UN Haiti donor pledges surpass targets at almost $10bn

Thursday, 1 April 2010 02:06 UK
BBC News
The international community has pledged a total of $9.9bn (£6.5bn) in immediate and long-term aid to earthquake-hit Haiti at a UN donor conference.

The $5.3bn (£3.5bn) of support over the next two years exceeds the $4bn requested by the Haitian government to rebuild infrastructure.

"This is the down-payment Haiti needs for wholesale national renewal," UN chief Ban Ki-moon said in New York.

The 12 January quake killed 200,000 and left one million more homeless.

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Community conversations change perceptions about domestic violence

Monday, March 29, 2010

Cambodia: There is a workshops on Community conversations change perceptions about domestic violence on Tuesday, 30 March 2010; 8:00am–17:00pm, Imperial Hotel, Ball Room I & II Domestic violence remains a major issue in Cambodia with women being the main victims. The problem is compounded by the fact that domestic violence is typically regarded as an internal family issue that others should not intervene in.

Encouraging community members to talk openly about domestic violence, however, can help raise awareness of the issue, and change perceptions in relation to it, thereby contributing to a reduction of the incidence of domestic violence. In response to this, in 2007, UNDP started “community conversations on domestic violence” in 22 villages in Kampong Chhnang province.

Village facilitators were trained to lead discussions on domestic violence in their own villages, with the aim of encouraging behavioral change towards domestic violence through awareness raising and education. By 2009, the initiative had expanded to a total of 89 villages in five provinces, namely, Kampong Chhang, Kampong Speu, Siem Reap, Mondolkiri, and Ratanakiri. In total, 890 conversations were held.

The initiative was part of a broader UNDP legal reform project called Access to Justice, through which activities such as these were implemented in partnership with the Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Justice, and NGOs.

A mid-term survey in the five provinces found that there is an increased awareness of domestic violence in the villages that participated in community conversations when compared to baseline surveys in the same areas.

At this one-day workshop, speakers will present outcomes and analysis of the project. About 130 people, including village facilitators and district governors, are expected to participate in this event.

Young Khmer Filmmakers’ Club: Phnom Penh Now -In Shorts

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Phnom Penh: Can you imagine a capital city, which has only two cinemas? Ciné Lux and Cinema Sorya are the remaining Phnom Penh movie theatres for the Cambodian audience.

Tonight we have invited young talents and senior filmmakers, to prove that Khmer cinema is alive. The feature TWIN DIAMONDS was written, shot and edited by 60 students during an 8-month workshop.

Director Davy Chou is a young French filmmaker whose grandfather Van Chann was one of the greatest film producers in Cambodia in the 1960s.

Also screening: SMOT (directed by Neang Kavich, produced by Davy Chou for our M.E.T.A film school) and THREE DAYS IN PHNOM PENH by Matthew Robinson (Khmer Mekong Films).

PM to attend Hanoi Asean Summit

Bangkok Post

31/03/2010

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has confirmed that he will attend the 16th Asean Summit in Hanoi, Vietnam, from April 6 to 9, acting government spokesman Panitan Wattanyakorn said on Wednesday.

Mr Panitan said the Thai prime minister and other leaders of member states and countries will issue a joint declaration on on efforts for the sustainable economic rehabilitation of Asean members.

Mr Abhisit will also attend the meeting of the Mekong River Commission scheduled for April 2 to 5 at a hotel in Hua Hin, Prachuap Khiri Khan.

The cabinet on Tuesday approved the use of the Internal Security Act in Hua Hin and Petchaburi’s neighbouring Cha-am district to ensure the safety of foreign leaders attending the meeting.

Opposition mounts to red rally

Bangkok Post
01/04/2010
The United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship is facing mounting pressure from groups who oppose its planned mobile rally on Saturday to force the government from office.

Time for a breather Border patrol police sent to maintain peace and order during the red shirt rally in Bangkok catch up on some needed rest yesterday at a car park building inside Dusit Zoo. Hundreds of police sleep at the car park building, which also accommodates the vehicles of visitors to the nearby annual Red Cross Fair. CHANAT KATANYU

Twenty-five tourism associations say they will gather tomorrow in front of Lumpini Park in Bangkok and at other popular tourist destinations, including Chiang Mai and Pattaya, to protest against the rally.

