Milton teens back from Cambodian school

By Tricia Pursell

MILTON — Their bus arrived at the Milton Senior High School around 10 a.m. Saturday, and as they were filing out, they shivered against the cold morning air, shared some hugs, gathered their luggage, and hurried to their cars.

After 38 hours of traveling by plane and by bus, eight students and six teachers and chaperones were understandably tired and glad to be home.

“I’m very glad to be home,” Milton student Sarah Haas said. “To have American food again, my own bed again.”

“We crossed the international date line heading east, so we spent Friday, crossed it, and spent Friday again. In theory, we got home before we left,” said Michael Conn, history and world cultures teacher at Milton. It takes a toll on everyone’s body, he added.

But the joy and satisfaction they experienced during the trip to Cambodia far outweighed any fatigue.

“It was truly a remarkable experience,” Conn said. He is credited for planting the dream and inspiration in the hearts of his students to build a school in previously war-torn Cambodia.

“My daughter and I went to Cambodia last year, where we saw the level of poverty and the plight of children there, and it just really touched both of us,” Conn said. “When I came back, I felt like I needed to do something. When school started in the fall, I showed my students pictures of what I saw in Cambodia. We started talking, and we decided we wanted to do something to help the children.”

He found an organization that was building schools in Cambodia, and after some research, presented the idea to his students.

“The kids were very excited about it, then went and got the approval of the superintendent. In November, we went to the school board in rural Cambodia, and everywhere we went, there was strong support. It started with the kids; the kids wanted to do something. I presented them with what I saw, and there was genuine concern, compassion, and an outpouring of support for doing something to help the kids.”

Conn calls Larissa Luu, a senior at Milton, the face of Team Cambodia. “Every time I spoke somewhere, she was right there with me, making presentations,” he said. Three other students designed T-shirts, labeled “Educate Cambodia,” the sale of which raised several thousand dollars for the school. The team raised $30,000 in four and a half months, Conn said.

‘There wasn’t a dry eye’

On Thursday, they saw the school firsthand.

“When we got off the bus at the school — which was as rural as a school can be — all the students were lined up, and in uniforms,” Conn said. “As we approached, they all started to applaud. The elders of the village were also there.”

“There wasn’t a dry eye during the ceremony,” said Bryan Noaker, principal of Milton Senior High School.

“It made me feel so proud of everybody back here at home,” Luu said. “It was kind of like a hero’s welcome. Something you can’t experience in the United States.

“Seeing those kids and how appreciative they were of a little schoolhouse,” Luu said, “changes your perspective, makes you rethink everything.” “The happiest moment of my life was when we saw the school,” said Haas. “I will always remember that. Nothing can stop that for me. It made everything so worth it.”

The approximately 150 students at the school, all at the seventh-grade level, had been attending classes there for about a week before this dedication ceremony took place. The school is labeled “Milton School” in both English and Cambodian languages.

“It was so touching. We all cried. All 14 of us cried,” Conn said. “None of us will forget the images of our bus pulling away, many of the children running alongside the bus. None of us will ever forget that experience as long as we live.”

At the killing fields

Just one day earlier, the group had visited the killing fields outside Phnom Pen, where thousands of people were brutally killed during the rule of the Khmer Rouge, firmly set on “ethnic cleansing.” As a result of these killings, Conn said half of the population of Cambodia is 19 years of age or younger.

The location of the Milton School in Cambodia is part of the region hardest hit by this rule.

“These two consecutive days were the most moving days of the trip,” Conn said. “But different emotions.”

When the group visited these killing fields, Haas was ironically celebrating her birthday. “It was so sad,” she said. It was so overwhelming. The places where they were located were so peaceful and so beautiful, but what happened there was so horrible. We can’t imagine.”

“What these people had been though, is almost incomprehensible, but their spirit is still there,” Conn said. “The children are beautiful, bright-eyed. They just need opportunity. These are not people that are incapable of helping themselves. They just have suffered a huge setback. They just need tools.”

Spark of hope

And that’s what the Milton students have given them. The money they raised, matched by other organizations, built the school, supplied solar panels for power, teachers, textbooks, a well for fresh water supply and a computer with access to the Internet.

“We saw the level of poverty, but we saw at least there was a spark of hope that these kids could learn new skills and new knowledge that could provide a better life for themselves and their families,” Conn said. “What a lesson for our kids.”

Every two to three years of the school’s existence, Conn said they will need to raise an additional $2,500 to support the expected growth of the school.

“My hope is, after seeing the school and seeing the need in that part of Cambodia, we can even do more,” Conn said. “I would love for us to take a group back there in the next year or two and stay more at the school, spend more time at the school, do some activities with them.”

But in the meantime, life goes on for the students at Milton Area High School.

“We expect the students back in school on Monday, with some stories to tell, I’m sure,” Conn said. Read more!

Thongchai wins Cambodian Open by 6 strokes

BANGKOK, Thailand: Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand completed back-to-back wins by taking the Cambodian Open on Sunday, shooting a 6-under 66 on the final day to win by six strokes.

Thongchai finished at 24-under 264. Singapore's Lam Chih Bing shot a final-round 65 to finish second, with Thailand's Chawalit Plaphol (67) a further two shots back in the second staging of the Asian Tour event.

A week earlier, Thongchai won the Vietnam Masters, during which his second child was born.

"My son was born on a very good day and I believe he has given me all the luck," Thongchai said.

"I only had four bogeys throughout the four rounds and I know that my game is all coming back now."

The Volvo Masters of Asia, beginning Dec. 18 in Bangkok is the final event on the 2008 calendar. Read more!

Economic crisis unites Asian giants

The leaders of Japan, South Korea and China have called for a regional crisis fund to be set up to help tackle the effects of the global economic downturn.

The three nations also pledged on Saturday not to create new trade barriers over the next 12 months and called for an urgent capital infusion into the Asian Development Bank at the meeting in the Japanese city of Fukuoka.

The leaders of the Northeast Asian powers, which account for 75 per cent of the region's economy and two-thirds of its trade, agreed to "strengthen co-operation" at the summit, the first between the three nations alone.

Taro Aso, Japan's prime minister, Wen Jiabao, the Chinese premier, Lee Myung-Bak, South Korea's president, said in a joint statement issued after the meeting that Asia was "expected to play a role as the centre of world economic growth in order to reverse the downward trend of the world economy".

Currency swaps

The three countries, along with the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), had in October agreed to create an $80bn joint fund by next June to avert regional financial turmoil.

The fund would supercede the Chiang Mai Initiative, a system of bilateral currency swaps set up after the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis.

However, much of the significance of the meeting was symbolic as China and South Korea refused to have high-level meetings until 2006 with Japan over disputes related to the second world war.

"Co-operation between ... our three countries to overcome difficulties will have real significance as the financial crisis has a big impact on economies around the world," Wen told Aso before they were joined by Lee.

China, Japan and South Korea have agreed to hold similar meetings every year in the future.

Subramaniam Pillay, an associate professor in international finance with Nottingham University in Malaysia said that the summit was historic.

"Prior to this, the countries had only met on the sidelines of other summits, like Asean summits," he said.

"It is a good move because these
countries are the
engines of growth for the rest of east
Asia.""Co-operation
between ... our three countries to
overcome difficulties will have real
significance as the financial crisis has a
big impact on economies around
the world" Wen Jiabao, Chinese
premier

Economic co-operation

Out of the three North Asian economies, South Korea has been hit hardest by the global financial crisis, with the country's central bank saying that the country is set for its slowest growth in over a decade.

Seoul has committed $130bn to prop up its banking system and another $25 billion in fiscal spending and tax cut plans to stave off a recession.

Japan said on Friday that it will boost its existing stimulus plans and increase its reserve fund for bank rescues to $131bn.

But the package may not be enough to tackle the recession in Japan, Jan Friederich, a senior economist with the Economist Intelligence Unit, told Al Jazeera.

"I think the additional stimulus that Japan has announced is not really that strong. Japan has a very large public debt burden and therefore is quite reluctant to increase that burden much more. It is really not enough to prevent the economy from further recession."

Tokyo has not said whether it will act to stop a surging yen from pushing the Japanese economy deeper into recession.

China, which is also facing a slowdown of its hitherto surging economy, on Wednesday said it will boost public spending and cut taxes.

Beijing has already launched a four trillion yuan ($586bn) stimulus plan but Liu Mingkang, China's senior banking regulator, said on Saturday that the country may experience outflows of capital and could face deflation.

Territorial disputes

The Northeast Asian nations also discussed territorial matters.

Aso told the Chinese prime minister that Japan was concerned by the entry of Chinese boats into waters near disputed southern islands known as the Senkaku in Japanese and the Diaoyu in Chinese, a Japanese official said.

Wen said that the territory belonged to China but said that dialogue would solve the issue.

Tokyo had protested to Beijing on Monday after the ships spent nine hours near the islands, which are claimed by Japan, China and Taiwan.

South Korea and Japan are also in dispute over a group of islets which lie near fertile fishing grounds and possible maritime deposits of natural gas.

However, the subject of Japan's pre-1945 colonisation of Korea and its aggression on the Asian mainland in the first half of the last century have not made the summit agenda. Read more!

Vietnam boosts legislative ties with Laos and Cambodia

This is another cooperation that Vietnam hungry for. A one or two cooperation agreement is enough all countries in the Triangle. But all of cooperations are never been good for Cambodia. Vietnam is always insisting for any thing from Cambodia.

VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnam will continue its legislative cooperation with Laos and Cambodia , including exchange of experiences and mutual assistance in policy making and encouraging people to support commitments made by the countries.

The idea was shared by Vice Chairwoman of the Vietnamese National Assembly Tong Thi Phong with her guests, Deputy Prime Minister and MP of Cambodia Men Sam An, and Vice Chairman of the Lao NA’s Committee for Cultural and Social Affairs Pholsena Phonethep, during their meetings in Hanoi on Dec. 13.

The two foreign officials are leading delegations to attend the Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (AFPPD) which is held in Hanoi from Dec. 13-14.

Phong and her guests exchanged views on social affairs of common concern, such as gender equality, childcare and protection.

She appreciated the Cambodian and Lao delegations to the AFPPD and the role of Cambodian and Lao MPs in boosting the traditional relationship and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam , Laos and Cambodia .

The guests expressed thanks to the Vietnamese NA, Government and people for their wholehearted assistance to the national construction and development of both Laos and Cambodia.
Read more!

Perils of Pakistan -- Will It Prove to be Obama's Cambodia?

President-elect Obama has committed himself to stepping up the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan. It is not an overstatement to say that he will risk his whole presidency, and perhaps even unwittingly put nuclear weapons in the hands of terrorists who might use them to attack the United States, if he leaps too far into neighboring Pakistan in pursuit of elusive victory.

The rub, as the Vietnam and Iraq wars showed us all, is unintended consequences. Our military leaders can, and almost certainly will, make a strong case to Obama that there is no way to defeat the Taliban and their allied tribes in Afghanistan without cleaning out their sanctuaries just over the Afghan border in Pakistan.

I can hear frustrated U.S. commanders on the ground in Afghanistan making the same kind of argument to Obama's team tomorrow that I heard yesterday in Vietnam when I was a combat correspondent there.

I could empathize with this lament, for example, that I heard in 1968 from a 9th Division infantry battalion commander, whose mission was to rid his area -- South Vietnam's rice bowl, the Delta -- of the stealthy Viet Cong guerrillas: "I can have my kids chase the Viet Cong all day and all night. But whenever they catch up to a good number of them, they just run over the border into Cambodia where we can't go. All I'm really doing down here is buying time with my kids' lives for the diplomats to settle this thing."

His was among the impressive military arguments I heard for either invading Cambodian border sanctuaries or getting the United States out of the otherwise unwinnable Vietnam War.

President Lyndon Johnson resisted invading Cambodia. He had concluded that this would only widen the war, infuriating an already skeptical Congress. Early on in Johnson's presidency he confided to Defense Secretary Robert McNamara, but not the public, that he saw the war as a no-win. Secret tapes of Johnson's conversations, since made public, document him saying this to McNamara on Feb. 26, 1965: "I don't think anything is going to be as bad as losing, and I don't see any way of winning."

His successor, Richard Nixon, who took office in 1969 after the Vietnam War had ruined Johnson's presidency, including his dream of building a Great Society, rushed into Cambodia where Johnson had feared to tread.

First, Nixon authorized, without telling the public, secret bombings of Cambodia, which had tried to stay neutral. Then on April 30, 1970, Nixon announced he had ordered the invasion of Cambodia with U.S. and South Vietnamese troops to "clean out" the enemy's border sanctuaries.

Now think "Pakistan" to hear the same ring. Four days later -- on May 4, 1970 -- National Guardsmen killed four student anti-war protesters on the campus of Kent State in Ohio.

Those two events, coming right on top of each other, mobilized anti-war lawmakers in Congress to curb the president's war-making powers and to cut off the money the South Vietnamese army needed to continue fighting the war after U.S. troops left the field under Nixon's Vietnamization strategy.

The military defeat Johnson had feared all along, without saying so publicly, came in 1975 when Communist North Vietnam conquered capitalist South Vietnam.

Nixon's invasion of Cambodia, even though his announced purpose was just to clean out the border sanctuaries, contributed to Cambodia's political turmoil.

The invaders also failed to achieve the military objective of finding and destroying the Communist headquarters in Cambodia known as COSVN for Central Office for South Vietnam.

The Communist Khmer Rouge in the aftermath of the invasion toppled the pro-American leader of the country, Lon Nol, and wiped out the upper classes in a bloodbath that some reports estimated murdered 2 million Cambodians. Again, unintended consequences.

Fast forward to Pakistan today. President Asif Ali Zardari, husband of Benazir Bhutto, a Muslim moderate who was assassinated in December while campaigning in parliamentary elections, is already complaining about U. S. military strikes against alleged al Qaida and Taliban targets in Pakistan's border regions.

An American-led ground invasion of Pakistan under the same "clean out" rationale Nixon used could cause such political turmoil that the bad guys might get their hands on one or more of Pakistan's nuclear weapons. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute estimates Pakistan has at least 60 nuclear weapons.

Imagine a worst case scenario of terrorists sneaking just one nuke into New York City and setting it off at lunch hour. Thousands of people could be incinerated, skyscrapers toppled and the air poisoned for years.

The Bush administration, Congress and the media have been rightly faulted for not worst-casing the American invasion of Iraq before it was ordered in 2003. History warns that those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

Obama needs to look long and hard at the worst unintended consequences of leaping into Pakistan. While he's at it, the new president should consider what would happen if U. S. forces captured or killed Osama bin Laden. Osama's deputies would feel compelled to retaliate against the United States in a spectacular way. Does Obama want another 9/11? Better to keep American fingerprints off the deed if it is done.

Read more!

Singaporean group introduces "floating" toilets in Cambodia

CAMBODIA: In rural Cambodia, only 16 per cent of residents have a proper toilet -- the lowest rate in Southeast Asia.

However, one Singaporean group is working to change that.

On Cambodia's great lake, Tonle Sap, water stretches for miles in every direction.

But getting clean drinking water and proper sanitation is another story entirely.

Homes here are floating platforms and must move seasonally, and outhouses are simply a wooden plank over the open water.

Water and sanitation issues are of crucial importance to people who are on Tonle Sap, where safe drinking water comes at a price and toilet facilities are rudimentary.

People have no choice but to contaminate the very same water they use for drinking and washing.

Singaporean non-governmental organisation Lien Aid aims to make a difference in this community of about 10,000 people.

They are introducing the concept of "floating" toilets which are affordable, locally-made, and therefore sustainable.

"It is actually a simple system… We're going to use locally available buckets where they can collect the faeces. We are going to use some locally available agent to dry the faeces, that is, using ashes and other local material," said the CEO of Lien Aid, Sahari Ani.

One key to the project is that locals will have to source and build their own toilets, to ensure that all parts of the community are involved.

"The toilet that we introduce to the community -- they are very happy to get that one and they try to find their own resources to contribute to the project," said the director of the Department of Rural Health Care, Ministry of Rural Development, Chea Samnang.

A young couple, who has two children with another on the way, says they are happy to have a simple and hygienic toilet.

They worry that people's lifelong habits will be difficult to change.

But they hope the affordable toilets will catch on with the lake's residents, just like other modern conveniences that have done so.

And it is testimonies like theirs that makes this project look set to be flush with success.

Read more!

Cambodia confirms new human case of bird flu

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: Cambodia's Health Ministry confirmed on Friday the country's eighth human case of virulent bird flu since 2005.

The ministry said in a statement with the U.N.'s World Health Organization that a 19-year-old man from Kandal province, southeast of the capital Phnom Penh, was confirmed to have the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus in laboratory tests Thursday.

The case, the first this year in Cambodia, comes a day after a senior World Health Organization official warned that Asian nations must remain vigilant against the disease.

The World Health Organization says there have been 246 confirmed fatal cases of the disease in humans worldwide since 2003.

The man is being treated at Calmette Hospital in the capital. Cambodian health and agriculture ministry officials have been sent to the victim's village to ensure that there is no further spread of the disease.

Ly Sovann, a health ministry expert on bird flu, said the victim became sick after touching a dead chicken that had been raised at his home.

"The boy is being treated at hospital now but his health is getting better day by day," Ly Sovann said. "If nothing changes with his health, he will be released from hospital soon."

The seven previous Cambodian victims of the disease had died.

On Thursday, the World Health Organization's regional chief urged Asian governments not to let down their guard against bird flu, saying a new outbreak among poultry in Hong Kong showed the disease still poses a threat.

"This is an indication that we have to remain vigilant," Shigeru Omi said in Malaysia. "Constant vigilance is the key."

Omi said the outbreak in Hong Kong was "not unexpected because the virus is still circulating in the world, and certainly in this part of the world."

Twenty countries had outbreaks of the disease during the first nine months of 2008, down from 25 during the same period last year, U.N. officials have said.

Some officials worry that the public has largely lost interest because the virus has so far not mutated into a much-feared form that could spread easily among people. It remains hard for people to catch, with most human cases linked to contact with infected birds. Read more!

'Frost/Nixon' Langella brilliantly transforms into disgraced president

By Bill Goodykoontz

Say the name Nixon to most people older than 45 and all sorts of images are conjured up, most of them unpleasant: Watergate, resignation, the 18-minute gap, Cambodia, etc.

Say the name to most people younger than 45 and . . . who? President or something?

Frost/Nixon ought to change that. Not saying it will, but it should.
Ron Howard's film adaptation of Peter Morgan's play is outstanding, boasting a tremendous performance by Frank Langella as Richard M. Nixon. Somehow it turns a series of televised interviews between a disgraced former president and a lightly regarded, on-the-way-down television host into an outright thrilling drama.

