Visakha Bochea celebration in Siem Reap

Cambodian dancers perform to mark Visakha Bochea, the Buddha's birthday, at Bayon temple of Angkor complex in Siem Reap province, about 320 kilometers(199 miles) north of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Wednesday, April 28, 2010. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Cambodian Buddhist nuns sit as they hold lotus flowers during ceremonies to mark the Buddha's birthday, Visakha Bochea, at Bayon temple of Angkor complexin Siem Reap province, about 320 kilometers (199 miles) north of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Wednesday, April 28, 2010. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Cambodians gather to mark the Buddha's birthday, Visakha Bochea, at Bayon temple of Angkor complex in Siem Reap province, about 320 kilometers (199 miles)north of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Wednesday, April 28, 2010. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Cambodian Buddhist monks hold candles at the famed Bayon temple to mark the Buddha's birthday, Visakha Bochea, at the Bayon temple of Angkor complex inSiem Reap province, about 320 kilometers (199 miles) north of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Wednesday, April 28, 2010. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Cambodian Buddhist monks, lower, hold candles as the famed Bayon temple is illuminated to mark the Buddha's birthday, Visakha Bochea, at Bayon templeof Angkor complex in Siem Reap province, about 320 kilometers (199 miles) north of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Wednesday, April 28, 2010. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

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The Big Picture: Orange crush

Thursday, 29 April 2010
By Kunal Dutta

The Independent (UK)

Buddhist monks at the Bayon Temple in Cambodia to commemorate Visak Bochea (Photo: AFP/ GETTY IMAGES)

Buddhist monks gather at the Bayon Temple in Cambodia to commemorate Visak Bochea – the day of Buddha's birth, enlightenment and death.

The celebration, which coincides with the first full moon of the year – and the Buddhist calendar year 2553 – saw monks congregrate at the ancient temple for sermons, chanting and a candle-lit procession.

Situated in Siem Reap province, the Bayon Temple was built in the 12th century by King Jayavarman VII. As well as etchings of the Buddha, one side of it features an smiling face, thought by some to be a portrait of Jayavarman himself. It has been dubbed the "Mona Lisa of Southeast Asia".

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"Teuk Tè" a Poem in Khmer by Sék Serei

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Election monitor says SRP has been left out of Assembly decisions

(Photo: AFP)

Wednesday, 28 April 2010
Kim Yuthana
The Phnom Penh Post

A REPORT released Tuesday by the election monitoring group Comfrel criticised the power wielded by Cambodian People’s Party lawmakers in the National Assembly, contending that all decisions issued by the body during the first year of the party’s fourth mandate were made exclusively by its own representatives.

“The power in the assembly is in the hands of a single party,” the report states.

The authors of the report note that members of the CPP hold the positions of president and vice president on all nine of the assembly’s committees.

Kim Chhorn, a senior coordinator for Comfrel, said the report covered the period from September 2008 to September 2009, and that all activities performed by lawmakers had been investigated.

In a speech marking the launch of the report, Comfrel investigator Sok Pitou said all draft laws put forward by the government had been adopted without amendment, regardless of objections from opposition lawmakers.

“No agendas or draft laws raised in assembly sessions aren’t adopted,” he said. “Even when there is controversy during discussion, they must be finally adopted.”

SRP lawmaker Yim Sovann said he welcomed the Comfrel report, and described it as an accurate portrayal of the balance of power in the National Assembly.

“The assembly is just working to seal every request of the Cambodian People’s Party,” he said.

But Chhean Von, a CPP parliamentarian, contested the report’s assertion that opposition lawmakers had been left out of decision-making processes.

“There is not only one party that governs the whole Assembly, but [decisions are made] with all parties who have seats in the assembly,” he said.

“All assembly members are decision makers on agendas and drafts, so any parties without having a majority voice can win any jobs in the committees,” he said.

However, he noted that members of the assembly never support bids by opposition lawmakers to assume leadership positions.

Kim Chhorn urged voters to play an active role in helping to monitor the legislative process.

“Voters have to not only elect a representative during the national election period, but also to investigate and watch over their activities after the election,” he said.

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Sacrava's Political Cartoon: Long Live Banana Kingdom

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

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Rare Khmer Bronzes To Show in Washington

(Photo: Mekong.net)

An art exhibition of Cambodian bronzes to open in Washington next month, featuring Khmer sculptures and ritual objects from late prehistory through the Angkorian period.

Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer
Washington, DC Wednesday, 28 April 2010

“These bronzes are among the most exquisite expressions of Khmer ideals of religious imagery and ritual implements.”

An art exhibition of Cambodian bronzes opens for the first time in Washington next month, featuring Khmer sculptures and ritual objects from late prehistory through the Angkorian period.

Thirty-six masterworks from the National Museum of Cambodia’s collection of some 7,000 bronzes will show at the Smithsonian’s Sackler Gallery under “Gods of Angkor: Bronzes from the National Museum of Cambodia.”

“This exhibition presents the stunning accomplishments of Khmer bronze casters,” Louise Allison Cort, the gallery’s curator of ceramics, said in a statement. “These bronzes are among the most exquisite expressions of Khmer ideals of religious imagery and ritual implements.”

The works include a rare and highly valued urn and bell, seven diverse bronze figures, ritual paraphernalia and Buddhist and Hindu sculpture.

The exhibition, a collaboration between the Freer and Sackler galleries and the National Museum of Cambodia, explores significant developments in bronze casting, as well as cultural and religious developments that coalesced during the Angkor period into a recognizable Khmer style.

The exhibition will show from May 15 through Jan. 23, 2011, in Washington and is scheduled to travel to the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles in February 2011.

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Officially presenting Académichien (French for Academician?) Hun Xen

The newly nominated acedemichien receives flower from Cambodia's Dr. Chumteav Thom Bun Rany Hun Xen (All photos: Cambodia Express News)

As reported by Cambodge Soir Hebdo on 21 April 2010, PM Hun Xen is now an official member of the Royal Cambodian Academy, which coincidentally, was set up through an order issued by Hun Xen also. Henceforth, the prime minister can also be addressed as Acedemician Hun Xen or in French as "Académichien" Hun Xen. Congratulations to our new Académichien!

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Goldman charges puts Wall Street confidence on the line?

