ASEAN and the world

The opening ceremony of the 2017 ASEAN Film Festival was launched at the United Nations Office in Geneva, Switzerland, on March 27th.

An earthquake measuring 6.6 on the Richter scale hit Kamchatka Krai in eastern Russia, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said.

On March 29th, Ivanka Trump said that she would work in the White House in an unpaid, informal advisory role to the President.

(CPV) - ADB has approved a new medium-term country partnership strategy (CPS) for Myanmar to support the government’s aim to improve economic growth and job creation.

Senior officials of ASEAN member countries and Russia gathered in Vientiane, Laos on March 29 to review the ASEAN-Russia cooperation over the past year, especially after the Summit commemorating the 20th anniversary of the bilateral dialogue partnership in March 2016 in Sochi, Russia.

(CPV) - ADB has approved a USD114 million loan to help improve regional connectivity and road transport efficiency in Georgia, while strengthening the country’s bid to become a regional transport and logistics hub.

Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand (CLMVT) should build a joint master plan for connectivity and key infrastructure to raise the region’s competitiveness, said Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand Somkid Jatuspritak.

On March 27th, the Prime Minister’s Office said UK will conduct a major counter-terrorism training exercise in October across parts of Scotland and northern England, days after a lone attacker killed four people in London.

At least four people died and several remain missing after a ferry carrying about 80 passengers capsized on March 28th in Bangladesh's Panguchi river, police said.

(CPV) - Water shortages, inadequate sanitation, poor hygiene practices and disease outbreaks are posing an additional threat to severely malnourished children in northeast Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen, UNICEF said on March 29th 2017.

The 2017 ASEAN Film Festival was launched at the United Nations Office in Geneva, Switzerland, on March 27 in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of ASEAN.

(CPV) - More than one month since famine was declared in parts of South Sudan, UNICEF - together with the World Food Programme and other partners - has delivered life-saving assistance to 145,000 people, including 33,000 children under the age of five.

French President Francois Hollande visited Malaysia on March 28th, with an aim to increase bilateral trade and defence relations.

The World Bank (WB) has approved a new loan worth USD200 million for Indonesia to help with infrastructure projects, the Antara news agency reported.

More than 190,000 polio vaccinators in 13 countries across west and central Africa will immunize more than 116 million children over the next week, to tackle the last remaining stronghold of polio on the continent.

Jared Kusher, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, will lead a new White House office named the White House Office of American Innovation.

Seven high school students and an instructor were killed after being caught in an avalanche at a Japanese ski resort, according to the local fire department.

The Republic of Korea's Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries has said that the working crew completed one of the most dedicate processes in the salvage operation of the sunken Sewol ferry.

Former Chief Secretary of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) (China) Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor on March 26th won 772 votes of the National Electoral Commission (NEC) to become its first female Chief Executive.

Malaysia’s consumer price index in February rose 4.5 percent year-on-year, the highest in more than eight years.

(CPV) - ADB is stepping up its anticorruption and integrity efforts, and has approved an update to its Anticorruption Policy. This is on top of other reforms and policies to be implemented over the next 12 months to improve the institution’s support to developing member countries (DMCs) to address issues such as tax integrity, according to ADB’s Office of Anticorruption and Integrity’s (OAI) 2016

The Council of ASEAN Chief Justices (CACJ) is holding its fifth meeting in Brunei from March 22nd-25th with the participation of 10 ASEAN member countries.

Mr. David Friedman has been confirmed by the Senate to be the US ambassador to Israel.

(CPV) - Bond yields in emerging East Asian markets fell between December 31st and mid-February despite the risk of accelerated pace of interest rate hikes in the United States (US), ADB’s latest Asia Bond Monitor said.

Former German Prime Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier was sworn in as the new German President on March 22nd.

The four-day Boao Forum for Asia annual Conference (BFA), themed “Globalization and Free Trade: The Asian Perspectives”, is taking place from March 23rd to 26th in Boao, Hainan, China.

The 70th annual Cannes Film Festival is scheduled to be held from May 17th – 28th.

Floods and mudslides have affected parts of the Lima Region in Peru, including the capital, where several rivers have overflowed.

The nation attended the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition (LIMA) 2017 on March 21st at the Mahsuri International Exhibition Centre, Langkawi, Malaysia.

On March 20th, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe arrived in France to meet with French President Francois Hollande.