Laos says no need to fear for Hmong deportees

HANOI: Laos insisted on Wednesday that the international community need not fear for thousands of ethnic Hmong expelled from Thailand, after the United Nations and US lawmakers sought access to the deportees.

Bangkok sparked outrage on Monday when it defied global criticism and used troops to forcibly repatriate around 4,500 Hmong, including women and children, from camps on the border with communist Laos.

The Hmong, a Southeast Asian ethnic group, were seeking asylum in Thailand saying they risked persecution by the Lao regime for fighting alongside US forces in the Vietnam War during the 1960s and 1970s.

"These people, they have nothing to worry about them. They are Lao people. They have come back to their own country," Lao government spokesman Khenthong Nuanthasing told AFP by telephone from the capital Vientiane.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon voiced regret on Tuesday over the expulsions and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said it had filed a formal request with Laos for access to the Hmong.

Four US senators from Minnesota and Wisconsin, home to much of the US Hmong community, urged immediate and ongoing international monitoring of the resettlement and reintegration.

"On what grounds is UNHCR requesting?" Khenthong said. "It's a problem between Thailand and UNHCR. It's not a problem with Laos."

Thailand and Laos both say the Hmong were illegal economic immigrants and not political refugees as they contended, dismissing concerns by diplomats that they have genuine claims.

One of the deported Hmong contacted AFP by telephone from the central Lao province of Bolikhamsay to say that they had not been mistreated since their arrival but feared for the future.

"My family is OK, everybody is OK," said the 35-year-old man, who was deported with his wife, mother and five children. "But I worry for the situation in the future. I don't know if it is safe."

The man, who asked not to be identified, said they were being held at a detention centre and did not know how long they would be held there but that Lao authorities had made a "new camp" dozens of miles (kilometres) away.

Khenthong said, however, that more than 3,000 Hmong had already returned to Laos in previous years.

"Their lives are much better than in the detention camp in Thailand," he said.

Foreign delegations can apply to visit the returnees, but the newly-arrived Hmong are still being interviewed by Lao authorities to determine where in Laos they wish to go, Khenthong said.

He said they will be given free transport, a year's supply of rice, and other reintegration assistance.

Thailand on Monday also sent back a separate group of 158 Hmong with recognised UN refugee status, in a move the UNHCR said was a breach of international law.

Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya tried to quell international concerns.

"Laos has promised Thailand that they will give good treatment to these people. They will not be jailed and they will be given passports and a chance to meet with third countries that could resettle them," Kasit told reporters.

"We are confident that they will proceed as promised."

Kasit said the international community should also "help develop Laos to strengthen Laos" if they wanted to ensure the good treatment of the Hmong.

Thousands of Hmong, a highland people, sided with the United States during the Vietnam War and formed a CIA-funded "secret army" when the conflict spread to Laos.

When the Communists took power in Laos in 1975, Hmong fighters feared the regime would hunt them down for working with the Americans. About 150,000 fled and found homes abroad, mainly in the United States.

Others hid in the Lao jungle, some fighting a low-level rebellion that has been largely quashed. Thousands have fled to neighbouring Thailand, which also backed the United States in the war. - AFP/de

Under-employment among older PMETs becoming an uptrend in Singapore

SINGAPORE: Singapore's labour movement said tackling the issue of under-employed workers will be a big challenge in the coming year.

It said under-employment is becoming more pertinent among older Professionals, Managers, Executives and Technicians also known as (PMETs).

And efforts must be put in place to help them get jobs suited to their skills and qualifications.

PMETs were the hardest hit during the economic downturn.

Many, like those in the financial sector, were left jobless and the labour movement said they had to settle for whatever job they could get to make ends meet.

But while this brings down unemployment levels, the issue of under-employment has been on the uptrend.

Halimah Yacob, Deputy Secretary-General, NTUC, said: "He may be very qualified, very skilled, but the jobs that he wants to do and is willing to do is not available. H

“He ends up doing a job that does not make full capacity, productive use of his capabilities. It also involves the case where jobs are not paying them the kind of salary or earning that they feel is commensurate with their qualifications and skills."

Madam Halimah said she's seen many cases where middle-aged degree-holders who lost jobs during the downturn become taxi drivers.

She said such under-employment is unavoidable as with slow economic growth, job opportunities are limited.

But as the economy recovers, the labour movement will offer targeted help to under-employed workers.