April 22, 2010

America's biggest banks are rolling in dough again. The U.S. President is going straight to Wall Street to pitch tough financial reforms to avoid future financial meltdowns. The regulatory body, the S.E.C., is pursuing civil fraud charges against Goldman Sachs. And some people are crying conspiracy. In a rare statement, the head of the S.E.C. said the watchdog does not "coordinate" its "enforcement actions with the White House, Congress or political committees," re-asserting its independence in the face of criticism."

Extraordinary times continue in the financial world. But what on earth is going on? If you believe one analyst we featured on World Business Today, this moment in the global financial crisis may be an important one. Richard Bove, Financial Analyst for Rochdale Securities, fears this could be the start of a pursuit of major financial institutions that could erode confidence in the U.S. financial system.

Bove calls the reaction to the banking crisis in 2008 "hysteria" and says the Goldman transactions may be complex, possibly unsavory, but they are not fraudulent.

"On one side you have a sophisticated investor who wants to short a bunch of mortgages. On the other side, you have two sophisticated investors who've gone through all these mortgages and decided which ones they want to keep, and which ones they don't want to keep. And they made the decision to buy them. The government is not suing the guy who wants to short, or the guy who bought the mortgages. The government is going after the middleman. What's the logic in that?"

Media reports are questioning the strength of the SEC's case. The agency says it has appropriate evidence that will be presented in court, at the appropriate time.

We should not be pre-trying this case in the media. But the questions the case raises are important ones and the voices on it, divergent.

Did somebody hear Richard Bove defend Goldman Sachs as good for society? Yes, you did. And that derivatives, the exotic instruments everyone is so upset about here, are good for the economy because they help drive down risk? Yes, you did.

It's a tough case to make in this climate, but Bove says Goldman should be defending itself as a business that does "societal good," because it "lowers taxes, and adds jobs and business opportunities." However, because of the financial crisis and these charges it is viewed simply as a bunch of greedy bankers who do fraudulent things.

"The U.S. has to raise 1.3 trillion dollars this year to cover the deficit. It has to roll over 3 trillion dollars in existing debt. Who is going to do that? Are we going to have a bunch of small community banks to set up desks in front of their branches and sell savings bonds at 25 dollars a pop? Or do we need a very sophisticated company that can access capital markets all over the globe to raise that money? And if it doesn't raise that money what happens to taxes in the U.S. Somebody has to make that money."

Of course, the courts will decide whether Goldman did anything fraudulent.

Bove is firmly in the camp of those who believe the government's case is weak, but he's quick to add: "I would never defend Goldman Sachs. I would not defend their ethics. I just think in this particular instance they were not guilty of any crime."

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Officials aim to boost foot traffic between river, Central Market

Fresh decor for Phnom Penh

Wednesday, 28 April 2010 15:03 Chhay Channyda
CITY Hall has unveiled plans to construct pedestrian walkways stretching along Street 130 from Central Market to Sisowath Quay and to place parking areas on the street, upgrades officials said would beautify Daun Penh district and promote tourism.

Phnom Penh Deputy Governor Mann Chhoeun said Tuesday that the plan, which was approved by Governor Kep Chuktema on March 18, would cost US$150,000 and would take about three months to be executed.

“The pedestrian walkway is the first project that will show Phnom Penh is adapting to become a modern city,” Mann Chhoeun said.

He added that parking on Street 130 would be charged by the hour.

A rendering of the plan posted on the riverside near Street 130 shows that the street will be widened to include pavements and designated parking on both sides between Norodom Boulevard and Sisowath Quay. The same features will also be installed between Norodom and Central Market, in addition to a central median strip, including a garden.

Ek Khun Doeun, deputy governor of Daun Penh district, said tamarind trees would be planted in the garden, and that he hopes the project will make tourists feel safer near the market at night.

“This is a tourist place for both local people and foreigners, and we will open a food court at the market that will stay open past midnight,” he said.

He added that as part of the upgrade, drainage pipes would be placed underground to prevent flooding.

Central Market is currently undergoing renovations funded by the French Development Agency.

Laurence Bernardi, first secretary of the French embassy, said the second of three phases of the renovation was “almost achieved”, and that the reinstallation of stands should have begun on Tuesday. Bernardi said the project would be complete by early 2011 at the latest.

Those who operate businesses along Street 130 said Tuesday that they welcomed the proposed upgrades, but that they were concerned they would be forced to move or at least push back their shops.

“I believe those who sell things on the street will not agree because they have run businesses for a long time,” said Chea Chan, a watch repairer who has a stall on the street.

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Greece crisis deepens on global market sell-off

By Kevin Voigt, CNN

April 28, 2010 -- Updated 1513 GMT (2313 HKT)

(CNN) -- The eurozone faces its toughest crisis to date as the credit downgrade in Greece spooked global investors and raised the specter that the debt crisis may spiral to other European economies.

Markets from London to New York and Tokyo all tumbled in the immediate wake of Standard & Poor's downgrade of Greece's debt to junk status on Tuesday; the FTSE 100 dropped 2.6 percent before recouping losses.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 213 points to below 11,000 in early trading Tuesday before rallying into positive territory.

Japan's Nikkei closed down 2.57 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index ended the day down 1.47 percent. Markets in Shanghai and Australia were also in negative territory.

European markets followed Asian indexes into the red Wednesday. London's FTSE-100 fell but pulled back into positive territory, but Frankfurt's DAX, and the Paris CAC 40 were all down and Spain's IBEX fell by more than 1 percent.

Greek officials Wednesday morning banned the practice of short selling on the Athens stock exchange as a way to keep speculators from hurting Greek shares even more. The ban will last for two months, until June 28, the Hellenic Capital Market Commission said.

The junk downgrade of Greece's sovereign debt came as a planned bailout by European nations and the International Monetary Fund faced increasing opposition in Germany -- the largest economy of the 16 nations united under the euro currency -- and increased rancor in Greece regarding planned austerity measures to reduce the nation's debt, which stands now at 13.6 percent of the nation's gross domestic product.

Q&A: What does Greece's debt rating downgrade mean

The euro dropped to its lowest level in nearly a year in Wednesday trading in Asia, where it fell to as low as $1.31.

The junk rating now makes it much more difficult and expensive for Greece to try to raise money and debt in world markets. Standard & Poor 's also reduced the debt credit rating of Portugal, heightening fears of a "Greek contagion" that could spread to other European nations.

Greek austerity measures prompt strike

"It's like a domino effect," David Buick of BGC Partners in London told CNN. The downgrade increases the likelihood of a double-dip recession "which we all hope to avoid," he added.

