DAP: The breaking news in Cambodia: “Ten Australians still unaccounted for in Japan: official” plus 9 more

CANBERRA, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Australian federal government on Saturday expressed concern for 10 Australians still unaccounted for in Japan.
Last Friday, a massive 9.0-magnitude earthquake hit Japan, unleashing a 10-meter high tsunami that did extensive damage.
4462 Australians were registered with Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) in Japan with about 3000 of them Tokyo-based.
DFAT said there was reason to believe 10 people still unaccounted for were in the worst affected areas at the time of the tsunami.
"We have not yet been able to confirm their safety," DFAT said in its updated briefing on the situation in Japan, which was released on its website.
"At this point all we know is that we have not been able to contact 10 Australians who we have reason to believe were in the worst affected areas.
"Communications remain difficult, and we are continuing to try to confirm their safety."
There are no reports of Australian casualties. But, earlier on Friday, Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd warned Australians might still be among the dead.
While large numbers of Australians had already left Japan, DFAT estimate between 1000 to 1500 remained in the greater Tokyo area.
DFAT said it would monitor this situation and had planned for a range of contingencies, in particular, DFAT is in close touch with Qantas and other commercial carriers to make sure there is seat availability to fly out Japan on a commercial basis.
It said if it became apparent more commercial flights were needed, plans were in place for Qantas to arrange additional flights within 24-48 hours.
Meanwhile, Australian officials in Tokyo can provide emergency loans to Australians wanting to leave but unable to afford air tickets, as Rudd on Friday said no Australian would be left behind if they could not afford a flight.
In travel advice updated early on Saturday morning, DFAT continues to advise Australians against travel to Tokyo and northern Honshu unless absolutely necessary.
DFAT is also advising Australians in those areas to leave unless their presence is essential.

LOS ANGELES, March 18 (Xinhua) -- Public health and safety do not face any threat from radiation leaked from nuclear facilities in Japan this week, California Governor Jerry Brown said on Friday.
"As this very tragic situation in Japan unfolds, I want Californians to know that we are closely monitoring any potential impact on our state. I also want to emphasize that there is no threat to the people of California due to radiation in Japan," said Brown.
"The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and our Emergency Management Agency are in constant contact with the federal agencies responsible for monitoring radiation levels in California, and we will tell the public if any precautions become necessary. However, there is no cause for alarm," he said in a statement.
Meanwhile, CDPH Interim Director Dr. Howard Backer said that "as both President (Barack) Obama and Governor Brown have stated, there is no threat to California, and so people should not be taking precautionary health measures."
"Potassium iodide is only appropriate for much higher levels of radiation that may be generated within close proximity to a nuclear source," Dr. Backer noted. "Using potassium iodide when inappropriate can result in significant side effects."
Backer said his department "takes the situation in Japan seriously, and we are monitoring it very closely."
Earlier in the day, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said no measurable radiation from failed Japanese reactors has been detected so far in Southern California.
Radiation monitors did not detect any signs of radioactivity in Southern California related to the Japanese nuclear crisis, EPA said.
The EPA deploys 12 air monitors across California out of a total of 124 nationwide. These monitors provide hourly readings of radiation levels.   California Air Quality Management District (CAQMD) also said on Friday they saw no elevated radiation levels on the U.S. West Coast from Japan's nuclear power plant disaster.
"At this point we're unable to verify if there are any elevated levels," said Ralph Borrmann, a spokesman for the CAQMD in San Francisco. "We're not seeing it on our live data in California."
But according to CNN, small amounts of radiation was detected in Sacramento in Northern California Friday morning. The amount of radiation was so small that it posed no threat to human health, the report said.  
Amid reports that winds could deliver a "radioactive plume" to  the West Coast as early as Friday, California and Los Angeles County officials have urged calm.
Any radiation emitted by the failing Japanese nuclear reactors would dissipate during the 5,000-mile (8,000-kilometer) journey across the Pacific Ocean, health officials said.

