DAP: The breaking news in Cambodia: “Tobacco companies violates regulations” plus 9 more

CAMBODIA, PHNOM PENH, Oct 18, 2011-Even the Cambodian government banned the advertisement of tobacco, tobacco companies have still violated the regulations, "the health organization noted on Tuesday.

Mom Kung, head of Cambodia health organization said in press medial said.  "After the government releases the regulation, we noted that the tobacco advertisement decreased." But the big bill board stationed around the town and cities.

Yil Daravuth of world heath organization said: government offered the time for tobacco companies to adjust the work especially tobacco ads with sub-decree.

From 24 February to 25 august 2011, companies needs to stop advertising the cigarette. "All advertisement banned from media broadcasting."

In Cambodia, 1.5 people suffered from tobacco, and two per cent are children under 13years old and 75 per cent of women live with smokers, World health organization said , adding that "9, 650 Cambodians in over 35 years old  died of tobacco. Cambodia lost about 98 million per year in buying tobacco, report from statistics of planning ministry. 

CAMBODIA, PHNOM PENH, Oct 18,​ 2011-The Cambodian government announced on Tuesday that it has not had any principle to close social media network Facebook , citing that Cambodia follows the multi party regime.

Khieu Kanharith, government spokesman and information ministry said during the media forum in Phnom Penh.

He added: Cambodia is a small country which just ended the civil war. "Education quality needs to strengthen; we need internet to seek understanding further." "We have room to develop our country." No need to close facebook,'he added.

Government always encouraged using internet and social facebook rather close among people, he stresses.

All users can remove or block some ideas which post on their wall in facebook. "Nobody can use my wall post to curse other people, he added. Social media like facebook plays a key role in fighting for freedom in some countries.

NAIROBI, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan troops are making further advances some 120 kilometers deep inside Somalia to seize the rebel-held town of Afmadow, military officials confirmed on Tuesday.

Military Operations Information Officer Major Emmanuel Chirchir said the soldiers will soon capture the town which has been surrounded by al Shabaab fighters blamed for spate of abductions involving foreigners in Kenya.

"Our troops are advancing towards the Afmadow very soon and our activities will be concentrated in this town," Chirchir told Xinhua by telephone on Tuesday.

However, local officials said the progress of Kenya and Somali troops has been slowed by muddy terrain after heavy rain.

"It rained heavily near the Kenya-Somalia border but we hope the military operation will advance inside Somalia," said a military official on condition of anonymity.

The operation continued as tension remained high at the border between Kenya and Somalia where Nairobi's troops launched an offensive against Shebaab rebels on Sunday.

The Somali militant group, al Shabaab, has warned Kenya to withdraw its troops from Somalia, or face a serious conflict.

The Kenyan government launched the military operation dubbed Linda Nchi (Protect the country) in response to several cross- border abductions it blames on al Shabaab.

However, the Islamist group has denied being responsible for the recent kidnapping of two aid workers.

The warning promoted the Kenyan police to caution Nairobi residents to be careful as they go about their businesses in the city center.

They, however, assured that detectives have been mobilized to ensure security all the time in the city center following the threats.

Top on the list of areas the militant groups may target are public places like shopping malls, bus termini, market places, passenger services vehicles and office blocks.

The onslaught continued as the authorities arrested two British nationals as they were trying to cross the border into Somalia. The pair, originally from Welsh capital Cardiff were questioned and are now under investigation.

The pair were held close to the border with Somalia where a British woman Judith Tebbut was kidnapped and her husband David shot dead at their holiday resort last month.

It also comes after two Spanish aid workers were kidnapped from the Dadaab refugee camp and a French was taken from another resort.

Police in Wales are reportedly liaising with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the British Embassy in Nairobi over the arrests.

The Foreign Office said it was aware "of reports of two British nationals detained in Kenya on Oct. 16 and we are seeking normal consular access".

"South Wales Police are currently in liaison with the Kenyan authorities in respect of two British nationals who have been detained near to the border with Somalia. The identities of these persons have yet to be formally confirmed, both are believed to be from the Cardiff area. The families of these persons have been notified," the police reportedly said in a statement.

The East African nation continued to flex its aerial military prowess as it reportedly launched air strikes on the Somali towns of Afmadow and Qoqani, the strategic al Shabaab strongholds, pushing its assault deeper toward central Somalia.

Kenya also announced it was ready to fight al Shabaab to its logical conclusion, adding that the military offensive against the terror group would continue until the militia are subdued.

Kenyan troops combed villages in Somalia in hot pursuit of the militia with armored vehicles, as its fighter jets overflew the enemy's territory.

Witnesses said they saw dozens of Kenyan military vehicles pouring over the border, backed by planes and helicopters even as reports said al Shabaab, which denies kidnapping Kenyans and foreigners, had amassed more men to back up its militia in Afmadow where they were being pinned down by the heavy firepower of the Kenya army and air force.

Al Shabaab militants had been gathering around the town since Monday but no clash between them and Kenyan forces had been reported.