"This is a dangerous process," he said. "All the speculators out there -- they're like rats up a drain pipe -- will make those cracks (in the Eurozone economies) into crevices."

After the credit downgrade, the IMF is considering raising its share of planned assistance to Greece by $10 billion for a total of more than $73 billion. But some analysts say Greece will need even more time and cash to avoid defaulting on its debt payments.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Wednesday that Germany would do what it can to help Greece out of the financial "but also Greece has to do its part."

"Obviously what Greece has to do is a difficult thing, but I think they are committed to doing it," the head of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, said in an appearance with the German leader.

More cash for Greece?

Defaulting on its debt payments is not an option Greece wants to consider if it is to remain among the eurozone economies, former Greece Economics Minister Yiannos Papantoniou told CNN. It also raises the chance strong economies like Germany may walk away from the euro as its currency.

Fact Box

"Junk" rating explained

* Standard & Poor's is among a handful of credit rating agencies who gauge the ability of the issuer to repay debt

* Top rating is AAA

* Anything less than a BBB rating is considered "speculative," or in the parlance of the markets: junk

* Greece sovereign debt is now rated BB+, the same as Azerbaijan, Egypt and Panama

Default and restructuring the debt "is the way out of the euro ... [and] will inflIct lasting damage to Greece because Greece will get a bad name and stigma in the markets for years to come as Argentina has done," Papantoniou said. "Moreover, I'm sure that if Greece is forced to restructure its debt, Germany will come and say, 'Unfortunately gentlemen we can't be part of the same monetary union because your paper is undervalued and ours is strong.'"

Papantoniou was optimistic a bailout would come before Greece defaulted on its debt payment. "This will definitely give some breathing space -- but the problem doesn't end there," he said. "Next year in 2011 Greece will have to go back to the markets and be able to borrow at reasonable rates."

Analysts said it was likely Greece would also need more time to reduce its debt levels. "Anyone who thinks they can take that rickety economy ... and pull it around in one year, they're on a different planet," Buik said.

The pace of the Greece bailout negotiations, which started in January, has exasperated some market watchers.

"I think we're already in pretty disastrous territory even before these latest problems arose," said Vanessa Rossi, a senior research fellow at Chatham House. "Having taken ... several months to even get to the point which Greece is asking for a bailout and assistance -- and now we're not even sure if they're going to get it and under what terms --is a real disaster in and of itself."

Kirby Daley, senior strategist for Newedge Group, believes the negotiations between the IMF and Germany are slow because the Greece bailout may turn into a blueprint for future bailouts of eurozone nations. "Greece is setting the standard ... whatever they do there, then they may face the same funding levels for Portugal, Spain and Italy."

Moreover, the risks placed on the credit worthiness of Greek debt may risk investor appetite in sovereign debt of nations like the UK, the United States and Japan, Daley said.

"We've been hearing about these issues for years about our kids paying for our debts ... but now it's not our kids, it's us," Daley said.

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Beck Album at Highest Debut of His 45-Year Career; Latin Music Awards Set for April 29

College student Tim Urban, 20, from Duncansville, Texas was voted off "American Idol" on April 21. That night's two-hour special included the annual "Idol Gives Back" benefit to raise money for charity organizations in the United States and abroad. The list of organizations is available at www.idolgivesback.org. Carrie Underwood, Elton John, the Black Eyed Peas and Alicia Keys were among the many artists who performed on the show.

In other "American Idol" news, bandleader Ricky Minor is leaving the show after the current season ends on May 28. He's taking over Kevin Eubanks' position as music director for Jay Leno's "The Tonight Show" beginning June 7. Minor has been music director on tours by many superstars, including Beyonce, Whitney Houston, Ray Charles and Christina Aguilera.

On April 27, Atlantic Records will release the debut album by rapper B.o.B. "B.o.B. Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray" includes the track "Airplanes," this week's highest entry on the Hot 100 chart at Number 12. A second digitally-released track, "Nothin' On You," takes over the Number One position on that same chart. Born Bobby Ray Simmons in Atlanta, Georgia, B.o.B. was signed to Atlantic Records while he was still in high school. He's supporting his debut album on a U.S. tour with rapper Lupe Fiasco.

Legendary British rock guitarist Jeff Beck earned the highest debut of his 45-year career with his new album "Emotion & Commotion." Beck's first new collection in seven years entered the Billboard 200 at Number 11. Its first single, "I Put a Spell on You," is a duet with Joss Stone. Other vocalists on the set include jazz singer Imelda May and opera singer Olivia Safe.

Hanson will perform a five-night run at New York's Gramercy Theatre April 26-30. Each of the shows will feature Hanson playing full albums from their five-CD catalog. Group member Zac Hanson says, "We've been a band for a long time… I think we just wanted to take a moment and reflect on where we've come from and sit down and say, 'OK, what is this band? What has it been?' and play these records back to back before we blaze into the future." Hanson plans to film and record the shows for future release. The band's new album, "Shout It Out" is scheduled to be out on June 8.

NEW ALBUM RELEASES:

New albums scheduled for release on April 27 include: "Party Heard Around the World" by Lonestar, "Fearless Love" by Melissa Etheridge, "Nobody's Daughter" by Hole, "Unmistakable Love" by Jo Dee Messina, "Never Alone" by Jim Brickman featuring Lady Antebellum, "Age of Miracles" by Mary Chapin-Carpenter, "Drowning Pool" by Drowning Pool, "Thank You Mr. Churchill" by Peter Frampton and "The Essential Carole King" (double CD) by Carole King.

MUSICAL EVENTS/FESTIVALS/BENEFITS:

MerleFest 2010 will be held in Wilkesboro, North Carolina April 29-May 2. The annual festival showcases bluegrass, Americana, Country and roots music. It was founded in 1988 in memory of Merle Watson, son of bluegrass legend Doc Watson. More than 75 acts will perform at this year's event, including Doc Watson, Elvis Costello, Dailey & Vincent, Little Feat, Rhonda Vincent & The Rage and the Zac Brown Band. In addition to the many concerts, MerleFest offers children's activities, crafts and entertainment and a shopping village featuring artisans, vendors, food and official MerleFest memorabilia.

The 2010 Bamboozle festival will take place May 1-2 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Headlining artists include Weezer, Paramore, Drake, Ke$ha and MGMT. The Bamboozle music festival has taken place every year at Giants Stadium since 2003. Earlier this month, Giants Stadium was replaced by the new Meadowlands Stadium.