The counter-protest is being coordinated by the Federation of Thai Tourism Association as inbound tourism agents start to feel the pinch of the demonstrations on business.

The federation insisted yesterday it was not taking sides but it could not stand still while the country was in limbo.

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Thaksin files for new assets trial

26/03/2010
Bangkok Post


Lawyers for Thaksin Shinawatra will today submit what they claim is new evidence to the Supreme Court in an effort to win a new trial over the seizure of the bulk of the former prime minister's local assets.

Noppadon Pattama, Thaksin's legal adviser, said yesterday the lawyers are finalising documents to petition the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions to seek a rehearing of the case.

The court on Feb 26 ordered 46 billion baht of the Shinawatra family's assets to be seized for abuse of power while Thaksin was prime minister.

The ruling cannot be appealed, but a request for a new trial can be lodged within a month.Mr Noppadon claimed the documents contained new evidence that would significantly change the particulars of the case as required by court regulations before a new hearing can be ordered.

The lawyers acting for Thaksin and his former wife Khunying Potjaman na Pombejra are expected to present evidence they said had been presented to the court but was not taken into consideration.They will point out the court seized assets that had increased in value from the day Thaksin assumed the office of prime minister.

However, Thaksin had not set policies that the court judged had caused his assets to increase in value, therefore there was no abuse of power.

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Tuol Sambo improves: groups

Wednesday, 24 March 2010
15:04 Cameron Wells and Phak Seangly

GROUPS providing aid to a notorious Dangkor district relocation site for HIV-affected families say residents’ short-term food needs have been met, and that they are making progress in securing long-term employment and housing, painting a far more positive picture of conditions at the Tuol Sambo neighbourhood than they did a few months ago.

Prum Pel, 67, and his wife, 36-year-old Vin Thy, sit in their home at the Tuol Sambo relocation site in Dangkor district on Tuesday. Groups providing aid to the site, which houses roughly 40 HIV-affected families who were evicted from central Phnom Penh last summer, say conditions there have improved since it was first settled, though residents such as Vin Thy say they have not yet received sufficient vocational training.

More than 60 HIV-positive individuals from about 40 families were evicted from the Borei Keila community in central Phnom Penh to the site on the outskirts of the capital last June and July.

In August, four HIV/AIDS NGOs published a field report warning that the lack of food at the site was “potentially life-threatening”, and concerns about the food situation were renewed in a UNAIDS site visit report produced last November, which stated that access to “more than the minimum food package (rice, salt, oil)” was “crucial” given that most families did not have a secure income.

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Obama signs executive order on abortion funding limits

By the CNN Wire Staff
March 24, 2010 5:35 p.m. EDT

Rep. Bart Stupak of Michigan and 12 other House Democrats attended the signing of the executive order.

Washington (CNN) -- President Obama signed an executive order Wednesday ensuring that existing limits on the federal funding of abortion remain in place under the new health care reform law.

Unlike the signing of the health care bill Tuesday -- which was conducted under the glare of television cameras -- Wednesday's event was closed to the news media.

It was attended by Rep. Bart Stupak of Michigan and 12 other House Democrats opposed to abortion rights, without whose help the landmark overhaul bill would not have passed, political observers say.

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US and Israel in last-minute talks to resolve row

BBC News
25/03/2010

Mr Obama and Mr Netanyahu held two meetings, without a photocall

The US and Israel have been holding last-minute talks to try to agree on steps Israel should take to get peace talks with Palestinians back on track.

The US admitted earlier differences remained between the two sides, following a row over Israel's plans to build homes in occupied East Jerusalem. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu twice extended his visit in Washington to try to find a compromise. Mr Netanyahu's trip came amid the worst crisis in US-Israeli ties for decades.

The Israeli leader - who had originally planned to leave Washington on Tuesday - stayed on for another full day to meet the US Middle East peace envoy, George Mitchell, at his hotel. Mr Mitchell returned to the US on Tuesday following a meeting in the West Bank with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

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Heading for a stalemate that could last till Songkran

Bangkok Post
25/03/2010

With both the red shirt protesters and government proclaiming they are going in the right direction, an extended stalemate that could last close to the Songkran holidays is becoming a likely scenario.