Mdm Halimah said: "We recognise that the person cannot remain underemployed in perpetuity because that is going to be very frustrating and demoralising. That is where we then need to focus help to help him to transit so that he can make better use of his skills and capabilities to move to other sectors and to retrain them and move to other sectors that require their skills and qualifications.

“Of course it may not be easy because some of them may be working in one sector for so many years. So a re-tuning is needed to acquire other skills to move to other sectors."

The labour movement will work on job-matching assistance and training courses and Madam Halimah said workers must also actively find out more about job opportunities relevant to them. - CNA/vm

H1N1 and health reform dominated 2009 medical news

(CNN) -- It was the year that a new pandemic flu swept across the globe, initially baffling health authorities and causing worldwide panic.

It was also the year a new president and Congress tackled America's ailing health care system.

In the research world, the well-accepted notion that more cancer screenings benefit patients came under scrutiny. And a controversial stem cell policy was reversed.

And in the realm of food safety, Salmonella-tainted peanut butter products sickened and killed consumers across the nation and led to one of the largest food recalls in U.S. history.

Here's a closer look at five of the biggest health stories that emerged in 2009.

H1N1 pandemic flu

In April, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the detection of swine flu cases in the United States. When the 2009 H1N1 pandemic virus became widespread, massive confusion and panic ensued. Face masks and hand sanitizers sold out at stores.
Video: Top medical stories of 2009
Gallery: Top health stories of 2009
RELATED TOPICS

* Swine Flu
* Health Care Issues
* Cancer
* Stem Cell Research
* Peanut Corporation of America

Unlike the seasonal flu, most of the H1N1 deaths in the U.S. have been in children and younger adults, according to the CDC.

In Mexico, the government ordered all schools and nonessential businesses to close as the nation grappled with the epidemic. In Egypt, the government ordered that all pigs be slaughtered -- although eating pork does not spread the virus.

In June, the World Health Organization raised the alert to its highest level, stating that the H1N1 virus had spread to enough countries to be considered a global pandemic. In October, President Obama declared a national emergency to deal with the "rapid increase in illness" from H1N1.

But the panic eased after health authorities determined that the H1N1 virus appeared to be no more dangerous than the regular flu virus. Evidence also showed many of the seriously ill patients had underlying medical conditions.

Since the pandemic began, 50 million in the United States have been infected. The CDC estimates about 200,000 hospitalizations and about 10,000 deaths from H1N1.

A vaccine created this year, which public health authorities say is the best way to protect against H1N1, was made available to the public this fall.

Health care reform

Obama made health care reform a top priority on his domestic agenda and urged Congress to pass such a bill, sparking months of political wrangling.

The health care reform bill, if it passes into law, would be the biggest expansion of federal health care guarantees since the enactment of Medicare and Medicaid. It would extend insurance coverage to an estimated 30 million additional Americans. Among other things, the House and Senate bills -- which still need to be reconciled -- require individuals to buy health insurance and limit insurance companies from denying coverage for pre-existing conditions.

As the cost of health care skyrockets in America, supporters say reform would slow this economic burden. But critics voice concerns about the reform's impact on the existing health care system and its cost. Those anxieties flamed protests and contentious town hall meetings around the country.

In November, the House passed a $1 trillion health care reform bill that includes a public option, a government-funded, government-run health care plan. The $871 billion bill that the Senate passed does not include the public option.

Liberal members of the Democratic Party said the Senate bill has been too watered down. Meanwhile, Republicans slammed both versions of the bill, saying it will raise taxes while doing little to slow spiraling health care costs; they have labeled it "a monstrosity."

A conference committee will convene to iron out the differences between the two versions in January.

Cancer screenings/mammograms

The medical establishment raised questions about certain cancer screening tests that for years people were told were a necessity.

In November, a government task force recommended that women in their 40s not get routine annual mammograms. It advised women between 40 and 50 to discuss with their doctor the benefits and harms of having a mammogram, since these tests could result in false positives, anxiety and unnecessary biopsies.

The change in the task force's guidelines triggered confusion, outrage and accusations of health care rationing. Cancer survivors and patient advocate groups said that routine mammograms save lives. A spokeswoman for the task force later said the guidelines had been communicated poorly to the public.

For men, a decade-long study found that prostate cancer screenings led to more diagnoses but did not reduce the number of deaths.

Since the early 1990s, controversy around annual prostate screening has persisted in the medical community. Some doctors and medical organizations are skeptical of the screening, citing lack of scientific evidence that it saves lives and the risk of common treatment side effects, including impotence and incontinence. Doctors say that more research is required and that there's no definitive answer on prostate screenings yet.

