SEOUL (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama and his South Korean counterpart pressed North Korea on Thursday to return to dormant nuclear talks and said it was time for the reclusive state to break a pattern of provocative behavior.Obama and President Lee Myung-bak also agreed to push for progress on approving a bilateral free trade deal that has yet to be ratified by legislatures in either country two years after it was signed.
Read More...A US congressman warns that removing immunity of the Cambodia's main opposition leader is a threat to democracy the country has barely achieved.
"The lifting of parliamentary immunity from the head of the Sam Rainsy Party is just the latest troubling sign from Cambodia's fledgling Democracy," said Ed Royce (R-Calif.) in an e-mail response to VOA Khmer on Tuesday.
Tack Fat garment workers, laid-off when the factory closed unexpectedly last month, sit around during a recent protest. The dispute hit another glitch on Tuesday when the two sides failed to reconcile during a meeting at the Ministry of Labour. The case will be sent to the Arbitration Council today, officials said.
On 19 November 2009Thailand's hopes of a quick release for Sivarak Chutipong have been dashed.
Cambodian Defence Minister Tea Banh said the alleged spy will not be freed any time soon.
In a phone interview with the Bangkok Post, Gen Tea Banh said legal proceedings against the Thai engineer must be allowed to run their course.
Thai military chiefs, including Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon, are using their communications channels with Gen Tea Banh to try and help the government secure the release of the Cambodia Air Traffic Services engineer who is being detained in Phnom Penh's Prey Sar prison.
AN official from the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh met with a Thai national accused of espionage at Prey Sar prison on Monday, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Koy Kuong said.
The overall recent economic performance has been characterized by balanced contributions from agriculture, manufacturing, construction, tourism and services. Despite the gobal dowturn, the Cambodia economy remains in good shape underpined by a continue increase in investment in agriculture, broad base development of non-agriculture sectors, political stability, active private sector participation, reform efforts, increased official development aids and sustained foreign direct investment. According to the Circular on the Preparation of Budget Strategic Plan 2010 of the Royal Government of Cambodia, the economy still manages to grow around 2 percent and 3 percent in 2009 and 2010 respectively. These figures are tentative and based on conservative estimations.
BEIJING (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama held much-anticipated talks with his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao on Tuesday, with trade friction, the yuan currency and diplomatic headaches such as Iran and North Korea high on the agenda.
Obama is expected to prod Hu on the value of the yuan, following days of testy exchanges between U.S. and Chinese officials over a currency that Washington says stokes global economic imbalances because it is heavily undervalued.
Chinese officials have shown little patience for the criticism, and they have instead accused Washington of trade protectionist impulses and lax fiscal policies.
"We believe strong dialogue is important not only for the U.S. and China but for the rest of the world," Obama told Hu at the start of their meeting in the Great Hall of the People, before reporters were ushered out.
A few thousand Chinese had earlier gathered in Beijing's central Tiananmen Square on a bright cold day to watch Obama's motorcade pass. His convoy slowed as it drove past a giant portrait of Mao Zedong, founder of Communist China.
Obama has stuck to a careful diplomatic line since arriving in China on Sunday night, underscoring Beijing's growing power and its importance as Washington's biggest foreign creditor.
"Bilateral relations are regarded as more equal than before," said a headline in the Global Times, a popular tabloid published by the People's Daily, the Communist Party's main newspaper.
Chinese media have avoided fawning over Obama, in contrast to the effusive receptions he has received in Europe. Several websites deleted comments championing Internet freedom that he made at a town hall talk with students in Shanghai on Monday.
Obama and Hu have a crowded agenda, underscoring the breadth and complexity of ties between their countries, respectively the world's biggest and third biggest economies.
They will make statements to the media at 12.15 p.m. (0415 GMT) but will take no questions.
Trade ties have surged since China opened up to the world and introduced market reforms in the late 1970s after decades of virtual isolation under Mao.
But that has sparked tensions because of a huge surplus in China's favor. Chinese exports to the United States were $337.8 billion in 2008 compared to U.S. exports to China of $69.7 billion.
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Beyond the economic linkages, Washington and Beijing are key players in frustrated efforts to end North Korea's nuclear weapons program, and Obama will be looking for more support from China to press Iran over its nuclear activities.
Obama has cast his visit as an effort to win trust from a government and a public often wary of U.S. intentions toward the rising Asian superpower and world's third biggest economy.
"I'm hopeful that in my meetings with President Hu ... both the United States and China can work together to try to reduce conflicts that are taking place," he said.
But Obama also made a call for greater freedom of expression, a touchy issue in a country frequently criticized in Washington for trampling on issues like religious rights.
"These freedoms of expression and worship of access to information and political participation, we believe are universal rights, they should be available to all people including ethnic and religious minorities," he said.
(Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by David Fox)
Cambodia's opposition leader, Sam Rainsy, has been stripped of parliamentary immunity in a move his supporters say reflects political intimidation by the ruling party.
MPs from the ruling Cambodian People's Party have voted overwhelming to proceed with the action, rejecting attempts to delay the vote.
It means Mr Sam can be investigated by police and the courts for an incident at the Vietnam border last month where he is accused of illegally moving markers.
Opposition members from the Sam Rainsy Party and the Human Rights Party boycotted the session.
They say an investigative committee would be a more appropriate.
Mr Sam is travelling in Europe and it is not known when he will return to Cambodia.
He has lived in exile before when the government stripped him of immunity in 2005.
Human Rights Watch accuses the country's prime minister, Hun Sen, of using the legal system to harass his critics.
Last week, Mr Hun criticised Thailand's judicial system for pursuing former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra for political, not criminal reasons.
