Shark sanctuary declared in eastern Indonesia

This photo retrieved November 16, 2010 is from www.google.co.th. Sharks, manta rays, mobulas, dugongs and turtles are fully protected within the sanctuary, and destructive practices including reef bombing and the aquarium fish trade are banned.

November 19, 2010
JAKARTA (AFP) - Indonesia has declared a vast sanctuary for sharks, turtles and manta rays in a region known as one of the world's richest sources of marine biodiversity, officials and conservationists said Tuesday.
      
       The sanctuary covers 46,000 square kilometers (17,760 square miles) of waters around the Raja Ampat islands in eastern Indonesia, part of the so-called Coral Triangle region of Southeast Asia.
      
       Sharks, manta rays, mobulas, dugongs and turtles are fully protected within the sanctuary, and destructive practices including reef bombing and the aquarium fish trade are banned, local officials said.
      
       "Sharks, as apex predators, play a vital role in regulating the health of important commercial fish species, population balance, and coral reefs," conservation group Shark Savers and the Misool Eco Resort, which are supporting the sanctuary, said in a statement.
      
       "Despite this importance, up to 73 million sharks are killed annually with some shark populations declining by as much as 90 percent, mostly for shark fin soup.
      
       "In Raja Ampat, three fourths of its shark species are threatened with local extinction."
      
       Peter Knights, executive director of US-based conservation group WildAid which is backing the project, said: "It’s tragic that so much of Raja Ampat’s biological treasure is destined for consumers who are unaware of the impact.
      
       "Sharks are being killed for their fins, mantas are being killed for their gills, and rare reef fish are being caught for aquariums," he said.
      
       Raja Ampat marine and fishery office head Yohanis Bercmans Rahawaryn could not provide figures on shark numbers in the area, but said their numbers had "dropped steadily in the past few years".
      
       "Divers rarely find big sharks around Raja Ampat. That's the main indicator," he said.



A koala walks into Australian bar... and nods off

This photo retrieved November 17, 2010 is from www.google.co.th. The furry male marsupial stunned drinkers on Saturday night when he entered the Marlin Bar on Queensland's Magnetic Island, approached barman Kevin Martin and ended up climbing up a supporting wooden pole and settling on a beam.

November 19, 2010
SYDNEY (AFP) - A koala has caused a stir at an Australian pub, wandering inside during a stormy evening and taking up a position above the bar before promptly falling asleep.
      
       The furry male marsupial stunned drinkers on Saturday night when he entered the Marlin Bar on Queensland's Magnetic Island, approached barman Kevin Martin and ended up climbing up a supporting wooden pole and settling on a beam.
      
       "I asked him for ID and he didn't have any so that's when he got a bit disgruntled and climbed up a pole," joked Martin on Wednesday.
      
       "And he just sort of lay over the piece of wood, one of the little rafters, and flopped his arms down and just fell asleep, enjoying the atmosphere."
      
       Although the koala's visit was welcome, Martin said he called wildlife workers to remove the animal out of concern for its own welfare.
      
       The koala was later set free elsewhere on the island, which has a healthy population of the animals -- unlike elsewhere in Queensland where they are threatened by development.
      
       Martin said he does not know what prompted the koala to enter the bar, but speculated it could have been attempting to escape the rain.
      
       "He was sort of hanging outside the pub beforehand," he said. "He looked a little bit out of his element, I think he wasn't expecting to find himself in the pub. But he seemed pretty happy nonetheless."



Indian inmates take jail business online

New Delhi, -, INDIA : In a picture taken on October 21, 2010 inmates work in the bakery section of Tihar Jail in New Delhi. Asia's largest prison, Delhi's Tihar Jail, has taken its first step into online retailing, offering goods over the Internet made by inmates including murderers and kidnappers. The Tihar Jail factory comprises units in baking, carpentry, weaving, tailoring, oil extraction, paper-making and shoe-making. AFP PHOTO / RAVEENDRAN

October 28, 2010
NEW DELHI (AFP) - Asia's largest prison, Delhi's Tihar Jail, has taken its first step into online retailing, offering goods over the Internet made by inmates including murderers and kidnappers.
     
