Two New Songs Hail Virtue of North Korea’s Kim Jong Un

SEOUL-North Korea’s propaganda machine has moved swiftly to inspire loyalty toward new leader Kim Jong Un by officially approving two new songs to be sung in factories and other venues. One song, “Footstep,”si a tribute to Kim Jong Un. The other is titled, “We Will Defend Feneral Kim Jong Un at the Risk of Our Lives.” The state-run Korean Central News Agency said Sunday that the songs were performed at a concert in Pyongyang attended by Kim Jong Un. Kim Jong Un’s father, the late Kim Jong II, also promoted “music politics” as a means to unite society and inculcate loyalty.

Obama Expected to Visit Cambodia, US Diplomat Says

A US State Department official US President Barack Obama to visit the East Asia Summit in Phnom Penh in November and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to visit in July to attend the Asian Ministerial meeting. The US Embassy, however, said that both visits have yet to be confirmed, and said the State Department official was expressing his “hope” that the high-level visits would take place. Joseph Yun US Deputy Assistant Secretary at the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, met with Foreign Affairs Ministry Secretary of State Ouch Borith yesterday.

Remains Believed to Be Frenchman, Children

CHBAR MON CITY, Kompong Speu province – Police on Saturday found the remains of five bodies thought to belong to a missing Frenchman and his four young children inside his car submerged in a pond next to their home in Rakar Thom commune. Frenchman Laurent Vallier, 42, and his four children – aged 2 to 9 – west missing about four months ago from their home, which was cordoned off as a crime scene yesterday.

Prahok Production Expected to Quadruple; Prices Drop by Half

Production of the pungent fermented fish paste Prahok is expected to quadruple this year as fisheries this season are reporting much higher annual catch numbers of the fish used in the paste then last year, officials said yesterday. Nao Thuok, general director of the Fisheries Administration, said that fishermen are expecting to catch up to 30,000 tons of Siamese mud carp, or trey riel, in the first of two annual fishing periods, up from just 7,000 tons last year. “The reason this year for the increased catch is because the government…cracked down on illegal fishing traps,” he said, adding that recent efforts to bolter fish reproduction in the Tonle Sap lake have also paid off. “The government was aided in releasing 137 tons of female fish and 4.6 million baby fish into the waterways surrounding the Tonle Sap,” he said.

Tourist Arrivals Rise to 2.5M in First 11 Months

Tourist arrivals to Cambodia increased by 14 percent to 2.5 million during the first 11 months of 2011 compared to the same period last year, according to figures from the Ministry of Tourism obtained yesterday. The data show that arrivals by air went up by 51 percent during this period, while visitors arriving by land or boat had increased by 49 percent. Kong Sopheareak, director of the Tourism Ministry’s statistics department, said the country will definitely achieve its goal of seeing 2.8 million visitors by the end of the year, especially since Cambodia Angkor Air began regularly scheduled flights between Sihanoukville and Siem Reap earlier this month. “The increase of flight connecting Siem Reap and Sihanoukville will prolong the stay of international tourists,” said Mr. Sopheareak, adding that the government aims to get 3.1 million international tourists in 2012.

Hun Sen Names Overpass Bridge After January 7

Prime Minister Hun Sen announced yesterday that Phnom Penh’s second overpass, set to open Jan 6, would be named the January 7^th Bridge, honoring the day in 1979 when Vietnamese forces stormed the capital and ousted the Khmer Rouge regime. Speaking at a university graduation ceremony, the prime minister declared that the new four lane overpass, which will arch over the intersection of Russian Federation and Kampuchea Krom boulevards, would be named the Prampima Makara, or January 7th, bridge to commemorate how far the country had come since 1979.

Japan Loans $92 to Expand Water Services in siem Reap City

The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced yesterday it is preparing to make a $92 million concessional loan to Cambodia for expanding water services in Siem Reap city by constructing a new treatment plant. Japanese Embassy First Secretary Shinichi Tamamitsu said the new plant is expected to be completed in 2018 and would produce 60,000 cubic meters of clean water per day from the Tonle Sap lake.

