DAP: The breaking news in Cambodia: “Cambodia concerned about lighting: official” plus 9 more

Cambodia's disaster management committee on Thursday said that the lighting is still the concern in the country because the rain is reflected its season. "So far, there have been 14 people died of the lighting in the country and the rain started falling in the rare season," Keo Vy, a senior official of disaster management committee said. "The rare rain usually falls in April but it changed, he said, adding that the death toll from the lighting occurred in the western region of country. The death toll from the lighting has increased if comparing with same period of last year, he stresses.  Last year, lightning killed 114 people and 65 animals, wounded 58 people and ruined three homes.  In 2009, About 140 people were killed by lightning last year, report from Cambodia's national committee for disaster management.

Cambodia on Thursday hosted the maritime security management with attending representatives from 22 other countries from ASEAN, some countries from EU, Australia, US, and New Zealand in a move to build relationship and share experience for maritime security management.

"We need the cooperation to share information in strengthening maritime security especially the countries that have coastal need the information to ensure security along coastal region," Gen. Nhem Sowath, director general of political and international affairs department for defense ministry said in the workshop.

"We need to protect our maritime security against any threats especially we need to join together to fight against terrorism and border crimes and help any event from natural disasters, "He added.  The US is a big support for the event.

police
URUMQI, March 24 (Xinhua) -- A bus and train collision left at least 5 people dead and dozens injured Thursday morning in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, police said.
A runaway No. 531 Bus rushed onto a railway track and was hit by a running train at 9:07 a.m., in Urumqi, the regional capital, said a spokesman with the city's railway bureau.
Passengers on the bus were mostly students on their way to school.
At least 5 people were killed, said Wang Mingshan, Urumqi's police chief.
The wounded were rushed to three local hospitals, one of which said it has already taken in around 30 injured people.

BEIJING, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Gree Electric Appliances, China's largest maker of home air-conditioners, reported Thursday its 2010 net profit soared 46.76 percent year on year.
The company's net profit hit 4.28 billion yuan (651.82 million U.S. dollars), the Guangdong-based firm said in its annual business report filed to Shenzhen Stock Exchange.
Its annual business revenue increased 42.62 percent from one year earlier to 60.8 billion yuan while earnings per share advanced 47.57 percent year on year to 1.52 yuan.
Gree Electric attributed its profit surge mainly to its technological and marketing innovations as well as the country's efforts in boosting domestic demand and "trade-in" policies for purchase of home appliances
The A-share price of the company opened up 1.16 percent from the previous close to 22.7 yuan Thursday.

BEIJING, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Officials in China's capital city Beijing will be held accountable for erroneous decision making and inept leadership by a new regulation, China Daily reported Thursday.
Both Communist Party of China (CPC) officials and administrative officials in Beijing will be forced to resign or to submit to punishments if the government offices they oversee fail to perform their duties, according to a temporary regulation jointly released by the General Offices of the city's Party committee and government.
Some provinces, for their part, have passed similar rules, but those have only applied to administrative officials.
The city's rule stipulates that both Party and administrative officials will be held accountable for making bad decisions, falling down in their duties, failing to properly deal with mass disturbances and making similar types of mistakes.
The stipulation is a sign of progress in the supervision of Party officials, an unnamed official from Beijing Party discipline inspection commission was quoted as saying by Thursday's China Daily.

BEIJING, March 24 (Xinhua) -- China's stock index futures opened mixed Thursday. The contract for settlement in April, the most actively traded, opened 1.6 points higher at 3,275.
The May contract opened at 3,301.8, up 11 points from the previous close. And the contract for settlement in June opened at 3,314.6, down 0.2 points.
The contract for settlement in September opened 5.8 points higher to 3,360.4.
The stock-index contracts, agreements to buy or sell the Hushen 300 Index at a present value on an agreed date, are designed to allow investors to bet on and profit from both gains and declines in the market.
The index futures were launched at the China Financial Futures Exchange (CFFEX) and started trading from April 16, 2010. The CFFEX has set the base value for all the four contracts at 3,399 points.

