Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Four Die in Flash Floods in N Thailand

Flash floods have swept over mountainous areas in Thailand's northern provinces, killing four people and injuring 12, the country's disaster prevention agency said Tuesday. Heavy rainfall for the past few days caused flash floods in 22 mountainous villages in the northern provinces of Phitsanulok, Phetchabun, and northeastern province of Loei, affecting more than 4,600 people, said a statement from Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Center. Four villagers, including two children, were killed, 12 injured and two were missing, it said. Conditions in the two provinces were returning to normal Tuesday, it said, though farmland in two districts in Phisanulok remained flooded. (AP)

Self-professed 'Princesses' from Ancient Indonesian Monarchy Face Malaysia Court

Two women claiming to be princesses from an ancient Indonesian empire were charged in a Malaysian court Wednesday with entering the country illegally, their lawyer said.
Malaysian immigration authorities arrested Puteri Lamia Roro Wiranata, 21, and Puteri Fathia Reza, 23, in a buffer zone between the sultanate of Brunei and Malaysia's Sarawak state on July 16, their attorney Shankar Ram Asnani said. The women claimed they had been living "in exile" in Switzerland and Germany and that they were visiting Southeast Asia using passports "issued by the Sunda Democratic Empire," Shankar said. The "empire" refers to the former monarchies of the Sundanese people in Indonesia dating back centuries—no longer recognized by Indonesia and other countries in the region.

The women managed to enter Brunei in July, but they claimed they had been forced into the buffer zone—considered by both countries to be under Malaysian jurisdiction—because they were eventually expelled by Brunei authorities, Shankar said. State prosecutors charged them Wednesday in Sarawak's High Court with entering Malaysia illegally and representing themselves with false travel documents, Shankar said. They face unspecified prison sentences and fines if convicted, he said. Immigration officials familiar with the case could not immediately be contacted. Court hearings for the case would proceed this week, and the women were in custody in a police lockup, Shankar said. (AP)

Iraqi, South Korean Lead for AFC Player of the Year

Iraq captain Younis Mahmoud and South Korean World Cup veteran Lee Woon-jae are among 33 players in the running for the Asian Football Confederation's Player of the Year award. Contenders include five players from Asian Cup champion Iraq, four from Japan, three from Saudi Arabia, two each from Iran, South Korea, Thailand, Kuwait, Vietnam, Oman and Syria, and one each from the United Arab Emirates, Australia, Bahrain, Uzbekistan, North Korea, Tajikistan and China, the AFC said in a statement Wednesday. The AFC Annual Awards ceremony is scheduled for November 28 in Sydney, Australia. (AP)

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

2 Dead, 5 Missing in Vietnam Flash Flood

Flash flooding triggered by torrential rain killed two people and swept five others away in northern Vietnam, a government official said Tuesday. The floodwaters engulfed seven workers as they slept at Suoi Ngoi Duong hydroelectric plant in Lao Cai province, said Thao A Tua, a provincial disaster official. Lao Cai is 320 kilometers (200 miles) northwest of Hanoi. Last year, natural disasters in Vietnam killed at least 500 people, injured nearly 3,000, and caused nearly US$1.17 billion in damage. (AP)

Vietnam Seizes Chickens Smuggled from China

Authorities in northern Vietnam confiscated 2,500 chickens smuggled in from neighboring China, highlighting the challenges of stopping bird flu, officials said Tuesday. Authorities confiscated 1.3 tons of chickens found in a truck early Tuesday morning, said Nguyen Thang Loi, director of Lang Son provincial market control department. The chickens will be destroyed, he added. In neighboring Quang Ninh province, authorities on Sunday confiscated 4.3 tons of chickens smuggled in from China in two separate cases, said provincial chief market inspector Nguyen Dang Truong. Loi said his staff have confiscated some 50 tons of chickens smuggled in from China so far this year, while authorities in Quang Ninh have confiscated and destroyed more than 60 tons of the birds in the same period. Loi said many local residents who live along the border have been lured to work as porters who haul chickens on their backs and could be paid up to 100,000 dong (US $6.2) a day, a much better income than working as farmers. Quang Ninh province's chief market inspector Truong said it's very difficult for authorities to completely stop the smugglers, who are motivated by huge profits. (AP)

US Space Tourism Company Partners for Singapore Spaceport

More than a year after the project was first announced, US company Space Adventures Ltd said Tuesday it was still seeking local partners and financing for a Singapore-based spaceport to launch suborbital tourism flights. The company said in February last year it was forming a venture with a Singapore-based consortium to build a US$115 million facility in the Southeast Asian city-state. Eric Anderson, president and chief executive of Virginia-based Space Adventures Ltd., on the sidelines of a business conference in Singapore, said the company was looking at a number of other Asian locations for its spaceport, including China, Japan and Korea, but remained confident of the Singapore project's success. He did not provide a timeframe for the project. The project will be partially funded by the Crown Prince of Ras Al-Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates, Sheik Saud Bin Saqr Al Qasimi, the company said. (AP)

Monday, September 10, 2007

Earthquake Tremors Rock E Indonesian Town

A pair of moderate earthquakes rocked an eastern Indonesian town early Monday, damaging buildings and causing panicked residents to flee their homes, an official and witnesses said. There were some reports of injuries. The temblors with preliminary magnitudes of 4.5 and 4.9 struck Situbondo, 800 kilometers (600 miles) east of Jakarta, said Suhardjono, a meteorologist at the government's Meteorology and Geophysics Agency. At least 13 people were admitted to a clinic with broken bones and other injuries, said Rustam Pakaya, a paramedic. Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago, is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin. (AP)

Malaysia Declares Itself Free of Bird Flu

Malaysia declared itself free of bird flu Monday, more than three months after an outbreak among poultry led authorities to slaughter over 4,000 chickens and ducks. Agriculture Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said surveillance and laboratory tests since June have fulfilled conditions set by the World Organization for Animal Health, or OIE, to declare the country free of the virulent H5N1 bird flu virus.

Malaysia on June 5 confirmed its first bird flu outbreak in more than a year after tests on some 60 birds that died in Sungai Buloh, near the country's commercial capital, Kuala Lumpur, showed they had the H5N1 virus. Several villagers with flu-like symptoms were hospitalized, but they tested negative for bird flu. Before the last incident, Malaysia had reported an outbreak of the H5N1 strain in March 2006 in chickens in a northern village. The government had previously declared the country free of bird flu in June 2006. (AP)

Graft Investigator Shot Dead in Philippines

Motorcycle-riding gunmen on Monday shot dead an attorney who investigated government graft cases, prompting Philippine officials to order a swift probe. Graft investigator and prosecutor Alejo Dojillo, 43, was killed in his northern hometown of San Fabian while on his way to catch a bus to the Office of the Ombudsman in Manila where he worked, police said. Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, the head anti-graft investigator, ordered the National Bureau of Investigation to conduct a thorough hunt for the killers, vowing to "exert all efforts to bring justice to attorney Dojillo's death."

Chief Inspector Chito Sancho Esmenda, the police chief of San Fabian, 180 kilometers (110 miles) north of Manila, said investigators were studying the possibility that Dojillo's killing was linked to graft cases he had investigated or to his family's involvement in politics. A senior World Bank official earlier this month urged the Philippines to strengthen its fight against corruption, which remains a major hindrance to foreign investment. A recent World Bank report ranked the Philippines 126th out of 175 countries in terms of investor friendliness. (AP)

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Hundreds Flee Thailand Hotel Fire

A hotel caught fire in downtown Bangkok on Wednesday, injuring 16 people and forcing hundreds of guests to evacuate. The blaze broke out shortly after midnight in a second-floor room at the Mandarin Hotel, said police Lt-Col Chakarin Panthong. Sixteen people—all foreign tourists—suffered smoke inhalation and were admitted to hospital, he said. About 400 other guests were evacuated safely. Police were investigating the cause of the fire, but initial investigations showed a short-circuit in the 30-year-old hotel was responsible. (AP)

Thaksin 'Unlikely to Return to Thailand in Near Future'

Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is unlikely to return to Thailand in the near future because he fears for his safety, his public relations representatives said. A day after a Thai court issued a new set of arrest warrants for him and his wife, the Bell Pottinger Group public relations company said the exiled former leader was innocent of any crime. "This is another politically motivated attack on the reputation of Dr Thaksin and his family," the company said in the e-mail statement on Tuesday. "Dr Thaksin maintains his innocence and states that he is unlikely to be able to return to Thailand in the short term because of personal safety issues, his desire not be a cause of division in Thai society and the unlikelihood of a fair trial." Thaksin, who has been living abroad since he was ousted in a bloodless coup almost a year ago, is being sought by Thai authorities for allegedly violating stock-trading laws and on corruption-related charges.
Thaksin has always denied the allegations. (AP)

Singapore Apartment Block among Aga Khan Award Winners

A Singapore apartment block that uses innovative techniques for living in a hot climate is among the nine winners of the 2007 Aga Khan Award for Architecture, which celebrate the mundane to the magnificent around the globe. The 28-story Moulmein Rise Residential Tower incorporates the traditional monsoon window, a horizontal opening that lets in breezes but not rain. Other winners include a school in Bangladesh and a university in Kuala Lumpur. The award, established in 1977, recognizes architectural excellence in places where Muslims live. It covers the fields of contemporary design, social housing, community improvement, historical preservation, reuse and area conservation, as well as landscape design and improvement of environment. (AP)

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Investors Push Cambodia to Allow Foreign Ownership of Buildings, Condominiums

Foreign investors pushed the Cambodian government Tuesday to allow foreign ownership of buildings, apartments and condominiums, saying such a step is important to advance the country's economic growth. "It will help further develop the real estate market in Cambodia," said Bretton Sciaroni, an American lawyer, in a speech at a government forum Tuesday. Sciaroni was representing a group of investors in a regular meeting with the government to discuss the investment climate and the difficulties of doing business in Cambodia. He noted that real estate is already a dynamic sector in Cambodia. "But foreign ownership of apartments, condominiums and other such structures on the land will help spur future economic growth," he said.

