DAP: The breaking news in Cambodia: “Cambodia says two more died by H5N1” plus 9 more

PHNOM PENH, Feb. 23 -- Cambodia's Ministry of Health and World Health Organization announced Wednesday that a mother and her son had died of respiratory complication caused by H5N1, bringing the death toll to 11.

The joint statement sent out to the media on Wednesday said a 19-year old mother and her 11-month old son died on Feb. 12 and Feb.17, respectively.

According to the statement, both fell sick in their hometown in Banteay Meanchey province near Thai border after they were exposed to sick poultry while visiting their relatives in Prey Veng province near Vietnam border.

The mother died in a clinic in Banteay Meanchey province while her son died in a hospital in Siem Reap province after he was admitted to medical care following the death of his mother.

Mam Bunehng, Minister of Health said "Compared to last year, we have seen more cases of H5N1 avian influenza this year. There seems to be a strong link between preparing and eating sick birds and becoming infected in all the three cases."

"I urge people to only cook and eat healthy birds which don't cause infection," he added.

From 2003 to Feb. 23, 2011, there have been 13 laboratory confirmed cases of H5N1 avian influenza virus in humans in Cambodia, 11 of whom died.

Cambodia reported the last victim died of the same disease was a 5-year-old girl from Phnom Penh who died on Feb. 4, 2011 as a result of respiratory complications after contracting human avian influenza virus H5N1.(Xinhua/sp)

PHNOM PENH, Feb. 24 -- A special envoy of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) will make a three-day official visit to Cambodia starting from Sunday, a government official said.

Phay Siphan, spokesman of the Office of the Council of Ministers said that Koichiro Matsuura, former director general of UNESCO will arrive in Cambodia on Sunday and will stay here until Tuesday.

Phay Siphan said he is not aware of his full program of activities while staying in Cambodia, except his planned meeting with Sok An, deputy prime minister and minister in charge of the Office of the Council of Ministers.

Local media has quoted a government source as saying that Koichiro Matsuura will make a short visit to Preah Vihear Temple on Tuesday, but Phay Siphan said he has had no information on his visit there.

Last week, Irina Bokova, director general of UNESCO announced that she will task Matsuura as her envoy to travel to Thailand and Cambodia to discuss with the two countries' prime ministers in safeguarding of the World Heritage site.

Matsuura, a former Director-General of UNESCO and a former Chair of the World Heritage Committee will travel to Bangkok on Feb. 25 before flying to Phnom Penh on Feb. 27.

His main focus will be safeguarding of the Preah Vihear temple that was listed as the World Heritage site in 2008.

The temple and its nearby ground were hit with bullets and bomblets during the latest fighting that broke out on Feb. 4-7 between Cambodia and Thailand.

In a statement from Paris, Irina Bokova has voiced concern over clashes around the Temple and she stressed that "the world's cultural heritage should never be a cause for conflict."

Cambodia and Thailand ratified the 1972 World Heritage Convention in which it says states parties undertake to recognize that "such heritage constitutes a world heritage for whose protection it is the duty of the international community as a whole to co-operate".(Xinhua/sp)

BRUSSELS, Feb. 23  -- Europe needs a swift, radical and comprehensive solution to the sovereign debt crisis, and cleaning up the banking sector should be a top priority, a European economist said in a recent interview with Xinhua.

"The first thing to do is to clarify the situation of the banks, so as not to play the Japanese strategy," said Jean Pisani-Ferry, director of European think tank Bruegel.

There is an interdependence between the bank and sovereign crisis and the interdependence across countries, but the European Union (EU) has failed to address systemically the interdependence during the past year, he said.

When the EU tries to solve the problem one by one, there is too much uncertainty that keeps worrying the markets, the economist said.

He deplored that the bank stress tests the EU conducted last year did not give the answer. What is still missing is the exposure of peripheral banks to potentially non-performing loans, which results in risks for banks in the rest of the eurozone, and for sovereigns in both peripheral and non-peripheral countries.

To shore up market confidence in Europe's banking sector, the EU conducted stress tests on 91 European banks last July, of which only seven banks failed.

"That is very unfortunate, because what they did was to reduce or destroy a credibility," Pisani-Ferry said.

To increase credibility of the stress tests to be conducted this year, Pisani-Ferry suggested that the EU involves the International Monetary Fund and the Bank for International Settlements in the process.

After clarifying the situation of the banking sector, the eurozone countries must proceed immediately with necessary banking restructuring, the director suggested in a policy paper that Bruegel published earlier concerning the comprehensive approach to the debt crisis.

In Pisani-Ferry's opinion, the debt-to-GDP ratio of Greece is too high and the insolvency of Greece is inevitable. But the public debts in Ireland, Portugal and Spain are more manageable than that in Greece.

