A However, 64% of vaccinated Americans believe the government is accurately describing the dangers of the delta variant.Iran fighting COVID 5th wave The variant is having a global impact. Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani has warned that the country is on the brink of a “fifth wave” of a COVID-19 outbreak. The delta variant of the virus, first identified in India, is largely responsible for the rising number of hospitalizations and deaths in Iran, officials say.All non-essential businesses have been ordered closed in 275 cities, including Tehran, the capital. Travel has also been restricted between cities that are experiencing high infection rates.Reports say only about 5% of Iranians have been vaccinated. Women hold their arms after receiving the Covishield vaccine against the coronavirus at a vaccination center in Mumbai, India, July 4, 2021.India may be undercounting COVID casesOn Monday, India’s health ministry reported 39,796 new COVID cases in the previous 24-hour period. Just a few weeks ago India was reporting a daily tally of a least 50,000 new cases. Public health officials have warned, however, that the country is likely undercounting its COVID cases. Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center reported early Monday that there are 183.8 million global COVID cases. The U.S. has the most with 33.7 million, followed by India with 30.6 million and Brazil with 18.8 million. Johns Hopkins said more than 3 billion vaccines have been administered. This report includes information from the Associated Press. …
Researchers Fear Pandemic Inflicting War-Like Mental Health Damage in Australia
Experts say coronavirus lockdowns anywhere in the world can trigger stress, irritability, fear and fatigue. There can be a disconnection from extended family and friends, causing loneliness. Uncertainty is another corrosive factor.In Australia, mental health charities estimated that about a third of people in Melbourne suffered some sort of depression during the nation’s longest and strictest lockdown last year. Research has also found that lockdowns are making some Australian children too anxious to go to school.Life in Australia was beginning to return to normal. But recently, the highly contagious delta variant was detected in several states and territories threatening progress. Lockdowns were imposed in Sydney, Perth, Brisbane and Darwin — subjecting millions of Australians to stay-at-home orders.Professor Susan Rossell, a cognitive neuropsychologist at Swinburne’s Centre for Mental Health, compares mental health consequences of the coronavirus crisis to a conflict.“There are very few pandemics that have lasted this long. So, the comparison to wars, especially wars that last a very long time, is a good one,” Rossell said. “During the conflict times, so, during the pandemic time, it elevated stress and anxiety, loneliness, confusion, poorer quality of life — all the things that we are seeing at the moment.” Mental health experts have said anxiety will “haunt” many Australians in the future as uncertainty surrounds a slow vaccination rollout and the likelihood that international borders will stay closed for another year, separating families from relatives overseas.The lockdowns in Perth, Brisbane and Darwin were lifted in recent days, but Sydney, Australia’s most populous city, remains under a stay-at-home order until at least Saturday. Authorities are racing to contain a COVID-19 outbreak linked to a limousine driver thought to have been infected with the delta variant after transporting an international …
Indonesian Hospital Loses 63 COVID Patients in Oxygen Shortage
Dozens of COVID-19 patients died in Indonesia over the weekend when a hospital in Yogyakarta ran out of oxygen. The Dr. Sardjito General Hospital tried switching oxygen cylinders during the outage but failed to save 63 of its COVID patients as cities across the country are facing a surge in coronavirus cases. “The hospital switched to oxygen cylinders, including the 100 cylinders donated by the Yogyakarta regional police. However, all efforts were too late,” hospital director Rukmono Siswishanto said in a statement Sunday morning. Siswishanto said that he had informed multiple authorities including the minister of health that the hospital was due to run out of oxygen on Saturday evening. The surge of daily new cases in Indonesia has pushed hospitals to build makeshift intensive care units and dedicate new quarantine centers. At least three new cemeteries for those who had COVID-19 have been set up in the capital of Jakarta. In one neighborhood of Jakarta, residents in need of oxygen line up as early as 6 a.m. to fill tanks for their loved ones.Indonesians, fortunate to have their own oxygen tanks, line up at an oxygen supply station in Tebet, Jakarta, July 4, 2021, after a hospital ran out of supplemental oxygen, asking patients’ families to bring their own. (Indra Yoga/VOA-Jakarta)Over the past week, Indonesia has seen its highest number of new cases and deaths from the coronavirus. The country recorded 3,298 deaths over the past week, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource …
The Successful Journey of a Flying Car
A car with wings recently completed a test flight in Slovakia. Its designers say the successful journey brings us one step closer to flying cars, but experts aren’t so sure that’s happening any time soon. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi has more.Produced by: Arash Arabasadi …
Chinese Astronauts Make First Space Walk Outside New Station
Two astronauts made the first space walk on Sunday outside China’s new orbital station to work on setting up a 15-meter-long robotic arm.Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo were shown by state TV climbing out of the airlock as Earth rolled past below them. The third crew member, commander Nie Haisheng, stayed inside.The astronauts arrived June 17 for a three-month mission aboard China’s third orbital station, part of an ambitious space program that landed a robot rover on Mars in May. Their mission comes as the ruling Communist Party celebrates the 100th anniversary of its founding.The station’s first module, Tianhe, or Heavenly Harmony, was launched April 29. That was followed by an automated spacecraft with food and fuel. Liu, Nie and Tang arrived June 17 aboard a Shenzhou capsule.On Sunday, Liu and Tang were completing installation of a robotic arm that will be used to assemble the rest of the station, according to state media. State TV said their space suits are designed to allow them to work in the vacuum of space for up to six hours if needed.The space agency plans a total of 11 launches through the end of next year to add two more modules to the 70-ton station.Liu is a veteran of the Shenzhou 7 mission in 2008, during which Zhai Zhigang made China’s first space walk. Nie is on his third trip into space while Liu is making his first. All are military pilots. …
Holiday-Weekend Ransomware Attack Leaves Companies Scrambling
Businesses around the world rushed Saturday to contain a ransomware attack that has paralyzed their computer networks, a situation complicated in the U.S. by offices lightly staffed at the start of the Fourth of July holiday weekend. It’s not yet known how many organizations have been hit by demands that they pay a ransom in order to get their systems working again. But some cybersecurity researchers predict the attack targeting customers of software supplier Kaseya could be one of the broadest ransomware attacks on record. It follows a scourge of headline-grabbing attacks over recent months that have been a source of diplomatic tension between U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin over whether Russia has become a haven for cybercriminal gangs. Biden said Saturday he didn’t yet know for certain who was responsible but suggested that the U.S. would respond if Russia was found to have anything to do with it. “If it is either with the knowledge of and or a consequence of Russia then I told Putin we will respond,” Biden said. “We’re not certain. The initial thinking was it was not the Russian government.” Cybersecurity experts say the REvil gang, a major Russian-speaking ransomware syndicate, appears to be behind the attack that targeted the software company Kaseya, using its network-management package as a conduit to spread the ransomware through cloud-service providers. “The number of victims here is already over 1,000 and will likely reach into the tens of thousands,” said cybersecurity expert Dmitri Alperovitch of the Silverado Policy Accelerator …
Major Swedish Supermarket Chain Hit by Cyberattack
One of Sweden’s biggest supermarket chains said Saturday it had to temporarily close around 800 stores nationwide after a cyberattack blocked access to its checkouts.”One of our subcontractors was hit by a digital attack, and that’s why our checkouts aren’t working any more,” Coop Sweden, which accounts for around 20 percent of the sector, said in a statement.”We regret the situation and will do all we can to reopen swiftly,” the cooperative added.Ransomware Hits Hundreds of US Companies, Security Firm Says The REvil gang, a major Russian-speaking ransomware syndicate, appears to be behind the attackCoop Sweden did not name the subcontractor or reveal the hacking method used against it beginning on Friday evening.But the attack comes as a wave of ransomware attacks has struck worldwide, especially in the United States.Ransomware attacks typically involve locking away data in systems using encryption, making companies pay to regain access.Last year, hackers extorted at least $18 billion using such software, according to security firm Emsisoft.US IT company Kaseya on Friday urged customers to shut down servers running its VSA platform after dozens were hit with ransomware.In recent weeks, such attacks have hit oil pipelines, health services and major firms, and made it onto the agenda of US President Joe Biden’s June meeting with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. …
‘Hams’ Head Outdoors for Remote Communication
Amateur or “ham” radio operators sometimes take their two-way radios to remote locations and talk to people around the world using battery power and portable antennas. As Mike O’Sullivan reports, they are making friends and preparing for emergencies. Camera: Mike O’Sullivan …