The Cambodian constitution prohibits foreign ownership of land but doesn't explicitly ban foreigners from owning buildings. Two years ago, the government amended a land law with the aim of allowing foreign ownership of such permanent fixtures. But since then, the government has not issued any implementing regulation on the amendment, leaving lending institutions uncertain about investing in Cambodian real estates, Sciaroni said. (AP)

Malaysia's Mahathir Stable after Heart Bypass Surgery

Malaysia's former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad was in stable condition after undergoing a second bypass surgery Tuesday following two recent heart attacks, his daughter said. Marina Mahathir said the surgery, which was performed at the National Heart Institute, was successful. She said Mahathir, 82, has not regained consciousness and it was not clear how long it will take before he can return home. Mahathir, who suffered heart attacks in November 2006 and May this year, was admitted to the National Heart Institute on Sunday after he elected to have the surgery. Two days earlier he had attended a national day parade to mark the country's 50th anniversary of independence. (AP)

Billions in Trade Deals Expected During Putin's Visit to Indonesia

Russia and Indonesia are expected to sign billions of dollars worth of weapons, mining and oil deals during Russian President Vladimir Putin's first visit to the country this week, a presidential spokesman said Tuesday. Russia will grant Indonesia a US$1 billion credit line to buy Russian military hardware, said spokesman Dino Pati Djalal, without providing details. Indonesian mining company Aneka Tambang will sign a $3 billion deal with Russian aluminum giant United Company Rusal, while state-owned oil company Pertamina plans to sign a $1 billion agreement with Russia's LukOil, he said. Putin will meet with Indonesia President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Thursday during a one-day stop over on his way to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Australia.

Indonesia has been looking for other sources of arms since the United States—formerly its largest supplier of weaponry—cut military ties in 1999 over human rights concerns. The ban was lifted in 2005, but Jakarta continues to look elsewhere for military hardware.

Indonesia is a major arms-buying client for Russia and has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on fighter jets. (AP)

Dive Boat Capsizes off Thai Coast, Killing Israeli Tourist

A dive boat capsized off the Thai coast Tuesday, killing an Israeli man and injuring seven other tourists, police said. The boat with 59 passengers on board sank during a diving trip near Phi Phi island in the Andaman Sea, police Lt-Col Somdet Sukkhakarn said. Somdet said a tourist identified as 26-year-old Nissim Lugasi of Israel died, and seven others were hurt. He was not certain what countries the other tourists were from. The accident was blamed on rough seas, which are common at this time of year, Somdet said.

Phi Phi island is a popular tourist destination, best known for its beaches and diving. It is located in the southern Thai province of Krabi, about 650 kilometers (400 miles) south of Bangkok. Last month, a boat carrying 38 passengers capsized near Phi Phi. All the passengers and crew were rescued. (AP)

Monday, September 03, 2007

Burma's Domestic Airfares Up

Domestic airfares for local passengers rose 30 per cent over the weekend, the latest in a series of hefty price increases, according to a report by the German news agency DPA carried by The Myanmar Times on Monday. The rise in fares was implemented by all domestic airlines, including Air Mandalay, Air Bagan and Yangon Airways. A similar price hike is to take effect in October for foreign passengers, who must pay for their tickets in foreign currencies, the report said.

Malaysia's Mahathir to Have Second Heart Bypass Surgery

Malaysia's former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has entered a hospital for his second bypass surgery after recently suffering two heart attacks, officials said Monday.Mahathir was set to undergo "elective coronary bypass surgery" on Tuesday, the National Heart Institute hospital said in a statement. Mahathir, 81, was admitted to the hospital on Sunday, two days after taking part in a parade to mark the country's 50th independence day. The Star newspaper quoted Mahathir's son, Mokhzani, as saying his father—who suffered heart attacks in November and May—had wanted to postpone the surgery until after the national day celebrations. "He is all right and preparing for the operation," the paper quoted Mokhzani as saying. Yahya Awang, the surgeon who performed a bypass on Mahathir in 1989, was to head the surgery team Tuesday, the hospital statement said. (AP)

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Four Die in Flash Floods in N Thailand

Flash floods have swept over mountainous areas in Thailand's northern provinces, killing four people and injuring 12, the country's disaster prevention agency said Tuesday. Heavy rainfall for the past few days caused flash floods in 22 mountainous villages in the northern provinces of Phitsanulok, Phetchabun, and northeastern province of Loei, affecting more than 4,600 people, said a statement from Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Center. Four villagers, including two children, were killed, 12 injured and two were missing, it said. Conditions in the two provinces were returning to normal Tuesday, it said, though farmland in two districts in Phisanulok remained flooded. (AP)

Self-professed 'Princesses' from Ancient Indonesian Monarchy Face Malaysia Court

Two women claiming to be princesses from an ancient Indonesian empire were charged in a Malaysian court Wednesday with entering the country illegally, their lawyer said.
Malaysian immigration authorities arrested Puteri Lamia Roro Wiranata, 21, and Puteri Fathia Reza, 23, in a buffer zone between the sultanate of Brunei and Malaysia's Sarawak state on July 16, their attorney Shankar Ram Asnani said. The women claimed they had been living "in exile" in Switzerland and Germany and that they were visiting Southeast Asia using passports "issued by the Sunda Democratic Empire," Shankar said. The "empire" refers to the former monarchies of the Sundanese people in Indonesia dating back centuries—no longer recognized by Indonesia and other countries in the region.

The women managed to enter Brunei in July, but they claimed they had been forced into the buffer zone—considered by both countries to be under Malaysian jurisdiction—because they were eventually expelled by Brunei authorities, Shankar said. State prosecutors charged them Wednesday in Sarawak's High Court with entering Malaysia illegally and representing themselves with false travel documents, Shankar said. They face unspecified prison sentences and fines if convicted, he said. Immigration officials familiar with the case could not immediately be contacted. Court hearings for the case would proceed this week, and the women were in custody in a police lockup, Shankar said. (AP)

Iraqi, South Korean Lead for AFC Player of the Year

Iraq captain Younis Mahmoud and South Korean World Cup veteran Lee Woon-jae are among 33 players in the running for the Asian Football Confederation's Player of the Year award. Contenders include five players from Asian Cup champion Iraq, four from Japan, three from Saudi Arabia, two each from Iran, South Korea, Thailand, Kuwait, Vietnam, Oman and Syria, and one each from the United Arab Emirates, Australia, Bahrain, Uzbekistan, North Korea, Tajikistan and China, the AFC said in a statement Wednesday. The AFC Annual Awards ceremony is scheduled for November 28 in Sydney, Australia. (AP)

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

2 Dead, 5 Missing in Vietnam Flash Flood

Flash flooding triggered by torrential rain killed two people and swept five others away in northern Vietnam, a government official said Tuesday. The floodwaters engulfed seven workers as they slept at Suoi Ngoi Duong hydroelectric plant in Lao Cai province, said Thao A Tua, a provincial disaster official. Lao Cai is 320 kilometers (200 miles) northwest of Hanoi. Last year, natural disasters in Vietnam killed at least 500 people, injured nearly 3,000, and caused nearly US$1.17 billion in damage. (AP)

Vietnam Seizes Chickens Smuggled from China

Authorities in northern Vietnam confiscated 2,500 chickens smuggled in from neighboring China, highlighting the challenges of stopping bird flu, officials said Tuesday. Authorities confiscated 1.3 tons of chickens found in a truck early Tuesday morning, said Nguyen Thang Loi, director of Lang Son provincial market control department. The chickens will be destroyed, he added. In neighboring Quang Ninh province, authorities on Sunday confiscated 4.3 tons of chickens smuggled in from China in two separate cases, said provincial chief market inspector Nguyen Dang Truong. Loi said his staff have confiscated some 50 tons of chickens smuggled in from China so far this year, while authorities in Quang Ninh have confiscated and destroyed more than 60 tons of the birds in the same period. Loi said many local residents who live along the border have been lured to work as porters who haul chickens on their backs and could be paid up to 100,000 dong (US $6.2) a day, a much better income than working as farmers. Quang Ninh province's chief market inspector Truong said it's very difficult for authorities to completely stop the smugglers, who are motivated by huge profits. (AP)

