Bangladesh, which is currently engaged in a dispute with Myanmar over
\nborder fencing, fears that Yangon may attack its St. Martin\u2019s Island in the
\nBay of Bengal. Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), which guards the land border, has
\nidentified the St Martin\u2019s Island as the \u201cprobable main target\u201d of Myanmar
\nand has asked the government to immediately strengthen its defence by
\nconstructing aircraft landing zones and concrete bunkers. This is contained
\nin a \u201cstrategic proposal\u201d that came in the wake of constant military
\nbuild-up and intimidation by Myanmar. The St Martin\u2019s Island, the only
\ncoral island of the country and the main attraction for local and foreign
\ntourists for its panoramic beauty and pristine marine life, is under the
\njurisdiction of the Bangladesh Coastguards. The island, which is located in
\na mineral rich region in the Bay of Bengal, is 8 km west of Myanmar coast.
\nThe BDR has submitted its proposal to the Ministry of Home Affairs, the
\nPrime Minister\u2019s Office, the navy and air force headquarters and the
\ndirector general of Coastguards. It has also urged the government to
\nincrease defence capability of land and sea borders to \u201crepulse any
\npossible aggression by the neighbouring country\u201d.<\/p>\n
China has started the relocation of 330,000 residents to make way for a
\ncanal bringing water from the south to the north of the country, in China’s
\nsecond-largest resettlement scheme. Families from Henan and Hubei provinces
\nare being moved to make way for a canal which will run from the Yangtze
\nRiver to Beijing. They are being moved to newly-built villages and will
\nreceive an annual subsidy of around 88 US dollars. The scheme is part of an
\nexpansion of the Danjiangkou reservoir. The government says it hopes to
\nhave water flowing from the Yangtze and its tributaries to the arid north
\npart of the country by 2014. Around 1.3 million people have already been
\nrelocated to make way for the Three Gorges Dam, which was completed last
\nyear.<\/p>\n
A high-profile coalition of artists — including the members of Pearl Jam,
\nR.E.M. and the Roots — demanded that the government release the names of
\nall the songs that were blasted since 2002 at prisoners for hours, even
\ndays, on end, to try to coerce cooperation or as a method of punishment.
\nDozens of musicians endorsed a Freedom of Information Act request filed by
\nthe National Security Archive, a Washington-based independent research
\ninstitute, seeking the declassification of all records related to the use
\nof music in interrogation practices. The artists also launched a formal
\nprotest of the use of music in conjunction with torture. “I think every
\nmusician should be involved,” said Rosanne Cash. “It seems so obvious.
\nMusic should never be used as torture.” The singer-songwriter (and daughter
\nof Johnny Cash) said she reacted with “absolute disgust” when she heard of
\nthe practice. “It’s beyond the pale. It’s hard to even think about.” Other
\nmusicians, including Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails and Tom Morello,
\nformerly of the band Rage Against the Machine, also expressed outrage. “The
\nfact that music I helped create was used in crimes against humanity sickens
\nme,” Morello said in a statement. “We need to end torture and close
\nGuantanamo now.”<\/p>\n
Approximately 57 small islands scattered around southern Trenggalek
\nregency, East Java, are still unnamed. Their natural potentials have not
\nbeen identified as well. The islands are scattered, starting from Panggul
\nwater to Prigi, Watulimo sub district. The small islands could yet be used
\nmaximally. The procedure of island identification and the mapping of
\nnatural potentials of the 57 islands are also very complicated. Permission
\nfrom the Local Affairs Department and recommendations from the provincial
\ngovernment is required. Also, because island naming is overseen by the
\ninternational law, PBB must also approve it. Another challenge in the
\nidentification of the islands is the different perceptions between
\nTrenggalek local government and Tulungagung regional government on some of
\nthe islands located in the borderline between the two regions. The
\nanonymous islands have a considerable amount of swallow nests. Due to the
\nabsence of budget to optimize the resources, the swallow nests are
\nreportedly often stolen.<\/p>\n
Many “matuto” paintings, as a kind of scratches from the pre-historic rock
\narts, were found in a number of villages which belong to Kaimana District,
\nProvinice of Papua Barat. Matuto is a shape of a half-man lizard and
\nbelieved as the ancestor of heroes. A lot of matuto paintings were found at
\nniche surfaces made as canvas for the artists of the pre-historic time in
\nseveral archaeological sites. Matuto motif belongs to an anthropomorphic
\ngroup with religious meaning representing the people`s ancestors living in
\nKaimana in the pre-historic time. Besides matuto, the anthropomorphic group
\nalso includes a palm-print motif which means a protective power to prevent
\nfrom evil things, and a human motif. Matuto paintings were found in the
\nsites of Omborecena, Memnemba, Memnemnambe and Tumberawasi located in
\nMaimai village. Whereas in Namatota village, matuto paintings were also
\nfound in the sites of Werfora I, Werfora II, Werfora III and Werfora IV.
\nThe other pre-historic paintings which were scratched at the niche surfaces
\nare in the motifs of lizard, fish, tortoise, crocodile, cuscus, snake, bird
\nand sea horse which belong to the fauna group. In the geometrical motif,
\nthere are the pictures of sun, direction mark, rectangular and circle. The
\npictures of man`s cultural objects include those on the shapes of boat,
\nboomerang, spear, rock axe, sago hammer and mask. Pre-historic men
\nscratched paintings on niche surfaces with natural color substance and
\ntheir works were called rock arts which served as media to express ideas or
\nthoughts concerning certain events. These archaeological relics are sort of
\ncivilization from the ancestor`s community in Papua, and have enriched the
\nnational culture.<\/p>\n
A new World Food Programme (WFP) pilot project plans to use text messages
\non mobile phones to distribute food vouchers to Iraqi refugees in Syria.
\nThe United Nations announced the scheme this week and said it will target
\n1,000 Iraqi refugee families living in Damascus. Families will be provided
\nwith a special SIM card to receive a 22 US dollar voucher every two months,
\nwhich can be exchanged for rice, wheat flour, lentils, chickpeas, oil,
\ncanned fish, cheese and eggs at selected shops. The WFP explained that all
\nthe 130,000 Iraqi refugees currently receiving food aid in Syria already
\nhave mobile phones. The project will initially run for four months, but
\nmight be extended depending on its success.<\/p>\n
Members of the protective services routinely muzzle sweep each other, along
\nwith civilians. One IATF officer shot himself in the toe while on patrol in
\na densely populated area of the capital city. These armed persons are a
\npotential menace. Another member of the public was \u2018accidentally\u2019 shot by a
\ncop while holding his five-year-old daughter on the roadside, while waiting
\nto cross the street. This occurred at a busy intersection, at Charlotte and
\nDuke Streets, in Port of Spain. Criminals arriving by, and leaving in small
\nfishing boats, have been targeting sea-bathers at Chagville Beach in
\nChaguaramas. What makes this particularly frustrating is that this beach is
\nacross the street from the TT Defense Force Headquarters. The TTDF has a
\nproud history of serving this nation, so it\u2019s ironic that these violent
\ncrimes occur within line-of-sight of their HQ. One may argue that the
\nclassical role of a defence force is not law enforcement. True; but if that
\nis the case in our country, then why do we have police\/army \u201cjoint
\npatrols\u201d? Surely TTDF Chief of Defence Staff Brigadier Edmund Dillon is
\ntaking this as a personal assault on the reputation of the TTDF. After all,
\none of it\u2019s stated responsibilities is, \u201ccooperate with and assist the
\ncivil power in maintaining law and order.\u201d Additionally, every Chief of
\nDefence Staff has included these words (in one form or another) in their
\nspeeches: \u201cThe Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force is fully prepared to
\ndefend the sovereign good of our nation from all enemies, foreign or
\ndomestic.\u201d How about starting with enemies across the street? The primary
\nagency charged with the responsibility of policing the Western peninsula is
\nthe Chaguaramas Development Authority Police. Inspector Abdul Singh, the
\nhighest ranking officer of the CDA police, has many challenges, including
\nacute shortages of personnel, arms, ammunition and vehicles.<\/p>\n
In Ecuador, the Shuar are blocking highways to defend their hunting
\ngrounds. In Chile, the Mapuche are occupying ranches to pressure for land,
\nschools and clinics. In Bolivia, a new constitution gives the country’s 36
\nindigenous peoples the right to self-rule. All over Latin America, and
\nespecially in the Andes, a political awakening is emboldening Indians who
\nhave lived mostly as second-class citizens since the Spanish conquest. Much
\nof it is the result of better education and communication, especially as
\nthe Internet allows native leaders in far-flung villages to share ideas and
\nstrategies across international boundaries. But much is born of necessity:
\nLatin American nations are embarking on an unprecedented resource hunt,
\nmoving in on land that Indians consider their own \u2014 and whose pristine
\ncharacter is key to their survival. “The Indian movement has arisen because
\nthe government doesn’t respect our territories, our resources, our Amazon,”
\nsays Romulo Acachu, president of the Shuar people, flanked by warriors
\ncarrying wooden spears and with black warpaint smeared on their faces. A
\nmonth ago, the Shuar put up barbed-wire roadblocks on highway bridges in
\nEcuador’s southeastern jungles to protest legislation that would allow
\nmines on Indian lands without their prior consent, and put water under
\nstate control. An Indian schoolteacher was killed in a battle with riot
\npolice. “If there are 1,000 dead they will be good deaths,” says another
\nShuar leader, Rafael Pandam. The Shuar won, at least this round. A week
\nafter the killing, President Rafael Correa received about 100 Indian
\nleaders at the presidential palace and agreed to reconsider the laws.
\nCorrea had earlier called the Indians “infantile” for their insistence on
\nbeing consulted over mining concessions. But he didn’t need to be reminded
\nthat natives \u2014 a third of the population \u2014 have become an indispensible
\nconstituent and helped topple an Ecuadorean government in 2000.<\/p>\n
Mouth-watering Indian snacks like the spicy chaat, masala dosas and chicken
\nrolls are increasingly becoming popular in Bangladesh where the taste for
\nwestern fast food has been holding sway till now. A number of trendy
\nrestaurants in metropolis Dhaka and other cities are now introducing the
\nsnacks in their menu in a bid to attract not only the local food buffs but
\ninternational visitors as well. \u201cNo longer satisfied with hamburgers, hot
\ndogs and fries, Bangladeshi eating out habits, never to be left behind, has
\nalso caught on to the trend. Indian items are fast replacing the European
\nmenu as the favoured grab-and-go food of choice, not just because of the
\ntaste but its healthier make-up, and has spread around the world. Popular
\nrestaurants like \u2018Dhaba\u2019 are now selling chaat items like bhel puri and the
\ngolgappa. It also has dahi papri, papri chaat, aloo chaat and aloo tikki.
\nThese mouth-watering treats are all served up to you with a smile.<\/p>\n
The Weather Office has warned the country to prepare for the cyclone season
\nin coming months. In a media advisory, the office said the tropical cyclone
\nseason is between November and April. However, the month of January has
\nbeen predicted as the peak month for cyclone to hit. Cyclone can also occur
\nduring other months before November and after April however, with lower
\nrisks. On average, one or two cyclone forms in Solomon Islands each year.
