Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met Myanmar President Thein Sein on the sidelines of the 2013 Japan-ASEAN forum. Photo: Kyodo/VNA

A resort building crashed down in the southeastern city of South Korea Monday night, killing 10 people, including nine college students, and injuring dozens of others, a senior official at the state-run emergency management agency said Tuesday.   Photo taken on Feb. 18, 2014 shows the collapsed building in Gyeongju, some 370 km southeast of Seoul, South Korea. A resort building in the southeastern city of South Korea collapsed under the weight of heavy snow, killing at least 10 people and injuring more than 100 others, local media reported Tuesday."Ten people were confirmed dead, two were seriously injured and 16 others were slightly wounded," Lee Jae-yeul, director general of the general adjustment team at South Korea's National Emergency Management Agency, told reporters at a televised press conference. Lee said that search and rescue operations were completed as of 2 p.m. local time Tuesday, around 17 hours after a gymnasium at the Mauna Ocean Resort in Gyeongju, some 370 km southeast of Seoul, caved in at about 9:06 p.m. Monday. When the gymnasium roof collapsed under the weight of heavy snow, more than 560 students of the Busan University of Foreign Studies (BUFS) were participating in a welcoming event for freshmen who came from the southern port city of Busan. Among 10 confirmed dead, nine were students from the BUFS and one was an agent for the event organizing company. Two students and 11 event organizers, who had been out of contact and estimated to be trapped yet in the roof, were all accounted for. The gymnasium roof caved in as the building was unable to withstand the weight of snow, according to estimates by police and fire authorities. Exact cause of the accident is being investigated by prosecutors and police. The area where the collapse happened went through a heavy snowfall. Over the past week, the Gyeongju city and its surrounding area had about 50 cm of snow. Neglect of safety management by the resort operator Kolon Corp. was determined as one of the potential causes of the deadly accident. The gymnasium, built as a pre-fabricated structure, has never received any safety check since the completion of its construction in 2009, according to local media reports. Kolon Corp. Chairman Lee Woong-yeul told a televised press conference that heavy responsibility was felt for the deaths of young students, apologizing to the bereaved families. The Mauna Ocean Resort is operated by a unit of the Kolon Corp., which has a 50 percent stake in the resort operator. Heavy snow and icy roads slowed rescue efforts. Rescuers had difficulties in reaching the scene as the building is located at the top of the mountain and snow laid thick on the ground. Most rescue workers had to walk several hundred meters through the slippery and narrow road to the scene. According to the emergency management agency, a total of 1,448 rescuers, including fire and police officials and troops from nearby Marine Corps and Army units, were dispatched to the scene. Xinhuanet

The Philippines’ rice stock as of January 1 dropped by about 15 percent to 2.12 million metric tonnes (MT) from the previous month’s 2.49 million MT, according to the country’s Bureau of Agricultural Statistics.

