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Monday, February 2, 2015
Anti-Islamist Pegida group holds first march in Austria
The anti-Islamisation
movement Pegida, which originated in Germany, has held its first march in
Austria.
But while rallies in
Germany have often attracted more than 20,000 people in recent weeks, only a
few hundred took part in Monday's rally in Vienna.
They found themselves
outnumbered by police - and even more so by about 5,000 people who had gathered
for a counter-demonstration.
Austria is the latest
European country to see anti-Islamisation protests.
Supporters of Pegida
gathered in a square in central Vienna's shouting "We are the
people", the BBC's Bethany Bell reports.
Some gave Nazi salutes
while riot police separated them from rival protesters changing "down with
Pegida".
Ranks of riot police tried to keep demonstrators and
counter-demonstrators apart
Pegida organisers both
in Austria and Germany say they are not anti-Muslim.
Austria's Green Party
criticised the march, but Heinz-Christian Strache of the right-wing Freedom Party
warned against defaming what he called "a serious civil rights
movement".
Although the turnout
in Vienna was small compared with Germany, the sentiments behind Pegida are
nothing new in Austria, our correspondent says.
The far-right Freedom
Party, which achieved 20% at a general election in 2013, has campaigned on a
similar platform for years.
Pegida originated in
the east German city of Dresden last year.
Marches on a smaller
scale have since been held in the Czech Republic, Denmark and Norway and sympathiser
groups have formed in a number of other European countries including Spain,
Sweden and Switzerland.
source, bbc, news
Freed journalist Peter Greste 'relieved' but 'angst' over jailed colleagues
Al-Jazeera journalist
Peter Greste says he is relieved to be free but feels "incredible
angst" at leaving behind two of his colleagues in jail in Egypt.
Mr Greste was freed
from prison and deported on Sunday after 400 days behind bars. He is now in
Cyprus, en route to Australia.
Mr Greste, Mohamed
Fahmy and Baher Mohamed were arrested in 2013 on charges of spreading false
news and aiding the Muslim Brotherhood.
Mr Fahmy and Mr
Mohamed remain jailed.
In an interview with
al-Jazeera, Mr Greste described his release as "a massive step
forward" for the Egyptian authorities.
"I just hope that
Egypt keeps going down that path with the others," the Australian
journalist added.
Mr Fahmy, who holds
dual Egyptian and Canadian citizenship, could be freed if he renounces his Egyptian
nationality, presidential sources say.
Canadian Foreign
Minister John Baird said on Monday that Mr Fahmy's release was
"imminent", without elaborating.
But there are still
concerns about Mr Mohamed, an Egyptian who holds no dual nationality.
Speaking on Monday, Mr
Greste said he "wasn't expecting" his release on Sunday and had been
released with what felt like "just a few minutes' notice".
He described a
"real mix of emotions" after learning he would be freed, with both a
"sense of relief and excitement but also real stress in having to say
goodbye to my colleagues and friends - people who've really become family
inside that prison".
"It was a very
difficult moment walking out of that prison. Saying goodbye to those guys, not
knowing how much longer they would have to put up with this."
He expressed concern
for Mr Fahmy and Mr Mohamed, as well as other journalists convicted in
absentia.
"If it's right
for me to be free then it's right for all of them to be free," he said.
Mr Greste, Mr Fahmy
and Mr Mohamed, journalists for al-Jazeera English, were arrested in 2013 after
being accused of collaborating with the banned Muslim Brotherhood after the
overthrow of former President Mohammed Morsi by the military.
All three denied the
charges against them and said their trial was a sham.
In June last year, Mr
Fahmy and Mr Greste were sentenced to seven years in prison and Mr Mohamed to
10. Their sentences sparked an international outcry.
The three men's
convictions were overturned on 1 January but they remained in custody pending a
retrial.
Several students have
also been held in the same case. The students deny working for Al-Jazeera but
it is thought that material filmed on their phones was used by the network.
In a separate case,
Abdullah El-Shamy, a journalist for Al-Jazeera's Arabic channel, was arrested
in August 2013 when police broke up a protest by supporters of Mr Morsi.
He was released on
health grounds in June 2014 after a hunger strike of nearly five months.
