10 Westerners Facing Pornography Charges in Cambodia

Ten foreigners have been arrested in Cambodia on charges of pornography after they were caught dancing suggestively during a private party.

The group – five Britons, two Canadians, and one person each from the Netherlands, Norway and New Zealand – were arrested last Thursday during a police raid of a villa in the northeastern village of Siem Reap, home to the famous ruins of the ancient Angkor Wat temple. Prosecutors say the 10 have been charged with producing pornographic pictures and other materials, and face at least one year in jail if convicted.

Sorung Sophea, an attorney representing the 10 jailed Westerners, says the group was clad in swimsuits and drinking alcoholic beverages by a swimming pool, but insists none of the photos show them undressed or engaging in sex. Sophea said the group should be deported instead of facing criminal charges.

Seventy-seven other people arrested during the raid were released with a warning.

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Defectors Torn by North Korean Olympic Charm Offensive

SEOUL — 

North Korean defectors, who fled their impoverished and repressive homeland, are voicing concern that the North’s Olympic delegation featuring its “army of beauties” will score deceptive propaganda points, but they also hold out hope that inter-Korean cooperation can create an opportunity for peaceful progress.

A 230 member all female cheerleading squad, often called the "army of beauties," will be among the large North Korean Olympic delegation planning to visit South Korea for the PyeongChang Olympics in February.

"It will garner the spotlight, and as each of its actions can become an opportunity to promote North Korea, I consider this as a political move," said Kim Chul-woong, who was a pianist with Pyongyang University of Music and Dance, before defecting in 2002.

Charm offensive

The cheering squad is made up of attractive and relatively tall women (over 160cm,) who were selected from elite universities and have no relatives living abroad.

Perhaps the most famous former cheering squad member is Ri Sol Ju, the wife of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. At the age of 16 she participated in the 2005 Asian Athletic Championships in South Korea.

The women cheerleaders also undergo extensive ideological education to ensure loyalty to the state and to the leadership of the Kim family.

"Leaving North Korea and visiting overseas is like going to fight in the heart of the enemy," said North Korean defector Han Seo-hee.

Han can also testify that the state’s ideological training is not always effective, as she was actually a North Korean cheerleader for the 2002 Asian Games held in Busan, South Korea, before she defected.

Misleading image

Defectors who suffered under the repressive Kim government are among the skeptics that see the North’s pause in provocative missile and nuclear tests, and its Olympic charm offensive, as part of an effort to improve its international standing, and undermine support for strong United Nations sanctions that put strict curbs on trade, including a ban on coal exports and limits on the import of oil.

The cheering squads, critics say, can be an effective propaganda tool to show a misleadingly harmonious image of the country, where the vast majority of people live in poverty, and where the leadership stands accused of crimes against humanity, based on a 2014 United Nations report that documented a network of political prison camps, and systematic human rights abuses including murder, enslavement, torture, and rape.

"I think there are many negative aspects to the cheering squad. It has the purpose of promoting that they are living normally by showing beautiful cheering squads," said Kim Chul-woong.

Bonding experience

At the same time many North Korean defectors see the Olympic related inter-Korean cooperation as a positive development that can counter adversarial political stereotypes with real people to people bonding experiences.

"I am expecting that we will be able to feel the warmth of peace in that area, regardless of politics," said Kim Ga-young who defected from North Korea in 2012.

North Korean visitors will also likely get a first hand view of the freedom and prosperity that exists in the democratic South, in contrast to how Pyongyang’s strictly controlled state media often portrays its neighbor as oppressive and poor.

Cultural cancellation

North Korea’s sudden cancellation on Monday of a joint cultural performance that was to take place on the North’s Kumgang Mountain should not impact other Olympics related cooperation, a South Korean government official said on Tuesday.

North Korea blamed the cancellation on South Korean media for encouraging "insulting" public sentiment. An official with the Unification Ministry in Seoul suggested that the North was just not prepared to host such a large-scale event, including more then 300 people on such short notice, according to South Korean media.

Many South Koreans have complained that the unified women's hockey was unfair to the South Korean players. More than a hundred petitions against the unified team have been sent to the presidential Blue House's website.