A neat trick, and Howard pulls it off with aplomb.

It's all the more impressive given that Frost's interviews, which took place in 1977, three years after Nixon resigned, weren't exactly earth-shattering news - then or now. Nixon saw them as a way to rehabilitate his image but was, to some degree, exposed again by the medium that had long plagued him (the televised debates with John F. Kennedy in 1960 helped lead to his defeat). Plus - and this is certainly true in the film - Nixon wanted the money, the then-unheard-of $600,000 that Frost ponied up for the chats.

Frost, too, had an ulterior motive. Considered a lightweight (particularly by the Nixon camp), he wanted to establish legitimacy - and, as portrayed by Michael Sheen (like Langella, reprising his stage role), to reclaim a regular table at Sardi's.

The film begins with Nixon's resignation. After coming offstage from the taping of a vapid TV show in Australia, Frost catches a TV broadcast of Nixon leaving Washington and, nothing if not savvy, immediately wants to know how many people watched the resignation the night before.

So begins an odyssey, back-and-forth negotiations between Frost's people - he hires researchers, played by Sam Rockwell and Oliver Platt, both good but underused - to get him up to speed on Nixon's career, though Frost shows a decided lack of interest in playing along. Nixon, meanwhile, is buoyed by loyal aide Jack Brennan (Kevin Bacon), who choreographs a performance that will allow the former president to use Frost as a stooge, basically having his say unimpeded.

Ever crafty, Nixon isn't above knocking Frost back a step with a quip or a comment just before the cameras turn on. Clearly out of his depth, Frost is steamrollered - until a fateful, drunken call inspires Frost to up his game and get to work.

Complaints have been lodged that playwright Morgan plays fast and loose with the facts. So what? Sometimes fiction is the best way to get at fact, something that is evidenced by Langella's performance. Though he's clearly worked on perfecting the awkward gait, the jowly voice, he doesn't look especially like Nixon. Yet he embodies him - his essence, the paranoid intelligence, the need for approval. It's not an impersonation, it's a transformation, and it's brilliant.

Howard keeps the pace brisk, light when it needs to be, heavy when that's called for. Along with Langella, he turns Frost/Nixon into one of the most entertaining history lessons imaginable.

Read more!

China-Cambodia Friendship Radio launched

Wang Gengnian (R), president of China Radio International (CRI) and Tan Yan, president of Radio National Kampuchea (RNK) touch the location points of Beijing and Phnom Penh on a map with painting brushes to inaugurate the Phnom Penh China-Cambodia Friendship Radio in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on Dec. 11, 2008. The Chinese-Cambodian joint-venture FM radio started broadcasting on Thursday. (Xinhua Photo)

Wang Gengnian (R), president of China Radio International (CRI), is interviewed by local reporters after inaugurating the Phnom Penh China-Cambodia Friendship Radio in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on Dec. 11, 2008. (Xinhua Photo)

PHNOM PENH, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) -- The China-Cambodia Friendship Radio (CCFR), a joint FM radio service between China Radio International (CRI) and Radio National of Kampuchea (RNK), was formally launched on Thursday in Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia.

The launch of the radio service is part of the activities that have been designed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Cambodia, Zhang Jinfeng, Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia, said at the launching ceremony.

With the new radio service in place, its programs will help transmit information and further promote exchanges between the two nations, she added.

Listeners in Phnom Penh and surrounding areas will easily enjoy CCFR programs ranging from news on China and the world to Chinese and Cambodian music programs, according to a press release from CRI.

The CCFR, with a frequency of FM 96.5 MHz, broadcasts from 6 a.m. (2300 GMT) to 24 p.m.(1700 GMT) local time everyday, the release said.

The programs are in Cambodian, Chinese and English, it added.

Read more!

Anti-corruption measures needed to strengthen Cambodia genocide court: UN

[JURIST] UN and Cambodian government officials said Wednesday in a statement [UN News Center report] issued after a series of high-level meetings that they needed to address ongoing problems facing the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia [official website] in its efforts to try former Khmer Rouge officials suspected of crimes against humanity by "enhancing its human resources management, including anti-corruption measures." The statement, however, provided few details and a UN Secretariat delegation led by Assistant-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs Peter Taksoe-Jensen cancelled a scheduled press conference [Asia Times report] before leaving Phnom Penh.

In September a New Zealand judge serving on the court warned colleagues and prosecutors [JURIST report] at a meeting of court officials that its upcoming genocide trials "are so important for the people of Cambodia [that they] must not be tainted by corruption." The court has thusfar received little funding from international donors partly due to allegations of kickbacks for positions and other irregularities [Phnom Penh Post report]. Outgoing US Ambassador Joseph Mussomeli [official profile] said in September that the US will begin providing direct financial aid to the ECCC once the tribunal takes adequate measures against corruption .

The ECCC plans to try as many as eight suspects [JURIST report] for their roles in the Khmer Rouge regime, which is generally held responsible for the genocide of an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians [PPU backgrounder] between 1975 and 1979. In June, court officials announced plans [JURIST report] to complete operations a year early because of limited funding but said they would still be able to prosecute all the suspects. Read more!

Golf: Davies grabs opening lead in Cambodian Open

SIEM REAP, Cambodia: Welshman Rhys Davies carded an eight-under-par 64 on Thursday to take the first round lead in the 300,000-dollar Johnnie Walker Cambodian Open and promised to make amends for last week's heartbreak.

Two-time Asian Tour winner Anthony Kang of the United States was a shot further back on 65 while Indonesia's Rory Hidayat posted a 66 to take third place. Thailand's Chawalit Plaphol was in fourth place on 67.

Compatriot Thongchai Jaidee, Thaworn Wiratchant together with Australia's Gavin Flint, Malaysia's Airil Rizman and Korea's Park Jae-bum are bunched together in fifth on matching 68s.

Davies came agonisingly close to his maiden win on the Asian Tour last week when he lost in a play-off to Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee at the Hana Bank Vietnam Masters.

But after his strong start Thursday, with nine birdies against a single bogey, the Welsh rookie is hoping it will be his turn to be rewarded this week.

"I played really well today. I just went out there, got very focus, hit a lot of good shots and was rewarded with a low score today," said Davies.

"Last week was a great week too. But I can't dwell over one little shot which I couldn't control and missed in the play-off. It's a new week, great start and I hope it continues," he added.

Meanwhile, Kang who is seeking to end his Asian Tour title drought since 2001, also impressed by firing eight birdies against a lone bogey to finish a shot behind Davies at the Phokeethra Country Club.

"I'm really happy with my iron shots, my distance control and I hope it continues for the next three days. I've two more events left for the year and I hope to end it well," said Kang.

Thailand's Chawalit also bolstered his chances of winning his third Asian Tour title after grabbing the early morning lead.

"I'm quite pleased with how I've played today. If there's any aspect of my game which I can credit to, it'll be my putting and tee shots," said Chawalit.

Defending champion Bryan Saltus of the United States began his defence with a 72 to end the day in tied-43rd place.

Leading first round scores:

64 - Rhys Davies (WAL)
65 - Anthony Kang (USA)
66 - Rory Hidayat (INA)
67 - Chawalit Plaphol (THA)
68 - Thaworn Wiratchant (THA),Thongchai Jaidee (THA), Gavin Flint (AUS), Airil Rizman (MAS), Park Jae-Bum (KOR)
Read more!

Cambodian economy to slow in 2009: World Bank

PHNOM PENH: Cambodia's economic growth will slow to 4.9 percent next year amid the global financial crisis, less than half the country's expansion
pace of previous years, the World Bank said Wednesday.

"Cambodia, compared to many other countries in the region, is even more open to the external environment," Stephane Guimbert, the World Bank's senior economist for Cambodia, told a press briefing.

The Bank said Cambodia's economy averaged 11.1 percent growth from 2004 to 2007, but due to lower demand from other countries for its main industries - garments, construction and tourism - it has slowed to 6.7 percent this year.

Vikram Nehru, the World Bank's chief economist for East Asia and the Pacific, said the financial crisis has also come at an unfortunate time for the impoverished country's banking system.

"This particular crisis hit when bank credit was growing very rapidly, and now with the sudden decline of tourism and export earnings this is going to obviously hit the banking system as well," Nehru said by video from Tokyo.
"Cambodia was unlucky to be caught in the crisis at this particular time."

Unveiling the World Bank's update on the economies of East Asia, Guimbert said he believed the Cambodian government had been right to address slowing growth by including fiscal stimulus in its national budget for next year.

The Cambodian parliament this week approved a 1.8-billion-dollar budget for 2009 which included increased spending on education, infrastructure and agriculture.

Guimbert added that he thought Cambodia needed to improve the competitiveness of its garment industry by addressing labour disputes and facilitating trade, and that the country must invest more in agriculture.

"Although the price of rice has declined since May and June, it is still higher than before," Guimbert said, recommending farmers invest in fertiliser to increase their crop yields.

Despite the recent double-digit economic growth, underemployment, where someone's work earns only a meagre return, remains high in Cambodia, one of the world's poorest countries. Some 35 percent of the country's 14 million people live on less than 50 cents a day. Read more!

Cambodia to fight corruption at genocide tribunal

Hybrid Tribunal is made from Human element of white men and Cambodians, hopefully the Khmer Rouge Tribunal will be cleaned of corruptions. But so far any White men who didn't know about acting corruption, Cambodia had taught them and they had been adapting very well. The UN should look into those white men who are in the Tribunal very closely.

