World News in Brief: July 6

Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said in Phnom Penh on Wednesday that the government is subsidizing more than 100 million USD to the state-owned Electricité du Cambodge (EDC) in 2022 to stabilize electricity tariffs.

A wild storm system has moved away from Sydney after pounding Australia's largest city with four days of torrential rain, satellite images showed on Wednesday, although river waters stayed above danger levels, forcing more evacuations. (Representative Image/Photo: AFP)
A wild storm system has moved away from Sydney after pounding Australia's largest city with four days of torrential rain, satellite images showed on Wednesday, although river waters stayed above danger levels, forcing more evacuations. (Representative Image/Photo: AFP)

* Sri Lanka will hold road shows in five key Indian cities to attract more visitors from its populous northern neighbour in a bid to bring more foreign currency into the crisis-hit island, its tourism minister said on Wednesday.

* Regular flights between China and Kyrgyzstan were resumed Tuesday with the launch of Urumqi-Bishkek-Urumqi flights, the Chinese embassy in Kyrgyzstan said.

* Ukraine's GDP will shrink at least 35 percent this year due to the conflict with Russia, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported on Tuesday, citing Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.

* Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tweeted on Tuesday that he had discussed security issues with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

* Russian President Vladimir Putin and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev discussed the bilateral relationship during a telephone call on Tuesday.

* British Prime Minister Boris Johnson made a swift cabinet reshuffle Tuesday following the shock resignations of Health Secretary Sajid Javid and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak.

* The Argentine government reiterated its commitment to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) debt program, but raised the possibility of changes in the targets for upcoming quarters, Argentina's new Minister of Economy Silvina Batakis said Tuesday.

* The Republic of Korean shipbuilders secured 45.5 percent of global shipbuilding orders in the first half of this year, taking the No. 1 spot in four years, the trade ministry said Wednesday.

* Mainland China reported 427 new coronavirus cases for July 5, of which 141 were symptomatic and 286 were asymptomatic, the National Health Commission said on Wednesday.

* Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has thrown his support behind calls for medical regulators to approve a fourth coronavirus vaccine dose for the general population.

* Mecca's crowded streets provided merchants in the holy city with much-needed relief as pilgrims returned to the annual haj after two years of pandemic-related disruption.

* New Zealand recorded 10,290 new community cases of COVID-19 and 12 more deaths, the Ministry of Health said in a statement on Wednesday. The sharp increase in the number of new cases was due to the impact of low temperature across the country.

* The fast-spreading BA.4 and BA.5 sub-lineages of Omicron are estimated to make up a combined 70.1% of the coronavirus variants in the United States as of July 2, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Tuesday.

Xinhua/Reuters/VNA