Kerry, who arrived in Phnom Penh from Laos late Monday, will also discuss deepening economic ties with Cambodia, which has emerged from the ashes of Khmer Rouge rule into one of Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing economies.

But Cambodia’s fragile democracy appears under threat with Hun Sen, who has ruled for 31 years through a mix of hard power and political guile, tying up a resurgent opposition in legal charges.

The opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party made big gains in 2013 elections, but has since seen its chief Sam Rainsy go into self-exile to avoid arrest over charges he says are politically motivated.

In a show of support, Kerry will meet the opposition’s deputy leader.

“The relationship between the ruling party and the opposition party is fraught right now,” a State Department official told reporters.

“The leader of the opposition party is out of the country, so Secretary Kerry will meet with not only the government but also the opposition.”

He will also meet with civil society groups, the official added, to reinforce America’s backing “for human rights, for civil rights, and for political space.”

Campaigners have called on the US to exert greater pressure on Hun Sen to end repression, including of political opponents, dissenters and trade unionists representing low-paid workers.

But in a sign the prime minister is ramping up curbs on criticism, several people have been arrested in recent weeks over Facebook posts insulting or lampooning him and his family.

Kerry’s trip to Southeast Asia paves the way for a summit hosted next month by President Barack Obama in California with the 10 leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).

Obama has made ties with Asia a diplomatic priority, in particular bolstering Asean as a counterweight to Chinese regional power.

Cambodia provides political support to China within Asean, an alliance that has at times caused strain within the regional bloc in the face of increasingly aggressive Chinese claims to disputed waters in the South China Sea.

Kerry is due to fly to Beijing on Tuesday afternoon.

– AFP

The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam has asked the city’s Transport Department to quickly approve the road junction linking the domestic terminal with Truong Son Road and to use Gia Dinh Park as a temporary parking lot.

The airport security forces and traffic policemen will co-ordinate efforts to check for violations and apply fines.

Tan Son Nhat Airport authorities reported these efforts would be stepped up before and after Tet.

During the first stage, lasting from the lunar calendar’s December 23 to 29 (falling on February 1 to 7 of the regular calendar), is expected to handle 600 departing and arriving flights per day, an increase of 130 flights against an ordinary day.

The peak day will be the lunar calendar’s December 28 (February 6), with an estimated 680 flights, serving 100,000 passengers.

The post-Tet stage, lasting from the lunar calendar’s January 5 to 10 (February 12 to 17), defines the peak day as the lunar January 6, with some 720 flights.

The airport’s receiving capacity and infrastructure will both be overloaded and face traffic congestion in front of the airport. This will pose a great challenge and affect service quality, especially during the peak days of Tet.

Taxis remain the primary vehicle of choice for picking up passengers.

To arrive at the domestic terminal, taxis must pass two traffic lights, so pick-up time can be delayed. Airport authorities have arranged a taxi parking lot at the international terminal, but traffic congestion remains a problem.

At the domestic terminal, taxi pick-up and drop zones will be separated, and by April this year, the five-storey parking lot designed to hold 1,000 taxis will be completed, according to the airport authorities.

Some upland areas of Huaphan province experienced frost. Many people commented on social networks on Sunday that it was snowing but the department confirmed that it was not.

However, every part of the country will have cold weather, wind and rain in the next few days, according to weather forecasters.

The department called on everyone to protect their health, keep warm and stay out of the cold, especially the elderly and children.

Meanwhile Lao VIVO Company is calling for contributions from the public to help the poorest people in the hardest hit areas of Phongsaly, Huaphan and Xieng Khuang provinces.

A few buffaloes in Nongkhang village, Xamneua district, Huaphan province died due to the cold, while the provincial livestock and fisheries section expected to report more livestock deaths.

One Huaphan resident, who works for the provincial Agriculture and Forestry Department, said the fine rain looked like snow but she couldn’t be sure because this was the first time she had seen such a phenomenon.

The lowest temperature recorded in Vientiane yesterday was 10.4C, while Oudomxay reported 5.0C, Huayxai district in Bokeo province 7.1C, Luang Namtha province 5.0C, Luang Prabang province 7.1C and Xayaboury province 8.8C . Xaysomboun province saw temperatures drop to 4.5C, Phonhong district in Vientiane province recorded 9.3C, Pakxan district, Borikhamxay province 9.7C, Km20 in Khammuan province 3.3C, Savannakhet province 10.2C, Pakxe district in Champassak province 14.5C, Saravan province 16.1C, Xekong province 12.2C, and Attapeu province 19.1C.

