IV. International
(10-16-09)
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Nearly one in four
people in the world are Muslim and they are not
necessarily where you might think, according to a new
study that aims to map the global Muslim population.
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India, a majority-Hindu country, has more Muslims than
any country except Indonesia and Pakistan, and more than
twice as many as Egypt. China has more Muslims than
Syria. Indonesia has the world’s largest Muslim
population.
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Nearly two out of three of the world’s Muslims are in
Asia, stretching from Turkey to Indonesia. Russia has
more Muslims than Jordan and Libya combined. Germany has
more Muslims than Lebanon. The Middle East and North
Africa, which together are home to about one in five of
the world’s Muslims, trail a very distant second.
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The first four of the
top ten Muslim countries by population are in
Asia: 1) Indonesia:
202,867,000; is 88.2% Muslim; 2)
Pakistan: 174,082,000 is 93.6%; 3)
India: 160,945,000 is 13.4%; 4)
Bangladesh: 145,312,000 are 89.6%. The
remaining six are Egypt, Nigeria, Iran, Turkey,
Algeria and Morocco.
. There are
about 1.57 billion Muslims in the world, according to
the report, “Mapping the Global Muslim Population,” by
the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. That
represents 23% of the total global population of 6.8
billion. (There are 2.25 billion Christians based on
projections from 2005 World Religions Database.)
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The report can and should have
implications for US policy. The people of the Middle
East are making up a smaller and smaller percentage of
the worldwide Muslim community.
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Hummer,
the off-road vehicle that once epitomized America’s love
for hulking trucks, is now in the hands of a Chinese
heavy equipment maker.
. China
accused the US of
meddling in its domestic affairs after lawmakers
recognized the Dalai Lama with an award for his efforts
to improve human rights. (I guess the appropriate
message to the Chinese is—Get Lost!)
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China’s retail sales of
consumer goods totaled $83.5 billion during the
National Day Holiday, with average daily sales up
18% compared with the same period of last year, the
Minister of Commerce said.
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Nearly 90% of the 1,250
South Korean children adopted abroad last year,
most of them by American couples, were born to unmarred
women, according to the Ministry for Health, Welfare
and Family Affairs. The government and commentators
fret over the country’s birthrate, one of the world’s
lowest and deplore South Korea’s international
reputation as an exporter for foreign adoptions. The
woman who decides to raise a child alone risks a life of
poverty and disgrace.
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Leaders from China, Japan and South Korea said they
would explore the idea of a free trade pact, including
closer travel and deeper regional integration.
. North
Korea is showing signs of flexibility over returning
to nuclear disarmament talks, and other countries must
seize the opportunity to get the negotiations back on
track, said the Chinese Premier.
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Rescuers dug out six
survivors and more bodies buried under landslides that
killed at least 225 people in the storm-soaked N.
Philippines, as workers rushed 10/10 to clear
mountain roads to aid relief efforts.
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US military helicopters were on standby to help the
Philippine Air Force deliver aid to areas cut off by
road closings as flooded highways hampered search for
people trapped in homes buried in mud. US troops planned
to conduct a medical mission and deliver supplies.
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Pres. GMA lifted the “state of calamity” in Visayas and
Mindanao as conditions in the area are no longer
affected by the weather disturbances in Luzon.
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An Indian
farmer’s daughter disarmed a terrorist leader who broke
into her home, attacked him with an axe, and shot him
dead with his own gun. The gunmen were believed to be
Pakistani militants.
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Many in Kashmir accuse Indian security forces of raping
and murdering two sisters (ages 22 and 17) in Shopian
and say that justice will only be served when the Indian
troops leave.
. Millions
of poor villagers across S. India are facing an imminent
food shortage following months of intense drought and
recent devastating floods, aid agencies warned.
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The US has long
suspected that much of the billions of dollars it has
sent to Pakistan to battle militants has been
diverted to the domestic economy and other causes, such
as fighting India. Between 2002 and 2003, while
al-Quaeda regrouped, only $500 million of the $6.6
billion in American aid actually made it to the
Pakistani military, two Army generals told the AP.
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Steps by US to vastly
expand its aid to Pakistan as well as the foot print of
its embassy and private security contractors here are
aggravating an already volatile anti-American mood and
Washington pushed for greater action by the government
against the Taliban.
