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Report: Asias forests face threat

Report: Asias forests face threat A shortage of wood to fuel growing demand from pulp and paper mills worldwide is forcing some companies to tap illegal sources while others are clear-cutting tropical forests, a leading conservation group charged Thursday. In an eight-year study, the Indonesia-based Center for International Forestry Research, or CIFOR, also found that international investors have sunk US$40 billion (euro31.3 billion) worldwide into financially risky and environmentally destructive projects with little concern for their sustainability. Financial institutions have shown a surprising lack of interest in understanding how the pulp companies requesting loans are going to get all this cheap wood, said

Pak ultras threat to S Asia peace: USA

Pak ultras threat to S Asia peace: USA Pakistan-based militant groups operating in Kashmir pose a persistent threat to stability in South Asia, a top intelligence official of the USA has warned, even as he called India a “reliable ally” in the fight against global terrorism. “Pakistani militant groups, primarily focussed on the Kashmiri conflict, a persistent threat to regional stability and US interests in South Asia and the Near East. They also pose a potential threat to our interests worldwide,” National Intelligence director Mr John Negroponte told US lawmakers yesterday. In prepared remarks to the Senate Intelligence Committee examining a

Asia’s biggest hospital to unveil P2.3M visitors’ waiting lounge

Asia's biggest hospital to unveil P2.3M visitors' waiting lounge THE Philippine General Hospital (PGH), considered as Asia's biggest public hospital complex, will inaugurate on Monday the newly constructed Mabuhay Lounge visitor's welcome area. The P2.3 million-Mabuhay Lounge is a major project of Bayan Muna party-list Representative Satur C. Ocampo as contracted by the Department of Public Works and Highways (PDWH) and through the efforts of University of the Philippines (UP)-PGH Director Carmelo A. Alfiler and the All-UP Workers' Union-Manila Chapter. Dr. Reynaldo Lesaca, chairman of Bayan Muna party-list, will represent Ocampo on Monday's inauguration ceremonies starting at 9:15 a.m. UP Manila

US to remain engaged in Asia

US to remain engaged in Asia The United States is stepping up its military engagement in the Asia-Pacific region to counter-balance the rise of China, and to confront the threat from terrorism, analysts said on Monday. As the centre of geopolitical gravity shifts from Europe to Asia, Washington is reviewing its security alliances with key Asian partners including Japan, South Korea and Australia, and forging new ties with India and other emerging powers. “What has been clearly seen out of these reviews is that America is not retreating,” said General Paul V Hester, Hawaii-based commander of US Pacific Air Forces. “America is not

Saving Central Asia from Uzbekistan

Saving Central Asia from Uzbekistan To the list of the world's most self-destructively repressive regimes we should add one name that is too often overlooked: Uzbekistan. Like North Korea or Zimbabwe, Uzbekistan suffers under a brutal authoritarian system that not only impoverishes and commits massive abuses against its own citizens, but also threatens to spread violent instability to its neighbors. The international community needs to develop new strategies to prepare for such a potential meltdown in Central Asia True, Uzbekistan represents no direct security threat to Europe or the United States, and the government in Tashkent is not at risk