Dams in China Turn the Mekong into a River of Discord

US Secretary of State Hillary ClintonRivers know no borders, but dams doBy Michael RichardsonBack in 1986, when China began building the first of a series of dams on the Mekong River, hardly anyone in the downstream countries of Southeast Asia paid attention. But today, as China races to finish the fourth dam for generating electricity on the upper reaches of Southeast Asia’s biggest river, concerns about possible environmental impacts in the region are rising fast. Moreover, fear about antagonizing China and Southeast Asia’s internecine dispute might make any concerted move unlikely.The sheer scale of China’s engineering to harness the power...

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ACTIVETRAVEL ASIA (ATA) kicks off “Mekong Delta and Angkor Wat” tours in Vietnam and Cambodia

Live-PR.com (Pressemitteilung) (PressemitteilungATA aims to introduce the great combination of the two exotic lands and cultures. Travelers will experience great boat trip on the mighty river and walk on village roads, visit to local houses and take ferry to cross the Mekong River and colorful market of Mekong Delta. Cruising upto Phnom Penh, travelers start our journey to the majestic beauty of Angkor Wat.(live-PR.com) - First and second day, travelers take a city tour to see the different faces of this bustling city on a full day tour with extensive visits to the Re-Unification Palace, the Central Post Office, the Notre Dame Cathedral, the...

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Obama Unveils Race for School Billions

Seattle Post IntelligencerObama Unveils Race for School BillionsBy MARY BRUCE and YUNJI DE NIESPresident Obama today announced the steps states must take to compete for their cut of an unprecedented $4.35 billion in discretionary federal stimulus funding for education."This is one of the largest investments in education reform in American history," Obama said at the Department of Education this afternoon. "And rather than divvying it up and handing it out, we are letting states and school districts compete for it. That's how we can incentivise excellence and spur reform and launch a race to the top in America's public schools. That race starts...

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Obama regrets choice of words in scholar's arrest

President Barack Obama pauses as he talks to the media in the briefing room at the White House in Washington, WASHINGTON – Trying to tamp down an uproar over race, President Barack Obama said Friday he used an unfortunate choice of words in commenting on the arrest of black scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. and could have "calibrated those words differently."The president said he had telephoned the white policeman who arrested Gates, and he said the conversation confirmed his belief that the officer was a good man and an outstanding officer.Obama said later that he had spoken to Gates as well.The president caused a stir when he said at a prime-time...

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House Dems threaten floor vote to break impasse

FOXNewsBy ERICA WERNERWASHINGTON — Dissension within Democratic ranks over President Barack Obama's health care initiative all but paralyzed the House Friday, typifying just how many political land mines are littering the path to enactment.The Obama White House figured on some pushback from congressional Republicans, but leaders of his own Democratic Party struggled to get things moving. A powerful House committee chairman threatened to force a floor vote to break the impasse within Democratic ranks — a drastic step that could roil the House.Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., said negotiations with fiscally conservative Democrats...

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Union chief: Obama should apologize to Cambridge police

New York TimesCAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts (CNN) -- President Obama should apologize to members of the Cambridge Police Department for saying they acted stupidly, the president of the city's police union said Friday. Dennis O'Connor, president of the Cambridge Police Superior Officers Association, said at a news conference that Obama should not have criticized officers' actions in last week's arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr.Sgt. James Crowley, the officer who arrested Gates for disorderly conduct, has previously said he was dismayed by the president's remarks and that Obama had offended police in Cambridge and elsewhere."I was a...

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Reports on U.S. Detention Policy Will Be Delayed

Washington PostvBy Peter FinnWashington Post Staff Writer By Peter FinnWashington Post Staff Writer The Obama administration is delaying completion of reports examining U.S. detention and interrogation policy, officials said Monday, in a sign of the formidable issues it faces in grappling with how to handle terrorism suspects as it prepares to close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay.The work of a Justice Department-led task force, which had been scheduled to send a report on detention policy to President Obama on Tuesday, will be extended for six months, according to senior administration officials. A second task force examining interrogation...

