Tuesday, October 30, 2007

10 Indonesians Recovering after Contracting Anthrax

Indonesia was distributing anthrax vaccines across a remote island on Tuesday after 10 villagers contracted the disease from an infected buffalo, an agriculture official said. Livestock movement in areas close to where the villagers lived on Flores island in the far east of the country has also been banned, said Musni Suatmojo, director of animal health at the Agriculture Ministry. The 10 villagers were diagnosed with the disease last week, he said, adding that officials suspected they contracted it after cutting up and eating an infected buffalo. They were diagnosed as having cutaneous anthrax, the most common form, which enters through a cut or abrasion and can cause skin rashes and swelling, he said. They were treated with antibiotics and are now recovering, Suatmojo said.

Anthrax commonly occurs in cows, sheep and goats, and can be transmitted to humans through direct contact with infected animals. The disease is endemic across much of Indonesia. Some 20,000 doses of livestock vaccine were being distributed across the island, Suatmojo said. Flores is 1,700 kilometers (1056 miles) east of the Indonesian capital, Jakarta. (AP)

Cambodia's Hun Sen Severs Ties with Adopted Gay Daughter

Cambodia's prime minister said Tuesday that his adopted daugther is a lesbian and he was severing ties with her, but he urged the country not to discriminate against gays. "My adopted daughter now has a wife. I'm quite disappointed," Hun Sen said. He made the rare revelation about his closely guarded family life during a speech at a university graduation ceremony. Hun Sen said he plans to file a civil court case to disown his adopted daughter, whom he did not name, so that she cannot claim any inheritance from his family.

The prime minister and his wife Bun Rany have five children, three sons and two daughters. He said they adopted their third daughter when she was 18 days old. She has carried his family name "Hun" just like his biological children. Hun Sen, meanwhile, told the graduating class at the National Institute of Education that it is wrong to discriminate against homosexuals. "I'd like to take this opportunity to appeal to parents and society not to discriminate against them (gays)," Hun Sen said. Sam Vuthy, coordinator of Women's Agenda for Change, a nonprofit Cambodian group advocating gay rights, hailed Hun Sen's appeal, saying she hoped it would reduce discrimination against homosexuals in Cambodia. (AP)

Crackdown Exercises Held in Burma 

Eyewitnesses have reported to The Irrawaddy that the Burmese junta has been training riot police in case of more mass protests.

On Monday at Kyaikkasan Stadium in Rangoon, security forces were seen practicing scenarios of putting down protests. About 300 soldiers police, including paramilitary personnel, in full riot gear took part, said the sources.

According to a member of the Ward Peace and Development Council, this practice session included instruction on how to systematically beat back crowds using bamboo sticks, special anti-riot batons and shields.

Members of paramilitary groups, such as the Union Solidarity and Development Association and Swan Ah Shin, have reportedly been given anti-riot training throughout Burma for years.

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Cambodia's Retired King Says No Birthday Gifts

Cambodia's retired but still revered King Norodom Sihanouk said he wants no gifts, correspondence or other fanfare for his 85th birthday, his royal office announced Wednesday. In a statement posted on Sihanouk's official Web site, Royal Secretariat Director Srey Nory gave no reason for the former monarch's request for a low-key birthday, which falls on October 31. The secretariat director said Sihanouk has in the past issued statements asking admirers and dignitaries to stop deluging him with congratulatory messages and gifts. Sihanouk is again asking people, including members of the royal family, to heed his words "to not call on him, to not dispatch to him messages of greetings and congratulations, even on the occasion of his birthday," the statement said. Sihanouk hopes to avoid "gifts, fruits, cakes, culinary dishes and other things." Sihanouk's request also applies to Christmas, the international January 1 New Year and Cambodia's traditional Khmer New Year, celebrated in April, the statement said.

