GMO debate in Asia continues

China says it intends to test 'space-enhanced' crops in a future satellite launch as it mulls over the possibility of introducing transgenic rice.

Meanwhile in France, Greenpeace has been concentrating efforts against the introduction of GMO crops. The group though was ordered to remove a map from its website showing transgenic 'contamination' zones throughout the country, after incidents in which test fields were destroyed by activists.

Also, a recent study shows that transgenic crops, including experimental ones that have not been approved as safe, continue to contaminate non-GMO plants.


A young transgenic salmon is shown as much larger than a natural salmon of the same age. Over time, though, the average weight evens out between the two types. According to one study "fast-growing transgenic salmon were found to dominate feed acquisition and exhibit strong agonistic and cannibalistic behavior toward their [nontransgenic] cohorts when there were inadequate feed resources." Photo from Science Daily.

China's smog reaches U.S.

Pollution from China's booming industrial expansion is floating across the Pacific to the shores of the western United States, according to an AP report published Friday.

Particles from coal power plants and diesel vehicles and dust from deforested regions is carried on the trade winds for thousands of miles before settling on areas like California, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

On some days, a city like Los Angeles can expect up to 25 percent of its particulate matter from China. Some experts believe that China will one day account for a third of all California's air pollution.


Researcher Steven S. Cliff displays a set of rotating drums that separate aerosols from the air at his monitoring site atop Mt. Tamalpais State Park, Calif., Thursday, July 20, 2006. AP/Eric Risberg photo from Yahoo News.

China is also degrading air quality in nearby countries like South Korea and Japan, and the other growing Asian ndustrial powerhouse, India, isn't helping the Asian air quality situation either.

For its part, China expects to spend some US$162 billion over the next five years to address environmental problems, but many experts see the challenge the country faces as daunting giving the speed of economic growth.

Asian countries to push N. Korea resolution

Foreign ministers from 20 Asian and Pacific Rim countries agreed Friday to push implementation of a U.N. Security Council resolution urging North Korea to return to six-party nuclear talks.

The 10-nation meeting included the ministers of China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States, all nations involved in the six-party talks. They were joined by ministers from Australia, Canada, Indonesia, Malaysia and New Zealand.

Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said Pyongyang was ready to return to six-party talks but only with certain conditions.

Pyongyang is demanding that Washington lift sanctions imposed on a Macao-based bank suspected of laundering money and counterfeiting for North Korea.

Candidates line up for next U.N. secretary general race

By tradition, Kofi Annan's replacement as United Nations secretary-general will come from Asia, which is next in the regional rotation.

So far, the announced candidates are from South Korea, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand.


United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan addresses members of the Security Council during a meeting on the situation in the Middle East, July 20, 2006, at United Nations headquarters in New York. AP Photo/Mary Altaffer via Yahoo News.

In a secret poll, South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon and India's Shashi Tharoor, U.N. undersecretary-general or public affairs came out ahead of the pack, but it's still far too early to pick a winner.

Usually the winning candidate ends up being someone who emerges late in the race and who hardly campaigns at all. This is because early candidates often become the subject of infighting between the permanent members of the Security Council.

ASEAN nations call for more alternative energy

Laos joined the chorus of Asean nations calling for increased use of alternative energy amidst skyrocketing oil prices.

Asean will meet this week to discuss the regional energy situation and focus is expected on biofuels and other forms of alternative energy.


Malaysians in traditional dress display flags of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries during the 39th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Kuala Lumpur July 25, 2006. REUTERS/Bazuki Muhammad photo via Yahoo News.

Laos has invested much of its resources in hydroelectirc energy including the new Nam Theun II project due for completion in about four years.

Among Asean nations, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines are the most oil dependent. All nations in the region having been looking closely at biofuels made from coconut and palm oil.

China becomes third-largest food donor

China became the world's third-largest food aid donor in 2005, the U.N. World Food Program agency said Thursday.

Donations from China tripled to 636,000 tons with most of the aid going to ally North Korea. Guinea Bissau, Liberia and Sri Lanka were among the other countries that recied donations, the World Food Program said in its annual report.

Although China still has major portions of undeveloped countryside it has mostly solved its own once-dire food shortages for which it received World Food Program aid itself.


A Chinese worker prepares relief goods bound for Pakistan at a Beijing airport Monday, in this Oct. 10, 2005, file photo. The goods were intended for victims of a massive earthquake in Pakistan. AP Photo, Pool, File via Yahoo News.

Four detained over Mumbai train bombings

India detained three suspects Friday and another was arrested in Kenya in connection with the Mumbai train attacks.

Kenyan police said they detained Abdul Karim Tunda, one of India's most wanted men and a suspected leader of the militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba.


Special policemen escort two of the three arrested Mumbai train bombing suspects in black hoods. AFP/Sebastian D' Souza photo via Yahoo News.

A Kenyan police official said the suspect would be turned over to India as he was not wanted in Kenya.

Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is fighting against Indian control in Kashmir is suspected to have carried out the train bombings.

Bugs loving GMO crops

Research teams in the United Kingdom and Venuezuela have discovered that insecticide-filled genetically-modified crops are toxic to humans but not to insects.

In fact, scientists at Imperial College in London and the Universidad Simon Rodrigues in Caracas found that insects were actually thriving on the inserted insecticide, comprising genes from a natural poison, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt).

Apparently the constant exposure, as compared to periodic spraying, allows the insects to quickly adapt to the insectide.

A recent report by respected scientists in seven countries titled The Case for a GM-free Sustainable World, called for a ban on GM crops.

Search for bodies continues after Indonesia's tsunami

More than 520 people were confirmed dead following Indonesia's second tsunami in the last few years.

A 6.2-magnitude off the coast of western Java Wednesday caused a panic as residents fled their homes, but the quake was thought to have been too deep in the ocean to cause a tsunami.


Police search for dead bodies near a house in Pangandaran after a earthquake-triggered tsunami hit south coast of Java island. AFP/Bay Ismoyo via Yahoo News.

Indonesia lies within the Pacific "Ring of Fire" a region subject to frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions due to active movement of the earth's plates.

Indonesian tsunami toll at 341

The search for survivors continued Tuesday after a devasting tsunami struck Java on Monday.

The toll rose to 341 with 230 missing, a tragedy for a nation still reeling after taking the brunt of the great 2004 Asian tsunami.


Survivors in a mosque shelter after a tsunami struck the beach at Cilacap, Central Java, Indonesia, Tuesday, July 18, 2006.AP Photo/Susetyo Nugroho via Yahoo News.

The waves smashed tourist resorts along the Pangandaran coast causing at least 42,000 people to flee their homes.

The Jakarta government ignored warnings of a possible tsunami from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center and Japan's Meteorological Agency after a large 7.7 quake struck off the Java coast on Monday.

Lava flows from Philippine volcano

Mount Mayon volcano in the Philippines, famed for it near-perfect cone, was spewing lava Sunday raising fears of a possible eruption.

Volcanologist Eduardo Laguerta said Mayon's lava extrusion rate increased Saturday, and that tremors indicate that magma may be pushing up toward the surface.


Mount Mayon in southern Luzon, Philippines on July 16, 2006. AP Photo/Bullit Marquez via Yahoo News.

The volcano is near Legazpi City the capital of Albay province about 210 miles south of Manila.

Officials have set up a 3.7 mile danger zone around Mount Mayon.

Asia commits to coatal, ocean sustainability

East Asian countries pledged to promote sustainable management and develpment of East Asia's seas at a conference in China this December.

A ministerial forum will be held from December 14 to 15 at the second East Asian Seas (EAS) Congress in Haikou City, Hainan province, China.

Participants will agree on policy changes in coastal and ocean sustainablity throughout the region. Environment ministers and senior officials from Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, North Korea, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam are expected to attend.

The theme of the congress is 'One Ocean, One People, One Vision.'

India names terror suspects

Indian officials named two suspects Thursday in Tuesday's Mumbai bombings.

The Anti-Terror Squad identified Sayyad Zabiuddin and Zulfeqar Fayyaz as suspects and released photos of two young, bearded men.


Commuters pay tribute to train blast victims at a memorial site at the Andheri railway station in Mumbai. AFP/Ralphson David photo via Yahoo News.

Police said that about 350 people had been detained for questioning during investigations into the bombing.

On another front, even Hindu fundamentalist parties were surprised and pleased with the response of Muslims and mosques during blood drives for the victims of the attacks.

Sony still top brand in U.S.

Sony ranked as the top brand for U.S. consumers for the seventy year in a row despite increasing competition, a new survey shows.

Harris Poll's 'best brand' survey shows Sony holding its lead over number two Dell and Coca-Cola at the third spot.

Toyota climbed rapidly from the 10th spot last year to the fourth position. in this year's poll.

Sony has been struggling with competition from Apple after the release fo the latter's popular iPod device.


Sony headquarters in Tokyo, Japan. AFP/File/Yoshikatsu Tsuno photo via Yahoo News.

Mumbai commuter bombings kill 131

Seven bombs ripped through Mumbai's (Bombay) commuter rail system during rush our Tuesday night, killing 131 and wounding more than 300.

The bombings came in quick succession, an apparent coordinated attack in India's economic and cultural capital.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh placed major cities on high alert and called an emergency Cabinet meeting to address the attacks.

Mumbai's bombings came hours after a series of grenade attacks that killed eight people in the disputed region of Kashmir. However, there were no reports of any group claiming responsibility for the train explosions.


AP photo via Yahoo News.

Nuclear waste to pose challenge in Asia

Asian countries like China and India are looking to nuclear power to sustain skyrocketing growth.

However an interesting article looks at how South Korea is already facing challenges dealing with nuclear waste from its own reactors.


