DAP: The breaking news in Cambodia: “Two inspectors jailed for failing to detect clenbuterol-fed pigs” plus 9 more

ZHENGZHOU, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- Two animal health inspectors in the central province of Henan have been given jail terms for failing to inspect pigs fed with the banned additive clenbuterol, a local court said on Monday.

A defendant surnamed Xu, a former inspector with Liji Road Animal Health Checkpoint, received a jail term of eight months for negligence, according to statement issued by the court in the county of Gushi.

The other, surnamed Dai, was sentenced to six months in jail, the statement said.

In March, the provincial government issued a circular, requiring all road checkpoints in the province to test pigs being transported to other provinces for banned additives.

Xu and Dai were charged after two trucks carrying 150 and 160 pigs passed the checkpoint to the neighboring Jiangsu province on April 20without their stock being tested. All the pigs later tested positive in Jiangsu.

After the verdict, Xu said he would file an appeal.

Clenbuterol, commonly known as "lean meat powder" in China, has been under the spotlight since March when the country's largest meat processor, Henan-based Shuanghui Group, was found to be purchasing pigs that had been fed with the chemical. China has banned it as a livestock feed additive as it can cause nausea, dizziness, headaches and heart palpitations in humans.

PARIS, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on Monday said its latest economic survey suggested a continued slowdown in economic activity in September.

The OECD's Composite leading indicators (CLIs) remained below 100 points in most OECD countries and major non-member economies, pointing to a loss of business momentum.

"Compared to last month's assessment, the CLIs point more strongly to slowdowns in all major economies," OECD said in its monthly report.

In Japan, Russia and the United States, their September CLIs continued falling to slightly above 100 points, pointing to slowdowns in growth towards long term trends, while Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Brazil, China, India and the Euro area saw their indicators keep falling below 100 points, forecasting the economic activity in these countries to fall below long term trend.

The OECD CLIs are designed to anticipate turning points in economic activity relative to trend. Since April, both advanced and emerging economies have recorded more signals of slowdown in economic activities.

HONOLULU, United States, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao and leaders of other Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) members met in Honolulu, Hawaii on Sunday to find ways to speed up regional economic integration, free trade and investment, and economic and technological cooperation.

The annual meeting, hosted by U.S. President Barack Obama in his home state, is being convened at the JW Marriott Ihilani, Honolulu to boost regional economic integration, trade, green growth, job creation, energy security and regulatory cooperation.

President Hu delivered a speech titled "Shift Growth Model to Sustain Economic Development" at the meeting.

Hu said economic globalization is gaining momentum, countries are becoming increasingly interdependent economically, and new changes are underway in global economic governance.

At the same time, the global economic environment remains complex and volatile. Some major economies are experiencing economic slowdown, and some countries are facing acute sovereign debt problems. Volatility in the international financial markets persists. Rising inflationary pressure confronts emerging markets. Protectionism in various forms is on a notable increase. As a result, the global economic recovery encounters greater instability and uncertainty, the president noted.

"Our goal is to achieve sustained, steady and fairly fast economic growth and social harmony and stability in our region," Hu said.

To meet this goal, Hu made a third-point proposal.

First, APEC members should step up coordination to improve global economic governance, Hu said, adding that the global economic governance mechanism should adapt to the changing economic environment in order to help all countries strengthen coordination and work together to effectively tackle challenges.

"We should enhance coordination on macroeconomic policies and boost market confidence. We should press ahead with the reform of the international financial institutions, aid by the principles of mutual respect and collective decision-making, and increase the representation and voice of emerging markets and developing countries," Hu said.

"We should make financial regulation more targeted and effective, enhance supervision over credit rating agencies and cross-border capital flows, supervision over credit rating agencies and cross-border capital flows, keep the liquidity of main reserve currencies at reasonable and stable levels, improve the international monetary system, support the G20 in playing its role as a premier forum in global economic governance, and make the international economic order more just and equitable," he said.

Second, APEC members should make unremitting efforts to speed up the shift of the growth model, Hu said.

"We should speed up the shifting of the growth model and adjust the economic structure," Hu said, adding that developed countries should follow responsible macroeconomic policies and properly handle sovereign debt and fiscal risks, while emerging markets should boost domestic demand and promote growth through the combined forces of consumption, investment and export.

"We should strike a balance between economic and social development and environmental protection, achieve sustainable development in resources and the environment, and maintain sustainability in fiscal, monetary, trade and industrial policies," he said.

Third, APEC members should build consensus and continue to promote economic globalization and regional economic integration, Hu said.

"We should fully honor the commitments already made, avoid new trade protectionist measures, firmly oppose and jointly resist protectionism of all forms, and work to establish a balanced, inclusive and win-win multilateral trading regime so that people everywhere will enjoy the benefits of trade and investment liberalization."

"We should endeavor to reach an 'early harvest' agreement in the Doha Round within this year on giving tariff-free, quota-free treatment to products from the lest developed countries, and we should demonstrate the political will to achieve comprehensive and balanced outcome in the Doha Round negotiations at an early date and realize the goals of the development round."

China has announced its decision to give zero-tariff treatment to 97 percent of the tariff items of exports to China from the least developed countries having diplomatic relations with China, Hu said.