US Space Tourism Company Partners for Singapore Spaceport

More than a year after the project was first announced, US company Space Adventures Ltd said Tuesday it was still seeking local partners and financing for a Singapore-based spaceport to launch suborbital tourism flights. The company said in February last year it was forming a venture with a Singapore-based consortium to build a US$115 million facility in the Southeast Asian city-state. Eric Anderson, president and chief executive of Virginia-based Space Adventures Ltd., on the sidelines of a business conference in Singapore, said the company was looking at a number of other Asian locations for its spaceport, including China, Japan and Korea, but remained confident of the Singapore project's success. He did not provide a timeframe for the project. The project will be partially funded by the Crown Prince of Ras Al-Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates, Sheik Saud Bin Saqr Al Qasimi, the company said. (AP)

Monday, September 10, 2007

Earthquake Tremors Rock E Indonesian Town

A pair of moderate earthquakes rocked an eastern Indonesian town early Monday, damaging buildings and causing panicked residents to flee their homes, an official and witnesses said. There were some reports of injuries. The temblors with preliminary magnitudes of 4.5 and 4.9 struck Situbondo, 800 kilometers (600 miles) east of Jakarta, said Suhardjono, a meteorologist at the government's Meteorology and Geophysics Agency. At least 13 people were admitted to a clinic with broken bones and other injuries, said Rustam Pakaya, a paramedic. Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago, is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin. (AP)

Malaysia Declares Itself Free of Bird Flu

Malaysia declared itself free of bird flu Monday, more than three months after an outbreak among poultry led authorities to slaughter over 4,000 chickens and ducks. Agriculture Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said surveillance and laboratory tests since June have fulfilled conditions set by the World Organization for Animal Health, or OIE, to declare the country free of the virulent H5N1 bird flu virus.

Malaysia on June 5 confirmed its first bird flu outbreak in more than a year after tests on some 60 birds that died in Sungai Buloh, near the country's commercial capital, Kuala Lumpur, showed they had the H5N1 virus. Several villagers with flu-like symptoms were hospitalized, but they tested negative for bird flu. Before the last incident, Malaysia had reported an outbreak of the H5N1 strain in March 2006 in chickens in a northern village. The government had previously declared the country free of bird flu in June 2006. (AP)

Graft Investigator Shot Dead in Philippines

Motorcycle-riding gunmen on Monday shot dead an attorney who investigated government graft cases, prompting Philippine officials to order a swift probe. Graft investigator and prosecutor Alejo Dojillo, 43, was killed in his northern hometown of San Fabian while on his way to catch a bus to the Office of the Ombudsman in Manila where he worked, police said. Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, the head anti-graft investigator, ordered the National Bureau of Investigation to conduct a thorough hunt for the killers, vowing to "exert all efforts to bring justice to attorney Dojillo's death."

Chief Inspector Chito Sancho Esmenda, the police chief of San Fabian, 180 kilometers (110 miles) north of Manila, said investigators were studying the possibility that Dojillo's killing was linked to graft cases he had investigated or to his family's involvement in politics. A senior World Bank official earlier this month urged the Philippines to strengthen its fight against corruption, which remains a major hindrance to foreign investment. A recent World Bank report ranked the Philippines 126th out of 175 countries in terms of investor friendliness. (AP)

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Hundreds Flee Thailand Hotel Fire

A hotel caught fire in downtown Bangkok on Wednesday, injuring 16 people and forcing hundreds of guests to evacuate. The blaze broke out shortly after midnight in a second-floor room at the Mandarin Hotel, said police Lt-Col Chakarin Panthong. Sixteen people—all foreign tourists—suffered smoke inhalation and were admitted to hospital, he said. About 400 other guests were evacuated safely. Police were investigating the cause of the fire, but initial investigations showed a short-circuit in the 30-year-old hotel was responsible. (AP)

Thaksin 'Unlikely to Return to Thailand in Near Future'

Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is unlikely to return to Thailand in the near future because he fears for his safety, his public relations representatives said. A day after a Thai court issued a new set of arrest warrants for him and his wife, the Bell Pottinger Group public relations company said the exiled former leader was innocent of any crime. "This is another politically motivated attack on the reputation of Dr Thaksin and his family," the company said in the e-mail statement on Tuesday. "Dr Thaksin maintains his innocence and states that he is unlikely to be able to return to Thailand in the short term because of personal safety issues, his desire not be a cause of division in Thai society and the unlikelihood of a fair trial." Thaksin, who has been living abroad since he was ousted in a bloodless coup almost a year ago, is being sought by Thai authorities for allegedly violating stock-trading laws and on corruption-related charges.
Thaksin has always denied the allegations. (AP)

Singapore Apartment Block among Aga Khan Award Winners

A Singapore apartment block that uses innovative techniques for living in a hot climate is among the nine winners of the 2007 Aga Khan Award for Architecture, which celebrate the mundane to the magnificent around the globe. The 28-story Moulmein Rise Residential Tower incorporates the traditional monsoon window, a horizontal opening that lets in breezes but not rain. Other winners include a school in Bangladesh and a university in Kuala Lumpur. The award, established in 1977, recognizes architectural excellence in places where Muslims live. It covers the fields of contemporary design, social housing, community improvement, historical preservation, reuse and area conservation, as well as landscape design and improvement of environment. (AP)

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Investors Push Cambodia to Allow Foreign Ownership of Buildings, Condominiums

Foreign investors pushed the Cambodian government Tuesday to allow foreign ownership of buildings, apartments and condominiums, saying such a step is important to advance the country's economic growth. "It will help further develop the real estate market in Cambodia," said Bretton Sciaroni, an American lawyer, in a speech at a government forum Tuesday. Sciaroni was representing a group of investors in a regular meeting with the government to discuss the investment climate and the difficulties of doing business in Cambodia. He noted that real estate is already a dynamic sector in Cambodia. "But foreign ownership of apartments, condominiums and other such structures on the land will help spur future economic growth," he said.

The Cambodian constitution prohibits foreign ownership of land but doesn't explicitly ban foreigners from owning buildings. Two years ago, the government amended a land law with the aim of allowing foreign ownership of such permanent fixtures. But since then, the government has not issued any implementing regulation on the amendment, leaving lending institutions uncertain about investing in Cambodian real estates, Sciaroni said. (AP)

Malaysia's Mahathir Stable after Heart Bypass Surgery

Malaysia's former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad was in stable condition after undergoing a second bypass surgery Tuesday following two recent heart attacks, his daughter said. Marina Mahathir said the surgery, which was performed at the National Heart Institute, was successful. She said Mahathir, 82, has not regained consciousness and it was not clear how long it will take before he can return home. Mahathir, who suffered heart attacks in November 2006 and May this year, was admitted to the National Heart Institute on Sunday after he elected to have the surgery. Two days earlier he had attended a national day parade to mark the country's 50th anniversary of independence. (AP)

Billions in Trade Deals Expected During Putin's Visit to Indonesia

Russia and Indonesia are expected to sign billions of dollars worth of weapons, mining and oil deals during Russian President Vladimir Putin's first visit to the country this week, a presidential spokesman said Tuesday. Russia will grant Indonesia a US$1 billion credit line to buy Russian military hardware, said spokesman Dino Pati Djalal, without providing details. Indonesian mining company Aneka Tambang will sign a $3 billion deal with Russian aluminum giant United Company Rusal, while state-owned oil company Pertamina plans to sign a $1 billion agreement with Russia's LukOil, he said. Putin will meet with Indonesia President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Thursday during a one-day stop over on his way to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Australia.

Indonesia has been looking for other sources of arms since the United States—formerly its largest supplier of weaponry—cut military ties in 1999 over human rights concerns. The ban was lifted in 2005, but Jakarta continues to look elsewhere for military hardware.

Indonesia is a major arms-buying client for Russia and has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on fighter jets. (AP)

Dive Boat Capsizes off Thai Coast, Killing Israeli Tourist

A dive boat capsized off the Thai coast Tuesday, killing an Israeli man and injuring seven other tourists, police said. The boat with 59 passengers on board sank during a diving trip near Phi Phi island in the Andaman Sea, police Lt-Col Somdet Sukkhakarn said. Somdet said a tourist identified as 26-year-old Nissim Lugasi of Israel died, and seven others were hurt. He was not certain what countries the other tourists were from. The accident was blamed on rough seas, which are common at this time of year, Somdet said.

Phi Phi island is a popular tourist destination, best known for its beaches and diving. It is located in the southern Thai province of Krabi, about 650 kilometers (400 miles) south of Bangkok. Last month, a boat carrying 38 passengers capsized near Phi Phi. All the passengers and crew were rescued. (AP)

Monday, September 03, 2007

Burma's Domestic Airfares Up

Domestic airfares for local passengers rose 30 per cent over the weekend, the latest in a series of hefty price increases, according to a report by the German news agency DPA carried by The Myanmar Times on Monday. The rise in fares was implemented by all domestic airlines, including Air Mandalay, Air Bagan and Yangon Airways. A similar price hike is to take effect in October for foreign passengers, who must pay for their tickets in foreign currencies, the report said.