AWARDS PRESENTATIONS/WINNERS:

The 2010 Billboard Latin Music Awards will be presented on April 29 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Puerto Rican reggaeton singer Tito "El Bambino" leads this year's contenders with 18 nominations for his album "El Patron" and single "El Amor." Following close behind with 14 nominations is Puerto Rican reggaeton duo Wisin & Yandel. Other leading nominees include Dominican bachata group Aventura with 12 nods and Mexican singer Espinoza Paz with eight. Puerto Rican singer Luis Fonsi and Mexican groups Banda el Recodo and La Arrolladora Banda El Limon each received six nominations. Two special honors will be handed out during the telecast. Marc Anthony will be given the Billboard Spirit of Hope Award for his philanthropic work. Mexican group Los Temerarios will be recognized for its 30-year career with a Billboard Lifetime Achievement Award. The 2010 Billboard Latin Music Awards will air in 47 countries on the Telemundo Network.

Lady Antebellum led the winners at the 45th annual Academy of Country Music (ACM) Awards, which were presented on April 18 in Las Vegas. The Country trio was named Top Vocal Group, ending Rascal Flatts' seven-year winning streak in that category. Lady A also won the Single Record of the Year and Song of the Year honors for their recent Number One hit, "Need You Now." Because they produced and composed the song, the trio picked up two additional ACM Awards. Other winners included Miranda Lambert (Top Female Vocalist, Album of the Year for "Revolution" and Video of the Year for "White Liar"), Brad Paisley (Top Male Vocalist), Luke Bryan (Top New Solo Vocalist and Top New Artist), Gloriana (Top New Vocal Group), Joey + Rory (Top New Vocal Duo) and Carrie Underwood (Entertainer of the Year). Miranda Lambert is the first female solo artist in the history of the ACM Awards to twice win the Album of the Year category. Carrie Underwood became the first female artist to win two ACM Entertainer of the Year Awards.

TOUR DATES AND INFORMATION:

Country singer Daryl Worley will perform his eighth Stars for Stripes tour in Iraq from April 29-May 3. He'll play some shows with his full band and also several special acoustic concerts at bases in remote areas. Worley says, "Those young men and women are so phenomenal. Because of what they do, we are all very fortunate to have the lifestyle and freedom that we have." The non-profit Stars for Stripes organization provides entertainment to American military troops overseas and provides education to the public on U.S. military history and operations.

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Visakha Bochea celebration in Angkor Wat

Cambodian Buddhist monks carry some food offered by local villagers at Angkor Wat temple in Angkor in Siem Reap province, about 320 kilometers (199 miles)north of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Wednesday, April 28, 2010. Cambodia marks Buddha's birthday, Visakha Bochea, on April 28 in the Angkor Wat complex. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Cambodian Buddhist monks take lunch near Angkor Wat temple in Siem Reap province, about 320 kilometers (199 miles) north of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Wednesday,April 28, 2010. Cambodia marks Buddha's birthday, Visakha Bochea, on April 28 in the Angkor Wat complex. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
A Cambodian Buddhist monk uses a mobile phone as his visits Angkor Wat temple in Siem Reap province, about 320 kilometers (199 miles) north of Phnom Penh,Cambodia, Wednesday, April 28, 2010. Cambodia marks Buddha's birthday, Visakha Bochea, on April 28 in the Angkor Wat complex. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Cambodian Buddhist monks head to their pagoda as they walk through Angkor Wat temple in Siem Reap province, about 320 kilometers (199 miles) north of PhnomPenh, Cambodia, Wednesday, April 28, 2010. Cambodia marks Buddha's birthday, Visakha Bochea, on April 28 in the Angkor Wat complex. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

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"Yuon Knann Knabb Khabb Teuk Tunle Sap" a Poem in Khmer by Sam Vichea

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Art Festival To Showcase Renewed Classics

Students make offerings to the spirits of past generations of artists in the traditional sampeah kru ceremony before the beginning of the Festival. (Photo: Courtesy of Cambodian Living Arts)

Cambodia is preparing for an expansive arts festival in August, one that will bring artists of all ages from at home and abroad to demonstrate some of Cambodia’s nearly lost traditions.

Nuch Sarita, VOA Khmer
Washington Tuesday, 27 April 2010

“Each surviving performer is a living cultural treasure with a unique body of skills and knowledge to pass on. A living library of Cambodia’s cultural legacy.”

Cambodia is preparing for an expansive arts festival in August, one that will bring artists of all ages from at home and abroad to demonstrate some of Cambodia’s nearly lost traditions.

The Cambodian Youth Arts Festival will be held in Phnom Penh’s Chaktomuk Conference Hall from Aug. 1 to Aug. 6, and organizers expect at least 20 different organizations to take part, representing as many as 10,000 young and professional artists.

Song Seng, project coordinator of Cambodian Living Arts, told “Hello VOA” Monday the festival will provide an opportunity for artists “to share and learn a variety of traditional arts forms developed from elder traditions.”

It will also “help generate national renewal through arts and culture, and to provide opportunities for all participating groups to demonstrate mastery of what they have learned through workshops, demonstrations, and performances,” Song Seng said.

Cambodian Living Arts established a teaching program in 1999, encouraging surviving master musicians and performance artists to resume work with young apprentices.

The festival will allow some of these apprentices to showcase work they have practiced for years.

Kong Boran, a student of “chapei dang weng,” a musical oral tradition, said he learned from his father, Kong Nay, for seven years at the organization. The tradition includes melodies that are passed down from one generation to the next, though its lyrics are often newly composed or even improvised on the spot.

Lun Sophanith, student of the “khsae diew” instrument, learned from his grandfather, Sok Duch, for four years. Images of the soothing instrument, made partly from a gourd, can be found on the walls of Cambodian temples dating back to the 10th Century. It was popular with modern kings and leaders, who requested solo performances of the instrument to help them relax.

Sok Duch may be the last living master of the rare instrument, but he now teaches young apprentices. Two of them may become masters.

Much of Cambodia’s traditional culture was nearly silenced by the Khmer Rouge, which killed up to 90 percent of the country’s performers. The traditional cultures were passed down orally from teachers to students, so many skills were not recorded in writing.

“Each surviving performer is a living cultural treasure with a unique body of skills and knowledge to pass on,” Song Seng said. “A living library of Cambodia’s cultural legacy.”