The South Korean Unification Ministry said Tuesday it expects the agreed upon training of South Korean athletes at North Korea's Masikryong ski resort on Wednesday to proceed as planned.

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Australian Man Jailed for Filming Cambodian Opposition Rally Denied Bail

An Australian filmmaker arrested last year in Cambodia on charges of endangering national security remains behind bars after that country's high court rejected his application for bail.

James Ricketson was arrested in Phnom Penh last June for mounting a camera on a drone to film a campaign rally by the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party. The 68-year-old Ricketson faces 10 years in prison if convicted of the charges.

The Supreme Court issued a statement Tuesday saying it rejected Ricketson's application because his case is still under investigation.

Alexandra Kennet, a lawyer for Ricketson's family, told reporters the family is "very, very disappointed" by the Supreme Court's decision, which was handed down in Ricketson's absence; a court clerk said the van taking him to court for the hearing was late in arriving. Kennet said Ricketson's family is also worried about his health, as he is detained in a cramped cell with 140 other prisoners.

Ricketson's arrest coincides with an apparent crackdown on dissent by autocratic Prime Minister Hun Sen to retain his 32-year grip on power, including the Supreme Court's decision to dissolve the CNRP back in December. The court sided with a lawsuit filed by Hun Sen's ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP), accusing the CNRP of being involved in a plot to topple the government.

The accusations led to the arrest of party leader Kem Sokha on charges of treason. The CNRP represented the biggest threat to Hun Sen's long rule after making unexpectedly strong gains in the 2013 general elections. Support is growing for the opposition, especially among younger Cambodians eager for change.

Hun Sen's government has also shut down a number of independent newspapers and English-language radio stations, including those broadcasting the Voice of America and Radio Free Asia.

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Australian Man Jailed for Filming Cambodian Opposition Rally Denied Bail

An Australian filmmaker arrested last year in Cambodia on charges of endangering national security remains behind bars after that country's high court rejected his application for bail.

James Ricketson was arrested in Phnom Penh last June for mounting a camera on a drone to film a campaign rally by the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party. The 68-year-old Ricketson faces 10 years in prison if convicted of the charges.

The Supreme Court issued a statement Tuesday saying it rejected Ricketson's application because his case is still under investigation.

Alexandra Kennet, a lawyer for Ricketson's family, told reporters the family is "very, very disappointed" by the Supreme Court's decision, which was handed down in Ricketson's absence; a court clerk said the van taking him to court for the hearing was late in arriving. Kennet said Ricketson's family is also worried about his health, as he is detained in a cramped cell with 140 other prisoners.

Ricketson's arrest coincides with an apparent crackdown on dissent by autocratic Prime Minister Hun Sen to retain his 32-year grip on power, including the Supreme Court's decision to dissolve the CNRP back in December. The court sided with a lawsuit filed by Hun Sen's ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP), accusing the CNRP of being involved in a plot to topple the government.

The accusations led to the arrest of party leader Kem Sokha on charges of treason. The CNRP represented the biggest threat to Hun Sen's long rule after making unexpectedly strong gains in the 2013 general elections. Support is growing for the opposition, especially among younger Cambodians eager for change.

Hun Sen's government has also shut down a number of independent newspapers and English-language radio stations, including those broadcasting the Voice of America and Radio Free Asia.

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Trump: Recent Violence Proves There is No Point in Talking to Taliban

President Donald Trump has condemned the wave of deadly attacks in Afghanistan over the last week, saying Washington. does not want to negotiate with the Taliban, who are killing many innocent women and children. His comments come as a new report indicates that increased U.S. military operations in the war-ravaged country has failed to improve the Afghan government's ability to protect its own people. VOA Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports from the State Department.

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Young Colombians File Landmark Climate Lawsuit

BOGOTA — 

A group of young Colombians, one as young as seven, filed a lawsuit against the Colombian government on Monday demanding it protect their right to a healthy environment in what campaigners said was the first such action in Latin America.

The lawsuit, filed at a Bogota court, alleges the government's failure to stem rising deforestation in Colombia puts their future in jeopardy and violates their constitutional rights to a healthy environment, life, food and water.