In a separate statement last month, Srey Nory said the king, who is "very elderly, very weak, very demoralized," has been disturbed by too many unnecessary e-mails, letters, telegrams and faxes. Sihanouk has suffered from a number of ailments, including colon cancer, diabetes, hypertension and two strokes. He abdicated in October 2004, citing poor health. He was succeeded by Norodom Sihamoni, one of his two sons with former Queen Monineath. But he is still widely revered by many Cambodians. (AP)

Malaysia Arrests Government Officials for Corruption

Malaysia's anti-corruption agency has arrested eight government officials in a crackdown on massive wasteful expenditure and corrupt practices, an official said Tuesday. Two employees of private companies said to have abetted the officials were also arrested, Ahmad Said Hamdan, the director general of the Anti-Corruption Agency, told reporters. He said all 10 were arrested on Monday in various states and charged in different courts on Tuesday. Among those arrested are two assistant department heads in the Youth and Sports Ministry who allegedly purchased digital cameras at exorbitant prices. The other six are officials of the Welfare Department who allegedly embezzled state funds by claiming welfare handouts using the names of dead people, said Ahmad Said. Two employees of the companies that supplied the cameras were also arrested, he said. Details of the camera prices and the time frame of alleged offenses were not given. If convicted, all 10 face up to 20 years in prison, said Ahmad Said. (AP)

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Russian Businessman Accused in Cambodia of “Debauchery”

A Russian businessman has been arrested for allegedly having sex with at least six girls in Cambodia, a senior police official said Thursday. Alexander Trofimov, the chairman of an investment company, was arrested on Wednesday at Cambodia's coastal city of Sihanoukville, said police Maj-Gen Bit Kimhong, director of the Interior Ministry's antihuman trafficking department. The police officer said Trofimov, 41, was arrested on charges of debauchery, a Cambodian legal term for sex abuse against children that is punishable by 10 to 20 years in jail. Trofimov allegedly had sex with five girls in 2005 and another one this year, Bit Kimhong said, adding that the girls were between 12 and 18 years old. In September last year, Trofimov's company received permission from the Cambodian government to develop an island off Sihanoukville into a tourist resort with an initial investment of up to US $300 million. The island—Koh Puos or Snake Island—is located about 800 meters (a half-mile) off a popular beach site in Sihanoukville, about 185 kilometers (115 miles) southwest of Phnom Penh. (AP)

4 Killed in Tribal Clashes in Indonesia

Rival tribes armed with bows and arrows fought close to a US-owned gold mine in Indonesia's Papua region on Thursday, the latest in a series of clashes that have killed four people, police and a company official said. At least 45 others have been injured in the fighting in the remote region since Tuesday, local police chief Godhelp Mansnembra told el-Shinta radio. The fighting broke out in villages bordering a giant gold and copper mine operated by Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold Mine Inc. Mansnembra said mediation efforts had so far failed. "We don't know the actual cause of the problem, but fighting has broken out again today (Thursday)," he said. "In the morning they fight, then they stop for lunch and a rest, and then in the afternoon they fight again." The tribes in the area—3,200 kilometers (2,000 miles) northeast of Jakarta—have a history of bad relations. Feuds can last for several weeks and normally only end when the number of victims from either side is equal. (AP)

Volcano Mudflows Prompt Evacuations in Philippines

Mudflows triggered by heavy rains on the slopes of the restive Bulusan volcano prompted an evacuation of 1,500 residents, but some families kept returning in disregard for their safety, Philippine authorities said on Thursday. At least three villages in Irosin township, on the foot of the 1,560-meter (5,150-foot) Mt. Bulusan in the central Philippines, were flooded by mud and volcanic debris loosen by days of rains, said Mayor Lilia Gonzales. The volcano, about 390 kilometers (240 miles) southeast of Manila, has been blowing ash and steam since March 2006. Early this month, it was shaken by a series of small earthquakes and two ash explosions, but scientists ruled out an imminent eruption. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology has maintained the lowest of five alert levels for the volcano and barred people from entering a seven-kilometer (4.3-mile) "permanent danger zone" around Bulusan. (AP)

Thai Police Arrest Four Europeans as Major Drug Traffickers

Thai police arrested four European men Thursday who were sought by Belgian authorities as alleged major drug traffickers. Members of Thailand's drug suppression police, accompanied by nine counterparts from Belgium, made the arrests Thursday morning at a house on the southern resort island of Koh Samui, said police Lt-Gen Wut Liptapanlop. Police identified the four suspects as Ronald Koornwinder, 46, and Paulun Meyer, 44, of the Netherlands, and Koen Van Staay, 30, and Kelly Cauterrels, 25, of Belgium. Belgian authorities indicted the men in connection with the smuggling of 125 kilograms (275 pounds) of heroin, 200 (440 pounds) of cocaine and 350 kilograms (770 pounds) of marijuana into Belgium from South Africa. Belgian narcotics police discovered they were hiding out in Thailand, where they also were suspected of laundering their money. The Belgian police who took part in Thursday's raid helped identify the suspects, who will be detained by Thai authorities pending formal extradition to stand trial in Belgium. (AP)

