Kenyan authorities have seized almost 700kg of ivory worth millions of
\ndollars in a night-time raid at the country’s main airport. The Kenya
\nWildlife Service says a similar amount was intercepted in the Ethiopian
\ncapital, Addis Ababa. Both consignments – with a potential value of more
\nthan $1.5m (\u00a3938,000) – were reportedly headed for Thailand. Poaching is on
\nthe increase mostly owing to high demand for ivory in Asia. It is not yet
\nclear whether the ivory, recovered at Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta Airport, had
\nbeen trafficked from other parts of the continent or was from East Africa.
\nTwenty years ago the world’s elephant population was plummeting and the
\ntrade in ivory was banned. But over the past decade the ban has been
\nperiodically relaxed and occasional supervised ivory auctions have been
\nallowed.<\/p>\n
A powerful earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale struck the remote
\nKermadec Islands region. The quake occurred at a depth of 62 km and its
\nepicentre was about 260 km north east of Raoul Island. There were no
\nimmediate reports of any damage or injuries. No tsunami warning was issued
\nfollowing the quake. The islands, which are often hit by severe quakes,
\nhave no permanent population except a small New Zealand Department of
\nConservation team on Raoul Island.<\/p>\n
Madagascar’s rival political parties have agreed on key posts in a
\ntransitional government. Andry Rajoelina, who led a military coup that
\nousted President Marc Ravalomanana, will remain as president. However, Mr
\nRajoelina will not be allowed to run for the post in Madagascar’s next
\nelections, which must be held by November 2010 under the deal. The newly
\nappointed prime minister is Eugene Mangalaza, who is a member of the same
\npolitical party as another former president, Didier Ratsiraka, who was
\nousted himself by Mr Ravalomanana in 2002. The deal is expected to end the
\npolitical crisis that has enveloped Madagascar since Rajoelina took power.
\nThe political struggle has led to the deaths of more than 100 people and
\nhampered the island’s tourism industry.<\/p>\n
The disasters this week show people on Pacific shores still lack basic
\nprotection from tsunamis The official responses to this week’s double
\ndisaster \u2013 first, the Samoan tsunami, and then the Sumatran earthquakes \u2013
\nagain reveal worrying flaws in the early warning systems that are the
\nfirst, and usually only, lines of defence against the natural hazards that
\nregularly afflict the world’s most seismically unstable regions. When the
\n8.3 magnitude undersea earthquake struck, 190km south of the Samoan
\nislands, it was registered instantly at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre
\non Ewa Beach, Oahu, which then issued tsunami warnings to a number of
\nPacific island groups, including New Zealand and Samoa.<\/p>\n
The fencing project of India \u2013 Bangladesh border is expected to complete by
\nMarch 2010. The development of fence had been put off due to issues like
\nharsh topography and pending land acquisition case, cites a home ministry
\nstatement. The other factors which delayed the fencing of the India –
\nBangladesh border include need for realignment of fencing, presence of
\nhuman life within 150 yards of border, objections from Bangladesh Rifles
\nfor the development of fences within 150 yards etc. The working season
\navailable for the construction of the fence was also a very restricted one.
\nApproximately 2,649.74 km of the total 3,436.56 km have been fenced till
\nnow. The project is now expected to reach completion by March, 2010, it
\nsaid. About 3,326.82 km of border roads of the sanctioned 4,326.24 km have
\nalso been constructed. The 2,840 km India \u2013 Bangladesh border will be
\nfloodlighted, which is expected to cost about Rs.1,327 crore. This is
\nexpected to get over by 2011-2012. The work is being carried out by CPWD,
\nNBCC and NPCC.<\/p>\n
With no outside help in sight, villagers used their bare hands to dig out
\nrotting corpses, four days after landslides triggered by a huge earthquake
\nobliterated four hamlets in western Indonesia. At least 644 people were
\nburied and presumed dead in the hillside villages in Padang Pariaman
\ndistrict on the western coast of Sumatra island. If confirmed it would
\nraise the death toll in the 7.6-magnitude earthquake to more than 1,300,
\nwith about 3,000 missing. The extent of the disaster in remote villages was
\nonly now becoming clear. So far, aid and rescue efforts have been
\nconcentrated in the region’s capital, Padang, a city of 900,000 people
\nwhere several tall buildings collapsed. But the quake was equally
\ndevastating in the hills of Pariaman, where entire hillsides were shaken
\nloose, sending a cascade of mud, rocks and trees through at least four
\nvillages. Vice President Jusuf Kalla said there was little hope of finding
\nanyone alive. “We can be sure that they are dead. So now we are waiting for
\nburials.”<\/p>\n
Police in Uganda have arrested and extradited a man who is among the most
\nwanted suspects from the Rwandan genocide. The 100-day killing rampage led
\nto the loss of an estimated 10 percent of Rwanda’s population. The 100-day
\nkilling rampage led to the loss of an estimated 10 percent of Rwanda’s
\npopulation. IIdephonse Nizeyimana was picked up at a hotel in Rubaga, a
\nsuburb of the capital, Kampala, by the National Central Bureau of Interpol.
\nHe was transferred to a U.N. detention facility in Arusha, Tanzania, where
\nthe tribunal is based. Top officials who allegedly took part in the
\ngenocide, such as army generals and politicians, are tried by the tribunal.
\nNizeyimana is one of the four top accused who are earmarked by the
\nprosecutor to be tried by the tribunal in Arusha after their arrest as part
\nof the ICTR completion strategy. Of a list of 13 fugitives, he is the
\nsecond to be arrested in less than two months.<\/p>\n
Three major earthquakes struck within an hour and 10 minutes near Vanuatu
\nin the South Pacific, prompting a tsunami warning that was quickly lifted.
\nThe quakes struck near Vanuatu in the South Pacific. They were part of
\nseries of nine moderate-to-major quakes that rattled the region in just
\nover four hours. The first quake, with a magnitude of 7.8, struck at 9:03
\na.m. at a depth of 35 km (22 miles) and an epicenter 295 km (180 miles)
\nnorth-northwest of Luganville, Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu. A second quake,
\nwith a magnitude of 7.7, struck 15 minutes later at the same depth and an
\nepicenter of 340 km (210 miles) north-northwest of Luganville. The third
\nquake, with a magnitude of 7.1, struck at 10:13 a.m. at about the same
\ndepth and an epicenter of 280 km (175 miles) north-northwest of Luganville.
\nThe Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued and then quickly lifted a
\nregional tsunami warning and watch for parts of the Pacific near the first
\nearthquake’s epicenter. The first data from a buoy at Luganville on Vanuatu
\ndetected a tsunami wave of 4 centimeters (1.6 inches) at Luganville on
\nVanuatu.<\/p>\n
One of the suspects in the killing of two Tobago teenagers was shot dead by
\npolice officers in Moruga. Gary Mohammed was killed around 10.15 p.m. A
\nparty of police officers approached a wooden structure in a forested area
\nin St Mary’s, Moruga, and were fired upon, officers said. In returning
\nfire, Mohammed was shot several times and died at the scene. The
\n32-year-old, of Ste Madeleine, San Fernando, last lived in Tobago. The
\nsearch continues for a second suspect, who was also shot. The battered
\nbodies of Kolen Salandy, 16, and Rondell Thomas, 15, were found in French
\nFort, Scarborough, Tobago. Their bodies bore marks of violence to the neck
\nand throat, and both were found with their underpants and trousers pulled
\ndown to their knees. Autopsies revealed the teens died as a result of
\nbroken necks. A manhunt was launched for the suspects after they were
\nspotted in Princes Town. The men fled to Trinidad by boat after the
\nteenagers’ bodies were found, investigators said. They believed the men
\nwere seeking assistance to leave the island by sea. As officers search for
\nthe second suspect, medical institutions have been informed to be on the
\nalert for anyone needing attention for gunshot wounds.<\/p>\n
Stepping off the plane, tourists are welcomed to Easter Island with a
\ngarland of flowers. They find themselves on a tiny dot in the Pacific
\nOcean, 3,700km west of Chile, to which the island belongs, and 2,000km east
\nof Pitcairn Island. All around are the white-flecked waves of the Pacific.
\n\u201cWhat perfect peace,\u201d exclaimed Thor Heyerdahl, a Norwegian explorer and
\nauthor when he arrived in the mid-1950s. He might not say so today. Some
\n70,000 visitors now arrive each year, up from just 14,000 in the mid-1990s.
\nApart from the island\u2019s utter remoteness, what attracts the tourists are
\nthe moai, the mysterious giant stone statues erected by the ancestors of
\nthe indigenous Rapa Nui people. They are testament to a complex society of
\nup to 20,000 people which later shrank to a shadow as a result of
\ncalamitous environmental stress and deforestation, a cautionary tale
\nnarrated in \u201cCollapse\u201d, a book by Jared Diamond, a polymath at the
\nUniversity of California, Los Angeles. Today Easter Island once again faces
\nenvironmental threats. Food comes from Chile, either by ship or on the
\nseven weekly flights from Santiago (there are also two from Tahiti). The
\nvisitors \u201call pull the chain,\u201d Luz Zasso, the mayoress, notes acidly. The
\nabsence of a sewage system is threatening the cleanliness of the island\u2019s
\nunderground water sources. But it would be hard to install one without
\ndamaging archaeological sites. Electricity comes from diesel-powered
\ngenerators. Power cuts are frequent. Rubbish is piling up. Many Easter
\nIslanders are worried. Tourists should be limited to 50,000 a year and be
\npreferably well-heeled, argues Marcelo Pont, the vice-president of the
\nCouncil of Elders, an advisory body. Visitors from the Chilean mainland
\nattract particular resentment. \u201cThey\u2019re interested in sun, sand and
\nswimming pools, not the island,\u201d says Edgard Herevi of the local chamber of
\ntourism. Tourism has brought migrants from the mainland, too. The
\npopulation is now 5,000, up from 3,300 in 2002, of whom only half are now
\nof Rapa Nui descent. Locals complain that the incomers are competing in the
\nhandicrafts trade, carving wooden moai and selling shell necklaces.<\/p>\n
Thousands of Venezuelans congregated for candlelit rituals on a remote
\nmountainside where adherents make an annual pilgrimage to pay homage to an
\nindigenous goddess known as Maria Lionza. Along with Santeria, Venezuela is
\nhome to other folk religions, such as the sect surrounding the Indian
\ngoddess Maria Lionza, an indigenous woman who according to tradition was
\nborn on Sorte Mountain and whose cult has spread to Colombia, Panama,
\nPuerto Rico, Dominican Republic, and Central America.<\/p>\n
The Global Hunger Index placed Kenya among the world\u2019s most food deficient
\ncountries. The report by International Food Policy Research Institute
\n(IFPRI), Concern Worldwide and Welt Hunger Hilfe ranks countries on a
\n100-point scale with 0 being the best score, but Kenya had only 20.1 per
\ncent. In ranking the country is placed 29th in the world among the
\ncountries with poor food security. Kenya is a hotspot on hunger
\nvulnerability because of the perennial droughts and insecurity. The world
\nhas been dealing with the food security since 1976. But today close to 900
\nmillion people are still food insecure and Kenya is placed among the dark
\nsection of the report. Democratic Republic of Congo was ranked the worst
\nfollowed by Burundi, Eritrea, Sierra Leone, Chad and Ethiopia. Egypt,
\nTunisia, Algeria and Libya were identified as the countries in Africa that
\nhave shown consistency in food security.<\/p>\n
In “Law Abiding Citizen,” a sociopath goes on a rampage, killing major
\nofficials in Philadelphia and holding the entire city hostage. He
\nessentially is a character elevated out of the ranks of horror films who
\ninstead of killing teenagers reacting to hormones or other socio-biological
\nimperatives destroys adults reacting to career dictates. As the title
\ninsists, this is a law-abiding citizen who is irate with a justice “system”
\nthat allowed one of the killers of his wife and daughter to get off with a
\nlight sentence. Does a social message lurk within the context of rapes,
\ndismemberment, bomb explosions and political assassinations? No, of course
\nnot. That’s just the cover for filmmakers F. Gary Gray and writer Kurt
\nWimmer to indulge in calculated genre mischief that mixes horror elements
\nwith a suspense thriller. The script does create sufficient tension and
\nintrigue to hook viewers, along with a photogenic, hard-working cast, so
\n“Citizen,” should stir some mid-October box-office action. Gerard Butler
\n(who also is a producer) plays a supposedly average guy who witnesses the
\nslaughter of his wife and daughter by home-invasion robbers. Curiously,
\nthis pair seems more interested in being outrageously sadistic than in
\ngrabbing anything worth fencing, but that’s so an audience will understand
\nthese really are bad people who deserve to die. Jamie Foxx plays a Philly
\nassistant D.A. without much hard evidence who plea-bargains an agreement
\nwith one sleaze ball to testify against the other to win at least a death
\nverdict against one and a murder plea from the other.<\/p>\n
Incidents of Thai gangs harassing and robbing Burmese migrant workers in
\nSouthern Thailand are on the rise, claim several migrant workers. A Mon
\nmigrant worker, employed at a rural rubber plantation in Hat Yai district
\nin Trang Province in Southern Thailand, said that he and his wife were
\nrobbed of by a gang of three Thai teenagers. The gang stole 440 baht and a
\ncell phone. Nai Myint Aung, aged 30, said that he and eight of his friends
\nare already paying 50 baht per month to a different Thai gang, and have
\nbeen doing so for the past eight months. Nai Myint Aung said that if he or
\nhis friends fail to pay the monthly extortion fee, the gang follows them
\nback to their homes and harasses their families. Nai Myint Aung also said
\nthat he left his boss\u2019s home, where he had received his paycheck of 7000
\nbaht, and entered the local market. The gang of Thai teenagers followed him
\nfrom the marketplace to his neighborhood. Nai Myint Aung claimed that the
\ngang stopped his motorbike and seized his wife who accompanied him,
\nthreatening the pair with a knife. The gang then searched his wife\u2019s body
\nand stole 440 baht and her cellular phone. A Thai neighbor of the pair,
\na-35 year-old man, saw the Nai Myint Aung and his wife being attacked, and
\nphoned the police, causing the gang to scatter. Nai Myint Aung said that
\nhis wife had luckily had the foresight to stow his paycheck in her
\nbrassiere, and thus the pair managed to escape the attack without losing
\nthe 7000 baht he\u2019d just received.<\/p>\n
Officials say the sales have fuelled demand for ivory in Asian countries,
\nespecially China, contributing to a sharp increase in elephant poaching. So
\nfar this year poachers in Kenya have killed 128 elephants for their ivory;
\nlast year 98 were killed. In July, Kenyan authorities intercepted 16
\nelephant tusks and two rhinoceros horns being illegally exported to Laos
\nfrom Mozambique. Some wildlife experts have attributed the increase in
\nelephant poaching to the presence of Chinese workers in Africa. With demand
\nfor ivory products increasing back home, some Chinese workers on low
\nsalaries in Kenya are reported to have become middlemen in the ivory trade.
