Thailand, Cambodia to solve border dispute through GBC: Thai defence minister

PHNOM PENH, Sept 24 (MCOT) - Thai Defence Minister Gen Yutthasak Sasiprapa said Thailand and Cambodia agreed to solve its prolonged border dispute through the existing framework and that the Thai government is prepared to seek the release of two Thai activists now detained in Cambodian jail on charges of espionage. The Thai defence minister made his remarks as he returned from the visit to the neighbouring country on Friday and met with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and his Cambodian counterpart Gen Tea Banh to boost bilateral ties between the two kingdoms. Gen Yutthasak said both countries will plan to hold talks on the arrangements for the Thai-Cambodian General Border Committee (GBC) upcoming meeting. The Committee from both sides will lay out the agenda and the framework of...

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China boasting lack of ASEAN concensus to confront China?

ASEAN's united front against China does not exist September 26, 2011 Global Times (China) The Philippines convened a regional meeting Thursday in Manila, pushing ASEAN countries to form a united front against China over the disputed waters of the South China Sea. The Philippines has lost its cool over the territorial disputes. It clamors for a united ASEAN front to blunt China, which appears to be a diplomatic illusion. On significant issues concerning territory and sovereignty, China will not scale back its claims and submit to external pressure. During the meeting, maritime legal experts neither endorsed the plan for joint South China Sea development, nor confirmed the legal basis for the Philippine proposal. Two ASEAN members, Cambodia and Laos, did not even send delegates to...

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Director Sees Potential in Wide Range of Cambodian Art

Nuch Sarita, VOA Khmer | Washington Suon Bunrith,...

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Trouble Brewing in Thailand?

By Tim LaRocco With news breaking this week that a Cambodian solider was killed on the border with Thailand, the site of a dispute that was recently adjudicated by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), it’s worth looking at how serious this development could turn out to be. The Phnom Penh Post reported that Cambodian military officials claimed that Thai soldiers initiated the hostilities from their side of the border: ‘Pok Sophal, a Royal Cambodian Armed Forces commander for Oddar Meanchey’s Trapaing Prasat district, about 100 kilometres from the Preah Vihear temple, claimed that Thai soldiers had opened fire on the soldiers. ‘”We had an appointment for the meeting (between...

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Police identify brokers

Monday, 15 August 2011 15:02 Sen David Photo by: Meng Kimlong Migrant worker Nouv Vuthy (left), 21, holds hands with his mother on returning to Cambodia from Malaysia last month after escaping from a fishing vessel. Police say they have discovered the identities of all the brokers responsible for the trafficking of seven Cambod-ian men, who were forced into slave labour aboard Thai fishing boats.Last week, police revealed they had made one arrest and were tracking three more suspects following the return of the fishermen to the Kingdom on July 29.The victims were rescued in May and early June during raids carried out on a plywood factory in Malaysia after they swam to shore to escape the boats. They described...

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Yingluck: No plan to get Thaksin a new passport

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said yesterday that giving a diplomatic passport back to her brother, fugitive ex-premier Thaksin, was not one of her government's plans. Yingluck said that she would not get involved in the process and the matter would depend on Foreign Ministry regulations and procedures. Foreign Minister Surapong Towichukchaikul yesterday dismissed media reports that the government planned to reissue a diplomatic passport to Thaksin, because he was a former prime minister. The new foreign minister said he had not investigated the feasibility of reinstating a "red passport" or diplomatic passport to the former premier, as he had not officially startedwork at the ministry....

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Children step in to cover for Indian priest shortage

By Zubair Ahmed BBC News, Mumbai Some 700 children are training to be priestsIn a crowded neighbourhood building in the western Indian city of Mumbai (Bombay), 30-odd teenagers are chanting Hindu scriptures and singing religious songs. These children, along with several hundred others, are training in batches to become priests for the city's biggest religious festival. The 10-day Ganesh Utsav - when the elephant god is worshipped - begins this month and there are not enough priests available to handle the rush of ceremonies: More than 12,000 in different neighbourhoods, and several...

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Markets volatile following European Central Bank move

Market Data Last Updated at 12:43 GMT Dow Jones 11444.61 Up 60.93 0.54% Nasdaq 2532.41 Down -23.98 -0.94% FTSE 100 5164.54 Down -82.45 -1.57% Dax 6097.60 Down -138.56 -2.22% Cac 40 3221.82 Down -56.74 -1.73% BBC Global 30 5200.82 Down -44.90 -0.86% Marketwatch ticker Data delayed by 15 mins Continue reading the main story Global Economy Factors behind market turmoil What it means for you Charting Europe's economic woes Is the euro crumbling? Watch ...

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London riots: Theresa May to meet police chiefs

Police clashed with youths in Enfield as violence spread across London Continue reading the main story London Riots London riots: Your reaction Locals voice tension behind riots London riots: Timeline Was riot a cry of rage? Home Secretary Theresa May is to return from her summer holiday following a second night of violence in London. More than 100 people have so far been arrested and 35 officers injured. Police vehicles were damaged and shops looted in parts of the capital. Following riots in Tottenham on Saturday,...

