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South Korea, U.S. and Japanese warships launched their first anti-submarine drills in five years on Friday, after North renewed ballistic missile tests this week in an apparent response to bilateral training by South Korean and U.S. forces, Associated Press reported.

The North’s recent five missiles launches, the first such tests in a month, also came before and after U.S. Vice President Kamala Harrisvisited South Korea on Thursday and reaffirmed the “ironclad” U.S. commitment to the security of its Asian allies.

The one-day trilateral training off the Korean Peninsula’s east coast is meant to cope with a North Korean push to advance its ability to fire missile from submarines, according to a South Korean navy statement.

North Korea has been building bigger submarines including a nuclear-powered one and testing sophisticated missiles that can be fired from them in recent years. That’s an alarming development for its rivals because it’s harder to detect underwater-launched missiles in advance. Friday’s drills involve the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan as well as U.S., South Korean and Japanese destroyers, the navy statement said.

During the training, the navy ships from the three nations were to search and track a U.S. nuclear-powered submarine posing as a North Korean submarine while exchanging related information, according to media reports.

“We will respond and neutralize any forms of North Korean provocations in an overwhelming and decisive manner,” Capt. Cho, Chung-ho, commander of South Korean navy troops who took part in the training, was quoted as saying in the statement.

In addition to its submarine-launched missiles, North Korea has also a variety of nuclear-capable missiles that place both the United States and its allies South Korea and Japan within striking distance. This year, North Korea has performed a record number of missile tests as it refuses to resume long-stalled nuclear diplomacy with the United States, according to Associated Press.

Friday’s three-nation training comes as South Korea and Japan are looking to mend ties frayed over history and trade disputes. The two Asian countries together host a total of 80,000 American troops. Earlier this week, the Reagan took part in joint U.S.-South Korean drills near the peninsula, the first such bilateral involving a U.S. aircraft carrier since 2017.

The North’s most recent missile tests happened on Thursday, hours after Harris left South Korea. During her visit to the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas, Harris said: “In the South, we see a thriving democracy. In the North, we see a brutal dictatorship.”

Rescue crews piloted boats and waded through inundated streets Thursday to save thousands of Floridians trapped amid flooded homes and shattered buildings left by Hurricane Ian,which crossed into the Atlantic Ocean and churned toward South Carolina, Associated Press reported.

Hours after weakening to a tropical storm while crossing the Florida peninsula, Ian regained hurricane strength Thursday evening over the Atlantic. The National Hurricane Center predicted it would hit South Carolina as a Category 1 hurricane Friday, with winds picking up to 80 mph (129 kph) near midnight Thursday.

The devastation inflicted on Florida came into focus a day after Ian struck as a monstrous Category 4 hurricane, one of the strongest storms ever to hit the U.S. It flooded homes on both the state’s coasts, cut off the only road access to a barrier island, destroyed a historic waterfront pier and knocked out electricity to 2.67 million Florida homes and businesses — nearly a quarter of utility customers.

Four people were confirmed dead in Florida. They included two residents of hard-hit Sanibel Island along Florida’s west coast, Sanibel city manager Dana Souza said late Thursday. Three other people were reported killed in Cuba after the hurricane struck there on Tuesday.

In the Fort Myers area, homes had been ripped from their slabs and deposited among shredded wreckage. Businesses near the beach were completely razed, leaving twisted debris. Broken docks floated at odd angles beside damaged boats and fires smoldered on lots where houses once stood.

“I don’t know how anyone could have survived in there,” William Goodison said amid the wreckage of the mobile home park in Fort Myers Beach where he’d lived for 11 years. Goodison rode out the storm at his son’s house inland.

The hurricane tore through the park of about 60 homes, many of them destroyed or mangled beyond repair, including Goodison’s single-wide home. Wading through waist-deep water, Goodison and his son wheeled two trash cans containing what little he could salvage — a portable air conditioner, some tools and a baseball bat.

The road into Fort Myers was littered with broken trees, boat trailers and other debris. Cars were left abandoned in the road, having stalled when the storm surge flooded their engines, according to Associated Press.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said at least 700 rescues, mostly by air, have been conducted so far and involving the US Coast Guard, the National Guard and urban search-and-rescue teams.

After leaving Florida as a tropical storm Thursday and entering the Atlantic Ocean north of Cape Canaveral, Ian spun up into a hurricane again with winds of 75 mph (120 kph).

A hurricane warning was issued for the South Carolina coast and extended to Cape Fear on the southeastern coast of North Carolina. With tropical-storm force winds reaching about 415 miles (665 kilometers) from its center, Ian was forecast to shove storm surge of 5 feet (1.5 meters) into coastal areas in Georgia and the Carolinas. Rainfall of up to 8 inches (20 centimeters) threatened flooding from South Carolina to Virginia.

National Guard troops were being positioned in South Carolina to help with the aftermath, including any water rescues. On Thursday afternoon, a steady stream of vehicles left Charleston, a 350-year-old city.

Sheriffs in southwest Florida said 911 centers were inundated by thousands of stranded callers, some with life-threatening emergencies. The U.S. Coast Guard began rescue efforts hours before daybreak on barrier islands near where Ian struck, DeSantis said. More than 800 federal urban search-and-rescuers were also in the area, Associated Press reported.