Governments from around the world have vowed to take action on the illegal trade in wildlife. Some organisations want to have all ivory sales banned and stockpiles destroyed. At the conference at Lancaster House in London, delegates from 46 different countries and 11 UN organisations have signed The London Declaration. This outlines the steps that need to be taken to stop animal poaching, which governments agreed needs to be treated as a serious crime. The illegal trade in wildlife is worth about $19bn dollars a year. The London declaration states that investigating the links to corruption and organised crime needs to be made a priority. The 46 countries have also committed to improving cross border cooperation - and to strengthening laws and policing. With tens of thousands of rhinos, elephants and tigers being killed each year, these species face a real risk of extinction. The bulk of poaching takes place in Africa, but much of the demand comes from Asia, where animal products, such as rhino horns, are used in traditional medicine or are bought by the rich as trophies. Speaking at the conference, the UK's Foreign Secretary William Hague said: "The illegal wildlife trade is a global problem and it matters deeply to all of us gathered here today. "We need to show the world our political commitment at the highest level across the globe to addressing this before it is to late." Actions from the meeting include: • Treat wildlife trade as a serious crime within the UN convention against transnational organised crime • Address problems of corruption and money laundering related to wildlife crime with legislation - a zero tolerance policy • Strengthen legal frameworks and help law enforcement • Better cross-agency mechanisms to deal with wildlife crime • Endorsing governments which are destroying wildlife products • Renounce governments which use products from species threatened with extinction Conservationists broadly welcomed the news, but they say action will be need to be taken quickly. Heather Sohl, chief species adviser at WWF-UK, said: "Governments signing the London Declaration today sent a strong message: Wildlife crime is a serious crime and it must be stopped. "This trafficking devastates species populations, but also takes the lives of rangers, impedes countries' economic development and destabilises society by driving corruption." Dr John G Robinson, chief conservationist at the Wildlife Conservation Society, said the illegal trade involved "well-financed and well-armed syndicates". He commented: "The declaration calls for governments to crack down on these criminals with stiffer penalties and more aggressive investigation and prosecution, including addressing the corruption and bribery that facilitate these crimes. "It further calls for addressing this crisis at all points of the supply chain - where the animal is killed, where the parts are trafficked, and where the products are purchased." Prince Charles and The Duke of Cambridge, Prince William, attended the meeting, hosted by the UK government. The conference heard from the presidents of Botswana, Chad, Gabon and Tanzania, and the foreign minister of Ethiopia. President Khama of Botswana said that he would put the country's ivory stockpiles out of reach of the markets. As an additional pledge, the leaders of Botswana, Chad, Gabon and Tanzania have agreed to a moratorium on the ivory trade for at least 10 years, as part of an elephant protection initiative. While the trade of ivory has been banned under CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) since 1989, some states have been granted permission to sell their ivory stocks in the past. In 1999, CITES authorised a "one-off" sale of stockpiled ivory from Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to Japan, and in 2008 Namibia, Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe sold their stocks to buyers in China and Japan. In essence, by issuing a 10-year moratorium, the four African states are saying they will uphold the ban, and not ask for permission from CITES to sell any of their ivory. BBC

The map, published by the U.S. Geological Survey, technically illustrated the varied geologic character of Ganymede's surface, and is the first complete global geologic map of an icy, outer- planet moon, the researchers said.

Deputy Director General of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam Dinh Viet Thang speaking at the event (Photo: VNA)

Malaysia's Immigration Department on February 8 arrested 200 foreigners in Kuala Lumpur during the second phase of a national campaign to flush out illegal immigrants .

