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
;AFP;KOD; ANPAu..r.. 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
;AFP;KOD; ANPAu..r.. 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
;AP;KOD; ANPAu..r.. 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
;REUTERS;KOD; ANPAi..r.. 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