Cambodian security forces clear opposition protesters

Security guards, police in plainclothes and riot police, armed with batons and metal pipes, on Saturday forcibly cleared hundreds of pro-opposition’s demonstrators from the capital Phnom Penh’ s Freedom Park, where they have been protesting for three straight weeks against Prime Minister Hun Sen’s government.
National Military Police spokesman Kheng Tito said that the authorities just chased protesters away from the park and no one was injured or arrested.
“Now, we take control of the park, no more protest is allowed,” he told media.
The crackdown came after Phnom Penh Municipal Governor Pa Socheatvong on Saturday banned the country’s main opposition party from holding any protests in the capital since a garment strike on Friday turned violent, leaving four strikers shot dead, 26 injured and 11 arrested.
“To ensure social security and public order, the Phnom Penh Municipality decides not to allow the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) to continue holding demonstrations at the Freedom Park and marching through streets in the city from Jan. 4 onwards until the security situation has returned to normal,” Pa Socheatvong said in a letter to opposition leader Sam Rainsy.
He said in recent days, inciting activities have led to violence that claimed lives and caused severe destruction to public and private properties.

At least 16 die in severe US snowstorms

At least 16 deaths have been blamed on a snowstorm as it swept through the northeastern US. At least three people died partly because of the extreme cold, officials said. Meanwhile, slick roads were blamed for traffic deaths in Michigan, Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois. New York and New Jersey declared states of emergency, while hundreds of schools were shut down in Boston and New York. Around 1,900 flights have been canceled across the country.

​Putin lifts ban on protests at Sochi Olympics

Vladimir Putin signed a decree partially lifting a ban on all political protests at the Sochi Winter Olympics, the Kremlin’s press service has announced. The decree allows demonstrations and marches not connected with the Sochi Olympics to be held at locations that must be agreed with Sochi officials, along with regional police and security forces. The restrictions will take effect from January 7 to March 21.

Germany to have NSA inquiry

German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government has agreed to a public inquiry into NSA’s spying activity. A parliamentary probe will have the authority to subpoena evidence from German intelligence agencies, but no power to summon data from the US government. The initiative for the investigation came from Hans-Christian Stroebele of the German Green Party who last year traveled to Moscow to meet whistleblowing fugitive Edward Snowden. Green spokeswoman Britta Hasselmann called on the German government to grant Snowden a safe passage to testify in Germany.

5 dead from H1N1 virus in Alberta

Residents of Alberta, Canada are being urged to take flu shots after 5 people died from the H1N1 virus outbreak, with 270 more hospitalized in the province as 950 H1N1 cases have been confirmed so far. Mass immunization clinics have been opened. Free flu shots are also available at doctors’ practices and most drug stores. The H1N1 flu virus caused a world-wide pandemic in 2009. It is now a human seasonal flu virus that also circulates in pigs.

​Pentagon reduces danger pay locations for troops by a third

The Pentagon announced Friday it has cut by about a third the number of places US troops can get imminent danger pay in a move to reduce costs by about US$100 million per year. Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan were among the 20 locations dropped from the list. “The imminent threat of physical harm to U.S. military personnel due to civil insurrection, civil war, terrorism, or wartime conditions has been significantly reduced in many countries. As a result, IDP will be discontinued in those areas,” the Pentagon said in a statement, according to media. The danger pay still applies to places such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Jordan, Turkey, Syria, Somalia, Israel, Guantanamo Bay in Cuba and the city of Athens, Greece.

​Obama administration proposes new gun rules for mentally ill

The Obama administration announced Friday two new federal gun control proposals guiding how much information on the mentally ill is supplied to background check databases. The suggested rules, offered by the US Departments of Health and Human Services and Justice, would allow access to some mental health records for use on the federal background check database, based on an exemption in current privacy law. In addition, the Justice Department proposes to “clarify” that those involuntarily held at inpatient or outpatient institutions should not be allowed to buy guns. The White House has renewed its call for stronger gun control after its push for enhanced background checks on gun buyers and a ban on assault-style rifles failed in the US Senate in April.