\nAlthough, El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a significant contributor
\nto the year to year variability in tropical cyclone activity in the South
\nPacific Ocean, it does not have great influence on the cyclone frequency
\noccurring here. With the typical El Nino conditions continue to persist in
\nthe Tropical Pacific the outlook for Tropical Cyclone activity in the
\nSolomon Islands during November 2009 to April 2010 is likely to be average
\ndue to the weak El Nino condition. In light of a likely cyclone occurrence,
\nlocal communities have been reminded to remain alert and prepared for any
\ncyclone hit during this season.<\/p>\n
Bangladesh is set to officially release three flood-tolerant rice varieties
\nthat would help farmers prevent up to a million tonnes of annual crop loss
\ncaused by flash floods. These rice varieties with submergence-tolerant
\ngene, known as Sub1, can withstand two weeks of complete submergence. The
\nSeed Certification Agency has been asked to release the three
\nsubmergence-tolerant varieties, Swarna-Sub1, BR-11-Sub1, and
\nBR-11-Recombinant-Sub1. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation supports the
\nproject. The flood-tolerant versions of the high-yielding varieties (HYVs),
\npopular with farmers and consumers, that are grown over huge areas across
\nBangladesh are effectively identical to their susceptible counterparts but
\nthose recover after severe flooding to yield well. The Sub1 varieties
\nwithstood submergence quite well during this year’s flash floods in
\nJamalpur’s Dewanganj, Kurigram’s Kachir Char, Mymensingh’s Dhobaura and
\nSylhet’s Golapganj. The Sub1 varieties have been tested in six BRRI fields
\nand nine farmers’ fields over the last couple of years and all results show
\npositive signs.<\/p>\n
Trinidad and Tobago joined millions of Hindus around the world to celebrate
\nDivali, also known as Diwali, Deepavali or Dipavali. Thousands of Hindus
\nand non-Hindus lined their homes and streets with deyas, a clay vessel
\nholding coconut oil and a wick. The illuminated streets, a reminder of why
\nDivali is called the festival of lights, are reminiscent of good triumphing
\nover evil. The deya is also meant to raise awareness in the believer of his
\nor her own inner light. The streets of many parts of Trinidad and Tobago
\nwhere Hindus make up the majority were beautifully lit. Curved bamboo
\nstrips, walls and fences were used as stands for the deyas. A growing trend
\nin Trinidad and Tobago is also to see non-Hindus lighting deyas and placing
\nthem on their walls and banisters. Roti shops, caterers and other places
\nselling Indo-Caribbean food also report a sharp incline in sales around
\nthis time, as enthusiasm about local Indian food spurts, primarily among
\npersons without home access to the popular dishes. On these islands where
\nmany celebrate everything, every last trimester the local celebratory
\nspirit ascends. The muslim celebration Eid-ul-Fitr, the Hindu festival
\nDivali, and the Christian season of Christmas often ensue in rapid
\nsuccession. Many who put up lights for Divali will leave up their electric
\nlights until the end of Christmas and the start of Carnival. In some
\nregards, it could be argued that the cultural calendar of Trinidad and
\nTobago begins with either Eid or Divali – whichever comes first – because
\nthereafter one season flows into the next. As a result, ethnic groups in
\nTrinidad and Tobago demonstrate high levels of religious tolerance,
\ncultural cohabitation and racial harmony. The world should take note.<\/p>\n
The recent conflict in the Pakistani region of South Waziristan has already
\ndisplaced at least 160,000 people and could rise to 260,000 in the next few
\nweeks. Local aid workers have registered 160,000 people in six IDP camps
\naround Dera Ismail Khan, a town on the southern fringe of the tribal area.
\nThey expect a further 100,000 people to arrive in the next few weeks. The
\ntotal would amount to just over half of the area’s 500,000 population.
\nFighting in South Waziristan has escalated since the government launched a
\nrenewed military offensive against the Taliban. The move follows attacks by
\nTaliban militants across Pakistan that left at least 175 dead, including a
\nsuicide bomb that exploded at Islamabad University, killing four people.<\/p>\n
The musicians’ announcement was coordinated with the recent call by
\nveterans and retired Army generals to shut Guantanamo. It is part of a
\nrenewed effort to pressure President Obama to keep his promise to close the
\nprison in Cuba in his first year in office. A White House spokesman said
\nmusic is no longer used as an instrument of torture, part of a shift in
\npolicy on interrogations that Obama made on his second full day in office.
\nThe president also formed an interagency group, called High-Value Detainee
\nInterrogation Group, to examine the techniques used during questioning, but
\na White House spokesman said that the new group has yet to be fully
\nconstituted. “The president banned the use of ‘enhanced interrogation
\ntechniques,’ and issued an executive order that established that
\ninterrogations must be consistent with the techniques in the Army Field
\nManual and the Geneva Conventions,” a White House official said. “Sound at
\na certain level creates sensory overload and breaks down subjectivity and
\ncan bring about a regression to infantile behavior. Its effectiveness
\ndepends on the constancy of the sound, not the qualities of the music.
\nPlayed at a certain volume, it simply prevents people from thinking.<\/p>\n
The CIA Playlist includes:<\/p>\n
AC\/DC Aerosmith Barney theme song (By Bob Singleton) The Bee Gees Britney
\nSpears Bruce Springsteen Christina Aguilera David Gray Deicide Don McClean
\nDope Dr. Dre Drowning Pool Eminem Hed P.E. James Taylor Limp Bizkit Marilyn
\nManson Matchbox Twenty Meatloaf Meow mix jingle Metallica Neil Diamond Nine
\nInch Nails Pink Prince Queen Rage against the Machine Red Hot Chili Peppers
\nRedman Saliva Sesame street theme music (By Christopher Cerf) Stanley
\nBrothers The Star Spangled Banner Tupac Shakur<\/p>\n
Pins Depicting Muhammad Picture Circulating: The pins also incribe an
\nArabian writing that reads \u2018Prophet Muhammad SAW\u2019. After receiving report
\non the circulation of the pins, East Makassar police immediately arrest the
\npin owners. According to East Makassar Police Head, his team has caught two
\nowners of the Prophet pin. \u201cThey are Bahanda, the resident of Samata sub
\ndistrict, Gowa regency, and Anto, the resident of Tonro, Makassar.” From
\nBahanda\u2019s house, the police confiscated 5 pins and stickers with the
\ndrawing of Prophet Muhammad printed on. The police also seized a laptop.
\n\u201cCurrently, the focus of the investigation is the ownership of the pins
\nwhich have been circulating in Makassar during the past two days. The two
\nsuspects are still undergoing inquisitions at the police headquarters. \u201cFor
\nnow, no charges have been laid, including the accusation of religion
\noutrage.”<\/p>\n
The figures by the Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones (TSE) reveals that more
\nNicaraguan men are more likely to marry Costa Rican women than Nicaraguan
\nwomen to marry Costa Rican men when the arrive in Costa Rica, with a total
\nof 12.515 Nicaraguan men marrying “ticas”, while only 934 Nicaraguan women
\nmarried “ticos” between 1950 and 2009. Nicaraguan men arrive in Costa Rica
\nsingle and without commitment, while the women leave behind children and a
\nsignificant other which to stay faithful to. Perhaps the reason is that
\nmore Nicaraguan men come to Costa Rican than Nicaraguan women, explaining
\nthe difference in the numbers. The man is looking to settle here, is more
\nirresponsible and not attached to theri children back in Nicaragua. The
\nwoman are transitory, leaving children and partner behind with an eye to
\nreturning. They marry for increased sexual potency, protection from
\nimmigration and to have a Costa Rican child. One man said Costa Rican women
\nare pretty, while other say they don’t like Costa Rican woman because they
\nare “too liberal”, “like to go out a lot” and “are bossy”.<\/p>\n
For the second year in a row, world grain production rose, with farmers
\nproducing some 2.3 billion tons. The record harvest was up more than 7
\npercent and caps a decade in which only half the years registered gains.
\nToday, only 150 crops are cultivated, a sharp drop from the 10,000 used
\nover time, and three grains–maize, rice, and wheat–combined with potatoes
\nprovide more than 50 percent of human energy needs.<\/p>\n
At least two people died and 100 people were injured when Bangladesh police
\nfired rubber bullets at thousands of garment factory workers rioting over
\nunpaid wages. The two people were killed after around 15,000 workers began
\nhurling stones and rocks, prompting officers to retaliate, in the worst
\nindustrial violence to shake Bangladesh as it struggles to cope with the
\nfallout from the global recession. The protesters, who worked for
\nBangladeshi-owned Nippon Garments, were demanding three months’ back pay
\nfrom owners who had shut down the factory, blaming a lack of orders. The
\nlaw-enforcers had to fire rubber bullets from shotguns to disperse the
\nworkers who hurled stones and bricks at the cops; two people had died. At
\nleast 100 workers and a number of cops were hurt in the clashes in the
\nTongi Industrial Area, 40 kilometres (25 miles) north of Dhaka. Nine of the
\ninjured were admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital \u00ab with wounds
\ncaused by live ammunition and some are in serious condition. The cops said
\nthey used only rubber bullets to quell the unrest. The angry workers became
\nunruly and violent this morning. They threw up barricades on the roads and
\nsuddenly attacked police. The workers also damaged vehicles, torching some,
\nand blockaded road links between Bangladesh’s northern districts and Dhaka.
\nThe clashes were the most severe since the global downturn began to affect
\nBangladeshi apparel factories, which accounted for 80 percent of the
\ncountry’s 15.56 billion dollars worth of exports in the last financial
\nyear. Some 50,000 workers protesting wage cuts and unpaid salaries clashed
\nwith police, leaving scores injured. The global slowdown had forced many
\nfactories in the country to lay off workers or shut down. Western retailers
\nwho are our top buyers have cut orders and squeezed prices. The big
\nfactories have somehow coped, but most of the small- and medium-sized
\nfactories are facing very tough times. Overseas shipments fell by three
\npercent. Unions said factories have cut wages to compete for orders with
\nother apparel-producers, such as Vietnam, China and India.The owners of
\nNippon Garments were due to pay the wages and had asked employees to
\ncollect their money. But they shut down the factory in the night and sent
\npolice to guard the factory. The workers became angry when they saw the
\nowners had left without paying the salaries. Forty percent of Bangladesh’s
\nindustrial workforce is employed in the garment sector.<\/p>\n
Indians make up one in 10 of Latin America’s half-billion inhabitants. In
\nsome parts of the Andes and Guatemala, they are far more numerous. Yet they
\nremain much poorer and less educated than the general population. About 80
\npercent live on less than $2 a day \u2014 a poverty rate double that of the
\ngeneral population \u2014 while some 40 percent lack access to health care. The
\nthreats to Indian land have grown in recent years. With shrinking global
\noil reserves and growing demands for minerals and timber, oil and mining
\nconcerns are joining loggers in encroaching on traditional Indian lands.
