Australia PM Gillard pins election hopes on economy

Australia PM Gillard pins election hopes on economy

Australia PM Gillard pins election hopes on economy

Posted: 16 Aug 2010 01:11 AM PDT

BRISBANE, Australia (Reuters) - Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard staked her party's re-election bid on the economy's resilience, promising on Monday more jobs and less tax on business if she wins the tightest vote in nearly 50 years.


More swine flu deaths in New Zealand as vaccine runs low

Posted: 15 Aug 2010 04:35 PM PDT

WELLINGTON: The number of swine flu deaths in New Zealand has risen to six and vaccine supplies are dwindling, officials said today, despite the World Health Organisation declaring the pandemic over.

Two of the swine flu deaths have been reported in the week since the WHO announced the world had entered a post-pandemic phase.

"So far this year there have been six deaths reported as linked to swine flu," health ministry director of public health Mark Jacobs said.

There have been 389 people admitted to hospital with lab-confirmed swine flu this year, including 59 who required intensive care.

Jacobs said that New Zealand was also fast running out of influenza vaccine, with only 6,400 doses remaining in the country of 4.4 million people.

"While these are likely to run out by the end of August, the ministry is looking at options for extending immunisation while demand continues," he said.

The WHO said last week that the H1N1 (swine flu) pandemic had "largely run its course" although it acknowledged severe outbreaks could still occur in some countries.

- AFP

 

Indonesia's Papua conflict in the spotlight again

Posted: 15 Aug 2010 04:20 PM PDT

By Ahmad Pathoni

FEATURE JAKARTA: The conflict in Indonesia's easternmost Papua region has returned to the spotlight after a video circulated online showing police officers taunting a fatally wounded rebel.

Papua is home to a low-level separatist insurgency, with sporadic violence continuing despite regional autonomy awarded in 2001.

Human rights abuses, political discrimination and economic marginalisation are among the root causes of the conflict, rights activists said.

The video that hit the Internet last month showed separatist fighter Yawan Wayeni, wounded in the stomach and lying on the ground, raising an arm and shouting "Freedom" as a police officer recorded him on a mobile phone.

The incident happened last year after Wayeni escaped prison, where he was serving a nine-year sentence for separatist activity. He later died in hospital of his injuries.

The video sparked condemnation of police by human rights groups.

"This is a violation of international and national laws," Usman Hamid, chairman of Jakarta-based Kontras, said. "There doesn't seem to be any willingness to hold anyone to account for the killing."

Police denied allegations that Wayeni had been disembowelled by a bayonet, saying he was shot in the stomach while resisting arrest.

Tension in predominantly Christian Papua rose in July when thousands of people took to the streets to demand a referendum on the status of the region.

The protests came after the central government rejected a local proposal to require candidates running for district elections to be indigenous Papuans. Jakarta argued that such a move would violate national anti-discrimination laws.

Growing uneasiness

Papuans are increasingly uneasy about the growing influx of migrants with capital and skills from other parts of Indonesia, depriving local residents of economic opportunities.

They also complain that the autonomy scheme has failed to improve the lives of ordinary Papuans.

"We can see that planes and ships that come regularly to Papua carry mostly non-Papuans," said Frederika Korain, an activist with the Peace and Justice Commission for the Diocese of Jayapura, the main city in Papua.

"Migrants are changing the demography of Papua and it's threatening us," she said. "There's discrimination in the cities where Papuans are becoming a minority."

Violence against migrants has also been reported in recent years.

Earlier this month, gunmen shot dead a trader and injured another in Puncak Jaya district, home to a large number of migrants.

According to a 2000 census, migrants accounted for 12% of the Papuan population, but activists claimed that the proportion is now much higher, with non-Papuans the majority in some districts.

The results of the 2010 census have yet to be released.

Huge gulf

The economic interests of the military and the police are also fuelling the conflict, said Brigham Golden, a Papua scholar from Columbia University in the United States.

He said it was "well-documented" that the army was involved in a variety of activities both legal and illegal, including "logging, illegal mining, control of gasoline and alcohol".

"There's an interest in being there and for that reason maintaining the perception of insecurity and instability," he said.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono responded to the demand for referendum by calling for an audit of special autonomy funds.

But the International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based conflict resolution think tank, said the non-economic aspects of special autonomy need to be examined closely.

"The gulf in perceptions between Jakarta and Papua is huge," it said in a report released this month.

"Jakarta sees autonomy largely in terms of giving Papua more money, while Papuans want more authority to make political decisions without constantly being trumped by national laws," it said.

The group urged Susilo to hold talks with credible Papuan leaders to address their grievances, saying that discontent and resentment were far more widespread than just limited to the hardcore pro-independence community.

