ASEAN At A Glance

ASEAN At A Glance

Floods ravage Davao city

DAVAO, Philippines (AFP): At least one person was killed and nearly 2,000 people fled their homes in this southern city due to floods spawned by a tropical depression, rescue officials said yesterday.

A 19-year-old man was killed and an elderly resident was also reported missing overnight Tuesday, while 277 families remained at evacuation centers after the waters subsided yesterday, a spokeswoman for the Office of Civil Defense in Manila said, citing the latest official reports from Davao.

A heavy downpour on Tuesday caused rivers to overflow and many homes were covered by water that reached chest-high in some areas. Some residents clambered on their roofs to avoid the flood and were later rescued by navy personnel on rubber boats.

Power and telephone lines were knocked out in some parts of the city. However, the northern half of the city, where most of the businesses and offices are located, remained unaffected and proceeded with normal business.

WHO calls for tobacco ad ban

MANILA (AFP): The World Health Organization (WHO) yesterday called for a total ban on tobacco advertising in East Asia and the South Pacific, blaming it for the rapid rise in smoking among women in the region.

"I believe that a ban on any kind of promotion, as part of the comprehensive WHO tobacco control strategy, will lead to a sustained reduction in smoking over time," WHO Western Pacific director Han Sang Tae said in a statement.

He said increasing tobacco use in the region would lead to a sharp rise in tobacco-related diseases, disabilities and deaths, with a shift toward the developing world. WHO said annual tobacco-related deaths worldwide stood at about three million.

"Through its aggressive promotional campaign, the tobacco industry has succeeded in expanding its market and is now targeting youth, women and Asia in general, Han said.

Doctors penalized for discrepancy

SINGAPORE (AFP): Doctors who allegedly under-reported their income here have had to pay S$8 million (US$5.2 million) in back taxes and fines, a newspaper reported yesterday.

The Straits Times said the discrepancy was uncovered during a routine field audit of 20 doctors by the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS).

"In many of the cases, the doctors were found to have understated their income because of poor records and accounts keeping," the daily quoted an IRAS spokeswoman as saying.

IRAS has met with the Singapore Medical Association to highlight some common mistakes in record-keeping and the consequences of under-reporting income, she said.

Brunei, PLO set up diplomatic links

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN (AFP): Brunei and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) have set up ambassador-level diplomatic ties, the Borneo Bulletin reported yesterday.

The daily said a joint statement on the establishment of diplomatic links was signed at the Brunei High Commission office in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.

The statement was signed by high commissioner Jaya Rajid and Ahmad al-Farra, the PLO ambassador to Malaysia.

Couple missing on border

BANGKOK (Reuter): A UN official and his woman companion, both from Belgium, are missing on the Thai-Cambodian border and might have been seized by Khmer Rouge guerrillas, a Thai army officer said yesterday.

Michel Baran from Brussels and his friend Nathalie Roobaert went missing on Monday near Preah Vihear temple, ancient ruins on the Cambodian side of the border, the officer said. He said they might have accidentally crossed the border.

The Thai military unit responsible for the area had initially identified Baran as German.

"We are in contact with both Thai and Cambodian authorities. Everyone is checking and doing what they can," a Belgian embassy official in Bangkok told Reuters. The official said Baran and Roobaert were in their twenties.

1,953 dead from AIDS in Thailand

BANGKOK (AFP): Thailand has recorded 1,953 deaths from Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), a health official told Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai yesterday.

An official of the Division of Epidemic Control (DEC) told the premier that the deaths represented nearly one-third of the 5,990 known AIDS cases here since the disease was first detected in Thailand in 1984.

Of the 1,953 deaths registered up to the end of April, 72.35 percent of the victims contracted AIDS through sexual intercourse, a government statement quoted the DEC official as saying.

Another 10.09 percent contracted AIDS from intravenous drug use, 9.73 percent contracted the disease from their mothers when they were born, and six people caught it through blood transfusions, he said.

In 7.53 percent of the cases it was not known how the victim contracted AIDS, he said.

Pope to visit Manila again

MANILA (AFP): Pope John Paul II is to visit the Philippines from Jan. 12-16 next year to address World Youth Day ceremonies here, the presidential palace said here yesterday.

The pope will visit World Youth Day participants on Jan. 12 and call on Philippine President Fidel Ramos the following day, during which he will also visit the University of Santo Tomas here, a palace statement said.

On Jan. 14 he will celebrate mass in Manila, meet with the local Roman Catholic church hierarchy, visit a Catholic radio station, and make a second appearance in a World Youth Day event.

On Jan. 15 the pope will celebrate a mass for World Youth Day, then meet with Asian bishops.

It will be the second visit to this country for Pope John Paul II. He last visited the Philippines, the only predominantly- Catholic nation in Asia, in 1981.