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RAF jet crashes in Afghanistan as four NATO troops killed

Britain has around 9,000 troops in AfghanistanBy Nasrat Shoaib (AFP)KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — A British fighter jet crashed in Afghanistan on Monday injuring two pilots, while four NATO troops were killed in a bomb blast as foreign casualties soar in the war-torn country.The crash and the unrelated killing of a British soldier in a bomb attack Sunday -- bringing to 17 the number killed so far this month -- was likely to spark renewed political debate in London over Britain's role in the conflict.The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) meanwhile said that four soldiers were killed in a bomb blast Monday in the east of the country,...

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Clinton says US will do everything to free soldier

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the United States will do everything it can to find and free an American soldier captured in Afghanistan and whose detention was aired on video.WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the United States will do everything it can to find and free an American soldier captured in Afghanistan and whose detention was aired on video.The video, portions of which were posted on YouTube on the Internet, shows Private Bowe Bergdahl, 23, of Idaho in traditional Afghan dress, being prompted in English by his captors to call for U.S. forces to be withdrawn from Afghanistan."We...

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Photos from Phnom Trop, Preah Vihear province

(337 miles) north of Phnom Penh,Cambodia soldiers patrol on the top of Phnom Trop, near the disputed 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple in Preah Vihear province, 543 km (337 miles) north of Phnom Penh, October 19, 2008. REUTERS/Chor SokuntheaThai troops stand guard on the top of Phnom Trop mountain near the disputed 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple in Preah Vihear province, 543 km (337 miles) north of Phnom Penh, October 19, 2008. REUTERS/Chor SokuntheaCambodian soldiers stand guard while Cambodian and Thai commanders have a negotiation about a reset of soldier zones of the Cambodian-Thai border at the frontline on top of the mountain Phnom Trop...

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Photographer Showcases Legendary Khmer Temple Preah Vihear

Photo of Preah Vihear by Jon OrtnerGuarded by giant seven-headed serpent gods high on a mountain, on the border between Thailand and Cambodia, is an ancient sacred site that's often been at the center of conflict.Jon Ortner, photographer and author of the book "Angkor, Celestial Temples of the Khmer Empire," shares his first encounters and impressions of the thousand-year-old sanctuary Preah Vihear in this essay of words and photos composed especially for NatGeo News Watch.By Jon OrtnerSpecial Contributor to NatGeo News Watch"Sir, you cannot go!" My heart sank as the harsh voice of a Thailand border patrol officer rang out, "If you go...boom,...

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Cambodia, Thailand: Preah Vihear dispute continues

Two boys sit in the Temple. Photo by paniek at Flickr.The ancient Temple of Preah Vihear, which, according to UNESCO, dates back to the eleventh century and is dedicated to Shiva, rests on the Cambodian and Thai borders. Exactly which country can claim Preah Vihear has been a source of contention between the neighboring countries. In 1962, the International Court of Justice, acting on an application by the Cambodian government, ruled that the Temple is within Cambodian territory. In July 2008, UNESCO listed the Temple as a World Heritage Site, citing its “unique architectural complex.”Photo below by paniek at Flickr.Since the July 2008 inscription...

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Invading Thai troops are now inside Preah Vihear temple compound

Thai soldier stand inside a cambodia Buddhist temple near the Preas VihearA Thai army soldier stands inside a Cambodian Buddhist temple near the Preah Vihear temple, in Preah Vihear province, Cambodia, Wednesday, July 16, 2008. Cambodian officials said more Thai troops crossed into their country's territory Wednesday in the second day of alleged incursions amid tensions over disputed border land near the historic Preah Vihear temple. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)Cambodian soldiers (L and 2nd R) hold radios as they stand guard over a group of soldiers from Thailand (background and R) in the Preah Vihear temple compound, 245km north of Phnom Penh, July...

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