World News in Brief: June11

Cambodia exported 105,048 tons of dry rubber in the first five months of 2022, up 3 percent compared to the same period last year, said a General Directorate of Rubber report on Friday.

Despite the relatively lower numbers of refugees and migrants crossing the Mediterranean to Europe in recent years, the death toll had seen a steep rise, the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR said on Friday.
Despite the relatively lower numbers of refugees and migrants crossing the Mediterranean to Europe in recent years, the death toll had seen a steep rise, the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR said on Friday.

* Kim Jong Un, the Chairman of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), said his country faces a "very serious" security situation and needs stronger self-defense measures, the Korean Central News Agency reported Saturday. Kim made the remarks at the fifth enlarged plenary meeting of the party's eighth Central Committee, which ended on Friday.

* Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed an order on Friday authorizing the country's withdrawal from the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).

* The US-hosted Summit of the Americas concluded in downtown Los Angeles on Friday amid protests against the exclusion of some Latin American countries and human rights violations, among others.

* European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen returned to Kyiv on Saturday for a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and said they would discuss Ukraine's reconstruction and progress towards European Union membership.

* Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and visiting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday disagreed on the necessity to impose sanctions on Russia after their discussion on the Ukraine crisis.

* The national average price for US gasoline rose above $5 a gallon for the first time on Saturday, according to data from AAA, extending a surge in automotive fuel costs that are a central feature of a surge in inflation overall.

* The governments of Brazil and the United States are in talks to jointly combat exports of illegal timber from the Amazon rainforest, as well as other unlawful environmental activities.

* Iran and Venezuela signed a 20-year cooperation plan in Tehran on Saturday as the two countries, among the world's top oil producers, grapple with US sanctions that are crippling their exports.

* The government of Pakistan on Friday proposed its financial budget for the next fiscal year with plans to focus on sustainable and inclusive economic growth, with officials calling it a pro-people and balanced budget amid financial challenging times.

* The German government is urging consumers and businesses to save energy amid soaring energy prices and inflation, with a national awareness campaign launched on Friday.

* Russia's foreign ministry said on Saturday that Moscow's response to a build up of NATO forces in Poland will be proportionate, Interfax news agency reported citing a Russian diplomat.

* The fighting in Ukraine has a significant impact on the global food markets and could leave an additional 11 to 19 million people with chronic hunger, the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN) warned on Friday.

* More than 1.1 million residents in east China's Jiangxi Province were affected by torrential rain and rain-induced floods from May 28 to 4 p.m. Friday, local authorities said.

* Cambodia had reported 1,354 dengue fever cases in the first five months of 2022, up more than 100 percent compared to the same period last year, the health ministry said in a press release on Saturday.

* Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda accused each other of firing rockets across their shared border on Friday, including a strike that killed two Congolese children, a spokesperson for the Congolese army said.

* China's capital Beijing is facing an "explosive" COVID-19 outbreak connected to a bar, a government spokesman warned on Saturday, as the commercial hub of Shanghai began mass testing to contain a jump in cases tied to a popular beauty salon.

* Indonesia has detected the first cases of more contagious Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants of COVID-19 on the island of Bali, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said on Friday.

* The United States late Friday rescinded a 17-month-old requirement that people arriving in the country by air test negative for COVID-19, a move that follows intense lobbying by airlines and the travel industry.

* Canada is suspending random COVID-19 testing at all its airports for the rest of June to ease the long wait times that travelers have encountered in recent weeks, a government source said on Friday.

* US Food and Drug Administration staff reviewers on Friday said Moderna Inc's MRNA.O COVID-19 vaccine appears safe and effective for use in people aged 6 months to 17 years old as a committee of scientists will meet next week to vote on whether to recommend the regulator authorize the vaccine in children.

Xinhua/Reuters/VNA