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Coney Island Getting a $30 Million Italian Makeover

Workers in Altavilla Vicentina, Italy, prepare a ride that will become a new attraction at Coney Island in New York City. More Photos »

By ELISABETTA POVOLEDO

Published: April 23, 2010

ALTAVILLA VICENTINA, Italy — Alberto Zamperla sweeps through the cavernous workshop here where his amusement rides are manufactured while workers measure and bang and solder enormous platforms, oddly shaped beams and assorted fiberglass vehicles.

Spring is a busy time for his company, and attractions are being prepared for the summer season that is about to open in theme parks around the world.

This year, however, one destination has Mr. Zamperla racing against the clock: Coney Island in Brooklyn, where in just a few weeks he will present a new amusement park featuring 22 rides, including the Tickler, a family-oriented roller coaster; the whirly Mega Disko; and Air Race, a heart-gulping aerobatic experience.

Coney Island is the largest investment yet in the 50-year history of the Zamperla Group. Zamperla is the majority shareholder of Central Amusement International, the New Jersey-based company that signed an agreement in February with New York City to build and manage the amusement area. So far, Central Amusement has spent $15 million on the refurbishment of the park, about half of the $30 million it expects to invest.

“Ride manufacturers have been operating rides in parks or fairgrounds for many years,” said Andreas Veilstrup Andersen, executive director of the European office of the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions. “However, a project as big as Coney Island is very unusual.”

Time has been tight, with the park’s opening set for the end of May.

“We had a pretty good idea of what we could produce on time,” said Mr. Zamperla, who is chief executive and president. “There’s a lot of pressure, because all eyes are on us. Things just can’t be good, they have to be perfect.”

Luigi De Vita, managing director of the company, added: “When we’re under pressure, we give the best of ourselves.”

Theme parks and amusement parks have a global lure, with about 758 million visitors worldwide in 2007, according to the latest study from PricewaterhouseCoopers on the outlook for entertainment and media. Worldwide revenue in 2007 was $24 billion, the study said.

The Zamperla Group, according to industry experts, is ranked among the top five manufacturers of amusement park rides.

The Coney Island project will be called Luna Park, after the original playground that stood there until World War II. Drawings for the new main gate on Surf Avenue mimic the original design, but flashier.

The park at Coney Island “had its glory but lacked an innovative spirit,” Mr. Zamperla said of a site that in recent decades had become seedy.

In February, Central Amusement won the bid on a 10-year lease to build and operate the park, which sits on a city-owned lot.

“Their specific proposal was a nice blend of honoring the history of Coney Island while developing it as a modern 21st-century amusement park,” said Seth W. Pinsky, president of the New York City Economic Development Corporation.

The Zamperla Group was chosen because it had a sound track record in operating amusement parks, including the Victorian Gardens, a children’s amusement area at Wollman Rink in Central Park in Manhattan. And it was known as the producer of “some of the most exciting rides in the world,” Mr. Pinsky said.

The Zamperla family has been building amusement park attractions in Altavilla Vicentina since the early 1960s. Alberto’s grandfather, Umberto Zamperla, opened one of the first movie houses in Italy, then moved into carnival attractions. His father, Antonio Zamperla, worked in traveling shows before deciding to settle in this Veneto town to start inventing and manufacturing rides.

Alberto Zamperla, 58, the eldest of five children, took the show on the road, so to speak, and there are now factories or sales offices in several countries, including the United States, China and Russia. His group sells to customers in more than 90 countries and now exports about 95 percent of its products.

There are about 185 employees in Italy, with an additional 270 around the world.

The nuts and bolts of the business — its administration as well as its main manufacturing activities — are at the headquarters near Vicenza, an industrial district that is the third-largest exporting center in Italy, according to the local chamber of commerce.

A stroll though the headquarters at Altavilla Vicentina hints at the complexity of producing amusement park rides for the world’s theme parks, including various Disney Parks (“In our business, it’s the best reference you can have,” Mr. Zamperla said), Six Flags theme parks and malls worldwide. Even the late Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch has Zamperla rides.

On average, the company spends about one million euros ($1.3 million) a year designing new products, using complicated computer algorithms and mathematical models. The attractions are then built and tested here. Zamperla has dozens of patents on items like merry-go-round decorations and roller-coaster seats.

“This is where ideas are born,” Mr. Zamperla beamed as he looked at the MotoCoaster, a ride being prepared for a dinosaur theme park in Changzhou, China. Each ride requires about a year from design to delivery, he said, and can cost anywhere from 20,000 euros to 6 million euros. The MotoCoaster sells for 3.5 million euros and will be one of the attractions at Coney Island next year.

Demand is growing in new markets, especially in the Middle and Far East. The Zamperla Group has a factory and sales offices in Suzhou, China, to serve the fast-growing Chinese market. “We’re not going to make the mistake of underestimating the Chinese,” he said.

The factory in China produces about four million euros worth of rides for the Chinese market. He exports about the same amount from Italy to China and hopes to reach 20 million euros in sales in two years.

In well-established markets like the United States, long-term success in the amusement ride industry depends on novelty, Mr. Andersen said.

This year, for example, Air Race, an airborne experience that the company describes as “the ultimate thrill ride” will have its debut at Coney Island, alongside more placid family fare. Next year, rides are expected in the Scream Zone, an addition to the park that will feature several Zamperla roller coasters intended mostly for teenagers.

“In the end, all we want to do is build rides that people will enjoy,” Mr. Zamperla said. And Coney Island, he said, “will be the perfect showcase.”

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G-20 Split on the Need for a Global Tax on Banks

Treasury chief Timothy Geithner between Dominique Strauss-Kahn of the I.M.F. and Christine Lagarde, French finance minister.

By SEWELL CHAN

Published: April 23, 2010

WASHINGTON — Proposals to establish a global tax on banks and charge them for the cost of government bailouts divided representatives of the Group of 20 countries during a summit meeting here on Friday.

The perilous fiscal condition of Greece and other countries in Europe, and the need for the world’s big economies to coordinate changes in financial regulation, were the other major topics in the daylong meetings of Group of 20 finance ministers and central bank governors.

“The global recovery has progressed better than previously anticipated, largely due to the G-20’s unprecedented and concerted policy effort,” the officials said in a joint communiqué.

The International Monetary Fund endorsed a proposal this week that would establish a tax on bank profits and on salaries paid to bank executives. Canada, whose banking system withstood the crisis, has led the opposition to the idea, while the Obama administration, which has called for a $90 billion levy to be collected over 10 years from banks that received bailout money, tried to marshal support for it.

