IV. International
(1-16-10)
. China’s
dictatorial tendencies
are showing in its dealing with the rest of the world.
Don’t call for political reform and basic
human rights. China’s response now that it sits
prominently at the table global governance—since you
made a fuss about Liu Xiaobo after his arrest, we will
punish him even more severely. In no uncertain terms
we’ll let you know that not only don’t we care about
what you think, but we don’t have to.
. Hedi
Annabi, a Tunisian national, chief of the UN in Haiti,
was found dead among debris in the quake-destroyed UN
headquarters in Port-au-Prince, Chinese rescuers
announced 1/16. He was believed to be in a meeting with
high-ranking Chinese delegation when the quake took
place.
.
A Boeing-747 jumbo jet carrying 90 tons of emergency
humanitarian aid, took off from Beijing for Haiti on the
night of 1/16. The relief supplies worth 13 million
yuan ($1.9 million) included tents, stretchers,
food, medicine, clothing and water purification
equipment.
.
Seoul residents slugged
through the heaviest snowfall in modern Korean history
after a winter storm dumped more than 11 inches
(1-04-10), forcing airports to cancel flights and
paralyzing traffic in South Korea’s bustling capita. The
snow was the heaviest in a single day since Korea
began meteorological surveys in 1937.
. The level
of household indebtedness is becoming an increasingly
worrisome factor for Korea’s economy, as it strives to
put the fledging economy on a more sustainable patch.
.
The Honor Society is a group of individuals who
have contributed at least 100 million won
($90,000) to the Community Chest of Korea, the
nation’s largest non-governmental charity organization.
.
Presidential,
senatorial, House of Reps elections as well as
provincial, city, town elections are scheduled in May in
the Philippines. Watch as the presidential
election may be stolen again (as it was in 2004). The
modus operandi of Philippine elections is patterned
after Russia’s Josef Stalin, “Those who vote decide
nothing; those who count the votes decide everything.”
.
As long as rogue politicians get away with murder, these
abhorrent anomalies will continue. There is nothing to
worry about from the culprit except for a slap in the
wrist. Make an example of one of the transgressors with
death by hanging or before a firing squad, and this will
stop.
.
The Brussels-based International Federation of
Journalists (IFJ) has labeled RP the deadliest place
in the world for journalists in 2009, with 137 lives
lost while calling on governments to do more to protect
reporters.
.
It seemed an innocent
enough question, posed by an Indian on vacation
recently in the palace-studded region of Rajasthan.
Should the Indian government make it more difficult for
tourists to visit the country’s glorious sights by
tightening visa requirements in the name of preventing
terrorism?
. A CRPF team
recovered a cache of ‘duplicate’ AK-47 and Ak-57 rifles
of high standard from a Naxal arms manufacturing unit
near Chatra in Jharkland, indicating Maoists may no
longer be dependent on looting weapons.
.
The US Army is training
a crack unit “to sell off and snatch back Pakistani
nuclear weapons in the event that militants, possibly
from inside the country’s security apparatus, get their
hands on a nuclear device or materials that could make
one,” a media report said that Islamabad termed
“outlandish.”
. Pakistan
has held up visas for US diplomats, military service
members and others, apparently because of hostility
within the country toward the expansion of US operations
in the country, a senior US diplomat said. The visa
hold-up is the latest tangible sign of the volatility of
US-Pakistani relations.
.
The US embassy is
already large and expanding, with plans to go from 500
employees to more than 800 over the next 18 months. Most
of the growth is related to the expansion of US aid to
Pakistan, some of which comes with the requirements for
accounting and oversight that have rankled Pakistanis.
. Among
those whose visas are held up are mechanics which tend
to a fleet of US helicopters that support Pakistani
operations in the frontier areas. Some visas were
approved after Pakistani authorities inquired about
grounded helicopters. In Oct, BHO signed into law the
$7.5 billion aid package for Pakistan which its military
criticized as meddling in the country’s internal
affairs.
.