Number of Missing in Philippines Floods Soars to 1,000

MANILA – The Philippines disaster agency said on Friday more than 1,000people were missing from a storm and flash floods last week, sharply raising the number of victims unaccounted for as the true extent of the disaster became known. Typhoon Washi and the flash floods it caused on the southern island of Mindanao are known to have killed 1,080 people, the national disaster agency said. The agency said on Thursday dozens of people were missing but on Friday it revised that figure to more than 1,000, saying more complete data had come in and people were reporting the disappearance of relatives.

More Japanese Firms Look to New Investments in Cambodia

Low labor costs, support from the Cambodia government influence Japanese businesses

PHNOM PENH – More Japanese firms are looking to Cambodia this year either to invest or to learn about the investment environment in the country, participants in an economic forum were told Friday. Sok Chenda, secretary general of the Council for the Development of Cambodia, told the forum in Phnom Penh for Japanese investors that the government is improving as quickly as possible the investment environment, human resources and infrastructure.

After Alleged Massacre, Observers Enter Syria

BEIRUT – Arab League officials arrived in Syria yesterday to prepare for monitors overseeing an Arab peace plan, after activists said President Bashar al-Assad’s forces carried out the deadliest assault in their nine-month crackdown on protests. The Syrian Observatory for Human Right said Syrian forces killed 111 civilians and activists on Tuesday when Assad’s forces surrounded them in the hills of Idlib province and unleashed two hours of bombardment and heavy gunfire.

Hun Sen sets Out Northeast Development Plans

Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday outlined the government’s plans to spur economic growth in the northeast of the country through implementing a wide range of projects in sectors such as agriculture and the extractive industries. Rights workers have warned that little information on the plans for the area has actually reached local communities and that they could jeopardize the environment and ethnic minorities in the area if not handled properly. “No later than 2020, Cambodia will create a new fourth economic area in the northeast region, which will cover Ratankkiri, Mondolkiri, Stung Treng, Kratie and Preah Vihaear province,” said Mr.

North Korea’s Enigmatic Strongman Dies

SEOUL- North Korean leader Kim Jong II, the mercurial strongman who styled himself as a “Dear Leader” while ruling over an impoverished police state, died at 69, according to North Korean state media. Kim was believed to have suffered from multiple chronic illnesses, but his death – reportedly from a heart attack while traveling by train on Saturday morning – was sudden. He had been grooming a son to succeed him and his death creates uncertainty about the future direction of a nation with few international friends but a nuclear weapons capability. His foreign-educated son, Kim Jong Un, who is in his 20s and is being primed to be the next leader, is largely unknown outside North Korea, to the point that even his exact age is debated. The elder Kim had raised his son’s profile and responsibilities over the past 18 months, but North Korea’s murky inner workings make it uncertain whether that succession will take. For nearly two decades, Kim both defied and baffled international leaders with his isolated regime’s nuclear ambition inflammatory rhetoric and surprise attacks on South Korea. Kim, who came to power in 1994 upon the death of his father, North Korean founder Kim Il Sung, led one of the world’s most enduring dictatorships, a repressive regime that has long defied predictions of its demise.

$20M Worth of Rosewood Seized in Single District

Authorities in Kompong Thom’s Stong district have confiscated 109 cubic meters of high-quality rosewood worth an estimated $20 million from illegal traders since the beginning of the year, officials said yesterday. According to Tong Yi, chief of the district Forestry Administration, forestry officials have seized a total of 22, 777 assorted pieces of rosewood from 107 vehicles that include Cadillac Escalades, Toyota Land Cruisers, Land Rovers and military vehicles since January All of the confiscated goods are currently being stored inside a ware house at an unknown location in Kompong Thom province, and the government now plans to conduct a bidding process to sell the luxury timber with supervision from the Ministry of Finance.

