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Avian Flu Going Worse in China
Chinese officials already have called the spread of avian flu in Liaoning province “not under control,” with three outbreaks in 24 hours, including a suspected human infection. Liaoning and Hunan are reportedly to be the current hotspots for the virus, with a combined four suspected human cases currently undergoing examination. Moreover, in Hunan pigs have now tested positive for H5N1 virus.
Minor tsunami strikes Japan
An earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale jolted the north of Japan at around 6:39 a.m., on November 15, releasing an hour later light tidal wave. Thousands of coastal residents were evacuated, but no victims or major damage was recorded. The tidal wave was foreseen soon after the earthquake, marking a feat for Japan’s tidal wave alarm system. Japan, where seismic activity has been particularly strong for several months, is alone in being able to predict a tsunami only minutes after an earthquake.
“Stop the Crackdown of Migrant Workers!”
The massive crackdown of migrant workers in Malaysia has outraged the international community and provoked civil society to denounce the massive violation of migrant workers from Indonesia and the Philippines. Last year, Malaysian government has announced plans to expel more than one million ‘illegal immigrants’ by the end of 2005 and prosecute them under the Immigration Act prior to deportation.
Rumsfeld Visits Mongolia
For the first time ever, Donald Rumsfeld, US Defense Secretary, recently visited Mongolia to thank the country for its support for the military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Rumsfeld spoke to a group of about 180 Mongolian veterans of operations in Afghanistan and Iraq (incidentally, that accounts for more than 1.5% of the Mongolia’s 11,000 man Army). He also recognized two soldiers, Sgt. Azzya and Sgt. Sambuu-Yondon for saving a number of Mongolian lives and other collation troops after they killed a truck driver who turned out to be suicide bomber while they were on patrol near Hilla, Iraq, in February 2004.
A Legal Veneer to Silence the Critics?
Human rights and militant organizations slammed the Nepali Government for instituting a Code of Conduct regulating the movements of non-government organizations believed to be “tool to curtail the work of human rights workers and organizations that have been documenting abuses in spite of sustained attacks” against King Gyanendra and his government. Human rights advocate Bryan Adams said that the Code of Conduct “is a dangerous tool in the hands of a government openly hostile to the idea of human rights”.
HR Groups Seek Justice
Various human rights organizations urged the Guinea government to immediately investigate police killings of three schoolchildren and injuring of roughly 35 others, some as young as 10 years old, in Enga province on October 31. Reports revealed that responding police were met by rock-throwing students when they went to arrest the headmaster of Porgera top-up primary school. A police said their lives were threatened and opened fire to disperse the crowd.
Environment Advocates Harassed
Greenpeace, a pro-environment organization, has condemned the violent attack to a peaceful protest against a coal power plant in Mazinloc, Zambales last November 10. German volunteer Jens Loewe, 36, was rushed to a nearby hospital after being beaten by a local plant security with a metal pipe. Four other Filipinos were hospitalized after they were bombarded with stones. Greenpeace advocates were at the plant to draw attention to Australian and Japanese backing of the expansion of climate changing coal dependency in Asia.
Continued financial aid desired
President Gen. Pervez Musharraf said Pakistan has a well-strategized plan for the rebuilding and rehabilitation of quake-ravaged areas and hoped that the world community would come out with a sustained financial aid to implement the task, “which is quiet a big challenge for Pakistan”. Musharraf is hoping that the world assistance would match the one that outpoured for the Tsunami.
Catholics Vigilant on Bio-ethical Progress
The Catholic community here assured it would keep an eye on bio-ethical progress and headways to protect human life from conception and natural end through its newly formed Pro-Life Commission. Fides earlier reported that when it was announced that a team of Korean scientists led by Prof. Hwang Woo-suk of the National University Seoul had cloned human embryos, the Catholic community staged a street protest to demand respect for human life.
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