On the wires

As a rule, I don't cover too much of the 'news' coming out of Cambodia as most of it is negative and consistently fails to expose the things about this country that I love. I generally leave the bad news to the newswires and newspapers who seem to revel in negative Cambodia stories. However, I can't be ultra positive all the time, especially now, as my own medical problems are weighing heavily on my every waking moment. So, here's a few stories that caught my eye yesterday and today.

• The King-Father, Norodom Sihanouk, has had his own website up and running for a while now and some of the stuff he posts on it is frankly, weird. However I feel for him today when I heard that his website has been hijacked, his content removed and is being sold online for $4,350. I was gutted when my own blog was hijacked and my sympathies are with him on this occasion, normally they are not.
• The Phnom Penh Post today reveals that 17 Nigerians have been arrested by police in the city in a drugs bust. Apparently its the tip of an iceberg. Living in Phnom Penh I hear many fanciful tales about the large African community that is here, from internet/email/telephone scamming to drug dealing and more. I have no idea whether the rumours are true or not but the police obviously think there's something in it. Anyway, it's about time we heard some positive stories from the African community here.
  
• New Zealand Olympic rower Rob Hamill, whose brother Kerry was murdered by the Khmer Rouge at Tuol Sleng, has said he will confront the former S-21 head Duch at the Khmer Rouge Trial before November. "I'm one of only a dozen people taking the stand and possibly the only foreigner. The process of grieving hasn't taken its course and this is a part of that. I feel hatred. I want to try and forgive but I'm finding that hard at the moment,' says Hamill. Duch this week confirmed that four foreigners including Kerry were tortured and then burned after their execution.
• Other stories include; from WWF that the dophin population is in severe danger of pollution, which was immediately rebuked by the government; the eviction of HIV-positive residents in Borei Keila to a site outside the city unfit for human habitation; more Preah Vihear rhetoric from the Thai PM now that he's back in Bangkok; the murder of a news reporter and his neice in the army-infested area at the base of Preah Vihear; and finally, more than 100 people have died already this year from lightning strikes.

Also in today's Phnom Penh Post is a Sports Brief by yours truly.
O'Donell shares vision
Cambodian national football coach Scott O'Donell called together head coaches of Cambodian Premier league (CPL) clubs Monday at the National Sports Centre on the outskirts of Phnom Penh with the aim of seeking their cooperation and support for his plans to improve the country's standing in world football. Cambodia are currently placed 179th in the FIFA rankings, sandwiched between Samoa and Seychelles. The meeting was deemed a success by the Australian-born coach, with nine out of the ten CPL clubs represented. O'Donell views the buy-in from the CPL coaches as an important step on the road to improvement, especially with the upcoming SEA Games in Laos in December. The national coach has now run the rule over each of the CPL teams in order to identify the pool of talented Khmer players at his disposal for the national team. With the SEA Games age limit set at 23, O'Donell feels that the U23 squad will form the nucleus of the Cambodia team for the forseeable future. Link: PPP.