WASHINGTON, March 18 (Xinhua) -- Some banks can increase dividends and take other capital actions if they pass "stress tests," said Friday the U.S. Federal Reserve in a statement.
The U.S. Fed said that it had finished those tests for the 19 largest banks, including Citigroup Inc., Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co. As a result of the tests, some firms are expected to increase or restart dividend payments, buy back shares, or repay government capital, added the Fed.
However, the Fed did not reveal either the names or number of banks that were expected to do so.
The Fed's actions on capital distributions come after significant improvement in both economic conditions and the capital positions of financial institutions. From the end of 2008 through 2010, common equity increased by more than 300 billion dollars at the 19 largest U.S. bank holding companies, according to the Fed.
U.S. regulators barred banks from increasing dividends without obtaining approval during the financial crisis.
After the Fed released the statement, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. all announced plans to boost dividends or buy back stocks.

OTTAWA, March 18 (Xinhua) -- Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper will depart Ottawa on Friday night for Paris to attend a meeting on the situation in Libya.
Harper said in the morning that Canada will send warplanes to help enforce the United Nations resolution establishing a no-fly zone over Libya, despite the Libyan government's ceasefire declaration.
On Saturday, high-level representatives of the European Union, the United Nations and the African Union will gather in Paris to discuss the Libyan crisis.
Leaders from Britain, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Denmark and Belgium, as well as foreign ministers from the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, have also been invited to attend the meeting.
Analysts said that if NATO nations failed to move collectively, participating countries and organizations in the Paris meeting may form some kind of a coalition and launch operations on their own.
In other developments, six CF-18 Hornet fighter jets left the Canadian Forces base in Bagotville, Quebec early Friday afternoon Eastern Standard Time to help enforce the United Nations no-fly zone over Libya, a senior Canadian officer said.
Lt. Gen. Andre Deschamps, chief of the air staff, told a news conference at the base before the planes departed that three more jets are expected to leave within a few hours.
A total of 150 Canadian Forces members are expected to be involved in the deployment by transport planes from the Canadian Forces base in Trenton, Ontario.
The UN Security Council on Thursday adopted a resolution to authorize a no-fly zone over Libya, and called for "all necessary measures," excluding troops on the ground, to protect civilians under threat of attack in the North African country.
The UN resolution demands the immediate establishment of a ceasefire and a complete end to violence and all attacks against, and abuses of, civilians in Libya.
The member states can act "nationally or through regional organizations or arrangements" in taking these measures, the resolution says.
Libya declared a ceasefire on Friday and pledged to end military action in the face of the UN resolution.
Canada has so far deployed the frigate HMCS Charlottetown, with 240 crew equipped with a Sea King helicopter, in the waters off Libya. It also has one C-17 Globemaster strategic transportation aircraft and two C-130J Hercules tactical transportation aircraft as well as a military reconnaissance team of 13 soldiers in Malta.

VIENNA, March 18 (Xinhua) -- The 26th Annual Congress of the European Association of Urology (2011 EAU congress) kicked off on Friday at the Vienna Austria Center in the Austrian capital Vienna.
About 14,000 doctors, experts, scholars and representatives of pharmaceutical enterprises in the field of urology from more than 80 countries took part in the event, which will last till Tuesday.
The EAU congress is Europe's largest fair in the field of urology. This is the third time for Vienna to host the event.
The EAU congress aims to review technical innovation and technological progress in the field of urology and related subspecialties, discuss new theories, new technologies and new diagnostic methods of urological clinical trials, optimize the risk management of urological disease, and enhance doctors' practical knowledge and skills by educational activities.
It also provides an important platform for related pharmaceutical, medical equipments and medical consumables manufacturers to present their latest products and technologies, and creates the opportunity of face-to-face communication between suppliers and consumers.
The highlights of this year's EAU congress include the discussion of state-of-the-art kidney imaging and the application of ultrasound, computerized tomography (CT-scan) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Participants are also expected to give a timely overview on the role of imaging, focal therapy and kidney biopsy in the management and follow-up of small renal masses, as well as the use of imaging in the management of urinary incontinence and other pelvic urinary pathologies.
Congress organizers said that more than 200 presentations and seminars are scheduled during the five-day meeting, with an estimated 400 speakers unveiling their latest findings.