PM Abhisit Vejjajiva reacts during yesterday’s meeting in Parliament, which the opposition Puea Thai Party boycotted.

With the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) keeping the protest peaceful and orderly, and the government holding its stance of not dissolving the House or cracking down forcefully on the demonstrators, the confrontation simply has to carry on.

Although the "Three Buddies" leaders of the red shirts may have wanted to wrap up the protest within a week as they initially declared, they had no choice but to keep the show going because the real commander of the red shirt movement, former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, is still holding on to his dream.

Thaksin remains as committed as ever to his aspiration of returning to power, claiming back all his interests and toppling the amataya who, as he tells the protesters every day, are the real liability of the country.

For Thaksin, the bureaucratic elite are holding back Thailand from opening up to new things because that could affect its superior position which allows it to be above everyone and "suck everything" from ordinary citizens to enrich itself and its network.

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House boycott fails badly

Puea Thai MPs 'strike' over heavy security
Bang kok Post
25/03/2010

Black suit protest Puea Thai Party MPs beckon to their colleagues to join them outside parliament to protest against the heavy military presence in and around Government House. The opposition MPs consider the security cordon an act of government interference in legislative affairs. THITIWANNAMONTHA

The opposition Puea Thai Party's attempt to derail a session of the House has ended in futility after coalition MPs managed to push through three key pieces of legislation.

Angered by the heavy deployment of troops and barricades, more than 100 Puea Thai MPs boycotted the session yesterday and some stood in front of a main security checkpoint blocking access to the building.

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Prosecutors to seek count order seizing Thaksin assets

Published: 3/03/2010 at 04:49 PM
Online news: Local News


Attorney-general Chulasingh Vasantasing said on Wednesday he will immediately ask the Supreme Court to issue an order seizing 46.37 billion baht of Thaksin Shinawatra's assets, as set out in Friday's verdict, even though the ousted prime minister's lawyers say they will provide

fresh evidence justifying a new trial within the requisite 30 days.

Mr Chulasingh said he personally believed Thaksin would not have any new evidence which could lead the court to change its verdict.All parties had already revealed all they had to the court during the trial.

The Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions on Friday found Thaksin guilty of becoming unusually richer through graft and ordered the seizure of 46.37 billion baht of the Shinawatra family's 76.6 billion baht in frozen assets.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Tuesday instructed all state agencies to study the court verdict in detail to see whether they had been damaged, so that they could initiate legal action against Thaksin.

Comptroller-general Pongpanu Savetrunt said his department would over the next few days contact the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) to determine which financial institutions were holding the 46.37 billion baht to be confiscated.The assets were believed to be in the form of cash, investments and shares, he said.Mr Pongpanu said his department would go carefully through the ruling to decide if any officials were complicit in the offences. He expected the checks to be complete within 60 days.

The department would then report to finance permanent secretary Sathit Limphongphun on the extent of financial damage to the state, Mr Pongpanu said.Earlier on Tuesday the NACC said it was obliged to act on four cases related to the Feb 26 verdict.

Department of Special Investigation (DSI) chief Tharit Pengdit said he had ordered the Bureau of Financial and Banking Crime to find out if there had been any violation of the Securities and Exchange Act.Meanwhile, Information and Communications Technology Minister Ranongrak Suwanchawee said the ICT has set up a committee to examine the verdict and determine how much damage was done to the state by decisions affecting the telecommunications sector.

"The committee comprises legal and financial advisers and representatives from the Department of Special Investigation," Mrs Ranongrak said.

"They will study the court's ruling to see whether there was any more damage [caused by Thaksin and his associates]."The committee will report their findings to the cabinet periodically, she said.

One matter involving the ICT Ministry is the Thaksin cabinet's decision to change TOT and CAT Telecom concession contracts to allow Shin Corp's Advanced Info Services (AIS) to use roaming networks of other cell phone service providers and to allow AIS to discount roaming expenses from its total income before sharing renue with TOT.

Air force commander-in-chief ACM Itthiporn Supphawong on Wednesday called on Thaksin to accept the court's verdict.“If the former premier does not accept the decision Thailand will become a lawless country.

Thaksin was a prime minister and ran the country for several years, so he should support any attempt to bring about peace and order."He should not make any remarks that could lead to more social divisions,” ACM Itthiporn said.