\nAnd because of the high demand for ivory across Asia, the price of ivory
\nhas shot up and can fetch more than $1,000 a kilo.<\/p>\n
A magnitude-5.8 earthquake struck central Italy, causing buildings to
\ncollapse in the historic centre of L\u2019Aquila and raising fears of
\nfatalities. Rome, Abruzzo and other parts of central Italy were hit by the
\nquake, whose epicentre was in the area of Abruzzo\u2019s capital, L\u2019Aquila, at a
\nfive-km depth. L\u2019Aquila residents were shaken from sleep and ran out in
\npanic onto the city\u2019s streets. Emergency services authorities said the
\nquake struck at 3.32 a.m. with a magnitude of 5.8 on the Richter scale. The
\nUS Geological Survey initially reported the strength of the quake at 6.7
\nbefore lowering it to 6.3. In the hours before the earthquake, two tremors
\nhad occurred with magnitudes of 3.5 and 3.9.<\/p>\n
Once such warnings are received, it is up to local authorities to pass them
\non to their coastal inhabitants by whatever methods have been agreed, with
\ninstant automated text messaging among the most widely used techniques.
\nText messaging is of particular value in the event of locally generated
\ntsunamis, when the window of warning is usually a matter of minutes, rather
\nthan hours. But those Samoans who felt the tremor and waited for the text
\nthat would tell them whether to head inland waited in vain, for no message
\nwas sent out. And had anyone turned down the radio or television so as not
\nto miss the incoming text alert, they would have missed the islands’ only
\nwarning \u2013 given out on local radio just as the first of two giant waves
\nbegan battering the islands’ southern shores. On New Zealand’s North
\nIsland, meanwhile, several hundred people received their “instant” text
\nalert some three hours late, by which time the tsunami warning had already
\nbeen cancelled. The messaging service has now been suspended, and an
\ninquiry is already under way. But technological failure is not the only
\nfactor that contributed to the death toll, which currently stands at 169.
\nMany of those killed were caught by the morning’s second wave as they
\nheaded to the beaches to pick up the fish that had been washed ashore by
\nthe first wave. Given that tsunamis usually take the form of a series of
\npowerful waves, sometimes even hours apart, such a fatal lack of awareness
\nspeaks of a wider failure to pass on even basic tsunami knowledge and
\npreparedness to the islands’ coastal inhabitants. Education remains the
\nonly truly effective means of reversing the effects of disaster amnesia,
\nbut the last island-wide safety drill took place in October 2007, in
\nresponse to a tsunami earlier that year that killed 22 people on the nearby
\nSolomon Islands. Ironically, a similar tsunami safety drill had been
\nscheduled for American Samoa but the real thing arrived unannounced
\ninstead.<\/p>\n
Where the villages once stood, there was only mud and broken palm trees \u2014
\nthe mountainsides appeared gouged bare as if by a gigantic backhoe. The
\nvillages “were sucked 30 meters deep into the earth. Even the mosque’s
\nminaret, taller than 20 meters disappeared. In Jumanak village, some 200 to
\n300 wedding guests at a restaurant were buried alive, including the bride.
\nIchi, 19, had come back to the village for her wedding. “When the landslide
\ncame, the party had just finished. I heard a big boom of the avalanche. I
\nran outside and saw the trees fall down,” said Iseh, who like many
\nIndonesians uses only one name. “I tried to get in front of the house with
\nmy brothers. We were so afraid. Landslides started coming from all
\ndirections. I just ran and then I waited,” he said. Iseh says he knows of
\nonly 10 people from the village who survived. He doesn’t know the fate of
\nhis parents or brothers. The adjacent villages of Pulau Aiya, Lubuk Lawe
\nand Limo Koto Timur were also swept away. Survivors in the area said no
\ngovernment aid or search teams had arrived, even four days after the quake.
\nOnly about 20 local policemen had come with a power shovel and body bags.
\n“My relatives were all killed, washed away by the landslide,” said Dola
\nJambak, a 48-year-old trader, picking through the rubble of his house. “I
\nlost seven relatives. Now all I can do is wait for the search teams. But
\nthey don’t come.” The landslides cut off all roads, and the villages were
\naccessible only by foot. Jumanak is reached after walking about four miles
\n(six kilometers) for 1 1\/2 hours.<\/p>\n
In the attacks that started in April 1994, Hutu militias and members of the
\ngeneral population sought out Tutsis and moderate Hutus, and went on a
\n100-day killing rampage. Civilians and children got incentives to take part
\nin the atrocities, including promises of land belonging to their Tutsi
\nneighbors. It was one of the most brutal genocides in modern history. Some
\nfigures put the number of dead at 1 million — 10 percent of the population
\nof the central African nation. Millions more were raped and disfigured. A
\nwhole generation of children lost their parents. Nizeyimana was a captain
\nthe Rwanda Armed Forces. He is accused of exercising authority over
\nsoldiers and personnel through a chain of command, and allegedly sent a
\nsection of soldiers to execute of Rosalie Gicanda, a former queen of Rwanda
\nwho was a “symbolic figure for all Tutsis.” This marks the second time
\nUganda has cooperated to make an arrest. The tribunal has commended the
\nInterpol and the Ugandan authorities for their close cooperation.”<\/p>\n
Malaria in the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu has been dramatically reduced
\nthrough an effective control strategy. There were 50,000 fewer cases of
\nMalaria in the Solomon Islands in 2008 compared with 2003. An effective
\nprevention and control strategy comprising of long lasting insecticide
\ntreated bednet distribution, focal point indoor residual spraying, early
\ndiagnosis and treatment and active case detection has had dramatic impact
\non the annual incidence rate of malaria in both the Solomon Islands and
\nVanuatu. The annual incidence rate (which is a measure of number of
\nconfirmed cases of malaria per 1,000 population) has been reduced from 198
\n\/1,000 to 84\/1,000 in the Solomon Islands over the five year period ending
\nDecember 2008, while in Vanuatu it has decreased from 74\/1,000 to 14 \/
\n1,000 in the same period. Both countries had now been able to move from
\ncontrol to pilot elimination as a result of the success of the Global Fund
\nfinanced programs. The capacity of both countries to scale up interventions
\nhas further been improved as a result of AusAID\u2019s support to the national
\nmalaria strategies, particularly in the area of elimination and treatment.
\nThe measures in place resulted in a significant decrease in the number of
\nconfirmed malaria cases in the Solomon Islands compared to 2003, easing the
\nburden on the national health systems and budget, and reducing production
\ntime lost due to malaria, which is a contributing factor that constrains
\neconomic growth. A particular emphasis will be on strengthening health
\nsystems in Pacific Islands countries and territories (PICTs).<\/p>\n
A second pulse of the wave was 10 centimeters. It looked like a very small
\nwave. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The two major
\nquakes that followed the first one were aftershocks. When there’s a big
\nquake, the pattern they follow is after the first quake, a second and then
\na third. Those are obviously related. At the Hotel Le Paris in Noumea, the
\ncapital of New Caledonia, the manager said that she felt the shake but had
\nnot seen any damage. On Espiritu Santo Island in Vanuatu, dive-shop owner
\nRehan Syed said he was aware of no reports of damages or injuries. “We have
\nthe sun out and winds are pretty normal. Pretty cloudy skies but nothing
\nmore than that.” “We felt the quake (my chair and my keyboard moved) but
\ndid not take too much notice as we live with shakes every week,” said John
\nNicholls of Vanuatu Hotels in an e-mail. At the New Caledonia Hotel, guests
\nwere evacuated to higher ground, General Manager Torani George said, adding
\nthat he had felt “nothing, nothing at all.”<\/p>\n
Greenpeace today called for the arrest of the captain of the Japanese ship
\nKoyu Maru 3, which Greenpeace caught fishing illegally in the Exclusive
\nEconomic Zone of the Cook Islands. “The Koyu Maru 3 and other pirate
\nfishing vessels are stealing fish for their own profit, depriving the
\npeople of the Cook Islands of a vital source of income,” said Josua
\nTuraganivalu, Oceans Campaigner of Greenpeace Australia Pacific on board
\nthe Esperanza. “These pirates of the Pacific must be stopped from
\nplundering ocean life and robbing local communities.” The Greenpeace ship
\nEsperanza, campaigning to end the destruction of the world’s oceans,
\nencountered the Koyu Maru 3 hauling in its longline and catching tuna
\nwithin Cook Islands waters, where they have no license to fish. Greenpeace
\nprovided the Cook Islands Ministry of Marine Resources and the Fisheries
\nAgency of Japan with photographic evidence of the illegal activity.
\nGreenpeace demands the Japanese government order Koyu Maru 3, which is
\nowned by Tokyo-based World Tuna Co Ltd, to stop its illegal fishing
\nactivities and sailto the nearest port for further investigation. Globally,
\nmore than US $9 billion dollars is lost each year to pirate fishing fleets.
