DAP: The breaking news in Cambodia: “Over 10,000 hectares of rice paddy in Cambodia affect from Rain flood” plus 9 more

CAMBODIA, PHNOM PENH, Sept 13, 2011-The heavy rain hit Cambodia now pushing water level of Mekong river increased and it was sunk some villages along the river in Kratie , Steung Treng, Kampong Cham provinces ,

"It also hit over 10,000 hectares of rice fields across the country," PM Hun Sen announced yesterday.  Battambang, Siem reap, and Preah vihear also were affected from this heavy rain flood.

The provincial town of Siem Reap is the home of Angkor Wat temple, the world class tourism destination was sunk over knees. Local authorities said it will disappear soon.

PM Hun Sen appealed local authority to continue to help local people to safety place when necessary. He stresses Mekong River's water level will decrease after 15 September.

A student died of drowning at beach after the heavy wind hit Preah Sihanouk beach, a local police said.

CAMBODIA, PHNOM PENH, Sept 13, 2011- The Cambodian government has seen the membership of petroleum engineers to offer benefit for the country through cooperation through training expertise on oil and gas, the statement from Cambodian government obtained on Monday

Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Sok An, Minister in Charge of the Office of the Council of Ministers,  was pleased with the comment by Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) President Ganesh C. Thakur, who wants Cambodian National Petroleum Authority (CNPA) officials to become members of the SPE, it said.

Dr. Sok An, who is also chair of the CNPA, was informed by Mr. Thakur that CNPA officials are qualified to be members of the SPE and that Cambodia will benefit from the SPE through training and publications about Cambodian oil and gas.

Dr. Sok An is seeking to have the SPE provide training courses for Cambodian officials via teleconference. This is now being considered by the SPE.Mr. Thakur said, "Joining us it is a great opportunity because the SPE provides technical training on different topics. It is about training and education."The SPE will send lecturers to train its members, without any cost to be paid by the trainees, Mr. Thakur said. "Cambodia has a lot more to gain than to lose. CNPA officials will be exposed to technical information and technology", he told Dr. Sok An.

He also said that information about oil and gas is available for its members. The SPE has more than 80,000 pages on its website. The SPE is the largest individual-member organization serving managers, engineers, scientists and other professionals worldwide in the upstream segment of the oil and gas industry. Mr. Thakur told Dr. Sok An that it costs only $10 per year for membership for Cambodians and $90 in Europe.The SPE now has more than 100,000 members in 118 countries worldwide, Mr. Thakur said in the meeting, which was attended by CNPA officials.

Qualified applicants are people who work in oil and gas. The SPE is also looking for people who work in mining to become members because some of their work relates to oil and gas, he said. The SPE offers a unique opportunity to contribute to the profession through its programs and activities. Many of its accomplishments are driven by its dedicated members.

The SPE is a place for all industry professionals, regardless of experience or course of study. It covers all aspects of the oil and gas industry and is considered the leading source of industry technical applications, information and news.

Cambodia plans to get its first drop from offshore oil and gas at 12 o'clock on 12 December 2012.

HANOI, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Vietnam Records Book Centre ( VRBC) has released four records on the Vietnamese oldest living persons, the local Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reported on Tuesday.

The oldest woman is 118-year-old Nguyen Thi Tru, who is living in Da Phuong commune, Binh Chanh district in Ho Chi Minh City ( HCMC), and the oldest man is 110-year-old Huynh Van Lac, who resides in Dong Hung Thuan ward, District 12 in HCMC.

Lac and his wife, Nguyen Thi Lanh (106 years old), made another record as the oldest couple.

The oldest twins record was held by two 100-year-old women, Vi Thi Dac and Vi Thi Cac, who are living in Dong Cam commune, Cam Khe district in northern Phu Tho province.

According to VRBC, in March 2011 the Guinness World Records certified 114-year-oldBesse Cooper, from the United States, as the world's oldest living person.

With Tru's longevity, VRBC will nominate her to the Guinness World Records for recognition as the world's oldest living person.

CANBERRA, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Australian federal government on Tuesday agreed to set up an independent inquiry into Australia's media, but ruled out looking at the concentration of media ownership.

Following the phone hacking scandal of Rupert Murdoch-owned News Corporation in Britain, Australia Greens and a number of Labor members of parliament (MPs) called for an inquiry to look at concentration of media ownership in Australia, as Murdoch's News Limited Australia controls 70 percent of the nation's news readership.

However, federal Communications Minister Stephen Conroy said on Tuesday the government supported an inquiry, but saw no merit in looking at the concentration of media ownership, or in setting up a forum for politicians to complain about the coverage of politics.

Greens leader Bob Brown said he was happy to defer his Senate motion for an inquiry in order to get the terms of reference right.

"The need for an independent umpire, among other possible improvements, should be assessed as part of an inquiry into the media industry," Senator Brown told a Labor caucus meeting in Canberra on Tuesday.

