Peace Process, Regional Concerns Lead Clinton Talks in Israel

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is meeting with Israeli and Palestinian officials Monday for talks focused on their peace process, as well as developments in Egypt, Syria and Iran. 

Clinton met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the beginning of her nearly two-week trip.   She wants to continue talks with Israeli leaders about letters the two sides recently exchanged as the peace process goes on without direct talks.

Red Cross Widens Area Involved in Syrian Civil War

The International Red Cross says there is now a "non-international armed conflict" - or civil war - across more parts of Syria, widening its earlier designation. 

The group had previously said such conflict existed between government forces and opposition groups in the flashpoint areas of Homs, Hama and Idlib.  But ICRC spokesman Hicham Hassan said Sunday that hostilities have spread to other parts of Syria.

Hassan told VOA last month that such a designation is based on the intensity of the conflict and the organization of the armed groups and that it aims to give potential victims "the best protection possible."

He said Sunday that international humanitarian law applies to any area where there is fighting between government forces and the opposition.

That law spells out protections for civilians, saying they "shall not be the object of attack."  Violations could lead to war crimes prosecutions.  

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said last month his country is in a "state of war."

The fighting in Syria continues, including what activists and residents described Sunday as the heaviest fighting to hit the capital, Damascus, since the 16-month uprising against Mr. Assad's rule began.

Meanwhile, the United Nations humanitarian affairs office is appealing for donors to help its mission to provide food for 850,000 people in Syria.

Yingluck vows to halt Xayaburi

The Thai company set to build Laos’s Xayaburi hydropower dam will not begin construction until a study determines the dam’s environmental effects on the Mekong River, Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said on Friday.

Yingluck reaffirmed her commitment to the study, which Mekong River Commission countries Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam agreed in December to undertake before construction could begin.

Alleged Kratie 'secessionist' arrested

Police in the capital yesterday arrested the alleged leader of a “secessionist plot”, Beehive Radio station director Mam Sonando, who had already been abroad for two months when hundreds of security personnel stormed a Kratie province village in May. 

Khieu Sopheak, a spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, told the Post that the Association of Democrats president, who arrived back in the country on Thursday after spending time in the US and France, was charged with plotting against public civil servants, insurrection, interference in the fulfilment of public duties and inciting people to use weapons against authorities.

Troops to withdraw from Preah Vihear

Amidst the controversy over the South China Sea that dominated last week’s ASEAN summit, Cambodia managed to at least partially deflect negative attention by negotiating the redeployment of troops from Preah Vihear. 

In the most significant development on the disputed territory since the UN’s highest court ordered Cambodia and Thailand to withdraw troops from a Provisional Demiliatrised Zone last year, the government announced the mutual redeployment on Friday.

US hears Boeung Kak women

The US ambassador at large for Global Women’s Issues – an office in the US State Department – met with five of the Boeung Kak lake female activists on Saturday in a sidelines meeting of a Lower Mekong gender policy dialogue.

UNDP backs Cambodian youth photo contest

Young Cambodians passionate about photography and social issues will now have a chance to bring the two together, through a photo-story contest organised by the Royal University of Phnom Penh’s Department of Media and Communication (DMC) with support from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). 

Forum breaks ice, yet more time needed

Long-time foreign members of the Cambodian business community said the US-ASEAN Business Forum, held on Friday in Siem Reap, was largely successful in setting the country in the sights of America businesses, but multinational corporations will need more time in the Kingdom before nailing down hard deals.

The forum, which put companies such as Boeing, FedEx and Procter & Gamble into the same room with some of Cambodia’s biggest firms, was the largest meeting between the two countries’ business communities. General Electric signed a US$3 million biomass power deal with local firm Soma Group.

Men Sarun to export canned noodles to the US and ASEAN

The producer of Mee Yeung instant noodles is set to expand its business by investing US$1 million in equipment to produce noodles for export, said a company official.

Deputy General Director of Men Sarun, Choun Kol, Cambodia’s only company to produce instant noodles, said the company will produce canned noodles in addition to its packaged noodles.

“We ordered the machinery already, but the order will be filled later this year. For now we will still produce packaged noodles and in another six months canned noodles,” he said.

US govt eases sanctions

Last week the US government eased some of the financial and investment sanctions on Myanmar to allow the first new US investment in the country in nearly 15 years, and to broadly authorise the exportation of financial services to Myanmar.

The US State Department website says its change in sanctions policy is aimed at supporting democratic reform and reconciliation efforts while aiding in development that provides benefits to all of Myanmar’s people.

The website says the US believes that the participation of American businesses in the country’s economy will set a model for responsible investment as well as encourage further change and promote economic development.

Thein Sein captivates ASEAN

The arrival of Myanmar President Thein Sein in Siem Reap on Friday to join US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Prime Minister Hun Sen and Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra made for an interesting finish on a leader-packed evening dinner at Le Meridian Hotel following a meeting of the US ASEAN Business Forum.

The all-day forum, attended by nearly every US ambassador in the region, as well as senior executives from big American companies including Ford, Google, General Electric, and Coca-Cola, as well as Cambodian business leaders including Neak Oknha Kith Meng, included breakout sessions on topics such as entrepreneurship, infrastructure and connectivity, attracted greater than expected numbers.