\nPirate fishers, who reap their profits in European, American and Asian
\nmarkets, are threatening fish stocks as well as depriving Pacific
\ncommunities of much-needed income. Pirate fishing in the Pacific accounted
\nfor an average of 36% of its total fisheries, much higher than the global
\naverage of 19%. “The government of Japan must show leadership in tackling
\nillegal fishing by its vessels in the Pacific. Japan must also take the
\nlead among major fishing nations and support efforts by Pacific countries
\nto reduce fishing activities in the region by half and close all four
\npockets of international waters to fishing to allow tuna stocks to
\nrecover,” added Wakao Hanaoka, Oceans Campaigner of Greenpeace Japan.
\nLong-liners like the Koyu Maru 3 mainly target bigeye, yellowfin and
\nalbacore tuna, destined for sashimi markets in Japan and other countries
\nwhere this food has become popular. Some Pacific tuna stocks, such as
\nbigeye and yellowfin tuna, are being fished beyond their limits.<\/p>\n
There is almost no unemployment, and thanks to tourist revenues and
\ngovernment spending, living standards are similar to those on the mainland.
\nBut locals worry about the future. In response, Chile\u2019s government is
\nproposing laws that would beef up the island\u2019s government, give the Rapa
\nNui more say in it and allow them to control immigration. It also plans to
\nraise the entrance fee to the Rapa Nui National Park, where most of the
\nmain sights are, from $10 to $60 for foreigners. The Rapa Nui Parliament, a
\nradical group that split from the Council of Elders, is calling for
\nindependence. Its supporters blocked the airport\u2019s runway for two days in
\nAugust. It wants to expel Chileans, even those who have lived much of their
\nlife on the island, unless they have a longstanding relationship with a
\nRapa Nui or are the parent of a child with Rapa Nui blood. The group also
\ndreams of ditching Chile\u2019s peso and forming a Polynesian currency union,
\nincluding Australia and New Zealand. Such claims are merely a sign of
\neconomic frustration, argues Sergio Rapu, an archaeologist and former
\ngovernor of the island. Perhaps. But the question they raise is whether
\ngreater autonomy to run their own affairs would help the Rapa Nui to avoid
\na repeat of the ecological collapse they failed to prevent centuries ago.
\nSometimes one has to take drastic steps in Chile (or elsewhere) to get
\nnoticed. The protest entirely is about the Islanders wishing to control who
\narrives and who does not, and their model is the Galapagos control, also
\nfor eco reasons. The Interior Minister pushed through an on arrival
\nregistration system after the protest, but the Supreme Court disallowed
\nthat as unconstitutional. The problem is the number of Chileans from
\npoverty stricken – yes, very poor – Chile who see Rapanui as a place with
\nlots of money to be made. And it is. So, go to Rapanui, take up with a
\nlocal girl, produce a child and stay until things don’t work out and, then,
\nabandon the island, partner and child. Why would a local girl be interested
\nin a “roto chileno”, Chilean slang for any-old-common-bastard (rough
\ntranslation)? Simple: older islanders make it very difficult for Rapanui to
\nmarry Rapanui since all are “related”, even if people really are not sure
\nwhat that kinship might be, which is when I get the odd pleading email for
\nadvice. Not very nice what the Chileans do and you can see why the Rapanui
\ndon’t like those “weeds”, as such Chileans are called. Normal tourists from
\nanywhere are fine, budget or rich: there is accommodation for all types.<\/p>\n
Many smoked cigars in purification rituals, while others closed their eyes
\nlying face-up surrounded by candles and elaborate designs drawn on the
\nground with white powder. Some calling themselves the “Vikings” pricked
\ntheir tongues with razor blades, drawing blood that ran down their chins
\nand chests. They said they could not reveal the esoteric secrets that
\ngovern their traditions. The rituals are held every year in the name of the
\nindigenous goddess Maria Lionza, who according to legend came from the
\nmountain at Sorte, near the northwestern town of Chivacoa. Some repeated
\nthe word “strength” while dancing atop flaming embers in a ceremony
\nhonoring the goddess at the start of the annual rituals. Many camped in
\ntents while dedicating several days to the spiritual ceremonies. The
\ntraditions centered on Maria Lionza are hundreds of years old and draw on
\nelements of the Afro-Caribbean religion Santeria and indigenous rituals, as
\nwell as Catholicism. Believers often ask for spiritual healing or
\nprotection from witchcraft, or thank the goddess for curing an illness.
\nVenezuela is predominantly Roman Catholic. The church disapproves of the
\nfolk religion but has long since abandoned its attempts to suppress it. A
\nstatue on a Caracas highway divider honors Maria Lionza, depicting her
\nnaked and sitting astride a wild tapir. Followers of the sect regularly
\nleave offerings of flowers, liquor, coins or fruit at shrines honoring the
\ngoddess or other folk saints.<\/p>\n
Conflicts, climate change and poor policies are blamed for the hunger in
\ncountries with food insecurity. The index ranks countries based on child
\nmalnutrition, child death rates and calorie deficient population. High
\nrates of hunger are strongly linked to gender inequalities, especially in
\nterms of literacy and access to education. In Kenya, the report gives
\nspecial mention of the rural residents and the urban poor in the slums. Two
\ngroups need nutritional interventions because of droughts and the global
\nfinancial crisis. There is no term to describe the water scarcity in Kenya
\nalthough it receives sufficient rains. Only four per cent of rainwater is
\nused while 96 per cent is left to flow to the ocean. The Government needs
\nto do much more to correct this. In Korogocho, about 150,000 people live in
\nan area of 1.5km2, making it one of the most densely populated slums in the
\ncity. As a result, 3.5 per cent of children suffer from acute malnutrition
\nand 37.9 per cent from chronic malnutrition. Gender inequality In addition
\nto inadequate access to affordable foods, a poor health environment, and
\nlow coverage of health services, the survey showed poor childcare practices
\nwere underlying cause of malnutrition in the slum. Hunger is also related
\nto gender inequality. In rural Kenya, 75 per cent of women are doing much
\nwork but with the ongoing drought, they have been weakened from looking for
\nwater. Furthermore, men are able to move to towns leaving their wives
\nbehind making them vulnerable. Women were encouraged to acquire education
\nand look for work to earn their own income. This would increase their
\ninfluence in making decisions about buying of food, health care, and other
\nessential needs for their children. The silent hunger crisis \u2014 affecting
\none sixth of all of humanity \u2014 poses a serious risk for world peace and
\nsecurity.<\/p>\n
The audience is not allowed to understand much about the legal case — the
\nevidence or the pretrial rulings. Nor does one know much about either key
\ncharacter, the attorney who agrees to the deal or the father and husband
\nwho feels that justice is not served. But because the audience does witness
\nselected parts of the murder scene, they will understand that the greater
\nvillain eventually will walk free. Tellingly, no judge, lawyer nor anyone
\nelse — not even the husband who blacked out — has this God-like
\nperspective. Ten years roll by, and Butler’s revenge-minded victim is ready
\nfor action. Oh, by the way, Butler is not an average guy, after all. He
\nactually is a secret weapon — no, better than that, he is a “Brain,” whom
\nU.S. spy agencies employ to kill people anywhere around the globe in a
\nghostlike fashion. He’s going after anybody connected with the decade-old
\ncase, which more or less means anybody who happened to be living in Philly
\nat the time. If you’ve seen the trailer, you’ve seen everything you need to
\nknow about the murderous havoc this man rains down on the city. No attempt
\nis made to make either combatant credible. Foxx’s character goes along with
\nSWAT teams as they hunt bad guys. And Butler’s nut job couldn’t care less
\nabout his dead wife and child. He’s having too much fun killing people. The
\nfilm is smoothly produced, though Brian Tyler’s score is too much like an
\nexcitable cheerleader. Jonathan Sela’s photography and Alex Hajdu’s design
\nsustain a noirish Philadelphia that works well with the criminal mayhem.<\/p>\n
Nai Myint Aung claimed that he fears that the gang will continue to cause
\nproblems for his family, as the group likely remembers his motorbike
\nnumber. His Thai neighbor, who came to his rescue the day of his attack,
\nallegedly urged him to report the incident to the police, but Nai Mynit
\nAung says he fears that reporting the gang to the Thai police will only
\nresult in more violence. Reportedly, his fellow workers at the rubber
\nplantation where he is employed have heard rumors of a Thai gang killing a
\nfamily in the area who reported them to the authorities, and he does not
\nwant his family to meet a similar fate. Mi Hlaing, Nai Myint Aung\u2019s wife,
\nsaid, \u201cThe Thai gangs know that most of the Mon migrant workers go to the
\nmarket [once a week] to buy goods. That\u2019s why the gangs perform a robbery
\nevery week on the way [to the market].\u201d Mi Hlaing added that she and her
\nfamily previously lived in Thailand\u2019s Phanga Province, but that after an
\nincident 2 months ago where a 50-year-old Thai man attempted to rape her,
\nshe and her husband decided to move to the Hat Yai area. A Mon worker named
\nMi Mee, from Pattaya, also in Southern Thailand, claims that during the
\nlast ten days, Thai gangs have stolen a gold necklace, 2000 baht, and three
\nmobile phones from migrant workers in the Pattya area; the rape of a
\nmigrant woman in the area has also been attributed to gang activity. Mi Mee
\nexplained that migrant workers in Southern Thailand feel that they must
\nface the abuse of Thai gangs in the area with patience, because the Burmese
\nworkers need their jobs in Thailand too much to cause trouble.<\/p>\n
Bangladesh rewarded a farmer who killed more than 83,000 rats, and the
\ngovernment launched a nationwide campaign to kill millions more in an
\neffort to reduce destruction by the rodents and thus cut food imports.
\nMokhairul Islam, 40, won first prize of a 14-inch color television for
\nkilling 83,450 rats in the past nine months in the Gazipur district near
\nDhaka, the capital. Islam said he used mainly poison to kill the rats at
\nhis poultry farm, collecting their tails for proof. “This is an exciting
\nmoment,” he said. “I will continue to kill them.” Bangladesh imports 3
\nmillion tons of food annually, and the Ministry of Agriculture estimates
\nthat rodents destroy 1.5 million to 2 million tons of food annually. The
\nimport of food can be cut by at least half if this year’s campaign is
\nsuccessful.<\/p>\n
Geoscientists have said that the 2007 Solomon Island earthquake may point
\nto previously unknown increased earthquake and tsunami risks because of the
\nunusual tectonic plate geography and the sudden change in direction of the
\nearthquake. On April 1, 2007, a tsunami-generating earthquake of magnitude
\n8.1 occurred East of Papua New Guinea off the coast of the Solomon Islands.
\nThe subsequent tsunami killed about 52 people, destroyed much property and
\nwas larger than expected. This area has some of the fastest moving plates
\non Earth. It also has some of the youngest oceanic crust subducting
\nanywhere. Subduction occurs when one tectonic plate moves beneath another
\nplate. In this area, there are actually three plates involved, two of them
\nsubducting beneath the third while sliding past each other. The Australia
\nPlate and the Solomon Sea\/Woodlark Basin Plate are both moving beneath the
\nPacific Plate. At the same time, the Australia and Solomon Sea\/Woodlark
\nBasin Plates are sliding past each other. The Australia Plate moves beneath
\nthe Pacific Plate at about 4 inches a year and the Solomon Sea Plate moves
\nbeneath the Pacific Plate at about 5.5 inches per year. As if this were not
\ncomplicated enough, the Australia and Solomon Sea plates are also moving in
\nslightly different directions. The earthquake crossed from one plate
\nboundary – the Australia-Pacific boundary – into another – the
\nSolomon\/Woodlark-Pacific boundary. The event began in the Australia Plate
\nand moved across into the Solomon Sea Plate and had two centers of energy
\nseparated by lower energy areas. Normally we think earthquakes should stop
\nat the plate boundaries. Seismologists do not expect young sections of the
\nEarths crust to be locations of major earthquakes, so the Solomon Island
\nearthquake was unusual from the beginning. Other places along subduction
\nzones had this type of geography in the past and might show up
\ngeologically. At present, there are locations along the margins of Central
\nAmerica and southern South America that could potentially host similar
\nearthquakes. A better understanding of earthquakes zones like the Solomon
\nIslands may help residents along other complex plate boundaries to better
\nprepare for localized regions of unusually large uplift and tsunami
\nhazards.<\/p>\n
More than a third of the world’s child brides are from India, leaving
\nchildren at an increased risk of exploitation despite the Asian giant’s
\ngrowing modernity and economic wealth. Nearly 25 million women in India
\nwere married in the year 2007 by the age of 18. Children in India, Nepal
\nand Pakistan may be engaged or even married before they turned 10. Millions
\nof children are also being forced to work in harmful conditions, or face
\nviolence and abuse at home and outside, suffering physical and
\npsychological harm with wide-reaching, and sometimes irreparable effects,
\nthe report said. A society cannot thrive if its youngest members are forced
\ninto early marriage, abused as sex workers or denied their basic rights.
