FEATURED PHOTOS AND STORIES

January 13, 2020

Two new flags will be flying high at the Olympic Games in Rio.

For the first time, South Sudan and Kosovo have been recognized by the International Olympic Committee. Kosovo, which was a province of the former Yugoslavia, will have 8 athletes competing; and a good shot for a medal in women's judo: Majlinda Kelmendi is considered a favorite. She's ranked first in the world in her weight class.

(South Sudan's James Chiengjiek, Yiech Biel & coach Joe Domongole, © AFP) South Sudan, which became independent in 2011, will have three runners competing in the country's first Olympic Games.

When Will Chile's Post Office's Re-open? 

(PHOTO: Workers set up camp at Santiago's Rio Mapocho/Mason Bryan, The Santiago Times)Chile nears 1 month without mail service as postal worker protests continue. This week local branches of the 5 unions representing Correos de Chile voted on whether to continue their strike into a 2nd month, rejecting the union's offer. For a week the workers have set up camp on the banks of Santiago's Río Mapocho displaying banners outlining their demands; framing the issue as a division of the rich & the poor. The strike’s main slogan? “Si tocan a uno, nos tocan a todos,” it reads - if it affects 1 of us, it affects all of us. (Read more at The Santiago Times)

WHO convenes emergency talks on MERS virus

 

(PHOTO: Saudi men walk to the King Fahad hospital in the city of Hofuf, east of the capital Riyadh on June 16, 2013/Fayez Nureldine)The World Health Organization announced Friday it had convened emergency talks on the enigmatic, deadly MERS virus, which is striking hardest in Saudi Arabia. The move comes amid concern about the potential impact of October's Islamic hajj pilgrimage, when millions of people from around the globe will head to & from Saudi Arabia.  WHO health security chief Keiji Fukuda said the MERS meeting would take place Tuesday as a telephone conference & he  told reporters it was a "proactive move".  The meeting could decide whether to label MERS an international health emergency, he added.  The first recorded MERS death was in June 2012 in Saudi Arabia & the number of infections has ticked up, with almost 20 per month in April, May & June taking it to 79.  (Read more at Xinhua)

LINKS TO OTHER STORIES

                                

Dreams and nightmares - Chinese leaders have come to realize the country should become a great paladin of the free market & democracy & embrace them strongly, just as the West is rejecting them because it's realizing they're backfiring. This is the "Chinese Dream" - working better than the American dream.  Or is it just too fanciful?  By Francesco Sisci

Baby step towards democracy in Myanmar  - While the sweeping wins Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy has projected in Sunday's by-elections haven't been confirmed, it is certain that the surging grassroots support on display has put Myanmar's military-backed ruling party on notice. By Brian McCartan

The South: Busy at the polls - South Korea's parliamentary polls will indicate how potent a national backlash is against President Lee Myung-bak's conservatism, perceived cronyism & pro-conglomerate policies, while offering insight into December's presidential vote. Desire for change in the macho milieu of politics in Seoul can be seen in a proliferation of female candidates.  By Aidan Foster-Carter  

Pakistan climbs 'wind' league - Pakistan is turning to wind power to help ease its desperate shortage of energy,& the country could soon be among the world's top 20 producers. Workers & farmers, their land taken for the turbine towers, may be the last to benefit.  By Zofeen Ebrahim

Turkey cuts Iran oil imports - Turkey is to slash its Iranian oil imports as it seeks exemptions from United States penalties linked to sanctions against Tehran. Less noticed, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in the Iranian capital last week, signed deals aimed at doubling trade between the two countries.  By Robert M. Cutler

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Entries in Asia (3)

Thursday
Nov032011

Interpol and 13 nations come together to save tigers (REPORT) 

(PHOTO: SustainabilityNinja) at their 80th General Assembly, Interpol the world’s largest international police organization with 190 member countries launched a campaign to help save the world's last wild tigers in the 13 Asian countries where they still exist.  Conservationists praised the move.

"Having a force like Interpol working on this will give the effort a great boost," Mike Baltzer, head of WWF's Tigers Alive Initiative, said Thursday, a day after the campaign was unveiled.

The project, called “Project Predators” will link international wildlife officials with customs and law enforcement officers in the 13 nations to help stem poaching and smuggling of tiger parts for use in expensive traditional medicines.  

The initiative will provide capacity building to law enforcement agencies to combat tiger crimes, strengthen their ability to work with wildlife officials using advanced, intelligence-led methods of investigation and will also encourage countries to establish and resource National Tiger Crime Task Forces.

Poaching and habitat fragmentation have caused Asia's wild tiger population to decline from about 100,000 in 1900 to fewer than 3,500 today, according to Interpol.

Their habitat spans China, Russia, Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. Tigers do not live in the wild on other continents.  In November 2010, leaders from the 13 countries pledged to double the world's wild tiger population by 2022.

The Interpol project "will reduce trafficking in tiger parts, with the add-on effect of reducing other wildlife crime in Asia," Robert Zoellick, head of the World Bank and founder of the Global Tiger Initiative that will oversee the project, told Interpol delegates in a video address.

The project calls for connecting Asian law enforcement and customs officers with wildlife officials from the U.S., Britain, the World Bank and the Smithsonian Institution.