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

N Korena Leader Hold Talks with Vietnam's Communist Party Chief

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il held talks Wednesday with Vietnam's Communist Party chief Nong Duc Manh in Pyongyang, the North's official news agency said. Manh, who was met at the airport by Kim with a red-carpet welcome Tuesday for a three-day trip, is the first Vietnamese leader to visit Pyongyang since a visit by President Ho Chi Minh in 1957. Manh was accompanied by Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem and other senior party and government officials. Vietnam and North Korea have long been ideological allies, but trade and economic ties remain weak. Vietnam established relations with Seoul more than 10 years ago and South Korea has since become one of Vietnam's top trading and investment partners. (AP)

Thailand to Buy Swedish Jet Fighters to Replace Aging US Warplanes

Thailand will purchase 12 Swedish-made jet fighters to replace Vietnam-era US warplanes, a military spokesman said Wednesday. The Gripen-JAS 39C/D multi-role fighters, costing 34.4 billion baht (US $1.1 billion), will take the place of US F-5 warplanes that have been in the Thai arsenal for three decades, said Royal Thai Air Force spokesman Monthon Suchakorn. An initial shipment of six planes will be based in the southern province of Surat Thani, while the rest are to be deployed in Ubon Ratchathani province in the northeast. The Thai air force had considered the purchase of other warplanes, including the US F-16 and Russia's SU-30, before settling on the Gripen. Thailand has made a number of military purchases recently including armored personnel carriers from the Ukraine, assault rifles from Israel and surface-to-surface missiles from China. (AP)

Malaysian Army Robes Recruits' Alleged Abuse, Warns against Ragging

The Malaysian army is investigating claims by two recruits that they were abused by senior officers, a top official said Wednesday, as he warned of severe punishment for bullies in the force. Zarul Fahmi Shabsuddin, 20, alleged he was forced to drink weapon cleaning fluid while Khairul Azzuwan Zainal Rashid, 19, claimed he was scarred after an officer cut his arm with a knife, said Lt-Gen Mohamad Effendi Mustafa, commander of the army's first division infantry. The two recruits, from a military camp in Sarawak state on Borneo island, filed complaints with police late last month, he said. Investigations are expected to wrap up this month, he said. Zarul and Khairul are on leave for the Eid al-Fitr holidays but are expected to return to the camp this weekend, he said, adding that no one has been suspended so far. Allegations of abuse are not uncommon in the Malaysian army. (AP)

North Korea to Learn Disability Volleyball from Cambodia

North Korea will send observers to Cambodia next month to learn from an international competition for disabled volleyball athletes, an official said Tuesday. The Cambodian National Volleyball League of Disabled People is organizing the tournament from November 24 to Dec. 1, said Christopher Minko, the group's secretary-general. He said it will be the first time that North Korea will be participating in an international disability sporting event. The Cambodian team is mostly made up of victims of land mines, the deadly legacy from three decades of armed conflict that ended with the collapse of the Khmer Rouge genocidal movement eight years ago. "They're not sending a team but it's a delegation to come and watch how we stage this event, how we work with disabled athletes ... because they want to start their own (disability) volleyball program," Minko said. Eight countries, including Cambodia, will be taking part in the tournament. Other teams will come from Mongolia, Canada, Slovakia, Poland, Germany, India and Malaysia. (AP)

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Vietnam's Death Toll from Typhoon Lekima Reaches 86

The death toll from Vietnam's Typhoon Lekima rose to 86 as rescue workers rushed to get aid to thousands of people still stuck in flooded areas, officials said Wednesday. Eleven more bodies were recovered in the worst-hit province of Nghe An, and one more body was discovered in Son La province. Nine people were still missing and feared dead. The flood waters that inundated central Vietnam continued receding Wednesday, but large sections of Nghe An and neighboring Thanh Hoa province remained unreachable by car. The International Federation of the Red Cross and the Vietnamese government estimated that about 10 million Vietnamese had been affected by Typhoon Lekima, said Joe Lowry, a Red Cross official said from Ninh Binh. The typhoon washed away 6,000 houses, damaged 52,000 houses and destroyed about 80,000 hectares (197,680 acres) of crops, Lowry said. (AP)