       Tihar, notorious for its overcrowding and tough criminals, is home to a bakery which produces 13 kinds of biscuits and a vast paper-making unit that turns out high-end stationery under the TJ brand name.
     
       Its workshops manned by 714 specially selected convicts also turn out doormats, shirts, black shoes, mustard oil, and polished benches that are used in Delhi government offices.
     
       In the last financial year, its annual revenue passed 110 million rupees (2.5 million dollars), and after opening stores across the Indian capital, the prison authorities have now launched www.tihartj.nic.in
     
       "In the last year and a half, we realised that we have good production capacity, so it was time to think of the marketing," said Rajesh Goyal, the superintendent of the factory and the brains behind the website.
     
       "We hope that this website will increase our visibility as more and more people in Delhi are using the Internet," he said, adding that overall output is set to increase by 60 percent this financial year.
     
       "Initially we are aiming to deliver our products to customers in Delhi, but if international orders come, we will be happy to supply them," he added.
     
       The visually appealing website showcases food, furniture, paintings and clothes, all made by convicts.
     
       Computer-savvy prisoners write the html coding for the website, which lists each item made in the factory, along with pictures and a comprehensive price list.
     
       Currently, items can only be ordered by phone, but authorities say that by December, customers will be able to buy and pay for products online.
     
       Pradeep Sharma, the deputy superintendent of the factory, says the TJ brand was launched ten years ago to give inmates a sense of self-worth.
     
       "People come to jail with negative thoughts, then they are troubled by memories of home -- many get depressed, show suicidal tendencies, so we want to keep them busy and give them work based on their level of skill," he said.
     
       All the labourers get a daily wage of between 40 and 52 rupees, with additional financial incentives given to those who work past the allotted 48 hours a week.
     
       Jobs in the factory are not open to all prisoners, only those deemed "low risk" by the authorities.
     
       "Five percent of the guys who come here are beyond repair, so we don't let them near the factory equipment. We can't let them handle tools like chainsaws and drills," Sharma said.
     
       "Sixty percent of our inmates are not criminals by profession," he said. "They have either been involved in accidental deaths, stealing because of greed, or were in the wrong place at the wrong time."
     
       "Furthermore, they are very repentant."
     
       To men like Mohammad Shahid, now in the 16th year of his 20-year sentence for sheltering terrorists, the factory is the only source of hope.
     
       "I did something wrong, I didn't know better," the 49-year-old former shopkeeper from the northern state of Uttar Pradesh told AFP. "I am happy working. It's better than running a shop."
     
       The most senior convict at the factory, Shahid trains the other inmates and keeps records of the work done in all the units.
     
       In the day before AFP visited, the factory turned out 472 desks, 1,200 loaves of bread, 620 muffins, 373 kilograms of biscuits, 45 metres of cloth, six blankets, as well as paper, envelopes, mustard oil and 36 shirts.
     
       One of the most high-profile convicts in recent memory, 35-year-old Siddharth Vashisht (also known as Manu Sharma) -- a politician's son convicted of killing a bartender in Delhi in 1999 -- also supervises the running of the factory.
     
       "The work is the only thing that keeps you going. Your mind stays fertile. It helps you stay in touch with reality," he said.


Firms pledge to invest in Britain's wind energy sector

Several firms, including Japan's Mitsubishi and Spain's Gamesa, on Monday pledged major investments in the country's offshore wind sector, as London promised funding to help push the plans forward. (AFP/File/John MacDougall)

October 26, 2010
LONDON (AFP) - Several firms, including Japan's Mitsubishi and Spain's Gamesa, on Monday pledged major investments in Britain's offshore wind sector, as London promised funding to help push the plans forward.
      
       British Prime Minister David Cameron said the government would provide up to 60 million pounds (94 million dollars, 67 million euros) to upgrade the country's ports and so help with the development of offshore wind farms.
      
       The investment could help to create 70,000 jobs, the premier told the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) conference in London.
      
       Gamesa, one of the world's top wind turbine groups announced on Monday it would base the global headquarters for its offshore business in Britain, where it plans to invest up to 150 million euros.
      
       The company forecast that its full range of plans in Britain would create more than 1,000 jobs, with around 800 more generated indirectly at local supplier firms.
      