"Information is the currency of democracy and we need a review to assess whether the media industry has been devalued.

"A robust inquiry which can promote media diversity and ensure the public's recourse when wrong behavior occurs would serve Australia well."

Talks were underway between the Labor government and the Greens to finalize the terms of reference for the inquiry, with an announcement now expected later in the week.

Home Affairs Minister Brendan O'Connor is also working on a new privacy tort, and assessing whether the Press Council and Australian Communications and Media Authority should be given greater powers.

Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott opposed the inquiry, saying that there was no need for an inquiry.

"This is a naked attempt to intimidate the media and I say it again: the problems of this government are not the fault of the media; the problems of this government are its own fault," Abbott told reporters in Canberra.

The British phone hacking scandal has led to the shutdown of the 168-year-old News of the World newspaper.

In the wake of the scandal, News Limited Australia chairman and chief executive John Hartigan earlier announced that Murdoch's Australian newspapers will conduct a review of editorial spending over the past three years, in a move to confirm that payments made to third parties were for legitimate services.

News Limited is an Australian subsidiary of Murdoch's News Corporation and owns eight of the 12 major daily newspapers in Australia, including the only national newspaper, The Australian.

NAIROBI, Sept. 13 (Xinhua)--Kenya and British authorities have intensified search for a kidnapped British woman whose husband was killed at a luxury resort near the Somali border.

Already, the police with assistance from Britain's Scotland Yard detectives have arrested a suspect in connection with the killing of the British tourist from a Kenyan resort near the east African nation's border with Somalia on Saturday night.

Police sources confirmed on Tuesday that they were using all available resources to find the woman. "We are using helicopters and speedboats to intensify our search for the missing British woman,"a police officer who is close to the investigation told Xinhua by telephone on Tuesday.

British High Commissioner to Kenya Rob Macaire has also called for the immediate release of the woman.

Macaire said his government was working with Kenyan authorities to establish further details about the attack, and has sent staff from the high commission in Nairobi to the area.

"It's a very distressing situation and we are doing anything we can. We would like to appeal to the kidnappers to release unharmed and safely, someone who is an innocent tourist in Kenya," Macaire told journalists on Monday night.

Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere said on Sunday the couple, believed to be David and Judith Tebbutt, aged 58 and 56, from Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, arrived at the resort on Saturday after visiting Kenya's Masai Mara reserve and were the resort's only guests, staying in a cottage.

"They do not have doors, those cottages. They are using the cloth as the doors. So I think they gained entry so easily and it was only one shot," Iteere told journalists.

"Maybe they wanted to take the two and he (the husband) resisted and that's why he was shot," he said, adding that the couple were staying at the luxury Kiwayu Safari Village, north of Lamu Island, when armed men attacked.

Nobody has claimed responsibility for the murder and abduction but the police say they suspect Somalia militant group, Al-Shabab may have launched a cross-border attack.

But there was no evidence to suggest the attackers did not come from Somalia, nor that Islamist group al-Shabab, which has links to al-Qaeda, was involved. Much of the south of Somalia is controlled by al Qaeda-linked Al-Shabab rebels.

The latest development came as Kenya said it was working together with the relevant security organizations to ensure that the perpetrators of the crime are brought to justice.

Tourism Minister Najib Balala expressed Kenya's deepest sympathy to the family of the bereaved and their loved ones and strongly condemned the senseless act of violence on innocent visitors to the Kenya which has been struggling to increase the number of visitors.

Balala said a team of security personnel is already on the ground and a massive manhunt of the perpetrators of this heinous act has been launched.

"We further wish to reassure tourists in the coastal border towns and indeed all over the country, that the government has proper machinery in place to ensure high level security for our tourists. Domestic and international tourists should enjoy the country's attractions without the fear of insecurity," he said.

The minister gave the assurance that the government considers security of tourists to be of paramount importance, noting that very serious attention is being given "to this matter to ensure the safety of all our visitors continues to be of priority."

Kenya Tourist Board Managing Director Muriithi Ndegwa said in a statement,"At this point in time we wish to reassure all our local and overseas travel trade that the safety of our tourists is paramount and that the government has proper machinery in place to ensure high level security of our tourists."

On Sunday, Iteere said armed militiamen attacked the couple, who were staying at Kiwayu Safari Village, a tourist resort on Kiwayu Island in Kiyunga division of Lamu west district on the coast at 12:30am (0930GMT).

During the attack, he said David Tebbut was shot dead and his wife, Judith, was abducted, adding that the couple was the sole guests in the hotel, which has cloth doors, he said.

"From what we can be able to gather, he resisted, and that's why he was shot dead. Maybe they wanted to take the two, but he resisted and that's why he was shot dead,"Iteere said.

British Foreign Office said it was working to secure the safe and swift release of the British national who has been kidnapped and ask those involved to show compassion and release the individual immediately.