Cambodian Tribunal to Hold First Public Hearing

A former Khmer Rouge leader charged with crimes against humanity will appear publicly in a courtroom for the first time when his appeal against detention is heard, an official said Wednesday. The appeal by lawyers for Kaing Guek Eav, the former Khmer Rouge prison chief also known as Duch, "will be the first courtroom proceeding" of any kind held by the tribunal, said Reach Sambath, a spokesman for Cambodia's UN-backed genocide tribunal. He said no date has yet been set for the hearing but it could be in late November or early December. A panel of five judges—three Cambodian and two international officials—of the pretrial chamber will conduct the proceeding, a tribunal statement said. Duch will be present, Reach Sambath said. Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Duch, headed the Khmer Rouge's S-21 prison and torture center. He has been charged with crimes against humanity committed when the Khmer Rouge held power from 1975-79. (AP)

Malaysia to Hire Maids from South Asia, Laos and Vietnam to Fill Shortage

Agencies that supply foreign maids in Malaysia on Wednesday welcomed a government plan to allow recruitment from India, Nepal, Laos and Vietnam to fill a shortage caused by low wages and reports of abuse. "We were waiting" for this decision, said Raja Zulkepley Dahalan, president of the Malaysian Association of Foreign Housemaids Agencies. "Of course we support this." He said Malaysia would need to hire at least 1,000 maids every month to alleviate the shortage. "We have a problem now—94.8 percent of the maids are from Indonesia. We cannot depend so much on one source," he told. He said fewer Indonesian maids are applying to work in Malaysia because salaries here are lower than in other countries, and also because many are scared away by media reports that maids are physically abused by Malaysian employers.

Reports have highlighted several abuse cases in past months. In the most publicized case, a maid escaped her allegedly abusive employer's 15th floor apartment with a rope made of towels, sheets and clothes. Malaysian officials have insisted such cases are rare among the country's almost 320,000 foreign maids. Besides Indonesia, about 5 percent of maids come from the Philippines, Cambodia, Sri Lanka and Thailand. Indonesian maids typically earn 500 ringgit (US $147) per month while Filipinos earn about 1,300 ringgit ($380) per month. (AP)

Greenpeace Sets up Indonesian Forest Camp ahead of Climate Conference

Greenpeace activists in Indonesia set up camp on the edge one of the world's most threatened woodlands Tuesday, seeking to pressure political leaders before a major climate conference. Around 40 volunteers have been stationed in Kuala Cenaku village on Sumatra island, near to where a palm oil manufacturer is clearing peatland forest to plant new crops, Greenpeace officials said in the capital, Jakarta. Greenpeace is calling on Indonesia to impose a moratorium on deforestation and industrial logging while protection laws can be introduced.

Indonesia's resort island of Bali will host the UN climate change conference from December 3-14, which aims to start negotiations on a replacement of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gas emissions that expires in 2012. The Indonesian woodlands are home to endangered orangutans, tigers, elephants, rhinos and thousands of rare bird and plant species. It is being deforested at a rate of more than 160,000 hectares (40,000 acres) annually. (AP)

Monday, October 08, 2007

Vietnam's Death Toll from Typhoon Lekima Reaches 66

The death toll from floods and landslides in Vietnam caused by Typhoon Lekima rose Monday to 66 after additional bodies were found, while at least 18 people were missing and feared dead, officials said. Packing winds of 130 kilometers per hour (80 mph), Typhoon Lekima made landfall last Wednesday in Vietnam's central provinces. Four more bodies were found in Thanh Hoa on Sunday and another four were recovered on Monday, bringing the death toll in that province to 14, provincial disaster officials said adding another three were still missing. "The death toll is likely to rise as we just began to access different parts of the province where more than 50,000 people live in isolated areas," said disaster official Nguyen Van Hoa.

Authorities are rushing aid to tens of thousands of people stranded in their flooded homes in the province's Thach Thanh District where many villages remained inundated after the water overflowed the dikes, said Trinh Khoi Nguyen, another provincial disaster official.