Two lawmakers of Madhesh Province among 11 leaders of the CPN (Unified Socialist) returned to their mother party, CPN -UML, amidst a program at the party’s central office in Chyasal on Thursday. CPN (US) central member and Province Assembly member Sundar Bishwokarma and incumbent Province Assembly member and a member of Central Election Commission Sita Gurung among other returned to the UML. Similarly, Central Council members Kaushal Kishor Singh, Madhesh Bishwokarma, Madhesh Pradesh Committee members Dashrath Ram, Bidhya Thapa, Min Rahapal, District Committee members Manju Khanal, Manju Bhattarai, Achhelal Ram, and Mukti Sahani returned to their mother party today. UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli welcomed them in the party. Meanwhile, the CPN (US) has appointed Bijendra Chaudhary as the acting chairman after the party’s district committee joined the UML.    

Two persons have died of dengue in the last 24 hours. With this, the number of people who list their lives to dengue has reached 38. According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 28, 109 people have been infected with the dengue so far. The infection has been seen in all the 77 districts. The Ministry has urged the people to clean the places where garbage is collected and to wear clothes with full sleeves to avoid dengue.    

A powerful avalanche occurred between Camp III and Camp IV of Mt. Manaslu in Gorkha district on Monday, killing a guide and injuring 11 others. Following the incident, a chopper of Simrik Air set out to rescue people stranded or buried in the avalanche at the fourth highest mountain without caring about the risk. Though it was not possible to rescue all the people on the very day, all of them were rescued the next day with the continuous effort of the Simirk Air. Soon after some improvement in the weather, the Simirk Air rescued two critically injured people. The Simrik Air rescued them from ‘longline Dhyathad’, Capital Surendra Paudel said. “It is not an easy task to carry out rescue operations in the mountains. Despite some hindrances due to geographical difficulty and weather, we managed to rescue the people,” he said. Around seven months ago, a fire broke out at a forest near the Tenzing Hillary Airport in Lukla of Solukhumbu district. Locals, Nepal Police and Nepal Army personnel were deployed to put out the fire. Finally, the flame was doused by using a chopper of Simrik Air. T The Simrik Air has put out fires in five places by using modern technology in a span of one year. The Air has been extinguishing fires with the help of ‘Bambi Bucket’ in the areas where there are no roads and in high mountains. Only Simrik Air has the ‘Bambi Bucket’ in Nepal. The helicopter of Simirk Air with the help of fire fighters doused the fire within three days in Solukhumbu. It would have been impossible to save the village near the forest, had the Simrik Air not dropped the water by using ‘Bambi Bucket’. Earlier in February, the chopper of Simirk Air had taken the fire that broke out at Bhorletar Chowk in Damauli, Tanahun under control. A helicopter of Simrik Air went there from Kathmandu to extinguish the fire by pouring water. The Home Ministry had urged the Simrik Air to douse the fire in Damauli. Likewise, a massive fire broke out at the biscuit factory in Balaju Industrial area, Kathmandu on August 7. As many as 128 Nepal Army personnel and two fire engines were deployed to take the fire under control but to no avail. Later, the water was poured with the help of Simrik Air’s ‘Bambi Bucket’. The company, which is always ahead in carrying out rescue operations, also provides free service as part of its social responsibility. On April 11, 2021, the Simrik Air extinguished the fire that broke out at the Shivpuri National Park at its own expense. More than 700, 000 was spent to douse the fire. The Simrik Air extinguished the fire that broke out at a forest near the Pathivara Temple in Taplejung after five days in 2021. The ‘Bambi Bucket’ of Simrik Air can hold 1000 liters of water. Currently, Simrik Air has five helicopters of its own. Simirk Air started its journey by operating cargo flights with a large helicopter named MI7.

The festival travel rush is well under way. Every day thousands of people are leaving Kathmandu and other major city areas for their hometowns to celebrate Dashain. But for many people, traveling is often fraught with accident risks. The number of road accidents surges during the Dashain holiday. This is mainly attributed to vehicles carrying passengers beyond their capacity, high speed and reckless driving. The risk is further compounded by the poor state of the road, particularly in the hill and mountain regions. Like in previous festival seasons, this time too the government has implemented a ‘time card’ system to discourage speeding mainly on major highways. Additionally, it has decided not to allow vehicles to carry passengers beyond their capacity. But if past experiences are anything to go by, these measures are hardly implemented or followed. There is always a shortage of public vehicles during the festival time because the number of people traveling is very high. So, the authorities concerned cannot make people not travel in crowded vehicles. People want to reach their homes to celebrate the festival with their loved ones. Moreover, the government has issued travel rules targeting major highways when most accidents during the festival times occur in rural roads. Already in bad shape, the condition of most roads leading to small towns and villages of Nepal are further deteriorated by monsoon rains. These roads are seldom repaired. They have to be rendered completely impassable for the authorities concerned to take notice. What is more, old and outdated vehicles ply these roads, making travel all the more dangerous. The government and its concerned agencies should bear in mind that by just merely issuing some rules and guidelines weeks ahead of the festival cannot prevent road accidents. Instead, they should prepare well in advance, get to the root causes of road accidents that happen during the festival season and implement the safety measures. Rules that are ad hoc and short-term are not going to work, and most definitely not going to prevent road accidents from happening during the festival season.

A court in military-ruled Myanmar on Thursday sentenced deposed leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, and her former economic adviser, Australian Sean Turnell, to three years in prison, a source familiar with the proceedings said, Reuters reported.

Both had been charged with violating the official secrets act and had pleaded not guilty.

"Three years each, no hard labour," said the source, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue. The sentencing took place in a closed court.