Speaking in Nairobi late on Monday, the British envoy repeated an earlier advisory to British nationals against traveling to within 30km of the Somali border following Saturday night's incident at the exclusive Kiwayu Safari Village Resort.

"We continue to advice against all but essential travel to within 30 kilometers of Kenya's border with Somalia,"the office said in an advisory that cited previous attacks by Somali militia in Kenya.

"Britain issues travel advice on every country in the world and we try to describe what the dangers are and we have in the case of Kenya for quite a long time advised people against going within 30km of the Somali border. We have reiterated that in the light of this incident," the envoy added.

Macaire revealed a consular team had been sent to the site and were working with Kenyan authorities to get to the bottom of the kidnapping but declined to reveal further developments due to the sensitive nature of the ongoing investigations.

Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka told His Royal Highness, Prince Edward, the Earl of Wessex of the huge problem Kenya was grappling with at the porous Somali border.

"I'm sure the British High Commissioner has briefed you on the situation with the Somali border. It is a humanitarian crisis and we are doing everything to contain it," Musyoka told the Earl of Wessex who was on a visit to Kenya.

ISLAMABAD, Sept.13 (Xinhua) -- At least five people including four students were killed and 11 others injured when a private school bus was attacked by unknown gunmen near Peshawar of northwest Pakistan Tuesday afternoon, reported local Urdu TV channel ARY.

According to the local media reports, the attack took place at about 1:30 p.m. local time Tuesday when a private school bus was ambushed by some unidentified gunmen in the Matni area of Peshawar while on its way to Peshawar from Kohat, a city some 60 kilometers south of Peshawar.

Eyewitnesses said that the unknown gunmen first fired a rocket at the bus and then opened fire at it indiscriminately.

An estimated 20 people including 17 students and two teachers were on the bus when it was attacked, but the number of the attackers is not known.

Some reports said that all the five killed were students while others reported that the five people killed include one driver and four students.

Two teachers on the bus were also injured, said the reports, adding that no group has claimed the responsibility for the attack.

ANKARA, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- Turkish Interior Minister Idris Naim Sahin said on Tuesday that Turkey may launch ground operations against the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) based in northern Iraq depending on talks with the neighboring country.

BEIJING, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- Popular Internet portal Sina has pledged to ensure the authenticity of the information it provides online and commit to the "spread of advanced culture."

In a proposal posted on its website, Sina said that authenticity and the "spread of advanced culture" are important for the healthy and orderly development of the company's microblogging service and its whole Internet businesses.

It called on other online media companies to employ content supervisors.

Sina Weibo, the country's most popular microblogging service in terms of the number of registered users, will be included in the company's efforts to "eradicate online falsehoods and harmful information."

Sina currently employs a team of 15 supervisors to screen its Weibo microblogging service and plans to expand the size of the team, according to a weekend report by Qianlong.com, a news website administered by the Beijing municipal authorities.

Sina's supervisory team is created and managed by the company, although the team's work is considered to be independent from the portal's news reporting department, according to the report.

The supervisors' responsibilities include monitoring "harmful information" and collecting and analyzing customer complaints about the company's services.

Sina took the lead in setting up its internal supervisory team by selecting supervisors from its user base, choosing those users who demonstrated great interest in helping the company to improve the authenticity of the information it provides through Weibo.

Sina Weibo said in August that microbloggers who are found to be posting messages containing false information will have their accounts suspended for one month. The warning came after a top official's visit to the Sina office.

During his visit in August, Liu Qi, secretary of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), urged Internet companies to stop the spread of "false and harmful information" and to "ensure the authenticity of information and create a healthy online media atmosphere," the Beijing Daily reported on Aug. 23.

With 485 million users, China is home to the world's largest number of registered netizens. The rising popularity of microblogging services has allowed this segment of the country's population to voice their opinions in a way that has never been seen before in China.

The number of Chinese microbloggers reached 195 million by the end of June, a stunning increase of 208.9 percent over the number recorded around the end of 2010, according to statistics from the China Internet Network Information Center.

KABUL, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- A gun battle erupted in Afghan capital Kabul near the U.S embassy and NATO-led ISAF headquarters on Tuesday, an official said.

FAIZABAD, Afghanistan, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- Afghan forces eliminated 21 Taliban insurgents and captured nine others during an operation in Badakhshan province, 315 km northeast of capital city Kabul, an official said Tuesday.

"The operation was launched against Taliban militants in Kasham district on Monday and so far 21 rebels have been killed and nine others including two group commanders namely Mullah Abadullah and Mullah Shir Mohammad have been captured," spokesman of the provincial administration Abdul Marouf Rasikh told Xinhua.

It was a joint operation of Afghan and NATO-led troops, kicked off against Taliban fighters in Khambak area of Kasham district at 10:00 p.m. local time, the official said, adding the operation will go ahead until lasting peace is ensured there.

Badakhshan has been regarded as one of the relatively peaceful provinces in the militancy-ridden Afghanistan and Taliban activities have been reported there over the past one year.