S'pore, RI hold joint exercise
S'pore, RI hold joint exercise
SINGAPORE: Singapore and Indonesia held a joint search-and-rescue exercise in the South China Sea on Tuesday to test their readiness to respond to an aircraft in distress, aviation authorities said.
More than 100 personnel from the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) and the National Search and Rescue Agency of Indonesia took part in the exercise, which also involved aircraft and ships from the air force, navy and coast guard.
Apart from Indonesia, Singapore has concluded bilateral search-and-rescue agreements with Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, and has a "standing agreement" with Brunei, CAAS said in a statement.
Indonesia has also concluded such pacts with Malaysia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Australia and the United States. --AFP
;AFP;ANJ; ANPAu..r.. Aglance-Cambodia-vote Top cop issues poll warning JP/11/Cambodia
Top cop issues poll warning
CAMBODIA: Cambodia's top cop Hok Lundy on Tuesday ordered the armed forces to leave their guns at home on polling day but warned any violent protests in the aftermath of Sunday's national elections would be met with force.
He said his troops must comply and that no guns would be allowed near polling booths while the police and military must also ensure security for voters, political activists, local and international election monitors.
"Your duty will not be over until after the elections and your duty will have to be fulfilled until the new government is formed," he declared to reporters.
He said large political rallies were expected in the capital on Friday, the last day of official election campaigning.
But Hok Lundy also warned that in a post-electoral environment his men would be armed with police dogs, tear gas and electric batons which would be used if political activists protested the result in a violent fashion. --AFP
;AP;KOD; ANPAu..r.. Aglance-Australia-Myanmar Ex-Myanmar prisoner protests in Brisbane JP/11/prisoner
Ex-Myanmar prisoner protests in Brisbane
AUSTRALIA: A former political prisoner from Myanmar shuffled through Brisbane in leg irons on Tuesday to raise awareness of a recent bloody crackdown in his homeland.
Htoo Htoo Han, 33, winced in pain as he slowly made his way through the city's business district. He plans similar demonstrations in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra.
The shackles are a reminder of the three years he spent in prison in Myanmar - also known as Burma - after his arrest at a pro-democracy student uprising in 1988.
Htoo Htoo Han, then 19, was subjected to daily beatings and torture and was chained for almost a year in an unsanitary cell, he said.
Paroled after three years, Htoo Htoo Han fled to Thailand and was later accepted as a refugee by the United Nations and moved to Australia in 1996. --AP
;AFP;KOD; ANPAu..r.. Aglance-KL-Chirac 'Jungle law should not rule the world' JP/11/jungle
'Jungle law should not rule the world'
MALAYSIA: Visiting French President Jacques Chirac, accepting a Malaysian peace award for his opposition to the U.S.-led war on Iraq, said on Tuesday the world should not be ruled by the "law of the jungle".
Chirac was speaking after being presented with the inaugural Kuala Lumpur World Peace Award by Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who was also a strong opponent of the war.
All countries should be able to make their voices heard so that none felt sidelined, marginalized or humiliated, he said.
Chirac said the United Nations "may not be a perfect organization. It could be better structured, modernized, brought up to date, but it is an unavoidable organization."
Chirac's five-hour visit to Malaysia, en route to the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia, is the first by a French president. --AFP