CAMBODIA SENDS GERMANY CONDOLENCES

Prime Minister Hun Sen has sent a letter of condolence to German chancellor Angela Merkel for the devastating floods that have hit the country this past week. He says he is “deeply saddened” to learn just how many people have died, while thousands more have been injured, with enormous damage to property. On behalf of the Royal Government and People of Cambodia, he has sent his “best wishes for a speedy recovery and the successful rescue of those missing.”

Death toll in Western Europe Floods Climbs to 195

It is the floods in Western Europe that are dominating international headlines. Police helicopter footage has shown the devastating extent of the damage. The floods have swamped much of Western Europe this past week, hitting Germany and Belgium particularly hard. Over 195 people have been killed. 117 died in Germany’s Ahr Valley district alone. Police have warned that the death toll would almost certainly rise as the clean-up continues. Insurers estimate that the cost may run as high as $3.5-billion.

Millions of people across England are enjoying their second day of post-pandemic freedom, with all legal lockdown restrictions having been lifted on Monday. People are out and about enjoying the sights and the summer weather, the vast majority not wearing masks, but UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is pleading for caution, with surging infections and warnings of supermarket shortages, as he himself spends the week in isolation after direct contact with a Covid-positive cabinet minister.

UK Prime Minister Urges Caution as England Lifts all Covid-19 Restrictions

“If we don't do it now, we've got to ask ourselves when will we ever do it. So this is the right moment but we've got to do it cautiously. We've got to remember that this virus is sadly still out there, cases are rising, we can see the extreme contagiousness of the Delta variant, but we have this immense consolation and satisfaction that there is no doubt at all that the vaccine programme, the massive vaccination programme has very severely weakened the link between infection and hospitalisation and between infection and serious illness and death. And that is the vital thing so please, please, please, be cautious.”

87% of Britain's adult population has had one vaccine dose, and more than 68% have had two, but cases are climbing again, with forecasts predicting more daily infections in the coming weeks than at the height of England’s second wave earlier this year.

Russia Tests New “Hypersonic Missile”

Russia has tested its new Tsirkon hypersonic cruise missile, fired from a ship in the White Sea. According the Russian Defence Ministry, the missile hit its ground target off the coast of the Barents Sea more than 350 kms away. President Vladimir Putin announced the development of the new missiles back in 2018, saying they were part of a new generation of Russian weapons that could hit almost any point in the world and evade a U.S.-built missile shield.