Stem cell policy reversal

Obama signed an executive order this year repealing a Bush-era policy that limited federal dollars for human stem cell research, permitting the National Institutes of Health to conduct and fund studies on controversial embryonic stem cells.

Some scientists believe embryonic stem cells could help treat many diseases and disabilities, because of their potential to develop into many different cell types in the body.

While some advocates praised the executive order as a a giant step forward for medical research, conservatives groups objected, contending that the destruction of human embryos ends human life.

Peanut butter scare

Salmonella-tainted peanut butter paste -- found in crackers, cookies, ice cream and snack items -- sickened more than 600 people and killed nine in the United States. The outbreak, which came to light in January, was traced back to a processing plant in Blakely, Georgia, owned by Peanut Corp. of America. A second PCA-owned plant in Plainview, Texas, was later raided and shut down by state health officials for health violations.

The outbreak led to one of the largest food recalls in U.S. history, involving more than 1,000 products. A Food and Drug Administration report said Peanut Corp. of America shipped a tainted product it knew had tested positive for salmonella. The company filed for bankruptcy in February.

The outbreak renewed criticism about the lack of food safety oversight in the country.

Nokia planning bigtime on Netbooks?

Economy remains in peril: IMF

Banking and garment sectors must evolve, organisation says

THE International Monetary Fund issued a stark warning to Cambodia’s struggling garment industry and financial sector in a report late Tuesday that highlighted persisting structural problems. The organisation said that in 2009, Cambodia will experience its first recession in years.

Following consultations with the Cambodian government that ended on November 18, the IMF reported that the Kingdom’s banking sector remains vulnerable despite increasing liquidity after a credit squeeze that started a year ago.

“While banks’ liquidity has improved, staff noted that bank balance sheets have further weakened and credit risks have risen sharply over the past year,” the report said.

The report pointed to rising rates of non-performing loans (NPLs) – which hit 5.25 percent in June – as a continuing concern for the industry, “but the figures officially reported by banks likely fail to capture the true extent of the problem”, it added.

The National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) has increased oversight of the sector and conducted spot checks to complement more-stringent classification rules, the IMF said, but a shortage of resources has prevented adequate supervision.

More damning was the report’s suggestion that the central bank has not shown sufficient willingness to clamp down on the banking industry, a sector that has continued in some cases to report zero NPLs.

“While the authorities agreed on the need to deal firmly with problem banks, they preferred a more gradual approach,” the IMF said, without naming the lenders that continued to underreport bad loans.

“The NBC has taken measured steps to deal with problem banks, with much more forceful action needed to reduce systemic risks,” it added.
NBC officials were unavailable for comment Wednesday.

Stephen Higgins, CEO of ANZ Royal, agreed with the IMF that the central bank had made progress, adding that banks in Cambodia remain well-capitalised compared with other markets, a factor that helps to combat the threat of bad loans.

“The NBC has already been quite strict in enforcing the new asset-classification regime, and I think there is no doubt that their supervision capacity is stronger,” he said Wednesday. “I think the NBC should be applauded for the steps they are taking.”

The IMF said that profitability of banks will continue to be adversely affected while increasing deposits remain with the central bank instead of being offered to lenders, but Higgins said demand remains low and quality borrowers lacking.

ACLEDA Bank profits soared more than 72 percent in the third quarter compared to the previous period, and ANZ Royal saw profits rise 25 percent in the same quarter over the period from January to March.

But the persistent lack of openness in the sector means other banks have not broken down their financial results in public.

The IMF maintained its prediction of a 2.75 contraction in GDP for this year, citing the continuing problems facing the tourism industry, property sector and, most notably, garment exports in what is set to be the worst economic performance by the Kingdom in recent years. Cambodia saw double-digit GDP growth in 2006 and 2007, and 6.7 percent last year.

The garment sector, the country’s primary export industry, remains mired in a downturn with little sign of recovery given the underlying structural issues that have kept costs high and maintained an enduring “productivity gap” with the rest of the region.

“The outlook for Cambodian garment exports is clouded by structural changes in the market, in addition to lagging competitiveness,” the IMF said. “The global recovery is not expected to be consumer-led, dimming prospects for 2010.”

Statistics compiled by the US Office of Textiles and Apparel show that Cambodia’s garment downturn in the first eight months – a 23.1 percent decline in exports to its primary market the United States – was more severe than the global industry average of a 14.3 percent drop, showing that the Kingdom had failed to compete during the global economic crisis.

