DAP: The breaking news in Cambodia: “Thailand avoids third party for border issues with Cambodia” plus 9 more

Thailand has played games and used tricky tactics to deal border issues with Cambodia

"Thailand has showed repeated actions and used tricky tactics in dealing border issues," Khuy Khuong, said spokesman for foreign ministry of Cambodia.

"Thai leaders violated the statement from Indonesia as current chairman and Thailand is not willingness to deal the border issues with Cambodia peacefully," He said. Thailand and Cambodia plan to meet on border issues on April 7-8.

The reply from foreign ministry, after Thai commander in chief, Prasyuth, refused to attend the border committee meeting at Bogor in Indonesia from 7-8 April. Thailand still stands on bilateral deal.

Khuy Khong, said "Thai commander's word showed that Thailand is playing trickily in dealing the border issues through peaceful means and violated the statement from Indonesia," which adopted on Feb 22.

It is not clear from Thai side to attend JBC meeting or not.  Thailand and Cambodia will have another meeting on JBC.  GBC meeting usually is led by defense ministers.

On March 25, Thai National assembly plans to consider about the three diplomatic notes which agreed in the previous meetings.

"Cambodia needs third party to witness because Thailand like playing around and invading the neighboring countries, a cyclo driver Mey Chan in Phnom Penh said.

YANGON, March 23 (Xinhua) -- The Myanmar Union Election Commission has declared 18  more parliamentary candidates all from Rakhine state constituencies and their election agents as persons of distorted qualification, bringing the total of such disqualified candidates to 93 so far since March 15, according to Wednesday's official daily New Light of Myanmar.
The commission's announcement, signed by its chairman U Thein  Soe, said these candidates and their election agents failed to submit election expenses during the 60-day period after they were announced as parliament representatives-elect through Nov. 7, 2010 general election as found by the election tribunal.
The commission said that they have been disallowed to contest in the election as  parliamentary candidates in the existing parliament term and the next term.
In the 2010 general election, 1,154 candidates out of over 3, 000 representing political parties in contesting were elected as parliamentary representatives at three levels, in which 325 as representatives to the house of representatives, 168 as  representatives to the house of nationalities and 661 as representatives to the region or state parliament.
37 political parties including 82 independents took part in the parliamentary election held across the country's seven regions and seven ethnic states.
Myanmar started its first three-chamber parliament sessions simultaneously on Jan. 31 this year and the sessions of the house of representatives (lower house) and house of nationalities (upper house) being underway in the new capital of Nay Pyi Taw, while the sessions of region or state parliament have also been running separately in 14 respective regions or states since then.
The union parliament is made up of the house of representatives and the house of nationalities, each level of which involves elected ones in the November 2010 general election and 25-percent military-nominated ones.
In Myanmar's presidential election on Feb. 4 this year, Prime Minister U Thein Sein won the presidency, while U Tin Aung Myint Oo and Dr. Sai Mauk Kham were elected as the vice presidents.  Enditem

TOKYO, March 23 (Xinhua) -- The National Police Agency said Wednesday that the catastrophic earthquake and ensuing tsunami have left 9,301 people dead and 13,786 others unaccounted for in Japan by 09:00 local time (0000 GMT).
A 9.0-magnitude earthquake hit the Pacific coastal areas of northeastern and eastern Japan on March 11, triggering enormous tsunami.
Heavy casualties and extensive damage have been caused by the twin disasters.   Enditem

TOKYO, March 23 (Xinhua) -- Radioactive materials above legal limits of Japan's food sanitation law have been detected in 11 types of vegetables grown in Fukushima Prefecture, local media reported Wednesday.
The vegetables included broccoli and cabbage spinach and the " komatsuna" leaf vegetable, Kyodo News reported, citing the health ministry.
The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry has called on consumers not to eat the 11 vegetables produced in the prefecture.  Enditem