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — The United Nations and the government of Cambodia have agreed in principle to strengthen measures to prevent corruption among staff at the country's genocide tribunal.

The partners said in a statement Wednesday that they would meet to ensure the tribunal is administered in a "transparent, fair and efficient manner."

Cambodian personnel at the U.N.-assisted tribunal have been accused of graft twice in the past two years.

The tribunal will try senior members of the communist Khmer Rouge, whose radical policies caused 1.7 million deaths when the group was in power in 1975-79.

The statement was issued after a meeting Tuesday between U.N. legal affairs expert Peter Taksoe-Jensen and Cambodian officials.
Read more!

Russia cancels 70 percent of debt to Cambodia

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Russia has agreed to cancel most of Cambodia's $1.5 billion debt owed to Moscow since the 1980s, an official said Tuesday.

The vice chairman of Russian Parliament, Valery A. Yazev, told the Cambodian government during a visit last month that up to 70 percent of the debt was being canceled by Moscow, said Cheam Yeap, the chairman of the Cambodian parliament's finance commission.

Cheam Yeap was replying to questions by lawmakers in parliament during a debate on Cambodia's $1.8 billion national budget for 2009, which was approved Tuesday by the parliament's lower house.

During the 1980s, Cambodia was a close Russian ally and relied heavily on Moscow for weapons, food and infrastructure equipment.

Cambodia is one of the world's poorest countries and is heavily reliant on foreign aid.

Cambodia also owes the US government over $300 million, Cheam Yeap said, adding that most of it was borrowed in the 1970s.

He said Cambodia has asked the US government many times to reduce the debt or cancel it, but there has been no response from Washington.

Deputy Finance Minister Ouk Rabun, also speaking during the budget debate, said Cambodia owed more than $2.3 billion to various countries. This amount does not include the amounts owed to the US and the forgiven Russian debts.

In addition, the International Monetary Fund also canceled last year an $82 million debt owed by Cambodia.

Ouk Rabun said most of the debt, which is in the form of soft loans, was spent on infrastructure and social welfare projects.

"We can't leave those broken roads without repairs," he said.

Cambodia's 2009 budget includes about $400 million to be spent on health, education, agriculture and other social welfare projects. More than $200 million will be spent on national defense and security. - AP Read more!

Cambodian Prince Ranariddh appointed chief advisor to King Sihamoni

PHNOM PENH, Cambodian Prince Norodom Ranariddh has been appointed King Norodom Sihamoni's chief advisor, English-Khmer language newspaper the Cambodia Daily on Wednesday quoted royal sources as saying.

King Sihamoni appointed his half-brother in a royal decree dated Dec. 6, with the prince's new position holding a rank equivalent to prime minister, said Oum Daravuth, member of the Royal Palace cabinet.

The appointment came as the culmination of months of speculation that the prince would abandon his political career fora role in the Royal Palace.

Ranariddh used to head the royalist Funcinpec Party and served as prime minister of the first government of the Kingdom of Cambodia.

He was dumped as party president in late 2006 and then sued by Funcinpec for embezzling money while selling party estate.

He received sentence over the lawsuit, stayed overseas for months, and finally escaped imprisonment due to a pardon from the king.
Read more!

Cambodia arrested 50% more human traffickers in 9 months

PHNOM PENH -- In the first nine months of this year, Cambodian police brought 75 cases of human trafficking to court and arrested 107 traffickers, a 50 percent increase compared with the same time period last year, national media reported Tuesday.

The police have strengthened enforcement and successfully worked with local authorities nationwide, Bith Kim Hong, director of the Anti-human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection Department, was quoted by the Phnom Penh Post as saying.

"We hope that we will keep the human trafficking situation under control in the next few years with the continued cooperation of law enforcement and local authorities," he said.

"Each human trafficker was sentenced to 10 to 28 years in prison," he added.

While the police celebrated these numbers, opposition party members said more needs to be done to end human trafficking in Cambodia.

Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker Mu Sochua told the Post that, too many Cambodians are still falling victim to human traffickers.

"We have many good laws, but if we do not find out the real issue, we will not combat trafficking well," Mu Sochua said.
Read more!

Cambodia supports moving ASEAN summit

PHNOM PENH - Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Monday backed a proposal for crisis-hit Thailand to relinquish hosting a summit of the Southeast Asian bloc ASEAN originally scheduled for this month.

Thailand said last week it was delaying the meeting until March due to its ongoing political turmoil, which saw anti-government protesters occupy both of its capital's airports.

Speaking at Cambodia's national assembly, Hun Sen strongly backed a suggestion from Singapore that the bloc consider staging the summit in January at the Jakarta-based secretariat of the 10-member ASEAN.

"We understand Thailand's difficulties, but Thailand should understand the other nine members of ASEAN -- they should not become hostages of Thailand's political crisis," Hun Sen said.

"So I think the proposal of the Singaporean prime minister is a good way to resolve the problem."

Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong last week said postponing the summit was a setback for all of Southeast Asia.

He added that the meeting should not be delayed too long during the current global financial crisis, which he said is affecting all ASEAN members.

Thailand currently holds the rotating chairmanship of ASEAN, which groups it with Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam.

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Thai commitment to resolving the Thai-Cambodian problem concerning the Temple of Phra Viharn and its adjacent areas through peaceful means and existin

With reference to the press conference by Mr. Sompong Amornvivat, then Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, on 13 November 2008 regarding the outcome of the Third Thai-Cambodian Foreign Ministers' Meeting held in Siem Reap on 12 November 2008, at which Mr. Sompong notified that Thailand and Cambodia were able to agree on most of the issues on the table with only two issues pending due to the deviation in substance from the negotiating framework already approved by the Thai Parliament ,and as a result, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would have to seek the Cabinet's decision to submit the two pending issues for Parliament's consideration at the earliest opportunity, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs wishes to report on the progress made on this matter as follows:

1. The Cabinet decided on 19 November 2008 to submit the outcome of the Third Thai-Cambodian Foreign Ministers' Meeting, in particular the two pending issues namely (1) the question of how the temple should be called in the Provisional Arrangements between Thailand and Cambodia - the name used by the Thai side being "Phra Viharn, while that used by the Cambodian side "Preah Vihear", and (2) the details of troop redeployment, to which Cambodia had proposed certain changes. The Parliament scheduled to consider the outcome of the Third Thai-Cambodian Foreign Ministers' Meeting on 24 November 2008. However, due to some inconveniences to the Parliament, the matter has not yet been taken up as scheduled.

2. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had consultations with a number of members of the parliament both from the government and opposition parties. The main objective of the consultations is to provide the Parliament a better understanding of the outcome of the Third Thai-Cambodian Foreign Ministers' Meeting, in particular the two pending issues, and of the necessity and urgency of its consideration. It is expected that the matter would be among the top priorities when the Parliament resumes its session.

3. The current situation in Thailand does not in any way affect Thailand's firm commitment to pursuing peaceful settlement of the matter through the existing bilateral framework and boundary mechanisms, especially the Thai-Cambodian Joint Commission on Demarcation for Land Boundary (JBC). The JBC held its special meeting in Siem Reap on 10-11 November 2008, the results of which were submitted by the Cabinet for Parliament's consideration at the same time as those of the FM III.

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Consolation victory for Myanmar

Substitute Myo Min Tun saved Myanmar's blushes, scoring a later winner to give his side a consolation victory against Cambodia in the AFF Suzuki Cup on Tuesday.

Goals by Moe Win and Yazar Win Thein put Myanmar in control at the Jalak Harupat Stadium in Bandung but Kouch Sokumpheak struck just before half-time and Khim Borey converted a penalty to draw the Cambodians level with 13 minutes left.

But Tun ensured that Myanmar would bow out of the tournament with a win when he fired home a loose ball five minutes from time.

With both sides already eliminated from the competition after losing their first two Group A games against Singapore and Indonesia, there was little at stake and little intensity during a dull first half-hour.

Myanmar had the better of the possession but very nearly fell behind in the 28th minute when Khim Borey turned Moe Win in the box and sent his low shot just wide of the right-hand post.

That scare appeared to rouse Myanmar from their slumber as striker Yan Paing made a quick burst down the left channel and fired a shot across goal that Samreth Seiha got his fingers to.

But Myanmar took the lead from the resulting corner as Yazar Win Thein floated the ball in to Moe Win, whose header from close to the penalty spot looped past goalkeeper Seiha and a defender on the line.

Yan Paing missed a glorious opportunity to extend the lead, sending an unchallenged header wide, but Thein made no mistake in the 35th minute, side-footing home after a low ball by Soe Myat Min was deflected into his path by Tieng Tiny.

It was the 11th goal conceded by Cambodia in three games but to their credit, the Indochinese side battled on and got a goal back five minutes before the break as Kouch Sokumpheak saw his initial shot saved by Htet but made no mistake with the follow-up.

Zaw Lynn Tun was fortunate to only receive a yellow card for pulling down Sokumpheak as he looked to break clear on goal seven minutes into the second half.

But an equaliser arrived in the 77th minute when Cambodia were awarded a penalty after Htet sent Sun Sovannarith sprawling in the box.

Borey maintained his composure to draw the sides level, stroking the ball down the middle as Htet dived to his left.

But with just five minutes remaining, Cambodia failed to clear their lines and Myo Min Tun capitalised to fire home the winner from six yards out. Read more!

Russia cancels 70 percent of debt to Cambodia

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Russia has agreed to cancel most of Cambodia's $1.5 billion debt owed to Moscow since the 1980s, an official said Tuesday.