Vietnam's Department of Floods and Storms Control said earlier the initial damage estimate from the typhoon was 659 billion dong (US $41 million), but this did not include the effects of flooding. Nearly 5,000 soldiers and more than 30,000 militiamen have been mobilized to help people deal with the aftermath of the flooding, the department said. (AP)

Former Khmer Rouge FM Denies Responsibility for Crimes

The Khmer Rouge's former foreign minister, Ieng Sary, said Sunday he believes he is next to face charges by a UN-backed genocide tribunal, but denied responsibility for the deaths of some 1.7 million people during the group's rule of Cambodia in the late 1970s.
After arriving at Bangkok's international airport, he said he heard about the speculation on the radio earlier Sunday as he headed to the airport in Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital. He was in Thailand to receive a checkup for a heart condition, he said.

The tribunal's prosecutors have recommended five former Khmer Rouge leaders for trial. So far, only two of them—Nuon Chea, the former Khmer Rouge ideologist, and Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Duch who headed the former Khmer Rouge S-21 torture center—have been detained on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The other three suspects have not been publicly named. But Ieng Sary, who lives freely in Cambodia but in declining health, is widely believed to be on the prosecutors' list. (AP)

Radio Commentator Attacked by Gunmen in Philippines

A radio commentator was shot and seriously wounded Monday by two men riding a motorcycle, officials said, the latest in a spate of attacks on journalists in the Philippines.
Jose Pantoja was shot three times with a pistol in front of a school in Iligan city, police Superintendent Ferdinand Bartolome said. The attackers, their faces concealed by handkerchiefs and dark glasses, fled and were being hunted by authorities. Pantoja, 43, accompanied a daughter to school and was returning to his motorcycle when he was attacked. Pantoja is a hard-hitting commentator at a local radio station who often criticized local officials accused of corruption or misrule. He made an unsuccessful run for a council seat in Iligan, about 780 kilometers (485 miles) southeast of Manila, last May, according to colleagues. An investigation was under way and it was unclear whether the attack was related to his work or not, Bartolome said.The Manila-based National Union of Journalists of the Philippines condemned Pantoja's shooting. He was the ninth journalist this year to suffer a violent attack in the country, it said. (AP)

An Indonesian Woman Dies from Bird Flu

An Indonesian woman has died from bird flu after buying chickens at a local market, lifting the national death toll from the disease to 87, a Health Ministry official said. Blood tests confirmed the woman, 44, had the deadly H5N1 strain of the disease, said Joko Suyono. Investigators were still trying to verify how the woman was exposed to the virus, usually fatal for poultry but hard for humans to contract, Suyono said. Indonesia has been hardest hit by the virus since it began ravaging poultry stocks across Asia in 2003. Its human death toll now accounts for almost half of the recorded 200 fatalities worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. (AP)

Indonesians to Celebrate End of Ramadan

Indonesia began its annual mass exodus Sunday when millions of people pour out of the major cities to return to their home villages to celebrate the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Thousands have started crowding bus and train stations in the capital, Jakarta six days before Eid al-Fitr to beat the mass exodus later in the week when buses, cars and motorcycles create massive traffic jams on roads across the world's most populous Muslim nation. Transport officials estimate that nearly 15 million people will head to their home villages—up 6 percent from last year—for the two day celebration next weekend.

Every year, families form long lines at train and bus stations and tens of thousands wait for ferries at seaports around the country that is spread across more than 17,000 islands. Nearly 90 percent of Indonesia's 235 million people are Muslims. During the four weeks of Ramadan, Muslims are not supposed to eat, drink or have sex during daylight hours. On the first day of Eid al-Fitr, people flock to early morning prayers and families later gather to eat specially prepared snacks and offer them to friends and neighbors. (AP)

Friday, October 05, 2007

Vietnam's Economy Grew 8.16 percent in First 9 Months

Vietnam's economy grew an estimated 8.16 percent in the first nine months of the year, its fastest pace for the January-September period in the last ten years, the General Statistics Office said in a report published Friday. In the same period a year ago, the economy grew 7.84 percent. Gross domestic product, the value of all goods and services produced in the country, was estimated to be worth 787 trillion dong (US $49 billion) in the first nine months, the GSO said. The manufacturing and construction sector grew 10 percent from a year ago to 328 trillion dong ($20 billion) during the three quarters, representing 42 percent of total GDP. The services sector was grew 8.5 percent to 301 trillion dong (US$19 billion), accounting for 38 percent of GDP.