CANBERRA, March 23 (Xinhua) -- Australian Transport Safety Bureau on Wednesday issued a report revealing an incident in 2009, where Qantas' Airbus took off with almost one tonne overweight.
The Qantas flight left Sydney, Australia for Hong Kong, China in March 2009.
According to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau report, the plane's load controller gave the wrong information about the amount of freight the plane was carrying, and the incorrect data led to the plane taking off almost one tonne overweight.
The report said the incident was not reported properly by staff and the airline also failed to carry out proper safety checks after the incident.
"The off-loading team in Hong Kong noticed the overload but did not file a report, which meant the plane made another 10 flights before it was checked for faults," the report wrote, quoted by ABC News on Wednesday.
In respond, Qantas told ABC News that there was never any risk to passengers during the overloaded flight to Hong Kong.
It added that the airline has since made changes to freight checks and incident reporting.  Enditem

WELLINGTON, March 23 (Xinhua) -- Fuel prices are at their highest level in nearly three years in New Zealand on Wednesday after the four main oil companies increased their prices by 3 cents.
Shell, Caltex, BP and Mobil have raised the price of 91 octane, the most commonly used petrol, to 2.189 NZ dollars (1.6 U.S. dollars) a liter.
And while oil companies exempted Christchurch from the March 8 price increase, motorists there have not been spared the latest rise. Prices in Christchurch have gone up by 5 cents a liter, putting 91 octane at 2.159 NZ dollars a liter.
Diesel prices were also increased on Tuesday, by 8 cents in Christchurch to 1.60 NZ dollars a liter and by 5 cents a liter to 1.70 NZ dollars in the rest of the country.
The managing director of monitoring company Fueltrack, Chris Kable, said in the short term prices are likely to keep rising, but once uncertainty over issues such as Libya are settled, they are likely to fall rapidly.  Enditem

TOKYO, March 23 (Xinhua) -- A string of earthquakes jolted northeastern Japan on Wednesday morning, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.
There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage from the quakes. No tsunami warning has been issued so far.
The quakes included one with a preliminary magnitude of 6.0 jolted mainly Fukushima Prefecture, which occurred at 7:12 a.m. local time. A nuclear power plant crippled by the March 11 quake is located in the prefecture.
It was followed by additional quakes. The tremor was also felt in Tokyo.  Enditem

CANBERRA, March 23 (Xinhua) -- A 14-year-old boy punched a 60- year-old teacher in the face before stabbing him in front of a classroom of students, Australia's Northern Territory (NT) police said on Wednesday.
According to Northern Watch Commander Erica Simms, the assault occurred at Nightcliff Middle School, in Darwin's northern suburbs, just before noon (CST) on Tuesday.
He said the boy punched the teacher to the face before taking a knife out of his bag, and when the teacher tried to take the weapon off him, the teacher was stabbed in the arm and leg.
"I can indicate that the male school teacher sustained seven stitches to his left elbow and stitches in his left leg as a result of that stabbing incident," Commander Simms told ABC News on Wednesday.
The teacher was taken to Royal Darwin Hospital for treatment and the student has been suspended.
Meanwhile, the Education Union expressed concerns about the safety of teachers and students at the school, saying that incident reflects an increase in behavioural problems across Northern Territory schools.
The federal Opposition's education spokesman, Peter Chandler, said the boy must be prosecuted.
"It is important as a society that we set the boundaries," Chandler told ABC News on Wednesday.
"We have to set these boundaries and this child needs to face the full consequences of what those boundaries are, because if we don't we are sending the wrong message to the community."
Council of Government Schools Organization's Peter Garrigan said it was a disturbing, tragic event, and the Education Department needs to help all those involved.
The Northern Territory government will not comment on the stabbing until a police investigation into the incident is completed.  Enditem  CANBERRA, March 23 (Xinhua) -- A 14-year-old boy punched a 60- year-old teacher in the face before stabbing him in front of a classroom of students, Australia's Northern Territory (NT) police said on Wednesday.
According to Northern Watch Commander Erica Simms, the assault occurred at Nightcliff Middle School, in Darwin's northern suburbs, just before noon (CST) on Tuesday.
He said the boy punched the teacher to the face before taking a knife out of his bag, and when the teacher tried to take the weapon off him, the teacher was stabbed in the arm and leg.
"I can indicate that the male school teacher sustained seven stitches to his left elbow and stitches in his left leg as a result of that stabbing incident," Commander Simms told ABC News on Wednesday.
The teacher was taken to Royal Darwin Hospital for treatment and the student has been suspended.
Meanwhile, the Education Union expressed concerns about the safety of teachers and students at the school, saying that incident reflects an increase in behavioural problems across Northern Territory schools.
The federal Opposition's education spokesman, Peter Chandler, said the boy must be prosecuted.
"It is important as a society that we set the boundaries," Chandler told ABC News on Wednesday.
"We have to set these boundaries and this child needs to face the full consequences of what those boundaries are, because if we don't we are sending the wrong message to the community."
Council of Government Schools Organization's Peter Garrigan said it was a disturbing, tragic event, and the Education Department needs to help all those involved.
The Northern Territory government will not comment on the stabbing until a police investigation into the incident is completed.  Enditem

