"Cyclone bears down on Australia’s north" by Associated Press / February 1, 2011
SYDNEY — A strong tropical cyclone roaring toward Australia’s flood-ravaged northeast will probably cause powerful and deadly flash-flooding, officials warned today, as residents braced for what is predicted to be one of the fiercest storms the region has ever seen....
Queensland has had months of flooding since heavy rains began lashing the state in November. The flood waters killed 35 people, damaged or destroyed 30,000 homes and businesses, and left Brisbane, the country’s third-largest city and the state capital, under water for days.
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Related: Australian Flood Coverage Dries Up
I'll have to change the itinerary:
"Supplies on way to space station
TOKYO — A mission designed to help fill a hole left by the retirement of NASA’s space shuttle program....
Another sign of AmeriKan decline.
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I hadn't planned on that mode of transportation.
"Japanese politician charged in scandal " by Washington Post / February 1, 2011
TOKYO — Ichiro Ozawa, the polarizing powerbroker of Japanese politics, was indicted yesterday over his alleged involvement in a fund-raising scandal that continues to cause headaches for Japan’s ruling party.
Related: Japan's Wizard of Oz
Someone pulled back the curtain.
The widely expected indictment of Ozawa — and the question of whether he should give up his seat in Parliament — could widen a rift in the Democratic Party of Japan at a time when Prime Minister Naoto Kan is experiencing dwindling support.
That's because he also bucked his own population at the behest of the U.S. on Okinawa.
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Let's stay on the outer islands:
"Sentence riles graft-weary Indonesians" by Associated Press / January 20, 2011
JAKARTA, Indonesia — A tax collector caught bribing his way out of prison was sentenced to seven years behind bars for corruption yesterday, angering many in a nation fed up with graft. Prosecutors, who had demanded a much longer prison sentence, said they would appeal.
Gayus Tambunan, a low-ranking taxman who paid off officials and helped falsify documents, admitted pocketing at least $2.7 million from dozens of big companies so they would not have to pay the state.
According to one estimate, he cost the government more than $700 million in lost revenue.
But it was the alleged involvement of senior police and immigration officials, prosecutors, and judges that captured the nation’s attention.
Tambunan’s sheer audacity made him a favorite topic on social-networking sites: Authorities confirmed he had bribed his way out of jail at least 68 times since his arrest almost a year ago.
I guess that is why the brief is the only one to have made the papers the last two months.
That revelation was made after he was photographed watching a tennis match on the resort island of Bali, disguised in a black wig and sunglasses. Tambunan, 31, has since been accused of paying $100,000 for false passports to go to Macau and Singapore to gamble....
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Items you would never have seen in the web version because they came in a printed photograph:
RESCUED, RELEASED -- Tourists poured water over rescued green turtles on a beach in Bali yesterday before helping release them back into the sea. Maritime police intercepted a boat loaded with 87 green turtles, an endangered species, and arrested the crew. The turtles were being smuggled onto the island, where they are considered a delicacy (Boston Globe November 19 2010)."
ERUPTION IN INDONESIA -- Mount Bromo in East Java Province continued spewing clouds of ash yesterday, forcing airlines to cancel flights to and from Bali because of concerns about visibility. No injuries or serious damage were reported. A worshiper descended after making offerings to the god of the mountain and praying for the safety of locals (Boston Globe January 29 2011)."
I guess Merapi piped down, huh?
CULTURE CLASH IN INDONESIA -- Members of an Indonesian Muslim group beat supporters of rock star Nazril Ariel yesterday following Ariel's trial in West Java. The singer for Indonesia's most popular band, Peterpan, was sentenced to [three-and-a-half] years behind bars under the nation's controversial antipornography law after sex tapes with his celebrity girlfriends found their way to the internet, riveting and dividing the predominantly Muslim nation. Ariel was also fined $25,000 (Boston Globe February 1 2011)."
Time to move along again:
RELENTLESS RAINS FLOOD MALAYSIA -- Villagers waited at their flooded house in Segamat, Malaysia, yesterday, following two days of rain that have caused the worst flooding in the Southeast Asian country in more than four years. Two people died, 31,000 have been left homeless, and key rail links to neighboring Singapore remain cut off (Boston Globe February 2 2011)."
Then the Globe will just skip Singapore.
Same with Korea since the war talk went down.
Maybe we should hit the mountains:
"Communists give up control of Nepalese force" by Associated Press / January 23, 2011
KATMANDU, Nepal — The head of Nepal’s former communist rebels handed command of his fighters over to the government yesterday as part of a peace deal that ended the Himalayan nation’s decade-long conflict.
I am ALWAYS HAPPY when WARS END!
Nepal’s prime minister, Madhav Kumar Nepal, and the Communist Party of Nepal, known as the Maoists, reached the deal earlier this month for a special committee to monitor the 19,000-strong force, just as a UN peace mission was ending its watch.
It's UN out?
:-)
Monitors — selected from the army, police, and political parties including the Maoists — will now watch the seven major camps and 21 small camps where the former fighters have lived since 2006, when they gave up an armed revolt that had left more than 13,000 people dead.
The UN peace mission had monitored the camps since January 2007, but it left Jan. 15 after Nepal refused to extend its mandate.
Oh!!
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Isn't there a decent beach in the area?
"Thailand’s dive ban aims to save reefs" by Associated Press / January 21, 2011
BANGKOK — The ban is likely to hurt Thailand’s lucrative tourist industry. Nearly 16 million international visitors were expected last year, and Thailand’s beaches are a major draw....
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"Parliament convenes in Myanmar" by Associated Press / February 1, 2011
The military and its allies hold more than 80 percent of the seats in both houses of Parliament, ensuring that the army exercises control over the wheels of power, as it has since a 1962 coup...
I'm trying to pinpoint when AmeriKa's military took over, and the closest I can come is the bullet to Jack Kennedy's head.
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Also see: The Two-Headed War Party
Makes us better than Burma, right?
"Vietnam police rough up US diplomat" by Associated Press / January 7, 2011
HANOI — Police roughed up an American diplomat in Vietnam and repeatedly slammed a car door on his legs when he went to visit a prominent dissident, an official in Washington said yesterday, detailing an encounter that prompted a strong US protest....
Nguyen Phuong Nga, Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, said the government is reviewing the incident, but pointed out that foreign diplomats also have a responsibility to abide by the host country’s laws....
Well, yeah.
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Then why are we not at war with Vietnam?
Oh, right, Israel killed one of our citizens and that was no problem.
That's a month's worth of Globe coverage regarding the Asian region, dear readers.
Time to head somewhere else.
