DAP: The breaking news in Cambodia: “Supporters of Syrian president rally in Beirut” plus 9 more

BEIRUT, June 4 (Xinhua) -- About 1,000 Syrians and Lebanese staged a rally in Beirut on Saturday to show their support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Syrians in Lebanon organized the demonstration in the southern suburb of Hay al-Sellum, a stronghold of the Lebanese Shiite armed group Hezbollah, which is a long-time ally of the Syrian government.

The protesters chanted "We will sacrifice our blood and soul for you, Bashar" and "We love you, Bashar," and carried pictures of Assad, Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah and leader of the Shiite Amal movement, Lebanese Speaker Nabih Berri.

Hundreds of thousands of Syrians working and living in Lebanon have been witnessing pro- and anti-Assad demonstrations recently.

Organized by the pan-Islamic party Hezb ut-Tahrir, hundreds of people on Friday joined protests against Assad in downtown Beirut, while another group of people, mostly Syrian workers, staged a rally at the same time and same place in support of Assad.

The Syrian president has been facing an unprecedented anti- government demonstrations in past three months, which has left hundreds of people killed.

KHARTOUM, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Sudanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Karti and his Egyptian counterpart Nabil el-Arabi held talks on Saturday in Khartoum, reviewing bilateral cooperation in the fields of politics and economy.

The two foreign ministers discussed issues of political and economic cooperation between the two countries, together with issues related to previous agreements and establishment of development projects.

"The Egyptian-Sudanese ties have entered a new phase," el-Arabi said.

Ali Karti, for his part, reiterated that his country is keen to develop sound ties with Egypt that stand on common interests of the two peoples.

"We need Egypt in many issues, particularly the ones related to the relationship between north and south Sudan, Abyei crisis and the International Criminal Court (ICC) file," he added.

In the meantime, al-Arabi promised to offer medical assistance to Sudan's Darfur region.

In a ceremony held at the Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, during which the Egyptian assistance was handed over, Karti praised Egypt's continuing support for the development in Darfur.

"The exchanged visits by the officials of the two countries and the continuing coordination between the two sides are all evidences that a new spirit was running in the two countries' ties, " Karti said.

BEIRUT, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese President Michel Sleiman hoped that the government would be formed by mid next week, the local newspaper As-Safir reported on Saturday.

The newspaper quoted sources with the presidential palace, who expressed optimism at the latest consultations between Prime Minister designate Najib Mikati and Sleiman aimed at forming the government. The sources expected results soon if the "positive atmosphere" remained.

Sleiman and Mikati on Friday held a meeting to discussed the latest development of the long-delayed formation of the government, but Mikati did not propose a government line-up as it was widely expected before. However, the Baabda palace sources told As Safir that Mikati is still following up some issues linked to the formation.

The sources said Sleiman hoped that Miqati would form the government before a scheduled parliamentary session on June 8.

Lebanon has no new government since the Prime Minister designate Saad Hariri's national unity government collapsed in mid of January.

GAZA, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Egypt kept the gates of Rafah crossing point closed for the second consecutive day Saturday, blocking travel of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, a Hamas official said.

Hamas authorities "were surprised" that the crossing did not open on Saturday, the first day in the Arab week, the Hamas official spoke on condition of anonymity, adding the crossing doesn't open on Friday, the Arab weekend holiday.

Egyptian officials on the other side of the crossing refused to respond to calls from Hamas officers on the Palestinian side, the Hamas official said.

Dozens of travelers gathered in the departure hall on the Palestinian side, but the Egyptian gate remained closed, said witnesses, adding the travelers, stuck between the Palestinian and Egyptian gates, got off the busses and organized a sit-in protest, who later made their way to the Egyptian gate and forcibly entered the Egyptian hall.

A week ago, Egypt said it would reopen the crossing, the only gate for Gazans to the outer world bypassing Israel, permanently and regularly.

The first four days after the crossing was opened went well, but then Hamas said the movement of travelers was "almost paralyzed," blaming Egypt for the slow work.

Egypt said there were technical problems which delayed the work and that these troubles can be solved through coordination.

When Hamas took over Gaza by force in 2007, the crossing was closed for most of the time. In June 2010, former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak ordered the crossing to reopen on regular basis, but conditions for travellers were still difficult.

RAMALLAH, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas accepted a French initiative to resume peace talks with Israel since it "agrees with the Palestinian ambitions," one of Abbas' spokesman said Saturday.

"President Abbas welcomes the French initiative and emphasizes the Palestinian readiness to go ahead with the peace process according to the international legitimacy," Nabil Abu Rdineh told Xinhua.

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe Wednesday presented the French peace plan to Abbas in Rome, which envisions the 1967 lines as the borders between Israel and the future Palestinian state. The French initiative agrees mostly with a recent speech by U.S. President Barack Obama, but goes further to emphasize security for the two states, not only for Israel.

Moreover, the new initiative sets one year as a time table for Israel and the Palestinians to agree on the status of Jerusalem and resolve the issue of Palestinian refugees.

Since the plan "prevents unilateral measures and agrees with the Palestinian ambitions. The Palestinian side accepted it," Abu Rdineh said.

Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians halted last year, when Israel resumed Jewish settlements building in the West Bank.

DOHA, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Qatar has banned the import of all vegetables from Germany and Spain due to an outbreak of a highly virulent strain of the E. coli bacteria, which has led to the death of at least 19 people worldwide, according to the state-run QNA news agency.

The Qatari Supreme Council of Health has decided to impose a temporary ban on fresh cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuce imported from Spain and Germany due to the spread of E. coli.

The council will not hesitate to ban all vegetables from all European countries if necessary.

The World Health Organization reports no progress has been made in identifying the mysterious, lethal strain of E. coli that has infected and killed an unusually large number of people in northern Germany.

E. coli attacks the kidneys and can cause seizures, strokes and comas and is mainly found in cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuce.

BEIJING, June 5 (Xinhua) -- A delegation of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, left Beijing on Sunday for an official goodwill visit to Ukraine, Ireland and Poland.
The delegation, headed by Wang Zhaoguo, vice chairman of the NPC  Standing Committee, is visiting at the invitation of the parliaments of the three countries.

BEIJING, June 5 (Xinhua) -- China's top economic planner and price regulator, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), has vowed to punish thermal coal producers for price hikes amid the country's current electricity shortage.

The NDRC warned that punishments could include heavy fines of up to five times the amount of revenues generated by the hikes.

The NDRC warning came after it raised prices of electricity for industrial, commercial and agricultural use across the country's 15 provinces and municipalities last month to encourage thermal power plants to generate more electricity.

The NDRC said it will strengthen its supervision of coal prices and launch a special inspection campaign for major coal-producing provinces and regions.

Beginning June 1, prices of electricity for industrial, commercial and agricultural uses in 15 provinces and municipalities were raised by 16.7 yuan (about 2.57 U.S. dollars) per 1,000 kilowatt-hours (kwh).

State-controlled contract prices for thermal coal, which is sold directly to power plants by coal producers, have remained almost unchanged since last year. Prices currently stand at 570 yuan per metric ton.

Prices for regular coal, however, have risen to 837 yuan per metric ton, creating great pressure for coal producers to raise the prices of thermal coal.

In addition, imported coal prices also soared this year, adding pressure to the domestic coal market, where many analysts predict further hikes amid increasing electricity demands and decreased supplies of hydropower due to a lingering drought in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

The NDRC has urged coal producers to increase production while strengthening its inspection of coal prices.

Last month, the NDRC and the Ministry of Railways sent a joint inspection team to review contracts related to thermal coal supplies to China's key coal-producing regions of Shanxi, Shaanxi and Inner Mongolia.

China's top economic planner also met with managers of major coal companies, including the country's largest coal producers China Shenhua and China Coal, and instructed them to stabilize the thermal coal market.

YANGON, June 5 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar Airways International (MAI) has planned to launch a direct flight service between Yangon and Seoul, aimed at attracting a quota of 1,000 tourists from South Korea to visit Myanmar monthly, local media reported Sunday.

Using the Air Bus A-330, MAI will undertake the flight service starting September, the Popular News said.

The Onnuri Travel company of South Korea has made arrangements to send travelers to Myanmar to meet the quota under a memorandum of understanding signed between the Myanmar Travel Syndicate and the Onnuri Travel company in Nay Pyi Taw last month.

At present, MAI operates international flights with four Airbus A-320 between Yangon and Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Bangkok, Guangzhou, Gaya, Siem Reap and Yangon-Bangkok-Singapore.

MAI, in its latest development, is a joint venture between the state-owned Myanmar Airways and the private Royal Myanmar Transport Co., transformed from that with a Singapore-based company -- Jester Asia in 1993.

The share of the Jester Asia was taken up by the Royal Myanmar Transport Co.

Local media reports said the number of tourist arrivals in Myanmar reached 106,795 in the first three months of 2011, up 24 percent from 85,519 in 2010 correspondingly.

Visitors from Thailand stood top in Myanmar's tourist arrival, followed by those from China, France, South Korea and America.

Meanwhile, the tourism authorities are making efforts to promote its international tourism market in cooperation with international and domestic airlines, hotels, tour operators and some travel agencies.

NEW DELHI, June 5 (Xinhua) -- Some 30 people were injured earlier Sunday when police fired teargas shells to disperse a group of people gathered at Ramlila Maidan to support Baba Ramdev who was staging hunger strike against corruption, local media reported.

"Almost thirty people, who sustained injuries have been admitted to nearby Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) hospital," a medical official at the hospital was quoted by the Press Trust of India (PTI) as saying.

The injured have also been admitted to two other hospitals, but the number of casualties was not yet known, PTI said.

Some of the followers were also injured in the commotion while they were running to escape the teargas shells, the report said.

The Indian government and yoga guru Baba Ramdev staging hunger strike against corruption came into a stalemate Saturday.

Ramdev made it clear that he will not end his hunger strike until he gets a written agreement from the government on recovering black money.

Ramdev said earlier that he would start indefinite hunger strike against corruption and black money and go on an indefinite fast from June 4. He has demanded that the government should bring back black money stashed in tax havens abroad.

Over 3.2 million netizens are believed to have already registered online for Baba Ramdev's anti-corruption campaign.