Maritime Safety & Refugee Crisis: UN agencies say two boats carrying over 500 Rohingya refugees may have sunk off Myanmar’s coast, with families in Cox’s Bazar still searching for missing relatives after vessels left Rakhine in late June and early July. Tourism Payments: Myanmar Tourism Federation and CB Bank agreed to push digital payments for tourism services, including easier membership fee payments via MMQR and support for credit cards, insurance and loans for MSME tourism entrepreneurs. Border & Travel Facilitation: Bangladesh’s BGB chief inspected the Bangladesh-Myanmar border in Cox’s Bazar and joined flood-relief distribution, while Thailand extended a grace period for Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam migrant workers to keep tourism and industry staffing stable. Visa Policy Shifts: Taiwan will remove Cambodia from two visa facilitation programmes from Aug 1, while the US issued a Level 4 “Do Not Travel” advisory listing 23 countries including Myanmar. Cultural Heritage: AFP reports statues of independence hero Aung San are being quietly removed across Myanmar, raising concerns about erasing symbols tied to Aung San Suu Kyi. Regional Diplomacy: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to visit Manila for ASEAN-related meetings (July 19–23), underscoring US engagement in the Indo-Pacific.