UNITED NATIONS, March 21 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday said that this year's International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is devoted to the plight of people of African descent, who he explained have experienced much racism throughout history.
"The discrimination faced by people of African descent is pernicious," Ban said in a message to mark the International Day. "Often they are trapped in poverty in large part because of bigotry, only to see poverty used as a pretext for further exclusion."
The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is commemorated on March 21 each year. This year, the day centers on people of African origins, as the UN has proclaimed 2011 is the International Year for People of African descent.
Ban explained that people all over the world should look to the anti-racism agenda of the World Conference Against Racism, held in 2001 in Durban, South Africa, which included as an important element the empowerment of people of African descent.
"The international year is an opportunity to advance this effort and recognize the vast contributions made by people of African descent to the political, economic, social and cultural development of all our societies," Ban said.
The secretary-general called on the international community to reflect on the "long and terrible history" of wrongs perpetrated against people of African descent due to racism, including the transatlantic slave trade. He said action should be taken against such harmful discrimination.
"Overcoming racism compels us to address public policies and private attitudes that perpetuate it," said Ban. "On this International Day, I call on member states, international and non- governmental organizations, the media, civil society and all individuals to engage meaningfully in the promotion of the International Year for People of African descent -- and to work together against racism whenever and wherever it occurs."

OTTAWA, March 21 (Xinhua) -- Canadian CF-18 Hornet jet fighters Monday flew their first mission to help enforce the United Nations no-fly zone over Libya, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) reported.
The Canadian jets, which flew out of a base in Trapani, Italy, did not participate in a bombing mission, instead serving as armed escorts for fighters of another nation that conducted the bombing.
CBC did not specify how many Canadian planes on the first mission, adding that the Canadian jets are expected to begin bombing missions as soon as Monday night.
Six CF-18 Hornet jet fighters, which left Canada on Friday, have been based in Italy and are ready to help enforce the United Nations no-fly zone over Libya within two days, the Canadian Minister of National Defense Peter MacKay said on Sunday.
The announcement came a day after the offensive began overnight Saturday with strikes on Libyan military targets by French fighter jets and by missiles from the United States and British war ships.
By Sunday, the coalition said the no-fly zone was in place.
Mackay said the jets will be taking part in sorties "within 48 hours" to join the United States, France and Britain in maintaining the no-fly zone.
He said, in an interview with CTV, a well-known Canadian television network, the jets will be part of an international effort to back a United Nations Security Council resolution that seeks to minimize attacks against civilians by the Libyan government forces.
The U.S. officials said earlier that Spain, Belgium, Denmark and Qatar will also contribute to the military operation, but Mackay said to date, Qatar is the only country that has announced its intention to take part although the mission had the endorsement of the Arab League.
The CF-18s from Canadian Forces base in Bagotville, Quebec, along with 150 personnel, arrived at a small airbase in Trapani, Sicily, around noon local time Saturday.
The military sources said the Canadian pilots will start flying missions once the military has approved systems for rules of engagement, command and control, as well as identifying friendly or hostile forces.
One of the factors complicating the process has been that the Libyan government and rebel forces are using the same equipment, the sources quoted by CBC.
Canada's fighter jets last took part in such a mission in 1999 when they joined the NATO bombardment of the former Yugoslavia to stop ethnic violence against Kosovo Albanians.
Canada has so far deployed its 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.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Friday 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.
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 Friday and pledged to end military action in the face of the UN resolution.