\nIndians have been progressively losing control and ownership of natural
\nresources on their lands. The situation isn’t very encouraging. Hence the
\nrevolt rippling up and down the Andes. In Peru, south of the Shuar’s lands,
\nthe government has divided more than 70 percent of the Amazon into oil
\nexploration blocks and has begun selling concessions. Fearing contamination
\nof their hunting and fishing grounds, Indians last year began mounting
\nsporadic road and river blockades. Riot police opened fire on Indians at a
\nroad blockade outside the town of Bagua, where jungle meets Andean
\nfoothills. At least 33 people were killed, most of them police. The Indians
\nwere unapologetic for resisting. “Almost everything we have comes from the
\njungle,” says one of the protesters, a wiry elementary school teacher from
\nthe Awajun tribe named Gabriel Apikai. “The leaves, and wood and vines with
\nwhich we build our homes. The water from the streams. The animals we eat.
\nThat is why we are so worried.” Farther south along the world’s longest
\nmountain chain, Chilean police are protecting 34 ranches and logging
\ncompounds that Mapuche Indians have targeted for occupations or sabotage.
\nThe Mapuche, who dominated Chile before the Spanish conquest, now account
\nfor less than 10 percent of its people and hold some 5 percent of its land
\n\u2014 among the least fertile. Mapuche activists agitating for title to more
\nlands and greater access to education and health care stepped up civil
\ndisobedience this year. Riot police mounting an eviction killed one
\nMapuche, and eight were injured. “If the government and the political class
\ndoesn’t listen to our demands the situation will get a lot more difficult,”
\nMapuche leader Jose Santos Millao said. He rejects as a “smoke screen”
\nPresident’s creation of an Indian Affairs Ministry.<\/p>\n
The crime upsurge cannot be ignored despite the absolutely gracious
\napproach of the British couple who sent a letter of assurance to the
\nMinister of Tourism and to the THA about their undying love and affection
\nfor the island and its people even after the vicious attack they suffered.
\nThe killing and burying of a German, whose body was found in a shallow
\ngrave, is the latest setback. Bringing the number of murders on the island
\nto 11, this latest incident also flies in the face of the attempts by the
\npolice to demonstrate that they have the situation well under control.
\nAfter every such major crime, the police pledge to take stronger measures,
\nto increase patrols and to maintain a more visible presence in what they
\nthemselves identify as vulnerable areas. The discovery of the body of the
\nGerman at what was his home in Bacolet Crescent does indeed present a new
\nfeature to the murder picture in Tobago. It suggests that criminals are
\nemploying even more grisly methods of perpetrating these offences, further
\nfouling the environment in which all concerned must respond. Sensing that
\nhe was indeed in some danger, with death threats having been issued to him,
\nthe man was reportedly in the process of making arrangements to leave
\nTobago for good. That he was a German-the nationality that has had such a
\nlong and deeply ingrained association with Tobago-is bound to send further
\nshock waves through that community many of whom have shared their hitherto
\nwonderful experiences with others who have been making regular trips to
\nTobago. Much work is going to be needed to continue the repair job on the
\nisland\u2019s image occasioned by this and the other serious offences. But the
\nmultiplier effect of another gruesome incident such as this on the island\u2019s
\nprofile cannot be underestimated, no matter what the manner of the media
\ncoverage may be, no matter what means may be employed to colour the
\npresentation.<\/p>\n
Try telling Brother Jerry Smith that the recession in America has ended. As
\nscores of people queued up at the soup kitchen which the Capuchin friar
\nhelps run in Detroit, the celebrations on Wall Street in New York seemed
\nfrom another world. The hungry and needy come from miles around to get a
\nfree healthy meal. Though the East Detroit neighbourhood the soup kitchen
\nserves has had it tough for decades, the recession has seen almost any hope
\nfor anyone getting a job evaporate. Neither is there any sign that jobs
\nmight come back soon. Some in the past have had jobs here, but now there is
\nnothing available to people. Nothing at all. The hungry, the homeless and
\nthe poor crowded around tables. Many were by themselves, but some were
\nfamilies with young children. None had jobs. Indeed, the soup kitchen
\nitself is now starting to dip into its savings to cope with a drying up of
\ndesperately needed donations. This is an area where times are so tough that
\nthe soup kitchen is a major employer for the neighbourhood, keeping its own
\nstaff out of poverty. Officially, America is on the up. The economy grew by
\n3.5% in the past quarter. On Wall Street, stocks are rising again. The
\nbanks \u2013 rescued wholesale by taxpayers’ money last year \u2013 are posting
\nbillions of dollars of profits. Thousands of bankers and financiers are
\nwetting their lips at the prospect of enormous bonuses, often matching or
\nexceeding those of pre-crash times. The financial sector is lobbying
\nsuccessfully to fight government attempts to regulate it. The wealthy are
\nbeginning to snap up property again, pushing prices up. In New York’s
\nfashionable West Village a senior banker recently splurged $10m on a single
\napartment, sending shivers of delight through the city’s property brokers.
\nBut for tens of millions of Americans such things seem irrelevant. Across
\nthe country lay-offs are continuing. Indeed, jobless rates are expected to
\nrise. Unemployment in America stands at 9.8%. But that headline figure,
\nmassaged by bureaucrats, does not include many categories of the jobless.
\nAnother, broader official measure, which includes those such as the
\nlong-term jobless who have given up job-seeking and workers who can only
\nfind piecemeal part-time work, tells another story. That figure stands at
\n17%.<\/p>\n
Darshona Sub1 at Darshona remained unharmed despite being completely
\nsubmerged for nine to 16 days this year. 65 percent of farmers cultivate
\nBR-11 during aman season, which is susceptible to flash floods or rainwater
\nover 10 days. So the Sub1 varieties now hold the potential to become a good
\nreplacement for BR-11. There are four different Sub1 varieties, IR-64-
\nSub1, Samba Mahsuri-Sub1, BR-11-Sub1, and Swarna-Sub1, at the Darshona
\ntrial site. Of these four, the former two are relatively shorter-duration
\nrice while the later two takes a long time to harvest. The new varieties
\nwere made possible following the identification of a single gene that is
\nresponsible for most of the submergence tolerance. The gene is found in a
\nlow-yielding traditional Indian rice variety known to withstand floods. The
\npotential for impact is huge. In Bangladesh, for example, 20 percent of the
\nrice land is flood prone and the country typically suffers several major
\nfloods each year. Submergence-tolerant varieties could make major inroads
\ninto Bangladesh’s annual rice shortfall and substantially reduce its import
\nneeds. As water inundates rice fields, Sub1 gene helps rice plants remain
\n‘metabolically inert’ for up to two weeks; thereby, keeping the plants
\nunaffected. But if the water remain stagnant for a longer duration, it will
\nnot be possible for the crop to withstand.” Farmers would be benefited if
\nthe submergence tolerant rice varieties are released soon. The Philippines
\nreleased its first submergence-tolerant rice variety, Submarino 1,
\nrecently.<\/p>\n
They form the single biggest mass of refugees today, and they face an
\nuncertain fate as a factor in a geopolitical game involving two Asian
\ngiants and allied players. For the about 400,000 fugitives from tiny Sri
\nLanka’s Tamil-speaking areas of less than 18,000 square kilometers
\ntogether, the outlook has only become more unsettling. The tide of Tamil
\nrefugees from the island-state’s northern and eastern provinces represents
\na twin issue. About 100,000 of them are inmates of rather inhospitable
\nrefugee camps in India’s southern State of Tamilnadu. They have been
\nlanguishing there for varying lengths of time, with the influx starting way
\nback in 1984. The population in the camps includes a generation of Sri
\nLankan Tamils who have known no home but India but are not made to feel
\nquite at home in the country. The rest – as many as 300,000 – have been
\nheld in camps behind barbed wires as internally displaced persons (IDPs) in
\nthe war-ravaged parts of Sri Lanka since Colombo declared total victory
\nover Tamil rebels seeking a separate state. The inmates have been told to
\nbe prepared to stay put for a period of one to three years. The population
\nof these camps consists of divided families, with mothers looking for
\nseparated children and women for lost husbands. The plight of these
\nuprooted people of both categories poses a humanitarian problem of huge
\nproportions. That, however, would not appear to be how it is viewed in
\nquarters which matter in India and could make a difference in the
\nincreasing distress of the displaced. New Delhi is under pressure to look
\nupon the tragedy, if not as a trump card, at least as a useful lever in the
\nIndian Ocean region where its influence is seen to be under threat from
\nChina with Pakistan in tow. The debate rages in the media over the role
\nIndia should play in this perspective, even as the refugees await an
\naggravation of their conditions in the camps. The north-eastern monsoon,
\nwhich brings most of the rains for this region for about three months until
\nDecember, is round the corner. The wet season threatens to prove a time of
\nterrible woes, particularly for the IDPs in their tarpaulin tents in
\novercrowded camps. Unless people are moved from these areas, … an
\ninundation of water … will make it impossible to live…. The latrines
\nwill overflow, water supplies will be unusable and access by wheeled
\nvehicles impossible. It will be pretty unbearable. More intolerable to some
\nsecurity analysts will be India’s failure to use this fresh opportunity to
\ncounter the influence of China and allies allowed to grow in its own
\nbackyard over the past two decades. India has had its share of refugee
\nproblems, but the spillover from Sri Lanka’s civil war falls into a special
\ncategory. The most politicized of the problems has been Bangladeshi
\nimmigrants, estimated at 10 million (against the country’s population of
\nabout 1.15 billion). India’s far right has always called them
\n“infiltrators” and sought to fuel pseudo-religious hatred against them as
\nIslamist fifth columnists. But this has remained an internal political
\nissue, with rather poor returns for its inventors.<\/p>\n
The Seventh Summit of the ALBA, the Venezuela-led trade and economic bloc,
\nended with a decision to implement a single currency for transactions among
\nmember states. The leaders of Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica and St Vincent
\nand the Grenadines were among those who approved the Single Regional
\nPayment Compensation System (SUCRE). A multidisciplinary team from the ALBA
\nnations will begin technical operations for its implementation. However, it
\nis not yet clear how the introduction of the SUCRE will impact the
\ngovernments in St John\u2019s, Roseau and Kingstown, since all three are members
\nof the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union that uses the EC dollar as its
\ncommon currency. The meeting also signed a special resolution condemning
\nthe Honduras coup. The text demands the immediate reinstatement of Jose
\nManuel Zelaya, who was ousted in a military coup. Zelaya sneaked back into
\nthe Central American country and has been holding negotiations with the
\nnewly-installed government on the way forward. Antigua and Barbuda,
\nDominica and St Vincent and the Grenadines are the only Caribbean Community
\ncountries that are also members the bloc that was formed in 2004 as an
\nalternative proposal to the Free Trade Area of the Americas.<\/p>\n
Actions and events are planned in every Pacific Island nation for the 350
\nInternational Day of Climate Action. In the last 24 hours, events from the
\nFederated States of Micronesia and Kiribati have been registered with
\nwww.350.org, completing the entire list of Pacific countries. Pacific
\ncommunities, many of whom are already affected by climate change, are
\nuniting to create actions that will raise awareness of impacts in the
\nPacific. Each country’s call for action on climate change will be broadcast
\nthrough a global network, including on a huge screen in Times Square, New
\nYork. In Kiribati, the 350 action involves over 2000 students and the
\nPresident, Anote Tong, in a beach clean up. In FSM, 350 coconut trees are
\nbeing planted after a celebration of the use of coconuts in traditional
\nsociety. Inhabitants of Cartaret Island will be some of the first people in
\nthe world to be displaced by climate change. The 350 action will be located
\nat their proposed relocation site to highlight the massive implications of
\nclimate change on their future. Cartaret Islanders will be transported by
\nboat in a flotilla to the relocation site where church gongs will ring 350
\ntimes and 350 mangrove seedlings will be planted. There will also be live
\ncontemporary and traditional song and dance performances. Many of the
\nPacific events involve peoples aggregating in traditional dress, and
\nperformances of traditional song and dance. In Fiji, the Econesians are
\nstaging a giant procession in Suva with song, dance, poetry and
\nentertainment. The Pacific Council of Churches is organising lalis
\n(traditional wooden gongs) 350 times to show their support for a safe
\nclimate future. In the Solomon Islands a public march will culminate with
\ntraditional Kastom dance and music in the ‘Cultural Village’. Traditional
\nsong and dance will also be a major part of events in Papua New Guinea.<\/p>\n
Ten men who belonged to the same soccer team were slain execution-style
\nafter being abducted in a crime that could be the work of warring factions
\nin neighboring Colombia. Venezuelan troops stepped up security patrols in
\nthe area near the Colombian border after the bodies of 10 men, most of them
\nColombians, were found in multiple spots in western Tachira state. The
\nvictims were among a group of 12 men who were kidnapped from a field where
\nthey were playing soccer. The victims’ relatives reported the abduction of
\n10 Colombians, a Peruvian and a Venezuelan. The kidnappers, described as
\narmed men dressed in black, were thought to have called out the names of
\nthe team’s members one by one before taking them away in vehicles. The
\nkillings occurred near a porous border where Colombian rebels, paramilitary
\nfighters and drug smugglers are often able to move about with ease.
