Businessman gets death for fraud

Businessman gets death for fraud

VIETNAM: A Vietnamese businessman will face the firing squad for
defrauding investors out of US$1.6 million, state media said on
Saturday.

Tran van Giao, the director of a privately owned construction
company, was sentenced to death on Friday by the Ho Chi Minh City
People's Court, the ruling Communist Party's Nhan Dan newspaper
said.

His deputy was given a 12-year jail sentence.

The government has vowed to crack down on economic crime. At
least people 77 have been sentenced to death this year in the
communist nation and 40 have been executed by firing squad. -- AFP

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High-Japan-Typhoon
Strong typhoon hits Japan
JP/2/HIGH

Strong typhoon hits Japan

JAPAN: A strong typhoon pummeled southern Japan with powerful
winds, heavy rains and huge coastal waves on Saturday, disrupting
transport services, forcing dozens to evacuate their homes and
leaving at least one person injured.

Typhoon Namtheum was packing winds of up to 126 kilometers per
hour as it churned slowly to the northwest.

It was centered near Kochi city on the southern main island of
Shikoku by midday, about 625 kilometers southwest of Tokyo, the
Meteorological Agency said.

All Nippon Airlines, Japan Transocean Air and Japan Air
Commuter canceled more than 60 flights due to the typhoon. Some
train and ferry services were halted, public broadcaster NHK TV
said. -- AP

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High-Cambodia-Refugees
Refugees reach Phnom Penh
JP/2/HIGH

Refugees reach Phnom Penh

CAMBODIA: A final group of 31 ethnic Vietnamese hill tribespeople
who fled persecution in their country arrived in the Cambodian
capital on Saturday, a UN official said.

The men and six women were taken to a United Nations shelter,
bringing to 198 the number of tribespeople in Phnom Penh under
the protection of the world body, said Cathy Shin, an officer for
the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

Shin said a doctor and nurse were examining the tribespeople,
collectively known as Montagnards.

They were part of a group of about 200 who had sought shelter
in Cambodia's remote mountainous province of Ratannakiri,
bordering Vietnam. Others were flown to the capital earlier this
week. -- AP

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High-Thailand-violence
Thaksin admits troops 'impatient'
JP/2/HIGH

Thaksin admits troops 'impatient'

THAILAND: Thai security forces may have overreacted when they
stormed a mosque in the violence-torn south and killed 32 young
Muslims in April, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said on
Saturday.

The security forces should have displayed more patience,
Thaksin said in his weekly radio address.

"The troops were under pressure," he said of a day when 108
people were killed on the worst day of violence since trouble
reerupted in the largely Malay-speaking Muslim south in January.

"Because of that pressure, they might have used a bit too much
force instead of being more patient," he said. -- Reuters

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Philippines-Abu Sayyaf
Soldiers capture Abu Sayyaf member
JP/2/HIGH

Soldiers capture Abu Sayyaf member

PHILIPPINES: Antiterrorist agents have captured a suspected
member of an al-Qaeda-linked extremist group who allegedly helped
kidnap an American and a group of schoolchildren four years ago,
the military said Saturday.

Binang Andang, suspected to be a senior member of the Abu
Sayyaf group, was arrested late Friday on a ferry to Tawi-Tawi,
the Philippines' southernmost province, a military report said.

Andang allegedly participated in the August 2000 kidnapping of
Jeffrey Schilling, an American Muslim convert, who escaped eight
months later.

The military said agents disguised as ferry passengers
captured Andang shortly before the vessel arrived in Tawi-Tawi
from nearby Jolo island. -- AP