Quotes

Demanding better government

I would like to appeal to the Government of Cambodia to continue to do more in improving our budget transparency ranking as well as encourage more public participation in the budget process.

- Chhith Sam Ath, executive director of the NGO Forum commenting on a report released by the Open Budget Initiative.

If they are of voting age, why can’t they go out to campaign and support whichever party they choose? The present situation is ridiculous. I agree that they should not be politicking on campus ... but this does not mean they cannot get involved in politics once off campus. We really need to __ What did he say needs to be done?

- Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz, minister in charge of law in prime minister’s office, commenting on the country’s law that bans students from politics.

Clearly, more serious and effective actions need to be taken in 2011, with greater intensity and focus on driving out corrupt practices.

- Hisham Nordin, a senior official with Malaysia’s anti-corruption commission responding to a report that efforts to curb graft in the government gave been largely unsuccessful.

Stretch out your research muscles

Last week's winner: Sam Sophy

Wherever you see a magnifying glass, you will find a question. When you are done reading What’s news, go online to phnompenhpost.com to figure out the answer. If you are the first person to send all three correct answers in an email to [email protected] you will win a three-month subscription to Phnom Penh Post.

Mines & munitions

BY THE NUMBER

2 million

The estimated number of land mines that have been cleared in Cambodia since 1992.

6 million

The estimated number of land mines or unexploded ordnances still remaining from three decades of armed conflict.

223

People in Cambodia who were reported killed or injured by land mines and explosive remnants of war in the first nine months of this year, according to the Cambodian Mine Action Authority.

800

People per year injured or killed by land mines in 2004-2005, according to 2004-2005. A report from Cambodian Red Cross.

1.5 million

The amount, in USD, that the Japanese government has given to a project to clear 10.5 million square metres of contaminated land.

2

The age, in months, of the African pouched rat, below. The species is being used in parts of Africa to sniff out land mines.

News Briefs

Oh, Nuts

According to a study in the journal Fertility and Sterility, sitting with a computer on your lap for only 15 minutes can heat up a man’s nether regions. REUTERS

A SPECIES of cricket has the largest testes in relation to its body weight of any known creature in the world, scientists reported last week. AFP

Misbehaving Bovine

POLICE in Banteay Meanchey province confiscated a dead cow that was killed in a traffic accident last week, continuing a series of bovine “arrests”. In September,12 cows roaming “anarchically” and disrupting traffic were detained. MOM KUNTHEAR

The right to freaky films

AN Australian film festival director will screen a banned “gay zombie porn” movie after his home was raided by police. The movie shows necrophile aliens, gay sex and full-frontal male nudity. AFP

Big Stories

What is your top 3? angkorone.com/lift

1. DEMOCRACY icon Aung San Suu Kyi called on thousands of exuberant supporters to unite following her release from house arrest.

   “Please keep your energy for us … if we work together we will reach our goal,” she told followers outside __ Where did she deliver her speech?

   “I want to work with all democratic forces,” said the 65-year-old Nobel peace prize winner. AFP

2. RESCUERS pulled more bodies from the ruins of villages engulfed by eruptions from Indonesia’s most dangerous volcano, Mount Merapi, raising the death toll to 240.

   The authorities have warned that the volcano, which lies at the centre of Java island, remained highly active and unpredictable. AFP

3. Leaders of the world’s 20 major economies came together on Monday and Tuesday of this week for the G20 summit in Seoul, South Korea, to endorse new global financial rules and address ways to ease trade imbalances. AFP