He said the EU should consider debt reduction for Greece and the possibility of restructuring Greek sovereign debt instead of postponing it until 2013 when the EU's permanent rescue mechanism is due to be in place.

The EU's current stance of "no default now, but possible default on bonds issued from 2013" is inconsistent and not credible, according to the economist. Markets will be priced in the default option, making it difficult for troubled governments to borrow.

"It's time to clarify, to recognize when banks are insolvent, when states are insolvent, to respond to the problems instead of remaining in denial," he said.

To complete a comprehensive package to solve the debt crisis, the economist also suggested that the EU should revise the conditions of EU assistance programs, further empower the European Financial Stability Facility, reduce the public debt in Greece, and foster adjustment and growth in peripheral countries.

At the summit to be held from March 24 to March 25, EU leaders are expected to adopt a comprehensive package to deal with the debt crisis, but what the package should include is still under intense discussion. Leaders from the 17 eurozone countries will hold a summit on March 11 to focus on how to boost the competitiveness of eurozone economies.(Xinhua/sp)

SANTIAGO, Feb. 23  -- The Chilean government said Wednesday it would finish emergency housing construction for the victims of last year's megaquake by the end of 2012.

"I can guarantee that no one will stay in emergency camps in June 2012, and that is a record figure," the country's Housing Minister Magdalena Matte said after a meeting with members of the ruling and opposition parties.

She added that the housing quality will be much better.

"I can see their uncertainties and doubts about reconstruction, that is why we open the door for those who have questions and want to talk with us.What we need to do is to explain the plan," she said.

The government delivered the reconstruction report as part of the commemorations of the calamity a year ago, which had killed more than 500 people and left 800,000 others homeless.

However, the opposition strongly criticized the reconstruction process and said it was not invited to attend the commemorations launched by the government.(Xinhua/sp)

TORONTO, Feb. 23-- Cooperation between China and Canada has yielded and will continue to produce mutual benefits and win-win results, Chinese ambassador to Canada Zhang Junsai said here Wednesday.

"Our economic and trade cooperation enjoys a good momentum. This has brought real benefits to companies in both China and Canada," Zhang said when addressing the Hong Kong-Canada Business Association and the Ontario Chamber of Commerce.

There has been continuous improvement and development in China-Canada relations over recent years, and yet bilateral cooperation hasn't reached its full potential given the exisiting opportunities in the two-way trade and investment relations, he said.

The bilateral trade grew 20 percent to 36 billion U.S. dollars last year, but it was "only 1.2 percent of China's total foreign trade and 5 percent of that of Canada," Zhang said.

China's trade with Canada is only around 40 percent of that with Australia, said Zhang, who had served as Chinese ambassador to Australia.

China's exports to Canada amount to merely 1.5 percent of its total exports, while Canada's exports to China only 3 percent of its total.

China's direct investment in Canada takes up only 2 percent of its outward direct investment (ODI), while Canada's direct investment in China only 0.8 percent of its total ODI.

"China is the largest developing country. We have a huge population, so is our market," the ambassador said confidently, adding China's economic restructuring and upgrade will consistently fuel the world economy.

He noted the Chinese government has laid out in its 12th five-year plan proposal that new energy, energy conservation and environment protection, new energy cars, new materials, biology, high-end equipment manufacturing and new information technology will be its seven strategic industries.

"These offer vast grounds for us to expand China-Canada cooperation," Zhang said, noting Canada, a major developed country, is also one of the major resource and energy powers with advanced technologies.

In the past few years, the Canadian government has been actively promoting the "Asia-Pacific Gateway" and giving more attention to strengthening its cooperation with China and other countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

He said more and more Canadian companies are exploring the Chinese market, such as Bombardier, RIM, Manulife, Power Corporation and BMO.

"Their efforts are starting to pay off," he said.

The ambassador also stressed that China's investment in Canada has reached 10 billion U.S. dollars, surpassing Canadian investment in China for the very first time.

"This is only a beginning, which shows Chinese businessmen are confident in and value Canada's sound investment environment," the ambassador concluded.(Xinhua/sp)

WASHINGTON, Feb. 23 -- U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday evening called his Mexican counterpart Felipe Calderon over the killing of a U.S. agent in Mexico, saying he looked forward to meeting him next week at the White House.

Obama thanked Calderon for Mexico's efforts to bring to justice the murderers of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) special agent Jaime Zapata, including the arrest on Wednesday of one of his alleged killers, the White House said.

Obama said "neither the United States nor Mexico could tolerate violence against those who serve and protect our citizens, as special agent Zapata did so selflessly through his own life," the White House said.