Many other countries have also been affected by unusually cold weather.

Temperatures have dropped in other parts of South East Asia as well, including Vietnam and Thailand. In Bangkok, which rarely sees temperatures below 20C, a minimum of 16C was recorded on Sunday, while Vietnam had its coldest weather in about two decades over the weekend with Hanoi recording a 6C minimum.

Taiwanese media reported a rash of deaths from hypothermia and cardiac disease following a sudden drop in temperatures over the weekend.

Meanwhile heavy snow forced the closure of the airport on the Korean holiday island of Jeju, with all flights cancelled.

The cold spell has also hit Hong Kong, southern China and Japan, BBC News reported yesterday.

Now storms have hit large parts of Japan as well, with more than 600 domestic flights cancelled across the country on Sunday and Monday. At least five people have died from the snow so far and more than 100 have been injured in Japan.

“We have strengthened our legislation and intensified the operations of law enforcement bodies, intelligence agencies and security forces,” he said.

He said the nation had also expanded international cooperation and must now enhance these with effective deradicalisation and rehabilitation programmes.

Dr Ahmad Zahid was giving a speech during the opening of the International Conference on Deradicalisation and Countering Violent Extremism yesterday.

He described rehabilitating terrorists and extremists as a dynamic process, which meant that the methods and approaches used must be constantly reviewed and improved.

In a statement later, he said Malaysia was engaged in a comprehensive rehabilitation programme targeting militancy.

He said people detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (Pota) would be subjected to regular sessions with religious clerics, as well as rehabilitated terrorists who have a better chance of persuading them to abandon their misconceived beliefs.

Clerics had better influence and were more authoritative on jihad (struggle) and its meaning, from a religious perspective, he said.

“Ex-terrorists would be able to point out with more credibility any factual misrepresentations and misconceptions linked to radicalism, having previously been extremists themselves,” he said.

According to him, the module covers a range of aspects that serve as a guideline for rehabilitation officers, including chapters on developing social skills, self-management, patriotism, better financial management and psychology.

Copies of the Pota Detainees Integrated Rehabilitation Module 2015 were handed out to delegates and officials at the two-day conference.

Dr Ahmad Zahid also said the module calls for engagement sessions involving family members deemed closest to the affected person.

They could be very effective, psychologically and spiritually, in persuading terrorists to leave their misguided struggle and rejoin society, he said.

He said the Government was constantly engaging with non-governmental organisations to increase public awareness on the negative consequences of violent extremism.

The Government was also aware of the risk of radicalisation during detention, he said.

To that end, an independent board of experts would assess and evaluate each detainee to determine length of detention, suitability for release and the need for monitoring after release, he said.

Dr Ahmad Zahid said reintegration into society was also crucial in the rehabilitation process because the person might still be ideologically and psychologically vulnerable.

To cater to this, the programme would teach them skills so that they could earn an honest living, as well as help them adapt, he added.

Following his arrival in Vientiane on Sunday, Kerry yesterday met with Thongloun, who is also Deputy Prime Minister, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The ministry said in a press release that both sides discussed ways to deepen bilateral ties and cooperation between Laos and the US, as well as multilateral issues.

Agendas tabled at the talks covered the areas of further bilateral cooperation to clear unexploded ordnance (UXO) dropped on Laos during the Indochinese war.

They also discussed Laos-US engagement in areas including health care, nutrition, education, drug supervision and control, economics and trade and environmental protection as well as cooperation to continue searching for the remains of US soldiers missing in action in Laos.

In the area of multilateral cooperation, the Lao ministry said both sides further discussed the ‘LowerMekong Initiative’ cooperation framework.

The US has provided financial aid to Laos amounting to more than US$45 million a year. The US Embassy to Laos said Secretary Kerry highlighted the US commitment to partnering with Laos to improve nutrition across the country, including through the recently announced construction of the Lao-American Nutrition Institute in Vientiane.

Shortly after his talks with Thongloun, Secretary Kerry called on Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong at the Government Office to discuss preparations for the US-Asean Sunnylands Summit, which will be jointly hosted by the United States and Laos, as 2016 Asean Chair, in California next month.

This unprecedented gathering – the first hosted by the United States with Asean leaders – builds on the deep partnership that the United States has forged with Asean since 2009, the US Embassy said.

The Lao ministry said Kerry’s visit also prepared for the planned visit to Laos by US president Barack Obama later this year to attend the Asean-US Summit.