---HUMNEWS, agencies

Friday
Feb042011

HUMNEWS HEADLINES - February 4 -5, 2011 Asia & Pacific 

photo courtesy OneIndiaISLAND NATIONS  

Healthy Islands

WHO push to create “healthy islands” in the Pacific

EU commits to progressing Pacific EPA

Island nations again proving their worth

AMERICAN SAMOA

American Samoa government cuts workers hours to save money

American Samoa politicians considering new taxes to bridge income shortfall

BHUTAN

Bhutan opens doors to Christians

Bhutan – Cranes on the skyline

BRUNEI DARUSSALAM

Brunei open to joint oil exploration with China

Benefits of Brunei – Taiwan direct flights  

CHRISTMAS ISLAND

Radar surveillance system begins on Christmas Island as border protection taskforce acts on internal review recommendations

COCOS ISLANDS

Scuba diving spots for water sports lovers

Macau, photo courtesy BusinessInsiderCOOK ISLANDS

Former Cook Islands leader touted as new Speaker

EAST TIMOR

Soldiers answer prayers in East Timor

LAOS

Thousands gather in Fresno to honor Vang Pao  

MACAU

Uh-Oh is the great Macau story over?

MALDIVES

President says democracy consolidation not possible without decentralization

‘Blonde women only’ Maldives island hits snag as half of staff need wigs  

MARSHALL ISLANDS

Dubai conference pessimistic about piracy threat

Mock copy of newspaper headline, photo courtesy escapistmagazine NORTH KOREA

Kim Jung II left out of Japanese Homefront

North Korea not exactly friendly to Chinese investment

N. Korea’s top legislative body wants talks with Seoul’s lawmakers

NORTHERN MARIANNA ISLANDS

Column: GOP takes one step forward two steps back on race

TONGA

Tonga prepares for ferry criminal trial

Tonga government removes emergency regulations  

VANUATU

Village food crisis after Vanuatu cyclone

Charity starts close to home for courier boss

Hawke’s Bay apples provide windfall for Vanuatu family  

WALLIS AND FUTUNA

Heavy rain floods city

 

Thursday
Feb032011

World food prices at an historic high (Report) 

photo courtesy UN News(HN, February 3, 2011) --  World food prices have surged, for the seventh consecutive month, to a new historic peak in January, according to the updated FAO Food Price Index, a commodity basket that regularly tracks monthly changes in global food prices.

The index averaged 231 points in January and was up 3.4 percent from December – the highest level since the FAO started to measure in 1990 and higher than in June 2008 when the cost of food sparked violent protests in countries including Egypt, Haiti and Cameroon.

“These high prices are likely to persist in the months to come, FAO economist Abdolreza Abbassian said.

The individual group components of the index, apart from meat, all registered rises in January.

The Cereal Price Index averaged 245 points in January reflecting rises in the price of wheat and grain which had already gone up due to poor weather conditions this past year in countries such as Russia and the Ukraine and was driven higher by flooding in Australia, which is a major wheat exporter.

Political unrest

The high price of food seems to have been the spark that has unleashed a series of anti-government demonstrations, protests in several countries in the Middle East, beginning in Tunisia, where a young man set himself on fire after being prevented from selling fruits and vegetables, and spreading to Algeria, Yemen, Jordan and Egypt.

The Middle East and North Africa are the two regions that import the largest amount of cereal and countries in the area have been hit especially hard by the harvest shortages in Russia and the Ukraine this year.

Today the Moldovan government has decided to ban all wheat exports until the next harvest in an effort to prevent a large increase in the price of bread. The Prime Minister stated that the order should have been made earlier to avoid the “panic” that he says has already taken hold of the population.

wheat, file photoChallenges

Surging global food prices are just one of the many challenges that people face throughout the world. Climate change, growing population, and water sources are also affecting the overall food production and availability. As many countries grow increasingly dependent on food imports, they grow more vulnerable to natural disaster and market fluctuations taking place half-way around the world from them.

In India, The Financial Times reported earlier this week that food prices have hit their highest point in more than a year. Food prices are up by at least 18 percent from last year in a country where millions are spending more than 50 percent of their total income on food.

Rises are particularly high for dairy products, up 6.2% from December. Prices were driven higher by a combination of lower supply and increasing demand in emerging economies such as China and India.

The demand for food is expected to continue to grow as a result both of population grown and rising incomes according the FAO. Demand for cereals (for food and animal feed) is projected to reach some 3 billion tons by 2050. Annual cereal production will have to grow by almost a billion tons (2.1 billion tons today), and meat production by over 200 million tons to reach a total of 470 million tons in 2050, 72 percent of which will be consumed in developing countries, up from the 58 percent today.

The production of biofuels could also increase the demand for agricultural commodities, depending on energy prices and government policies.

World Bank President Robert Zoellick has asked global leaders to “put food first” and tackle the problem of price volatility.

“We are going to be facing a broader trend of increasing commodity prices, including food commodity prices”, he said.

Commodities prices have been on the rise generally with copper hitting a record high of $10,000 a ton.

Oil was also up on Thursday with Brent crude rising to $103.37 a barrel.

- HUMNews Staff