North Korea Shows No Vaccine Urgency, Despite New Virus Woes
North Korea this week reported a mysterious “grave incident” that suggested a major lapse related to its coronavirus response.Its leader, Kim Jong Un, recently acknowledged food shortages, comparing the situation to a devastating 1990s famine.The North now acknowledges on a regular basis that it faces a worsening pandemic-related crisis, even as it continues to claim it is free of COVID-19.Just how severe a crisis is unknown because North Korea has shut itself off from the outside world in an all-encompassing 17-month coronavirus lockdown.What is increasingly clear, though, is that North Korea is dragging its feet on accepting the international vaccines that offer the best way out of its predicament.Talks stalledNorth Korea has done little to advance the process to receive vaccines from COVAX, the United Nations-backed program meant to ensure fair global vaccine distribution.Negotiations between North Korea and Gavi, a vaccine alliance that helps run COVAX, have stalled for months, with North Korea completing only two of the seven required administrative steps, according to a source familiar with the talks.“If the DPRK had been swift with the paperwork, they would have gotten some vaccines. It’s hard to say how much, but if they complied with the request from Gavi we would be well underway now,” said the source, who spoke to VOA on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussion, using the abbreviation for North Korea’s formal name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.In a statement, Gavi did not comment on the status of the negotiations.“Work is …
Germany Recommends Mixed Vaccine Inoculations
The German Standing Committee on Vaccination recommended this week that people who received the AstraZeneca vaccine as their first COVID shot should be inoculated with either the Pfizer or the Moderna vaccine for their second shot in the battle against the delta variant of the coronavirus.The panel said the immune response to the mixed dose protocol is “clearly superior” to a double dose of the AstraZeneca shots. Medical experts began looking at the mixed-dose approach after young women reported side effects with the AstraZeneca shots.German Chancellor Angela Merkel has received mixed vaccines. While the German leader’s first vaccine was AstraZeneca, her second shot was a Moderna.The director-general of the World Health Organization warned Friday that the delta variant is “dangerous and is continuing to evolve and mutate, which requires constant evaluation and careful adjustment of the public health response.”Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, “Delta has been detected in at least 98 countries and is spreading quickly in countries with low and high vaccination coverage.”He said, “Public health and social measures like strong surveillance, strategic testing, early case detection, isolation and clinical care remain critical. As well as masking, physical distance, avoiding crowded places and keeping indoor areas well ventilated are the basis for the response. And second, the world must equitably share protective gear, oxygen, tests, treatments and vaccines.”“I have urged leaders across the world to work together to ensure that by this time next year, 70% of all people in every country are vaccinated,” the WHO leader said. “This …
Indonesian Police Block Streets on First Day of Tougher COVID-19 Curbs
Indonesian police threw up roadblocks and more than 400 checkpoints on the islands of Java and Bali to ensure hundreds of millions of people stayed home on Saturday, the first day of stricter curbs on movement to limit the spread of COVID-19.As it battles one of Asia’s worst coronavirus outbreaks, the world’s fourth-most-populous nation has seen record new infections on eight of the past 12 days, with Friday bringing 25,830 cases and a high of 539 deaths.”We are setting up (patrols) in 21 locations where typically there are crowds,” Istiono, the head of national traffic police, who goes by one name, told a news conference late on Friday. “Where there are street stalls and cafes, we will close those streets, maybe from around 6 p.m. until 4 a.m.”Saturday’s more stringent curbs, from tighter travel checks to a ban on restaurant dining and outdoor sports and the closure of non-essential workplaces, will run until July 20, but could be extended, if needed, to bring daily infections below 10,000.More than 21,000 police officers as well as military will fan out across Indonesia’s most populous island of Java and the tourist resort island of Bali to ensure compliance with the new curbs, a police spokesperson said.At the roadblocks and checkpoints on the islands, police will conduct random tests and enforce curfews. Vaccinated travelers with a negative swab test will be permitted to make long-distance journeys, however.The highly infectious delta variant first identified in India, where it caused a spike in infections, is spreading …
Ransomware Hits Hundreds of US Companies, Security Firm Says