The vice chairman of Russian Parliament, Valery A. Yazev, told the Cambodian government during a visit last month that up to 70 percent of the debt was being canceled by Moscow, said Cheam Yeap, the chairman of the Cambodian parliament's finance commission.

Cheam Yeap was replying to questions by lawmakers in parliament during a debate on Cambodia's $1.8 billion national budget for 2009, which was approved Tuesday by the parliament's lower house.

During the 1980s, Cambodia was a close Russian ally and relied heavily on Moscow for weapons, food and infrastructure equipment.

Cambodia is one of the world's poorest countries and is heavily reliant on foreign aid.

Cambodia also owes the US government over $300 million, Cheam Yeap said, adding that most of it was borrowed in the 1970s.

He said Cambodia has asked the US government many times to reduce the debt or cancel it, but there has been no response from Washington.

Deputy Finance Minister Ouk Rabun, also speaking during the budget debate, said Cambodia owed more than $2.3 billion to various countries. This amount does not include the amounts owed to the US and the forgiven Russian debts.

In addition, the International Monetary Fund also canceled last year an $82 million debt owed by Cambodia.

Ouk Rabun said most of the debt, which is in the form of soft loans, was spent on infrastructure and social welfare projects.

"We can't leave those broken roads without repairs," he said.

Cambodia's 2009 budget includes about $400 million to be spent on health, education, agriculture and other social welfare projects. More than $200 million will be spent on national defense and security. - AP Read more!

Cambodian NGOs, officials fight to ban toxic pesticides

PHNOM PENH, Dangerous pesticides pose serious health risks to farmers and consumers, say NGOs and agricultural officials who have rallied for a national ban, national media reported Monday.

Cambodia spends nearly 30 million U.S. dollars on chemical sprays every year, many of which are illegal in the countries where they are manufactured, according to the Phnom Penh Post.

Cheang Sovannrath, a project officer with the nongovernmental group Chemical Spray Reduction and Sustainable Agriculture, said the campaign, which included a march through Phnom Penh, aims to educate consumers about the dangers of chemical sprays and encourage the government to stop importing them.

"I think this campaign can sound an alarm for consumers and authorities to restrict the import of chemical sprays," Cheang Sovannrath said.

Meanwhile, the campaign is supported by the NGO Forum on Cambodia.

"I think if we don't start this kind of campaign now, we will face real danger in the future," said Keam Makarady, research project coordinator for the Cambodia Center for Study and Development in Agriculture (CEDAC).

Ninety percent of chemical spray users have suffered adverse health effects, with at least 10 percent of these experiencing serious problems, he said.
Read more!

Give the gift of a better world

By CAROL PUCCI

This is the time when I look under my desk where I store some of the oddball travel gadgets sent my way during the year. It’s a reminder that few of us really need a plastic cup holder that hooks to the side of a suitcase, a disposable pillow or a GPS-trackable dog collar.

Here’s a suggestion: If you’re looking for a holiday gift for the globe-trotter on your list, chuck the junk and instead consider a gift that gives back to the people in the countries we visit.

A few ideas:

• Support a banking system that’s not in need of a bailout. Give a gift certificate for a loan through Kiva.org, and let a friend or family member discover how far $25 can stretch.

This past year, I tracked the progress of two women with whom I forged a special connection: Nguyen Thi Nama, with six children and a small business selling groceries in Vietnam, and Diana Beleva, a Bulgarian sock peddler. I loaned them each $25 through Kiva, a San Francisco nonprofit that links third-world entrepreneurs with first-world lenders who pool their money into short-term, interest-free business loans.

My two business partners paid the money back a few months ago, and I recycled the cash into new loans, this time for Phan Ny, a blacksmith in Cambodia, and Joise Yabu, who sells rice and fried eggs at a hotel in Sudan.

Kiva has so far arranged nearly $50 million in loans in 41 countries. Vetted by micro-financing organizations in their home countries, the borrowers pay the money back in monthly installments. Pictures, bios and updates appear on Kiva’s Web site.

The program has become so popular that lenders sometimes outnumber borrowers. The recipient of your gift certificate may have to wait awhile to find an entrepreneur to support, but once the two connect, your gift truly will be one that keeps on giving. See www.kiva.orgfor details.

• Shop for handmade crafts, jewelry, textiles and other gifts at stores and online retailers dedicated to supporting fair wages and decent working conditions for third-world artisans.

Ten Thousand Villages, a nonprofit trading organization sponsored by the Mennonite Church, sells the work of artists from more than 30 countries.

Far East Handicrafts in Seattle, supplies handmade arts and crafts from artists and cooperatives in Nepal, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos, where the organization supports medical and educational projects. Gifts under $50 include wind bells, singing bowls and handmade paper products.

Nonprofit Aid to Artisans works with retailers to develop new markets for products that foster artistic traditions and help communities in countries such as India and Mozambique. Check its Web site for a list of retailers that carry its products, or buy online.

Andy and Tammy James opened Market Street Traders after vacationing in Thailand. They bought $500 worth of goods from a remote village after an elder told them that was enough money to send all the village kids to school for a year.

Global Exchange, a San Francisco-based international human-rights organization, operates an online Fair Trade store stocked with items such as hand-woven leaf earrings from Swaziland and laptop sleeves made by a women’s cooperative in Rwanda.

• Buy a gift subscription to a publication that promotes responsible, sustainable travel. When my favorite, Transitions Abroad,, ceased print publication, subscriptions were transferred to a Canadian publication called Verge,. Yearly subscriptions are $25.

International Travel News targets active and armchair travelers with articles and reader advice on budget travel and independent adventuring, much of it aimed at older travelers. This 100-page plus monthly packs hundreds of useful tips into each issue. Travelers do most of the writing. A subscription is $24 or call 800-486-4968.

• Build a school, help protect a forest or send a child to school. Dozens of organizations in the Pacific Northwest support third-world relief efforts. One of my favorites is Friendship with Cambodia of Eugene, Oregon. I traveled to Cambodia a few years ago with its founder, Bhavia Wagner, the author of “Soul Survivors,” a book about women and children who survived the Khmer Rouge.

In the United States, we dream of college educations, houses and good-paying jobs. In Cambodia, villagers dream of raising $15-$20 to buy a bicycle or a few pots and pans to use to start a business that can support a family. You can help.

The economic downturn is taking a toll all over the world, especially in countries that depend on tourism. The U.S. dollar is gaining strength just about everywhere. If you have a job and the money, it’s a good time to start planning a trip. Travel itself is the best gift of all, and, for now at least, it’s on sale. Happy holidays!
Read more!

Evidence of Artemisinin-Resistant Malaria in Western Cambodia

Figure 1. Parasite Density, Parasite-Clearance Time, and 50% Inhibitory Concentration (IC50) among Patients Receiving Artesunate, According to Clinical Outcome.

Panel A shows the parasite-reduction curves for the 56 patients who were cured, the 2 patients classified as having artemisinin-resistant infections, and the 2 with drug failures (i.e., patients who had recrudescence but who were not classified as having artemisinin-resistant infection, since the drug level was inadequate). The data points and horizontal I bars denote the means and standard errors. Panel B shows the parasite-clearance times in the artesunate group, as compared with the IC50 for dihydroartemisinin (R=0.31, P=0.03). Orange circles indicate patients whose infection was classified as artemisinin-resistant, and blue squares patients in whom treatment failed but whose infection was not classified as resistant.

To the Editor: Although artemisinins are potent and rapidly acting antimalarial drugs, their widespread use for treating patients with Plasmodium falciparum malaria raises the question of emerging drug resistance.1,2 Artemisinin monotherapy should not be used in areas where malaria is endemic; it requires an extended administration period and may lead to treatment failure, most frequently because of problems with compliance. Recent reports of high failure rates associated with artemisinin-based combination therapy, as well as in vitro drug-susceptibility data, suggest the possibility of clinical artemisinin resistance along the Thai–Cambodian border.3,4 We studied the potential emergence of artemisinin resistance using in vivo, in vitro, molecular, and pharmacokinetic methods specifically designed to address the question of potential artemisinin resistance.

We randomly assigned, in a ratio of 2:1, 94 adults from Battambang Province presenting with uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria (100 to 100,000 parasites per microliter) to receive either high-dose artesunate therapy (4 mg per kilogram of body weight per day, orally, for 7 days) (60 patients) or quinine (30 mg per kilogram per day) plus tetracycline (25 mg per kilogram per day) in a split dose every 8 hours for 7 days (34 patients). The study was approved by ethics review committees in Cambodia and the United States and was conducted from October 2006 through March 2007. Written informed consent was obtained from all study participants.