"Deforestation is threatening the fundamental rights of those of us who are young today and will face the impacts of climate change the rest of our lives," the 25 plaintiffs, whose ages range from seven to 26, said in a joint statement.

"We are at a critical moment given the speed at which deforestation is happening in the Colombian Amazon. The government's lack of capacity and planning as well as its failure to protect the environment makes the adoption of urgent measures necessary."

It is the first climate change litigation in Latin America, according to the Bogota-based rights group, Dejusticia, which is supporting the plaintiffs' case.

The lawsuit follows a recent surge in litigation around the world demanding action or claiming damages over the impact of climate change - from rising sea levels to pollution.

"Just as cities, like New York and San Francisco, have sued oil companies for their role in fueling climate change, and a court ordered the Netherlands' government to reduce its carbon emissions, we are asking that Colombia fulfills its prior commitments to tackle climate change," said Cesar Rodriguez, head of Dejusticia.

Experts say U.S. President Donald Trump's move to pull out of the global Paris climate change accord and roll back environmental regulations means campaigners are increasingly resorting to litigation in the United States.

The Colombia lawsuit calls on the government to halt deforestation in Colombia's Amazon and keep to its promises.

Colombia, home to a swathe of rainforest roughly the size of Germany and England combined, has declared a goal of zero net deforestation by 2020 and halting the loss of all natural forest by 2030.

Despite the government's pledges, deforestation in Colombia's Amazon region rose 23 percent and across the country increased by 44 percent from 2015 to 2016.

When forests are degraded or destroyed, the carbon stored in the trees is released into the atmosphere. Deforestation accounts for 10 to 15 percent of carbon emissions worldwide.

Stemming forest loss is even more urgent following Colombia's 2016 peace deal that ended a decades-long civil war.

Experts say Colombia's rainforests are under increasing threat with once no-go conflict areas opening up for development and criminal gangs cutting down trees for illegal gold mining.

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Alibaba Looks to Modernize Olympics Starting in Pyeongchang

SAN FRANCISCO — 

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., one of the few Olympics sponsors signed up until 2028, said it wants to upgrade the technology that keeps the Games running and will study the Pyeongchang Games to help find ways to save future host countries money.

"Pyeongchang will be a very important learning opportunity for our team to see how things are working and what's missing," Alibaba's chief marketing officer Chris Tung said in an interview. Alibaba, the cloud-services and e-commerce provider for the Olympics, will take back what it has learned at the Feb. 9 to 25 Pyeongchang Winter Games and develop solutions for the next Games.

Ticketing, media and video services are among the areas that Tung said Alibaba wants to improve. It especially wants to end the inefficient practice of building from scratch local data centers and IT services for each Olympic Games.

"It will be great if a lot of the back end systems from hosting a Games can be hosted on the cloud and can be reused from Games to Games to enhance the cost efficiency," he said.

Atos SE, the French information services company that is also a top sponsor, said on its website that all critical IT systems in Pyeongchang have already been moved to the cloud using its technology.

Alibaba will send to South Korea between 200 and 300 employees from across all its management teams, Tung said, adding that he wants the "organizers to see how the operations could be made more efficient, effective and secure."

Alibaba's views are in line with the Olympics Agenda 2020 reforms that also aimed to make the Games more attractive and cut the cost of hosting them. The next Winter Olympics after Pyeongchang will be in 2022 on Alibaba's home turf in China, where the company said it wants to make the experience of going to an Olympics totally different for consumers, whether it's how they buy tickets, use mobile technology or find related events in Beijing.

At Pyeongchang, Alibaba said on its website that it will put on a showcase at the Gangneung Olympic Park demonstrating concepts Alibaba is looking to pursue for future Games, including facial recognition technology, travel guidance, content creation and better ways to buy Olympics merchandise.

"We're new to the Olympics games but we've been studying what would be solutions to the pain points that game hosting cities have been facing over the years," Tung said.

As for the cold weather expected in Pyeongchang, there will also be a daily tea ritual at the Alibaba site to keep fans warm.

Reporting by Liana B. Baker in San Francisco.

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