       A unit of Japan's Misubishi Heavy Industries meanwhile confirmed it was pressing ahead with an investment worth up to 100 million pounds in a research and development programme in Britain, Dow Jones Newswires reported.
      
       That programme could be followed by an offshore wind turbine facility in Britain, said Peter Clusky, a senior manager at the unit, cited by Dow Jones.
      
       German industrial giant Siemens said on Monday it was on course to finish a wind turbine factory by 2014, which it said represented an investment of 80 million pounds that would create some 700 jobs.
      
       And US conglomerate General Electric said it plans to invest 100 million pounds in Britain's wind energy sector, according to Dow Jones.
      
       The move would create up to 1,900 jobs in GE and indirectly, said Dow Jones.


Shoe-hurler targets ex-Australian PM Howard on live TV

An anti-Iraq war activist dramatically hurled shoes at former Australian prime minister John Howard, pictured in September 2010, on live national TV on Monday, mimicking the famous protest directed at ex-US leader George W. Bush. Photo:Jim Watson/AFP

October 26, 2010
SYDNEY (AFP) - An anti-Iraq war activist dramatically hurled shoes at former Australian prime minister John Howard on live national TV on Monday, mimicking the famous protest directed at ex-US leader George W. Bush.
      
       The protester stood up and threw two shoes, which missed Howard, while shouting slogans during a stormy edition of public broadcaster ABC's Q&A debate-style show.
      
       "That is for Iraqi dead," the protester shouted, before being quickly escorted away. A woman audience member yelled: "You've got blood on your hands" before walking out of the studio.
      
       Howard smiled and appeared unfazed by the stunt, which followed a surprise recorded question from "Aussie Taliban" David Hicks, a former Guantanamo Bay inmate, during a series of tough questions about his time in power.
      
       "It's all right, don't worry. Forget it, forget it. Relax," he told host Tony Jones.
      
       The conservative Howard, whose 11-year rule ended in 2007, sent Australian troops for the US-led invasion of Iraq as a staunch supporter of then-president Bush.
      
       Last November a protester threw a shoe at Howard during a speech at Britain's Cambridge University. In 2008, an Iraqi journalist hurled shoes at Bush during a press conference in Baghdad and was later jailed for nine months.
      
       Hicks, who like Howard has just released his memoirs, asked the former leader to explain his support for a US military justice system which saw him held without conviction.
      
       Howard was also challenged about his strict immigration policies and why he did not apologise for the "Stolen Generations" of Aboriginal children taken from their families to assimilate with Anglo-Saxon culture.
      
       "And all you had to show for it was some fairly smelly sneakers," quipped Jones as the show wrapped up.


Chinese iPhone workers poisoned by chemical

The new iPhone 4. Workers who say they were assembling Apple computers and iPhones in southern China have spent months in hospital after being exposed to a harmful chemical, an Australian media report said Tuesday. (AFP/Getty Images/File/Spencer Platt)

October 26, 2010
SYDNEY (AFP) - Workers who say they were assembling Apple computers and iPhones in southern China have spent months in hospital after being exposed to a harmful chemical, an Australian media report said Tuesday.
      
       An Australian Broadcasting Corporation journalist said he gained access to the Number Five People's Hospital in Suzhou where he spoke to a group of women who said they were left unable to walk after being exposed to n-hexane.
      
       "At first the symptoms were pretty obvious," one woman said of her reaction to breathing in the chemical, which was used to clean and stick logos on products. "My hands were numb. I could hardly walk or run," she added.
      
       The report said the women had been in hospital for more than six months after working in a cramped and airless factory producing what they believed to be genuine Apple laptops and iPhones.
      
       The ABC did not name the small factory or say when the women had been working there, but said they had retained components of the devices they had been working on which they showed to the reporter.
      
       Apple, which did not confirm that it had sourced products from factories in Suzhou, said it had strict requirements on workplace safety for all suppliers.
      
       An Australian spokeswoman for the US company told AFP that Apple took workers' health very seriously and conducted audits to check conditions, as well as requiring training in on-site health and safety.
      
       In 2009, dozens of workers at a Suzhou factory managed by a subsidiary of Taiwanese company Wintek became ill from exposure to n-hexane. Wintek subsequently stopped all use of the chemical on its production line.
      