A ransomware attack paralyzed the networks of at least 200 U.S. companies Friday, according to a cybersecurity researcher whose company was responding to the incident. The REvil gang, a major Russian-speaking ransomware syndicate, appears to be behind the attack, said John Hammond of the security firm Huntress Labs. He said the criminals targeted a software supplier called Kaseya, using its network-management package as a conduit to spread the ransomware through cloud-service providers. Other researchers agreed with Hammond’s assessment. “Kaseya handles large enterprise all the way to small businesses globally, so ultimately, [this] has the potential to spread to any size or scale business,” Hammond said in a direct message on Twitter. “This is a colossal and devastating supply chain attack.” Such cyberattacks typically infiltrate widely used software and spread malware as it updates automatically. It was not immediately clear how many Kaseya customers might be affected or who they might be. Kaseya urged customers in a statement on its website to immediately shut down servers running the affected software. It said the attack was limited to a “small number” of its customers.’SolarWinds with ransomware’Brett Callow, a ransomware expert at the cybersecurity firm Emsisoft, said he was unaware of any previous ransomware supply-chain attack on this scale. There have been others, but they were fairly minor, he said. “This is SolarWinds with ransomware,” he said. He was referring to a Russian cyberespionage hacking campaign discovered in December that spread by infecting network management software to infiltrate U.S. federal agencies and scores of corporations. Cybersecurity researcher Jake …
Experts Question if WHO Should Lead Pandemic Origins Probe
As the World Health Organization draws up plans for the next phase of its probe of how the coronavirus pandemic started, an increasing number of scientists say the U.N. agency it isn’t up to the task and shouldn’t be the one to investigate.Numerous experts, some with strong ties to WHO, say that political tensions between the U.S. and China make it impossible for an investigation by the agency to find credible answers.They say what’s needed is a broad, independent analysis closer to what happened in the aftermath of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster.The first part of a joint WHO-China study of how COVID-19 started concluded in March that the virus probably jumped to humans from animals and that a lab leak was “extremely unlikely.” The next phase might try to examine the first human cases in more detail or pinpoint the animals responsible — possibly bats, perhaps by way of some intermediate creature.But the idea that the pandemic somehow started in a laboratory — and perhaps involved an engineered virus — has gained traction recently, with President Joe Biden ordering a review of U.S. intelligence within 90 days to assess the possibility.Earlier this month, WHO’s emergencies chief, Dr. Michael Ryan, said that the agency was working out the final details of the next phase of its probe and that because WHO works “by persuasion,” it lacks the power to compel China to cooperate.Some said that is precisely why a WHO-led examination is doomed to fail.“We will never find the origins …
COVAX: Do Not Widen COVID Vaccine Divide
COVAX, the World Health Organization initiative for the equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, is urging countries to recognize as fully vaccinated all people who have received COVID-19 vaccines that COVAX has recognized as safe and effective.“Any measure that only allows people protected by a subset of WHO-approved vaccines to benefit from the re-opening of travel,” COVAX said, would only serve to further widen “the global vaccine divide.” Such a move would also intensify “the inequities we have already seen in the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines,” the COVAX statement said.India said Friday it has sent teams to six states to contain high COVID infection rates. The states receiving the teams are Kerala, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and Manipur.India’s health ministry said Friday it had recorded 46,617 new cases and 853 deaths in the previous 24-hour period.On Thursday, Washington announced it is dispatching “surge response” teams to U.S. areas hard hit by the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus. The nation’s top infectious disease expert, Anthony Fauci, recently said the variant first identified in India poses the “greatest threat” to bringing an end to the COVID outbreak in the U.S.Also Thursday, Johnson & Johnson announced that “its single-shot COVID-19 vaccine generated strong, persistent activity against the rapidly spreading delta variant and other highly prevalent SARS-CoV-2 viral variants. In addition, the data showed that the durability of the immune response lasted through at least eight months, the length of time evaluated to date.”The World Health Organization’s African region is facing a …
Delta Variant Risks Spoiling Europe’s Hope of a Return to Normality