Following the official meetings, Secretary Kerry visited Pha That Luang (That Luang Stupa), the national symbol of Laos, where he learned about Lao history and culture. Kerry is the second Secretary of State to have visited Laos since the establishment of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic in 1975. Then Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton made a one-day official trip to Laos in 2012.

Still, rights groups say, the outgoing government has fallen short of releasing all political prisoners and continues to arrest and charge people on political grounds.

“The government has released all 101 political prisoners who were supposed to be released starting last week.

“Most of them protested against the government, including the Letpadaung copper mine, land grabs and other cases,” said Bo Kyi, joint secretary of political prisoner watchdog Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.

Thein Sein’s administration had released 1,235 political prisoners since 2011, Bo Kyi said. But 409 political prisoners were still on trial and 84 remained behind bars.

Notable among those in the amnesty was Phillip Blackwood, a New Zealand man who was sentenced to two and a half years in jail along with two Myanmar colleagues for using a psychedelic image of Buddha to promote a party at a Yangon bar.

Myanmar’s incarceration of more than 2,000 journalists, activists, politicians and even comedians during decades of military rule was a key factor behind Western sanctions.

Friday’s release came just before a new parliament dominated by Aung San Suu Kyi‘s National League for Democracy sits for the first time on Feb 1.

The NLD won a resounding victory in the November election, trouncing the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) that took power in 2011 following 49 years of military rule.

But as some prisoners were walking free on Friday, Patrick Khum Jaa Lee, an NGO worker, was sentenced to six months imprisonment for a Facebook post deemed insulting to the military.

“President Thein Sein has an opportunity to make this right before his administration ends,” said Matthew Smith, executive director at the NGO Fortify Rights, in a statement yesterday.

– REUTERS

The Mingala wholesale market fire occurred due to the poorly installed electrical wire and fire alert system. The markets department under the YCDC bears the primary responsibility for the fire,” he said.

Weather-related deaths were reported in Japan and Taiwan, with hundreds of flights cancelled across the region, tens of thousands of holidaymakers stranded in South Korea, and freezing conditions in sub-tropical Hong Kong causing mayhem on its tallest peak.

While the cold snap is by no means on the scale of the weather now affecting the snow-bound eastern United States, such temperatures are a novelty for many residents of the region.

In Bangkok, a city that rarely sees the thermometre dip below 20-25 degrees Celsius (68-77 Fahrenheit), temperatures dropped to around 16 degrees late Sunday.

It left Bangkokians, whose normal attire generally includes flip-flops and shorts, digging through their closets for jackets and jumpers.

Thip Panyangam, a 51-year-old motorcycle taxi driver in Bangkok, welcomed the unusual drop in temperature.

He told AFP: “Whoa! The weather is superb. It’s been many years since I’ve experienced this cold. I feel happy, refreshed and relaxed. When it gets too hot, I get a headache.”

In Japan five people died and more than 100 were injured Sunday as record-breaking heavy snowfall and low temperatures hit the country’s western and central regions and rare snow fell in subtropical areas, officials and local media said.

The small subtropical island of Amami observed snow for the first time since 1901, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

In China, 24 weather stations around the country recorded all-time low temperatures between Friday and Sunday.

At Eergu’Na in Inner Mongolia, the temperature on Saturday hit a record low of -46.8 degrees.

– 90,000 stranded –

===================

The southern city of Guangzhou saw rare sleet, the first in 60 years, in its downtown area, the provincial meteorological station announced on Sunday.

In Hong Kong, primary schools and kindergartens were closed Monday after temperatures plunged to a 60-year low.

A 100-kilometre ultra-marathon race was abandoned as competitors crossing the city’s tallest peak, Tai Mo Shan, slipped on icy slopes buffeted by freezing winds.

The peak became the scene of “carnage”, as one race official described it, as hundreds of curious “frost-chasing” citizens became stranded, with dozens stricken with hypothermia and hapless firemen called in to rescue them filmed slipping and sliding on the icy roads.

Close to 90,000 people were stranded on the South Korean resort island of Jeju on Monday after the biggest snowfall in three decades shut the airport for the third straight day.

Taipei registered a low of 4 degrees over the weekend, the coldest in 44 years, with the Taiwan media reporting 90 deaths due to the cold weather, and rare snowfall drawing enthusiastic crowds to Yangmingshan National Park.

In Vietnam, temperatures in Hanoi dropped to six degrees at night over the weekend, which state-run media said was the coldest weather the country has experienced for two decades.

Mountainous areas in the country’s north, including the popular tourist town of Sapa, experienced light snow. Some primary schools were closed in the capital Monday, officials said.

AFP