A worker checks for radioactivity of drums containing nuclear waste at Yonggwang Nuclear Power Plant in Yonggwang, South Korea, Thursday, April 20, 2006. AP /Lee Jin-man photo via Yahoo News.

With 20 nuclear power plants, South Korea is spending nearly US$320 million to subsidize a temporary dump site in the historic town of Gyeongju, the cradle of Koraen civilization.

Dumping of nuclear waster is a worldwide problem as countries struggle to find permanent sites to store material that won't be safe for hundreds of thousands of years.

Delgado charged with manslaughter in Tongan royal crash

Edith Delgado, 18, was charged Friday with vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence after causing the crash that killed members of the Tongan royal family.

According to witnesses and police, Delgado appeared to be racing her Ford Mustang with a Cadillac Escalade at speeds up to 160 kilometers (100 miles) per hour, when she clipped the Tongan's Ford Explorer.


Prince Tu'ipelehake, in Sacramento, Calif., in Dec. 2005. AP Photo/Courtesy Helaman Hansen via Yahoo News.

The Explorer rolled several times killing Prince Tu'ipelehake and his wife, Princess Kaimana, and their driver, Vinisia Hefa.

Delgado pleaded not guilty to the charges with a bail hearing was set for July 18. Bail is currently set at $3 million.

Two Tongan royals killed in Calif. auto crash

Two members of the Tongan royal family were killed Wednesday after a teenager racing her car crashed into their vehicle.

Prince Tu'ipelehake, 56, a leader of Tonga's political reform movement, and his wife Princess Kaimana, 46, died together with the driver of the red Ford Explorer carrying the royal couple.


A Tongan crest on the house gate of a Tongan royal family residence in Hillsborough, Calif., Thursday, July 6, 2006. AP/Paul Sakuma photo via Yahoo News.

The prince was visiting California to confer with local Tongans on changes to the kingdom's political system.

Tonga is the last monarchy in the Pacific led by 88-year-old King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV, and the nation has experienced clamor lately by those urging political reform. Last week an anti-monarchy protester crashed his car into the gate of the king's New Zealand residence and lit it on fire.

North Korea threatens to fire more missiles

As the United Nations deadlocked over a response to North Korean missile tests, Pyongyang threatened to conduct more tests on Thursday.

North Korea called the tests successful and made no mention of a missile failure as reported by the United States.


South Korean students view a model of a North Korean Scud-B missile at Korea War Memorial Museum in Seoul Thursday, July 6, 2006. AP/Ahn Young-joon photo via Yahoo News.

"Our military will continue with missile launch drills in the future as part of efforts to strengthen self-defense deterrent," a foreign ministry statement said. "If anyone intends to dispute or add pressure about this, we will have to take stronger physical actions in other forms."

"The successful missile launches were part of our military's regular military drills to strengthen self defense," said the statement.

North Korea launches seventh missile, UN confers

North Korea Wednesday test-launched a seventh missile sparking commotion across the globe and an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council.


Japan is considering calling for sanctions against North Korea although the communist nation's ally, China, is seeking a milder reaction.


A North Korean soldier at the border village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone dividing North and South Korea. AFP/File/Kim Jae-Hwan photo via Yahoo News.

Russia's Interfax news agency said that Russian tracking systems had monitored as many as 10 North Korean missile launches on Wednesday.

And according to Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, a few more missile tests are expected "in the next day or two."

North Korea tests missiles

North Korea launched two missiles Wednesday into the Sea of Japan but these did not appear to be the Taepodong-2 tests anticipated lately in the media.

Kyodo news agency said they were medium range Rodong missiles while a Pentagon official is reported to have said that Scud missiles were launched.

One has to wonder whether the missiles launchings were intended to test foreign response after rumors that the U.S. would attempt to shoot down a Taepodong-2 in flight.


North Korea's leader Kim Jong-Il. AFP/HO-KCNA/File via Yahoo News.

North Korea warns of 'annihilating' strike if attack

North Korea threatened all-out nuclear war on Monday if the country's weapons facilities are attacked by the United States.

Pyongyang's statement appears to be a response to rumors that the U.S. might attempt to destroy a North Korean test missile.

"The army and people of the DPRK are now in full preparedness to answer a pre-emptive attack with a relentless annihilating strike and a nuclear war with a mighty nuclear deterrent," a report in the Rodong Sinmun newspaper said.

Currently it is not known whether North Korea has the ability to carry out such threats, although most analysis is admittedly based on limited hard evidence.

Japan's population begins to shrink

According to demographers, Japan's population began to shrink last year, a trend that is expect to continue until 2050.

By that year, Japan's population may shrink from 127 million to 100 million due to low birthrates and a growing elderly population.

Despite decades of effort, Japan has been unable to reverse this trend using pro-natal policies designed to encourage Japanese citizens into having more babies. And with the world's highest longevity rates, Japan has to begin thinking of how it will take care of its massive and growing elderly population.

In 2004, Sony chairman Iwao Nakatani called for mass migration to ease the demographic crisis. However, conservative Japanese continue to resist such changes.