Slower farming production, however, dragged on overall growth. The agricultural sector grew 3 percent to 158 trillion dong (US$10 billion), accounting for 20 percent of the economy. "The agricultural sector has been beset by the outbreaks of disease which hurt poultry and animals," the GSO said. The government targets economic growth of 8.5 percent in 2007, compared with 8.17 percent growth last year. The Asian Development Bank predicts Vietnam's economy could growth 8.3 percent this year. (AP)

Philippines on Alert against Dengue

Philippine health authorities, worried about a rise in mosquito-borne dengue infections, warned residents to get rid of stagnant water and use nets to protect against mosquito bites. The Health Department declared a nationwide dengue alert after recording more than 24,000 cases and 283 deaths so far this year. There were 4,000 infections in September alone, said Eric Tayag of the National Epidemiology Center. During the same period last year, 15,000 people were infected and 188 died, the Health Department said. With the onset of the rainy season, Tayag said he expected the number of cases to rise further.

Southeast Asia has seen levels of dengue fever jump after the last major outbreak in 1998, when about 350,000 cases were reported, including nearly 1,500 deaths, the World Health Organization said. As of July, Indonesia recorded about 68,000 cases, Thailand 24,000, and Cambodia 17,000, with 748 deaths in the first half of the year, according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. (AP)

Hollywood Supports Burma

Hollywood actor Jim Carrey will make a speech in New York on Friday calling for the United Nations Security Council to ban all international arms shipments to Burma and for strong action against the Burmese government.

Carrey is also expected to appeal to China, Russia and India to support such a resolution against the Burmese junta.

Jim Carrey is one of many Hollywood celebrities to join the effort to support human rights and democracy in Burma, with a focus on Aung San Suu Kyi, the world's only imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize recipient. In September this year, 28 Hollywood celebrities signed and delivered a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, calling on him to immediately intervene to secure the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and support democracy in Burma.

Artists of Asian Heritage Condemn Crackdown in Burma

Some of the world's best-known novelists, poets and artists of Asian heritage called on the Burmese junta to stop its repressive campaign against pro-democracy advocates and release political prisoners. Thirty artists signed an "open letter to Burma," as the country was previously called, that condemned the bloody crackdown on popular street protests last week. The government said 10 people were killed, but dissident groups put the death toll at up to 200 and say 6,000 people were detained, including thousands of Buddhist monks who led the protests. Among those who signed the letter, which was dated Wednesday, were novelists Maxine Hong Kingston (author of "The Woman Warrior"), Michael ondaatje ("The English Patient"), Amitav Ghosh ("The Glass Palace") and Le Ly Hayslip ("When Heaven and Earth Changed Places"). Other signatories included famed artist-architect Maya Lin, designer of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. (AP)

Cambodians Still Stuck in Grim Poverty

The vast majority of Cambodians continue to live in poverty and lack choices for their future despite their country's rapid economic growth, according to a government report released Thursday. Widening inequalities in incomes, child malnourishment, children dropping out of school at an early age, high maternal mortality rates and rising land conflicts are among the hardships of the rural poor, according to the Cambodia Human Development Report 2007 released on Thursday. At the same time, the Cambodian economy has been one of the fastest growing in Asia, expanding at 11.4 percent in each of the past three years. Other grim pictures include the fact that each year some 30,000 Cambodian children die from preventable causes such as malaria, dengue fever and diarrhea, it said.