“There was not agreement on a global bank tax,” Jim Flaherty, the Canadian finance minister, said at a news conference after the meetings. “Some countries are in favor of that. Some countries quite clearly are not. It depends whether a country has had to use taxpayers’ dollars to bail out banks, for the most part.”

Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner defended the idea. “We’re trying to establish the basic principle that where governments are exposed to risk in putting out financial fires like this, that taxpayers don’t bear the costs of paying for those actions,” he said, adding, “That is a simple, fair, basic imperative.”

Mr. Geithner said there was “significant support” for the bank tax, but allowed that he understood a “certain lack of enthusiasm” from Canada.

He added, “We’re going to do what’s necessary for the U.S., what’s in our interest, and I think the world’s going to want to watch what we do. And I suspect that’ll provide a basis for other actions across some of the other economies.”

The cautiously worded joint communiqué acknowledged, but sidestepped, the bank tax proposals. It called for further I.M.F. study “on options to ensure domestic financial institutions bear the burden of any extraordinary government interventions where they occur, address their excessive risk-taking and help promote a level playing field, taking into consideration individual countries’ circumstances.”

John Lipsky, the deputy managing director of the I.M.F., said on Friday that the bank tax, if calculated based on the risk banks posed to the financial system, “could help to discourage financial institutions from taking on excessive risk.” Such a fee would also “address the public policy concern that financial institutions are able to privatize gains but socialize costs arising in the financial sector,” he said.

Mr. Lipsky’s boss, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the top I.M.F. official, caused rumblings on Friday when he suggested that some countries were moving too quickly on reform. He said the Obama administration’s plan “comes too soon” given the need to coordinate responses across countries.

“I read that and I thought, really?” Mr. Geithner said in response. “My sense is that it’s been 15 months — or more than a year — since we started this process in the United States. We’re not moving with excessive haste.”

Mr. Geithner acknowledged that one of the biggest reform elements — forcing banks to hold more capital as a buffer against economic disruptions — was partly beyond the scope of the legislation being debated by Congress. The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, a global regulatory body, is coordinating discussions around capital requirements in the hope of announcing new standards by the end of this year.

“The core issue there is the quality and quantity of capital and setting standards for that, and also an appropriate cap on leverage,” said Mr. Flaherty. “We agreed that that’s a key element.”

The Group of 20 officials offered few details on the Greek debt crisis, except to support the aid plans of the European Union and the I.M.F. Mr. Flaherty said of the Greeks: “They have undermined the confidence of the markets and it is essential that some steps be taken, that the Greek government work with the I.M.F., and the European Commission of course, to identify a credible, multiyear economic and fiscal program.”

Although India and Brazil this week joined calls by the United States for China to allow the value of its currency, the renminbi, to appreciate, the Group of 20 officials said the topic did not come up in their meetings.

Yoon Jeung-Hyun, the South Korean finance minister who coordinated the meetings, said “there were no specific discussions” of either the renminbi, also known as the yuan, or the euro, which has recently fallen in value.

Even as problems in Europe preoccupied the leaders, officials reported positive developments in some poorer parts of the world.

The I.M.F. projected on Friday that economic output in sub-Saharan Africa would expand by 4.75 percent this year and 5.75 percent next year, up from 2 percent last year.

“The economic slowdown in sub-Saharan Africa looks set to be mercifully brief,” said Antoinette Monsio Sayeh, director of the fund’s African department, adding that “the slowdown has nonetheless entailed considerable social dislocation and suffering.”

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F.D.A. Steps Up Oversight of Infusion Pumps

Federal regulators say they are moving to tighten their oversight of medical devices, including one of the most ubiquitous and problematic pieces of medical equipment — automated pumps that intravenously deliver drugs, food and other solutions to patients.

On Friday, the Food and Drug Administration issued preliminary guidelines that will require producers of the devices, known as infusion pumps, to supply the agency with more test data on them before they can be approved for sale.

Over the last five years, the agency says it has received reports of 710 patient deaths linked to problems with the devices, though F.D.A. officials say they think the number may be significantly higher. Some of those deaths involved patients who suffered drug overdoses accidentally, either because a hospital worker entered incorrect dosage data into a pump or because the device’s software malfunctioned.

An estimated two million infusion pumps are used in hospital and clinical settings and hundreds of thousands more are used by patients in their homes. The pumps use a variety of designs to intravenously deliver food, fluids and drugs like pain medications, insulin and cancer treatments.

The pump-related initiative comes as the Obama administration tries to reinvigorate the F.D.A. after years of criticism by lawmakers and others that it was a rubber stamp for industry. The F.D.A. Center for Devices and Radiological Health, which oversees scores of critical products like heart implants, imaging equipment and infusion pumps, has come under particular scrutiny.

A few years ago, for example, several top scientists at the center contended in letters to lawmakers that their superiors had ignored both their recommendations and policy guidelines in approving the sale of devices. Along with reports of 710 deaths, the center also received more than 10,000 complaints annually about infusion pumps from 2005 to 2009. In that same time frame, manufacturers of infusion pumps issued 79 recalls, among the highest for any medical device.

The center’s new director, Dr. Jeffrey E. Shuren, who has headed the center since August, said in an interview this week that pump manufacturers would soon be required to provide more data about their devices before offering them for sale. He added that the agency had determined that pumps could be made far safer.

He also said that the categorywide approach that the agency was taking toward infusion pumps might soon be extended to other types of medical devices, though he declined to elaborate.

“We need to ratchet up the expectations for medical device manufacturers,” Dr. Shuren said.

The biggest makers of infusion pumps include Baxter Healthcare of Deerfield, Ill.; Hospira of Lake Forest, Ill.; and CareFusion of San Diego.

Representatives of all three companies said the firms were reviewing of the agency’s initiative and could not comment on the specifics. However, they said their pumps were safe and that they looked forward to cooperating with regulators.

“We are committed to partnering with the agency to advance and complete the process for issuing new guidelines for the enhancement of the device review process,” Eric Floyd, Hospira’s vice president for global regulatory affairs, said in a statement.

Under the infusion pump proposal, which could be completed by the end of the year, producers would be required to provide additional data to support the procedures they used to determine the effectiveness and safety of their devices. In addition, companies would have to conduct limited clinical trials to ensure their pumps were not susceptible to misuse or had design elements that could create errors.