Zapata and another ICE agent, Victor Avila, came under fire on Feb. 15 in Mexico while driving from the northern city of San Luis Potosi to Mexico City. Zapata's death, the first of a U.S. agent on Mexican soil since 1985, provoked outrage in the United States. Avila was injured in the shooting and is recovering.

Since taking office in December 2006, Calderon has boosted efforts to fight drug traffickers by mobilizing troops and police. Official figures show some 32,000 people have died since in the drug war.

In an interview on Tuesday with Mexican daily El Universal, Calderon criticized U.S. agencies for failing to do their part in the fight against powerful drug cartels, alleging that the U.S. had failed to curb drug consumption or the flow of weapons into Mexico, even as it is spending 1.4 billion dollars in training, equipment and other aid to help combat Mexico's drug cartels.

He also said that recently leaked cables from U.S. diplomats have hurt and distorted the relationship between the two nations and that the diplomats "pour lots of cream on their tacos." He was accusing the diplomats of exaggeration.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said early Wednesday that Obama "is deeply committed to the strong partnership that the United States has with Mexico."

Carney told reporters that "We admire the commitment and sacrifices of the Mexican people as they confront the criminal organizations that have brought so much violence to Mexico."

In his phone call to Calderon, Obama said he looked forward to welcoming him to the White House next Thursday to discuss "our important bilateral relationship and key global issues."

As a major drug producing and transit country, Mexico is the main foreign supplier of marijuana and a major supplier of methamphetamine to the United States.(Xinhua/sp)

SANTIAGO, Feb. 23  -- The U.S.-based Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) will support Chile's bid for energy efficiency and saving with new funding of 35 million U.S. dollars, the bank said Wednesday.

The funds will be channelled into projects of energy service companies in the forms of energy performance contracts, with an aim to cut energy demands and greenhouse gas emissions by almost 1 million tons, the bank's Chile country office said in a statement.

The IDB will also run a partial credit guarantee program to encourage the participation of local engineering companies and electricity services in promoting energy efficiency, it said.

"Chile's vigorous economy has grown by an average of 5.5 percent annually between 1990 and 2008, generating a strong demand of electricity. Chile's energy matrix is mainly based on hydroelectric production and natural gas, making it highly vulnerable to climate factors and the ups and downs of the international hydrocarbon markets," the statement said.(Xinhua/sp)

BOGOTA, Feb. 23 -- Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and his Salvadorean counterpart Mauricio Funes on Wednesday reaffirmed solidarity and agreed to jointly combat crime.

"Other themes that join us are our common interest in fight with all our force against the organized crime, against drug trafficking. There we need to help each other even more, and not only El Salvador and Colombia but all countries of the region," Santos said at a joint press conference with visiting Funes.

He said also mentioned the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and airline deals between the both countries.(Xinhua/sp)

Funes stressed the need to suppress transnational crimes and to further develop investment ties between the two countries.

"There are two Colombian financial business groups that have invested in El Salvador and Central America, and of course there are Salvadorans business groups that invest in Colombia in the area of real estate, particularly in the hotelier industry," he said.

QUITO, Feb. 23  -- The Ecuadorian government on Wednesday requested the U.S. Senate to approve an extension by at least 18 months of the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (ATPDEA), which expired 11 days ago.

Natalie Cely, coordinator minister of production, said it is important to extend the ATPDEA in order to articulate new trade strategies with the United States.

The ATPDEA benefits the Andean countries with duty-free access for their products to enter the U.S. market in return for their efforts to fight drug trafficking. The United States grants duty-free access to 750 kinds of products from Ecuador.

Cely told a local radio station that the intention of the Ecuadorian government is to "consolidate a plan B," including options to negotiate with the United States.

There are many options: one is a Trade Agreement for the Development, which will take time, another option is to seek a system of unilateral preferences involving other countries," she said.

These options are very important for Ecuador, because Colombia soon will have a Free Trade Agreement with the United States, which will reduce the possibilities of the ATPDEA to be kept only for Ecuador.

Ecuadorian exports under ATPDEA amounted 4.2 million U.S.dollars, or 70 percent of its total exports the the United States, according to official figures.(Xinhua/sp)

RIO DE JANEIRO, Feb. 23  -- Brazilian Development Bank President Luciano Coutinho said Wednesday that political policies are needed to improve the living conditions of the country's poor.

The policies should provide more stable jobs and incomes for poor people, he said, explaining that the government should support them in self-production, a rather difficult task.

Coutinho also commented on the effect of the recent political turmoil in the Middle East on international oil prices. He said the increases in oil prices were temporary and could be overcome.(Xinhua/sp)

"I believe those effects will be solved and things will return to normal," he said, "I cannot see the possibility (that oil prices are permanently affected) unless the largest producers are involved in the regional crisis."