\nVenezuelan officials also have struggled in recent years with frequent
\nkidnappings and murders blamed on common criminals in various parts of the
\ncountry. The motive behind the latest slayings remains unclear. The single
\nknown survivor, 19-year-old Manuel Cortez of Colombia, was shot in the
\nneck, said Orlando Lopez, one of his brothers. Lopez said that his brother
\ndidn’t know his abductors. “They had them tied up for 14 days in the sun,”
\nLopez said. “They tied them up to some trees, with chains on their necks
\nand with their hands locked up.” Lopez said his brother recalled the men
\nsaying the hostages “didn’t have anything to do with it but that they were
\ngoing to kill them because they had seen their faces.” As for Cortez, “they
\nput him on his knees and they shot him,” Lopez said by phone from the
\nmilitary hospital in Caracas where his brother was moved after being afraid
\nfor his safety at a hospital in San Cristobal in the border region. A
\nstranger arrived at the first hospital asking to see Cortez and was
\ndetained by authorities, Lopez said. “We don’t know what group” was behind
\nthe killings, Lopez said. A list of names released by Venezuelan
\nauthorities showed the victims ranged in age from 17 to 38, and several
\nwere from the Colombian town of Bucaramanga, about 90 kilometers (55 miles)
\nfrom the border. Investigators suspect the bloodshed may be tied to a
\nconfrontation between irregular groups as part of the Colombian conflict.
\nVenezuelan troops in the area had been ordered to “act forcefully” against
\nany armed Colombian group. Colombian officials in the past have accused
\nVenezuela of allowing leftist rebels to take refuge across the border.
\nColombian President Alvaro Uribe condemned the killings and said they “show
\nthat terrorism is international, that it has no borders.” He offered help
\nin the investigation and expressed confidence Venezuelan authorities will
\nact promptly to “take those terrorists to jail.” Relations have been tense
\nrecently between Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Uribe’s U.S.-allied
\ngovernment. Colombian officials have been critical of Venezuela’s efforts
\nto police its territory and reduce the flow of Colombian cocaine. Venezuela
\ncharges Colombia and the U.S. are trying to use the drug issue to unfairly
\ndiscredit Chavez’s government.<\/p>\n
A demon worshipper killed four members of his family before killing himself
\non remote Misima Island in Papua New Guinea’s Milne Bay province. Milne Bay
\npolice described the gruesome murder-suicide on October 10 as a massacre on
\nMisima, an island 200km east of mainland PNG. The killer was said to be a
\ndemon worshipper who believed in a black Jesus and worshipped on
\nmountaintops before dawn. Rodney Sinod, from Eaus village on the south
\ncoast of Misima Island, had on numerous occasions told his family that he
\nwas going to kill them so the world would be free. Police reports indicated
\nthat on the fateful morning, after his usual worship on a mountain, Sinod
\nreturned to the family home and, without warning, attacked his father with
\nan axe. The victim, who was feeding chickens outside, died instantly. Sinod
\nthen ran past his shocked mother into the house where his niece and nephew,
\naged two and five years, were playing and killed them with the axe, before
\nmowing down his sister-in-law. Sinod later turned on his 17-year-old niece,
\nwho had just finished grade 10 at Misima High School a day earlier and had
\ncome home to spend the holidays with her family. Sinod chopped off part of
\nthe teenagers lower left hand with the axe and struck her on the head. The
\ngirl survived the attack and is recovering from her wounds at the Misima
\ndistrict hospital. Sinod then ran to a mountain where he stabbed himself in
\nthe chest with a knife.At least six villages were engaged in such
\nactivities and reported that even a police officer had established a church
\non the island with similar beliefs. Bizarre cults spring up frequently in
\nPNG. Police in Morobe province were hunting a cult leader who was coercing
\nfollowers to take part in public sex with promises of a bumper banana
\nharvest.<\/p>\n
The Government Accountability Office likes to point its finger at
\nLuxembourg and the Cayman Islands for sheltering tax cheats. But according
\nto the U.K.-based Tax Justice Network, the United States is the biggest tax
\nshelter of ’em all, thanks to the great state of Delaware. Delaware, says
\nthe Tax Justice Network, is “the most secretive financial jurisdiction in
\nthe world.” That’s based on an analysis of 60 financial jurisdictions
\naccording to level of secrecy and cooperation with foreign tax authorities.
\nLuxembourg comes in second, followed by the Switzerland, the Cayman
\nIslands, and the United Kingdom. Here are some fun facts about Delaware: *
\nAccording to the Delaware Secretary of State’s office their operating
\nbudget was $12 million in 2007 and they made $24 million in the fees for
\nexpedited incorporation filings alone. * There are currently some 695,000
\nactive entities registered in Delaware, including 50 percent of the
\ncorporations publically traded on the U.S. stock exchange. * New business
\nformations in Delaware are currently running at about 130,000 per annum. *
\nThe growth of private individual deposits by non-residents was most robust
\nin the United States outranking other popular financial jurisdictions such
\nas the Cayman Islands, United Kingdom, and Luxembourg with total
\nnon-resident deposits equalling $2.6 trillion in 2007. Nicole Tichon of
\nU.S. PIRG, probably the foremost homegrown tax-haven basher, said the
\nUnited States needs to get its tax act together. “If the U.S. wants to be
\ntaken seriously by the international community and try to get their
\ncooperation, then we’ve got to crack down on what’s going on here at home.
\nWe can’t have it both ways,” said Tichon. “Bank secrecy breeds the same
\nproblems, the same criminal behavior, and puts up the same roadblocks to
\nlaw enforcement regardless of where it occurs. As long as the U.S.
\ngovernment looks the other way, it diminishes our credibility on this
\nissue.” The Obama administration talked a good game at first about clamping
\ndown on U.S. corporations that abuse tax shelters, but the administration
\nhas since waffled.<\/p>\n
Streaks of brilliant colors — red, purple, yellow, blue, green — are
\nsplashed across the trunk of this eucalyptus, which also goes by the name
\nof rainbow eucalyptus. The Mindanao gum is one of the few non-Australian
\neucalypti. It is native to tropical rainforests in the Philippines,
\nIndonesia and Papua New Guinea and named for the Philippine island of
\nMindanao. As such it likes regular water and cannot take drought. That and
\nthe usual eucalyptus ills make it unlikely for it to be planted much
\nanymore, but its colorful decorations make it a prized specimen where it
\ndoes occur. Gum The tree is grown in tropical areas for pulpwood production
\nfor paper and harvested at an early age. Sometimes it is allowed to develop
\nfor construction lumber, but the wood is only moderately strong and not
\ndurable. The Mindanao gum is a fast-growing, rather open, erect evergreen
\ntree that may reach a height of 75 to 200 feet and a width of 30 to 75
\nfeet. The smooth bark peels off to display the bright colors underneath.
\nThe oval, 6-inch-by-3-inch leaves are bright green. They contain only a
\nlittle aromatic oil. The tree may bloom when it is 2 years old. Flowers are
\nclustered together and not very conspicuous. When in bud the white to pale
\nyellow stamens that give blooming flowers a fluffy look are hidden in a
\ncovered cap, known as an operculum. The stamens push this cap off at
\nflowering. The genus name, based on the Greek eu kalyptos, or well-covered,
\nrefers to this hidden quality. Woody cone-shaped capsules appear after
\nflowering. The Mindanao gum will take a wide variety of soils, but likes
\nfull sun. It is frost hardy down to 24 degrees Fahrenheit. Just like other
\neucalyptus trees, it is susceptible to aphid-like psyllids and borers. The
\ngenus Eucalyptus was named by the 18th century French botanist Charles
\nLouis l\u2019Heritier. The tree is part of the myrtle family, or Myrtaceae.<\/p>\n
Nowhere is Indian power so evident as Bolivia, which elected its first
\nindigenous president, Evo Morales, in 2005. Morales dissolved the Ministry
\nof Indigenous Affairs and Original Peoples, calling it racist in a country
\nwhere more than three in five people are aboriginals. Voters approved a
\nconstitution that creates a “plurinational” state and accords Bolivia’s
\nnatives sovereign status. Time-worn models of aboriginal government,
\ncommunity justice and even traditional healing are now legally on equal
\nfooting with modern law and science. In the capital of La Paz, “cholitas” \u2014
\nIndian women in traditional bowler hats and embroidered shawls \u2014 now
\nregularly anchor TV newscasts. “Miss Cholita” beauty pageants are in vogue
\nand native hip-hop stars headline at nightclubs. At the presidential
\npalace, Morales \u2014 a former Aymara coca farmer who knew hunger as a child \u2014
\nmakes a point of lunching periodically with the lowliest of palace guards.
