IV. International (10-02-06)
.
In the US State
Department’s annual report on religious freedom, it
identified 8 violators, 4 of which are from
Asia—Iran,
Burma, China,
Eritrea, N.
Korea, Saudi
Arabia, Sudan and
Vietnam.
.
Over strong opposition
from China, UN Security Council voted 10-4 to put Burma
on its agenda which US officials called a major step
forward to increase pressure on the country’s military
dictatorship.
. Asia must
dramatically boost investment in infrastructure in the
next decade or risk losing its global competitive edge,
warned the president of the Asian Development Bank.
.
Foreign Minister from the 10-member ASEAN gave
the go-signal for the regional grouping to apply for
observer status in the UN, the Philippine mission to the
UN said.
. China
said a 33% rise in
exports in August from a year earlier sent its monthly
trade surplus to a monthly record and took the
year-to-date surplus to just shy of the full-year total
for 2005.
.
China tightened its control over the distribution of
news by foreign agencies, further restricting
international access to the tightly regulated Chinese
media market. This clampdown includes information from
China’s courts. It took effect immediately.
. Chinese
health officials are preparing 23 million to 25 million
doses of flu vaccine, after experts warned the HsN1 bird
flu could break out again with other flu strains during
the winter and spring.
.
At least 100k protesters
demanding the resignation of
Taiwan’s
scandal-plagued Pres. Chen Shui-bian staged one of the
biggest rallies ever in the capital after ending a
weeklong sit-in outside his office.
. Prosecutors
have questioned Pres. Chen about the use of secret
diplomatic funds at the core of the corruption probe,
his office said.
. Taiwan has
imposed an anti-dumping tax on towels imported from
rival China, the government announced. The 204% tax will
remain in place until May 31, 2011.
. Japan’s
Supreme Court rejected an appeal by doomsday cult
founder Shoko Asahua, ensuring his execution for a sting
of killings, including the 1995 nerve gas attack on
Tokyo’s subways.
. Toyota
Motors announced an ambitious plan to boost global
sales to 9.8 million vehicles in 2008 as its US rivals
are closing plants and scaling back production
. US
financial authorities are contemplating on imposing an
administrative punishment on the US unit of the Bank
of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ for alleged lax monitoring
against money laundering.
.
North
Korea
is trying to acquire
capability to enrich uranium, but there is no proof that
the enrichment facility has been built.
. Unification
Minister Lee Jongsook said
Seoul
would resume its humanitarian assistance for the
Communist North as soon as Pyongyang returns to
international negotiations over its nuclear ambitions.
.
The central bank’s consumer sentiment index (CSI) fell
to a 7-quarter low in the July-October period, raising
concerns that economic slowdown will dampen consumer
spending.
.
The Philippine
army sent 500 commandos to the
island
of Jolo to
bolster an offensive against Abu Sayyaf
fighters who have close to the regional terrorist group
Jemaah Islamiyah.
. The
Department of Labor & Employment (DOLE) is
eyeing the deployment of about 15k Filipino workers to
Guam to build the camp and houses of 8k US Marine Corps
personnel who will be removed from Okinawa,
Japan
in 2008.
.
Philippine nursing graduates who passed the
leakage-tainted June 2006 licensure exam may not qualify
for the examination of the Commission on Graduates of
Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) and therefore lose
the chance to work in the
US.
. Thailand’s
army commanders ousted P.M. Thaksin in a military coup
while he was in NY, circling his offices with tanks,
declaring martial law and revoking the Constitution.
.
Thailand will probably not restore democracy for at
least a year, said Gen. Sondhi Boonyaratkalin,
the commander who seized power in a bloodless coup.
.
According to sources
briefed by the army high command, Thaksin’s bungled
response to the insurgency in southern Thailand, which
has claimed 1,700 lives in 2 years, was a critical
factor in the generals’ decision to get rid of him.
.
Thousands of Christians
in Indonesia,
angered by the execution of 3 Roman Catholic militants,
torched cars and government buildings, looted shops and
attacked a jail, freeing hundreds of inmates.
. A band of
70 public order officers will patrol the capital
(Jakarta) to ensure nightspots and entertainment centers
comply with an order to adjust their operating hours
during Ramadhan.
.
Indonesian insurance companies inaugurated an
arbitration body to settle disputes with policy-holders
and bypass the country’s slow and questionable legal
system.
.
Sources say Sime Engineering, a unit of
Sime Darby,
Malaysia’s
oldest conglomerate, is preparing to make an unsolicited
bid for Ramunia.
.
Stressing that it is
committed to tuning around Lotus, Proton
says it needs to make the British unit leaner and more
efficient, and right-sizing needs to be done quickly.
.
Seacera’s tiles will be distributed through 2
Australian companies in all states, except Victoria,
because of an existing agreement with another party
there.
.
Illegal logging remains
a serious problem in
Laos,
even though the government has banned timber exports for
the past 15 years, allowing only exports of processed
woods.
. Laotian
authorities have outlined their tourism plans and goals
for the next decade, aiming to increase revenues to at
least $500 million, starting in 2013 by promoting
cultural and eco-tourism.
.
The UN World Population Fund in Thailand
announced that it is ready to provide humanitarian aid
to more than 6,000 Hmong refugees living along
both sides of the road to the Houay Namkhao village
in Phatchaborin province.
.
Type 2 diabetes is
engulfing
India,
swallowing up the legs and jewels of those comfortable
enough to put on weight in a country better known for
famine.
.
Two soft drink manufacturers are under fire in
India
after a recent report released by a respectful
environmental group revealed that the colas in that
country contain dangerous pesticides, sometimes at
alarmingly high levels. (Coke and Pepsi have
hotly disputed the conclusions.)
. Describing
as “worrisome” activities of externally-sponsored terror
groups, P.M. Sing warned of a spurt of suicide attacks
targeting religious, economic and sensitive institutions
in the country.
.
P.M. Asiz of
Pakistan
has called upon all sections of society, including
parliamentarians, businessmen, government servants and
the public at large to play their due role and fulfill
their personal and collective responsibilities in
maintaining the sanctity of Ramazan.
.
The Central Development Working Party (CDWP)
approved 23 projects costing Rs 22.9 billion, while
deferred 3 projects worth Rs 9613 billion.
.
The prices of galvanized steel coils have shot up by
nearly $100 per metric ton in the international market
due to shortage of zinc in the world’s markets, trade
sources said.
.
Eminent Judge & former
VP of the International Court of Justice Christopher
Weeramanty of
Sri Lanka was
awarded the UNESCO Prize for Peace Education 2006
at UNESCO’s headquarter in Paris.
. Disaster
Relief Minister Ameer Ali handed over Rs. 15,000 only as
an advance for each death victim out of the Rs. 100,000
compensation that is due to be paid.
.
Sri Lanka’s first
international domestic airline, Air South Asia,
formally known as Holiday Air, will operate their
first international flight out of Colombo early next
year.