Pump producers now typically conduct “simulated” testing of its devices by users to identify bugs. Dr. Shuren indicated that the agency was seeking real-world testing as well.

Infusion pumps normally use software to automatically control both the rate and volume of a medication’s flow. To set a pump for an individual patient’s needs, a doctor, a nurse or other health care worker enters information by using the buttons on a pump’s keypad, which resembles that of a phone.

Pump manufacturers say that most problems occur when a nurse or health care worker enters the wrong data accidentally. F.D.A. officials said, however, that based on their review of pump complaints they thought many deaths and injuries related to the devices were less the result of user error than of product design and engineering.

For example, agency officials said that some pumps were prone to key bounce, a problem in which defective software interprets a single keystroke as two separate presses of that key. For example, instead of dispensing two units of a drug, a pump would dispense 22 units.

Under F.D.A. rules, life-sustaining devices like heart defibrillators must typically undergo clinical trials before they are approved for sale. But the agency clears the sale of many other critical devices like pumps without clinical testing based on a manufacturer’s claim that a new device is similar to a product already on the market.

Agency officials said Friday that they were sending a letter to all infusion pump makers to inform them of their findings and outline the proposed additional requirements companies were be required to meet.

Dr. Shuren said he expected that the new requirements would initially slow down the rate of the agency’s approval for new pumps that manufacturers are seeking to market.

The agency also said it had developed an open-source software code that manufacturers of pumps can use to test the validity of the software they use in their devices.

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UK economic growth slows to 0.2%

The UK economy continued to recover from recession in the first three months of the year, according to official estimates.

GDP grew by 0.2% between January and March, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

That was weaker than the 0.4% growth predicted by many economists, but the figure may be revised.

The last quarter of 2009 saw GDP growth of 0.4% - revised up from an initial estimate of 0.1%.

The ONS said the bad weather seen at the beginning of the year may have had an impact on output - particularly in the retail and industrial sectors.

But despite that, manufacturing output grew by 0.7% over the quarter, while the utilities sector saw output rise by 2.5%.

Manufacturing boost

However, the bulk of growth came from the financial and business services sector, which saw growth of 0.6%.

Meanwhile the sector including retail, hotels and restaurants shrank by 0.7%.

BBC economics editor Stephanie Flanders said the rise in manufacturing output was a particular cause for optimism.

"What many will find most cheering in these numbers is the stonking 0.7% estimate for growth in the production sector," she said.

"That's the strongest quarterly performance for that part of the economy in many years. Hopes of an export-led recovery are not dashed yet."

Other analysts were also optimistic, despite the growth figure coming in below expectations.

Howard Archer, chief economist at IHS Global Insight, argued that the lower-than-expected growth figure was "not in itself overly worrying".

"Overall growth in the first quarter was clearly dragged down appreciably by the very bad weather in January, and most indicators suggest that there has been a marked pick up in activity since then," he said.

"Furthermore, there must be a very good chance that first quarter GDP growth will be revised up in future releases as more data for March become available and show improved activity."

The ONS will release two further estimates for growth in the first quarter, based on more detailed economic information not yet available.

But Trevor Williams, chief economist at Lloyds TSB, warned that the growth could equally be revised lower.

"The economy is still recovering," he told the BBC.

"The declines of 2008 are still having an impact [and] the recovery will remain rather weak and could disappoint."

The Institute of Directors, which represents business leaders, also said it expected the recovery in the economy to "look much more L than V-shaped".

The British Chambers of Commerce added that the new figures underlined the challenges still facing the economy.

"It is important for policy-makers to focus on ensuring that the recovery continues and a double-dip recession is avoided," said the business group's chief economist David Kern.

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The Tragedy of History and Its Revision

Then-Prince Norodom Sihanouk with Pham Van Dong
Hun Xen (R) and Nguyen Tan Dung (L)

Friday, April 23, 2010
Op-Ed by MP

All the telling signs indicate just how deep and decisive Hanoi's influence has been over just about every field of Khmer people's national life. We have seen how risky it is for Khmer nationalists and activists to speak out against this one-sided relationship, formed and enforced, first and above all, to advance Vietnamese interests and political agenda in Cambodia.

How has this unjust relationship been structured and maintained without drawing displeasure and opposition from the party in this relationship with the most to lose and sacrifice? That the Vietnamese state does not entertain sanguine aspirations towards the Khmer nation is self-evident, but even Vietnamese imperial excesses over Cambodia in centuries past and Khmer people's bitter taste of that experience have all been, not so much forgotten as details of history, but instead brewed and recast as each other's misunderstood intentions and as outcomes of outdated, feudalistic exercise in inter-state diplomacy against which the entire existence of the Indochinese Workers' Party and its raison d'être were ostensibly purported to rest. This was what Première Phan Van Dong alluded to when he expressed regret over his country's past mistreatments of the Khmer Kingdom in the course of his pep talk with Prince Sihanouk in those hey days of anti-American struggle.

Sihanouk, however, to be fair, might not have been completely naive as to have wholeheartedly accepted all of Hanoi's explanations, but his cards were limited and therefore in his view the forced marriage was necessary in view of enveloping crises and in pander to political expedience or convenience at the time. Moreover, as a royal, and despite having spent some part his youth in Saigon/Prey Nokor as a pupil of French colonial schooling, Sihanouk would have already learned from his immediate royal palace council and forebears not to trust Vietnam's designs towards Cambodia.

But those young revolutionary cadres recruited even before 1978/9 by the Communist Party of Kampuchea out of the salt and rugged stock of the peasantry as its vanguard and replacement of their country's old administrative order represented a radical proposition, a true generational antithesis to Cambodia's past in world view and consciousness, offering Hanoi a rich, pliable alternative and groundwork from which they gleefully set about cloning a new generation of leaders that bear to all intent and purposes their own inward Vietnamese desires and images. It was not for nothing that young Mr. Hun Sen had to turn up at the Vietnamese embassy in Phnom Penh every morning to sit at the feet of his Vietnamese mentor and guru learning the art of world diplomacy, international relations, administrative structure, how to deal with internal 'reactionaries' and dissent, how to mobilise the masses to endorse the new regime, and most crucially, discovering the undoubted benefit and protection provided by the Khmer-Vietnamese solidarity within a unified Indochinese setup.

Within the confines of this morally sordid, contrived arrangement a whole new colony is created out of the body of the Khmer nation itself which gives over the appearance of leading the Khmer people out and away from their dark, troubled past and towards the security of the Promised Land over flown with milk and honey.