"We should actively promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation in the Asia-Pacific and deepen regional economic integration so as to create impetus for the sustainable economic recovery and growth of the Asia-Pacific region."

BANGKOK, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is scheduled to arrive in Thailand on Wednesday and hold talks with Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

After meeting, Ban and Yingluck will make a joint statement and hold joint press conference at the Government House.

Ban plans to visit the flood-hit areas in the Thai capital Bangkok as part of his three-day visit to Southeast Asian region.

He will also deliver a keynote address at a roundtable on universal health coverage at United Nations Conference Center.

Ban will proceed to Bali, Indonesia to attend the fourth summit between the United Nations and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

He will meet with regional leaders, including Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

JAKARTA, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia'state tin producer, PT Timah, posted 859.8 billion rupiah (about 95.9 million U.S. dollars) of net profit in the third quarter this year, up 82 percent year on year, local media reported here on Monday.

PT Timah Financial Director Krisna Syarief said that the enormous profit came from the increasing average price of tin.

"The enormous improvement this year was very significant," he was quoted by the tempointeraktif.com as saying.

He said that PT Timah saw 28,400 dollars price for per metric ton of tin, or 57 percent higher than 18,133 dollars per metric ton in September last year.

KIEV, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- Five people died on Sunday after their car struck a tree on Odessa region of Ukraine's south, the state traffic office said on Monday.

The accident occurred on Trostyanetsk-Novopetrovka highway at around 5 p.m local time (1500 GMT), when the vehicle lost control, left the highway and eventually slammed into a tree. All five people died at the scene.

An investigation is underway.

VANCOUVER, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- More than 300 doctors and medical practitioners attended an event here at the weekend to progress the fight against an illness that afflicts more than three million Canadians.

This year's annual "Living Well with Diabetes" conference and exhibition comes 90 years after a group Ontario doctors started research that led to the discovery of insulin and as World Diabetes Day approaches.

Insulin is the life-giving discovery that now enables tens of millions of diabetics worldwide to lead a normal life. However, the number of diabetes patients has continued to rise at an alarming speed.

According to the International Diabetes Federation, more than 366 million people suffer from this chronic disease worldwide and more than 4.6 million die annually. And the number may double by 2030, according to the World Health Organization.

Dr. Timothy Kalla, who founded the conference 10 years ago, expressed concern that many diabetics don't even know they have it since the disease has a latent period.

Currently, about 300,000 Canadians live with type 1 diabetes, the most severe type that can occur from infancy to old age. More and more obese children have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, which is largely caused by unhealthy eating habits and lifestyle.

At a presentation on healthy eating, Melanie Machado, a medical nutrition therapist, recommended a diet of reduced carbohydrates, saturated fats and sugar and advised people to spread smaller meals evenly throughout the day and have more fresh fruit and vegetables.

"In the prevention and treatment of diabetes, we push hard on getting people to normal weight, to be active and back to small balanced meals," Machado said.

Many diabetes experts say a 5 to 7 percent reduction in body weight can help delay or prevent the onset of diabetes.

For a person over 40 who is overweight and leading a relatively sedentary lifestyle, a burning, tingling feeling in the feet can be a sign of diabetes. "Don't ignore your feet," Kalla warned.

DAMASCUS, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al- Moallem said Monday that the Arab League's decision to suspend Syria's membership is illegal and poses a very dangerous step on the present and future of common Arab action.

ANKARA, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu late Sunday met here with members of Syria's opposition group which announced in August a national council in an Istanbul meeting, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported.

The Syrian opposition members reiterated intention to open an office in Turkey, according to Turkish diplomatic sources, adding that the time and the location are yet to be decided.

Besides, the Syrian delegation briefed Davutoglu their possible visits to Germany and Russia, the sources said.

The meeting came one day after hundreds of Syrian pro- government demonstrators attacked the Turkish diplomatic missions in the capital of Damascus and two other cities after the Arab League voted to suspend Syria's participation in its meetings and impose sanctions on the government for its alleged crackdown on protesters.

Turkey evacuated the families of the Turkish diplomats after the attacks and sent a diplomatic note to Syria on Sunday over the matter. The foreign ministry has also advised Turkish citizens to avoid travelling to the unrest-hit country.

HANOI, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam has attached importance to luring foreign investment, including from Japan, and would provide favorable conditions to Japanese investors doing business in Vietnam, especially in such areas as infrastructure, sea ports, support industries, energy, health care, education and environment protection.

The statement was made by Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc during his reception here on Monday for Yoshihiko Nagasaki, vice president of the Japan-ASEAN cultural and economic exchange committee, of the Japan International Friendship Exchange Council (FEC), during the latter's visit to Vietnam.

Phuc expressed his hope that FEC would make practical contributions to strengthening relations between the two countries, and expanding bilateral cooperation in economy, trade and investment, as well as in education and training, and high-quality human resources development.

The Vietnamese deputy prime minister shared condolence with his Japanese guests the loss caused by the earthquake and tsunami that the Japanese people had undergone, saying with their strong will and potentials, they would soon overcome difficulties and regain its economic growth as previously.

Nagasaki spoke highly of Vietnam's efforts in curbing inflation and stabilizing the macro economy in recent months. He said his visit was aimed at doing surveys on the country's economic reality so as to further promote exchange and cooperation between the two sides, at both government and enterprise levels.