Programs to protect endangered species and threatened
ecosystems are seriously underfunded by the Rudd
government in Australia, a broad mix of
conservationists and farming organizations have warned.
.
Google has agreed to take down links to a Web site that
promotes racist views on indigenous Australians. The
federal government plans to introduce legislation this
year urging service providers to ban “refused
classification” material.
.
Recent attacks (by stabbing and burning) on Indian
students in Australia could be racially motivated. The
incidents have sparked outrage in India. The outgoing
Aboriginal Social Justice Commissioner said
there’s inherent racism in the country and policies like
the Northern Territory intervention and welfare
quarantining were to blame.
. New Zealanders
are buying
thousands of tins of baby milk powder from supermarket
shelves and selling them to parents in China through
online shopping sites. The trade is worrying the local
makers of baby formula who say they have no control over
the online exporting of their products to China.
.
Retail spending using
electronic cards was up a seasonably adjusted 0.7% in
Dec., Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) says. Vehicle
fuel was the main factor in the rise, as it had been in
the rise since July.
.
Inland Revenue has widened the scope of action it
is taking over the local subsidiaries of overseas
companies’ alleged use of debt and equity hybrid
instruments to avoid hundreds of millions in tax.
. The trial of Lt. Gov.
Aitofele Sunia and Sen. Tulifua Tini Cam Yuen of
American Samoa on charges of fraud, bribery and
obstruction finally got underway 1-12-10 in US District
Court for the District of Columbia in WDC. The acts and
events leading up to the trial extend back over the past
decade.
. Senate
President Gaoteote Tofau Palaie revealed in the Senate
that opposition has been prevented in the new selection
from the Saole County Senate seat. The Amouli Village
Council accepted Sen. Utu Abe Malae’s resignation last
month and Fuata Dr. Iatala to take his place for the
remainder of Utu’s term.
.
Federal prosecutors filed an unopposed motion to require
the court’s office of interpreting services to ensure
that a Samoan interpreter is available in the courtroom
during trial. DOJ contracting procedures make it
impossible to assist with defense counsel’s own
examination of government overtures, the motion points
out.
.
Two Guam
residents last year filed separate complaints against
Sen. Matt Rector, who is also employed as president of
the Guam Federation of Teachers union. One
accused him of ethics violation related to his two jobs,
the other of failing to disclose a decade-old burglary
conviction when he ran for office in 2008.
.
Vice Speaker Benjamin
Cruz sent letters of Gov. Felix Camacho and Delegate
Madeleine Bordallo, requesting more time to review the
draft Environmental Impact Statement, stated a
press release from his office.
.
The University of Guam School of Education is
hosting an international conference for educators,
teachers, researchers, practitioners and school
administrators to share their experiences, theoretical
perspectives and research findings in education on Feb.
12-14.
.
Gov. Benigno Fitial of
the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI)
asked Corrections Commissioner Dolores Aldan to
temporarily release from jail a defendant in a
human-trafficking case whom he describe as one of the
best massage therapists because he needed her services
due to severe back pain.
.
Visiting US Interior
Asst. Secretary for Insular Affairs Tony Batauta said
there is no reason for foreigners with legal status
problems in CNMI to be deported until DHS issues
regulations on CNMI transitional worker permits.
.
The level of air traffic
on Tinian didn’t pass federal aviation standards,
resulting in its failure to get FAA funding for an
instrument landing system project, according to a
ranking FAA official.
.
The foreign reserves of
Tonga for Dec 2009 reached $160.4 million which
was half a million pa’anga more than the Nov
figure of $159.9 million.
.
Long queues of drivers are waiting at Tonga’s
Ministry of Transport to get their new drivers’
license cards for 2010 that are being issued under a
computerized system launched by the Ministry of
Transport.
.
Pursuing a dream to develop a private space port, a
couple of space entrepreneurs have the blessings of the
King of Tonga to build a small rocket launch on his
estate with the hope of launching it before the end of
2010.