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Yingluck denies approaching outsiders

The Pheu Thai Party had not yet offered any outsider a seat on the incoming government's cabinet, prime minister-in-waiting Yingluck Shinawatra said on Tuesday. Prime minister-in-waiting Yingluck Shinawatra (Photo by Apichart Jinakul) Ms Yingluck was responding to reports that her party had invited Vichit Surapongchai, executive chairman of the Siam Commercial Bank, to lead the economic team in the Pheu Thai-led coalition government. The reports said Mr Vichit would be deputy prime minister for economic affairs and finance minister."No decisions have been made at this time on the final cabinet lineup, but approaching outsiders is an option," she said.The youngest sister of fugitive former prime minister Thaksin said the selection of...

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Helicopter crash kills three: Myanmar official

YANGON - THREE Myanmar nationals were killed when a helicopter chartered by Malaysian energy firm Petronas crashed into the Andaman Sea after taking off from an offshore gas field, an official said on Tuesday. The helicopter suffered engine trouble soon after leaving the southern Myanmar Yetagun field, which is operated by Petronas, the Myanmar government official said. Nine other passengers, including foreigners, were rescued but the official declined to give details of their condition. Another official confirmed the crash and said a second helicopter was dispatched immediately to pick up survivors. The US made Sikorsky S-76 helicopter was owned by French firm Heli-Union and hired by Petronas, Malaysia's state oil and gas ...

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Media watchdog criticises Vietnam harassment

Vietnamese protesters walk past the Opera House during an anti-China rally in downtown Hanoi on July 3, 2011 amid an ongoing territorial row in the South China Sea. -- PHOTO: AFP HANOI - VIETNAM must stop harassing media reporting on public protests, an independent US-based press watchdog said on Tuesday, after three correspondents were briefly detained at an anti-China rally. 'Journalists are not pawns to be used in Vietnam's dealings with China,' Shawn Crispin, the senior South-east Asia representative for the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), said in a statement. ...

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Thai cabinet extends emergency rule on south

BANGKOK - THAILAND'S outgoing government extended a state of emergency across the restive Muslim-majority deep south during its last cabinet meeting on Tuesday following its election loss to the opposition. The next cabinet is set to be headed by Yingluck Shinawatra, the youngest sister of fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, whose Puea Thai Party swept to victory in the July 3 poll on a wave of support among rural voters. One of the final acts of outgoing prime minister's Abhisit Vejjajiva's cabinet was to extend emergency rule, introduced in 2005, in an area covering most of Thailand's three southernmost provinces for a further two months. Critics accuse the government of failing to address the grievances of Thailand's Malay...

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UN rights disappointed by Malaysian police crackdown

Malaysian police fire tear gas onto protestors prior to a mass rally organised by Bersih 2.0 calling for electoral reform in Kuala Lumpur on July 9, 2011. -- PHOTO: AFP GENEVA - THE UN human rights office expressed disappointment on Tuesday at Malaysia's crackdown on peaceful demonstrators, saying that police appeared to have used excessive force. Riot police fired tear gas and water cannon and arrested more than 1,600 people to end a rally to demand electoral changes on Saturday, drawing intense criticism from human rights groups. 'We are very concerned by the recent...

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Cambodia's ancient wonders suffer modern ills

In this photo taken on May 11, 2011, western tourist and others gather on the top of the 10th century temple Bakheng in the Angkor Wat complex near Siem Reap, Cambodia, to view the setting sun. -- PHOTO: AP SIEM REAP - THE blistering heat at Cambodia's Angkor temples eases, and the sun's last soft shimmer will soon brush some of the most wondrous monuments ever created by man. A moment for peaceful reverence? Hardly. A traffic jam of up to 3,000 tourists surges up a steep hillside, trampling over vulnerable stonework and quaffing beer at a sacred hilltop that provides spectacular...

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Lift your look with drops of colour sent from over the rainbow

By Justine Knight, Photography by Jonathan Fenn The electric eye Match bold-as-brass peepers with nude lips for an eye-catching look that's easy-peasy to achieve Step 1 Start by brushing a little long-lasting foundation on to your eyelids. Rimmel Match Perfection Cream Gel Foundation, £6.99 helps neutralise any redness and puts eyeshadow on lockdown. Bright eyes! Step 2 Use a medium-sized eyeshadow brush to apply colour - we heart Rimmel Glam Eyes Mono Eye Shadow in Posh Peacock, £4.49 (1). Press over your eyelid, from your lashes to just above your socket line. Step 3 Frame eyes with liner, like Chanel Stylo Yeux Waterproof Long-Lasting Eyeliner, £18 (2). Finally, add a slick of lengthening...

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'I just wanted to make something of my life'

She vowed to "live the dream" after winning Celebrity Big Brother in 2006, but fame has been hard on Chantelle Houghton. So why does she continue to dance with the devil? By Beth Neil, photography by Barnaby Wilshier July 3, 2011 Chantelle Houghton is nothing if not resilient. Five and a half years on from winning Celebrity Big Brother and still, here she is, valiantly eking every last drop of mileage from her 15 minutes of fame. It seems she's always lurching from one doomed relationship to another, stumbling from one emotional trauma to the next. And with each incident comes a new opportunity to be in the headlines. The latest event is her very public split with Rav Wilding after those rowing pictures were publicised....

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