The three women were enjoying their time together, having lunch near the beach at Capalbio on the Southern Tuscan coast just over an hour’s drive from Rome. A long winter and spring of lockdowns and restrictions in their northern alpine town of Bolzano had kept grandmother, mother and daughter apart for months on end.“Can I tell them how you are the brightest in your class, the most beautiful and the kindest?” the grandmother asked her 17-year-old granddaughter.“The lockdowns were hard — I didn’t see them for months on end. At least I have a beautiful view of the mountains from my apartment, but it was hard. I live alone,” she added. Now reunited, the three generations of women were delighted to be sharing each other’s company once again on a vacation they hope will exorcise the ghost of the pandemic past.Italy’s coastal beaches are now packed again — so too are the lake shores — with vacationers breathing a sigh of relief at their escape from pandemic confinement.There is a sense of normality now, boosted by the Italian government’s decision last month to drop most coronavirus-related rules and to lift rules on mask-wearing outside, although masks are still required on public transport and indoors in stores. A nighttime curfew has been phased out; and al fresco dining is allowed with few restrictions at restaurants.With more than 30% of Italians fully vaccinated, confidence has returned. The seven-day average of new cases is below 700 a day. Twenty-four Italians died Thursday because …
Africa, Europe Facing COVID-19 Surges Driven by Variants
The World Health Organization’s (WHO) African region is facing a serious third wave of COVID-19 cases, driven by variants throughout the continent. In a virtual briefing with reporters Thursday, WHO Africa Regional Director Matshidiso Moeti said new cases have increased in Africa by an average of 25% for six straight weeks to almost 202,000 in the week ending June 27, with deaths rising by 15% across 38 African countries to nearly 3,000 in the same period. “The speed and scale of Africa’s third wave is like nothing we’ve seen before,” Moeti said. “The rampant spread of more contagious variants pushes the threat to Africa up to a whole new level.” Meanwhile, WHO European Regional Director Hans Kluge said Thursday that region’s streak of 10 straight weeks of declining COVID-19 cases has come to end. During his weekly briefing in Copenhagen, he said cases in the region’s 53 countries increased 10% last week. Kluge attributed the rise to “increased mixing, travel, gatherings and easing of social restrictions,” which he said is taking place amid “a rapidly evolving situation” – the emergence of the more transmissible Delta variant of the coronavirus, a situation aggravated by the region’s slow rate of vaccinations. Elsewhere in Europe, German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer called the decision by the organizers of the Euro Cup 2020 soccer championships “utterly irresponsible” for holding their tournament during a pandemic. Seehofer said the decision by the Union of European Football Association’s (UEFA) to hold games in stadiums around Europe with largely unmasked crowds of …
Private Firms Keep Expanding Operations in Space
Private space operations continue to expand. Plus, Europe’s space agency continues its quest for diversity, and a French astronaut makes good — sort of — on a promise to his crewmates. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us the Week in Space.Produced by: Arash Arabasadi …
Chinese Hackers Attacked Afghan Council Network, Cybersecurity Firm Says
As part of a cyberespionage operation targeting Central Asian countries, Chinese hackers recently sought to breach the computer networks of Afghanistan’s National Security Council, researchers at cybersecurity firm Check Point reported.The alleged attack by the Chinese-speaking hacking group known to cybersecurity experts as IndigoZebra is the latest in an operation that goes back as far as 2014 and has targeted political entities in neighboring Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, the researchers wrote in a FILE – An iPhone displays a Facebook page, Aug. 11, 2019. Facebook said March 24, 2021, that hackers in China had used fake accounts and impostor websites in a bid to break into the phones of Uyghur Muslims.This is the first major Chinese cyberespionage operation in Afghanistan to come to light, coming just weeks after An icon for the Pulse Secure smartphone app, right, and a computer desktop info page are seen in Burke, Va., June 14, 2021. Suspected Chinese hackers penetrated U.S. entities’ computers in what cybersecurity experts called a major espionage campaign.China conducts large-scale cyberespionage operations around the world, cybersecurity experts say. In its latest threat assessment to Congress, the U.S. intelligence community wrote in April that China “presents a prolific and effective cyberespionage threat, possesses substantial cyber-attack capabilities, and presents a growing influence threat.”The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.Check Point researchers said they investigated the cyberattack in Afghanistan after stumbling upon a suspicious email on a website that detects malware in email communications. The email had been apparently …