Floods in Philippines Leave Hundreds Dead

CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines – Rescuers searched for more than 800 people missing in the southern Philippines yesterday after flash floods and landslides swept houses into rivers and out to sea, killing more than 650 people in areas ill prepared to cope with storms, Cagayan de Oro and nearby lligan cities on Mindanao island were worst hit when Typhoon Washi slammed ashore while people slept late on Friday and early Saturday, sending torrents of water and mud through villages and stripping mountainsides bare.

Three Shot, Injured While Logging on Thai Border

Three Cambodians were injured by gunfire and six are missing following two incidents on Tuesday on the Thai-Cambodian frontier involving Thai border forces and illegal loggers hunting for rosewood, police officials and human rights workers said yesterday. Two men were shot and injured inside Thai territory near the Cambodian villager of Tumnop Akphivit village, O’Svay commune in Oddar Meanchey province’s Trapaing Prasat district, said Toch Ra, Chief of the border liaison office at the Choam-Sa Ngam border checkpoint.

Government Prohibits Alcohol Brands From Offering Prizes

Information Minister Khieu Kanharith ordered all media outlets to ban advertisements that offer prizes for buying alcohol, according to a statement from the Ministry of Information obtained yesterday. The statement, released Friday, said newspapers, television and radio stations, and magazines have until Jan 9 to implement the order. “[I]f the media agencies do not implement this order, the Information Ministry will ban the alcohol advertisements…and withdraw the license of the products,” the statement said. Alcohol brands often try to entice consumers by organizing lotteries that promise money or other prizes, such as expensive cars or home appliances.

Malaysian Body Opens First File on Cambodian Deaths

The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia has for the first time agreed to open an inquiry into the death of a Cambodian maid, opposition lawmaker Mu Sochua said yesterday, calling the investigation a “positive sign.” Ms Sochua said that while she had in the past sent several letters to the Human Rights Commission asking them to investigate some of the nine maid deaths that have reportedly occurred this year, this was the first time that the commission had agreed to launch an investigation. “We have come a long way,” Ms. Sochua said, adding that she would now go back to her previous letters and request that the Commission open files on “ two cases of so-called suicide” of Cambodian maids.

RCAF General Tortured by Family, Police Say

An RCAF one-star general was allegedly confined to a small room in his Tuol Kok district house for nearly three months by his wife and three sons, who systematically beat and tortured him in order to extort $80,000 in cash, police and court officials said yesterday. Ngin Chantreatevy, 50, and the couple’s three sons, Panh Shanea, 24, Panh Dararith, 23, and Panh An An, 19, were arrested on Saturday after serious crime police at the Interior Ministry raided the family’s rented home in Depot II commune and discovered Brigadier General Noun Pak, 52, locked in a room with wounds and burn marks coverings his body and face. “They tortured the victim Noun Pak very cruelly, tying the victim with ties, chains or karmas, then beating him with wooden sticks as thick as a wrist and metal wrenches, cutting him with big knives and pouring boiling water on his body,” said Lor Sokha, deputy serious crimes bureau police chief at the Interior Ministry’s penal department.

Police Officer Questioned Over Suspects’ Escape

Three suspected drug dealers who escaped a holding cell at a Phnom Penh police station on Tuesday night are still at large, while the police officer on duty at the time of their escape remained under questioning, deputy municipal police chief Pen Roth said yesterday. “Although a team of municipal anti-drug police have not yet rearrested the three men, we are working hard to catch them and continuous to investigate how they managed to cut through the bars of their cell,” Mr. Roth said.

Afghan Worshippers Killed In Sectarian Attack in Kabul

KABUL – At least 14 people have been killed when a suicide bomber attacked a packed religious shrine in Kabul on one of the most important days in the Shiite religious calendar. Witnesses said the bomber carried a backpack full of explosives into the crowd of worshippers outside the Abul Fazl shrine before detonating the device yesterday. The shrine was packed with Shiite worshippers who had gathered for Ashura, the Shiite Muslim holiday marking the death of Hussein ibnAli, the grandson of the prophet Muhammad.