Malaysia's Mahathir to Have Second Heart Bypass Surgery

Malaysia's former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has entered a hospital for his second bypass surgery after recently suffering two heart attacks, officials said Monday.Mahathir was set to undergo "elective coronary bypass surgery" on Tuesday, the National Heart Institute hospital said in a statement. Mahathir, 81, was admitted to the hospital on Sunday, two days after taking part in a parade to mark the country's 50th independence day. The Star newspaper quoted Mahathir's son, Mokhzani, as saying his father—who suffered heart attacks in November and May—had wanted to postpone the surgery until after the national day celebrations. "He is all right and preparing for the operation," the paper quoted Mokhzani as saying. Yahya Awang, the surgeon who performed a bypass on Mahathir in 1989, was to head the surgery team Tuesday, the hospital statement said. (AP)

Friday, August 31, 2007

Thailand Needs More Migrant Workers

Businesses in Thailand need 400,000 more migrant workers to solve the labor shortage, according to Department of Employment officials.  Manoon Punyakriyakorn, the director-general of the Department of Employment, said on Friday the Federation of Thai Industries, the Chamber of Commerce and 16 other trade organizations face serious shortages of migrant workers. “In addition, the Thailand Development Research Center found from their study that this year 400,000 more migrant workers are needed and in the next five years the demand will reach more than 500,000,” Manoon said.

The employment department will create a Migrant Worker Administration Committee to seek solutions, he said, including reopening registration for illegal migrant workers and encouraging more legal migrant workers to come to Thailand. Business sectors which need workers include agriculture, farming, fishing and seafood processing. Currently, about 500,000 workers from Burma, Laos and Cambodia are registered with the Thailand Ministry of Labour.

Indonesia Seeks Ways to Save Sumatran Elephants, Tigers

Efforts to save Sumatran elephants and tigers from extinction gathered steam in Indonesia on Friday, with government officials and experts vowing to find ways to protect the species' dwindling habitat from loggers and farmers. More than 100 people were taking part in the three-day meeting that wraps up Friday. "There is a very real danger that Sumatran elephants (and tigers) could become extinct in our lifetime if we don't come to agreement at this workshop," said Christy Williams of the World Wildlife Fund. "We need to decide what areas need to remain natural forests and how to go about making sure they are not touched."

Satellite images show that 8 million hectares (20 million acres) of Sumatra island's remaining lowland tropical forest—the animals' primary habitat—were lost to development from 1990 to 2000, conservationists say. They estimate that there are only 2,400 to 2,800 Sumatran elephants left in the world, and no more than 400 tigers. The meeting in Padang, West Sumatra, was significant because it was organized by the Indonesian government and brought together local officials, aid workers, international and local scientists, and members of the business community. (AP)

Monday, August 27, 2007

Burmese Exiles to Gather in Ottawa
 
The Burma Policy Consultation Conference will be held Wednesday through Thursday at the Sheraton Ottawa Hotel in Ottawa, Canada. Prominent Burmese activists, scholars, ethnic leaders and journalists living in Asia, Europe and North America will meet on Wednesday to discuss China, India and Asean. Their findings will be presented on Thursday to a broader audience comprised of representatives from the Government of Canada, the diplomatic community and civil society organizations, according to the Canadian Friends of Burma (CFOB), a facilitating group for the conference.Organizers said many Burmese who work on human rights, democracy, labor and women's issues in Asian countries who had been invited to attend were denied entry visas to Canada. A CFOB member told The Irrawaddy that Canadian immigration officials were concerned that some Burmese who visited Canada would overstay in the country and not return to Burma or the countries where they are currently living.

Burmese Reporter Wins International Journalism Award

The International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) has named an Egyptian blogger, Wael Abbas, and a Burmese investigative reporter, May Thingyan Hein, the winners of the 2007 Knight International Journalism Award. May Thingyan Hein, a 33-year-old freelance journalist, was recognized for her coverage of controversial topics such as corruption, HIV/AIDS and poverty. “Wael Abbas and May Thingyan Hein are blazing the path in their countries with extremely bold coverage,” said ICFJ President Joyce Barnathan. “We want to honor them for exposing issues no one else will cover and encourage others to follow their example.”

The award, sponsored by the Knight International Journalism Fellowships Program, recognizes individuals who have raised the standards of media excellence in their country. They will be honored along with the Founders Award recipient, TV broadcaster Tom Brokaw, at the 10th annual ICFJ Awards Dinner at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, DC, on November 13.

Thai Government Announces Election Date

Thai Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont said Monday that his government agrees that the next general election should be held on December 23. Surayud, appointed interim prime minister after a coup in September last year, spoke after meeting with members of the official Election Commission, who had suggested the date. Surayud told reporters that his government and all government agencies concerned were ready to support and cooperate with the Election Commission on implementing that date for the polls. The date will become officially set only after King Bhumibol Adulyadej issues a royal decree. (AP)

Pirates Release Indonesian Crew after Ransom Is Paid

Pirates who kidnapped two Indonesian sailors in the Malacca Strait earlier this month have released them after a ransom was paid, a global maritime watchdog said Monday.
Noel Choong, head of the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting center in Kuala Lumpur, said the value of the ransom has not been disclosed, and he declined to identify who paid it. Gun-toting pirates attacked a Malaysian barge on August 13 and abducted the vessel's Indonesian ship master and chief engineer. The pirates did not steal the barge, or any of the steel billets it was carrying from Malaysia's northern state of Penang to Belawan in Indonesia.

It was the third pirate attack in the Malacca Strait this year, but the first kidnapping in the busy waterway since July 2005. The strait is notorious for robberies and hijackings but the number of attacks has fallen since Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore, which share the waterway, launched coordinated maritime and air patrols in recent years to curb piracy. (AP)

Tanzanian Rare Tortoises, Rescued from Smugglers, Stuck in Malaysia

Some 60 endangered tortoises smuggled via airmail to Malaysia two months ago cannot be returned yet to their native Tanzania because the two countries are still haggling over details of the handover, a wildlife official said Monday. Authorities on June 12 discovered 76 rare leopard tortoises strapped and cramped in two parcels labeled as clay pots and sent by air mail from Tanzania, said Loo Kean Seong, a senior official in Malaysia's Department of Wildlife and National Parks. The leopard tortoises are protected under CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. Two of them died during shipment and another 13 perished at a rescue center in Malaysia while waiting to be sent back to the African country, Loo said. Their repatriation has been delayed by haggling by officials from Malaysia and Tanzania over logistics and costs, he said. He could not give a timeframe on when the tortoises would be repatriated. (AP)

Friday, August 24, 2007

Robbery Suspects Arrested in Mae Sot

Four members of a gang suspected of robbing Burmese migrant workers, Thais and foreigners have been arrested in the Thai border town of Mae Sot in Tak Province.

A Mae Sot police officer told The Irrawaddy on Friday that the four, two Burmese and two Thai, will face trial. They are believed to have committed 20 robberies in August, police said. If convicted, they could receive up to 10 years in prison.

Deputy Chief of KNU Health Department Dies

The deputy chief of the Karen National Union Health and Welfare Department, Dr Po Thaw Da, died at age 70 of heart failure and pneumonary oedema disease on Tuesday at Mae Sot General Hospital.

The funeral service was held on Thursday at Mae Sot District in Tak Province.

Po Thaw Da began work with the KNU in 1991 as secretary of the Health and Welfare Department. He was named deputy chief in 2001.

Po Thaw Da finished high school at the National Christian High School in Taunggyi in Shan State, Burma, and he graduated MBBS at the Medical University of Rangoon in 1996.

He also worked with the Back Pack Health Worker Team, the National Health and Education Committee, the Burma Medical Association and other social groups promoting children's education among Burmese migrant workers.

Malaysian Paper Apologizes for Picture of Jesus Holding Cigarette

A newspaper catering to Malaysia's ethnic Indians published a front-page apology Thursday after causing an outrage by printing an image of Jesus Christ holding a cigarette. S M Periasamy, general manager of the Tamil-language Makkal Osai, said the daily published the controversial photo by mistake. "The graphic artist, whom we have already suspended, didn't see the cigarette," Periasamy told The Associated Press. "It was a mistake." He said the artist downloaded a picture of Jesus from the Internet for use along with a quote from the Bible on the paper's front page on Tuesday. But the artist overlooked the fact that the picture had been altered to insert a cigarette in one hand and another object—a can or a book—in the other, he said. Kuala Lumpur archbishop, Murphy Pakiam, who earlier criticized the picture as a "desecration," accepted the newspaper's apology. However, the Malaysian Indian Congress, a party in Malaysia's ruling coalition, filed a police report and called on the government to close the paper, which has generally been critical of the MIC. "It's a very serious issue. For certain things you can apologize, but for this kind of sensitive issue, the editor should be sacked and the paper closed," T. Mohan, a senior party official, told the AP. Ethnic Indians comprise 10 percent of Malaysia's 26 million people, and are mostly Hindus with a sprinkling of Christians and Muslims. (AP)

