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Monday, July 12, 2010

Angelina Jolie would probably marry Brad Pitt if kids asked

Angelina Jolie says she and Brad Pitt may get married if their children asked and adds that there are no immediate plans for a seventh kid but that the couple was open to the idea.

"I think it'd be hard to say no to the kids," Jolie said regarding marriage in a recent interview on ABC's Nightline program. "They're not asking. They are very aware that nothing's missing."

Asked if she saw herself growing old with Pitt, Jolie said: "Of course. We wouldn't have six children if we weren't absolutely sure of that."
Jolie, 35, had said last month she may have a seventh child and even marry Pitt, 46, adding that she does not think she will pursue acting much longer due to family commitments.

Jolie and Pitt are believed to have started their relationship while filming the 2005 spy movie Mr. and Mrs. Smith, during which he was married to Jennifer Aniston. The two are parents to Maddox, 8; Pax, 6 and Zahara, 4 - adopted from Cambodia, Ethiopia and Vietnam and biological children Shiloh, 4 and one-year-old twins Knox Léon and Vivienne Marcheline.

"There's no plans at the moment for more but we always talk about it, we're always open," Jolie said on Nightline. "We kind of joke about it, 'cause in the morning we're so tired. 'Cause there -- nobody spends the night. We wake up and we have breakfast. And so, we always have this thing kind of first thing in the morning where we're really, really tired.

"And we always look at each other and wonder like, Are we ever gonna get sleep?'" she said. "And then we joke about sleep. ... But yet, we still love the idea of having more children.""

Jolie was married to Jonny Lee Miller, he co-star in the 1995 film Hackers, between 1996 and 1999 and to actor Billy Bob Thornton between 2000 and 2003. Pitt was married to Aniston between 2000 and 2005.

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Shameful marriage practice

For years, growing numbers of Korean men have gone looking for wives in countries overseas, mostly in Southeast Asia.

Today, one in 10 Korean men are married to a non-Korean citizen. The ratio is true in four in 10 rural neighborhoods.

But the trend has had serious repercussions - especially for women. Brokers seeking easy money recruit foreign women and arrange marriages that, in many cases, amount to human trafficking. Local girls and women are lined up and paraded in front of prospective husbands. Rarely are the women given accurate information about the man they are about to marry.

According to a government poll from 2006, 1.3 in 10 marriage migrants said they discovered they had been deceived in some way after their marriage to a Korean man.

That’s what happened to a young Vietnamese woman who was stabbed to death by her husband just eight days after she started her married life in Korea. She, like many of the young women who immigrate through marriage seeking a better life for themselves or the families they’ve left behind, arrive here with hope. She, like many of her peers, had her life ended tragically and much too soon.

Many of the women in her situation are murdered or find themselves having to run from their new husbands to escape continued physical and mental abuse. Some have even taken their own lives. If they had known of the true nature of their husbands-to-be, it is unlikely they would ever have agreed to get married.

One country, Cambodia, has taken action to protect its citizens. It banned its citizens from marrying Korean men. When Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen met with President Lee Myung-bak last October, he asked Korea to give special attention to Cambodian women married to Korean men.

But we cannot expect other countries to solve the problem. We must find a solution for what has become a serious social problem. Abuses of foreign wives by Korean men could also create a diplomatic stigma against us.

In a positive step forward, the Ministry of Justice has announced that all men planning to take marriage trips overseas will soon have to take a government-led class before they depart. It also plans to prohibit men with a history of mental illness, incarceration or three previous international marriages from getting a visa.

We must address these disgraceful cases of international marriages before they leave a lasting stain on our country.
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Warmer Relations, But Cambodian Debt Remains

Cambodian Ambassador Hem Heng shakes hand with US Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell.

National anthems, traditional Khmer music and big smiles were all a part of a celebration dinner held by Cambodian diplomats Friday to mark the 60th anniversary of US-Cambodia relations. But Cambodia still wants debt forgiven and a chance to see more deductions in tariffs.

“I think we’re on an upswing...so we’re pleased with the relations,” US Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell told reporters.

Cambodian Ambassador Hem Heng noted the improved relations but said he still wanted to see Cambodia forgiven more than $300 million in debt incurred prior to the Khmer Rouge. He said he was optimistic the US would consider the possibility.

About 200 guests from the US State Department, Cambodian diplomatic corps, US government agencies and Congress joined Friday’s dinner, which was held in a Chinese restaurant in a Virginia suburb of Washington.

The US and Cambodia are celebrating 60 years of diplomatic relations this month, which talks and performances planned in Cambodia throughout July.
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Worries Delay Opening of Stock Exchange

Cambodia’s much-touted stock exchanged will not be opened at the end of the year as planned. Instead, worries after the Greek debt crisis and internal problems will delay the opening of the bourse until 2011.

Finance Minister Keat Chhon made the announcement at a business conference in Daejeon, South Korea, on Sunday. South Korea has been a main backer of the stock exchange, which has proven elusive, having first been delayed in 2009.

“We have to be careful and take a close look to see if we have more things to do relating to regulations to avoid risk,” Keat Chhon told the regional conference, “Asia 21: Leading the Way Forward.”

“Meanwhile, there are two internal problems regarding governance of regulators and companies,” he said.

Economic officials hope the exchange will boost growth. Already, the government has ordered three state-owned companies to prepare for a listing on the exchange: Sihanoukville Autonomous Port, Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority and Telecom Cambodia.

Keat Chhon said Sunday these companies need more time to get ready. He declined to elaborate on an exact month the exchange might open in 2011.

Cambodia’s Securities Exchange Commission is also now looking for a partner to provide training to government officials to help them educate the public about trading on the exchange.

“We will provide training at universities, the business community and the general public about the benefits of stock trading and the difference between doing simple business,” SEC Secretary General Minh Ban Kosal said.

The exchange is also wrestling with which currency to use—dollar or riel. And it remains unclear how popular the exchange will be in the private sector.

No private companies have yet to sign up for listing on the exchange, though some interest has been expressed in the past from businesses in banking, agriculture and the garment sector.
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Manhunt for Cambodian soldier who killed three in shooting spree

Phnom Penh - A manhunt is underway for a soldier who shot dead three people and injured four others, local media reported Monday.

Sles Yeb, 50, is being sought after going on a shooting spree following an argument with his wife and son, whom he tried to stab with a knife late Thursday. The two escaped unharmed.

Commune police chief Khieu Pov said after the argument Sles Yeb walked the streets of Ty Pram Muoy village in Kampong Cham province in southeast Cambodia shooting people at random.

'The suspect shot a lot,' Khieu Pov told the Phnom Penh Post newspaper, adding that police recovered more than 50 cartridges casings.

More than 100 civilian and military police then spent 48 hours staking out a cornfield where they thought the suspect had fled.

'We did not dare to go deeper into the cornfield to look for him because the suspect has an AK machine gun with 160 bullets, a pistol and bombs,' said district police chief Lay Nguon. 'He is running and hiding, but we are looking to arrest him.'

He said the suspect might have fled to another province.

Cambodian security personnel involved in crimes often escape prosecution, but an army officer said Sles Yeb would be brought to justice.

'We do not support him even though he is a soldier,' said district commander Sim Uy.

Incidents of multiple killings such as this one are highly unusual in Cambodia.
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