\nMorales is ensuring that profits from natural gas and mineral extraction
\nare distributed equitably and that water \u2014 whose privatization in the city
\nof Cochabamba spurred an uprising in 2000 \u2014 is never again privatized. He’s
\nalso pushing to make electrical utilities public. Morales has founded three
\nindigenous universities, formalized quotas for Indians in the military and
\ncreated a special school for aspiring diplomats with native backgrounds.
\nAnd he is promoting a campaign to demand that all public servants be fluent
\nin at least one native tongue. “There is no way to return to the past,”
\nsays Waskar Ari, an Aymara who changed his name to Juan in the 1970s so he
\nwould be accepted to a private high school in La Paz. Now a University of
\nNebraska professor, Ari likens his country’s “rebirth” to the casting off
\nof apartheid on another continent two decades ago. “Finally,” he says
\nproudly, “Bolivia is no longer the South Africa of Latin America.”<\/p>\n
The warlords that the USA champions in Afghanistan are as venal, as opposed
\nto the rights of women and basic democratic freedoms, and as heavily
\ninvolved in opium trafficking as the Taliban. The moral lines we draw
\nbetween us and our adversaries are fictional. The uplifting narratives used
\nto justify the war in Afghanistan are pathetic attempts to redeem acts of
\nsenseless brutality. War cannot be waged to instill any virtue, including
\ndemocracy or the liberation of women. War always empowers those who have a
\npenchant for violence and access to weapons. War turns the moral order
\nupside down and abolishes all discussions of human rights. War banishes the
\njust and the decent to the margins of society. And the weapons of war do
\nnot separate the innocent and the damned. An aerial drone is our version of
\nan improvised explosive device. An iron fragmentation bomb is our answer to
\na suicide bomb. A burst from a belt-fed machine gun causes the same terror
\nand bloodshed among civilians no matter who pulls the trigger. We need to
\ntear the mask off of the fundamentalist warlords who after the tragedy of
\n9\/11 replaced the Taliban. They used the mask of democracy to take power.
\nThey continue this deception. These warlords are mentally the same as the
\nTaliban. The only change is physical. These warlords during the civil war
\nin Afghanistan from 1992 to 1996 killed 65,000 innocent people. They have
\ncommitted human rights violations, like the Taliban, against women and many
\nothers. In eight years less than 2,000 Talib have been killed and more than
\n8,000 innocent civilians has been killed. We believe that this is not war
\non terror. This is war on innocent civilians. Look at the massacres carried
\nout by NATO forces in Afghanistan. Look what they did in the Farah
\nprovince, where more than 150 civilians were killed, most of them women and
\nchildren. They used white phosphorus and cluster bombs. The United States
\nand NATO eight years ago occupied Afghanistan under the banner of woman’s
\nrights and democracy. They put into power men who are photocopies of the
\nTaliban. Afghanistan’s boom in the trade in opium, used to produce heroin,
\nover the past eight years of occupation has funneled hundreds of millions
\nof dollars to the Taliban, al-Qaida, local warlords, criminal gangs,
\nkidnappers, private armies, drug traffickers and many of the senior figures
\nin the government of Hamid Karzai. The brother of President Karzai, Ahmed
\nWali Karzai, has been collecting money from the CIA although he is a major
\nplayer in the illegal opium business. Afghanistan produces 92 percent of
\nthe world’s opium in a trade that is worth some $65 billion. This opium
\nfeeds some 15 million addicts worldwide and kills around 100,000 people
\nannually. These fatalities should be added to the rolls of war dead.<\/p>\n
Added to that shocking statistic are the millions of Americans who remain
\nat risk of foreclosure. In many parts of the country repossessions are
\nstill rising or spreading to areas that have escaped so far. In the months
\nto come, no matter what happens on the booming stock market, hundreds of
\nthousands of Americans are likely to lose their homes. For them the
\nrecession is far from over. It rages on like a forest fire, burning through
\njobs, savings and homes. It will serve to exacerbate a long-term trend
\ntowards deepening inequality in America. Real wages in the US stagnated in
\nthe 1970s and have barely risen since, despite rising living costs. The gap
\nbetween the average American worker and high-paid chief executives has
\nwidened and widened. The richest 1% of Americans have more financial wealth
\nthan the bottom 95%. It seems the American hope of a steady job, producing
\nrising income and a home in the suburbs, has evaporated for many. A
\ngeneration of aspiring middle-class homeowners have been wiped out by the
\nrecession. Poor people just don’t have the political clout to lobby and get
\nwhat they need in the way Wall Street does. There is little doubt that
\nDetroit is ground zero for the parts of America that are still suffering.
\nThe city that was once one of the wealthiest in America is a decrepit,
\noften surreal landscape of urban decline. It was once one of the greatest
\ncities in the world. The birthplace of the American car industry, it
\nboasted factories that at one time produced cars shipped over the globe.
\nIts downtown was studded with architectural gems, and by the 1950s it
\nboasted the highest median income and highest rate of home ownership of any
\nmajor American city. Culturally it gave birth to Motown Records, named in
\nhomage to Detroit’s status as “Motor City”. Decades of white flight,
\ncoupled with the collapse of its manufacturing base, especially in its
\nworld-famous auto industry, have brought the city to its knees. Half a
\ncentury ago it was still dubbed the “arsenal of democracy” and boasted
\nalmost two million citizens, making it the fourth-largest in America. Now
\nthat number has shrunk to 900,000. Its once proud suburbs now contain row
\nafter row of burnt-out houses. Empty factories and apartment buildings
\nhaunt the landscape, stripped bare by scavengers. Now almost a third of
\nDetroit \u2013 covering a swath of land the size of San Francisco \u2013 has been
\nabandoned. Tall grasses, shrubs and urban farms have sprung up in what were
\nonce stalwart working-class suburbs. Even downtown, one ruined skyscraper
\nsprouts a pair of trees growing from the rubble. The city has a shocking
\njobless rate of 29%. The average house price in Detroit is only $7,500,
\nwith many homes available for only a few hundred dollars. Not that anyone
\nis buying. At a recent auction of 9,000 confiscated city houses, only a
\nfifth found buyers.<\/p>\n
A tropical depression has formed in the southwestern Caribbean, prompting
\nstorm warnings for the coast of Nicaragua and two Colombian islands. The
\nNational Hurricane Center in Miami said the 11th tropical depression of the
\nseason formed Wednesday morning. It had maximum sustained winds near 35 mph
\n(55 kph) and is expected to strengthen into a tropical storm later in the
\nday or Wednesday night. The depression’s center is about 125 miles (200
\nkilometers) east-southeast of Bluefields, Nicaragua. It is moving toward
\nthe northwest near 8 mph (13 kph). Colombia issued tropical storm warnings
\nfor the islands of San Andres and Providencia.<\/p>\n
China figured once in the issue of Tibetan refugees, too, but it bears no
\ncomparison to the problem of their Sri Lankan counterparts. The island’s
\nrefugees enjoy a measure of ethnic solidarity in Tamilnadu, and their cause
\nhas a certain constituency there. The State’s ruling party, the Dravida
\nMunnetra Kazhagam (Party for Dravidian Progress) or the DMK, cannot ignore
\nthe issue. And the DMK is an important part of Prime Minister Manmohan
\nSingh’s coalition in New Delhi, headed by his Congress Party. Pressures of
\nlocal politics have prompted the DMK-led State government recently to press
\nfor citizenship for the refugees in the camps under its less-than-adequate
\ncare. The demand has elicited opposition charges that it is designed to
\nhelp the Sri Lankan government by keeping the refugees from returning to
\ntheir homeland. New Delhi has not yet revealed its response to the demand.
\nNor is it known whether it is listening to lectures from experts about the
\nrole it should play in postwar Sri Lanka. The time has come for India to
\nonce again play an activist role … India should assume the leadership
\nrole in helping Sri Lanka in its relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction
\ntasks. India has “strategic interest” in the island. The Sri Lankan
\nGovernment has been cultivating China and Pakistan to keep India in check.
\nIt has good political and economic relations with China. It has invited
\nChina to construct a modern port in Hambantota in southern Sri Lanka. It
\nhas invited the Chinese to help it in gas exploration in areas which are
\ncloset to India. Similarly, there is a growing military-military
\nrelationship between Sri Lanka and Pakistan, which worries India. The
\nstrategic conflict in Sri Lanka is part of a wider power struggle in South
\nAsia. China has developed strategic assets like the Gwadar port in
\nPakistan, besides the Hambantota port. Sri Lanka sits next to shipping
\nlanes that feed 80 percent of China’s and 65 percent of India’s oil needs.<\/p>\n
The Spanish Civil Guard seized 510 kilos of cocaine hidden in the engine
\nroom of a tanker from Venezuela when it was in the north-east port of
\nTarragona. The tanker, whose registration was not identified, had sailed
\nmid-September from Maracaibo (Venezuela) for Egypt but had to stop at
\nTarragona to enable the captain to be permuted. The route of the tanker
\naroused the suspicions of police, who then decided to conduct an
\ninspection. The 510 kilograms of cocaine were hidden in a room which
\ncommunicated with the axle of the rudder which was reached from inside the
\nboat through a small hatch or by the sea. An organized group of drug
\ntraffickers, aboard a zodiac and equipped with diving suits, had brought
\nthe 14 bales of drugs from the sea in this inaccessible cache and had to
\nrecover them by the same method on arrival of the tanker. Spain is one of
\nthe gateways to the European drugs problem in Europe, whether of hashish
\nfrom North Africa, or Latin American cocaine.<\/p>\n
Customs agents have seized 22 pounds of opium after two packages at an
\nOakland delivery facility from Thailand aroused the suspicions of agents.
\nAfter a closer search, the drugs were found wrapped in plastic and
\nconcealed inside the false walls of large musical drums. The shipment was
\nbound for a location somewhere in Northern California before it was
\nintercepted. Opium is made from poppies. It contains morphine, which can be
\nused to make heroine. Authorities say the drug is often linked with gang
\nactivity.<\/p>\n
A female journalist in Saudi Arabia has been sentenced to 60 lashes over a
\nTV show in which a Saudi man described his extra-marital sex life. The
\nprogramme, made by Lebanese satellite network LBC, caused a huge scandal in
\nconservative Saudi Arabia when it was shown several months ago. The
\njournalist is one of two female LBC employees who have been arrested. Mazen
\nAbdul Jawad, the Saudi man who talked about how he picked up Saudi women
\nfor sex, has already been jailed. The original programme was part of a
\nseries called Red Lines, made by the popular LBC network. It examined
\ntaboos in the Arab world. Unmarried sex in Saudi Arabia amongst Saudis –
\nrather than expatriates – is one of the biggest. Mazen Abdul Jawad provoked
\noutrage by describing his techniques for meeting and having sex with Saudi
\nwomen. He tearfully apologised but was jailed for five years and sentenced
\nto 1,000 lashes. Three of his friends who appeared on the show got two
\nyears each. Mr Abdul Jawad blamed LBC producers for tricking him. The
\nstation’s offices in Saudi Arabia were closed down and two of its producers
\n– both female – put on trial. LBC has made no comment about the cases. It
\nhas long been attacked by Saudi religious leaders for being at the
\nforefront of Arab satellite stations broadcasting programmes into the
\nkingdom featuring scantily clad Arab singers and actresses. Ironically,
\nhowever, LBC is part-owned by the Saudi media mogul and billionaire Prince
\nAlwaleed bin Talal.<\/p>\n
Muslim women would be banned from wearing tight pants in a devoutly Islamic
\ndistrict of Indonesia\u2019s Aceh province under proposed regulations to take
\neffect Jan. 1. It is the latest effort to promote strict moral values in
\nthe world\u2019s most populous Muslim-majority nation, where most of the roughly
\n200 million Muslims practice a moderate form of the faith. Any Muslim
\ncaught violating the dress code, which also prohibits shorts for men, will
\nbe told to put on government-issued full-length skirts or loose pants.