Eyewitnesses say al Shabaab officials have forced truck owners to hand over their vehicles so that fighters can be moved towards Afmadow.

Afmadow is about 90 km on the main road north of the port city of Kismayo, al Shabaab 's main economic power base.

BEIJING, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese stocks fell more than two percent on Tuesday after official data showed that the country's economic growth dropped to its slowest pace in two years.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index dropped 2.33 percent, or 56.92 points, to end at 2,383.49. The Shenzhen Component Index slumped 2.73 percent, or 286.56 points, to rest at 10,226.93.

China's GDP growth slowed to 9.1 percent in the third quarter of the year, down from 9.5 percent in the second quarter and 9.7 percent in the first quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics said Tuesday.

Combined turnover rose to 128.8 billion yuan (20.28 billion U.S. dollars) from 114.47 billion yuan the previous trading day.

Losers outnumbered gainers by 886 to 52 in Shanghai and 1,233 to 91 in Shenzhen.

Investors are worrying that the government's macroeconomic control policies will remain tight, as the country's inflation rate is still stubbornly high, said analysts.

The Chinese government is likely to use "a mix of fiscal tweaks and targeted easing," but "an across-the-board easing of the monetary policy is unlikely in the immediate future," said Qu Hongbin, HSBC's chief China economist.

Overnight losses in external markets also contributed to Tuesday's decline, fuelled by German Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman's warning that there is no quick way to resolve all of the issues surrounding the eurozone debt crisis.

Cement makers and securities brokers led the fall, with Henan Tongli Cement Co., Ltd. and Anhui Chaodong Cement Co., Ltd. down 7.86 percent and 6.65 percent to 12.66 yuan per share and 15.59 yuan per share, respectively. Shanxi Securities slumped 7.88 percent to 9 yuan.

An initial offering from Sinohydro Group Ltd., China's biggest hydroelectric dam builder, also drained the market. The company raised 13.5 billion yuan from its IPO and set a record in China's domestic A-share markets this year.

Shares of Sinohydro closed at 5.27 yuan, 17.11 percent higher from its offering price of 4.5 yuan after reaching a high of 6.23 yuan in the morning.

MOSCOW, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev Tuesday received a candidate certificate of the upcoming parliament elections.

Medvedev, who in September announced not to run for a second term in Kremlin, leads the elections list of the ruling United Russia party.

The Central Election Committee (CEC) registered the party's candidate list Tuesday.

Medvedev, after receiving the certificate, said the upcoming elections would make Russia's political system and life of Russian citizens "more modern, more interesting."

"Let the strongest wins," Medvedev was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying.

He said the main political struggle has still been ahead and all participants must obey the election law.

The CEC's 15 members unanimously voted to register the United Russia's candidate list, which includes 597 hopefuls in 80 regional groups.

The United Russia was the last party that officially registered for the sixth State Duma elections scheduled on Dec. 4.

Earlier, the CEC registered three other parties represented in the lower house of Parliament.

CAIRO, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier that has been released on Tuesday by the Islamic Hamas Movement after five years in captivity, said he is in good condition in a televised speech, Egypt's state TV reported.

"I hope the prisoner swap deal will advance the peace process between Palestinians and Israelis," said the freed soldier, who had been held captive for five years since he was abducted by Hamas militants in a cross-border raid on an Israeli army base southeast of the Gaza Strip in June 2006.

Shalit was handed over to Egypt secretly on Tuesday morning at Rafah crossing point between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, shortly after buses carrying Palestinian prisoners from Israel were about to enter Egypt.

He had been held as a hostage at an unknown location in the Gaza Strip and was deprived of medical cares and visits of the International Committee of the Red Cross, as Hamas claimed that any humanitarian and medical visit could leak the location where he was jailed.

Israeli and Hamas officials declared last Tuesday that they had reached a deal brokered by Egypt, under which 1,027 prisoners in Israeli jails will be released in exchange for Gilad Shalit.

The first stage of the deal is to swap Shalit for 477 prisoners, including 27 women. Hamas selected most of the names of those prisoners. Two months later, Israel will free another 550 prisoners.

Among the 477 prisoners freed on Tuesday, 293 will arrive in Gaza, including 163 from the West Bank and agreed to be deported to the Gaza Strip.

ISLAMABAD, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani Tuesday inaugurated construction work of the 14- billion-U.S.-dollar world's highest Roller Compacted Concrete ( RCC) multi-purpose dam in the country's northern areas.

The Diamer-Bhasha Dam will be having a designed live water storage capacity of about 6.4 Million Acre Feet (MAF) and power generation capacity of 4,500MW, officials said.

The dam in the Gilgit-Baltistan's Diamer District, the third largest water reservoir in the country, would help resolve energy crisis, enhance agriculture products, besides water storage capacity, the sources said.

Prime Minister Gilani told the foundation-laying ceremony near the dam site that the project will play a key role in meeting the energy requirements and will create job opportunities for the people of the backward northern areas.

He said that the dam should have been built earlier in view of the fast growing energy needs.