Deadly Puffer Fish Sold as Salmon Kills 15, Sickens 115

Unscrupulous vendors in Thailand have been selling meat of the deadly puffer fish disguised as salmon, causing the deaths of more than 15 people over the past three years, a doctor said Thursday. Although banned since 2002, puffer fish continues to be sold in large quantities at local markets and restaurants, said Narin Hiransuthikul of Bangkok's Chulalonkorn University Hospital. "Some sellers dye the meat of puffer fish and make it look like salmon which is very dangerous," Narin said. Narin said over the past three years more than 15 people have died and about 115 were hospitalized from eating the fish. The ovaries, liver and intestines of the puffer fish contain tetrodotoxin, a poison so potent that the US Food and Drug Administration says it can "produce rapid and violent death." The fish is called fugu in Japan, where it is consumed by thrill-seeking Japanese gourmets for whom the risk of poisoning adds piquancy. Every year, there are reports of people dying or falling sick in Asia from eating puffer fish. Eating the fish can cause paralysis, vomiting, heart failure and death. (AP)

Two Killed, Dozens of Houses Burned in E Timor Unrest

Two people were killed in East Timor on Thursday in fresh violence following the appointment of a new government earlier this month, the United Nations said. Dozens of houses were set on fire and hundreds of young men clashed with machetes, steel darts and bows, just east of the capital Dili, UN and Timorese police said. There were no details about the deaths in the central Ermera district, a UN statement said. (AP)

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Police Break Up Indonesian Airport Protest

Police used tear gas and water cannon to repel thousands of protesters, some throwing rocks and glass shards, at an airport in eastern Indonesia, officials said. At least 13 people, including two security officers, were injured when riot police moved in to end the violent protest at Sultan Khairun Babullah Airport in Ternate, the capital of North Maluku province, said the provincial police chief. The protesters, angry about the exclusion of a candidate from a governorship election, had traveled to the airport to try and stop electoral officials from leaving. (AP)

Asean Considers 11 New Cross-border Power Connections

Southeast Asian nations will consider 11 new power grid projects as a step towards increasing the region's cross-border electricity connections, an Asean group official said on Wednesday. The proposals will be made Thursday by the Centre for Energy of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, said Khoo Chin Hean, chief executive of Singapore's Energy Market Authority. Many of the connections would be for links within the Indochina region. The bloc currently has just two cross-border power connections: between Thailand and Malaysia and between Malaysia and Singapore. The Asean Centre for Energy has been eyeing a regional power grid as well as a "trans-Asean" gas pipeline for several years. Khoo said the Jakarta-based Centre for Energy has also identified seven new natural-gas pipeline projects for possible development—part of a long-held blueprint to strengthen the region's energy security. (AP)

Bird Flu Kills Balinese Woman

An Indonesian woman became the second person to die of bird flu on the resort island of Bali, bringing the death toll in the nation hardest hit by the disease to 84, the Health Ministry said on Wednesday. The 28-year-old woman, who worked for a chicken trader, died on Tuesday after four days in hospital for four days, said spokesman Joko Suyono. Another woman died of bird flu on Bali one week ago, arousing fears that it would hurt tourism on the island, which has been struggling to recover since terrorist attacks in 2002 and 2005 killed more than 220 people. (AP)

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

North Korean Defectors Enter Indonesian Embassy in Vietnam

Five North Koreans have entered the Indonesian Embassy in Vietnam, apparently seeking asylum in South Korea, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said Tuesday. A man and four women climbed over the compound's fence in Hanoi at around 3:30 p.m., said Desra Percaya, adding that embassy staff were struggling to find out exactly what they were seeking. Officials at the embassy in Hanoi were not available to comment. Five Vietnamese police stood guard outside the embassy shortly after the North Koreans arrived. Thousands of North Koreans flee their communist homeland to escape hunger and harsh political oppression, many taking a long and risky land journey through China to Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and other Southeast Asian countries on their way to eventual asylum in South Korea. Last month, four North Koreans sought asylum at the Danish Embassy in Hanoi. (AP)

Malaysia, Thailand Ink Pact to Boost Education, Economy in South Thailand

Malaysia will help train Thai Muslim religious teachers and provide scholarships for students in insurgency-wracked southern Thailand under a pact signed Tuesday, officials said. Thai Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont arrived in Malaysia late Monday for a three-day official visit aimed at securing Malaysia's help in boosting the economy in Thailand's Muslim-dominated south and curb the insurgency that has killed more than 2,400 people since 2004. The pact will create linkages between the two countries' education institutions especially in southern Thailand, and cover areas such as religious education, curriculum development and training, Malaysia's Education Minister Hishammuddin Hussein told national Bernama news agency. (AP)

Malaysian Newspapers Ordered to Ignore Racially Sensitive Video Controversy

The Malaysian government ordered mainstream newspapers Tuesday to stop reporting about a controversy over a Chinese student's rap video that parodies the national anthem and pokes fun at Muslims. It was not immediately clear whether broadcast media outlets were given similar orders. Most of Malaysia's mainstream media are controlled by or closely linked to the ruling coalition parties.

Wee Meng Chee, 24, has been widely criticized by political leaders from Malaysia's ethnic Malay Muslim majority after he highlighted this multicultural society's ethnic differences in a video clip posted on YouTube last month. In the six-minute clip, Wee blended the national anthem with a rap song blasting discrimination faced by ethnic Chinese. Wee apologized last week for his video, but Malaysian government ministers have said the attorney general was still investigating the matter to decide whether to prosecute him for sedition, which carries a jail term of up to three years. (AP)

Friday, August 17, 2007

Strong Earthquake Strikes Eastern Indonesia

A strong undersea earthquake struck eastern Indonesia on Friday, the US Geological Survey said. No tsunami warning was issued and there were no immediate reports of damage.The tremor had a preliminary magnitude of 6.2 and hit 230 kilometers (145 miles) southeast of Ambon, the capital of Maluku province, said an official at Indonesia's Meteorological and Geophysics Agency.The USGS said the quake struck 10 kilometers (6 miles) beneath the Banda Sea.Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago, is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin. (AP)

Cambodia Destroys Stocks of Drug-making Chemicals

Officials began destroying Cambodia's largest seizure of drug-making chemicals Thursday, while acknowledging that the country has moved from being a transit point to a producer of illegal drugs.Interior Minister Sar Kheng led Cambodian and UN drug officials in launching the destruction of almost 5 tons of chemicals, including nearly 3 tons of highly hazardous thionyl chloride used to produce amphetamine. Authorities seized the substances during a raid in April on a laboratory on an isolated farm 100 kilometers (62 miles) west of Phnom Penh. It was Cambodia's first discovery of a laboratory producing synthesized drugs, Sar Kheng said. Lars Pedersen, the representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in Cambodia, said Cambodia received US $60,000 each from Australia and the United States to help destroy the chemicals, and will need greater assistance from the international community to deal with drug problems. (AP)

Three Miners Killed in Northern Vietnam

Three miners were killed when part of the tunnel shaft of the mine they were working in collapsed in northern Vietnam, police said Friday. It took police and rescuers more than 10 hours to pull the bodies of two men and a woman following the incident Thursday in Trang Da village in Tuyen Quang province, 160 kilometers (100 miles) northwest of Hanoi, a village police officer said, declining to give his name citing policy. The officer said there were more than 10 miners working in the mine at the time of the incident. The others escaped unhurt, he added.

The zinc mine was developed by French colonialists in the 1940s but was abandoned following the French defeat in 1954. Some villagers found zinc at the mine a year ago, sparking a rush. The local government has tried to stop the practice, but villagers continue to try to extract the metal from the mine. (AP)

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Two Die in Rangoon Factory Fire

Two people died and eight were injured when fire swept through a clothing factory in Rangoon’s Hlaing Thayar Township Industrial Zone 2 on Wednesday. The state-run newspaper Kyemon (The Mirror) reported that the fire started in the factory’s kitchen. Firemen took two hours to douse the blaze. One fireman was among the injured.

