YANGON -- Myanmar's National Defense and Security Council (NDSC) decided on Monday to extend the state of emergency in the Southeast Asian country for another six months.
According to the council's statement signed by Acting President U Myint Swe, the emergency period was extended in accordance with the Section 425 of the State Constitution for six more months starting from Aug. 1. (Myanmar-State of Emergency-Extension)
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ISLAMABAD -- The death toll from the suicide attack at a political gathering in the Bajaur district of Pakistan's northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Sunday jumped to 54 after more injured succumbed to their injuries, a police official said on Monday.
Additional Inspector General of Police Shaukat Abbas told the media that 10 of the injured lost their lives since Monday morning during their treatment in different hospitals of the province. (Pakistan-Suicide Attack-Death Toll)
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SEOUL -- The leader of South Korea's main opposition Democratic Party sent a letter to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, urging him to suspend the planned discharge of nuclear-contaminated wastewater.
Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party chief, delivered the letter via the Japanese embassy in Seoul on July 28, calling for Kishida to hold off on releasing radioactive wastewater from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, the party spokesman told a press briefing on Monday. (S. Korea-Japan-Fukushima Wastewater)
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MANILA -- The Philippines and the European Union (EU) on Monday agreed to revitalize trade and relaunch free trade agreements (FTA) talks.
The two parties forged the new cooperation during a meeting between Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Manila. (Philippines-EU-FTA) ■