According to campaign
group Reporters Without Borders, there are currently 165 journalists imprisoned
around the world, including 15 in Egypt.
Ukraine rebel leader Zakharchenko 'to raise 100,000 men' Pro-Russian rebels on patrol in Makiivka, a suburb of Donetsk (1 Feb)
Pro-Russian
separatist leader Alexander Zakharchenko has announced plans to recruit 100,000
men, as fighting with Ukrainian forces intensifies.
The rebels want to push
government forces out of the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk and are
trying to capture the key town of Debaltseve.
Dozens of people including
civilians were killed in clashes and artillery fire at the weekend.
Attempts to agree a truce
failed when rebel negotiators did not turn up.
A fragile ceasefire agreed in
early September in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, collapsed last month when
rebels stepped up their offensive on several Ukrainian positions and seized
Donetsk airport.
Rebels were accused of carrying
out an artillery attack on the south-eastern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol
which left 30 civilians dead.
Ukrainian government forces
have been blamed for deadly attacks on Donetsk city and other rebel-held areas
last month in which dozens of civilians were also killed.
'Reserve
force'
"Mobilisation
will start in 11 days' time," Mr Zakharchenko, the head of the
self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, told Donetsk news agency.
However, the rebels'
ability to raise large numbers of forces is unclear.
Mr Zakharchenko's
statement could be political bluster or it could be an indication that Russia
plans to intervene more seriously in eastern Ukraine, BBC Kiev correspondent
David Stern reports.
Ukraine has alleged
the rebels are being helped by as many as 9,000 Russian servicemen, a claim the
government in Moscow denies.
The Donetsk rebel
leader emphasised that recruits to separatist forces would be voluntary,
Donetsk news agency said.
"It is a reserve
force which will definitely be able to resist any attack," he was quoted
as saying.
They would have a
month's combat training with the aim of providing five additional brigades, the
Donetsk agency reports.
Ukraine's government
has also announced plans to boost its forces in the east. Tanks and other heavy
military vehicles were seen heading towards Debaltseve on Sunday in an attempt
to bolster defences in the town.
Hundreds of civilians
were moved out of the town by Ukrainian government forces amid reports that the
separatists had reached the outskirts.
A Canadian journalist
who is in the conflict zone said the rebels had been involved in a tough battle
as they tried to encircle Debaltseve.
"It's been quite
surprising to hear how many have said they are experiencing significant losses
and many of their fellow fighters have been killed," Kristina Jovanovski
told the BBC World Service Newsday programme. "That's not something that
you often hear."
Military officials in
Kiev said on Monday that five soldiers had been killed in the past 24 hours,
although separatists said the number was more than 20. Thirteen civilians were
killed in separatist-held areas during the same period, rebel sources said.
The latest fatalities
bring to at least 60 the number killed during a weekend of heavy violence in
the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.
source, bbc news
Waking up from a 20-year slumber
Cambodia’s banking sector
has come under fire recently after a report from investment firm Mekong
Strategic Partners revealed a very low return on equity for the majority of the
countries banks. One of those identified as seriously underperforming was
Cambodian Commercial Bank. The Post’s Hor Kimsay sat down with Kamalkant
Agarwal, head of international banking business at Siam Commecial Bank – the
parent company of Cambodian Commercial Bank – to talk about the bank’s
performance and its future growth strategy this week.
A recent report on Cambodia’s banks identified Cambodian Commercial Bank as one of the poorer performing banks in the country based on a low return on equity. What is your response to this?
When we talk about return on equity, we also need to look at the return on assets. We put in a lot of capital. We have not grown our balance sheet in Cambodia so far, so our return on equity is low because we have put in more capital. But as our business grows and we book more on the balance sheet, our return on equity will improve. If you look at the return of equity [in our bank] for the past two years, it is already improving. And in next two or three years, it will improve even more because now we are growing the business so that we are using our capital better.
My reaction is that yes, it was low because we were not fully using our capital. But we are now starting to use our capital by doing more business in Cambodia. Our return on assets will improve. If you look at our return of equity in 2013 or 2012 or 2014, we are better already. And in 2015 and 2016 will be better still.