\nDespite rising literacy levels and a ban on child marriage, tradition and
\nreligious practices are keeping the custom alive in India, as well as in
\nNepal and Pakistan. More than half the world’s child brides are in south
\nAsia, which also accounts for more than half the unregistered births,
\nleaving children beyond the reach and protection of state services and
\nunable to attend school or access basic healthcare. Only 6 percent of all
\nbirths in Afghanistan and 10 percent in Bangladesh were registered from
\n2000-08, compared to 41 percent in India and 73 percent in the tiny
\nMaldives. Also, about 44 million, or 13 percent of all children in south
\nAsia, are engaged in labour, with more than half in India. Children in the
\nregion have also been seriously affected by insurgency and instability, as
\nwell as natural disasters. Especially in Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal,
\npast or ongoing conflicts have broken down most child protection systems,
\nleaving children especially vulnerable. Trafficking of children for labour,
\nprostitution or domestic services is widespread, especially within
\nBangladesh and India, and within the region, as well as to Europe and the
\nMiddle East. Insufficient emphasis has been placed on protecting child
\nvictims of trafficking and ensuring that any judicial proceedings brought
\nagainst them are child sensitive.<\/p>\n
The situation in Indonesia is just as bad. Although neither of this week’s
\nSumatran earthquakes proved tsunami\u2013genic, the authorities have to work on
\nthe assumption that any powerful undersea earthquake is liable to generate
\ntsunamis (the epicentre of the 7.6 magnitude quake was around 50km offshore
\nfrom the city of Padang). This is, after all, the same faultline that
\ncaused 2004’s Boxing Day disaster, and produces regular local tsunamis
\nevery year. But there are only 22 detection buoys to monitor all 6,000
\ninhabited islands in the Indonesian archipelago, and none of those cover
\nnorthern Sumatra, Indonesia’s most vulnerable region and the scene of the
\nhighest loss of life in 2004, where the death toll in Aceh province alone
\nexceeded 130,000. And even where there is detection equipment in place,
\nthere are no guarantees it will stay there. In July 2006 a local tsunami
\noff the Javanese coast killed nearly 700 people; it later transpired that
\nthe two detection buoys that monitor that stretch of coast had been removed
\nfrom the sea some months before, and were awaiting repairs in a dockside
\nwarehouse. Given that these buoys cost about $250,000 each, and require at
\nleast $125,000 worth of annual maintenance per unit, tsunami preparedness
\nis proving a costly undertaking for developing nations such as Indonesia.
\nThis week’s earthquakes were severe enough \u2013 the official death toll is
\n715, though estimates put it closer to 1,100 \u2013 but had either been
\ntsunamigenic, the city of Padang would have been as unprotected as it was
\nin December 2004, despite the $30m that has been spent in developing the
\nregion’s interim warning system. Sumatra will have to wait until 2010 for
\nits own detection buoys to be installed, but as the pantomime across the
\nfar wealthier south Pacific demonstrated, installing the equipment is one
\nthing; getting it to do its job is quite another.<\/p>\n
In what is believed to be the longest sentence ever handed down in a
\nwhite-collar case in this district, the mastermind of a Riverside-based
\nPonzi scheme that collected well over $60 million from hundreds of
\ninvestors\u2014and caused more than $39 million in losses\u2014was sentenced to 100
\nyears in federal prison. Richard Monroe Harkless, 65, who lived in
\nRiverside when he ran the scheme through a company he called MX Factors
\nfrom 2000 until late 2003, was sentenced by United States District Judge
\nVirginia A. Phillips in federal court in Riverside. During today\u00b4s hearing,
\nJudge Phillips said that Harkless caused “every kind of grief and loss
\nimaginable” and that the defendant demonstrated that he “would commit his
\ncrimes all over again if given the chance.” In addition the prison term,
\nJudge Phillips ordered Harkless to pay $35,479,310 in restitution to the
\napproximately 600 victims who lost money as a result of the scam. Harkless
\nwas sentenced after being convicted in July of three counts of mail fraud,
\nthree counts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering. Harkless and
\na team of salespeople at MX Factors raised funds by telling potential
\ninvestors that MX Factors provided short-term loans to commercial
\nconstruction companies that had guaranteed, government-backed contracts.
\nHarkless created the company, controlled its bank accounts, hired and paid
\nagents to solicit investors and created MX Factors promotional literature.
\nInvestors were promised returns of up to 14 percent every two or three
\nmonths, at which time investors could either receive their investments back
\nor roll over their investments into the next investment period. The vast
\nmajority of MX Factors investors were “reloaded,” meaning that they were
\nconvinced to invest money more than once. At trial, several victims
\ntestified that Harkless and his co-conspirators encouraged potential
\ninvestors to try out the MX Factors program, investing in one 60- or 90-day
\ncycle and then withdrawing their money to see if it worked. Once victims
\nfelt more comfortable with the program, Harkless and his co-conspirators
\nencouraged them to invest even more and to get their families and friends
\nto invest as well.<\/p>\n
Villagers gathered as men used their bare hands to slowly and cautiously
\npull corpses from a tangle of roots and grit. The bodies were bloated and
\nmutilated, some unrecognizable. One man’s body was found because his hand
\nwas sticking out of the mud. Women wept silently as bodies were placed in
\nbright yellow bags. Aid also had not reached Agam district, which is much
\ncloser to Padang. Laila, a villager in Agam district, said she and hundreds
\nof others had no food, clothes and clean water. “Our house is gone …
\neverything is gone,” she sobbed. She said a helicopter dropped some instant
\nnoodle packets. “But we need clean water to cook it,” said Laila, who also
\nuses one name. She said the local river had become dirty as people were
\nusing it to wash. In Padang, rescuers have all but given up hope of finding
\nany survivors in the rubble of the 140-room, Dutch-colonial style Ambacang
\nHotel. Some 200 people were in the hotel when it collapsed. Search teams
\nhave found 29 bodies so far, and no one alive. “After four days … to find
\nsurvivors is almost impossible,” said Lt. Col. Harris, the chief of the
\n50-member rescue team, which comprises military, police and Red Cross
\npersonnel. “The smell of decomposing bodies is very strong,” said Harris,
\nwho uses one name. According to the National Disaster Management Agency,
\n83,712 houses, 200 public buildings and 285 schools were destroyed. Another
\n100,000 buildings and 20 miles of road were badly damaged, and five bridges
\nhad collapsed. Meanwhile, hundreds of doctors, nurses, search and rescue
\nexperts and cleanup crews arrived Saturday at the Padang airport from
\naround the world with tons of food, tents, medicine, clean water,
\ngenerators and a field hospital. But with no electricity, fuel shortages
\nand telecommunication outages, the massive operation was chaotic.<\/p>\n
Suspected insurgents killed three people, including a toddler, and wounded
\nat least 34 in a grenade, gun and car bomb attack on two restaurants and a
\nhotel in Thailand’s south. The brutal violence brings the death toll over
\nthe past two days to four and the number of casualties to more than 50 as a
\nresult of militant attacks in the troubled Thai south, which is gripped by
\na bitter five-year uprising. The rebels, travelling by car and on three
\nmotorcycles, hurled a hand grenade into a restaurant at lunchtime in Sungai
\nKolok, a border town in Narathiwat province, wounding four people. They
\nthen opened fire on customers, shooting dead a Buddhist police officer and
\ninjuring another four people. A three-year-old boy who suffered gunshot
\nwounds later died at hospital. The gunmen then began shooting at another
\nnearby restaurant, killing the owner, a 45-year-old Buddhist woman, and
\nwounding four people. A car bomb exploded in front of one of the town’s
\nhotels soon afterwards, wounding 23 people.<\/p>\n
Rates of sexually transmitted infections in the Pacific remain as high as
\nthey were in 2004. A programme to prevent mother to child transmission had
\nsubstantially reduced the risk of an unborn child being infected with HIV
\nfrom his\/her mother during delivery. The SPC public health team had
\nresponded to the H1N1 pandemic in 2009 in partnership with the World Health
\nOrganisation (WHO) and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention
\n(CDC), and played a critical role in providing technical advice, services
\nand capacity building to Pacific Islands countries and territories (PICTs).
\nIt was also involved in the response to the recent cholera outbreak in PNG.
\nTB control supported PICT\u2019s in implementing the regional Stop TB strategy
\nin close collaboration with WHO and CDC. The HIV and STI section was
\nresponsible for coordinating and monitoring the implementation of the
\nPacific Regional strategy on HIV and STI\u2019s in close collaboration with
\nmultiple other agencies and countries. The very high prevalence of
\nnoncommunicable disease risk conditions \u2013 diabetes, high blood pressure and
\nobesity \u2013 is amongst the highest in the world. Hypertension is the most
\ncommon condition leading up to cardiac arrest which is the leading cause of
\ndeath in the Pacific. The risk factors of smoking, alcohol, low levels of
\nphysical activity and consumption of fruits and vegetables were the perfect
\nrecipe for NCDs.<\/p>\n
Climate change is already wreaking havoc on the livelihoods of small-scale
\ntea and coffee farmers in some of the world’s poorest countries. Research
\nacross four countries \u2013 Kenya, Mexico, Peru and Nicaragua \u2013 showed that
\ngrowers are already being forced uphill to higher altitudes, at a rate of
\nthree to four metres a year on average, as temperatures rise. A huge number
\nof growers are now experiencing increased instances of pestilence and
\ndisease from rises in temperature. They are also facing prolonged drought
\nand changing weather patterns. The priority for developed countries should
\nbe helping the world’s poor to protect themselves against climate change.
\nWhat’s crucial is that there’s an option of sustainable adaptation to
\nsafeguard the supply chain. Climate change is affecting those least able to
\ndeal with it. We can’t underestimate that. Smaller producers, who are
\nreliant on a single crop and often cannot afford to install costly
\nirrigation equipment as temperatures rise, are worst affected. Some farmers
\ncould see their incomes fall by up to 90% in the next fifteen years;
\nworldwide 30 million farmers will be affected.<\/p>\n
Lying injured in Vaiola Hospital, 65-year-old Sulifa Losalu mourns the loss
\nof her beloved husband Heneli Losalu (69) who died helping her to escape
\nthe September 30 tsunami wave they saw rushing toward their Hihifo,
\nNiuatoputapu, home engulfing everything in its path. The mother of eight
\nchildren said the couple had just returned to their home after attending an
\nearly morning church service when the earthquake struck around 6:00 am.
\nSulifa heard her husband yelling for her to get out and she hurried out of
\nthe house, but then remembered her little statue of Mary, the mother of
\nJesus, and she ran back inside to get it with her handbag. Sulifa vividly
\nremembered she then heard a strong roaring sound “like a machine” and
\nHeneli shouting from outside to “run, there is a huge wave coming!” “My
\nhusband waited for me and as I ran out I saw the wave, which was above the
\ncoconut trees coming towards us. It was a horrifying sight and I ran, and
\nmy husband kept yelling for me to run fast. As I looked back at him that
\nwas the last I saw of him as the wave struck him, then me. “I was
\nunderwater swallowing water and was thrown around like a thin stick,
\nhitting debris, trees that came in my way. I just remembered praying to
\nMary to please help me.” Sulifa said she was then flung onto a rooftop and
\nheld tightly onto it and managed to get up from below the surging wave to
\nbreathe. “I felt the wave subsiding and I remained there until my son
\n‘Osika, who was in the bush when the tsunami hit, rescued me. “He carried
\nme down and the ocean was still up to our waist but the waves had subsided.