Cambodia Bans Imports of Pigs and Pork from Neighboring Countries

Cambodia is banning imports of live pigs and pork from neighboring countries to prevent the spread of disease and protect local farmers, officials said Thursday. The ban was imposed to prevent the spread of a disease that occurred in Vietnam, said Kao Phal, director of the Agriculture Ministry's animal health department. He said there has been no outbreak of the disease—porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome—among pigs in Cambodia but called the ban a necessary precaution. Prime Minister Hun Sen announced the ban in a statement Monday. He said imports of pork and pigs from unspecified neighboring countries were "anarchical" and could trigger an outbreak of the disease in the country. He ordered government agencies and border guards to stop all imports of live pigs and pork. Imports of pigs for research or for breeding by local farmers must have prior permits from Cambodia's Agriculture Ministry, Hun Sen said in the statement. (AP)

Singapore Airlines: First Airbus A380 Delivery Date Set

Singapore Airlines Ltd, the first carrier in the world to fly the new superjumbo A380, said Thursday the first delivery of the hulking jet has been set for October 15. Airbus' delivery of the plane to Singapore Airlines has been delayed more than a year due to production problems. The double-decker aircraft—the world's biggest passenger jet—will be handed over by European plane manufacturer Airbus at a ceremony in Toulouse, France, Singapore Airlines said in a statement. The A380's inaugural flight has been scheduled for October 25 to Sydney, the carrier said. Singapore Airlines had earlier announced it will auction all seats on the first A380 flight on eBay and donate the proceeds to charities. The plane will be configured with 471 seats in three classes, the airline said. (AP)

Bird Flu Kills Indonesian Teenager, Raises Death Toll to 83

A 17-year-old Indonesian girl died of bird flu, raising the country's death toll to 83, the Health Ministry said Thursday. The girl from Tangerang, just west of capital Jakarta, died on Tuesday after only one day after being admitted to a hospital, said spokesman Joko Suyono. "Tests in two local laboratories came back positive" for the H5N1 strain of the disease, he said. She first showed bird flu symptoms five days before being hospitalized, and health investigators were still scouring for the source of the infection. In almost all cases, patients contracted the virus after exposure to sick or dead poultry. At least 193 people—the majority of them in Indonesia—have died worldwide from bird flu since it first infected Asian ducks and chickens in 2003, according to the World Health Organization. (AP)

Vietnam's PM Visits Burma

Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung arrived in Naypyidaw to hold discussions on a number of trade issues, the Chinese news agency Xinhua reported on Tuesday. The visit is part of a trip to five Asean member countries. The report said the visit included dozens of Vietnamese businessmen and would focus on trade, agriculture, crude oil, mining, livestock breeding and fisheries discussions. Their tour will include Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore and Brunei.

Explosion of Vietnam War-era Mortar Shell Kills Three

Three people were killed when a Vietnam War-era mortar shell they were sawing for scrap metal exploded in southern Vietnam, police said Tuesday. The men found three 105-millimeter mortar rounds while working to build a new industrial zone in Tien Giang province, local police chief Tran Van Hoa said. The land was once used as an ammunition depot for the former US-backed South Vietnam government, he said. Hoa said two people died instantly in the explosion Sunday and another died later at a hospital. The explosion also injured another man who was still hospitalized, he said.
Tien Giang is 70 kilometers (48 miles) south of Ho Chi Minh City. Unexploded ordnance from the Vietnam War has killed about 38,000 people since the conflict ended in 1975. (AP)

South African University to Honor Suu Kyi

South Africa's University of Cape Town is to bestow an honorary doctorate of law on Burma's detained Noble Peace prize Laureate Aung Sun Suu Kyi. According to Pretoria News, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a long-time and outspoken campaigner for Burma and Suu Kyi, will receive the degree on the behalf of Suu Kyi at UCT's December graduation ceremony. The UCT's vice-chancellor Njabulo Ndebele said: “We acknowledge Suu kyi as an extraordinary example of sheer strength, her wealth of knowledge, her perseverance and as a symbol of determination of women all over the world.”

More than 50 Die in Philippine Clashes

Clashes between troops and suspected al-Qaida-linked militants have killed at least 52 people on volatile southern Jolo island, the Philippine military said on Friday. The death toll included 25 soldiers and 27 militants, based on updated field reports on the clashes, which began Thursday when suspected Abu Sayyaf extremists ambushed a truck carrying troops headed to get supplies, then fought a gunbattle with soldiers in pursuit, Maj Eugene Batara said. The military estimates that the rebel group Abu Sayyaf, which has been blamed for deadly bombings and high-profile ransom kidnappings, has about 300-400 guerrillas, down from more than 1,000 during its heyday in early 2000. Batara said the earlier ambush was not an indication that the Abu Sayyaf has regained strength following setbacks dealt by a massive U.S.-backed offensive last year that led to the killing of its top two leaders. "They've been attacking our soldiers when they're not in battle mode," Batara said. "They could not fight frontally. They're treacherous." (AP)

Court Sentences Six Cambodian in Terrorist Plot

Six Cambodian men were jailed for up to 12 years for plotting to bomb a crowded festival in the capital last year as part of a broader plan to overthrow the government, a judge said Friday. Judge Kim Ravy of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court said the plan to plant bombs among the crowd at the traditional water festival in Phnom Penh last October was foiled when authorities arrested the six men. He said the bombings were part of a plot to remove the government. It was unclear how close the plan came to being realized. The judge said he sentenced four men, who appeared in court Thursday, to six years' jail. Two other men were convicted in absentia and sentenced to 10 years and 12 years in prison, he said. Tieng Vuthea, a Cambodian lawyer representing the four men at Thursday's hearing, said the charges against his clients were groundless and that he will appeal the ruling.

Earlier this month, in an apparently unrelated case, a Cambodian court charged two men with terrorism over a failed plot to blow up a controversial monument in the heart of the capital. Police arrested the two on July 30, a day after explosive disposal experts defused bombs planted at Phnom Penh's Cambodia-Vietnam friendship monument. (AP)

Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Vietnam Storm Kills 29

At least 29 people have died and 12 more are missing and feared dead in the worst tropical storm to hit Vietnam this year, officials said Wednesday as downpours continued across central provinces. The bodies of four more drowning victims were recovered Tuesday in Daklak, taking the death toll in the Central Highland province to 11, while nine others swept away in the floods remained missing, said provincial official Phan Thi Thu Hien. Lightning killed three farmers in Ha Tinh province on Monday, and seven people died in a flash flood in the province the following day, said Trinh Nhu Tien, a provincial disaster official. In Lam Dong province, flash floods killed at least four people, while another was missing and feared dead after being washed away, Duong Thanh Hung, a provincial official, said. A 13-year-old boy was killed by a falling tree, he said. Three people also died in Nghe An, Phu Yen and Gia Lai—one in each province—and two more were reported missing in Dac Nong province, disaster officials there said. No deaths were reported in Quang Binh where floods isolated three districts, but casualties were expected because the floodwaters were the deepest in 30 years, said Nguyen Ngoc Dien, a provincial disaster official. The tropical storm was downgraded to a depression on Monday, but heavy rains continued, the national weather center said. (AP)

Thai Police Seek Colonel's Arrest for Alleged Bribery Attempt

An arrest warrant was issued on Wednesday for a police colonel suspected of attempting to bribe two judges to help former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's party in a key electoral fraud trial. Police Col Chanchai Nitiratakan allegedly offered 30 million baht (US $990,000) each to two of the nine Constitutional Court judges, said police Lt-Gen Jongrak Chutanont. Testimony of Krairisk Kasemsan, one of the judges, showed the colonel had tried unsuccessfully to bribe him, said senior Justice Ministry official Jaran Pakdithakul, adding that neither of the two judges had accepted the alleged bribes. Thailand’s Constitutional Court unanimously ruled on May 29, after a six-month trial, that Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai party was guilty of violating election law in the April 2006 general balloting. It ordered the party to disband and banned 111 party executives from politics for five years. Thaksin, who led Thai Rak Thai to two landslide general election victories, was ousted in a military coup last September after mass street protests called for his removal for alleged corruption and abuse of power. (AP)

Singapore Park Forbids Gay-rights Picnic, Jog

Singapore banned a gay rights group Wednesday from holding a picnic and fun run at a popular park, saying politics were not welcome in the country's green spaces. Gay rights group People Like Us had planned a picnic at the downtown Botanic Gardens on Thursday and a 5-kilometer (3.11-mile) run the following day as part of a series of activities marking gay and lesbian pride month. The National Parks Board wrote to the events' organizer, Alex Au, to say the activities were not permitted by authorities, Au said. "We do not want it to be used as a venue for interest groups to politicize their cause," a board spokesman said in an e-mailed response to questions. Au said the events were intended as social gatherings to commemorate the city-state's National Day, which falls on Thursday. "They automatically assume that anything gay is a political challenge to them. It speaks volumes about the political climate in Singapore," said Au.

The prohibition follows bans last week on a gay rights forum and an exhibition of photographs depicting same-sex kissing. The curbs have come amid a debate in the modern, conservative city-state on whether gay sex should be decriminalized. Under Singapore law, gay sex is deemed "an act of gross indecency," punishable by a maximum of two years in jail. Authorities have banned gay festivals and censored gay films. Despite the official ban on gay sex, there have been few prosecutions. (AP)

British MPs Call for Release of Detained Burmese MPs

More than 50 British MPs have joined forces to call for the release of 12 detained Burmese MPs. The British MPs have signed an "Early Day Motion"—a parliamentary petition—that was put down by Chris McCafferty, MP. They draw particular attention to Hkun Htun Oo, an MP from the Shan National League for Democracy, who is reported to be unwell and denied proper medical treatment. The MPs are demanding that the UN special envoy to Burma and the British government step up efforts to release these MPs, and all political prisoners in Burma. "As a former political prisoner, I am very pleased to see so many British MPs supporting our colleagues still suffering in prison," said Myo Thein, a campaigns officer of the London-based lobby group Burma Campaign UK.