The United States has pledged 2 billion dollars and Asian Development Bank would grant 5 billion dollars for the project, which is expected to complete in 12 years.

The officials said that negotiations with other international funding agencies are also underway.

Pakistan is currently facing a power shortfall of nearly 5,000 MW and is observing long power outage, which has affected the country's business community and general public. The government introduced a controversial two-day off every week from Oct. 15 to save energy but two out of four provinces and traders have opposed to the decision.

The Diamer-Bhasha Dam is located on Indus River, about 315 km upstream of the country's biggest hydro Tarbela Dam, in the northwest Khyber Pakhtoonkha province. When the construction of the dam is completed, the life of Tarbela Dam would be enhanced by 35 years while the cost of the project would be recovered in eight years.

The dam is designed to be up to 270 meters. Diamer project would cover an area of 110 square kilometers and extend 100 km upstream of the dam site up to Raikot Bridge on Karakoram Highway.

BEIJING, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- China pledged support on Tuesday for international efforts to resume negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians at an early date.

"It is a key period now for the peace process in the Middle East," Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said at a daily press briefing, adding China hopes that all parties concerned make coordinated efforts to remove barriers and create conditions for the resumption of the talks.

Reports say that Middle East Quartet mediators will hold a meeting in Jerusalem on Oct. 26 with Israeli and Palestinian officials to discuss the resumption of direct negotiations. The Quartet comprises the United Nations, the United States, the European Union and Russia.

Direct Israeli-Palestinian peace talks became stalled in September 2010, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to freeze settlement construction on the West Bank and in East Jerusalem.

During the briefing, Liu also welcomed the implementation of a prisoner-swap deal between the two sides.

Israeli authorities on Tuesday morning began releasing Arab and Palestinian prisoners as part of a deal to free Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who has been held by the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas since 2006.

According to a deal reached last week between Israel and Hamas, Israel will release a total of 1,027 Palestinian and Arab prisoners in exchange for Shalit, with the first group of 477 prisoners being released on Tuesday.

The spokesman said the implementation of the deal will help to ease tensions between the two sides, adding that China appreciates the efforts made by Egypt and other parties in the process.

"We hope that the Israelis and the Palestinians will continue taking constructive measures to ease the situation, reduce disputes and resume the Israeli-Palestinian talks at an early date," he said.

SANAA, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- At least four protesters were shot dead Tuesday in clashes with Yemeni security forces who opened fire to intercept a demonstration in the capital Sanaa, demanding the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, medics and witnesses said.

"Four protesters have so far confirmed dead and up to 40 others were wounded, including a woman whose condition is critical," a medic at a field hospital at the protesters' Change Square in Sanaa told Xinhua.

The government forces also used tear gas, water cannon and hired "thugs" wielding heavy weapons to disperse the protesters who threw stones at the security forces, according to the witnesses.

"One of the dead protesters was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade," the medic added.

About one hour after the clashes, the protesters went back to their base camp of "Change Square" outside Sanaa University.

Saleh who has been in power since 1978 refused to step down despite pressure from protesters and several foreign governments.

Local observers warned that the impoverished Arab country recently appeared to enter a new phase of dangerous violence.

The warning came days ahead of an expected United Nations Security Council resolution on the months-long political crisis in Yemen.  E

PARIS, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- The 2011 IEA Meeting of the Governing Board at Ministerial Level gathered ministers from 37 countries on Oct. 18-19 to talk about necessary joint efforts on energy security and sustainability as nuclear expectation falls down and oil prices remain high.

Attending ministerial officials are from 28 member countries and 9 partner countries of the International Energy Agency. The partner countries are Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, and South Africa.

These 37 countries collectively represent more than two-thirds of the world's energy production and more than three-quarters of global demand, according to IEA.

The theme of 2011 meeting is "Our Energy Future: Secure, Sustainable and Together", aiming to focus discussions around the IEA's work on energy security, economic and environmental sustainability and engagement with non-member countries.

Besides the above 37 delegations, the European Union officials also came as member representatives, and so did Chile and Estonia  as candidate countries for accession.

The IEA ministerial meeting, once every two year, came at a time news challenges emerged, including the political change in Arab and north African calling the IEA to release strategic oil stock, the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear disaster in Japan arousing global concerns on nuclear safety, the Deepwater Horizon incident last year highlighting oil pollution, and ongoing high oil prices relating to financial market volatility.

Accordingly, various seminars taking place during the two-day meeting will focus on government and industry coordination to tackle "investment challenges", how can governments and consumers' jointly work on "energy efficiency", ways to "enhancing comprehensive energy security", short-term "oil market" perspective and etc.

Given the negative impact of the Fukushima nuclear disaster and political turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa on oil-sector investment, the draft of IEA's World Energy Outlook 2011, to be formally published in November, indicated "a more positive future outlook" for gas and predicted global primary gas demand to reach 5.1 trillion cubic meters in 2035.

The energy outlook report may have to reassess the demand for coal and natural gas, IEA senior energy analyst Pawel Olejarnik confirmed to press recently.