Bangladesh, by contrast saw exports rise 4.7 percent, and neighbouring Vietnam’s shipments to the US dropped just 1.2 percent over the same period.

“We have always tried to address the issues of costs and productivity; however … some of these issues, such as infrastructure deficiencies, are not within our control and take a long time to resolve,” Ken Loo, secretary general of the Garment Manufacturers Association of Cambodia (GMAC), said Wednesday. “The issue of the price of electricity is a case in point.”

The IMF report noted that Cambodian electricity cost US$0.22 a kilowatt-hour versus just $0.07 in Vietnam.

Garment bulk buyers in Taiwan and Hong Kong, for example, sourced from “the most cost-efficient” factories first, the report said.

“Declining orders [during the crisis] have left fewer allocated to garment manufacturers with relatively high unit costs and compress profit margins for all.”

Cambodia is unlikely to benefit from reduced tariffs on its garments exported to the US anytime soon, the IMF predicted, given that relevant free trade agreements are currently stalled “due to political considerations”, including the Doha round.

The Kingdom is subject to average tariff of 16 percent on shipments to the US.

Loo said that although GMAC continues to work with the government and relevant stakeholders in a bid to fix underlying weaknesses in the sector, the future remains unclear.

“Without … cooperation from all parties, it would be extremely difficult for us to recover from this current economic crisis,” he said.

fined undefined Cambodia Wants Tax-Free Exports to US: Minister

[Editor’s note: Last month, the International Finance Corporation invited Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh to its offices in Washington, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of preferential trade agreements between Cambodia and the US. On his visit, Cham Prasidh testified before the Trade Subcommittee for the US House of Representatives’ Committee on Ways and Means. He also sat with VOA Khmer for an interview at a hotel in Washington. What follows is an excerpt of that interview, in the first segment of an eight-part series.]

Q. What gains has Cambodia received from 10 years of trade agreements with the US?

A. The trade agreement in 1999 provided us with a big opportunity to export clothes for sale to American over other countries. As you know, countries usually export their products within a limited quota by the US. For some countries the US would increase this by 6 percent after the first export. But because Cambodia has this agreement, Cambodia had the 6 percent increased to 14 percent. We exported more than other countries, and around 20 garment factories in Cambodia grew quickly to almost 300 factories.

Q. What is the next strategy to improve Cambodian trade and people’s daily lives?

A. Overall, we need an open market. That means that if the US grants us duty-free and quota-free status, we will have the possibility of selling more products, and we also have the possibility of attracting investors to agriculture. So we’re trying very hard to get the US market. The US market is the biggest market for Cambodia.

Q. You requested that US Congress remove taxes on every product, including clothing. Do you believe this request will be fulfilled?

A. It is our request, but we’ve only come here to lobby them to draft a bill to submit to Congress. I came to lobby them in 2004, and there was a bill in 2005 submitted to Congress. But the bill hasn’t gone further. Among more than 200 Congressmen, 40 of them supported us, but hundreds more still have not yet looked at our bill. Now, in 2009, we started lobbying and submitted it again, but it has not progressed yet because of, as you know, the economic downturn in the US.

We’ve come here this time to reaffirm [our position] as America prepares to review its [generalized system of preferences]. And I’ve come here to express to them that Cambodia needs to have free taxes on our products exported to America, as America considers which countries should be provided the GSP and which countries should be cut back on the GSP. If the US market opens for us, then all the products that come to America will be tax free. Then we will also have to attract many investors to our country, and our people will have better living conditions.

Q. According to your report, Cambodia paid $407 million in tariffs to America on exports worth $2.4 billion. That’s a tariff of 16.7 percent, which is much higher than that for developed countries like the United Kingdom, Thailand, Russia or South America. Do you think it’s fair for Cambodia to pay such a large tax, when its sales are so small?

A. It is extremely unjust for us as an impoverished country. After we told them these tax statistics, they seemed to feel embarrassed. We are also a poor country, like Africa, but they have not allowed us free duty, while some poor countries in Africa can access America’s market with free duty. It is not fair when a small, poor country pays taxes greater than rich countries like France and the UK. They export more products to America but pay less tax. Cambodia exports a small amount of products, but pays a higher tax. So our struggle here is to lobby the US to lower the tax. Then we can export more. Source: VOA news

ined undefined Once-Growing Insurance Market Faces Challenges

Post-war Cambodia only saw its first insurance agency in 1990, when the state-owned Caminco opened. Nearly 20 years later, a number of private companies have established themselves, but experts say they still face challenges in a market where few understand the benefits and many can’t afford premiums.