Vietnamese Officials Jailed for Gambling, Bribery

A Vietnamese judge sentenced two government officials and six others to up to 13 years in jail Tuesday in a major gambling and bribery scandal that led to the resignation of the transport minister and detention of his deputy. Bui Tien Dung, former director of a Ministry of Transport infrastructure project management unit known as PMU18, was convicted of gambling and bribery and sentenced to 13 years in prison after a four-day trial, presiding Judge Ngo Thi Yen said. Seven others, including former government officials and police officers, received jail terms of between three and seven years for gambling or bribery or both, she said. Another defendant was given a two-year suspended sentence for gambling. All gambling is illegal in Vietnam. (AP)

Activists Urge China, India, Russia to Cut Support for Burma's Junta

Dozens of Burmese activists rallied in Malaysia on Tuesday, urging China, India and Russia to cut support for the military-ruled country until democracy is restored. Some 100 protesters, wearing red bandanas and armbands, carried banners that read: "We want peace and justice in Myanmar" and "No military junta" as they demonstrated outside the Chinese Embassy under the watch of anti-riot police. The activists later marched to the nearby Russian Embassy to continue their protest, marking the 19th anniversary of the junta's crushing of a pro-democracy movement led by Aung San Suu Kyi and seizure of power on August 8, 1988. The group also urged China and Russia not to use their veto privilege to block UN Security Council measures that seek to keep a spotlight on the junta's abuses. The two countries in January objected to a US proposal to put Myanmar on the agenda of the Security Council, which would allow the actions of the military junta to be discussed formally. (AP)

Thai Protest Leaders Released on Bail

Six leaders of an anti-government protest that turned violent and resulted in hundreds of injuries were released on bail Monday. Nine suspects from the United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship were detained on July 26 after they appeared in court to hear police allegations against them, including illegal assembly, damaging state property and injuring officials. The court released six leaders on bail on condition that they would not participate in activities that cause strife within society or instigate more violence, said police Lt-Col Jutti Thammatovanij. Three other leaders were released on bail earlier last week.

Violence broke out on July 22 at a rally by several thousand people outside the home of former Prime Minister Prem Tinsulanonda—the chief adviser to the revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej. The protesters accuse Prem of instigating the coup against Thaksin, and have called for him to resign his post. About 200 police officers and 70 protesters were hurt, most with minor injuries. Some officials have blamed Sunday's violence on Thaksin, who has been accused of financing the anti-coup movement. (AP)

Monday, August 06, 2007

Tornado Kills Two Children in Southwestern Burma

A tornado lashed a town in Burma, killing two school children and destroying dozens of buildings, a state-run newspaper reported Monday. The storm cut a destructive swathe Saturday through Laputta township in Burma's Irrawaddy delta, 160 kilometers (100 miles) southwest of Rangoon, destroying around 60 houses, school buildings and offices and knocking down walls, the New Light of Myanmar reported. Four students were injured when a school building collapsed, the report said. Two later succumbed to their injuries while the other two were being treated at a hospital, the newspaper said. Heavy rains also caused flooding in many parts of the country, inundating houses, disrupting traffic and forcing more than 800 households to evacuate, it said. The report said relief measures were provided to flood victims across the country. (AP)

Vietnam Tropical Storm Kills Nine

Flash floods triggered by a tropical storm in central Vietnam killed eight people, while a falling tree killed a teenage boy, disaster relief officials said Monday. Fourteen others were reported missing. Four people were killed in the Central Highland province of Daklak, where 14 others, including a family of five whose house was washed away by a storm-swollen stream, were missing.Heavy rains triggered by the storm dumped up to 62 centimeters (24 inches) of water on Daklak over the past four days, forcing about 5,000 residents from their homes, Hien said. No rain was reported in the area Monday. In neighboring Lam Dong province, four people were washed away and confirmed killed by floods, while a 13-year-old boy was killed by a falling tree. (AP)

East Timor Designates First National Park

East Timor has designated its first national park as part of efforts to protect threatened bird species and rich marine life, some of which can not be found anywhere else in the world, wildlife officials said. The 123,600-hectare (305,415 acres) Nino Konis Santana National Park is home to the critically endangered yellow-crested cockatoo Cacatua sulphurea, the endangered green-pigeon Treron psittaceus, and nearly two dozen other bird species unique to the country and neighboring islands. It also spans 55,600 hectares (137,387 acres) of the 'Coral Triangle,' which boasts some of the richest biodiversity of coral and reef fish. Mike Rands, chief executive of the international conservation group, BirdLife, praised the government's decision to designate the area a national park as "incredibly forward-thinking" and "all the more spectacular by the fact that this is such a young nation." (AP)

Philippine Left-wing Protesters Rally for Missing Activist

Left-wing protesters marched through a downpour in downtown Manila on Monday to demand the release of an activist who they believe was abducted by security forces 100 days ago. The Supreme Court has ordered the military, police and President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo—as the commander in chief—to produce Jonas Burgos in court, after his family and supporters mounted a nationwide campaign accusing security forces of kidnapping him on April 28. Military officials and government lawyers told the Court of Appeals on July 27 they had nothing to do with Burgos' disappearance and could not find him. The court set another hearing next week. Witnesses said they saw Burgos being dragged by six armed men and a woman who identified themselves as police officers from a suburban mall to a waiting car. The license plate was later traced to a vehicle impounded at the army's 56th Infantry Battalion camp in northern Bulacan province.

Several dozen members of the Peasants' Movement of the Philippines, a group Burgos belonged to, marched in the capital Monday to mark the 100th day of his disappearance. They carried streamers that read "Free Jonas Burgos." Many of them wore masks printed with his picture. "This is to show that not only Jonas is missing," his mother, Edita, told Manila's QTV station. "Jonas is just the face of the missing." (AP)

350 Burmese Arrested in Malaysia

More than 350 illegal Burmese migrants were arrested by the Malaysia Immigration Department on Sunday. They included about 100 refugees registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Malaysia.  Zafar Ahmad, president of the Burma Ethnic Rohingyas Human Rights Organization Malaysia, protested against the arrests. Community leaders, pregnant women and children were among the people detained, he said.“The Malaysia government must stop its crackdown on Burmese refugees and migrants, who are really in a vulnerable situation on Malaysia soil,” Zafar Ahman said. “We refugees and undocumented workers do not have any rights when living in Malaysia, but we continue living here because we cannot go back to our country at this time.” Malaysia is a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council, although human rights organizations accuse the Kuala Lumpur government of various abuses. The Malaysian government has also signed the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women, which work for the protection of the rights of children and women in signatory countries.

World Bank Chief Visits Vietnam

World Bank chief Robert Zoellick began a two-day visit to Vietnam on Monday to learn more about the challenges facing the fast-growing communist country. Zoellick, making his first official overseas trip, is to tour several World Bank projects in Yen Bai province, one of the nation's poorest areas, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) northwest of Hanoi.

He also was expected to meet with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and other key officials later Monday. He is to visit Japan after leaving Vietnam on Tuesday.

Earlier this year, the bank described Vietnam as having the potential to be one of the great economic development success stories, and said it expected to provide it with more than US $800 million annually over the next five years in interest-free grants and loans.

However, the bank also warned that Vietnam faces challenges in realizing its goal of becoming a middle-income country by 2010. Last year, Vietnam's economy grew by 8.2 percent, making it one of the world's fastest-growing countries. (AP)

Thai Police to Sport Hello Kitty Armbands as Punishment

Thai police officers who break police rules will be forced to wear hot pink armbands featuring "Hello Kitty," the Japanese icon of cute, as a mark of shame, a senior officer said Monday. Police officers caught littering, parking in a prohibited area, or arriving late—among other misdemeanors—will also be forced to stay in the division office with the deputy chief all day, said Police Col Pongpat Chayaphan. The striking armband features Sanrio's Hello Kitty sitting atop two hearts.

"Simple warnings no longer work. This new twist is expected to make them feel guilt and shame and prevent them from repeating the offense, no matter how minor," said Pongpat, acting chief of the Crime Suppression Division in Bangkok. Hello Kitty, invented by Sanrio Co in 1974, has been popular for years with children and young women. The celebrity cat adorns everything from diamond-studded jewelry, Fender guitars and digital cameras to lunch boxes, T-shirts and stationery. Britney Spears, Paris Hilton and Mariah Carey have been spotted with Hello Kitty gear. (AP)

Friday, August 03, 2007

Philippine Bishops Call for Prayers to End Drought

Roman Catholic bishops in the Philippines asked the faithful Friday to pray for rain to break a three-month dry spell that has reduced water supplies and caused sporadic electricity blackouts. "Our relief will come from nature," Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales, the archbishop of Manila, said in a circular issued to all parish priests and chaplains who were instructed to include special prayers for rain during Mass. The rain and typhoons that usually hit the Philippines by July have been delayed, leading to low water levels at several dams that feed hydroelectric power plants and causing at least one facility to shut down. The last time the church included prayers for rain was at the height of the El Nino weather distortion syndrome in 1998. (AP)

Giving Money to Beggars Face Hefty fines in Indonesian City

People who give money to beggars in one Indonesian city could be slapped with a US $660 fine, while panhandlers themselves could face up to six weeks in jail under a proposed new law, an official said Friday. The goal of the bill being circulated in Medan, the provincial capital of North Sumatra, is to clear the streets of beggars, some of whom have formed organized gangs to harass tourists and residents, said Nabari Ginting of the Social Services Department. Nabari said a local survey showed the average person asking for handouts in Medan was bringing home the equivalent US $6, more than the average daily wage in the city. Many of the beggars worked for gang leaders, who deployed them to various points of Medan, he said. "We'd rather people give money to orphanages or nursing homes," he said, putting the number of panhandlers in Indonesia's third largest city at around 11,000, many of them under the age of 12. "We want to clean up the image of our city." Many in Indonesia, a sprawling archipelagic nation of 235 million people, are desperately poor, with half the population living on less than US $2 a day. Begging is common in Indonesia, though not as prevalent as in some other Asian countries. (AP)

Indonesia Prepared to Send Civilian Police to Darfur

Indonesia is prepared to contribute 100 to 150 civilian police to a joint United Nations-African Union peacekeeping force for Darfur, Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda said Thursday. The UN Security Council on Tuesday unanimously approved the 26,000-strong force—which, if fully deployed, would be the world's largest peacekeeping operation—to help end four years of rape and slaughter of civilians in the vast Sudanese desert region. The peacekeepers are to be in Darfur by year's end. The force is expected to be made up mostly of peacekeepers from Africa with backup from Asian troops. Major Western powers are expected to provide limited manpower in the force, as many are already overstretched in other peacekeeping efforts and conflicts such as Iraq, observers say. Britain's military, for example, has 7,100 service members in Afghanistan and 5,500 in Iraq.