\nPatrolling Shariah, or Islamic police, will determine if clothing violates
\nthe dress code. Wearing tight jeans exposes their bodies, which is strictly
\nbanned under Islam. Civil servants are told to go beyond the rules and
\nrefuse government services to women wearing the banned clothing. Islamic
\nlaw is not enforced across the vast island nation. But bans on drinking
\nalcohol, gambling and kissing in public, among other activities, have been
\nenforced by some more conservative local governments in recent years.
\nOpinion polls show that a majority of Indonesians oppose the restrictions
\non dress and behavior that are being pushed by a small fringe of hardliners
\nin the secular democracy. Aceh, a semiautonomous region, made news when its
\nprovincial parliament passed a Shariah law making adultery punishable by
\nstoning to death. It also imposed prison sentences and public lashings
\nagainst homosexuals and pedophiles. Rights groups say the law violates
\ninternational treaties and the Indonesian constitution.<\/p>\n
Here are the Countries who HIDE 100% from the TAX Collectors Exactly what
\nyou would think was true! <\/p>\n
Jurisdiction HIDING SCORE
\nSwitzerland 100
\nMalaysia (Labuan) 100
\nBarbados 100
\nBahamas 100
\nVanuatu 100
\nBelize 100
\nDominica* 100
\nBrunei* 100
\nTurks & Caicos Islands* 100
\nSt Lucia* 100
\nSamoa* 100
\nSt Vincent & Grenadines* 100
\nSeychelles* 100 <\/p>\n
Second Tier of Hidden From Tax Collectors (Range from 90% to 96%)
\nAlso Secondary Sort on Financial Secrecy Index Value <\/p>\n
Mauritius 96
\nUSA (Delaware) 92
\nCayman Islands 92
\nBermuda 92
\nBahrain 92
\nBritish Virgin Islands 92
\nPortugal (Madeira) 92
\nPanama 92
\nUnited Arab Emirates (Dubai) 92
\nCosta Rica 92
\nAntigua & Barbuda* 92
\nGibraltar* 92
\nSt Kitts & Nevis* 92
\nCook Islands* 92
\nNauru* 92
\nMarshall Islands* 92
\nUS Virgin Islands* 92
\nGrenada* 92
\nAustria 91
\nLebanon 91
\nIsrael 90
\nLiberia* 90<\/p>\n
Tax is the foundation of good government and a key to the wealth or poverty
\nof nations. Yet it is under attack. These places allow big companies and
\nwealthy individuals to benefit from the onshore benefits of tax \u2013 like good
\ninfrastructure, education and the rule of law \u2013 while using the offshore
\nworld to escape their responsibilities to pay for it. The rest of us
\nshoulder the burden. Tax havens offer not only low or zero taxes, but
\nsomething broader. What they do is to provide facilities for people or
\nentities to get around the rules, laws and regulations of other
\njurisdictions, using secrecy as their prime tool. We therefore often prefer
\nthe term “secrecy jurisdiction” instead of the more popular “tax haven.”
\nThe corrupted international infrastructure allowing \u00e9lites to escape tax
\nand regulation is also widely used by criminals and terrorists. As a
\nresult, tax havens are heightening inequality and poverty, corroding
\ndemocracy, distorting markets, undermining financial and other regulation
\nand curbing economic growth, accelerating capital flight from poor
\ncountries, and promoting corruption and crime around the world. The
\noffshore system is a blind spot in international economics and in our
\nunderstanding of the world. The issues are multi-faceted, and tax havens
\nare steeped in secrecy and complexity \u2013 which helps explain why so few
\npeople have woken up to the scandal of offshore, and why civil society has
\nbeen almost silent on international taxation for so long. We seek to supply
\nexpertise and analysis to help open tax havens up to proper scrutiny at
\nlast, and to make the issues understandable by all.<\/p>\n
An awareness campaign on the cocoa pod borer (Conopomorpha cramerella) has
\nbegun. Cocoa pod borer is a cocoa pest, which can cause extensive damage to
\ncocoa pods and thus destroying the cocoa industry and is now present in
\nneighboring Bougainville. As such the cocoa industry is under serious
\nthreat, in that currently, frequent movement of people to and from the
\nboarder is not controlled and there is a high possibility that this pest
\ncan be easily spread to the nearest Islands of Choiseul or the Shortlands
\nthrough infected cocoa pods or other infected planting materials from
\nBougainville. Since cocoa is an important commodity in the Solomon Islands,
\nthe Government will try to implement the awareness program as quickly as
\npossible to help prevent the pest to come into the country through the
\ncommon border between PNG and Solomon Islands. Cocoa has earned the country
\n$71 million in 2008 with a total of 4,000 tons and about $60 (CEMA Report
\n2009) million actually goes back to the cocoa producers and that\u2019s why
\ncocoa is important to the SI economy. The MAL staff led by Quarantine
\nofficers will soon be deployed to Choiseul and Western Provinces to carry
\nout an extensive surveillance on all cocoa projects to find out whether the
\npest is here already or not. The public has been clearly advised not to
\nbring cocoa pods or any plant parts from Bougainville as is also a
\nQuarantine regulation to be adhered to.<\/p>\n
The legal groundwork for the empowerment drive by Latin America’s Indians
\nwas crowned by a U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
\nThough nonbinding, it endorses native peoples’ right to their own
\ninstitutions and traditional lands. It has been almost universally embraced
\nby Latin American governments. It has also helped Indians win some major
\nlegal victories. * The Supreme Court of Belize ruled in favor of Mayan
\ncommunities that challenged the government’s right to lease their lands to
\nlogging interests. * A similar ruling by the Inter-American Court of Human
\nRights on behalf of the forest-dwelling Saramaka maroons in Suriname
\nreinforced that indigenous groups must give consent to major development
\nprojects. * Nicaragua’s government finally granted collective land titles
\nto the Mayagna people, complying with a landmark ruling by the
\nInter-American Court of Human Rights that it had no right to sell logging
\nconcessions on Indian land. * Colombia’s Constitutional Court deemed more
\nthan 1 million indigenous people “in danger of cultural and physical
\nextermination” and told the government to protect them. * Brazil’s Supreme
\nCourt ordered rice farmers to leave the long-disputed Raposa Serra do Sol
\nreservation \u2014 4.2 million acres (1.7 million hectares) inhabited by 18,000
\nIndians in the Amazon’s northernmost reaches.<\/p>\n
Despite the legal rulings, Indians remain second-class citizens. Only one
\nindigenous representative has ever been elected to the national congress in
\nBrazil. Indians, occupy vast areas of the Amazon though they account for
\nless than 5 percent of the population. In Guatemala, where nearly half the
\npopulation is of Mayan descent, not a single Indian has ever made it to
\nnational office. Educational disadvantages perpetuate the inequity. In
\nGuatemala, three in four indigenous people are illiterate. In Mexico, where
\n6 percent of the population is illiterate, 22 percent of adult Indians are.
\nEven in Bolivia, only 55 percent of indigenous children finish primary
\nschool, compared to 81 percent of other children.<\/p>\n
The drug trade has permitted the Taliban to thrive and expand despite the
\npresence of 100,000 NATO troops. The Taliban’s direct involvement in the
\nopium trade allows them to fund a war machine that is becoming
\ntechnologically more complex and increasingly widespread. The Taliban
\nearned $90 million to $160 million a year from taxing the production and
\nsmuggling of opium and heroin, as much as double the amount it earned
\nannually while it was in power nearly a decade ago. The Afghan-Pakistani
\nborder is the world’s largest free trade zone in anything and everything
\nthat is illicit, an area blighted by drugs, weapons and illegal
\nimmigration. The “perfect storm of drugs and terrorism” may be on the move
\nalong drug trafficking routes through Central Asia. Profits made from opium
\nare being pumped into militant groups in Central Asia and “a big part of
\nthe region could be engulfed in large-scale terrorism, endangering its
\nmassive energy resources. Afghanistan, after eight years of occupation, has
\nbecome a world center for drugs. The drug lords are the only ones with
\npower. How can you expect these people to stop the planting of opium and
\nhalt the drug trade? How is it that the Taliban when they were in power
\ndestroyed the opium production and a superpower not only cannot destroy the
\nopium production but allows it to increase? And while all this goes on,
\nthose who support the war talk to you about women’s rights. We do not have
\nhuman rights now in most provinces. It is as easy to kill a woman in my
\ncountry as it is to kill a bird. In some big cities like Kabul some women
\nhave access to jobs and education, but in most of the country the situation
\nfor women is hell. Rape, kidnapping and domestic violence are increasing.
\nThese fundamentalists during the so-called free elections made a misogynist
\nlaw against Shia women in Afghanistan. This law has even been signed by
\nHamid Karzai. All these crimes are happening under the name of democracy.”
\nThousands of Afghan civilians have died from insurgent and foreign military
\nviolence. And American and NATO forces are responsible for almost half the
\ncivilian deaths in Afghanistan. Tens of thousands of Afghan civilians have
\nalso died from displacement, starvation, disease, exposure, lack of medical
\ntreatment, crime and lawlessness resulting from the war. Karzai and his
\nrival Abdullah Abdullah, who has withdrawn from the runoff election, will
\ndo nothing to halt the transformation of Afghanistan into a narco-state.
\nNATO, by choosing sides in a battle between two corrupt and brutal
\nopponents, has lost all its legitimacy in the country.<\/p>\n
The city has become such a byword for decline that Time magazine recently
\nbought a house and set up a reporting team there to cover the city’s
\nstruggles for a year. There has been no shortage of grim news for Time’s
\nnew “Assignment Detroit” bureau to get their teeth into. Recently a
\nsemi-riot broke out when the city government offered help in paying utility
\nbills. Need was so great that thousands of people turned up for a few
\napplication forms. In the end police had to control the crowd, which
\nincluded the sick and the elderly, some in wheelchairs. At the same time
\nnational headlines were created after bodies began piling up at the city’s
\nmortuary. Family members, suffering under the recession, could no longer
\nafford to pay for funerals. Incredibly, despite such need, things are
\ngetting worse as the impact of the recession has bitten deeply into the
\ncity’s already catastrophic finances. Detroit is now $300m in debt and is
\ncutting many of its beleaguered services, such as transport and street
\nlighting. As the number of bus routes shrivels and street lights are cut
\noff, it is the poorest who suffer. People like TJ Taylor. He is disabled
\nand cannot work. He relies on public transport. It has been cut, so now he
\nmust walk. But the lights are literally going out in some places, making
\nalready dangerous streets even more threatening. “I just avoid those areas
\nthat are not lit. I pity for the poor people who live in them,” he said.