“Compared with other countries, our market is very small, because many people have limited knowledge about this sector,” said Chhay Rattanak, president of the Association of Insurance Companies in Cambodia.

There are seven companies now in the country: the private companies Forte, Asia, Campubank Lonpac, Infinity and Vietnam; and the state-owned Caminco and Cambodia Re.

Each seeks to help people and businesses manage risk, which in turn promotes economic growth. And while the number of insurance customers is increasing—premium payments rose from $8 million in 2003 to $20 million in 2008—only about 1 percent of Cambodians have it.

“I don’t understand insurance, and I don’t know how they could compensate us,” said Phnom Penh car salesman Lem Meng Lim, who has not considered insurance in the four years he’s been running his business.

In Cambodia, companies offer insurance on motors, property, marine cargo, personal accident and healthcare, engineering and construction and other eventualities. (There is no life insurance.)

Even if they did understand it, with more than 30 percent of Cambodians living on less than a dollar a day, many can’t afford it.

“Because they have such a low income, what is important for them is their daily life,” said Youk Chamreoun Rith, director of Forte Insurance, the largest company here with nearly half the market.

Mey Vann, director of financial industry at the Ministry of Economics, said his ministry is working to educate people and reform some of the insurance law, including all vehicles have insurance.

Now may be a hard time to grow the industry, however. Premiums fell in 2009 for the first time, by about 10 percent, following growth of 20 percent to 30 percent in prior years.

The downturn caused many factories to close, “so that number of customers will decline and premium [numbers] will fall,” he said.

“We know that our customers are looking to save on their expenses,” said David Carter, CEO of Infinity Insurance. “In some cases, they are cutting back the level of insurance they buy.”

That kind of thinking can lead to increased business risk, he said.

“What can happen in a financially difficult time such as this is customers may not be careful in management of their business,” he said, “because they are looking to cut costs. Source: VOA news

Canno

Detailed Product Description

Canon EOS-1D Mark III

Type SLR
The biggest resolution 3888 x 2592
Low resolution 3456 x 2304, 2816 x 1880, 1936 x 1288
Valid pixel 1010
The biggest pixel 1070
The sensor size 28.7 x 18.7 mm
Sensor type CMOS
The color filter a mirror array RGB
Sensor manufactory Canon
Exposed to light a degree: 100 - 3200 in 1/3 stops, plus 50 and 6400
Auto-focus way: TTL-AREA-SIR with 45-point CMOS sensor
White balance: 8 positions & manual preset and 3 memories
Expose to compensate: -3 to +3 EV in 1/3 EV or 1/2 EV steps
Measure light: 21 area eval, partial, spot (center, AF point, multi-spot), center-weighted average
Battery: Canon Lithium-Ion & double charger
Weight:(contain battery)1335 g(47.1 oz)
Size: 156 x 157 x 80 mm (6.1 x 6.2 x 3.2 in)

Get Ready for Windows 7 with Acronis True Image Home 2010!

Acronis True Image Home 2010 is the first backup tool compatible with Windows 7 which makes a full backup image of your system before beginning the upgrade and helps your migration go smoothly and eliminate the fear many customers have of losing data or a working system. If you faced some problem, you can instantly restore your full system from the backup to the previous operating system and keep working until you solve it using the following key technologies:

Nokia N97

The Nokia N97 introduces the concept of 'social location'. With integrated A-GPS sensors and an electronic compass, the Nokia N97 mobile computer intuitively understands where it is. The Nokia N97 makes it easy to update social networks automatically with real-time information, giving approved friends the ability to update their 'status' and share their 'social location' as well as related pictures or videos.
The home screen of the Nokia N97 mobile computer features the people, content and media that matter the most. Friends, social networks and news are available by simply touching the home screen. The 16:9 widescreen display can be fully personalized with frequently updated widgets of favorite web services and social networking sites. The Nokia N97 is also perfectly suited for browsing the web, streaming Flash videos or playing games. Both the physical QWERTY and virtual touch input ensures efficiency in blogging, chatting, posting, sending texts or emailing.

Nokia N900

HIV Vaccine Research and Development Researchshot2

Researchers within the program draw on the military medical community's vast experience and expertise in vaccine research. Program scientists leverage these skills to develop effective vaccines that will not only protect U.S. troops from infection, but also bring under control the international proliferation of HIV.