NANJING, March 24 (Xinhua) -- A group of researchers in east China's Nanjing city have voiced confidence that genetically modified pigs would be born later this year to provide much-needed organs for transplant into human bodies.
Researchers with the Nanjing Medical University said Thursday that pig organs were expected to be put on clinical trials within two to three years, depending on the type of organs concerned.
"We expect to take pig cornea and skin to clinical test first, probably within two years. Major organs like heart, kidney and liver could take up to five years," Dai Yifan, lead researcher of the project, told Xinhua in an interview.
Dai said the pig organs would have been genetically altered to be compatible with human body, and strict hygiene supervision would make them free of bacteria or virus.
According to Dai, researchers first took out cells from ordinary pigs, modified the gene that causes immune rejection from human body, and then transfer the modified gene back into cells and replace the original ones.
For about a decade, Dai has studied gene knockout on pigs to avoid hyperacute rejection from human body. Several of his academic papers on this subject have been published on the Science and Nature Biotechnology journals.
He came back to China from the United States last year. At the beginning of this year, thousands of frozen cells taken from genetically modified pigs also arrived in Nanjing.
Dai said his team have started to make such pigs by cloning. "The piglets will have to be separated from their mothers immediately after cesarean birth and be raised by our staff in bacteria-free environment," Dai said.
"They will also have to pass a series of quarantine inspections to be qualified for organ transplant."
Allan Zhao, Dai's colleague on the team, said they expect to lower the cost of organ transplant with future pig substitutes.
"For example, one genetically-modified pig cornea would cost around 10,000 yuan (1,500 U.S. dollars), in addition to surgery expenses," Zhao said.
Lou Jinning, director of the Institute of Clinical Medicine at the Beijing-based China-Japan Friendship Hospital, cited the latest progress of Dai's team as "an obvious breakthrough" in China.
"We are now catching up with a few other countries that have made major breakthroughs in this field. Some have already bred such pigs for transplant research in non-human primates," he told Xinhua.
Lou believed transplanting animal organs into human bodies is a trend in bio-engineering and pigs are the best possible animal for this.
Long waiting lists and few donor responses have long been a disheartening picture when it comes to human organ transplant around the world, particularly in China.
Statistics show there are around 1.5 million patients in China on the waiting list each year for a transplant organ, but the number of donors is only about 10,000, less than one percent of the demand.
Lou said one major reason for this gap is the traditional Chinese culture that believes humans should die intact. "And this is not going to change anytime soon."
Researchers say a major challenge now is to make pig organs compatible with human bodies permanently or for a long time.
"They can now ensure there is no acute rejection from human body after transplants, so the key is to work on long-term compatibility," Lou said.
He also said before actual clinical trials, a breeding base needs to be built that can turn out several hundred such modified pigs a year.
In the meantime, some doctors have voiced worries that theoretical feasibility does not necessarily ensure a clinical success.
"Theoretically, knocking out relevant genes could be a solution for rejection from human body, but we have to admit animals are still different from human bodies and the success on monkeys does not necessarily mean success in humans," said Doctor Ding Yitao at the Nanjing Gulou Hospital.
"Besides, would they bring unknown viruses or diseases to human bodies?" Ding asked.

BEIJING, March 24 (Xinhua) -- The global supply chain disruption following the earthquake and tsunami in Japan has sent shockwaves through auto makers in China, especially companies that are funded by Japanese car makers.
Many Japanese carmakers and parts producers have shut down operations because the disaster on March 11 damaged factories and infrastructure and caused delays in the shipment of raw materials.
The disaster-stricken northeast region of Japan is a major production base for auto and electronics components.
Toyota, the world's largest carmaker, announced on Tuesday that it would extend the shutdown of its eleven factories until Saturday, the second week after the catastrophe, in spite of a shortage in auto parts. Honda said that the production suspension would continue through Sunday.
Nissan, another major Japanese carmaker, resumed parts production at some plants on Monday and also planned to resume vehicle production on Thursday. But lingering fears remain over the possibility that the production could be affected by continued power outages and infrastructure problems.
The joint ventures of the three auto giants in China announced that it would not halt production in the short term due to their stockpile of auto parts. But in the mid- and long-term, they might have to reduce or even halt output if Japanese suppliers fail to ship parts due to the slow recovery.
Managers at Guangzhou Toyota and Guangqi Honda, the two joint ventures with Guangzhou Automobile Group, said their inventory of auto components could sustain normal production for two weeks through the end of March.
Dongfeng Nissan and Dongfeng Honda, another two joint ventures, have also said that they are capable of maintaining normal production until the end of the month, but warned that disruptions could not be ruled out next month.
A senior executive at a Sino-Japanese automaker told Xinhua that Japanese car companies get 60 to 70 percent of their parts from China and the remaining key parts from Japan. "If the parts suppliers in Japan takes too long to resume production, the joint ventures will be affected," the executive said.
Some local brands could also face production disruptions because they receive key components from Japan to boost quality, according to the China Passenger Car Association.
Some carmakers would run out of stocks at the end of this month, the association said. If they did not adjust the operation pace, the production of some models could be halted under extreme circumstances, it said.
"Some domestic auto makers will have to find alternative parts suppliers from other countries," said Song Donglin, an economist and the president of Jilin University of Finance and Economics.
Chinese auto parts makers should learn a lesson from the supply chain crisis and move up the value chain, experts said.
China's auto industry should also boost indigenous innovation, particularly with increasing investment on the research and development of key components, said Li Junjiang, the head of the School of Economics under Jilin University.
"China has become the world's largest auto market, but we cannot call it an auto power," Li said.
Su Hui, an official at the China Automobile Dealers Association, said that the disruption could prompt Japanese auto parts producers to move some of their production to China and also bring opportunities to both local and other foreign brands as vehicle imports from Japan become affected.