What strategies are you applying that give you confidence the bank will grow?
Cambodian Commercial Bank is a 100 per cent owned by Siam Commercial Bank, the leading bank in Thailand. It has been operating in Cambodia for 20 years. The business is primarily what we call corporate banking or the wholesale banking business.
I have to accept that we have been quiet in Cambodia for the past 20 years. But in the past year or two, we have revisited our business strategies in Cambodia and now we are thinking to improve our system and our people, in order to better grow our business in Cambodia.
We are starting to do many things. In addition to installing ATMs in our own branches, now we are installing our first ATMs outside the branches. Now we have the system to equip ATMs and foreign exchange booking. We also plan to launch online banking in the next 12 months. Our business will grow and we will add more clients with more lines of services. We also injected additional capital. All the actions we are doing in Cambodia are aimed toward growing the business in Cambodia. Now we are serious, we really want to do it and expand our business in Cambodia.
Is it too late to start expanding your business in Cambodia when leading banks have gained a foothold?
We are late, but I don’t think we are too late. I think Cambodia will grow more in the future. I talk to many companies and in the future there will be much more growth to come. We have missed something, but it is still not too late. We have a lot of growth to capture in the future.
Other Thai banks like Kasikorn Bank and the Bank of Bangkok have announced plans to invest in Cambodia. How do you think this will affect to your business?
Surely, they will be our rivals. But we are competing with them everywhere. We are competing with them in Thailand. We have a branch in Laos and K Bank just opened in Laos and we didn’t leave. We maintain our commitment to the country. Once we go in, we don’t leave. We just started launching ATMs and now we have six ATMs – five are in the branch and one is at Royal Phnom Penh Hospital.
Analysts say that mergers and acquisitions are inevitable and will help to strengthen an overcrowded industry. What are your thoughts on that?
Every market is going to have consolidation. If you go to Singapore, Malaysia or Thailand, such models are already appearing to avoid from high cost in banking operation. We need big scale, so for the small banks it is really difficult to earn profits. The central bank is also encouraging consolidation. We can see in Vietnam, they just announced seven or eight banks will be taken over by big banks.
So, consolidation is good. For us, we are still small in Cambodia. We need to become bigger. We can consider acquisition, but right now we are too small. We want to grow first and in three years, we can then consider it.
What do you foresee for Cambodia’s banking industry this year?
I think the outlook of the banking industry directly links to the economy. If you look at the Cambodian economy, the country is doing quite well. It has been growing more 7 per cent annually and I think 2015 will remain the same. I have met many clients and they all have growth plans. So, I realize that the banking industry has also growth.
But I think the profit margins are under a little bit of pressure because competition is increasing. We have some pressure on the margin, but the volume will grow.
A recent report on Cambodia’s banks identified Cambodian Commercial Bank as one of the poorer performing banks in the country based on a low return on equity. What is your response to this?
When we talk about return on equity, we also need to look at the return on assets. We put in a lot of capital. We have not grown our balance sheet in Cambodia so far, so our return on equity is low because we have put in more capital. But as our business grows and we book more on the balance sheet, our return on equity will improve. If you look at the return of equity [in our bank] for the past two years, it is already improving. And in next two or three years, it will improve even more because now we are growing the business so that we are using our capital better.
My reaction is that yes, it was low because we were not fully using our capital. But we are now starting to use our capital by doing more business in Cambodia. Our return on assets will improve. If you look at our return of equity in 2013 or 2012 or 2014, we are better already. And in 2015 and 2016 will be better still.
What strategies are you applying that give you confidence the bank will grow?
Cambodian Commercial Bank is a 100 per cent owned by Siam Commercial Bank, the leading bank in Thailand. It has been operating in Cambodia for 20 years. The business is primarily what we call corporate banking or the wholesale banking business.
I have to accept that we have been quiet in Cambodia for the past 20 years. But in the past year or two, we have revisited our business strategies in Cambodia and now we are thinking to improve our system and our people, in order to better grow our business in Cambodia.
