GENEVA, (AFP) - Governments worldwide must ban all forms of tobacco marketing, not just billboards and TV ads, as companies find new ways to tap the market, the World Health Organization said Wednesday.Douglas Bettcher, head of the WHO's non-communicable disease division, said tougher measures were needed to rein in tobacco use, which claims six million lives a year."This is an industry that sells a product that kills up to half their consumers," but companies are still able to draw in a new gen

TEHRAN (AP) -- Iran's culture minister is seeking to tighten rules to supervise visiting foreign journalists.A Wednesday report by the semi-official Mehr news agency quotes Mohammad Hosseini as saying tighter measures are being sought after an Israeli journalist reported from Tehran about the 2009 presidential election for a European news outlet.Postelection turmoil in 2009 led the government to restrict access for visiting foreign journalists, many of whom left the country ahead of schedule.Hos

PHNOM PENH (AP) -- Police in Cambodia's capital have used water cannons to disperse about 60 people who were protesting their evictions from land four years ago to make way for a luxury real estate development.Human rights activist Am Sam Ath Licadho says at least two women -- one 72 years old -- were hurt by the high-pressure water as they protested Wednesday on a street in front of city hall.The protesters were mostly women who were evicted from Phnom Penh's Boueng Kak lake area. They are dema

WASHINGTON, (AFP) -- China's Shuanghui International has agreed to buy US pork icon Smithfield Foods in a deal valuing Smithfield at $7.1 billion, the two companies said Wednesday.Hongkong-based Shuanghui, which controls China's largest food-processing company, will pay $4.7 billion in cash and assume the debt of Smithfield, one of the largest meat processors in the United States.Shuanghui will pay $34 for the outstanding shares of Smithfield, a premium of 31 percent over Tuesday's closing price

VATICAN CITY (AP) -- The Vatican took another step Wednesday to show greater financial transparency by publishing the first annual report from its financial watchdog agency and announcing new regulations to fight money laundering and terror financing.The report from the Financial Intelligence Authority showed the agency received six internal reports on suspicious transactions in 2012, up from one a year earlier, and that two were sent onto Vatican prosecutors for investigation.But the 10-page re

DUBAI (AFP) -- Thousands of mainly Asian expatriate workers in the United Arab Emirates have ended a strike they began at the weekend in a rare stoppage aimed at improving their conditions, their employer said Wednesday."Arabtec confirms that all workers returned to work with no impact on any of its projects," the Dubai-based company, which is constructing the Louvre Abu Dhabi, said in a statement."This unwarranted stoppage had been instigated by a minority group who will be held accountable for

LONDON, (AFP) -- Up to 600 Afghan interpreters who served with British forces in Afghanistan will be offered the chance of a new life in Britain after a government U-turn, it was revealed on Wednesday.Prime Minister David Cameron had initially decided to discourage the interpreters from settling in Britain for fear of the message it would send out about the stability of Afghanistan as foreign forces pull out.Many of the Afghans say their lives are in danger from the Taliban due to their work wit

TEHRAN (AP) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Wednesday that a decision by election overseers to disqualify his top aide from next month's presidential race is an act of "oppression'' and that he will take the case to the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.His comments were posted on his website, president.ir, the day after the Guardian Council removed Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei from the final candidate list.Despite Ahmadinejad's pledge to appeal, it is unlikely that the Gu

SHANGHAI, (AFP) -- Calligraphy by Japanese porn star Sola Aoi has sparked a culture war in China, where she has a huge fan base, with purists dismissing the work as "unskilled" after it was reportedly auctioned for $95,000.Eight Chinese characters the actress wrote with brush and ink at a theme park in the eastern city of Ningbo were sold earlier this month, the Liberation Daily newspaper said Wednesday, without identifying the auction house or buyer."The style of calligraphy is childish, unskil

SYDNEY (AP) -- David Warner has pleaded guilty and been fined $5,750 for breaching Cricket Australia's code of conduct after his expletive-laden outbursts against two journalists on Twitter.Cricket Australia issued a statement late Wednesday saying its code of conduct commissioner, Gordon Lewis, imposed the maximum financial penalty for a first offense under Rule 6 of the code relating to "unbecoming behavior." "In hindsight, clearly I let my frustrations get the better of me and posted some ina

MANILA, Philippines (AP) --  Two Chinese military officers have for the first time joined a closed-door discussion on disaster response which is part of major annual U.S.-Philippine military exercises that Beijing has protested in the past.   Philippine Brig. Gen. Aurelio Baladad says the inclusion of military officers from the United States and China along with nine other countries in Monday's talks on responding to sea disasters shows that major powers sometimes seen as rivals can work togethe

Woori Finance Holdings Co., South Korea's top banking group, is likely to launch a committee next week to select a new head to replace Chairman Lee Pal-seung, officials said Monday.Chairman Lee offered to resign from the top post of the state-owned Woori Finance on Sunday, 11 months ahead of the official end of his term, as political pressure mounts.A seven-member committee to select a new chief is likely to be launched on Tuesday when a board meeting will be held, according to officials. A shar

The state-run Korea Gas Corp. said on Monday that its president and CEO Choo Kang-soo has offered to resign.In a press release, Choo said that he wants to step down to help South Korea open a "new era" following the inauguration of a new government, adding that he will follow the decision of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, which oversees the gas monopoly.Choo served as vice president of a Hyundai unit and is known to be a close confidant to former President Lee Myung-bak, whose five-

Dozens of South Korean civic groups on Monday urged the two Koreas to defuse escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula by seeking a peaceful resolution through dialogue.Tensions have been simmering over the communist North's bellicose rhetoric and actions against the South and its allies after Pyongyang faced fresh U.N. sanctions for its third nuclear test on Feb. 12 and last month's joint military exercise between Seoul and Washington. An association of 24 progressive civic groups, including

South Korean President Park Geun-hye met with the chief of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) on Monday and discussed ways to make next year's Asian Games in the port city of Incheon a success, the presidential office said.Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah of Kuwait, who heads the OCA and the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC), paid a visit to Park as she is the head of state hosting next year's Asiad, the office said in a statement.The Incheon Asian Games are scheduled for September