MHRP engages in basic research to support HIV vaccine development. Efforts include:

* pre-clinical basic immunology and vaccinology
* molecular biology
* pre-clinical vaccine evaluation in animal and laboratory models

Researchers acquire or develop methods to assess the immunologic evidence of vaccine performance and surrogate markers of protective immunity in HIV disease. The assays are implemented in full cGLP (current Good Laboratory Practices) compliance to ensure reproducibility and robustness of generated data. The projects under this task involve the establishment and diversification of multiple panels of reagents, including large panels of primary HIV-1 isolates and serum/plasma pools from international sites for use in vaccine development and immunogenicity assays, or for use as components of vaccine candidates.

Immunogenicity testing of potential vaccine constructs is evaluated in a fully compliant GLP setting. The preclinical evaluation of candidate vaccines facilitates the down-selection, and advancement to the clinic, of novel HIV envelope subunit vaccines that elicit promising antibodies in early studies.
Vaccine Challenges

There are many barriers to developing an effective vaccine to prevent HIV. No vaccines currently induce broadly reactive and potent neutralizing antibodies against circulating strains of HIV, and there is no consensus as to which biomarkers correlate with protection from disease acquisition or progression. To overcome these obstacles, program researchers are taking a multifaceted approach to vaccine development.
Phase III Trial in Thailand

On September 24, 2009 the U.S. Army Surgeon General announced the results of a study that showed an investigational HIV vaccine regimen was safe and, for the first time, modestly effective in preventing HIV infection. It lowered the rate of HIV infection by 31.2% in a Phase III clinical trial involving more than 16,000 adult volunteers in Thailand.

Although the efficacy is modest, this study represents a major scientific achievement that has important implications for HIV vaccine testing and development. MHRP provided study leadership, and is currently developing follow-up scientific plans in collaboration with outside experts.
DNA/MVA HIV Vaccine

Program researchers are pursuing a prime-boost combination of DNA and an attenuated viral vector—modified vaccinia Ankara (MVA)—to deliver HIV proteins to antigen-presenting cells. Safety is an overriding factor when it comes to choosing vectors. MVA is a modified version of the smallpox vaccine that has been used safely and effectively to eradicate that disease world-wide. Both ours and other MVA products have been shown to safe and immunogenic in numerous Phase I and II clinical trials. The DNA prime has also been safely administered alone and in combination with MVA and other candidate vaccines.

Studies with the MHRP DNA/MVA HIV vaccine are planned for 2009 in the U.S., Thailand and East Africa.

A number of collaborative studies using components of our vaccine are already underway. The Karolinska Institute is currently conducting a Phase I trial (HIVIS03, n=60) in Tanzania testing a prime-boost HIV vaccine regimen using unadjuvanted DNA vaccines followed by a viral vector vaccine. The boost vaccine component, based on Modified Vaccinia Ankara, was developed by MHRP. This HIV vaccine research study is being conducted in collaboration with Muhimbili University (MUHAS).
Phase I/II Clinical Trial

Program sites in East Africa are in the follow-up stages in a study testing the NIAID Vaccine Research Center HIV vaccine consisting of a DNA prime and recombinant Adenovirus type 5 boost. The study, known as MHRP: RV 172 enrolled 326 participants in Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya. The vaccine was highly immunogenic and well tolerated.

Sokha Breach

Sokha Beach is closed to the O’Cheuteal Beach from the right. It was once more popular and crowded than the other beach. During Oknha Sok Kung’s company operation to build Sokha Hotel resort there, the beach was then a place of construction site and rarely saw visitors tramping the complex.

Koh Pors or Snake island

Koh Pors is an unspoiled natural island located about 1 kilometer from Lomhe Kay beach, off the coast of Sihanoukville. Few visitors are attracted because it is totally undeveloped. The only mean to reach the island is by canoeing, that the boats are made up for rent at the Lomhe Kay beach resort. Visitors want to trekking the island may bring their own food and drink along.

Preah Sihanouk Ream National Park

Preah Sihanouk Ream National Park was about 18 kilometers from downtown Sihanoukville. The area covers 21,000 hectares which 15,000 hectares are terrestrial and 6,000 hectares are marine habitats. The beach’s sand is not as white as those of the beach in Sihanoukville city. Good transportation services to some island such as Koh Ta Keav and Koh Rusei are available. Please bring along with your own food and drink if you want to spend daytime trekking those islands.

cambodia car

Cambodian mechanic Nhean Phaloek sits in his self-designed home-made Angkor 333-2010 car at his house in Phnom Penh. The gold-coloured convertible turns heads on impoverished Cambodia's roads -- not least because of creator Nhean Phaloek's outlandish claim that it can be operated telepathically.