       Labour activists have previously raised concerns about conditions in Chinese factories producing iPhones, arguing that millions of employees endure long hours, low pay and high pressure as they make the smartphones.
      
       Taiwanese firm Foxconn, which makes electronic goods for Apple and other Western technology firms, has seen a spate of suicides at its Chinese plants this year.


Ancient insect find raises questions about India's origins

New York, New York, UNITED STATES : This handout image released October 25, 2010 by the American Museum of Natural History in New York shows a Psocoptera specimen that was found in the Cambay amber deposit of western India. Bees, termites, spiders, and flies entombed in a newly-excavated amber deposit are challenging the assumption that India was an isolated island-continent in the Early Eocene, or 52-50 million years ago. Arthropods found in the Cambay deposit from western India are not unique—as would be expected on an island—but rather have close evolutionary relationships with fossils from other continents. The amber is also the oldest evidence of a tropical broadleaf rainforest in Asia. The discovery is published this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. AFP PHOTO/HO/David Grimaldi/AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

October 26, 2010
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The discovery of a trove of insects preserved for millions of years in amber raises new questions about how long India was isolated before it joined the Asian continent, researchers said in a study published Monday.
      
       The insects -- bees, termites, spiders, and flies -- had been entombed in the vast Cambay deposit in western India for some 50 million years.
      
       Scientists had long assumed that India was for a time an isolated island-continent, and consequently expected that the insects found in the amber would differ significantly from those elsewhere in Asia.
      
       But researchers wrote in their study appearing in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that the insects were not unique as would be expected had India been sequestered for as long as they originally believed.
      
       "We know India was isolated, but when and for precisely how long is unclear," says David Grimaldi, curator in the Division of Invertebrate Zoology at the American Museum of Natural History.
      
       "The biological evidence in the amber deposit shows that there was some biotic connection," he wrote, suggesting that an extended separation would have given rise to a unique flora and fauna.
      
       India separated from present-day Africa and after about 50 million years collided with Asia, creating the Himalayas.
      
       Rather than finding evolutionary ties to Africa and Madagascar -- land masses geologists say India was most recently linked to -- the researchers found relatives in Northern Europe, Asia, Australia, and the Americas.
      
       "The amber shows, similar to an old photo, what life looked like in India just before the collision with the Asian continent," says Jes Rust, professor of Invertebrate Paleontology at the Universitaet Bonn in Germany.
      
       "The insects trapped in the fossil resin cast a new light on the history of the sub-continent," said Michael Engel, a professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and curator of entomology at the University of Kansas.
      
       "What we found indicates that India was not completely isolated, even though the Cambay deposit dates from a time that precedes the slamming of India into Asia," he said. "There might have been some linkages."

India agrees to long-term supply of rare earths for Japan

This photo retrieved October 26, 2010 is from www.google.co.th. India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met Prime Minister Naoto Kan, Ohata and other Japanese officials and agreed to broadly cooperate in rare earth deals.

October 26, 2010
TOKYO (AFP) - Tokyo said Tuesday that India has agreed to provide a stable supply of rare earth minerals to Japan as the high-tech economy looks to diversify sources after a spat with key provider China.
      
       India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who wound up his three-day visit to Japan on Tuesday, made the pledge during talks with the Japanese side on Monday, industry minister Akihiro Ohata said at a news conference.
      
       "Prime Minister Singh told us that he will cooperate in long-term supply of rare earth minerals," Ohata said, according to a trade ministry official.
      
       On Monday, Singh met Prime Minister Naoto Kan, Ohata and other Japanese officials and agreed to broadly cooperate in rare earth deals.
      
       In a statement, the premiers "decided to explore the possibility of bilateral cooperation in development, recycling and re-use of rare earths and rare metals and in research and development of their industrial substitutes."
      
       On Sunday, Ohata met China's commerce minister in Tokyo and urged Beijing to normalise rare earth exports after Japan said shipments were blocked during a diplomatic row sparked by the arrest of a Chinese trawlerman in disputed waters.
      
       Japan's stockpile of rare earth minerals, used in the manufacture of high-tech goods, could be exhausted by March or April without fresh imports from China, officials have said.
      
