine, because with this agreement we will be able to end the war as Ukraine needs,” according to Reuters.

“The second issue is a ceasefire to solve all the humanitarian problems that have accumulated,” Podolyak added.

Ukrainian media reported that both sides did not shake hands before sitting down at the negotiating table.

ថ្ងៃព្រហស្បតិ៍ ៧រោច ខែផល្គុន ឆ្នាំឆ្លូវ ត្រីស័ក ព.ស.២៥៦៥ ត្រូវនឹងថ្ងៃទី២៤ ខែមីនា គ.ស.២០២២
Thursday the 7th Waning Moon of Phagguṇa B.E.2565 equivalent to March 24, A.D.2022 Year of the Cow
UN
Humanitarian Aid
The UN General Assembly overwhelmingly demanded civilian protection and humanitarian access in Ukraine on Thursday, while also criticizing Russia for creating a “dire” humanitarian situation resulting from its invasion exactly one month ago.

During its 11th Emergency Special Session, 193 Member States adopted a resolution – drafted by Ukraine and 90 co-sponsors entitled Humanitarian consequences of the aggression against Ukraine – with 140 votes in favour, five against – Russia, Syria, The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (more commonly known as North Korea), Eritrea and Belarus – and 38 others abstaining.

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