Making Better Concrete With Rice?

This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

Rice hulls, or husks, are the protective coverings on grains of rice. Rice with just its hull removed is brown rice. Rice without its hull or bran is white rice.

Rice hulls
Once rice is harvested, the hulls are out of a job. They may be taken to landfills or burned. Sometimes they are used to absorb waste in chicken houses. Other times they are used to amend soil.

But a chemist in Texas has another idea.

Rajan Vempati led a group that developed a new process to make rice hulls into ash. The idea is to replace some of the portland cement traditionally used in making concrete. Portland cement is a material that holds together the sand and crushed stone in concrete.

Rajan Vempati thinks rice hull ash could help the concrete industry produce less carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is released in cement manufacturing when fuel is burned and limestone is heated. The Portland Cement Association says the gas from the limestone is reabsorbed as concrete ages.

But cement manufacturing produces around five percent of the carbon dioxide released by human activity worldwide. Carbon dioxide is one of the gases that may affect the climate by trapping heat.

The process for making rice hull ash heats the hulls to eight hundred degrees centigrade. Carbon is driven out, and fine particles of almost pure silica remain. The process releases some carbon dioxide, but Rajan Vempati says it would be reabsorbed into the soil naturally.

Another inventor, Prasad Rangaraju, is an engineer at Clemson University in South Carolina. He tested the cement, and says less could be used because the rice hull ash makes it a stronger building material. Also, the inventors say the light-colored material better reflects sunlight, so buildings would cost less to cool.

The National Ready Mixed Concrete Association points out that using ash in cement is not a new idea. The ancient Romans discovered that volcanic ash made better cement.

But the modern inventors say rice hull ash works better than other materials. They developed the process with money from the National Science Foundation. They have not yet brought it to market.

Rice hull ash is already available, but the product is relatively costly.

Cost, including transportation, may decide the success of the new technology. Using it could make the most sense in areas where farmers grow lots of rice and the hulls might just go to waste.

And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson with Steve Baragona. I'm Bob Doughty.

India, US Agree on Climate Change

President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh have launched what the White House is calling a green partnership, affirming the countries' commitment to combating climate change and ensuring energy security and clean energy.

India and the United States have agreed on a Memorandum of Understanding to increase cooperation on energy security, clean energy, and climate change.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, on a state visit to Washington, said both countries will work together to make the environment cleaner.

"We welcome the president's commitment to a major program for promotion of renewable energy, and I drew his attention to India's own ambitious national action plan on climate change which has eight national missions covering both mitigation and adaptation," Mr. Singh said.

The two leaders said their countries are committed to building a clean energy economy that will drive investment, job creation, and economic growth.

Ron Somers is president of the US-India Business Council. He says India and the United States will soon be close partners in promoting green technology.

"We will be focusing on new collaborations that are going to become platform not only for India to fight global warming or United States to fight global warming but a platform that we together develop to provide technologies for the world. So I see tremendous opportunities coming," Somers said. "It's all about low carbon emitting technology."

But India and China have rejected mandated cuts in carbon emissions. Both countries say rich, developed nations should lead the way in cutting greenhouse gases.

They argue that their economic growth would be stunted if there were mandated cuts.

The US and India have agreed that the Copenhagen climate conference, in early December, should involve targets for emission cuts for developed countries but only mitigation actions -- such as improving energy efficiency -- for developing countries.

Recently, India announced it would produce 20 Gigawatts of solar power by 2022.

Bo Kong, directs the Global Energy and Climate Initiative at Johns Hopkins University. He says that target is impossible for India.

"Within such a short time frame - we are talking about building about 20 - 20 gigawatts of power plants which translates into at least over 10,000 solar power plants between 2009 to 2020 - in less than 10 years - so I am very suspicious," Kong said.

Experts say India can only make inroads into green technology if it has financial and technological support from rich countries.

Prime Minister Singh and President Obama agreed to support public and private intiatives that will invest in clean energy projects in India.

European reaction has generally been positive to President Barack Obama's announcement he will attend December climate talks in Copenhagen and to Washington's provisional targets for cutting greenhouse emissions.

European leaders and environmentalists hailed as good news President Obama's decision to attend at least part of next month's climate summit in Copenhagen. Both Sweden - the current president of the European Union - and Denmark, which is hosting the climate talks, said the US leader's presence would boost expectations for the conference.

