The Republic of Korea (RoK) signed memoranda of understanding (MoU) on defense cooperation with the Philippines and Singapore on November 26 on the sidelines of the ASEAN-RoK Commemorative Summit in the southern port city of Busan.
Hundreds of people took part in a firefighting drill at Vietnam’s highest building, Landmark 81, in Binh Thanh district, Ho Chi Minh City, on October 24.
Thailand and India on October 19 began a joint naval exercise in the Bay of Bengal that involved helicopters from ships of both nations, according to Indian defence officials.
More than 1,500 people and 100 vehicles took part in a fire-fighting drill held on October 16 in the central city of Da Nang by the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Defence and the municipal People’s Committee.
Indonesian people risk having their life expectancy shaved off by four years on average due to exposure to dangerous particulate matter caused by the haze from forest fires, according to the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago.
The Indonesian Finance Ministry is mulling providing additional funding of 1.6 trillion Rp proposed by the local National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) to handle ongoing forest fires.
The number of Indonesians suffering respiratory problems or ISPA caused by smoke from forest and peatland fires blanketing parts of Borneo and Sumatra in the past few months has reached over 919,000, according to Indonesia’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesman Agus Wibowo.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo said on September 17 that about 5,600 additional military personnel have been deployed to help 9,000 people currently fighting bush fires which have razed more than 328,700 hectares of land nationwide.
India and Malaysia launched a joint naval military exercise on September 14 to test inter-operability of their navies in South East Asia and Western Pacific regions.
Satellite data on September 12 showed the number of blazes in Indonesia's rainforests has rose sharply, spreading smog across Southeast Asia and adding to concerns about the impact of increasing wildfire outbreaks worldwide on global warming.
Thousands of people in Indonesia prayed for rain in haze-hit towns throughout Sumatra and Borneo islands as forest fires raged at the height of the dry season, Antara news agency reported on September 11.
The forest fire task force of Indonesia’s Riau province has deployed four helicopters to douse the forest fires raging across the southern part of the province on Sumatra Island.
Myanmar troops were deployed to landslide-hit areas in southeastern Mon state on August 11 to support search and rescue efforts after the death toll from a recent landslide increased to 48.
Indonesia is deploying thousands of military and police to douse forest fires after declaring an emergency in six provinces on the island of Sumatra and in the province of Kalimantan on Borneo island.
Vietnam’s agencies will continue to coordinate with the US side to protect legitimate rights and benefits of enterprises in line with legal regulations and agreements of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), and prevent illegal evasion and fraudulent acts of origin.
Cruising Ha Long Bay has long been one of the top things to do when visiting Vietnam, but now tourists have a new way to experience the dazzling natural attraction, the US Cable News Network (CNN) Travel said.
The Northern Vietnam Helicopter Company under the Vietnam Helicopter Corporation has launched its Ha Long Bay scenic tour service - Halong Heli Tours in northeastern Quang Ninh province.
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