Indonesia formally took control of the former Dutch colony in 1969 after a UN-sponsored referendum that Jakarta was accused of manipulating.

- dpa

Fighting with wildfires

Posted: 16 Aug 2010 12:47 AM PDT

Villagers and members of the BRIF (Brigade to reinforce wildfires) of Tineo, in Asturias, works around the fire area in Boiro, on August 15, 2010, near A Coruna.

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Thailand lifts emergency rule in 3 more provinces

Posted: 16 Aug 2010 12:44 AM PDT

BANGKOK, Aug 16 — Thailand lifted a state of emergency in three provinces today but kept the controversial security law in place in seven others, including Bangkok, where it said the situation remained volatile. The emergency decree has been in place since April, giving security forces broad power to deal with anti-government protests that ...


Indonesia hits out at Malaysian govt over arrest

Posted: 16 Aug 2010 12:30 AM PDT

JAKARTA, Aug 16: Indonesia's Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Fadel Muhammad says that the Malaysian government has completely displeased him by arresting his officers patrolling the Riau Islands waters.

Thailand lifts emergency rule in 3 more provinces

Posted: 16 Aug 2010 12:40 AM PDT

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand lifted a state of emergency in three provinces on Monday but said the special security law would remain in place in six others, as well the capital Bangkok, an aide to the prime minister said.


Former senior officers at Pempena Sdn Bhd charged with criminal breach of trust

Posted: 16 Aug 2010 12:02 AM PDT

Two former senior officers of Pempena Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Tourism Malaysia, pleaded not guilty in the Sessions Court here today to committing criminal breach of trust, involving RM169,770, four years ago.

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TM to book RM102 mln extraordinary gain with Measat share disposal

Posted: 15 Aug 2010 11:59 PM PDT

KUALA LUMPUR, Monday 16 August 2010 (Bernama) -- Telekom Malaysia (TM) stands to book an extraordinary gain of RM102 million if it has written down its investment in Measat Global Bhd to RM2.50/share.

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More swine flu deaths in New Zealand as vaccine runs low

Posted: 15 Aug 2010 11:53 PM PDT

WELLINGTON, Monday 16 August 2010 (AFP) - The number of swine flu deaths in New Zealand has risen to six and vaccine supplies are dwindling, officials said Monday, despite the World Health Organisation declaring the pandemic over.

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Afghan couple 'stoned to death' over love affair

Posted: 15 Aug 2010 11:52 PM PDT

KUNDUZ, Monday 16 August 2010 (AFP) - A man and woman have been stoned to death in northern Afghanistan after being accused by the Taliban of having an affair, a witness and an official said Monday.

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Indonesian president calls for religious tolerance

Posted: 15 Aug 2010 03:54 PM PDT

JAKARTA: Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono today stressed the need for religious tolerance amid growing calls for him to act against Islamic radicals who regularly attack minorities.

In a major speech to Parliament on the eve of the country's independence day, Yudhoyono called on Indonesians to exercise the "true philosophy of harmonious living in a pluralistic society".

"To build a democratic and fair life, I want to underline the importance of maintaining and strengthening our brotherhood, harmony and tolerance as a nation," he said.

"In everyday life, we still find cases that don't reflect the harmony, tolerance and mutual respect... related to religion, ethnicity, tribe and regions. We must not ignore such a situation," he added.

"We want every citizen to live their lives in a serene and peaceful manner and accordance with his rights."

Indonesia's constitution explicitly guarantees freedom of religion and the country of some 240 million people, 80 percent of whom are Muslim, has ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

But in recent months, it has been plagued by rising violence by Islamic hardliners who have launched attacks on mosques belonging to minority sects and Christian churches.

Hundreds of Indonesians, mostly Christians, held a prayer vigil in Jakarta yesterday urging Susilo to stop the attacks and guarantee religious freedom.

Indonesian rights group the Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace in July said there were 28 cases of religious freedom violations from January to July, up from 17 for the whole of 2008 and 18 in 2009.

The violations -- mostly by radical Muslim groups -- included forced closure of churches and attacks such as torching and damaging churches, it said.

Human Rights Watch early this month said Indonesia is letting radical Islamists trample the constitutional rights of minorities, leading to inter-communal violence.

It called on Susili to repeal laws that it says have given extremists from the dominant religious group the legal space to launch violent attacks on people of other faiths and sects.

- AFP

Prosecutors seek longer jail term for Duch

Posted: 15 Aug 2010 03:51 PM PDT

PHNOM PENH: Prosecutors are appealing against the 30-year prison sentence handed to former Khmer Rouge prison chief Duch, seeking a longer jail term, the UN-backed war crimes court announced today.