CHICAGO, March 18 (Xinhua) -- Chicago grain prices continued to post strong gains on Friday, as outside market recovered and investors turned their attention once again to fundamentals of the grain market.
The most active corn contract for May delivery climbed 37 cents, or 5.7 percent, to close at 6.835 U.S. dollars per bushel. May wheat added 12.75 cents, or 1.8 percent, to 7.23 dollars per bushel. May soybean rose 27.25 cents, or 2 percent, to 13.625 dollars per bushel.
Corn price booked a 5.7-percent gain after a similar gain in the previous session on follow-through technical buying as well as concerns over the tightening supply situation worldwide, given the huge demand for U.S. crops.
"There're indications that China may have bought 600,000 tons of U.S. corn, basically 100,000 tons per month from July through December, you also have South Korea buying 500,000 tons of U.S. corns in the past 48 hours, and Mexico also being a big buyer, that underscores that there's still the demand story for corn here, actually the corn balance sheet is very tight," said James Barnett, a grain analyst in Chicago.
Meanwhile, a firmer equity market and weaker dollar, along with higher gasoline prices, all contributed to offer a strong lift to the grain market.
As for wheat, a warmer and drier-than-normal forecast for U.S. western wheat states in the next 11 days helped buoy up the price. "All those states went dormant last fall at historically low crop condition ratings, due to a dry fall season. This makes weather and its effect on the crops critical through early May when quality and yields are finally decided," said Tim Hannagan, a senior grain analyst with PFGbest in Chicago.
"The trade could turn weather bullish very quickly as the U.S. is the first major world wheat producer to grow a crop," Hannagan added.

UNITED NATIONS, March 18 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday voiced deep concern about the reported killing of demonstrators in Syria and called on the Syrian authorities to refrain from violence and to abide by international commitments regarding human rights.
"The use of lethal force against peaceful demonstrators and their arbitrary arrests are unacceptable," said a statement released here by Ban's spokesperson. "The secretary-general is concerned about the reported killing of demonstrators in Der'a, Syria today."
He urged Syrian authorities "to refrain from violence and to abide by their international commitments regarding human rights which guarantee the freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom of the press and the right to peaceful assembly," said the statement.
"The secretary-general believes that, as elsewhere, it is the responsibility of the government in Syria to listen to the legitimate aspirations of the people and address them through inclusive political dialogue and genuine reforms, not repression," said the statement.

SANTIAGO, March 18 (Xinhua) -- Chile and the United States on Friday signed an agreement to exchange experience and training in the field of nuclear energy to be used for peaceful means.
"We aspire to have technology and science to allow us to compete at a different level. To train our workers and as a country with technology, and with the development of science, the United States is an unsurpassable partner," Chilean Foreign Minister Alfredo Moreno said after singing the agreement with U.S. ambassador to Chile Alejandro Wolff.
Energy Minister Laurence Golborne said that the use of nuclear energy to generate electric energy had been rejected by Chile's current President Sebastian Pinera "long time ago."
Colborne said the agreement is an advance in the field of training and knowledge of the Chilean scientists as "one more step " towards the establishment of a nuclear plant in the country. He stressed, however, that Chile "does not have a program to build or develop nuclear plants" at this moment, he said.
These kinds of agreements establish a system of exchange of information and facilitate the possibility for Chileans to be trained abroad.
Moreno, meanwhile, said Chile has two centers of nuclear investigation and therefore need better trained personnel with specialized knowledge in the field.   "These things point to the positive way of learning for later, if at another time, if other governments, wants to make a decision he or she could have all the available elements," he added.
The signature of the "memorandum of understanding and cooperation on the use of nuclear energy with peaceful means" is opposed by the opposition.
The Chilean government said this is just preliminary research, and not a precedent to establish nuclear centrals, other officials said.
Chile has similar agreements with Argentina and France.