PYONGYANG, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Kim Jong Il, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), have urged rapid development of the country's sports, the Rodong Sinmun newspaper said Thursday.
After watching a synchronized swimming performance recently, Kim ordered further development of the event, and set forth tasks and guidelines for rapidly developing the country's sports in general, said the paper.
The DPRK leader also underscored the need to improve sport techniques and training methods, it said.
Kim was accompanied by Kim Jong Un, vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission of DPRK's ruling Workers' Party, and other senior officials in watching the performance.

JOHANNESBURG, March 23 (Xinhua) -- The Coca-Cola Company and the Coca-Cola Africa Foundation Wednesday announced that 6 million U.S. dollars will be dedicated to water and sanitation partnerships aimed at improving the lives of an estimated 250,000 women and girls in African this year alone.
Providing access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene is critical for creating healthy communities around the world.
"The water and sanitation crisis affects billions of people every day, but the impact on women and girls is particularly devastating. Supporting initiatives that promote access to water for women and girls is a building block for community health with a ripple effect on social and economic empowerment. This is a win- win for everyone," Coca-Cola Company Chairman Muhtar Kent said in a statement.
The Coca-Cola Company is the world's largest beverage company. According to a statement realized in South Africa by Coca-Cola Company the announcement was made as part of a high-level leadership event on World Water Day, including remarks from U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and World Bank President Robert Zoellick.
The lack of safe drinking water in Africa is no secret, preventable waterborne illnesses claim the lives of millions in the continent every year. Due to this situation Coca-Cola Company runs the Replenish Africa Initiative, or RAI projects. In partnership with other donors, RAI's goal is to provide over 2 million people in Africa with access to drinking water by 2015. RAI is also Coca-Cola Company's contribution to help Africa meet the UN Millennium Development Goal (MDGs) on water and sanitation.
The Coca-Cola Company's 6 million dollars contribution will have an impact on women and girls in African countries including Algeria, Kenya, Liberia, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Tunisia, and Uganda.
In addition, in 2011, RAI will continue to support multi-year initiatives being implemented through the Water and Development Alliance (WADA), The Coca-Cola Company's partnership with United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Angola, Burundi, Egypt, Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, and Tanzania.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that African women and children spend up to 40 billion hours collecting water each year, time that could otherwise be spent learning, working or caring for their families.
"Because of the distance many women are required to travel to retrieve clean water, they often resort to using unsafe surface water sources, putting themselves and their families at risk of life-threatening diseases," reads part of the statement.
Additionally, data from the United Nations (UN) show that a child dies every 15 seconds on average from the diarrhea and malnutrition impacts related to unsafe water, inadequate sanitation or insufficient hygiene.
"With NGOs and government organizations as partners, The Coca- Cola Company is able to positively impact communities in need through health, safety, education, and income-generating activities for women," Coca-Cola Company said in a statement.
The beverage company says in Rwanda it is working with development organization Water For People (WFP) and other partners to provide access to water for approximately 17,000 people in the Gahanga and Masaka districts of Kicukiro.
Coca-Cola's funds are helping to leverage significant contributions from local government and communities, an indication of ownership that is critical for sustainability. In 2011, the provision of water access in two schools and sanitation access in four schools should help increase the attendance of female learners who often don't attend school due to the absence of proper sanitation facilities.
In South Africa, the RAI Water for Schools project is providing integrated Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) interventions at 100 schools. In partnership with the Government's Department of Basic Education (DBE), The Mvula Trust and H2O for Life, water points and gender segregated latrines will be constructed helping to increase female attendance in schools and empower girls to share proper hygiene and sanitation behaviors with their communities.