\nThe brutal truth, some experts say, is that Detroit is being left behind \u2013
\nand it is not alone. In cities across America a collapsed manufacturing
\nbase has been further damaged by the recession and has led to conditions of
\ndire unemployment and the creation of an underclass. There is a grim roll
\ncall of cities across America where decline is hitting hard and where the
\nofficial end of the recession will make little difference. Names such as
\nFlint, Youngstown, Buffalo, Binghamton, Newton. Feldman sees a relentless
\ndecline for working-class Americans all the way from Iowa to New York. He
\nsees the impact in his own family, as his retired parents-in-law have
\ndifficulties with their gutted pension fund and his disabled son stares at
\ncuts to his benefits. The economic changes going on, he believes, are a
\nprofound de-industrialisation with which America is failing to come to
\nterms. “We are going to have to face the end of the industrial age,” he
\nsaid. “This didn’t just happen lately either. It’s been happening here in
\nDetroit since the 1980s. Detroit just got it first, but it could happen
\nanywhere now.”<\/p>\n
A judicial council in Belize has thrown out the convictions of three men
\nserving life sentences for allegedly bludgeoning a fisherman to death.
\nSixty-two-year-old Justo Jairo Perez was killed in San Pedro on Ambergris
\nCaye seven years ago. Francis Eiley, Ernest Savery and Lenton Polonio were
\nconvicted two years later but always maintained their innocence. The
\nLondon-based Death Penalty Project represented the men in their appeal. It
\nsaid in a statement that they do not face further legal action and will now
\ngo free. The group said the council ruled the conviction was based on
\nuncorroborated evidence from a single man, who was discovered at the murder
\nscene with bloody clothing and later turned state’s witness.<\/p>\n
Beijing provided Colombo not only the weapon systems that decisively tilted
\nthe military balance in its favor, but also the diplomatic cover to
\nprosecute the war in defiance of international calls to cease offensive
\noperations to help stanch rising civilian casualties. Through such support,
\nChina has succeeded in extending its strategic reach to a critically
\nlocated country in India’s backyard that sits astride vital sea-lanes of
\ncommunication in the Indian Ocean region.” Chellaney also wants India to
\nintervene in the issue of refugee rehabilitation. This is linked to the
\nlarger strategic objective of replacing China in Colombo’s affections. If
\nthe end influences the means, the refugees must realistically curtail their
\nexpectations of India’s intervention on their behalf. A delegation of
\nIndian members of Parliament asked for an early release of the refugees
\nfrom the camp so that they can return home. Earlier, Colombo had argued
\nthat it needed to screen the IDPs to “weed out” former Tamil militants.
\nPresident Mahinda Rajapaksa, however, reportedly told the delegation that
\nthe inmates could not be released before the entire region was de-mined.
\nAccording to official figures, 10,593 people had returned to their homes
\nand another 22,668 had been released from the camps. The vast majority,
\nthus, continues to live in conditions of internment. Hope for the refugees
\nhas not been heightened, meanwhile, with the announcement that Sri Lanka
\nwill hold both its presidential and parliamentary elections two years ahead
\nof schedule. The president is taking the plunge to cash in politically on
\nthe military victory over the Tamil rebels. Rajapaksa hopes to reap a
\ntwo-thirds parliamentary majority that would enable him to change the
\ncountry’s constitution. The speculation is that the statute will be amended
\nto give him more than two successive presidential terms. Few expect him to
\nundertake the exercise in order to make Sri Lanka more federal and find a
\npolitical solution to the ethnic problem. Fewer still expect his electoral
\nvictory to spell early relief for the refugees.<\/p>\n
Prisoners at a Papua New Guinea jail attempted to escape because they were
\nnot fed for two consecutive days. Prison guards successfully stopped the
\n487 prisoners from escaping. The prison break would have been the country’s
\nbiggest mass break-out in history. The Baisu prison, located near Mount
\nHagen in the Western Highland Province of Papua New Guinea, only has
\ncapacity for 300 inmates, yet it holds 800 inmates. A warder stated that
\nthe prison is extremely overcrowded and the facilities are “rundown.” The
\n800 inmates were starving and left without food because a contract with the
\nprison’s food suppliers had expired. The chief superintendent of Baisu jail
\nexplained that the prisoners had nothing to eat since Sunday because of a
\ndispute between rival food suppliers over the contract with the prison. As
\na result of the lack of food, three of the inmates fell ill. Fellow inmates
\nwere furious and demanded that the ill inmates be taken to the hospital.
\nSoon after, 487 of the prisoners attempted to escape the prison. The
\ninmates were able to get pass three layers of fencing. Many of the watch
\ntowers at the prison had been pulled down because they were rotten and in
\nextremely poor condition. Thus, the prisoners were able to pass the fencing
\nmore easily. The prison guards had to fire shots at the escapees to stop
\nthem, but no one was killed. This incident would not have happened had the
\nongoing ration problem been resolved. The police commissioner has asked the
\nformer contractor to return to feed the inmates, and will continue to
\nsupply food until the dispute over the contract is resolved. A
\nrepresentative of the prisoners stated that the next time the prisoners
\n“were made to go hungry, they would simply walk out and risk being shot
\ndead.” The representative further stated that “while they were lawbreakers,
\nthey had a right under the law to be fed.”<\/p>\n
Nearly 5,000 people have died from swine flu infections since the A(H1N1)
\nvirus was uncovered. The death toll marked an increase of about 265 over
\nthe 4,735 deaths reported a week ago. Most of the fatal cases — 3,539 —
\nhave been recorded in North and South America. Iceland, Sudan, and Trinidad
\nand Tobago reported their first fatal cases over the past week. Mongolia,
\nRwanda, and Sao Tome and Principe also recorded pandemic influenza cases
\nfor the first time, as the virus continued to spread. However, A(H1N1)
\ninfluenza was declining in tropical areas of the world, with the exception
\nof Cuba and Colombia. There was also no significant pandemic related
\nactivity in temperate areas of the southern hemisphere, the WHO said.
\nMeanwhile respiratory disease activity continues to spread and increase in
\nintensity in the northern hemisphere, mainly in North America.<\/p>\n
Two people died and 15 others were seriously wounded after machete-wielding
\nrioters broke into violence over ethnic tensions in Nairobi’s largest slum.
\nThe violence began after a dozen youths from the Nubian ethnic group were
\nhired to demolish trading stalls in the Kibera slum on behalf of a church
\nthat believed the stalls were blocking its path. Later, Luhya tribesmen and
\ntraders retaliated by hacking to death a Nubian man in his mid-20s. Nubian
\nyouths then attacked people indiscriminately despite pleas from religious
\nleaders for calm. A second person was killed. Four victims of machete
\nviolence had been brought to clinics. Several shacks were set on fire.
\nNubians and Luhya have clashed before. Paramilitary police were patrolling
\nthe slum, but officials feared the violence could flare into a larger
\nconflict.<\/p>\n
The fight against tax havens is one of the great challenges of our age. Our
\napproach challenges basic tenets of traditional economic theory and opens
\nnew fields of analysis on a diverse array of important issues such as
\nforeign aid, capital flight, corruption, climate change, corporate
\nresponsibility, political governance, hedge funds, inequality, morality \u2013
\nand much more. How big is the problem, and what is its nature? Assets held
\noffshore, beyond the reach of effective taxation, are equal to about a
\nthird of total global assets. Over half of all world trade passes through
\ntax havens. Developing countries lose revenues far greater than annual aid
\nflows. The amount of funds held offshore by individuals is about $11.5
\ntrillion \u2013 with a resulting annual loss of tax revenue on the income from
\nthese assets of about 250 billion dollars. This is five times what the
\nWorld Bank estimated in 2002 was needed to address the UN Millenium
\nDevelopment Goal of halving world poverty by 2015. This much money could
\nalso pay to transform the world\u2019s energy infrastructure to tackle climate
\nchange. In 2007 the World Bank has endorsed estimates by Global Financial
\nIntegrity (GFI) that the cross-border flow of the global proceeds from
\ncriminal activities, corruption, and tax evasion at US$1-1.6 trillion per
\nyear, half from developing and transitional economies. The annual
\ncross-border flows from developing countries alone amounts to approximately
\nUS$850 billion – US$1.1 trillion per year. Offshore finance is not only
\nbased in islands and small states: `offshore\u2019 has become an insidious
\ngrowth within the entire global system of finance. The largest financial
\ncentres such as London and New York, and countries like Switzerland and
\nSingapore, offer secrecy and other special advantages to attract foreign
\ncapital flows. As corrupt dictators and other \u00e9lites strip their countries\u2019
\nfinancial assets and relocate them to these financial centres, developing
\ncountries\u2019 economies are deprived of local investment capital and their
\ngovernments are denied desperately needed tax revenues. This helps capital
\nflow not from capital-rich countries to poor ones, as traditional economic
\ntheories might predict, but, perversely, in the other direction. Countries
\nthat lose tax revenues become more dependent on foreign aid. Sub-Saharan
\nAfrica is a net creditor to the rest of the world in the sense that
\nexternal assets, measured by the stock of capital flight, exceed external
\nliabilities, as measured by the stock of external debt. The difference is
\nthat while the assets are in private hands, the liabilities are the public
\ndebts of African governments and their people. Globalisation and
\ninternational trade and finance have got a bad name of late. Each brings
\nopportunities, and risks. We must now start to address seriously what may
\nbe the biggest risk of all: tax abuse, and tax havens and everything they
\nstand for.<\/p>\n
In eastern Bolivia \u2014 where the United Nations says several thousand Guarani
\nIndians, including children, work as virtual slaves on large estates \u2014
\nMorales has promised autonomy. But the area’s elite, Morales’ fiercest
\nopponents, won’t let that happen without a fight. Obtaining autonomy should
\nbe less contentious for Indians in western highlands towns like Jesus de
\nMachaca, in part because the land in question yields so little. Jesus de
\nMachaca is a hardscrabble farming town near Lake Titicaca that is more than
\n96 percent Aymara Indian. It is among 12 Bolivian municipalities, mostly
\nAymara and Quechua, whose inhabitants will vote on becoming autonomous.