The conflict in Darfur began in February 2003 when ethnic African tribes rebelled against what they considered decades of neglect and discrimination by the Arab-dominated government. Sudan's government is accused of retaliating by unleashing a militia of Arab nomads known as the janjaweed—a charge it denies. More than 200,000 people have died, and 2.5 million have been uprooted. (AP)

Garuda Books US$15.8 Million Profit in First Half Year

National carrier Garuda Indonesia said Thursday it booked a half year net profit of US $15.898 million, swinging from a US$38.786 million loss a year earlier. Chief Executive Emirsyah Satar said Garuda's efforts to improve its performance, such as restructuring routes, contributed to its financial turnaround. Passenger numbers grew 8 percent to 4.3 million during the January-June period from a year earlier, Satar said. He said Garuda's load factor improved to 76 percent from 70 percent last year, while the number of revenue-generating domestic routes increased to 26 from only seven last year. Meanwhile, Satar said the airline was optimistic that it would not be banned from flying to Saudi Arabia. A team from the Saudi civil aviation authority is in Indonesia to verify Garuda's safety standards, following the European Commission's recent decision to ban all Indonesian commercial carriers from flying to the region on safety grounds. Saudi Arabia uses the EU's aviation policy as a reference but has not banned Indonesian airlines yet. The state-owned Garuda is the only local airliner that flies to Saudi Arabia, carrying about 200,000 Muslims every year to that country for the Haj pilgrimage. The company has appealed to the EU to lift the ban, claiming the airline complies with international aviation safety standards. (AP)

Asean Endorses Former Thai Minister as Next Chief

Foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have endorsed Thailand's nomination of its ex-foreign minister, Surin Pitsuwan, to become the group's next secretary-general, officials said Wednesday. Asean's heads of state are expected to approve Surin's nomination at a summit in Singapore in November, Philippine diplomat Benito Valeriano said. Surin will assume the post in January if his nomination is approved. The post, which has a five-year term, is currently held by ong Keng Yong of Singapore. The job is rotated among the 10 Asean members in alphabetical order. (AP)

Cambodian Men Charged in Failed Bomb Plot

A Cambodian court charged two men with terrorism on Wednesday in connection with a recently failed plot to blow up a monument in the heart of the country's capital. Sok Roeun, a prosecutor at Phnom Penh Municipal Court, said he charged Kem Toeun, 53, and Son Than, 42, with terrorism, which carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. Police arrested the two men on Monday, a day after explosives disposal experts defused bombs planted at the city's Cambodia-Vietnam friendship monument, said police Maj. Gen. Chhay Sinarith, who is chief of the Interior Ministry's information department. The three homemade bombs found Sunday—made of a mixture of TNT and fertilizer packed in three buckets—were planted at a monument dedicated to Vietnamese soldiers who invaded Cambodia to topple the Khmer Rouge in 1979. (AP)

Kachin Man Beaten to Death in Myitkyina

Maran Seng Awng, 22, a resident of Myitkyina in Kachin State, died on Monday after being arrested and beaten by local police, according to local sources. The man was taken into custody while visiting a house that was under surveillance by the police. The owner of the house was suspected of being involved in drug trafficking, and police raided the home after receiving an anonymous tip.

The only son of a widow, Maran Seng Awng suffered serious abdominal injuries and died shortly after being brought by police to a local hospital. Police officials reportedly offered the victim’s mother 1 million kyat (US $800) in compensation and an additional 300,000 kyat ($240) for funeral expenses to put an end to the investigation of Maran Seng Awng’s death. A funeral was held on Tuesday with about 50 friends and family in attendance.

Singapore Airlines Quarterly Net Profit US $278 Million

Singapore Airlines said Wednesday first-quarter net profit fell 26.3 percent, but its core earnings were higher as last year's result was boosted by a one-off gain. Net profit for the three months ended June 30 was S $424 million (US $278 million) compared with S $575 million (US $378 million) a year earlier, the airline said in a statement. Last year's earnings included a S $223 million (US$147 million) gain from the sale of the company's headquarters building in Singapore. The first-quarter net profit result was higher than the S$400 million (US $263 million) average forecast in a Dow Jones Newswires poll of three analysts. Singapore Airlines, which boasted the highest profit of any airline in the world in the last financial year, said it will continue to benefit from strong passenger bookings. "Demand for air travel is expected to remain buoyant," the airline said, adding that it has high forward ticket sales in the next quarter, especially in its high-margin premium cabins.

Singapore Airlines expects to receive its first Airbus A380 superjumbo in October, and the delivery of several other models will help boost passenger capacity by about 1 percent over the financial year. The airline flew a record 4.6 million passengers during the first quarter, up 5.1 percent from a year earlier. Revenue was up 5.9 percent at S $3.62 billion (US$2.38 billion), driven by high passenger load factors.(AP)

More Bird Flu in Burma

A second outbreak of bird flu was discovered in Burma in July at a farm in Letpadan Township, about 130 km northwest of Rangoon, the Reuters News Agency reported on Wednesday. The report cited UN Food and Agriculture Organization country representative Tang Zhengping as saying that the virus was detected on July 26 and about 3,800 chickens have been culled as part of measures taken to control the outbreak. This latest outbreak follows an earlier one on July 24 in Mon State in southern Burma. No human cases of the H5N1 virus have yet been reported in Burma, but the World Health Organization says that since the outbreak of bird flu in 2003, the virus has infected at least 319 people worldwide and killed at least 192.

N Korean Defectors Leave Danish Embassy in Vietnam, Heading for Seoul

Four North Koreans, who fled to Vietnam in a bid to get asylum in South Korea, have left the Danish Embassy and were headed for Seoul, the Danish Foreign Ministry said Tuesday. The defectors—three women and a man—who arrived at the embassy on July 11, voluntarily left the building on Friday, ministry spokesman Thomas Oestrup Moeller said in Copenhagen. "There was no drama involved," Oestrup Moeller said, declining to give details.

Thousands of North Koreans have fled their communist homeland to escape hunger and harsh political oppression, many taking a long and risky land journey through China to Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and other Southeast Asian countries on their way to asylum in South Korea. Since the Korean War ended in 1953, more than 10,000 North Koreans have defected to the South, with most arriving in recent years. (AP)

Four Die, Seven Wounded in Southern Thailand Attacks

Four people, including two soldiers, were killed and seven other people were injured Wednesday as suspected Muslim insurgents staged an ambush and set off bombs across southern Thailand, police said. The insurgents attacked a small patrol guarding a railway in Yala province with gunfire, killing two of the four soldiers, said provincial police chief Col Narasak Chiengsuk. In separate violence, at least three assailants sprayed dozens of bullets into a house in Narathiwat province, killing two men, said police Lt Vorapong Klomsakun. Also Wednesday, at least seven people were injured when a bomb exploded near a market in the same province, police said. Police said it was one of six bombs that exploded in several areas of the province Wednesday morning. More than 2,300 people have been killed in the predominantly Muslim provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat provinces since early 2004, when a separatist movement flared up after a lull of more than two decades. (AP)

Asian Security Forum Acts to Limit Spread of Nuclear Weapons

Asia's top security forum has decided to create a new group to help prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction, officials said Wednesday. Members of the Asean Regional Forum approved the formation of the body after it was proposed by a group of countries including the United States and Indonesia, said M C Abad, an ARF official. ARF, which consists of 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and 17 other countries, is holding its annual meeting on Thursday. However, lower-level officials began discussing the terms of reference, or details, of the nonproliferation body on Wednesday, Abad said. Abad said North Korea's nuclear weapons program is among the areas the new group can examine. ARF members include the US, China, North and South Korea, Russia and Japan, which are involved in six-nation talks on denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. ARF earlier vowed to work with the International Atomic Energy Agency and other watchdogs to strengthen international nuclear and chemical safeguards and boost ARF members' national mechanisms against proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. (AP)