It would be insulting to their intelligence to say that the Khmer people are unaware of all these machinations at the heart of this relationship, but they could hardly be blamed for allowing themselves to be led along by this crop of leadership that they know deep down does not possess a will and character of its own to lead them to a destination of their own choosing. For the older generation who have survived the genocide of the Pol Pot regime their ultimate preference would be to be left alone to gather the pieces in life. The generation who came after that regime, on the other hand, simply have nothing more than an epistemological awareness of their nation’s past, learning through selective school texts of Vietnam’s salvific role in rescuing their parents from that genocide.

What will and character this leadership, therefore, does possess denotes or conveys nothing more and nothing less than its artificially cloned self that has, in its own eye, overcome numerous odds and adversities over the decades and in the aftermath of ‘Year Zero’ which, further, is a national tragedy wholly attributed to unguided ultra-nationalism and xenophobia.

So skilfully has the tragedy of Khmer history been exploited and used as a pretext to expunge the will of the Khmer nation and replace it with something foreign to it that even those who just want justice for their ancestral land, who harbour no ill prejudice towards the Vietnamese people, who defend and advocate basic civil rights for all under the law, who decry the excesses of officialdom are all invariably readily awarded the distinction of being trouble-makers, national traitors, and just as absurdly, of being Hanoi’s agents out to make Khmers turn against Khmers even while Khmer interests and lives are being superseded in every field by those of Vietnam.

I concur with Martin Luther King’s refrain that we should learn to live together like brothers or perish like fools, but in my humble view, true fraternity has to reflect equality in human dignity and genuine mutual regard that should leave no scope for underhanded attempt at subjugating one another’s will to something beyond which the convention or meaning of mutuality itself does not permit nor recognises as being equally beneficial to both parties.

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Google Censorship Map: Big Brother Hun Xen's gov't does not want to see your presence on the web?

In most countries, Google is the largest search engine by far. In fact, many web designers say that Google is all that counts…according to current figures, it accounted for more than 85% of search engine visits to this network.

While this position of power is great for the G boys, it also means that they are the prime target for censorship requests. Google has now created a map which shows where most requests come from, here's the map for Big Brother Hun Xen's Cambodia:

Click on the map to zoom in

Click here for additional information about this map

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Former foreign war reporters revisit Cambodia

Former Washington Post correspondent Elizabeth Becker (L) consoles former staff member of Kyodo News, Yoko Ishiyama, as she prays at a Buddhist ceremony at Po Kandal village in Kampong Speu province 65 km (40 miles) west of Phnom Penh April 22, 2010, in memory of her husband, Koki Ishiyama, a former correspondent for Kyodo, who was killed covering the Cambodian civil war in 1973. About 40 retired journalists gathered on Thursday to officially commemorate more than 50 correspondents from Japan, France, the U.S., Cambodia, Australia, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, India and Laos, who were killed while covering the conflict, which lasted from 1970-1975. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Carle Robinson (L), former Associated Press correspondent prays at a Buddhist ceremony at Po Kandal village in Kampong Speu province 65 km (40 miles) west of Phnom Penh April 22, 2010. About 40 retired journalists gathered on Thursday to officially commemorate more than 50 correspondents from Japan, France, the U.S., Cambodia, Australia, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, India and Laos, who were killed while covering the Cambodian civil war, which lasted from 1970-1975. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Former Time-Life photographer Tim Page and other foreign correspondents pray at a Buddhist ceremony at Po Kandal village in Kampong Speu province 65 km (40 miles) west of Phnom Penh April 22, 2010. About 40 retired journalists gathered on Thursday to officially commemorate more than 50 correspondents from Japan, France, the U.S., Cambodia, Australia, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, India and Laos, who were killed while covering the Cambodian civil war, which lasted from 1970-1975. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Former foreign correspondents observe a moment of silence in front of a grave on a rice field at a Buddhist ceremony at Po Kandal village in Kampong Speu province 65 km (40 miles) west of Phnom Penh April 22, 2010 . About 40 retired journalists gathered on Thursday to officially commemorate more than 50 correspondents from Japan, France, the U.S., Cambodia, Australia, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, India and Laos, who were killed while covering the Cambodian civil war, which lasted from 1970-1975. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Former Washington Post correspondent Elizabeth Becker (L) reads a list of killed foreign correspondents as former staff member of Kyodo News, Yoko Ishiyama (R), weeps at a Buddhist ceremony at Po Kandal village in Kampong Speu province 65 km (40 miles) west of Phnom Penh April 22, 2010. The list includes Yoko Ishiyama's husband, Koki Ishiyama, a former correspondent for Kyodo, who was killed covering the Cambodian civil war in 1973. About 40 retired journalists gathered on Thursday to officially commemorate more than 50 correspondents from Japan, France, the U.S., Cambodia, Australia, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, India and Laos, who were killed while covering the conflict, which lasted from 1970-1975. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Former Time-Life photographer Tim Page prays at a Buddhist ceremony at Po Kandal village in Kampong Speu province 65 km (40 miles) west of Phnom Penh April 22, 2010. About 40 retired journalists gathered on Thursday to officially commemorate more than 50 correspondents from Japan, France, the U.S., Cambodia, Australia, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, India and Laos, who were killed while covering the Cambodian civil war, which lasted from 1970-1975. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Sylvana Foa (R), two-time nominee for the Pulitzer Price, former Newsweek and United Press International (UPI) correspondent and currently a journalism teacher at New York University's Tel Aviv campus and former staff member of Kyodo News, Yoko Ishiyama (L), place a flower at the dedication of memorial of journalists in Phnom Penh April 22, 2010. Yoko Ishiyama's husband, Koki Ishiyama, a former correspondent for Kyodo, was killed covering the Cambodian civil war in 1973. About 40 retired journalists gathered on Thursday to officially commemorate more than 50 correspondents from Japan, France, the U.S., Cambodia, Australia, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, India and Laos, who were killed while covering the conflict, which lasted from 1970-1975. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Carl Robinson (R), former Associated Press correspondent and Chhang Song , former Khmer minister of information, stand near the sign dedicated to the memory of Cambodian and foreign journalists killed or missing during the Cambodian civil war April 22, 2010. About 40 retired journalists gathered on Thursday to officially commemorate more than 50 correspondents from Japan, France, the U.S., Cambodia, Australia, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, India and Laos, who were killed while covering the conflict, which lasted from 1970-1975. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

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