DAP: The breaking news in Cambodia: “12 people wounded in attacks in Baghdad” plus 9 more

BAGHDAD, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- Twelve people were wounded Monday in separate bomb attacks in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.

A roadside bomb struck a police patrol in al-Nahdha district in downtown Baghdad, wounding three policemen and two passers-by, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

In a separate incident, a roadside bomb went off near a police vehicle in New Baghdad district in southeastern the capital, damaging the vehicle and wounding a policeman onboard and three passers-by, the source said.

Another three civilians were wounded when a roadside bomb ripped through Baghdad's southeastern district of Rustamiyah, the source added.

Violence has been increased in the Iraqi cities as the Iraqi security forces are preparing to take over control of security alone after the end of this year, the proposed deadline for the departure of U.S. troops.

RAMALLAH, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) on Monday called on the Arab League (AL) to hold an emergency meeting to discuss the hunger strike of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

The Palestinian official news agency "Wafa" reported that the PNA handed a memorandum to the AL headquarters in Cairo, asking for an emergency meeting to discuss the Palestinian prisoners' hunger strike.

"The memorandum aims at discussing the living conditions of around 6,000 Palestinian and Arab prisoners in Israeli jails amid the Israeli oppressive assault on them, a reason that urged them to go for a hunger strike," said Wafa.

The news agency quoted an Arab diplomat as saying that AL probably will convene by the end of this week to discuss the prisoners' issue, adding that the PNA's request "is part of the Arab-Palestinian coordination."

The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) on Monday asked its representative in the United Nations Reyad Mansour to bring the prisoners' issue to the UN Security Council.

The Palestinian and Arab prisoners went on a gradual hunger strike two weeks ago in 25 Israeli prisons, in protest of the tightened measures imposed by the Israeli prisons authorities on their living conditions.

HEBRON, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- Five Palestinians from the West Bank city of Hebron kicked off Monday in a bike tour from Jerusalem to Mecca in Saudi Arabia in support of a Palestinian bid for statehood in the UN.

The trip, dubbed "From Jerusalem to Mecca ... Yes for the Palestinian State" coincides with the pilgrimage season of the Muslims allover the world, which will start early in November.

The five cyclists had made intensive preparations and received training for their trip in the desert area in southern West Bank where temperature is as high as in the Arab Peninsula.

The five would travel on their bikes for about 1,800 km, from Jerusalem to Amman, the Jordanian capital, and then to Mecca. The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) helped them get the visas to Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

Suhaib Zahdeh, the trainer of the team, told Xinhua that the cyclists conducted the 50-day trip to voice the Palestinian demand for self-determination.

Sedqi Mutawea', one of the cyclists, said his participation into the trip "is the simplest mean to express support for a statehood."

JAKARTA, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- Labor union at a gold and copper mine in Papua in eastern Indonesia vowed Monday to extend their strike starting on Sept. 15 to Nov. 15, making the longest stoppage in the country's mining industry, after a clash with police left one miner dead and ten others injured.

Thousands of workers at PT Freeport Indonesia carrying the slain miner's body staged a rally outside of the local parliament building demanding justice over the brutality against their fellows, spokesman of the union Yuli Pararongan told Xinhua by phone.   "Thousands of workers now are at the parliament building, they bring the body and demand the settlement of the incident," he said.

The spokesman said that the workers were going to continue the strike till November 15.

The police tried to block thousands of workers on their way to the compound of the firm to call for a payment hike on Monday morning, then opened fire after the angry workers threw stones and burned three trucks, killing one worker and injuring ten other workers, Parorongan said.

Seven policemen were also injured during the clash, Papua police spokesman named only Wachyono told Xinhua in a text message.

The recent strike by the miners is the second this year following a deadlock in negotiations between the workers and company management.

CHONGQING, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- A former legislator who is suspected of taking bribes was tried Monday in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality.

Shen Changfu, a former lawmaker in China's national legislature and the current board chairman and president of China Mobile Group Chongqing Co., Ltd., allegedly accepted more than 36.16 million yuan (about 5.70 million U.S. dollars) in bribes between 1990 and 2010, according to the prosecutor.

The trial opened in Chongqing's No. 5 Intermediate People's Court.  Shen's sentencing date has not yet been fixed.

KABUL, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- The Afghan police during operations have killed four insurgents and detained three others over the past 24 hours, Afghan Interior Ministry said on Monday.

"Afghan National Police (ANP) in collaboration with Army and NATO-led Coalition forces launched three joint operations in surrounding areas of the Nangarhar, Kandahar and Ghazni province over the past 24 hours," the ministry said in a statement providing daily operational updates.

"As a result of these operations, four armed insurgent were killed, one wounded and three others were arrested by ANP," the statement said, adding during these operations, the ANP also destroyed a narcotic factory and discovered two radio handsets, two rocket launchers, four AK-47 guns, 94 heavy bullets, 4,305 light bullets, four anti-vehicle mines, six hand grenades, 440 kg narcotics, 45 kg Improvised Explosive Device (IED) and one vehicle.

Afghan officials often use the word "insurgents" for referring to Taliban.

Taliban militants, who stepped up their attacks on Afghan and NATO-led troops since a spring rebel offensive was launched in May this year in the war-ravaged country, have yet to make comments.