\nIt was not until 4:00 pm that my husband was found dead, kneeling down, at
\nanother area. I was shattered,” she said. “I feel this aching hole in my
\nheart after loosing my husband because I know he could have made it but he
\nwaited for me to come out of the house before running. I love him so much
\nand being apart from him is devastating.” The village children later found
\nSulifa’s statue of Mary and her handbag and returned them to her.<\/p>\n
The primary objective of the people is to stage a peaceful sit in at the
\nMataveri International Airport on Easter Island. No airplanes will be
\nallowed to depart or arrive to Rapa Nui until discussions are held and
\nresolutions are made. The parliament of Rapa Nui is asking for the
\nfollowing: 1. To regulate the entrance of all Chilean persons from the
\nmainland as well as foreigners to the territory of Rapa Nui. 2. For Rapa
\nNui to become an independent nation. The Rapa Nui people are asking for
\nthese regulations due to a recent surge of immigration to the island
\nresulting in depletion of resources, weakening of the infrastructure and
\nrapid destruction of one of the world’s most treasured archeological sites.
\nThe island is part of Chile\u2019s national territory belonging to the
\nValparaiso region which is over 3,500km away. Chile annexed the Polenesian
\nisland in 1888 by way of some treaty at a time when a newly independent
\nChile joined the fashion of having its own overseas colony. At this stage
\nthere were very few Rapa Nui natives left, only a little over 100 as
\nbetween 1862 and 1871 some 97 per cent were either killed through smallpox,
\nTB and slavery or were moved off the island by Christian missionaries. Just
\nas well because that meant more room for sheep and so the remaining
\nsurvivors were herded into Hanga Roa, the only town on the island while the
\nWilliamson-Balfour sheep company ran the show until 1953. (The Chileans
\ngraciously allowed the natives walk their own island in the 1960s.)
\nAccording to Pamela Hucke, a native doctor, as late as the 1950s the
\nChilean authorities actively discouraged contact with the outside world by
\nclaiming the island was a leper colony, making this claim credible by
\ninjecting some natives with the disease. This has never been reported in
\nthe Chilean press as far as she knows. Locals also point out that the
\nairport was built by the US government while it was a Japanese firm which
\nresurrected the moais on the island which had been toppled. Perhaps as a
\nresult of the general economic downturn or some other reasons, more
\nChileans are coming to live on the island which is now only 60 percent
\nnative. Islanders point to the increase in crime such as burglaries which
\nnever happened before and the increase in hard drugs being smuggled on to
\nthe island. Locals place full blame on the Chilean immigrants and they want
\nthis regulated. Of course they stress that they have nothing against
\ntourists, Chilean or otherwise, who are welcome to stay temporarily and
\nenjoy the \u201copen air museum\u201d that the island is.<\/p>\n
Cases of both hemorrhagic dengue and classic dengue have been on the rise
\nin Nicaragua. A total of 1,706 cases of classic dengue and 46 of the
\nhemorrhagic variety have been registered in the Central American nation.
\nThe figures were up sharply from the 1,480 classic dengue cases and 25
\nhemorrhagic dengue cases detailed in an earlier report. Eight people have
\ndied in Nicaragua from dengue so far this year. Dengue is a serious viral
\ndisease transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito that is characterized by
\nhigh fever, intense headaches, muscle pain, gastro-intestinal problems and
\nrashes. Hemorrhagic dengue, in addition to having symptoms associated with
\nclassic dengue, like fever, headaches and joint pain, can also produce
\ninternal bleeding. Children between the ages of 5 and 14 have been the
\ngroup most affected by the disease, with the outbreak being especially bad
\nin Boaco, Leon, Managua, Masaya and Rio San Juan provinces. Public health
\nofficials are working to prevent the mosquitoes that spread the disease
\nfrom breeding. A door-to-door dengue prevention campaign is being conducted
\nin Nicaragua\u2019s 153 municipalities.<\/p>\n
Another ship, the Alakrana, was recently captured in the Indian Ocean.
\nSomali pirates have seized a Singapore-flagged container ship in the Indian
\nOcean. The MV Kota Wajar was headed to the Kenyan port of Mombasa when it
\nwas commandeered 300 nautical miles north of Seychelles. Twenty one crew
\nare on board the 24,637-tonne container ship. At least five vessels are now
\nin the hands of Somali pirates. Pirate attacks around the world more than
\ndoubled to 240 during the first six months of 2009 compared with the same
\nperiod in 2008. The rise in overall maritime hijacking is largely due to
\nthe increase in Somali pirate activity.<\/p>\n
A ground breaking ceremony to redevelop the Anuha Island resort in the
\nCentral Province is being scheduled as well as announcing a tender for the
\ndesign and construction of a four star resort. “The island is a jewel of
\nthe pacific and we want to build a resort that does Anuha and the Solomon
\nIslands justice,” the SITC said while working with local authorities,
\ninternational partners and key stakeholders to develop a resort that drives
\ntourism development and also takes into account local needs. As part of the
\ndevelopment, the runway on the island will shortly be cleared as the first
\npart of the early construction works process. Following on from the success
\nto date with developing a world class resort on Anuha Island, Solomon
\nIslands Tourism Company is now seeking an additional land site for its next
\ndevelopment in the Solomon Islands. Anuha Island is located 54 kilometers
\nor 12 minutes flying north-east of the international airport at Honiara.<\/p>\n
The House of Representatives passed the fishery bill into law, effectively
\nallowing marine patrol boats to shoot at vessels poaching in Indonesian
\nwaters. The ministry required the harsh law to legitimize a “shoot and
\nsink” policy against poachers to deter any future poaching. “*Shoot and
\nsink’ can now be ordered under certain conditions, and we will immediately
\ndraw up standard operation procedures to enforce the measure,” said Aji,
\nwho also chaired the government’s working committee for the fishery bill.
\nHowever, for human rights reasons, Marine patrols would only be allowed to
\nshoot at ships, not sailors, he said. Indonesian waters in North Sulawesi,
\nMaluku, Papua and West Papua have been prone to illegal fishing by foreign
\nfishing ships. “The implementation of the ruling should not breach human
\nrights or international laws,” Aji said at a press conference on the newly
\nendorsed law. The policy was needed to protect Indonesia’s sovereignty, he
\nsaid. Poaching has been a chronic problem for Indonesia, which loses an
\nestimated Rp 30 trillion (US$3.26 billion) to poaching each year. In the
\npast five years, Indonesia has seized more than 700 vessels, most of them
\nfrom Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines and Malaysia, with a few from
\nfurther afield, including Taiwan and China.<\/p>\n
At least 1000 people were killed and hundreds were trapped under collapsed
\nbuildings after a powerful earthquake struck Indonesia\u2019s West Sumatra
\nprovince. Vice President Jusuf Kalla said the mayor of Padang, the capital
\nof West Samatra, told him that the quake left at least 75 people dead. \u201cThe
\nnumber may increase because many are still trapped in buildings and
\nhotels,\u201d Kalla said. Rustam Pakaya, the head of the Health Ministry\u2019s
\ndisaster centre, said hundreds of people were trapped under rubble in
\nPadang, where a hospital among other structures had also collapsed. The
\nstate-run Antara news agency reported that hundreds of people were believed
\nto have been trapped in collapsed buildings and shops in Padang\u2019s business
\ndistrict and Chinatown. A hospital official in nearby Pariaman district
\nsaid that eight people in the district had been killed and hundreds more
\nhospitalized with serious injuries. The quake, measuring 7.6 on the Richter
\nscale, struck off the western coast of Sumatra at about 1016 GMT. A 6.2
\nmagnitude aftershock followed about 22 minutes later. A medical team was
\nbeing dispatched to West Sumatra, the region worst-hit by the quake.
\nTelephone communications to Padang and nearby Pariaman district were cut
\noff following the quake.<\/p>\n
As the scheme began to collapse, Harkless diverted millions of dollars of
\ninvestor money to Belize and Mexico. In the final months of the scheme,
\nonce Harkless knew that he was under investigation by various state
\nregulators, he accelerated his fundraising and accelerated the transfer of
\nfunds to his own accounts in Belize. During the scheme, the bulk of the
\nmoney raised from investors was used to pay off earlier investors, to pay
\nagent commissions, to fund Harkless\u00b4 crabbing business in Ensenada, Mexico
\nand to pay for various personal expenses. Over the course of the scheme,
\napproximately 600 victims invested and lost money with MX Factors. Harkless
\nfled to Mexico shortly after the Ponzi scheme collapsed and federal
\nauthorities executed search warrants in February 2004. Harkless was
\narrested by special agents with IRS-Criminal Investigation two years ago
\nwhen he traveled to Phoenix. At this summer\u00b4s trial, Harkless represented
\nhimself in court. Three of Harkless\u00b4 sales agents\u2014Daniel Berardi, Thomas
\nHawkesworth, and Randall Harding\u2014pleaded guilty and received sentences of
\nup to six years in federal prison. The investigation into MX Factors was
\nconducted by IRS-Criminal Investigation, the United States Postal
\nInspection Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.<\/p>\n
Deliveries came on C-130 cargo planes from the United States, Russia and
\nAustralia. Japanese, Swiss, South Korean and Malaysian search and rescue
\nteams scoured the debris. Tens of millions of dollars in donations came
\nfrom more than a dozen countries to supplement $400 million the Indonesian
\ngovernment said it would spend over the next two months. The U.N. said
\nthere are sufficient fuel stocks in the area for four days, but with the
\nroad to a major depot cut off by landslides, gasoline prices had jumped
\nsix-fold. Areas with “huge levels of damage to infrastructure were in need
\nof basic food and tents for temporary shelter,” it said. The quake
\noriginated on the same fault line that spawned the 2004 Asian tsunami that
\nkilled 230,000 people in a dozen nations. A 5.5-magnitude earthquake shook
\nthe eastern province of West Papua. There were no reports of casualties.
\nThe quake’s epicenter was 128 kilometers northwest of the provincial
\ncapital of Manokawar, the only major center of inhabitation. The region is
\nabout 3,500 kilometers from Sumatra.<\/p>\n
The explosive weighed 30 to 50 kilograms and was hidden in a Honda Civic
\nwith a fake licence plate, which had passed a screening by a bomb detection
\nmachine. The bomb was hidden in the passenger car and detonated by radio
\nsignal. Two of the wounded were in a serious condition. An explosive hidden
\nin a motorcycle went off in Pattani province close to where Buddhists were
\nattending a festival, wounding 17 — five of them seriously. Earlier in the
\nday, four gunmen on two motorcycles opened fire on a 34-year-old Muslim
\nrubber worker as he travelled to work in Narathiwat province. He died at
\nthe scene. The bloody rebellion has claimed more than 3,900 lives since it
\nerupted in Thailand’s Muslim-majority southern provinces, bordering
\nMalaysia, in January 2004. The shadowy rebels, who have never publicly
\nstated their goals, target Muslims and Buddhists alike and both civilians
\nand members of the security forces, usually with shootings and bombings.