BUCHAREST, March 18 (Xinhua) -- The Romanian government decided on Friday to send a special flight to Japan to evacuate Romanian citizens there amid fears of nuclear leaks after last Friday's earthquake and tsunami.
According to the Foreign Ministry, the national air carrier TAROM dispatched on Friday afternoon a special flight for Japan to repatriate the Romanian nationals there who have specifically asked for help.
It is a charter flight "for at least part of the Romanians who asked the Embassy to help them leave Japan," said Foreign Minister Teodor Baconschi earlier, adding that it would be an ad-hoc commercial flight organized for them.
At the same time, the ministry called on the families of the Romanian citizens who are in Japan now to send to their relatives the information about the meeting point at the Narita Airport of Tokyo, where they will have to show up for the check-in.
According to a press release of the ministry, the flight is scheduled to take off from the Narita Airport on Saturday afternoon.
The Romanian government decided to subsidize half of the airfare for this special commercial flight, while the Romanian nationals taking the flight will have to bear the other half. Children aged 1 year and below will travel free of charge.
This measure is part of the action plans to be carried out by the government for the safe repatriation of Romanian nationals who are in critical areas.
The Romanian government also arranged free evacuation services for the crisis in Libya.
Romania's Foreign Ministry issued a travel advisory on Monday, warning citizens against traveling to quake-hit Japan, and decided two days later to withdraw "non-essential staff" from its embassy in Tokyo.

WASHINGTON, March 18 (Xinhua) -- The traditional definition of sovereign risk needs to be broadened in order to better understand and address the current financial challenges, concluded an International Monetary Fund (IMF) high-level conference in Washington on Friday.
Sovereign risk, broadly, the probability that a country may not pay its debts, "has been shown to be too narrow by the global financial crisis," according to a statement released by the IMF.
"Developments since mid-2008 have exposed very complex interactions between fiscal balances, public and private debt, and the financial sector."
The IMF conference, Financial Crises and Sovereign Risk-- Implications for Financial Stability, brought together policymakers and regulators from developing and emerging countries, academics, representatives from global banks, and senior Fund staff, at IMF headquarters. They exchanged their ideas of new, multifaceted and more nuanced dynamic of sovereign risk and its implications for financial stability.
"Sovereign risks have been transformed in a number of important ways as a direct consequence of the crisis and major fault lines in the financial sector. As the public sector intervened to support financial institutions, distinctions between sovereign and non-sovereign and private liabilities have been blurred, and public exposure to private risks has increased," IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said in his opening remarks.
The IMF noted that the global crisis has seen unprecedented government support to the real economy and the financial sector. The combined effects of these interventions and the loss in revenues caused by economic slowdown have resulted in worsening fiscal balances, increased public debt, and a general deterioration in countries' public finances. Substantial and sustained efforts to restore soundness to public balance sheets are necessary.
The size, maturity structure, composition, and ownership of public debt have been altered. Investors' risk aversion has grown and concerns of contagion among the sovereign, quasi-sovereign, and financial sectors remain at elevated levels.
The Fund said that in this highly uncertain context, the conventional measurements have become too limited and unable to explain the present elevated levels of sovereign risk in some countries, creating an urgent need for proper identification, measurement, and management.
"A wider definition of sovereign risk is warranted, one where core fiscal variables and the macroeconomic context are complemented with elements reflecting broader balance sheet developments, debt portfolio structure, investor base, cross- border linkages, and financial assets of a country," Strauss-Kahn added.