       China, which controls more than 95 percent of the global market, has repeatedly denied it curbed exports in retaliation over the dispute, but all 31 Japanese companies handling the minerals have reported disruption to shipments.
      
       Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara said Tuesday that he wants to raise the issue if he meets his Chinese counterpart on the sidelines of a 16-nation Asian summit in Vietnam later this week.



Giant snakes, fish among spectacular species found in Amazon

Giant snakes, fish among spectacular species found in Amazon

"Ranitomeya amazonica", a frog with an incredible burst of flames on its head, and contrasting water-patterned legs - one of the species announced by WWF in a new report. The frog's main habitat is near the Iquitos area in the region of Loreto, Peru, and is primary lowland moist forest.. (AFP/WWF/File/Lars K)



by Karl Malakunas, October 26, 2010
NAGOYA, Japan (AFP) - Spectacular species previously unknown to the outside world are being discovered in the Amazon rainforest at a rate of one every three days, environment group WWF said in a report published Tuesday.
      
       An anaconda as long as a limousine, a giant catfish that eats monkeys, a blue fanged spider and poisoned dart frogs are among the 1,220 animals and plants to have been found from 1999 to 2009, according to the study.
      
       The report was released on the sidelines of a United Nations summit in Japan that is being held to try to stem the mass extinction of species around the world, and the WWF said it highlighted why protecting the Amazon was so vital.
      
       "This report clearly shows the incredible, amazing diversity of life in the Amazon," Francisco Ruiz, head of WWF's Living Amazon Initiative, told reporters at the launch.
      
       "(But) this incredible region is under pressure because of the human presence. The landscape is being very quickly transformed."
      
       Logging and clearing for agriculture uses such as cattle farming and palm oil plantations have led to 17 percent of the Amazon -- an area twice the size of Spain -- being destroyed over the past 50 years, according to the WWF.
      
       The WWF compiled the findings reported by scientists over the 10-year period to highlight the extent of biodiversity loss that may be occurring without humans even knowing while the Amazon is being cleared.
      
       "It serves as a reminder of how much we still have to learn about this unique region, and what we could lose if we don't change the way we think about development," Ruiz said.
      
       One of the most amazing discoveries was a four-metre (13-foot) anaconda in the flood plains of Bolivia's Pando province in 2002.
      
       It was the first new anaconda species identified since 1936, and became only the fourth known type of that reptile, according to the WWF.
      
       There were a total of 55 reptile species discovered, with others including two members of Elapidae -- the most venomous snake family in the world that includes cobras and taipans.
      
       A kaleidoscope of different coloured frogs were also found, including 24 of the famed poison dart variety and one that was translucent.
      
       Among the 257 types of fish discovered in the rivers and lakes of the Amazon was a "goliath" catfish.
      
       One of them found in Venezuela measured nearly 1.5 metres long and weighed 32 kilogrammes (over 70 pounds).
      
       Although the "goliath" catfish normally exists on a diet of other fish, some of them have been caught with parts of monkeys in their stomachs, according to the WWF.
      
       Another extraordinary species of catfish that was discovered in the Brazilian state of Rondonia was extremely small, blind and red.
      
       Villagers found the fish when they accidentally trapped them in buckets after hauling up water from a well.
      
       At least 500 spiders were also discovered, including one that was completely brown except for a pair of almost fluorescent blue fangs.
      
       Thirty-nine new mammals were also found, including a pink river dolphin, seven types of monkey and two porcupines.
      
       Among the 637 new plant species discovered were sunflowers, ivy, lilies, a variety of pineapple and a custard apple.
      
       The Amazon is home to at least 40,000 plant species, and the WWF described the scale of diversity in some areas as "mind boggling".
      
       It said 1,000 plant species were documented in one hectare (2.5 acres) of lowland rainforest in Ecuador, while 3,000 were found in a 24-hectare region of the Colombian section of the Amazon.
      
       As part of efforts to save the Amazon, the Brazilian government has worked with the WWF, the World Bank and other groups to establish protected areas of rainforest covering 32 million hectares over the past six years.
      
       The WWF said the protection efforts, in which foreign governments and organisations provide some of the finance to help run the projects, should serve as a model for the world in how to save rainforests.