We are starting to do many things. In addition to installing ATMs in our own branches, now we are installing our first ATMs outside the branches. Now we have the system to equip ATMs and foreign exchange booking. We also plan to launch online banking in the next 12 months. Our business will grow and we will add more clients with more lines of services. We also injected additional capital. All the actions we are doing in Cambodia are aimed toward growing the business in Cambodia. Now we are serious, we really want to do it and expand our business in Cambodia.
Is it too late to start expanding your business in Cambodia when leading banks have gained a foothold?
We are late, but I don’t think we are too late. I think Cambodia will grow more in the future. I talk to many companies and in the future there will be much more growth to come. We have missed something, but it is still not too late. We have a lot of growth to capture in the future.
Other Thai banks like Kasikorn Bank and the Bank of Bangkok have announced plans to invest in Cambodia. How do you think this will affect to your business?
Surely, they will be our rivals. But we are competing with them everywhere. We are competing with them in Thailand. We have a branch in Laos and K Bank just opened in Laos and we didn’t leave. We maintain our commitment to the country. Once we go in, we don’t leave. We just started launching ATMs and now we have six ATMs – five are in the branch and one is at Royal Phnom Penh Hospital.
Analysts say that mergers and acquisitions are inevitable and will help to strengthen an overcrowded industry. What are your thoughts on that?
Every market is going to have consolidation. If you go to Singapore, Malaysia or Thailand, such models are already appearing to avoid from high cost in banking operation. We need big scale, so for the small banks it is really difficult to earn profits. The central bank is also encouraging consolidation. We can see in Vietnam, they just announced seven or eight banks will be taken over by big banks.
So, consolidation is good. For us, we are still small in Cambodia. We need to become bigger. We can consider acquisition, but right now we are too small. We want to grow first and in three years, we can then consider it.
What do you foresee for Cambodia’s banking industry this year?
I think the outlook of the banking industry directly links to the economy. If you look at the Cambodian economy, the country is doing quite well. It has been growing more 7 per cent annually and I think 2015 will remain the same. I have met many clients and they all have growth plans. So, I realize that the banking industry has also growth.
But I think the profit margins are under a little bit of pressure because competition is increasing. We have some pressure on the margin, but the volume will grow.
source, ki media
New political context’ greets CPP congress
The
ruling party called the meeting to lay the groundwork for the pivotal upcoming
elections planned for 2017 and 2018
Cambodian People’s Party honorary president Heng Samrin yesterday kicked off the party’s first national congress since the watershed July 2013 election, the theme of which, he told supporters, was that reforms would equal “life” for the CPP and the nation.
About 1,000 party rank-and-file gathered at Koh Pich for the opening of the extraordinary congress, which was called so the CPP can lay the groundwork for the pivotal 2017 and 2018 elections.
Prime Minister Hun Sen, the deputy CPP president, first announced that ailing party president Chea Sim would be absent due to health problems. But the premier, who is frequently now referred to as “acting” president, was careful to note that “for us, as long as [he is] alive, [he is] still our party president”.
As Samrin took to the stage, he blamed the opposition party for the fact that the CPP has not had a national congress in nearly two years.
“This is because following the July 2013 election, the situation in Cambodia was provoked by the opposition party and their supporters, who never accepted the election,” he said.
“Their elected candidates did not come to work at the National Assembly and they incited demonstrations and riots and created chaos by all means to topple the government and the CPP.”
In response, he said, appearing to refer to both initial government tolerance of mass street demonstrations and a later violent crackdown, that the CPP had tried to “solve the problem in [both] gentle and firm ways”.
Nonetheless, Samrin admitted, the CPP is now “in a new political context”.
“Although our party has received support from the majority of people in the country, we still acknowledge our party has lost some seats in the National Assembly, while the seats of the opposition have increased,” he said.
“This leads us to study thoroughly the reason [why] ... We must evaluate the strengths and weaknesses, and learn from [this] experience in order to have deep reforms on time and effectively.”
In September 2013, following the election shock, Hun Sen had implored CPP members to “clean” their bodies and “heal” their diseases in a bombastic six-hour speech.
But most analysts agree that the party has not moved fast enough to address widespread grievances among the populace, including corruption, land issues and perceived impunity.