\nRecent attacks echoed a serious blast in August, which ripped through a
\nrestaurant in Narathiwat packed with government officials, wounding at
\nleast 42 people. Tensions have simmered since the region, formerly an
\nautonomous Malay Muslim sultanate, was annexed by predominantly Buddhist
\nThailand in 1902.<\/p>\n
The Healthy Pacific Lifestyle (HPL) section at SPC provides an integrated
\napproach in the promotion of tobacco and alcohol control, physical activity
\nand good nutrition. The SPC-WHO joint 2-1-22 (two organisations, one
\nprogramme, 22 countries) approach funded by AusAID and NZAID was being
\nimplemented under the Pacific Framework for the prevention and control of
\nNCDs. In January to June 2009, grants amounting to 23 million CPF
\n(approximately US$270,000) were provided to three PICT\u2019s in support of NCDs
\nnational strategy implementation. It will feed into a high-level,
\nmulti-sectoral regional food security summit in early 2010. Meanwhile,
\nrelatively neglected diseases in the Pacific were dengue and other vector
\nborne diseases like leptospirosis (except malaria), rheumatic heart
\ndisease, mental health and environmental health. There were also funding
\ngaps for secondary prevention for noncommunicable diseases such as
\ndiabetes, cancer and high blood pressure. Gaps were also emerging in
\nmaternal and child health, sexual and reproductive health, on the
\nconsequences for health of climate change, urbanisation and poor housing,
\nand on infant diarrhoea, water and sanitation.<\/p>\n
Small-scale growers in Peru have seen yields fall by 40% since last year,
\ncompared to 30% across the country as a whole; small producers in Mexico
\nhave seen yields halve, against a national decline of 7%. Tea and coffee
\nare on the climate change front line because they only grow in a relatively
\nnarrow temperature range. All four of the countries involved would see the
\nquantity and quality of their crops decline sharply over the coming years.
\nIn Kenya, growers diversify into new crops such as passion fruits; in Peru,
\nfarmers were able to use their land to sell carbon credits; and elsewhere
\nthey planted native tree species to help bind the soil and prevent
\nmudslides. The government said that it will donate \u00a312m to the Fairtrade
\nFoundation, with the hope of doubling the number of developing country
\nfarmers who are awarded the Fairtrade mark. Fairtrade products pay a
\npremium to relatively small-scale growers, helping to protect them from the
\nvicissitudes of global commodity markets and the buying power of vast
\nmultinationals. The Fairtrade mark is celebrating its 15th birthday, and
\nnow covers a wide range of products, from bananas to chocolate. Sales of
\nFairtrade products were up by 43% in 2008. The Fairtrade market as a whole
\nis expected to treble, to \u00a39bn, by 2013. In the current economic climate,
\nit’s the poorest communities who are hit the hardest, and so positive
\nbusiness models like Fairtrade, which deliver increased development
\nbenefits from trade, are more important than ever.<\/p>\n
Sulifa was one of the first four patients that were first flown down to
\nNuku’alofa for urgent treatment. “Most of my children live here in
\nTongatapu and some overseas, they are all here now and we are having a
\nmemorial for my husband tonight in Puke where my son lives.” The mother
\nsaid when she gets better she is going back to Niuatoputapu. “Although
\nthere is nothing there with no house left, I want to be with my husband who
\nis buried there,” she said. Sulifa is doing very well in the hospital and
\ncan manage to sit up and stand up on her own for a few minutes. But she
\nmainly uses the wheelchair to get around while her knees are healing.<\/p>\n
Greenlight Radio is a pirate radio station that has been broadcasting in
\nBoulder for just over a year. G-Girl arrives at the interview. She looks
\ntiny with her arms so full: a laptop, a hand mic, a notepad and pen. She
\nleans over the keyboard and begins pecking the keys, her cell phone stuck
\nto her ear. She speaks with a relaxed, almost surfer-girl accent. She
\ndoesn’t look like a criminal. And she’s not, as far as she’s concerned;
\nshe’s one of the last free American radio journalists. But as far as the
\nFederal Communications Commission is concerned, she’s an airwave thief.
\nUnregulated and against the law. A pirate. “Connected,” G-Girl announces to
\na mysterious voice on the other line. It’s a bit “Charlie’s Angels;” we’ll
\nnever know who this voice is. We won’t know G-Girl’s real name either, or
\nthe names of the other KGIR radio personality “Helix” interviews Ian Nissen
\nabout unlicensed radio at Bart’s CD Cellar. They hope they don’t have to
\nhide forever. After all, they say the ultimate goal of their illegal
\nBoulder radio station is to connect the community, and that’s hard to do
\nwhen you’re a shadow. But for now, they hide. Greenlight is still young.
\nThis month marks its first birthday. Boulder’s airwaves aren’t new to
\npoaching. Boulder Free Radio, KBFR, has been stirring up the scene since
\n2000, in between the FCC occasionally shutting down the signal. KBFR,
\nstarted by a notably more antagonistic voice known as Monk, touted “B.S.
\nFree Radio,” with unedited, uncensored — and uncommercialized — music and
\nopinions. KBFR’s radio waves are once again static. But Boulder Free
\nRadio’s ship hasn’t sunk. The station has a live stream at
\nboulderfreeradio.com, and active Myspace, Facebook and Twitter pages.
\nGreenlight Radio isn’t associated with KBFR — or Boulder’s third
\noccasional techno-music pirate who pops up occasionally on 103.9 FM.
\nGreenlight is also not connected with a Fort Collins-based religious pirate
\n— who sometimes steals Greenlight’s stolen airwaves during the day.<\/p>\n
Tired of not being listened to, they occupied the airport runway to grab
\nthe attention of Santiago, causing all flights between the mainland and
\nTahiti to be postponed for two days. During the protest there were many red
\nand white Rapa Nui flags visible, symbolising their desire of independence
\nfor the island. Whether the island could actually survive full independence
\nwith a population of under 4,000 is open to debate. Listening to the
\nlocals\u2019 concerns but also seeing the standard of life on the island we are,
\nhowever, reminded of the Monty Python satirical comedy Life of Brian where
\nthe character Reg, urging resistance against the Roman occupation, admits:
\n\u201cAll right, but apart from the sanitation, medicine, education, wine,
\npublic order, irrigation, roads, the fresh water system and public health,
\nwhat have the Romans ever done for us?\u201d For a start the Rapa Nuis don\u2019t pay
\ntax \u2013 so don\u2019t expect a receipt for anything you buy. They also get
\ngenerous grants to study on the mainland at any university of their
\nchoosing. The island also does not know poverty and the gap between rich
\nand poor is minimal. In part this is because almost all of them own land
\n(Chileans are not allowed buy land here), while the state provides a large
\nnumber of administrative jobs and wages are high. For example a Chilean
\nteacher said that she could make almost three times as much on the island
\nas in Santiago. But on the cultural front, they probably do have to worry a
\nlittle more. Their own language Rapa Nui is spoken about 50 50 alongside
\nSpanish and while most can speak the native tongue there are some younger
\npeople who can not. Many of these people too prefer the sights and sound of
\nthe mainland and prefer the new to the old. The island is also not immune
\nto the effect of globalisation which may be more of a threat than the
\nChilean State in the long run. Plastered all along the main street is Coca
\nCola’s image of the moais as part of its marketing strategy for the island
\nor the sight of Jennifer Tuku, a cultural ambassador for the island
\nsporting two mobile phones around her neck. Agriculture and fishing remain
\nstrong on the island, although tourism provides some 80 percent of the
\nlocal economy and the sheer numbers of tourists arriving every day has
\nensured that the modern world is firmly entrenched in Rapa Nui.<\/p>\n
The Papua New Guinea stock exchange again surged, this time by huge 11 per
\ncent, as two big firms – probably responsible for the rise in confidence –
\nhad big wins. Papua New Guinea’s biggest gold company, Lihir Gold, is
\nsuggesting the precious metal could rise to $US1,500. And the Bank of South
\nPacific took over Fiji’s 130-year-old Colonial National Bank and associated
\nfirms.<\/p>\n
The central bank of Bangladesh has relaxed its rules and allowed money
\nchangers to sell a maximum US$350 to a Hajj pilgrim this year. Under the
\nexisting regulations, each pilgrim, who will go to perform Hajj through
\nboth public and private agencies, can take a maximum US$350 or equivalent
\nof other foreign currencies, if he wants. “The money changers, for the
\nfirst time, are allowed to sell the foreign currencies to pilgrims that
\nwill help achieve their annual transactions limit, fixed by the central
\nbank earlier. The central bank re-fixed yearly transaction limit to
\nUS$350,000 from $500,000 earlier for the money changers, which are
\noperating business across the country, excluding Dhaka and Chittagong
\nmetropolitan areas. However, the annual transactions limit of money
\nchangers, located in two metropolitan areas, remain unchanged at $500,000.
\nThe money changers license will not be renewed for the next tenure if they
\nfail to fulfill the yearly transactions limit. Currently, 240 money
\nchangers are operating across the country.<\/p>\n
The fisheries ministry has been working with the Navy and the National
\nPolice to keep poachers out of Indonesian waters. The ministry had long
\nsought legal endorsement for the “shoot and sink” policy, saying poachers
\nhad shown a clear disdain for Indonesia’s outnumbered and poorly equipped
\nmarine patrol boats. Aji added that shooting and sinking poachers’ vessels
\nwhile at sea would be more feasible than seizing their boats and towing
\nthem to land. “Can you imagine these small, plastic patrol boats dragging
\nlarge fishing vessels to shore?” he said. “Sometimes the vessels are made
\nof wood and are in very poor condition, bringing with them diseases; the
\nlocals protest against having them near their beaches.” The newly revised
\nlaw also authorizes the ministry’s civilian patrols to investigate alleged
\npoaching in Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone. That task previously fell
\nunder the Navy’s authority. The need for fishing vessels to secure
\noperating permits before sailing is another new aspect of the law. While
\nlawmakers had previously rejected the policy fearing illegal fees, the
\ngovernment had managed to convince them that the ruling was necessary to
\ncontrol fishing activities in Indonesia’s sea waters, which were suffering
\nfrom declining fish stocks as are other parts of the globe. The law
\nprovided clearer time limitations for investigation, prosecution and trial
\nprocesses for poaching cases, and allowed the ministry to make use of
\nconfiscated vessels.<\/p>\n
Fires also broke out in Padang. Padang\u2019s Minangkabau airport was ordered
\nclosed because roofs were damaged. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center
\nissued an Indian Ocean tsunami alert after the quake, but later cancelled
\nit. The quake was also felt strongly in North Sumatra, Riau in eastern
\nSumatra as well as Bengkulu province in southern Sumatra, residents.
\nIndonesia, the world\u2019s largest archipelago, sits on the so-called Pacific
\n\u2018Ring of Fire\u2019, the edge of a tectonic plate prone to seismic upheaval. A
\nmajor earthquake and subsequent tsunami struck in December 2004, leaving
\nmore than 170,000 people dead or missing in Indonesia\u2019s Aceh province and
\nhalf a million people homeless. This quake occurred along the same fault
\nline. Geologists have said that Padang, a low-lying city of 900,000 people,
\nrisks being swallowed by a tsunami in the event of an earthquake similar in
\nsize to the one that triggered the giant waves of 2004.<\/p>\n
In a case of \u201cserious administrative error\u201d, an Australian resident was
\nlocked up in a detention facility for three years. An egregious error
\nhighlights the need for a revamping of federal laws, which have unlawfully
\ndeprived this man of his liberty. Wrongful detention for over three years
\nis a matter of grave concern, and it is equally a matter of concern that
\nthe legal framework does not confer powers necessary to address problems
\nand disadvantage of this kind. In 1989, Vietnamese-born Van Phuc Nguyen was
\ngranted refugee status as an 18 year old, after fleeing Vietnam and
\nspending four years in a refugee camp in the Philippines. Sydney airport
\nimmigration officials failed to recognize his visa in 2002. As a result,
\nhe was detained from November 2002 to February 2006 in Villawood
\nImmigration Detention Centre. Nguyen\u2019s residency was inadvertently
\ncancelled upon his return to Australia from a trip to Vietnam in 1995, when
\nan immigration official issued him a one month visa. Located in the suburbs
\nof Sydney, Villawood serves mainly as a facility for any individual who has
\nover-stayed his visa, failed to comply with his visa, or has been denied
\nentry to Australia. It has been at the center of controversy over human
\nrights abuses over the last several years. The Human Rights and Equal
\nOpportunity Commission found the Centre\u2019s conditions deplorable and
\n\u201cinhospitable\u201d and recommended that it be closed immediately.<\/p>\n
Malaria in the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu has been dramatically reduced
\nthrough an effective control strategy. There were 50,000 fewer cases of
\nMalaria in the Solomon Islands in 2008 compared with 2003. An effective
\nprevention and control strategy comprising of long lasting insecticide
\ntreated bednet distribution, focal point indoor residual spraying, early
\ndiagnosis and treatment and active case detection has had dramatic impact
\non the annual incidence rate of malaria in both the Solomon Islands and
\nVanuatu. The annual incidence rate (which is a measure of number of
\nconfirmed cases of malaria per 1,000 population) has been reduced from 198
\n\/1,000 to 84\/1,000 in the Solomon Islands over the five year period ending
\nDecember 2008, while in Vanuatu it has decreased from 74\/1,000 to 14 \/
\n1,000 in the same period. Parr said both countries had now been able to
\nmove from control to pilot elimination as a result of the success of the
\nGlobal Fund financed programs implemented co-jointly by both countries\u2019
\nnational vector borne disease control programs, WHO and SPC. The capacity
\nof both countries to scale up interventions has further been improved as a
\nresult of AusAID\u2019s support to the national malaria strategies, particularly
\nin the area of elimination and treatment. The measures in place resulted in
\na significant decrease in the number of confirmed malaria cases in the
\nSolomon Islands compared to 2003, easing the burden on the national health
\nsystems and budget, and reducing production time lost due to malaria, which
\nis a contributing factor that constrains economic growth.<\/p>\n
Greenlight started as Internet radio, which is not regulated. The two
\nBoulder brothers who founded it eventually built their own transmitter and
\nfigured out how to poach one of the few unoccupied frequencies in the area.