It warned that the problems could spell "major setbacks" for Cambodian economic growth, which has so far been concentrated in urban areas. Some 35 percent of Cambodia's 14 million people live below the national poverty line of just 1,826 riel (US $0.45) a day. Cambodia's recent economic growth has been fueled largely by the garment industry. Last year's exports were worth US $2.6 billion, accounting for nearly 80 percent of total exports. (AP)

Typhoon Slams Central Vietnam Coast

Three people were killed and 58 injured after Typhoon Lekima slammed into central Vietnam, destroying and damaging more than 70,000 homes, officials said Thursday.
Packing winds of 130 kilometers (80 miles) per hour, the typhoon also left one person missing after it made landfall late Wednesday in Ha Tinh and Quang Binh provinces, knocking down trees and power poles, said Le Duc Thanh of the Department of Floods and Storms Control. The typhoon was downgraded to a tropical storm after reaching neighboring Laos early Thursday, the national weather forecast center said. Named after a Vietnamese fruit, Lekima appeared early to be heading toward southern China, where officials evacuated 100,000 people and called 20,000 fishing boats back to harbor. It shifted course early Wednesday and began heading to Vietnam, which is prone to floods and storms that kill hundreds of people each year. (AP)

Thai Government Reaffirms Election to Be Held on December 23

The Thai government reaffirmed Thursday that the country will hold a general election on December 23. Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont and the Election Commission chief, Apichart Sukhakanon, held a news conference to dispel rumors that the election might be delayed as long as a year. "The Election Commission has concluded that the election will be held on December 23, that is certain," Apichart said. "The government will support a free and fair election on the date set by the EC. My government is giving priority to preventing vote-buying," Surayud said. Vote-buying has become rampant in Thai elections over the past four years. Once Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej endorses the election decree—to be sent to him on October 16—politicians can begin their election campaigns, Apichart said.

Burma's Junta Releases Reporter at Japanese Newspaper

Burma's military authorities released a journalist working for a Japanese newspaper on Wednesday after six days in detention, a paper official said. Min Zaw, a Burmese national working for the Tokyo Shimbun, was taken from his home early Friday by plainclothes security personnel who said he would be held temporarily for questioning.
Min Zaw was released late Wednesday, according to Tokyo Shimbun official Hisao Ichikawa. He said other details were not immediately available.The reporter had been covering the ongoing pro-democracy demonstrations against the military regime, according to the paper. (AP)

Cambodia Urges Asean to Play a Bigger Role on Burma

Cambodia's prime minister called Wednesday for the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations to play a bigger role in finding a democratic solution to the crisis in Burma and urged the junta there to refrain from further violence. Hun Sen said the involvement of Burma's revered Buddhist monks in recent pro-democracy protests showed that problems in the country had reached a new level of seriousness. Hun Sen told reporters that the bloc should form a "troika" that can "assist in finding a solution to the problems in Myanmar [Burma]." Such a troika, Hun Sen said, should be led by Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, whose country is currently the rotating chair of Asean, and joined by the previous and future leaders of the bloc—meaning Malaysia and Thailand. (AP)

UN Chief Laments Rising Intolerance on First International Day of Nonviolence

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon marked the first International Day of Nonviolence on Mahatma Gandhi's birthday on Tuesday lamenting rising intolerance and pleading for the world to embrace the Indian leader’s ideals of peace and human dignity. In a veiled reference to the crackdown on peaceful demonstrators by Burma's military rulers, Ban said "we have witnessed lethal force being used against unarmed and nonviolent marchers who exemplified the very spirit of the Mahatma's teachings."

Mahatma Gandhi, an Indian statesman and reformer, born on October 2, 1869, led peaceful struggles against unjust regimes in South Africa and India from the early 1900s until his assassination in 1948, soon after India's independence. The secretary-general spoke at a UN General Assembly commemoration, along with Sonia Gandhi, India's Congress Party leader, and South Africa's Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma. (AP)

Thailand's Army Chief Enters Politics as a Deputy PM

The army chief who led last year's coup in Thailand began a career in politics Tuesday, becoming one of three deputy prime ministers. The move follows Gen Sonthi Boonyaratglin's retirement as Thailand's army commander Sunday, an expected departure upon his 61st birthday, which fell Tuesday. Sonthi moved to further break ties with the military by resigning Monday as the head of the Council for National Security, comprised of the generals who led the coup that ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in September 2006. The council shares power with Thailand's interim civilian government.

Sonthi's appointment as a deputy prime minister in the interim government was endorsed Tuesday by royal decree, as is customary. Critics charge that any involvement by Sonthi in politics would show the military's desire to prolong its grip on power, which could spark another political crisis. Sonthi appointed Chalit Pukphasuk as the new head of the Council for National Security. Chalit was one of Sonthi's deputies in the council and is the current air force chief. (AP)