This weekend’s congress, CPP insiders said this week, will see major youth additions to the party’s powerful Central Committee in a bid to recognise the next generation of leaders ahead of the 2017 commune and 2018 national elections.
Journalists were ordered out of the room following Samrin’s address yesterday, but a schedule reveals that a vote for new central committee members will occur tomorrow morning.
Opposition party spokesman Yim Sovann said yesterday that Samrin’s comments blaming his party for post-election chaos were “useless”.
But Sovann added that it was good to see the CPP was implicitly admitting that it had made serious mistakes by characterising the need for reforms as a life-or-death matter.
“That is what we want. So we agree with each other that in the past the CPP went in the wrong direction ... The people need reforms; without reforms they are going to die and the country is going to die.”
Cambodian People’s Party honorary president Heng Samrin yesterday kicked off the party’s first national congress since the watershed July 2013 election, the theme of which, he told supporters, was that reforms would equal “life” for the CPP and the nation.
About 1,000 party rank-and-file gathered at Koh Pich for the opening of the extraordinary congress, which was called so the CPP can lay the groundwork for the pivotal 2017 and 2018 elections.
Prime Minister Hun Sen, the deputy CPP president, first announced that ailing party president Chea Sim would be absent due to health problems. But the premier, who is frequently now referred to as “acting” president, was careful to note that “for us, as long as [he is] alive, [he is] still our party president”.
As Samrin took to the stage, he blamed the opposition party for the fact that the CPP has not had a national congress in nearly two years.
“This is because following the July 2013 election, the situation in Cambodia was provoked by the opposition party and their supporters, who never accepted the election,” he said.
“Their elected candidates did not come to work at the National Assembly and they incited demonstrations and riots and created chaos by all means to topple the government and the CPP.”
In response, he said, appearing to refer to both initial government tolerance of mass street demonstrations and a later violent crackdown, that the CPP had tried to “solve the problem in [both] gentle and firm ways”.
Nonetheless, Samrin admitted, the CPP is now “in a new political context”.
“Although our party has received support from the majority of people in the country, we still acknowledge our party has lost some seats in the National Assembly, while the seats of the opposition have increased,” he said.
“This leads us to study thoroughly the reason [why] ... We must evaluate the strengths and weaknesses, and learn from [this] experience in order to have deep reforms on time and effectively.”
In September 2013, following the election shock, Hun Sen had implored CPP members to “clean” their bodies and “heal” their diseases in a bombastic six-hour speech.
But most analysts agree that the party has not moved fast enough to address widespread grievances among the populace, including corruption, land issues and perceived impunity.
This weekend’s congress, CPP insiders said this week, will see major youth additions to the party’s powerful Central Committee in a bid to recognise the next generation of leaders ahead of the 2017 commune and 2018 national elections.
Journalists were ordered out of the room following Samrin’s address yesterday, but a schedule reveals that a vote for new central committee members will occur tomorrow morning.
Opposition party spokesman Yim Sovann said yesterday that Samrin’s comments blaming his party for post-election chaos were “useless”.
But Sovann added that it was good to see the CPP was implicitly admitting that it had made serious mistakes by characterising the need for reforms as a life-or-death matter.
“That is what we want. So we agree with each other that in the past the CPP went in the wrong direction ... The people need reforms; without reforms they are going to die and the country is going to die.”
source, ki media
Cambodia denies Angkor Wat first built in Ind
The Cambodia Herald, 01-Feb-15 12:09PM
PHNOM PENH (The Cambodia Herald) -- General Department of Heritage of Ministry of Culture and Fine Art denied Saturday that Cambodia's world heritage site Angkor Wat was first built in India.
The denial was made in respond to Indian hermit claiming that many Cambodian temples including Angkor Wat were not built in Cambodia.
"What the Indian hermit said was not true and groundless because we had a lot of evidence clarifying about the construction sites and where we took stones to build the temples, so why had we to bring stones from India," said Prak Sovannara, director general of the General Department of heritage.
"What that hermit said was incorrect," he said. "The world knows it after Angkor Wat was inscribed as World Heritage site."
"No one said the materials used to build the temples were brought from India" he said.
He said Cambodia is really influenced by religions from India, but Angkor Wat and other temples were completely built by Cambodians.
