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Asia Beat: June 04 08
BEIJING, China
Chinese military experts have warned of an expanding arms race in outer space as Beijing and other rival powers seek to counter U.S. ambitions to dominate the heavens. The U.S. and other Western nations have criticized China’s efforts to build a presence in space, especially after a test in January 2007 when it shot down one of its own aged satellites. But a book issued by the state-run China Arms Control and Disarmament Association said Washington’s bid for enduring security domination in outer space was pressing Beijing and other powers into competition, even confrontation.
BEIJING, China
China says it has 15 million underage smokers — nearly four times the total population of New Zealand — and the number is rising. Around 40 million of the country’s 130 million children aged between 13 and 18 had tried smoking, according to a Health Ministry report released Monday. Fifteen million children had become addicted to tobacco, the report said
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan
Pakistan has put its clocks forward one hour, while shops have been ordered to close early as the country struggles with an acute electricity shortage. Setting clocks forward by an hour to six hours ahead of GMT, should enable the country to take advantage of an extra hour of daylight in the evenings and save power. Shopping centres have also been ordered shut at 9p.m. while government offices have been told to turn off air conditioners for three hours each day.
DHAKA, Bangladesh
Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia is in court this week to face a graft charge involving a Calgary-based Canadian oil exploration company. The Anti-Corruption Commission filed charges against Khaleda for failing to recover millions of dollars in compensation for environmental damage caused by fire at a drilling site in northeastern Bangladesh in 2005. The fire allegedly occurred due to improper handling of equipment by experts from Niko Resources Ltd.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia
All foreign workers must undergo a compulsory online training course in their home country before they can enter Malaysia, says Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr. S. Subramaniam. The rule, which came into effect on June 1, does not apply to domestic help except for those from Indonesia, which has already requested that domestic help coming from its country be made to undergo training on the culture, language and the laws of Malaysia.
KATHMANDU, Nepal
Nepal’s ex-king has agreed to leave his palace before a June 12 deadline and live as a commoner in line with a constituent assembly’s vote to scrap the monarchy. The Maoist-dominated assembly formally abolished the world’s last Hindu monarchy and set up a republic just before midnight last Wednesday. The king was given 15 days to exit his palace in Kathmandu.
BANGKOK, Thailand
A Maple Ridge, B.C. man arrested in Thailand after an unprecedented global manhunt pleaded not guilty in a Bangkok court this week to four charges of kidnapping and sexually abusing an underage boy. Christopher Paul Neil, 33, who could face a maximum of 38 years in jail if convicted on all charges, appeared in criminal court accused of kidnapping, detaining and molesting a minor, and publishing pornography online. The trial was adjourned to next Oct.
SERANG, Indonesia
A businessman sparked a scramble for cash when hedropped $12,000 in banknotes from an airplane over a soccer stadium to promote his latest book. A 13-year-old girl lost consciousness running after the notes and had to be rushed to a nearby hospital. Tung Desem Waringin, who was promoting his second business motivation book, got the aircraft to fly four times over a soccer stadium after being refused permission to fly over nearby Jakarta.
TOKYO, Japan
Using only his brain waves, a paralysed man has been able to manipulate a virtual Internet character, which Japanese researchers are calling a world first. The 41-year-old patient, paralyzed since age 11, used his imagination — and experimental headgear with three brain-monitoring electrodes — to make his character take a walk and chat to another virtual person on the popular Second Life website.
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