\nTheir belief: The broadcast spectrum belongs to the public — not
\ncorporations and media conglomerates shaped by strangers who know nothing
\nabout Boulder. By nature, radio waves are only strong enough to span a
\nsmall geographic community. So the station founders said that it only seems
\nlogical that each community has control over what appears on its waves.
\nThey’re not talking about anarchy, or even about the desire to spout curse
\nwords on the radio without being bleeped out. They’re talking about
\n“relocalization.” “Bringing resource and regulation control back to the
\nlocal community,” says one DJ and Boulder native who goes by the on-air
\nname Rocky Flats. He says a community radio compliments the trend of
\nincreasingly more people growing their own food, shopping at local farmer’s
\nmarkets and co-ops and setting up online blogs and personal Web pages. “The
\nworld is going through a huge shift right now. Boulder is doing well in
\nthis recession because we localize a lot,” Rocky Flats says. “Localization
\nis the key to survival.” Rocky Flats thinks it’s also the key to overcoming
\nwhat he calls the current “media crisis,” where Paris Hilton gets
\nprecedence over political turmoil in Pakistan, and a handful of
\ncorporations control the news and views that Americans are fed. Rocky Flats
\nsays he’s passionate about politics, as well as music and information. When
\nhe’s not volunteering at Greenlight — none of the 30 DJs and members are
\npaid — he works in a customer service job. Rocky Flats looks clean-cut and
\nwell put-together, and his tone is focused and professional. “Our direction
\nis for the community to believe the airwaves are a local resource,” he
\nsays. “We try to provide an example of that. Eventually through enough
\nactions, we can take the airwaves completely back.”<\/p>\n
Oceanic Airlines is the fictional airline that operated Flight 815 which
\ncrashed on the Island. According to Oceanic Airlines’ website, the company
\nwas founded in 1979 and served other destinations such as Costa Rica,
\nLondon, and Seoul. After the events of Flight 815, it ceased operations due
\nfinancial difficulties. But the company was returning to the airways. It
\nwas established that Oceanic Airlines had cancelled all flights whilst
\nconducting an investigation into Flight 815’s disappearance. After failing
\nto find anything, the company was pushed to close the case so that they
\ncould resume flights and recover from loss of business. This decision to
\nconclude all passengers dead with no solid proof resulted in opposition
\nfrom individuals such as Sam Thomas, the main protagonist in the second
\nLost alternate reality game that focused specifically on Oceanic Airlines,
\nFind 815. A video advertisement aired at Comic-Con 2009 ostensibly stated
\nthat Oceanic Airlines had been running since 1979 with a 30 year perfect
\nsafety record. The canonical status of this video, and how it contradicts
\nall previously established fact, is presently unclear.<\/p>\n
President Hugo Chavez\u2019s government has begun taking over management of a
\nHilton-run hotel on Venezuela\u2019s Margarita Island. A 20-year concession
\ngranted to the company had expired and the government \u201chas taken legitimate
\ncontrol of an asset that belongs to all the people of Venezuela\u201d. Mr Chavez
\nissued a decree last week ordering the \u201cforced acquisition\u201d of the
\nMargarita Hilton & Suites and its marina. A Hilton Worldwide spokeswoman
\nsaid the company was analysing the move to determine how its interest in
\nthe hotel would be affected.<\/p>\n
It now seems that passengers flying in and out of Papua New Guinea are
\nbeing terrorized by an underpants thief. Women travelers who are flying
\nwith the national carrier Air Niugini are fed up with one or more baggage
\nhandlers taking their underwear. Four women, who do wish to remain nameless
\ndue to the nature of the event, said that some of their best undergarments
\nhave been stolen from their luggage while traveling on domestic flights
\nwhen leaving the capital Port Moresby. It may come at no surprise that some
\nreports point out that only \u201cattractive\u201d women have been hit by this so
\ncalled thief, and the ones that are hit only have their sexier
\nundergarments stolen. Another tourist that was on a brief stay in Papua New
\nGuinea said that her bag has a lock on it; however, when she got it back
\nthe lock bad been broken. The only items that she found missing from her
\nbag were her lace hipster briefs and her g-strings. She went on to say that
\nshe just could not believe it. She noted that she has traveled all over the
\nworld, and this is the very first time something like this has ever
\nhappened. In a different case, a woman that was visiting her mother in
\nPapua New Guinea was shocked to find that her favorite pair of pink panties
\nwere missing. She went on to say that what is so weird about the whole
\nthing is that she had much more valuable items in her bag besides her
\nunderpants, and those remained untouched. Despite all of this, Air Nigugini
\nsaid that they will get to the bottom of the women\u2019s undergarments thief.
\nOne spokesperson said that they were unaware that such particular items
\nwere being targeted.<\/p>\n
Travelers to Southeast Asia beware: there’s a new strain of malaria in
\ntown. Researchers have recently figured out that the Plasmodium knowlesi
\nstrain of malaria, which used to be confined to Malaysian macaque monkeys,
\ncan kill humans too. The especially nasty part about this new human strain
\nof malaria is that doctors have a hard time recognizing it. Symptoms and
\ndisease progression look scarily similar to other less serious forms of
\nmalaria, so you might end up dead before the doctors realize they should’ve
\ndone something differently. You can pick up this malaria from mosquito
\nbites across the region, but especially in Borneo and Malaysia. You should
\nbe extra sure to use mosquito repellent in these areas to prevent bites,
\nand head straight to the doc if you get fever and body aches and pains.<\/p>\n
The world’s eighth largest economy is still finding its feet after
\nsuffering multiple economic shocks, including a housing slump, mortgage
\ncrisis and recession. Employers in California, the most populous US state,
\nare expected to keep cutting staff in 2010 as the wider US jobs market
\nrecovers. As industries in other US states prepare to rehire on signs of
\nrecovery, firms in California are still waiting for their economy to
\nrebound. The state has 12.2 percent unemployment, above the national US
\nlevel of 9.8 percent, and at odds with California’s image as an oasis of
\nopportunity in hard times. California’s economic engines – Silicon Valley,
\nHollywood and gateway ports to Asia – remain the envy of other US regions
\nbut seem incapable of reducing Rust Belt-like unemployment rates. That is
\nlargely because of the Golden State’s housing and home building crisis. In
\nthe 12 months through August, California’s construction industry shed
\n142,000 jobs, or 18.5 percent of its work force, marking the largest
\ndecline on a percentage basis over the period of surveyed industry groups.
\nThose workers are struggling to find new jobs in construction or other
\ntrades, according to analysts. House prices soared higher in California
\nthan in most other US states earlier this decade and have crashed harder
\namid the credit crunch. Developers are trying to unload unsold new homes
\nand real estate agents are relying on selling foreclosures for a large
\nshare of business. Tight credit and steep job losses have slimmed ranks of
\nprospective home buyers, with many waiting for prices to drop further. At
\nthe same time, a number of other states are beginning to see home prices
\nstabilize.<\/p>\n
Featuring old Papua New Guinea necklaces of human teeth and ivory
\nnose-rings as well as the extravagant designer suits paraded in poor Congo
\nby today’s “sapeur” movement, a show opening in Paris revisits men’s finery
\nthrough the ages. In Brazzaville and Kinshasa, as well as in the slums of
\nParis and Brussels, men who barely eke out a living have been forking out
\ntheir savings since the 80s on the most luxurious, elegant and expensive
\nmenswear on the market. The craze known as “Le Sape” was introduced by pop
\nstar Papa Wemba’s throwback at the time to a look of 1930s elegance —
\ntapered trousers, brogues, trimmed hair and tweed hats worn at a rakish
\nangle — but in a wider brighter range of colours.<\/p>\n
Nguyen\u2019s is the longest case of wrongful detention in recent history. This
\n\u201cbureaucratic bungle\u201d caused Nguyen to suffer unnecessarily, as he is now
\nburdened with severe mental health issues. He witnessed many traumatic
\nevents, from stabbings and suicide attempts to widespread drug abuse, while
\ninside Villawood. The situation was a \u201cvery bad event, a serious
\nadministrative error and a terrible circumstance\u201d. In its settlement
\ndiscussions, the government has offered Nguyen\u2019s $70,000, a sum which would
\nbe reduced to $58,000 once the Government\u2019s legal fees are taken out. This
\namount breaks down to less than $50 a day for each day that Nguyen spent in
\nVillawood. A attorney for this Sydney resident, has rejected the
\nCommonwealth\u2019s offer as inadequate. The Government admits only that
\nofficials made a mistake with respect to 108 of the 1137 total days that
\nNguyen spent in detention.<\/p>\n
Responding to the needs of Pacific Islands countries and territories and
\nrecognising that there are wide social determinants in health, SPC\u2019s health
\ndivision is modifying its strategy from a disease-based approach to a
\nwhole-of-health approach. A particular emphasis will be on strengthening
\nhealth systems in Pacific Islands countries and territories (PICTs). Rates
\nof sexually transmitted infections in the Pacific remain as high as they
\nwere in 2004 and a comprehensive review of the strategies was being
\ncommissioned. A programme to prevent mother to child transmission had
\nsubstantially reduced the risk of an unborn child being infected with HIV
\nfrom his\/her mother during delivery. The SPC public health team had
\nresponded to the H1N1 pandemic in 2009 in partnership with the World Health
\nOrganisation (WHO) and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention
\n(CDC), and played a critical role in providing technical advice, services
\nand capacity building to Pacific Islands countries and territories (PICTs).
\nIt was also involved in the response to the recent cholera outbreak in PNG.
\nTB control supported PICT\u2019s in implementing the regional Stop TB strategy
\nin close collaboration with WHO and CDC. There is a very high prevalence of
\nnoncommunicable disease risk conditions \u2013 diabetes, high blood pressure and
\nobesity \u2013 being among the highest in the world.<\/p>\n
Pirating unregistered radio waves is surprisingly simple. All DJs need is a
\nmicrophone, Internet connection and computer. They broadcast their reports
\nand stream their tunes online, to greenlightradio.com, according to another
\nDJ, who goes by an especially pirate-y name, Treeson Bloodbeard. “Anyone
\ncan do Internet radio. Anyone can listen to Internet radio,” he says. “In
\nour case, a separate computer is also listening, with a headphones jack
\nplugged into the transmitter.” Of course, he can’t disclose where this
\ntransmitter is stationed. Rumor was that Boulder Free Radio used to
\nbroadcast out of a van, but Treeson says that’s unlikely because the signal
\nwould fluctuate too much. “We have a hot air balloon,” he says with a
\nsmirk. Treason, who has lived in Boulder for eight years, calls himself a
\n“techno-shaman, actively trying to bring spirituality to the new punk,
\nnow-apathetic generation.” Greenlight typically broadcasts FM 4 p.m.-4 a.m.