Patients were admitted for 28 days to rule out reinfection. The clinical outcome was recorded, plasma drug concentrations and in vitro drug susceptibility were measured, and molecular assays were performed to investigate genetic resistance markers and to rule out reinfection. Only patients who met all the following criteria were classified as having artemisinin-resistant infection: persistence of parasites 7 days after the start of treatment or reemergence of parasites within 28 days after the start of treatment; adequate plasma concentrations of dihydroartemisinin, a major artemisinin metabolite; prolonged time to parasite clearance; and reduced in vitro susceptibility to dihydroartemisinin.5

Four of the 60 patients who received artesunate had reemergence of parasitemia between days 21 and 28 after the start of treatment (with a Kaplan–Meier probability estimate for cure at day 28 of 93.6%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 84.7 to 97.7); 2 of these patients (3.3%) were classified as having artemisinin-resistant infection, according to the criteria listed above (Figure 1A). These two patients had parasite-clearance times that were prolonged (133 and 95 hours, as compared with a median of 52.2 hours for patients who were cured), and the plasma drug concentrations after the first dose were classified as adequate (greater than the mean for the cured patients minus 1 SD) (see the Supplementary Appendix, available with the full text of this letter at www.nejm.org). For these subjects, the 50% inhibitory concentrations for dihydroartemisinin were up to 4 times the geometric mean for cured patients and almost 10 times that for the reference clone W2. In the artesunate group, 47.9% (95% CI, 36.1 to 60.0) of the patients still had parasitemia 48 hours after the start of treatment, as did 21.9% (95% CI, 13.1 to 33.1) 72 hours after the start of treatment. Clinical and in vitro data suggest that artemisinin resistance may be more accurately portrayed as the long tail of a single distribution than as the result of a sudden change in sensitivity (Figure 1B). Resistance did not appear to be mediated by the number of copies of the P. falciparum multidrug resistance gene pfmdr1 or selected PfATPase6 polymorphisms tested in this study.

The high overall treatment efficacy seen in patients treated with artesunate indicates that relatively few parasite isolates have crossed the threshold of artemisinin resistance as defined in our study. Artemisinin resistance does not seem to be a widespread epidemiologic phenomenon at this time. The prolonged parasite-clearance times and the two cases meeting our definition of artesunate resistance are nonetheless a concern.

Harald Noedl, M.D., Ph.D.
Medical University of Vienna
A-1090 Vienna, Austria
harald.noedl@meduniwien.ac.at

Youry Se, M.D.
Kurt Schaecher, Ph.D.
Bryan L. Smith, M.D.
Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences
Bangkok 10400, Thailand

Duong Socheat, M.D.
National Center for Parasitology, Entomology, and Malaria Control
Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Mark M. Fukuda, M.D.
Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences
Bangkok 10400, Thailand

for the Artemisinin Resistance in Cambodia 1 (ARC1) Study Consortium

Supported by the U.S. Department of Defense Global Emerging Infections System Program. The opinions or assertions contained herein are the private views of the authors and are not to be construed as official or as reflecting the views of the Department of the Army or the Department of Defense.

This letter (10.1056/NEJMc0805011) was published at www.nejm.org on December 8, 2008. It will appear in the December 11 issue of the Journal.

References

Duffy PE, Sibley CH. Are we losing artemisinin combination therapy already? Lancet 2005;366:1908-1909.

Krishna S, Bustamante L, Haynes RK, Staines HM. Artemisinins: their growing importance in medicine. Trends Pharmacol Sci 2008;29:520-527.

Jambou R, Legrand E, Niang M, et al. Resistance of Plasmodium falciparum field isolates to in-vitro artemether and point mutations of the SERCA-type PfATPase6. Lancet 2005;366:1960-1963. [CrossRef][Medline]

Vijaykadga S, Rojanawatsirivej C, Cholpol S, Phoungmanee D, Nakavej A, Wongsrichanalai C. In vivo sensitivity monitoring of mefloquine monotherapy and artesunate-mefloquine combinations for the treatment of uncomplicated falciparum malaria in Thailand in 2003. Trop Med Int Health 2006;11:211-219. [ISI][Medline]

Noedl H. Artemisinin resistance: how can we find it? Trends Parasitol 2005;21:404-405.
[CrossRef][ISI][Medline]

Read more!

Cambodia cuts military budget after IMF concern

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Cambodia's government has slashed its proposed military budget for 2009 after the International Monetary Fund questioned the big increase it had announced, officials said on Monday.

In a parliamentary debate on next year's budget, the government proposed military spending of just $160 million for next year, way below the $500 million it had earmarked earlier after a border clash with Thailand in October.

"Before, we planned to divert resources to defence and security, but once we announced the plan, there was some criticism from donors," said Cheam Yeap, head of the National Assembly's finance commission.

"We don't want donors to get nervous about spending in the field so we decided to reduce it," Yeap told Reuters.

The IMF expressed concern about the big increase in military spending at a meeting of international aid donors in Phnom Penh last week.

Cambodia's opposition has also worried about the government's plan to spend more on the military at a time when donors such as the World Bank are contributing millions of dollars to help demobilise troops and slim down the country's bloated army.

The budget for military spending in 2008 is $108 million. Total spending on security, including the police force, is around $250 million.

Officials said the proposed increase in military spending next year would go towards better pay and welfare in the army, not weapons.

Cambodia's total budget for next year is now likely to be around $1.4 billion rather than the $1.8 billion proposed earlier.

Read more!

Former Cambodian monarch says his health is deteriorating

PHNOM PENH (AFP) — Cambodia's former king Norodom Sihanouk said his health was deteriorating and hinted that he did not have long to live, in a letter seen on his website Monday.
The 86-year-old, who left for Beijing in July for his annual medical treatment, wrote in a message titled "The deterioration of the state of my health" that his "eminent Chinese doctors" had told his wife, former queen Monineath, that he should be hospitalised in case of emergency.

"My important and respected Chinese friends dare not speak about my death (from old age) in the not so distant future. But I told them I would prefer to die in 'my' residence instead of a hospital, where I have very comfortable apartments," Sihanouk said.

In the message, dated December 1 but only posted recently on his website, the former monarch added that doctors had increased their examinations from once a week to many times a week, and sometimes twice a day.

Sihanouk has suffered from a number of ailments, including cancer, diabetes and hypertension.

Despite giving up his role as monarch, he remains a prominent figure in Cambodia who often uses messages to weigh in on matters affecting the country.
Read more!

Fair Trade Fairs Fare Well For Shoppers

Jill Kimball's love affair with Southeast Asia blossomed seven years ago, when adopting her daughter Jayne brought her in touch with the Cambodian people, art, and culture. Along with her new baby girl - her real treasure, she brought home gorgeous handwoven silk scarves, handmade jewelry and crafts fashioned from recycled materials that most of us would consider trash. Jill was so impressed with what the indigenous artisans' cooperatives could produce. "In these poor, rural communities, there is absolutely no waste," she says.

She and her friend Kathy Mahoney, both Montclair Moms, were game to start a business supporting fair trade artisans, and import their beautiful handicrafts to the US market. Lotus Jayne was born three years ago, and we first wrote about them when we noticed their Bombshell Bracelets made from 155mm artillery shells. Now, Lotus Jayne is present at nearly all of Baristaville's fair trade fairs and markets.

Annual buying trips include visits to remote villages reached by paddling over rice paddies, have enriched their inventory with items from India and Thailand hand-crocheted purses, jewelry, and silk clothing, both casual and chic. You'll find silver jewelry made by the Karen Hill Tribe in Thailand, new pendants made by artisan friends in Phnom Penh, and custom designed handwarmers (unknown to the artisans) and scarves made by women from the Godavari Delta of India.

Lotus Jayne's merchandise is amazingly affordable. Check their website, there's nothing listed over $50. Here's where you'll find Lotus Jayne this month.

Sunday, Dec. 7 & Dec. 14, 11am-1pm
Union Congregational Church Holiday Alternative Gift Fair
176 Cooper Avenue, Montclair, NJ

Thursday, December 11, 3pm-9pm
Montclair Coop School's Huge Winter Wonderland Holiday Shopping Fair
Includes Cafe and Children's Area
65 Chestnut Street, Montclair, NJ

Sunday, December 14, 10:30am-1pm
Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Montclair
Fair Trade Holiday Fair
67 Church Street, Montclair, NJ

Wednesday, December 17, 5pm-8pm
Chalk Farm
Holiday Shopping, Wine & Cheese
182 Glenridge Avenue, Montclair, NJ

They are also available by appointment. For more info, visit their website or call
Katie Mahoney 973-744-7576, Jill Kimball 973-744-7802.
Email: info@lotusjayne.com

Jill's comments about the photos:
Manager
This intelligent, beautiful woman manages the work brought to the village by Somphen.

Old Woman Spins
Old woman spins silk onto spools made of pieces of pvc pipe. When we asked her (by translator) why she didn't wear her glasses to see the almost transparent fibers of organza, she answered "I only wear my glasses for TV!" The village has a little black and white TV run by a moto battery powered by a small generator.

Silk by Hand
Silk ready to be wound onto spools. This home is so clean and neat.

Village Farewell
Goodbye! Leaving the village, everyone accompanies us to the riverbank. Read more!

Cambodia And Human Trafficking

On December 7th, performing artists, human rights activists, non-governmental organizations, and officials of the Royal Cambodian government will gather at Angkor Wat to focus world attention on the scourge of human trafficking.

A rock concert will be held at Angkor Wat, December 7th, in cooperation with MTV EXIT [End Exploitation and Trafficking], a project of the MTV Europe Foundation. This London-based charity is working to increase awareness and prevention of human trafficking exploitation. MTV EXIT in Asia is produced in partnership with the United States Agency for International Development.

British and a number of international artists will perform along with some of Cambodia's biggest recording artists, including Pou Khliang. The Angkor Wat show is part of an exciting nation-wide concert tour that began November 22nd at Ochheuteal Beach in Sihanoukville. The final concert, featuring Cambodian pop star Preap Sovath, will be held at Olympic Stadium in Phnom Penh on December 12 in recognition of Cambodia's National Day to Combat Human Trafficking.