The European Union is at the forefront of a global push to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It has pledged to cut those emissions by 20 percent of 1990 levels by 2020. By the same year, it says, 20 percent of its energy will come from renewable sources.

The Obama administration has pledged a provisional target of reducing greenhouse gasses by about 17 percent of 2005 levels by 2020 - with deeper cuts after that. The initial pledge is far less ambitious than the European one. But Mr. Obama is hamstrung by the fact the US Congress has yet to pass climate legislation.

While French Environment Minister Jean-Louis Borloo called the U.S. stance extremely encouraging, other European politicians have called on Washington to push for deeper emissions cuts.

Some also expressed disappointment that Mr. Obama was not scheduled to attend the end of the Copenhagen summit when the toughest negotiations are expected to take place. Mr. Obama is expected to arrive on December 9 - two days after the meeting starts. Joris den Blanken is European climate policy director for Greenpeace International.

"I think it's very positive that Obama announced he's coming to Copenhagen, but he's in fact coming at the the wrong day. The high-level segment in Copenhagen is the 16th and 17th of December," he said. "That's the moment where President Obama can negotiate..with European leaders like [German] Chancellor Merkel, President Sarkozy of France, Prime Minister Reinfeldt of Sweden. That's when it should happen," he said.

On Thursday, China announced its first detailed plan to ease carbon dioxide emissions. The State Councilsaid the country will reduce its "carbon intensity" by 40 to 45 percent by the year 2020, as compared to 2005 emission levels. It described the target as a voluntary action, and predicted it would make a "major contribution" to global efforts to deal with climate change.

New data show ice loss Greenland Accelerating

New data confirm the Greenland ice sheet is losing mass at an accelerating rate. The new calculations, based on state-of-the-art satellite observations combined with models of Greenland's changing icescape, are further evidence, scientists say, of the impact of global warming.

Greenland has lost about 1,500 gigatons of ice mass between 2000 and 2008, according to a new report, resulting in an average sea level rise of 0.46 millimeters per year. A gigaton is one billion tons.

Between 2006 and 2008, the authors say the rate at which Greenland's ice sheet is shrinking due to global warming accelerated, causing ocean levels to rise 0.75 millimeters per year.

The calculations are considered the most reliable to date because they combine data from the twin Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment satellites, known as GRACE, with computer models of Greenland's changing icescape.

GRACE detects alterations in gravity caused by reductions in the ice sheet. But the calculations do not tell scientists what is causing the ice cap to shrink, says Michiel van den Broeke, a professor of polar meteorology at Utrecht University in the Netherlands.

Van den Broeke says some observations indicate sea levels are rising as the ice mass that makes up 80 percent of Greenland melts, resulting in a run-off of liquid water into the sea. Other studies suggest that rising ocean levels are caused by glacial ice that breaks off into the sea along Greenland's coast and forms icebergs.

Van den Broeke and colleagues created a model he says indicates the formation of icebergs and melting ice play equal roles in reducing the size of the Greenland Ice Sheet.

"It turns out that both increased iceberg production, because these glaciers have started to flow faster in the last 10 years, and increased melting," said Michiel van den Broeke. "They have both contributed about equally to the recent mass loss."

The study by van den Broeke and colleagues traces the beginning of Greenland's ice loss to 1996. Some experts believe if current trends continue, global sea levels will rise by a meter or more by the end of the century.

Steve Nerem, a professor of aerospace engineering sciences at the University of Colorado in Boulder says that is why it is important to refine predictions of what the Greenland Ice Sheet is going to do.

"And that is still very uncertain, which is why a paper like this is very interesting," said Steve Nerem. "Because we are really just now starting to get a handle of what the dynamics of these ice sheets are and the question is, they are almost certainly going to melt, but how quickly are they going to melt; you know, how much is going to melt in 100 years, in 1,000 years or 2,000 years."

If the entire Greenland ice sheet were to melt, Nerem says it contains enough water to cause a global sea-level rise of seven meters.

For low-lying countries to prepare, Nerem says, scientists need to know how quickly the Greenland ice mass is melting.

"If the meter in sea level rise were to happen very rapidly, say in 50 years, it will be very hard to build the infrastructure, you know the dykes - and the other things to hold back the water - quickly enough to prevent the inundation that would occur with a meter of sea-level rise," he said. "If it were to take hundreds of years, then that would probably be enough time for populated areas to build the protections that they need to combat this."

New measurements of sea level rise and ice loss in Greenland are published in the journal Science.