\nweekdays and wall-to-wall weekends, with no commercials. When the station
\nisn’t shut down, that is. In its first year, the FCC has already canned
\nGreenlight three times. When the FCC triangulates Greenlight’s signal, the
\nFCC leaves a warning saying Greenlight must shut down because it’s not
\nregistered. But the DJs aren’t hostile about it. They say it’s part of the
\ngame. “We don’t hate the FCC,” Treeson says. “The laws they’re going by are
\njust outdated, and they need help changing them. The FCC was created in
\n1934.” Treeson believes there should instead be a modern Boulder
\nCommunications Commission, to distribute and protect the airwaves. DJ Rocky
\nFlats agrees there is a need for a radio regulation commission; the FCC
\nfinds out what is wrong with signals and helps stations clean up. In fact,
\nthe FCC has helped Greenlight improve its signal each time before shutting
\nit down. “Instead of fighting fire with fire (like Boulder Free Radio),”
\nRocky Flats says, “when the FCC pushes, we pull and redirect their energy
\nwhere we want it to go.”<\/p>\n
Photos and video clips of rival sapeurs doing battle, flashing labels and
\nstripping down to their silks socks and underwear, are on view at the show
\nat Paris’ Dapper museum, titled “The Art of Being A Man, Africa, Oceania.”
\nThe sapeurs underline contemporary man’s taste for finery. They revisit the
\nwestern suit through African eyes. One non-sapeur fashionista visitor, a
\ntall poney-tailed African in a red tartan skirt carrying a helmet, was
\nstunned by an old Dinka corset from Sudan, a torso-sized piece made of red
\nbeads, metal and fibre. “It just shows,” he said. “Men’s corsets are now
\ncoming back in fashion yet existed long ago.” From corsets to penis sheafs
\nfrom the Pacific, as well as pendants, ear-rings, nose-rings and bracelets,
\nthe exhibition brings together some 150 pieces from specialist museums from
\nacross the world. These objects help show how men develop their male
\nidentity. Some were used in sexual and social rituals or to provide
\nprotection, others were worn to show a man’s status, or underline his
\nposition through finery. The porcupine hat from Cameroon accessorises a
\nporcupine tunic, highlighting the sacred impact of different animals or
\nmaterials in different societies. Other show-stopper head-pieces include
\nhats in cat-teeth, tiny antelope horns or scaly anteater and leopard-skin.
\nHair-cuts too vary from place to place as does body art practised to
\naccompany mutilation and circumcision rites.<\/p>\n
In another instance of wrongful detention, the Commonwealth paid
\nGerman-born Australian Cornelia Rau $2.6 million. She was locked up in 2004
\nfor 10 months. Even more recently, the Supreme Court of the Australian
\nCapital Territory last month awarded $55,000 to a man who was wrongfully
\ndetained for 29 days. Nguyen\u2019s situation has prompted officials to consider
\nan overhaul of the system, acknowledging there are major deficiencies with
\ncurrent legislation. The Migration Act lacks a \u201csafety net provision\u201d.
\nAccordingly, the Department of Immigration lacks the express power to
\nremedy earlier decisions. In Nguyen\u2019s case, the Department engaged in heavy
\nlegal debate, thus causing significant delay in resolving the matter.<\/p>\n
Hypertension is the most common condition leading up to cardiac arrest
\nwhich is the leading cause of death in the Pacific. The risk factors of
\nsmoking, alcohol, low levels of physical activity and consumption of fruits
\nand vegetables were the perfect recipe for NCDs. The SPC-WHO joint 2-1-22
\n(two organisations, one programme, 22 countries) approach funded by AusAID
\nand NZAID was being implemented under the Pacific Framework for the
\nprevention and control of NCDs. Grants amounting to 23 million CPF
\n(approximately US$270,000) were provided to three PICT\u2019s in support of NCDs
\nnational strategy implementation. Meanwhile, relatively neglected diseases
\nin the Pacific were dengue and other vector borne diseases like
\nleptospirosis (except malaria), rheumatic heart disease, mental health and
\nenvironmental health. There were also funding gaps for secondary prevention
\nfor noncommunicable diseases such as diabetes, cancer and high blood
\npressure. Gaps were also emerging in maternal and child health, sexual and
\nreproductive health, on the consequences for health of climate change,
\nurbanisation and poor housing, and on infant diarrhoea, water and
\nsanitation.<\/p>\n
The Greenlight DJs make great effort to present themselves in a
\nnon-confrontational light. So why break the rules at all? Why not just be a
\ndonor-funded community radio station, like Boulder’s KGNU, 88.5 FM? Beyond
\nsimply the principle belief that the FCC needs reshaped, DJ Treason says a
\nstation like Greenlight is even more independent than KGNU. A donor-funded
\nstation can’t upset too many listeners, because the station needs their
\ndonations. “They do a necessary part of the battle by playing by the rules,
\nso they can do things we can’t do because we don’t have money or
\nlicensing,” Treason says. “But we are doing our part of the battle by not
\nplaying by the rules, and there are things we can do because we don’t rely
\non donors.” Like Greenlight’s newest show, “Reefer Madness,” all about the
\npositive aspects of pot. Plus, as another DJ who goes by The Hair puts it:
\n“There’s too much going on out there to not need multiple stations.” The
\nHair gets his name because he has long blond hair. He says Greenlight has
\nits own unique music tastes and opinions. “And we’re pirates, so we have to
\nspeak like sailors,” The Hair says with a laugh. It’s true, DJ Treeson
\nadmits. Greenlight is “raunchier” than KGNU. “But there is a distinction
\nbetween free speech and responsible speech. Responsibility comes with the
\nconsequences,” he says. And he accepts that. “There’s a level of danger in
\nwhat we do,” Treason says. “But no American has ever been sent to jail for
\nthis.” The real crime is turning on the transmitter, he says. When the FCC
\nshut down Boulder Free Radio, the warning was shut down or be punished by
\nup to $11,000 per day and one year in jail. Greenlight has never been
\nfined. So Treason says he refuses to be clouded by fear. “Fear distracts
\nyou from your ultimate goal,” he says. “If you define yourself in
\nopposition to something, you’re not defining yourself, period.” Yet still,
\nhe hides.<\/p>\n
Another home invasion, this time in Belize City. It is getting apparent
\nthat burglars are getting more abrasive and their new trend is to invade
\nwhile the victims are still inside. There were home invasions in San Pedro
\nand another in Hattieville where an elderly Canadian woman was also raped.
\nTwo African men living in Belize City were the next victims to experience
\nthe terrifying ordeal. Twenty-six year old Samuel Benguna and twenty-four
\nyear old Ismail Conteh, both of Nigeria, were at their apartment on the
\nNorthern Highway when they were surprised by three men with rags covering
\ntheir faces. These two African gentlemen were at home when they heard a
\nknock on their door and they were accosted by three men who robbed them at
\ngunpoint. Stolen from them were computer accessories and cell phones and an
\namount of cash in both US and Belize currency. There are no suspects yet as
\npolice investigations continue into this matter. With the increasing number
\nof Aggravated Burglaries that we are witnessing is concerning and the
\npolice will be delivering pamphlets shortly advising residents on measures
\nto protect themselves. The ultimate protection is the neighbourhood watches
\nand the community policing that the police department is trying to promote.
\nThe cash stolen from the men totaled four thousand, two hundred dollars.<\/p>\n
A passenger train bound for Bangkok derailed in Thailand’s Hua Hin coastal
\nresort district in heavy rain, killing at least five people and injuring up
\nto 50. About six of the train’s 16 cars went off the tracks and some people
\nwere believed trapped.<\/p>\n
Seven new glowing mushroom species have been discovered in Belize, Brazil,
\nDominican Republic, Jamaica, Japan, Malaysia and Puerto Rico. Four of the
\nspecies are completely new to scientists, and three previously known
\nspecies were discovered to be luminescent. All seven species, as well as
\nthe majority of the 64 previously known species of luminescent mushrooms,
\nare from the Mycena family. Within Mycena, the luminescent species come
\nfrom 16 different lineages, which suggests that luminescence evolved at a
\nsingle point and some species later lost the ability to glow. The new
\ndiscoveries might help scientists understand when, how and why mushrooms
\nevolved the ability to glow. Luminescence might attract nocturnal animals,
\nwhich would then help the mushrooms spread their spores. Mycena
\nsilvaelucens (forest light) was collected in the grounds of an Orangutan
\nRehabilitation Center in Borneo, Malaysia and was found on the bark of a
\nstanding tree. The mushrooms are tiny with each cap measuring less than 18
\nmillimeters in diameter. Mycena luxaeterna (light eternal) was collected in
\nSao Paulo, Brazil and was found on sticks in an Atlantic forest habitat.
\nThese mushrooms are tiny with each cap measuring less than 8 millimeters in
\ndiameter and their stems have a jelly-like texture. The species\u2019 name was
\ninspired by Mozart\u2019s Requiem. Mycena luxarboricola (light tree dweller) was
\ncollected in Paran\u00e1, Brazil and was found on the bark of a living tree in
\nold growth Atlantic forest. These mushrooms are tiny with each cap
\nmeasuring less than 5 millimeters in diameter.<\/p>\n
The Solomon Islands police chief and his wife have been robbed in a
\nfrightening home invasion by 12 young men in the capital Honiara, where a
\nspate of similar burglaries has occurred recently. New Zealander Peter
\nMarshall, the Solomon Islands police commissioner, and his wife Pamela
\nbarricaded themselves in their bedroom after being woken by the thieves at
\n1am. They were not targeted for political reasons. “It was pretty
\nfrightening,” he said. “We barricaded ourselves into the bedroom with a
\ncupboard and wardrobe against the door. There was a fair bit of commotion
\nand kicking against the door,” he said. “There has been four similar
\nrobberies like this in the last six weeks,” he said. Laptops, cash, a
\ndigital camera and other personal effects were taken but most of the goods
\nhad been returned. “The suspects were arrested shortly afterwards and are
\nnow in police custody.” The attack is part of a growing trend among
\nunemployed youth in the lead up to Christmas. “We’ve identified who it is,
\nthere is a trend of robberies by the same unemployed youths who live in
\nsquatter settlements.” Honiara mayor Andrew Mua said he feared rising crime
\nand unemployment was a threat to peace and security in the city. But
\nMarshall rejected those claims, adding that crime rates had dropped 12 per
\ncent during 2009 and most crime in the Solomons was petty. “We’ve had no
\nfirearm incidents in two and a half years, we’ve had a scattering of
\nburglaries,” he said. The Regional Assistance Mission to Solomons Islands
\n(RAMSI) is made up of Australian, New Zealand and Pacific Islands police,
\ntroops and public officials, who arrived in 2003 to restore law and order
\nand good governance following years of ethnic unrest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kenyan authorities have seized almost 700kg of ivory worth millions of dollars in a night-time raid at the country’s main airport. The Kenya Wildlife Service says a similar amount was intercepted in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. Both consignments – with a potential value of more than $1.5m (\u00a3938,000) – were reportedly headed for Thailand. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"","spay_email":""},"categories":[3,48,50,51,52,5,6,7,8,70,12,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,69,22,24,25,26,29,30,31,32,33,35,36,38,39,67,65,42,43,64,44,45,46,47],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bbrace.net\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1448"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bbrace.net\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bbrace.net\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bbrace.net\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bbrace.net\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1448"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bbrace.net\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1448\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1449,"href":"https:\/\/bbrace.net\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1448\/revisions\/1449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bbrace.net\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bbrace.net\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bbrace.net\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}