NEW DELHI -- India's COVID-19 tally rose to 31,440,951 on Tuesday as 29,689 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours across the country, showed the federal health ministry's latest data.

"India reports less than 30,000 daily cases after 132 days," said a statement issued by the ministry. Besides, as many as 415 deaths due to the pandemic since Monday morning took the total death toll to 421,382. (India-COVID-19 tally)

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SEOUL -- South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) restored their cross-border communication lines that had been severed for over a year, the South Korean presidential Blue House said Tuesday.

The Blue House said in a statement that the two Koreas decided to resume their direct communication hotlines as of 10:00 a.m. local time (0100 GMT) Tuesday. (South Korea-DPRK-Communication lines)

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PHNOM PENH -- Cambodia's Ministry of Health (MoH) on Tuesday confirmed 39 new cases of highly infectious Delta variant of COVID-19, bringing the kingdom's total number of Delta variant cases to 114.

On July 22 and 25, laboratory testing by the Pasteur Institute in Cambodia found new COVID-19 variant B.1.617-2 (Delta) on 39 patients, including 21 returnees from neighbouring Thailand and 18 domestic cases, the MoH said in a statement, adding that the local cases were detected on health workers and residents in the provinces of Oddar Meanchey, Kampong Thom, and Siem Reap. (Cambodia-Delta variant)

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CANBERRA -- The COVID-19 lockdown in the Australian state of South Australia is set to end Wednesday after the state suppressed an outbreak with 19 cases linked to the current cluster.

South Australia Premier Steven Marshall announced that the statewide lockdown would end on Wednesday unless there was a significant rise in community cases of coronavirus. (Australia-COVID-19 lockdown)