The costliest Olympic Games in history officially open in Russia on Friday, with 98 medals to be won over 16 days. Sochi, on Russia's Black Sea coast, will welcome about 2,900 athletes in 15 disciplines as the opening ceremony begins at 20:14 local time (16:14 GMT). The build-up has been overshadowed by security fears, human rights concerns and delays to preparations. But, at £30bn, the cost of these Games is more than the combined total of all other Olympic Winter Games to date. Canada, Norway and the United States are considered the likeliest candidates to top the Sochi medal table, while Team GB have been set a target of at least three medals in Sochi. If Britain reaches their target, that would mark the team's best performance in terms of medals won since 1936, while hope is high that Britain could win more than one gold medal at a Winter Olympics for the first time. The British women's curling team and skeleton slider Shelley Rudman are both defending world champions, while team-mate Lizzy Yarnold leads the current skeleton rankings. "I'm a canny Scot so I will err on the side of caution but we have a number of athletes competing at a top-class level in winter sports," said British chef de mission Mike Hay. "Without putting any additional pressure on, across more disciplines and more sports than ever before, we're a strong team. We are confident we will do well and there is a great spirit in the camp." Hosting an Olympics for the first time since the boycotted Moscow Games of 1980, Russian athletes are under pressure to improve on the embarrassment of 11th place at the last Winter Games in Vancouver. The nation has devoted £600m to elite winter sport since winning the bid to host these Games seven years ago. Russian attention will be focused on the men's ice hockey team, who have yet to win Olympic gold since the break-up of the Soviet Union (although a Unified Team featuring Russian players won gold in 1992), and popular figure skater Evgeni Plushenko, who has overcome injury to feature in the Games but faces a tough task to win a medal. Norway will look to biathlon and cross-country skiing for the bulk of their medals, while Canada's medals will come from short track speed skating, in particular Charles Hamelin, who has the potential to be one of the faces of the Games, as well as freestyle skiing and snowboard. The United States will expect big things from Alpine skiing and bobsleigh. In the absence of injured skier Lindsey Vonn, the leading American lights are slalom specialist Mikaela Shiffrin and snowboarder Shaun White - despite his withdrawal from the slopestyle contest on Wednesday, citing concerns over the safety of the course. Security in Sochi has been prominent as the world's athletes and media arrive for the Games. Threats in recent months have included repeated calls to disrupt the Olympics from the Imarat Kavkaz group in the North Caucasus, suicide bombings in the nearby city of Volgograd, and a recent US warning about the potential for 'toothpaste' bombs on flights. Journalists arriving in the region have found hotel rooms and other facilities unfinished amid a last-minute rush by organisers to complete building work, although the Olympic venues themselves have largely met with praise from athletes. Russian opposition politicians and analysts have attributed Olympic project delays to corruption, which they say accounts for much of the Sochi Games' substantial cost - more than three times the London 2012 budget. Liliya Shevtsova, a senior associate at a Moscow public policy research centre, believes the Games are "an embodiment of corruption, inefficiency, irrationality, extreme vanity and megalomania". Sochi's organisers do not recognise the £30bn figure (they claim it includes the costs of infrastructure which may have been built anyway) and insist their outlay has been closer to £4.3bn. Alexander Zhukov, president of Russia's Olympic Committee, said the authorities had "uncovered no cases of corruption". On Thursday, United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon addressed another issue facing the Games: recent Russian legislation outlawing "gay propaganda" towards children, widely perceived as reinforcing the oppression of Russia's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities. "Many professional athletes, gay and straight, are speaking out against prejudice," said Ban, addressing an International Olympic Committee (IOC) assembly in Sochi. "We must all raise our voices against attacks on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex people. We must oppose the arrests, imprisonments and discriminatory restrictions they face." IOC president Thomas Bach has said athletes who oppose Russia's 'anti-gay' legislation are free to express their views in interviews with the media, but must not do so on the podium or during their events. "If an athlete feels strongly about speaking out we would not impede them doing that," added Lord Coe, chairman of the British Olympic Association. Speed skater Jon Eley will be Team GB's flagbearer on Friday as a ceremony set to involve almost 10,000 participants opens the Games. Sochi's Fisht Olympic Stadium should be at full 40,000 capacity for the opening ceremony, although empty seats are anticipated at venues once the action begins. Two weeks before the Games, organisers reported they had sold 70% of available tickets. Vancouver 2010, by contrast, sold 97% of its tickets with London 2012 achieving a similar figure. For the first time in 30 years, events at the Winter Olympics began before the opening ceremony. Britain's Jamie Nicholls reached the final of the men's snowboard slopestyle, an event making its Olympic debut, on Thursday. Billy Morgan, Jenny Jones and Aimee Fuller missed direct qualification for the slopestyle finals but go through to the semi-finals, while GB figure skaters Matthew Parr, Stacey Kemp and David King competed in the team figure skating event - also new for these Games. Women's ski jump, luge team relay and biathlon mixed relay are among other events appearing on the Olympic programme for the first time. The first medals of the Games will be decided on Saturday with five golds up for grabs in biathlon, cross country skiing, freestyle skiing, snowboarding and speedskating. BBC

Thailand’s Lampang province has opened an ASEAN Information Centre in a bid to educate locals and enhance their potential ahead of the ASEAN Community formation in 2015.

Music therapy can help teenagers and young people cope better when faced with treatment for cancer, a study in Cancer journal suggests.

Protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban (Source; AFP/VNA)

Google has sold struggling US mobile phone company Motorola Mobility to Chinese computer maker Lenovo for $2.91bn (£1.8bn), in a surprise move.

A study confirming a link between atmospheric pollution and heart-attack risk strengthens the EU case for tougher clean-air targets, experts say.