S'pore welcomes RI maid protection

S'pore welcomes RI maid protection

SINGAPORE: The Singapore government has welcomed moves by the
Indonesian embassy here to protect the thousands of Indonesian
maids working in the city-state, although it stressed it was not
consulted on the moves.

The Indonesian embassy announced plans to introduce an
accreditation system for foreign domestic worker agencies last
week but only informed the government on Tuesday, Singapore's
Manpower Ministry said in a statement released on late Wednesday.

The embassy said 90 Indonesian maids have died in Singapore
since 1999, many as a result of falling from high-rise
apartments.

Foreign maids, mostly poor women from the Philippines,
Indonesia and Sri Lanka, allow Singaporean couples to take full-
time jobs in a country recognized as having one of the highest
living standards in Asia. --AFP

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ATW-Myanmar-USA-sanction
Myanmar condemns new US sanctions
JP/9/ATW

Yangon condemns new U.S. sanctions

MYANMAR: One of Myanmar's top generals on Thursday lashed out at
the United States for introducing tough new sanctions, saying it
was an "abuse of human rights" which would result in social and
moral decay.

"Trying to push the people of a nation into deep poverty like
this is abuse of human rights," military intelligence chief Gen.
Khin Nyunt was quoted as saying in the state-owned New Light of
Myanmar.

Khin Nyunt, one of the three senior generals who control the
country, said the ban on all imports from Myanmar would bring
about "unemployment and recession" and put women at risk of
sexual exploitation.

The sanctions, effective from next month, include a ban on all
imports from the Southeast Asian nation worth about US$356
million annually and are particularly aimed at the crucial
textile trade in an economy near-collapse. --AFP

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ATW-Cambodia-election
Hun Sen warns rival parties
JP/9/ATW

Hun Sen warns rival parties

CAMBODIA: Prime Minister Hun Sen hardened his rhetoric on
Thursday after weekend elections, claiming opposition parties
would be making "a big mistake" if they interrupted the
transition of government.

He again warned against any attempt to establish an
alternative government in the wake of his Cambodian People's
Party's (CPP) overwhelming performance at the polls, saying that
would be a betrayal of the people's decision.

The opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) has called for a
tripartite government to be established with elected members from
the CPP and the royalist FUNCINPEC party but on the condition
that Hun Sen does not serve as prime minister.

According to the preliminary count of the entire countrywide
vote by the National Election Committee (NEC), the CPP won 47.28
percent, the SRP 21.89 percent and FUNCINPEC 20.75 percent. The
remainder of the votes went to the 19 smaller parties that also
fielded candidates in the election. --AFP

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ATW-Nepal-Landslide
Monsoon rains trigger landslides in Nepal, killing 27
JP/9/ATW

Landslides kill 27 people

NEPAL: Monsoon rains triggered landslides in Nepal, blocking a
key highway, burying houses and killing at least 27 villagers
over two days, an official said on Thursday.

The new fatalities took the death toll across South Asia to
794 in floods, landslides and lightning strikes caused by the
monsoon rains. There have been 333 deaths in India, 181 in
Bangladesh, 112 in Nepal, and 168 in Pakistan. Millions are
homeless across the subcontinent.

A landslide in Nepal on Thursday destroyed at least eight
houses and killed 19 sleeping villagers in Manakamana village,
120 kilometers west of the capital, Katmandu, said Lekhnath
Pokhrel of the government's Natural Calamity and Disaster
Management Center in Katmandu.

Fifty rescuers have reached the village and were helping the
survivors. Foul weather prevented rescue helicopter from reaching
the area. --AP

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ATW-VENEZUELA-CHAVEZ-USA
Venezuela's Chavez to U.S
JP/9/ATW

Chavez rejects U.S. meddling

VENEZUELA: President Hugo Chavez on Wednesday warned the United
States not to meddle in his country's affairs following comments
by a U.S. official about a possible referendum on his rule.

"I have to remind the U.S. one more time that they have no
right to express their opinion ... we are an independent country
not a colony of North America," the president told thousands of
cheering supporters during a street rally.

Chavez, who survived a coup in 2002 and later outlasted a two-
month opposition strike, now faces a campaign for a recall
referendum from foes who accuse him of dictatorial rule in the
world's No. 5 oil exporter.

The outspoken ex-army paratrooper elected in 1998 has often
riled Washington with his fierce populist, anti-capitalist
rhetoric and close ties with states such as Communist Cuba.

His comments followed remarks made by State Department
spokesman Richard Boucher urging the government and opposition to
respect an accord they signed in May on the possible referendum
on Chavez's rule. --Reuters