\nUnder self-rule, they would legalize governing practices that precede the
\nInca empire. Local leaders called mallkus are democratically elected by
\ntheir communities in public votes, then choose senior town officials. Terms
\nin office are restricted to a year. The system is closer to socialism than
\ncapitalism. Deputy mayor Braulio Cusi says autonomy will hugely benefit a
\ncommunity where nearly all the 13,700 residents live in adobe brick homes
\nand use cow manure as cooking fuel, where most homes lack running water and
\nbabies are born at home because there’s no hospital or clinic. “Dairy
\ncooperatives, cheese processing. There will be jobs,” says Cusi, who slings
\na white leather whip over his poncho as a symbol of authority. He envisions
\na slaughterhouse, and hopes to attract a veterinarian. The town’s more than
\n900 square kilometers (350 square miles) are devoted mostly to cattle,
\nllamas and sheep grazing, potatoes and quinoa. Purchased in the 16th and
\n17th century by natives who refused to become tenant farmers, they are
\ncommunally owned but parceled out. Selling to outsiders is prohibited.
\nJesus de Machaca took its first step toward autonomy when it became an
\nindependent municipality. It later elected its first mayor, also a mallku.
\nThe national government more than doubled the town’s budget. More than 70
\npercent of homes now have electricity \u2014 up from one in ten in \u2014 and
\nconstruction just ended on a three-story municipal building with parquet
\nfloors and oak doors. The town is even building a soccer stadium \u2014 with
\nastroturf, one councilman proudly notes. “Before, we were forgotten,” Cusi
\nsays after watching the Wiphala banner of the Andes’ indigenous peoples
\nraised up a flagpole in the shadow of an imposing Spanish colonial church.
\n“Now we’re going to define, in our way, how we live \u2014 according to our own
\ncustoms and practices.” U.N. Declaration on Indigenous Rights:
\nhttp:\/\/www.un.org\/esa\/socdev\/unpfii\/en\/drip.html<\/p>\n
Karzi’s government is filled with “glaring corruption and unabashed graft.”
\nKarzi is a president whose confidants and chief advisers comprise drug
\nlords and war crimes villains who mock our own rule of law and
\ncounter-narcotics effort. Where do you think the $36 billion of money
\npoured into country by the international community have gone? This money
\nwent into the pockets of the drug lords and the warlords. There are 18
\nmillion people in Afghanistan who live on less than $2 a day while these
\nwarlords get rich. The Taliban and warlords together contribute to this
\nfascism while the occupation forces are bombing and killing innocent
\ncivilians. When we do not have security how can we even talk about human
\nrights or women’s rights? This election under the shade of Afghan
\nwar-lordism, drug-lordism, corruption and occupation forces has no
\nlegitimacy at all. The result will be like the same donkey but with new
\nsaddles. It is not important who is voting. It is important who is
\ncounting. And this is the problem. Many of those who go with the Taliban do
\nnot support the Taliban, but they are fed up with these warlords and this
\ninjustice and they go with the Taliban to take revenge. Most of the people
\nare against the Taliban and the warlords, which is why millions did not
\ntake part in this tragic drama of an election. The U.S. wastes taxpayers’
\nmoney and the blood of their soldiers by supporting such a mafia corrupt
\nsystem of Hamid Karzai,” said Joya, who changes houses in Kabul frequently
\nbecause of the numerous death threats made against her. “Eight years is
\nlong enough to learn about Karzai and Abdullah. They chained my country to
\nthe center of drugs. If Obama was really honest he would support the
\ndemocratic-minded people of my country. He is going to start war in
\nPakistan by attacking in the border area of Pakistan. More civilians have
\nbeen killed in the Obama period than even during the criminal Bush.” “My
\npeople are sandwiched between two powerful enemies,” she lamented. “The
\noccupation forces from the sky bomb and kill innocent civilians. On the
\nground, Taliban and these warlords deliver fascism. As NATO kills more
\ncivilians the resistance to the foreign troops increases. If the U.S.
\ngovernment and NATO do not leave voluntarily my people will give to them
\nthe same lesson they gave to Russia and to the English who three times
\ntried to occupy Afghanistan. It is easier for us to fight against one enemy
\nrather than two.”<\/p>\n
The busy highway of Eight Mile Road marks the border between the city of
\nDetroit and its suburbs. On one side stretches the city proper with its
\nmainly black population; on the other stretches the progressively more
\nwealthy and more white suburbs of Oakland County. But this recession has
\nreached out to those suburbs, too. Repossessions have spread like a rash
\ndown the streets of Oakland’s communities. Joblessness has climbed, spurred
\nby yet another round of mass lay-offs in the auto industry. The real impact
\nof the recession will continue to be felt in those suburbs for years to
\ncome. For decades they stood as a bulwark against the poverty of the city,
\nringing it like a doughnut of prosperity, with decrepit inner Detroit as
\nthe hole at its centre. Now home losses and job cuts are hitting the middle
\nclasses hard. Recovery is going to take a generation. The doughnut itself
\nis sick now. But what do you think that means for the poor people who live
\nin the hole? That picture is borne out by the recent actions of Gleaners
\nCommunity Food Bank. The venerable Detroit institution has long sent out
\nparcels of food, clothing and furniture all over the city. But now it is
\ndoing so to the suburbs as well, sometimes to people who only a year or so
\nago had been donors to the charity but now face food shortage themselves.
\nGleaners has delivered a staggering 14,000 tonnes of food in the past 12
\nmonths alone. Standing in a huge warehouse full of pallets of potatoes,
\ncereals, tinned fruit and other vitals, Gleaners’ president, summed up the
\nsituation bluntly: “People who used to support this programme now need it
\nthemselves. The recession hit them so quickly they just became
\noverwhelmed.”<\/p>\n
The Yanomami live in the border region between Venezuela and Brazil. Swine
\nflu has killed seven members of this endangered Amazonian tribe. Several
\nhundred members of the Yanomami tribe in Venezuela could be infected. An
\noutbreak among the isolated tribes of the Amazon could spread among the
\nindigenous population very quickly and kill many, campaigners fear. It may
\nalready be happening among the Yanomami in the border region between
\nVenezuela and Brazil. The situation is “critical” and Venezuela and Brazil
\nmust take immediate action to halt the epidemic. An estimated 32,000
\nYanomami Indians remain, living in communities up to 400. Venezuelan
\nYanomami live in a 8.2 million hectare (20.2 million acre) forest reserve.
\nThousands of illegal gold miners have infiltrated the reserve. They also
\nneed to radically improve the Yanomami’s access to healthcare; swine flu
\nwas the suspected cause of the deaths of a pregnant woman and three small
\nchildren. The Yanomami have been hurt by epidemics in the past,
\nparticularly when influenza and malaria were brought by miners in the
\n1980s. As much as a fifth of the community was killed during that period
\nand that the Yanomami population has fallen to about 32,000.<\/p>\n
An elderly British couple was stabbed to death in a robbery while
\nvacationing in Kenya. Tony Joel, 70, was stabbed 17 times and his
\n67-year-old wife, Rita, 11 times. The couple from Southend, Essex were
\nkilled while staying in Mombasa on the Kenyan coast. A police investigation
\nwas launched following the deaths. A source close to the investigation said
\ntwo people had been arrested as a result.<\/p>\n
Hello, I Live In Tobago And Would Like To Be An Agent For Yamaha Outboard
\nParts How Can That Be Setup? Tobago’s main source of income is tourism and
\ntaking the tourist to the Buccoo Reef in the glass bottom boat is part of
\nshowing them parts of Tobago. The boats here have outboard engines. Parts
\nare very hard to come by and it\u2019s not always at your fingertips when
\nsomething goes wrong with the engine. I need good information like contact
\nperson and number preferrable from Yamaha. Information that will help me
\nstart up that business. Thank you<\/p>\n
In Detroit many people see the only signs of recovery as coming from
\nthemselves. As city government retreats and as cuts bite deep, some of
\nthose left in the city have not waited for help. Take the case of Mark
\nCovington. He was born and raised in Detroit and still lives only a few
\nyards from the house where he grew up in one of the city’s toughest
\nneighbourhoods. Laid off from his job as an environmental engineer,
\nCovington found himself with nothing to do. So he set about cleaning up his
\nlong-suffering Georgia Street neighbourhood. He cleared the rubble where a
\nbakery had once stood and planted a garden. He grew broccoli, strawberries,
\ngarlic and other vegetables. Soon he had planted two other gardens on other
\nruined lots. He invited his neighbours to pick the crops for free, to help
\nput food on their plates. Friends then built an outdoor screen of
\nwhite-painted boards to show local children a movie each Saturday night and
\nkeep them off the streets. He helped organise local patrols so that
\nabandoned homes would not be burnt down. He did all this for free. All the
\nwhile he still looked desperately for a job and found nothing. Yet Georgia
\nStreet improved. Local youths, practised in vandalism and the destruction
\nof abandoned buildings, have not touched his gardens. People flock to the
\nmovie nights, harvest dinners and street parties Covington holds. Inspired,
\nhe scraped together enough cash to buy a derelict shop and an abandoned
\nhouse opposite his first garden. He wants to reopen the shop and turn the
\nhouse into a community centre for children. To do it, he needs a grant. Or
\na cheap bank loan. Or a job. But for people like Covington the grants have
\ndried up, the banks are not lending, and no one is hiring. There is no help
\nfor him. It is hard not to compare Covington’s struggle for cash to the
\nvast bailout of America’s financial industry. “We just can’t get a loan to
\nhelp us out. The banks are not lending,” he said. On an unseasonal warm day
\nlast week, he stood in his urban garden, tending his crops, and gazed
\nwistfully at the abandoned buildings that he now owns but cannot yet turn
\ninto something good for his neighbourhood. He does not seem bitter. But he
\ndoes wonder why it seems so easy in modern America for those who already
\nhave a lot to get much more, while those who have least are forgotten. “It
\nmakes me wonder how they do it. And where is that money coming from?” he
\nasked.<\/p>\n
The Parliamentary Bipartisan Committee investigating the anti-Asian rioting
\nin Papua New Guinea is allegedly shocked at reports of corruption and
\nbribery in the Foreign Affairs and Immigration Department. Senior
\nimmigration officials told the committee that officers receive bribes and
\nare involved in other corrupt practices to allow foreigners into Papua New
\nGuinea. Several officers have been penalised for being involved in such
\nillegal activities. The committee was told more than 15,000 foreigners are
\nestimated to be living illegally in PNG and the immigration department
\nlacks the funding, staffing and technology to be able to deal with them.
\nThe committee will travel around the country for the next two weeks
\ngathering public feedback and then present its findings to Parliament.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Bangladesh, which is currently engaged in a dispute with Myanmar over border fencing, fears that Yangon may attack its St. Martin\u2019s Island in the Bay of Bengal. Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), which guards the land border, has identified the St Martin\u2019s Island as the \u201cprobable main target\u201d of Myanmar and has asked the government to immediately […]<\/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":[71,4,50,51,52,53,5,56,6,7,8,10,12,14,15,16,17,18,19,22,23,26,29,30,31,32,33,35,37,38,67,65,42,64,45,46,47],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bbrace.net\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1454"}],"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=1454"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/bbrace.net\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1454\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1456,"href":"https:\/\/bbrace.net\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1454\/revisions\/1456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bbrace.net\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bbrace.net\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bbrace.net\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}