South African Firm to Produce COVID-19 Vaccine for African Countries
The South African pharmaceutical company Aspen has begun production of hundreds of millions of doses of COVID-19 vaccine for African countries. To speed up the process, the company is getting a large funding boost from the U.S. government. Speaking during a virtual press briefing Thursday, Mark Marchick, a top executive for the U.S. International Development Financial Corporation, said Aspen would receive about $712 million to produce vaccine for people in Africa. “Our consortium of development financing institutions would provide a direct loan to Aspen, among other things, to strengthen their balance sheet with long-term financing, support vaccine production and expand their operations with core operations based in South Africa. This loan will help them increase capacity to support Aspen’s effort to produce vaccines for the continent this year and next year,” Marchik said. Gayle Smith, the U.S. State Department coordinator for the global COVID-19 response, said the investment will help Africa deal with long-term health issues. “We see this investment as in the short-term a really viable response to the urgent need on the continent for vaccines for COVID and also, importantly, as a long-term investment in the capacity of the continent to increase its own production of this vital goods so there is a greater availability and resilience over time, so it’s a short-term investment with a long-term vision,” Smith said. It is estimated that the world needs at least 11 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses to at least help communities return …
WHO: COVID-19 Cases Rise Again in Europe after 10-Week Decline
The World Health Organization says the recent decline in the number of new coronavirus infections throughout Europe “has come to an end.”Hans Kluge, the director of the U.N. health agency’s Europe region, said Thursday during a news briefing in Copenhagen that the number of cases in the area’s 53 countries rose 10 percent last week. Kluge attributed the rise to “increased mixing, travel, gatherings, and easing of social restrictions,” which he said is taking place amid “a rapidly evolving situation” — the emergence of the more transmissible Delta variant of the coronavirus, a situation aggravated by the regions slow rate of vaccinations. The coronavirus causes the COVID-19 disease.With more than 60 percent of all people still waiting for at least their first shot of COVID-19 vaccine, and with the relaxed restrictions on travel and “social mixing,” Kluge warned the European region will be “Delta dominant” by August. “Delays in getting vaccinated cost lives and economies, and the slower we vaccinate, the more variants will emerge,” he told reporters.The warning from WHO Europe comes as Russia reported another record-setting 672 COVID-19 deaths on Thursday, breaking the record of 659 deaths posted just the day before. Russia has posted 5.4 million cases since the start of the pandemic, including 132,973 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.Indonesian President Joko Widodo announced Thursday that new emergency measures will go into effect on Saturday for the islands of Java and Bali to blunt the rise of new cases in the world’s fourth most-populous country. The measures, which …
Cambodia Backs Vaccinations as COVID-19 Case Load Soars
Amid rising caseloads of coronavirus infections as it emerges from a strict COVID lockdown, Cambodia is pinning its hopes on a vaccination rollout that will help the nation reach herd immunity, even as the nation confronts unique challenges that could hamper that effort.Daily case numbers reached a record high of 1,130 Wednesday, far more than reported in April, when severe lockdowns, bans on alcohol sales and travel between provinces were imposed.Cambodia, though, like most developing countries, faces a range of problems not typically associated with wealthier countries in the West, particularly overcrowding in the capital, Phnom Penh, where several people often rent one room, in some cases one bed, to find a few hours’ sleep, away from the grind outside.Bradley Murg, a senior adviser to the Cambodian Institute for Cooperation and Peace, told VOA people here simply don’t have the space, security, or access to health services and supermarkets as those in the leafy suburbs of Western cities in countries such as the United States or Australia.“In a highly densely populated city like Phnom Penh, it’s incredibly difficult to implement a lockdown effectively even with a whole-of-government approach,” he said.“There are naturally going to be challenges in light of the level of development, in light of the daily needs of the population et cetera,” he added.“Ultimately a permanent lockdown or long-term lockdown is simply not a feasible strategy in Cambodia or in Phnom Penh specifically.”The closure of markets resulted in food shortages and price gouging, with authorities struggling to enforce …