Afghan and NATO-led coalition forces kept up pressure on insurgents all over the country as over 360 insurgents had been killed and around 430 were detained by joint forces in September alone, according the interior ministry statements.

RAMALLAH, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli army demolished a Palestinian house Monday near Bethlehem in the West Bank, witnesses and security sources said.

The Israeli army stormed the village of Jab'a near Bethlehem, alleged that the house was unlicensed, and demolished it with bulldozers backed by armored vehicles, witnesses in the village said.

The West Bank is divided into three areas according to the Oslo agreement signed by Israel and the Palestinians in 1993. The Israeli army claimed that the demolished house was built in Area C, which according to the agreement is under the full control of Israel, but had not obtained any Israeli license.

The Israeli army also arrested three Palestinian teens aged between 17 and 18 on Monday in the cities of Bethlehem and Hebrom, Palestinian security sources said.

Meanwhile, residents in the area of Nablus in the West Bank said that settlers from the Jewish settlement of Alon Moreh assaulted Monday morning Palestinian farmers picking olives in their farms.

Ghassan Daghlas, who was in charge of the settlement affairs in northern West Bank, said that a group of masked and armed Jewish settlers attacked the farmers near Nablus and threw stones at them.

Witnesses said the clashes broke out between the farmers and the settlers, with no injuries reported.

The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) has earlier warned that Israel plans to escalate the Jewish settlers assaults on the Palestinians "to drag the region to a wave of violence and obstruct the bid for a Palestinian statehood in the United Nations. "

Around 2.5 million Palestinians live in the West Bank, where half a million Jewish settlers have been living in 120 settlements since 1967. The Palestinians demand a full cessation of settlement activities in the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel in 1967, including east Jerusalem.

CANBERRA, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- The Australian Defense Force (ADF) on Monday said that it has worked together with the New Zealand Defense Force (NZDF) to deliver a water purification plant to Tuvalu to help alleviate seriously depleted supplies of fresh water.

An Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) C-17 Globemaster transport aircraft collected the water purification plant from New Zealand and delivered it to Apia in Samoa Monday afternoon. From there, a New Zealand Defence Force C-130 will make several flights to shuttle the equipment to Tuvalu.

According to the RAAF head Air Marshal Geoff Brown, this mission demonstrated the close relationship between the Australian and New Zealand Defense Forces.

"Our interoperability also demonstrates how our countries can work quickly to support humanitarian assistance activities in the region," he said in a statement.

"Our interoperability also demonstrates how our countries can work quickly to support humanitarian assistance activities in the region," he added.

Last week, the Tuvalu government estimated it has just days of drinkable water left after enduring months without rainfall. Due to the serious water shortage, Tuvalu government is closing its primary schools and limiting hospital treatment to only urgent cases.

Tuvalu is a Polynesian island nation located in the Pacific Ocean, midway between Hawaii and Australia.

JAKARTA, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- The 33rd Meeting of the ASEAN Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry (AMAF) held a Ministerial Special Event here on Monday to pay tribute to the UN International Year of Forests 2011, a statement issued by the ASEAN Secretariat said.

With the theme "Forests for People", the event also showcased ASEAN's cooperation on forestry in the last four decades. Forestry cooperation is expected to help establish a sustainable and inclusive ASEAN Community in the year 2015.

The forest in ASEAN covers about 213 million hectares of land. It supports rich diversity of plant and animal species and the livelihoods of the region's people.  At least 350 million people live in or around forests, and depend wholly or partially on forest resources for income and subsistence - food, fuel, fiber, medicine, livestock grazing areas, and other necessities. This include 60 million indigenous peoples, who are wholly dependent on these forests for livelihoods, and, more fundamentally, for their cultural survival and identity.

"The contribution of forests to local livelihoods, national economies and regional vitality is significant, though often insufficiently valued and under-recognized," Surin Pitsuwan, the Secretary-General of ASEAN said..

The event included an exhibition showcasing ASEAN Cooperation with Dialogue Partners and Development Partners and a premier showing of a brief video entitled "ASEAN Cooperation in Forestry: Towards a People-Centered ASEAN".

The Ministerial Statement read during the event pledged commitment of ASEAN Member States to fully support the initiatives, partnership, and cooperation. It tasked the senior agriculture and forest officials to implement necessary actions to promote cooperation in forestry to contribute to a prosperous, stable, peaceful, and safer ASEAN Community.

There is increasing recognition within ASEAN that a people- oriented forest strategy - one which balances economic, social and environmental objectives - needs to be mainstreamed into every country's broader development strategy and as a key element of regional cooperation.

MANILA, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- The death of Gregorio "Ka Roger" Rosal, the spokesman of the leftist New People's Army (NPA), would not affect the peace process between the Philippine government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), the political front of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), senior government official said on Monday.

Ronaldo Llamas, presidential political adviser, said that the government was mainly talking with the NDFP's peace panel led by Luis Jalandoni and not with Rosal.

"He's not sitting on the peace process, that's why as far as the peace process is concerned his (death) does not have much effect," he said.

But he said Rosal's death could have an impact on being the spokesman of the communist organization.

Rosal, 64, succumbed to heart attack last June 22.

The CPP-NPA-NDFP has been waging war against the government for over four decades already.