"We are incredibly proud to perform at this important concert," said one band member. "We hope that through our music and involvement in this event and the MTV EXIT campaign that millions of people learn about this tragic form of slavery." The concert tour will provide content for a series of television programmes produced by MTV EXIT to be broadcast in Cambodia and on MTV channels internationally. These specials will combine concert footage with important information about human trafficking.

Public awareness is just one component of a larger global effort to prevent human trafficking. In its annual report on human trafficking, the U.S. State Department notes that the rule of law, an independent judiciary, and expunging corruption, are critical to the fight against trafficking. Estimates suggest that some 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders annually, with up to 80 percent of the victims being female and up to 50 percent being children. These figures do not include millions who are trafficked for purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation within national borders as well.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said it is important for "responsible nations across the globe to stand together, to speak with one voice, and to say that freedom and security are non-negotiable demands of human dignity." Read more!

Tourist dies in Cambodia

PHNOM PENH - A GERMAN tourist has died in Cambodia's north-east after falling off a veranda and refusing hospital treatment, police said on Saturday.

Eye-witnesses told police that 65-year-old Klaus Dieter Rubloff had been waiting for a bus on a riverside veranda in Kratie province on Thursday when he fell three metres to the ground.

He was taken to the nearby provincial hospital with head and hand injuries but refused to stay there, wanting to travel instead to the capital Phnom Penh.

He was found dead the next morning at the guesthouse where he was staying.

'The tourist accidentally fell off the balcony. After he was sent to the hospital, he refused requests by the doctor and his two foreign friends to stay in the hospital,' said provincial police chief Chuong Seang Hak.

'His death was caused by the accident and his refusal to be hospitalised here,' he said. -- AFP


Read more!

Concert to benefit school in Cambodia

By Ron Cassie

A benefit concert planned for later this month traces its genesis back three and a half years, to a meeting between a Frederick couple and a former Cambodian refugee.

During a vacation to Vietnam and Cambodia in February 2005, Ted and Bonnie Nieman were overwhelmed by the poverty in rural Cambodian towns. When they returned to Frederick County, they began raising money to build wells for clean drinking water in the villages neighboring their hotel -- work they continue to this day.

Sensavon Bennici, who as a child escaped Cambodia's murderous Khmer Rouge regime in the 1970s with her family, read about their efforts in The Frederick News-Post in April 2005 and contacted the Niemans. The Niemans and Bennicis, including Sensavon, her husband Frank and four children, Maria, Anthony, Matthew, and Charles, have been friends ever since.

Now Maria, a senior at Walkersville High School, has organized a concert to benefit the Niemans' latest Cambodian project, a new school for 120 children in a rural village about 30 miles outside Siem Reap (population 10,000).

"I have had this idea since the end of my sophomore year," said Bennici, a classical pianist. "This summer I really got thinking about it, and in July and August I began talking to some of my friends about it. At the beginning of the school year I talked to our principal, David Kehne, and he was supportive. Everyone at the school has been very supportive, taking the time to deal all my questions and make I was doing everything I needed to do."

Bennici named the concert "Harmony for Hope."

Fifteen Walkersville students, including Maria and her brothers, will play. Anthony, 15 and a sophomore at Walkersville, will play classical guitar, and Matthew, 8, and Charles, 7, will both play piano concertos. Maria will perform a duet with each sibling.

"I thought that would be cute," she said.

The first half of the program will be classical. After intermission, the second half will feature more contemporary music.

"Jason Mraz, Train, things like that," Bennici said. "That way everyone in the audience will have a particular favorite."

Admission is free. Donations toward Cambodiawecare.org, the Niemans' nonprofit group, and the new school will be accepted. Bennici said she plans to have Ted Nieman give a brief talk about both before the concert.

Since 2005, the Niemans have raised money to install an estimated 1,000 wells and helped local Buddhist monks construct and launch a sewing center for impoverished women, Ted Nieman said. They have raised $6,000 toward the $30,000 for the new elementary school in Pouk.

About 120 first- and second-graders now squeeze into a single-room schoolhouse. Their two teachers' salaries are subsidized by Cambodiawecare.org. Donated school books and supplies are delivered regularly.

"The kids push and shove each other for a new No. 2 pencil," said Nieman, who with his wife has traveled back to Cambodia five times since their first trip. "They are so eager to learn."

One hope is that eventually the school will be expanded to include third- and fourth-grade classes.

"I was raised to make education a priority and it's very important to me, personally," said Bennici, who is considering Stanford, Carnegie-Mellon and NYU, among other colleges.

"I think the whole world should have access to quality education, and I think what the Niemans are doing is inspiring. It shows you don't have to be Angelina Jolie to make a difference. You can start your own organization or make a contribution to one right here."

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Cambodia Considers Allowing Foreign Ownership of Property

Cambodia real estate values are in freefall, and officials may soon allow foreigners to purchase buildings, though foreign ownership of land is still out of the question. For more information, read the following article from Global Property Guide:

Cambodia’s housing market is plummeting, and the government is considering a new law to allow foreigners to own buildings.

In 2005, the government amended an investment law to allow foreign ownership of buildings. However Cambodia’s property market was then experiencing one of the biggest booms in Asia. As a result, the law was never implemented and the idea floundered.

The boom saw prices surge 25 percent to 40 percent annually from 2004 to 2007. Land price increases were at first confined to Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Sihanoukville, but the boom spread right across Cambodia. Other hot spots have been the border areas with Vietnam and Thailand and, to a lesser extent, Laos.

The capital’s most sought after locations fetched US$500 per square metre in 2000, but were sold at around US$4,000 or more per square metre along Norodom Boulevard, and US$2,500 per square metre in the central residential neighbourhood of Boeung Keng Kang (BKK).

A downturn started in July 2007 after the government announced new investment guidelines for developers.

Then in mid-2008, the bubble burst. The global financial crisis had hit Cambodia’s biggest investor, South Korea, and Korean investors began pulling out foreign assets to increase liquidity.

Real estate sales plummeted 30 percent to 50 percent from a year earlier.

To prevent the market from sliding further, the government is considering moves to allow foreigners to fully own buildings. Land ownership is still out of the question.

The housing boom

Cambodia has just witnessed one of the biggest real estate booms in Asia.

The reasons are obvious, as soon as you visit Cambodia. Phnom Penh is an attractive colonial city, with broad avenues, charming housing, a hip and young atmosphere, and a riverfront view. Siem Riep, which houses Angkor Wat, is even more charming, and has a cooler, more agreeable climate. There are agreeable beachfronts at Sihanoukville.

Cambodia is in a strategic position in the centre of IndoChina. Prices are laughably inexpensive (from a foreign perspective) and economic growth is exploding. The combination is hard to argue with.

Rentals are far higher than in days when Phnom Penh was a sleepy outpost where the only foreigners worked for aid organizations. In BKK I, according to a report in the Bangkok Post dated March 2008, a spacious, four-bedroom apartment with gym, swimming pool, parking and 24-hour security is on the market for US$3,000 a month. Nearby, the owners of a two-story, four-bedroom villa are looking for US$5,000 per month.

Phnom Penh has, as a result, experienced a construction boom. The government is aggressively pro-development, and squatters and other eyesores are simply cleared away, by a government which is in league with wealthy developers.

Part of the charm may be about to be lost as Phnom Penh succumbs to development. A 42-story US$250 million twin condominium, twice as high as Phnom Penh’s current tallest building, is being built in the most conspicuous position possible—at a busy corner leading to the city's Independence Monument. Residential units in the ‘Gold Tower 42’ project, which will not be completed till 2011, range from US$459,000 to US$1,500,000, according to developer Yon Woo Cambodia Co. Around 70 percent of the buyers are Cambodian. Around 40 percent of the sales have gone to speculative investors.

World City Co. Ltd., a South Korean company, is investing US$2 billion to build a satellite city called Camko City on a 120-hectare (300-acre) in northwest Phnom Penh. The single biggest foreign direct investment in to date, Camko City will include residential units, villas, condominiums, commercial and public facilities, trade and financial centres, office buildings, shopping centres, hotels, schools and hospitals. The project will include about 500 apartments with price tags ranging from US$112,000 to US$1.8 million a unit. Construction will take 3 1/2 years to complete. Nearly half of the units have already been sold.

Land values in Siem Reap have risen 25 percent to 30 percent every year for the last four years at least. The average price of land per square metre is now around the US$500 to US$600 mark. But premium land in downtown tourism districts is around US$1,600 per square metre.

Housing mortgages

Mortgage finance is now available in Cambodia. Acleda Bank entered the home lending market in January 2007; by March 1 2008 Acleda’s home loan portfolio was worth about $40 million. To get around foreclosure risk, given the corrupt legal system, Acleda keeps the title to the property until the loan is repaid.

ANZ also offers 15-year installment loans, allowing customers to borrow up to 60 percent of the home purchase price at variable interest rates, lending against registered titles.

Foreign-ownership schemes

Foreign individuals cannot buy real estate in Cambodia directly. But land can be held by foreigners on long (renewable) leases and through majority locally-owned companies incorporated in Cambodia. This company structure is the safest for a foreigner wishing to buy land. It is not totally bullet-proof, but in practice it works.

Foreigners typically take two Cambodian nationals as partners in the land-holding company, with the 51 percent share allocated so that the foreigner is the biggest single partner. Other safeguards include

Creating different classes of shares, giving the foreigner more rights;
Minority control documents;
A mortgage on the land, stipulating that the land cannot be transferred without the consent of the foreigner.