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Pakistan briefly took
two news channels (Geo and SAMA channels
known for critical reporting of the
government) as they
covered attempts by soldiers to capture two militants
who broke into Army headquarters,
following an attack on
the complex.
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A Bangladeshi
farmer (Mokhairul Islam) won a color TV for killing
83,450 rats in the past nine months in Gazyim
District near Dhaka, the capital. He collected their
tails for proof.
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Retired Gen. Moeen Ahmed had wanted to take over the
government but failed to convince the international
powers. He had a role in promulgating the state of
emergency and formation of Dr. Fakhruddin’s caretaker
government. His ambition was crushed when 15 US senators
strongly opposed the takeover by the Army.
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Thirty years after the passage of the Ombudsman Act,
the government is finally looking for a competent person
to investigate allegations of corruption and abuse by
public officials and recommend action.
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Westpac Banking Corp
of Australia used complicated financial
transactions to avoid paying taxes, a court said. It was
clearly a blow to Australian banks fighting nearly $2
billion of tax claims in New Zealand.
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Property development is a high-risk business and a
healthy appetite for risk is a prerequisite for those
involved. It attracts colorful characters. Without them
New Zealand would be less interesting.
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A lack of political will to tackle corruption in East
Timor is holding the country back, said Sebastiao
Ximenes, E. Timor’s Ombudsman for Human Rights &
Justice.
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Billionaire Steve Wynn’s
Macau casino company jumped 13% in its trading
debut on the Hong Kong stock exchange10/9 reflecting
stronger finish in the southern Chinese gambling city’s
prospects.
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Shanghai-born Charles Kang Kuen has become the first
Hong Kong-linked person to win the Nobel Prize in
Physics. The former Chinese University of Hong
Kong professor shares the prize with Willard Boyle and
George Smith for pioneering “masters of light” work on
fiber-optics and semiconductor.
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Women rights campaigners and political activists have
said women politicians in Nepal suffer from
violence of one form or another.
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Bhutanese communities
and individuals have been selling and exporting
marijuana growing naturally in Bhutan across the
border from Assam for many years, according to data from
the Royal Bhutan police.
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Myanmar’s junta leader allowed detained
pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi a rare meeting
with western diplomats 10/9 to discuss sanctions imposed
against the military-ruled country.
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The Sultan and Yang
Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darunssalam will be the
official guest of the Russian Federation when he
goes to Moscow this week for a 5-day state visit.
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Hundreds of children
living in a rough downtown in Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam)
neighborhood are forced to take up the dual gauntlet of
drug addiction and crime every day.
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A Lao minister admitted that the authorities still do
not know the real extent of forest density in the
country. Laos plans to conduct a new forestry
survey in 2011, while the illegal logging is on the
rise.
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PM Hung Sen of Cambodia
thanked the local forces and officials who contributed
to help typhoon victims as well as the charitable
organizations and people for their help, said the
cabinet minister for National Disaster Management
Committee.
. Thai
authorities say they will apply immigration laws on the
Hmong refugees at Huay Namkhao Camp in
order to repatriate all of them within the next two
months.
. Malaysia-based
budget carrier AirAsia has won landing rights in
Paris, its second destination in Europe, in a boost to
its global expansion plan, an official said last week.
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American coal company
Peabody Energy Corp opened an office in
Indonesia to take advantage of coal sourcing
opportunities and expand its presence in the
marketplace.
. Taiwan’s
High Court upheld
its earlier decision to keep former Pres. Chen Shui-bian
in detention after the Supreme Court ordered it to hold
a hearing on the matter, an official said.
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SingTel
of Singapore
unveiled its price plan from the Barclays Premier
League, when it won a 3-year exclusive broadcast
right, commencing August 2010.
. Japan
has suspended beef
shipments from an American meatpacking plant (Tyson
Fresh Meats Inc) after finding cattle parts banned
earlier under an agreement to prevent the spread of mad
cow disease, the Agriculture Ministry said.
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The Sri Lankan
Parliament has approved an additional 20% budget for the
country’s military for the remainder of this year. It
justifies it as necessary to boost security forces.
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The government of Mongolia has sought to exercise
more controls over the mining sector and set up
MonAtom to undertake uranium exploration and mining
on behalf of the state.
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The Dept of Inland Revenue failed to collect over Rf.
1.1 (US$85.6 million) in unpaid taxes, fines and resort
rents, the latest audit report in Maldives
reveals.