Prosecutors believe the judgment "gives insufficient weight to the gravity of Duch's crimes and his role and his willing participation in those crimes", the tribunal said in a statement.

They also think that "undue weight is placed on any mitigating circumstances applicable to Duch", it added.

Duch, whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav, was found guilty last month of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

But many survivors and relatives of victims of the 1975-1979 regime were dismayed by the 30-year sentence, which also took into account the years Duch has served since his arrest, meaning he could walk free in about 19 years.

- AFP

Filipinos fear God's wrath in natural disasters

Posted: 15 Aug 2010 03:48 PM PDT

MANILA: Millions of people in the devoutly Catholic Philippines believe God is punishing humans for their evil deeds by inflicting environmental catastrophes on them, a survey published today showed.

Some 21% of people believe God is unleashing his wrath with landslides, typhoons and other disasters that regularly hit the country, according to the survey carried out by polling group Pulse Asia.

More than 80% of the nation's 92 million people are Catholic, a legacy of its Spanish colonial past.

But the number of people attributing the disasters to God's wrath is declining, from 23% in a similar survey carried out two years ago, amid a growing sense that humans themselves are directly to blame.

Sixty-three percent of Filipinos blamed humans and climate change for environmental catastrophes, up from 54% two years ago, Pulse Asia said.

The survey, of 1,200 people across the country last month, also found that Filipinos were becoming increasingly worried about climate change.

Two in three Filipinos experienced a big change in climate over the past three years, Pulse Asia found.

And 71% said that climate change posed a danger to the environment, up from 61% in 2008.

Pulse Asia said the figure was above 80% in Manila, likely because of Tropical Storm Ketsana last year which flooded most of the capital and killed 464 people.

It also attributed the rising awareness about climate change among Manila's 12 million residents to a drought this year that caused severe water shortages.

- AFP

 

Taiwan zoo fined after birth of 'ligers'

Posted: 15 Aug 2010 03:16 PM PDT

TAIPEI: A private zoo in Taiwan has become the first on the island to see the birth of "ligers", hybrids of lions and tigresses, with the owner facing a fine for violating wildlife rules, officials said today.

The three cubs were born yesterday at the "World Snake King Education Farm" in the south, but one of them died almost immediately, the farm's owner Huang Kuo-nan said.

"The pregnancy of the tigress caught me totally unprepared," Huang said. "The lion and the tigress have been kept in the same cage since they were cubs more than six years ago, and nothing happened."

But the Tainan county government said Huang will face a fine of up to 50,000 Taiwan dollars US$1,600 (RM5,090) for breeding wildlife without prior approval from the authorities.

According to the Taipei-based Apple Daily, there are only around 10 surviving ligers in the world, with adult ligers capable of growing much larger than average lions.

- AFP

 

Pakistan gets respite from rains but aid flow is slow

Posted: 16 Aug 2010 12:07 AM PDT

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan authorities forecast on Monday a brief respite in rains that sparked the country's worst floods in decades, but aid agencies warned help was too slow to arrive for millions without clean water, food and homes.


Pakistan gets respite from rains but aid flow is slow

Posted: 15 Aug 2010 11:46 PM PDT

ISLAMABAD, Aug 16 — Pakistan authorities forecast today a brief respite in rains that sparked the country's worst floods in decades, but aid agencies warned help was too slow to arrive for millions without clean water, food and homes. Water levels in the Indus River feeding Pakistan's plains have fallen in Punjab, the country's most populous and ...


Two congresses, two directions

Posted: 15 Aug 2010 11:39 PM PDT

During the last weekend, the MCA held Chinese Economic Congress. I think we can still remember that the Malay rights group Perkasa had also held a Bumiputera Economic Congress about two months ago. Perhaps, consciously or unconsciously, the MCA wants to eliminate the arrogance of the group and its president Datuk Ibrahim Ali. However, of course it is not the main objective of the Chinese Economic Congress.

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OCBC, best foreign cash management bank in Malaysia

Posted: 15 Aug 2010 10:58 PM PDT

KUALA LUMPUR, Monday 16 August 2010 (Bernama) -- OCBC Bank (Malaysia) Bhd has been voted the best foreign cash management bank in a recent Asiamoney poll involving corporations and small-and-medium enterprises in Malaysia.

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China police probe popular priest over 'rape': state media

Posted: 15 Aug 2010 10:56 PM PDT

BEIJING, Monday 16 August 2010 (AFP) - Police in southwest China are investigating an allegation of rape against a popular Taoist priest, whose thousands of followers include a business tycoon and a pop singer, state media said Monday.

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