Leases up to 99 years are another common acceptable structure—the magnificent Raffles Hotel le Royal in Phnom Penh, for instance, is held on a simple lease. Read more!

CAMBODIA: Children miss out on school because of corruption

PHNOM PENH, When Sok Sopheap could not pay his daily bribe, his secondary school teacher refused to let him attend class.

The teacher demanded he stand for an hour by the door until the class finished.

"It was humiliating, but it happens a lot to students," said the 19-year-old son of a food vendor, graduating years late because of what he calls "high corruption fees".

"We have to pay unfairly for almost everything at school," he complained, including exams, tests and even class time.

"I don't think the problem is getting better," he said. "Young people in Cambodia have lived with this all our lives and no one has done much to stop it."

Chronic poverty

"New teachers often face a many-month delay before they receive their salaries," David Coleman, education chief of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) for Cambodia, told IRIN. "Teachers sometimes supplement their income with a second job. This can affect their own attendance at school, and can put pressure on the amount of time they have to prepare their lessons."

Teachers' salaries start from US$50 a month, even less than garment factory workers earn, Coleman added.

High oil and gas costs, which have only fallen slightly since their summer peak, despite a global price plummet, could be adding to teachers' salary woes, said Soprach, a primary school teacher in the capital, Phnom Penh.

"The price I pay for gas every month is almost the same as my salary," Soprach told IRIN. "How am I supposed to survive and feed my family without charging extra?"

Daily fees of 700 riel (20 cents) do little to drain students of money while keeping his own family afloat with $200 a month, he added.

Yet others think the tiny costs add up in significant ways, unfairly forcing poorer students out of school.

A 2007 report by the Cambodian NGO Education Partnership (NEP)
reveals education costs for each child averaged $108 annually, or 9 percent of each family's annual income.

The inability to pay informal fees was the most common reason parents gave for their children dropping out, the report stated.

"When you include informal and formal school costs, and private classes and snacks, many students are paying $2.50 every day," Leng Theavy, education and capacity-building officer for the NGO Education Partnership (NEP), told IRIN.

"That money is a lot because many Cambodians don't make more than $60 a month. In the survey we found the informal fees to be small, but we think the numbers could be much higher now," she added.

The study also noted that a quarter of parents were unaware that their children were entitled to a free education, a legal right.

Informal fees are prevalent in Phnom Penh, not in the countryside, the report said, though Theavy said corruption still happened in the provinces.

"Some teachers in the countryside take large fees too, and often the communes receive documented complaints from parents," she said.

Tackling corruption

As part of Cambodia's Education Strategic Plan for 2006 to 2010, the Ministry of Education is seeking ways to improve efficiencies to reduce informal fees.

The establishment of a Teacher Professional Code, ensuring on-time payments and raising teacher salaries are priorities.

However, Theavy said government had only limited options.

"The situation is out of the control of the Ministry [of Education] even though they circulated a ban on informal payments," she told IRIN. "Teachers commit this on their own."

Corruption overall is one of Cambodia's most pressing issues, with anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International scoring the country the 14th most corrupt in the world in its 2008 index, and the third most corrupt country in the Asia-Pacific region.
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Global Draw and Elixir Gaming form Strategic Alliance for Placement of Server-Based Gaming Machines in Asia

NEW YORK, SGMS wholly-owned subsidiary, The Global Draw Ltd. ("Global Draw") and Elixir Gaming Technologies (EGT:elixir gaming technologies) announced today they have formed a strategic alliance to address new opportunities in the high-potential gaming market of Cambodia through placements of Global Draw's popular server-based gaming machines at Elixir Gaming sourced venues. Pursuant to this agreement, gaming machines from Global Draw will be placed at venues on a revenue share basis and Global Draw and Elixir Gaming will share in the net win of the machines placed into operation. It is expected that Global Draw and Elixir Gaming will enter into a similar arrangement for the Philippines in the first quarter of 2009.

The first placement of Global Draw machines under this new agreement of approximately 65 Silverball networked gaming machines will be placed in casinos and licensed gaming halls in popular visitor destinations in Cambodia, as sourced by Elixir Gaming, during the first quarter of calendar 2009. In addition to securing new locations for the placement of Global Draw products, Elixir Gaming will provide ongoing marketing and technical support of the installed units.

Global Draw first introduced server-based gaming to the British betting market in the late nineties and has over 13,000 of its popular Silverball and Nevada terminals operating worldwide.

Neil Moir, Director of International Business Development for Global Draw, said: "This new alliance with Elixir Gaming aligns us with the perfect strategic partner to immediately access the South East Asian gaming market, which is the fastest growing gaming market in the world and represents another significant milestone in Global Draw's ability to expand our presence beyond our core market in the UK. Global Draw's unique downloadable, server-based games and services are applicable to all global markets as they allow us to work closely with our customers to increase machine income by making constant changes to our content. We are very pleased to leverage the benefits of Global Draw's unique products with the expertise Elixir Gaming has quickly developed in addressing the Cambodian market through their strong market presence and expanding relationships with venue owners. We expect our exciting level of content and increasing the level of security and flexibility offered by our products will provide immediate benefits to venue owners and their players in these rapidly growing markets."

Elixir Gaming is a leading supplier of technology gaming solutions in its key markets in Asia. Through its growing installation base of over 1,200 electronic gaming machines which are leased to its customers on a participation basis, local market relationships, and operational expertise, Elixir Gaming has established a meaningful presence in the high-potential gaming markets of the Philippines and Cambodia.

Clarence Chung, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Elixir Gaming, said: "We are delighted to be working with a company like Scientific Games, and its subsidiary Global Draw, which share our passion for delivering excellence in terms of cutting edge games, technology, and customer service. This agreement provides us with opportunities to ramp up our installed base with value-added networked gaming machines that complement our existing operating units. Importantly, this new alliance is another indication of the progress we are making with initiatives to improve our operating performance as we believe the entertainment value of Global Draw's products will help to deliver incremental net revenues to Elixir Gaming while allowing us to preserve capital for execution on additional growth initiatives."

About Scientific Games

Scientific Games Corporation is the leading integrated supplier of instant tickets, systems and services to lotteries worldwide, a leading supplier of server based gaming machines and systems, Amusement and Skill with Prize betting terminals, interactive sports betting terminals and systems, and wagering systems and services to pari-mutuel operators. It is also a licensed pari-mutuel gaming operator in Connecticut, Maine and the Netherlands and is a leading supplier of prepaid phone cards to telephone companies. Scientific Games' customers are in the United States and more than 60 other countries. For more information about Scientific Games, please visit www.scientificgames.com.

Company Contact:
Investor Relations
Scientific Games
212-754-2233


About Elixir Gaming Technologies, Inc.

Elixir Gaming Technologies, Inc. is a provider of gaming technology solutions. The Company secures long-term contracts to provide comprehensive turn-key solutions to 3, 4, and 5 star hotels and other well-located venues throughout Asia that seek to offer casino gaming products. The Company retains ownership of the gaming machines and systems and receives recurring daily fees that average in excess of 20% of the net gaming win per machine and provides on-site maintenance. The Company has established a strategic presence in the Asia Pacific region with a focus on the Philippines, Cambodia, and Vietnam markets. For more information please visit www.elixirgaming.com.

Company Contact:
Traci Mangini
SVP, Corporate Finance
702-617-4741


Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release which are not historical facts constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Those forward-looking statements include statements regarding the expectations for the business relationship between Global Draw and Elixir Gaming including the placement of games and recurring revenue that may develop from the relationship between the two companies. These statements, including those relating to timing of contracts, renewals or other events, business plans and performance objectives, are based upon management's current expectations, assumptions and estimates and are not guarantees of future results or performance. Actual results may differ materially from those projected in these statements due to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors, including, among other things: that Global Draw and Elixir Gaming may not realize the expected benefits of the game placements, risks related to Elixir Gaming's inability to place gaming machines at significant levels or at all and risks relating to Elixir Gaming's ability to place games that generate the expected amount of net-win; competition; material adverse changes in economic and industry conditions in our markets; technological change; protection of intellectual property; security and integrity of software and systems; laws and government regulation, including those relating to gaming licenses, permits and operations; seasonality; dependence on suppliers and manufacturers; factors associated with foreign operations; failure to retain, renew or perform on contracts; resolution of pending or future litigation; and other factors described from time to time in our filings with the SEC, including our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and except for our ongoing obligations under the U.S. federal securities laws, we undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
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Cambodia promised aid worth nearly $1 bln for 2009

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia has been promised aid worth $951.5 million for next year -- the most since 1994 -- with pledges linked to the country implementing reforms and fighting graft, the finance minister said on Friday.

Speaking at a news conference after a donors' meeting, Keat Chhon said China was Cambodia's biggest aid donor, with $257 million, followed by the European Union with $214 million, and Japan with $112 million.

"China is more than just a good rich neighbor ... China knows what Cambodia needs," he told reporters, saying Beijing's aid was unconditional, unlike assistance from the rest of the donors.

At the conference, other donors urged Cambodia to approve a long overdue anti-corruption law which they said was essential for private sector investment.

"Passing the law will be an important signal, providing investors and development partners with confidence to make more long-term commitments in Cambodia," said Qimiao Fan, the newly appointed World Bank country manager for Cambodia.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) also expressed reservations about the government's plan to double spending on the military next year to $500 million after a border clash with Thailand earlier this year.

Finance Minister Keat Chhon said the spending increase was for pay and social welfare rather than arms and equipment. (Reporting by Ek Madra; Editing by Bill Tarrant)
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