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South East Asia Briefs

South East Asia Briefs MANILA: Asean has sought permanent observer status in the UN, the Philippine Ambassador to the UN, Lauro Baja, said. Mr Baja said that with observer status, Asean would have a seat in all UN meetings that the grouping was interested in and would gain added visibility and importance. Asean is the worlds only regional grouping that does not have observer status in the UN. Drug ring busted KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian police broke up the largest marijuana smuggling syndicate in the northern region with the arrests of eight suspects and seizure of drugs valued at more than 370,000 ringgit

Asiapacific countries meet on forestry

Asiapacific countries meet on forestry The fragility of the Himalayan eco-system and the forest-dependent local economy, along with other forestry problems, will come up for discussion when the Asia-Pacific Forestry Commission meets tomorrow in Dehra Dun, which is fast emerging as Indias forestry capital. Participants from 30 countries of the Asia-Pacific region and representatives from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and other international organisations will take part in the five-day meet at the Forest Research Institute (FRI) here. Union Minister of State for Environment Namo Narain Meena will inaugurate the meet, held every two

Asia-Pacific aviation on the increase

Asia-Pacific aviation on the increase Despite concerns over terrorism and bird flu, people in the Asia-Pacific region are continuing to fly, statistics show. The International Air Transport Association (IATA), an international trade group, has released figures covering both passenger and freight air traffic for the last financial year. IATA said passenger traffic in the Asia-Pacific region was up 4.4 per cent and freight work was up 3.5 per cent. Despite the good news, the association's director general, Giovanni Bisignani, said continued threats to the aviation industry along with global political tensions meant there was no room for complacency in the industry. More : theage.com.au

World Cup is back in Asia

World Cup is back in Asia IN WHAT can be called a major victory for India as far as hosting events of an extravagant nature is concerned, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have won the bid to host the cricket World Cup 2011. Announcing the decision on Sunday, the ICC also said the 2015 World Cup would go to Australia and New Zealand, and the 2019 event to England. I.S. Bindra, who represented Asia, said the theme of the presentation was Cricket First. We simply explained that in this part of the world, cricket is a religion and everything come after that,

Oceania could join Asia playoffs - Blatter

Oceania could join Asia playoffs - Blatter President of world governing body Fifa, Sepp Blatter, yesterday said future champions of Oceania could join the final round of Asian qualifiers for future World Cups. Oceania's current "half" place could shrink if the regional winners had to join a group of Asian teams instead of being involved in a two-leg playoff against a fifth-ranked South American team for direct World Cup qualification. "I think the solution will be to have the winner of the Oceania elimination join the Asian group," Blatter told reporters in Tokyo. "I don't know if we will say it's