Southeast Asia
By Roberto Tofan
The South China Sea has become the epicenter of a whirlwind of escalating territorial disputes among six countries in the region - Brunei, China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam. Now, with pressure on new Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) chairman Brunei and freshly appointed Secretary General Le Luong Minh (from Vietnam) to find a new way ahead, ASEAN holds the key to regional stability in the year ahead.
Expectations for the passage of a binding Code of Conduct in the disputed areas were dashed last year through disagreement among ASEAN members on how best to proceed. The issue has increasingly polarized the regional group between countries that aim to challenge China's rising assertiveness, led by the Philippines and Vietnam, and those that prefer to take a neutral
stand on the South China Sea issue and prioritize deepening economic ties.
Pastoralists living in the Omo valley are being forcibly relocated, imprisoned and killed due to plans to build a massive dam that will turn the region into a major centre for commercial farming
The movie industry is increasingly shifting toward Asia, especially China, striking fear in the hearts of Hollywood studio executives. The two cultures are about to clash at the Berlin International Film Festival, which opens with the Chinese epic film "The Grandmaster" by Wong Kar-wai.
Kelly Cheng is one of several very wealthy Chinese wine enthusiasts portrayed in the documentary film "Red Obsession." One of the characters in the film, which will be shown at the Berlin International Film Festival, or Berlinale, which opens on Thursday, says: "The Chinese love to swallow Western civilization."
February 7, 2013 - 2:51PM
The opposition says there isn't proof yet that Hezbollah is responsible for a bomb attack that killed Israeli tourists, and is accusing the government for looking to curry favor with the US.
By Angel Krasimirov, Reuters
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By Roberto Tofan
The South China Sea has become the epicenter of a whirlwind of escalating territorial disputes among six countries in the region - Brunei, China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam. Now, with pressure on new Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) chairman Brunei and freshly appointed Secretary General Le Luong Minh (from Vietnam) to find a new way ahead, ASEAN holds the key to regional stability in the year ahead.
Expectations for the passage of a binding Code of Conduct in the disputed areas were dashed last year through disagreement among ASEAN members on how best to proceed. The issue has increasingly polarized the regional group between countries that aim to challenge China's rising assertiveness, led by the Philippines and Vietnam, and those that prefer to take a neutral
stand on the South China Sea issue and prioritize deepening economic ties.
Ethiopia dam project is devastating the lives of remote indigenous groups
Pastoralists living in the Omo valley are being forcibly relocated, imprisoned and killed due to plans to build a massive dam that will turn the region into a major centre for commercial farming
Human rights abuses in Ethiopia's Lower Omo valley are said to be rampant, with tribal leaders imprisoned, dozens of people killed and troops cracking down on dissent ahead of the building of a massive dam, which is forcing the relocation of some of the most remote tribes in Africa.
The valley, a Unesco world heritage site renowned for its isolated cultures and ethnic groups, is home to 200,000 pastoralist farmers including the Kwegu, Bodi, Mutsi and Nyangatom tribes. These groups all depend on the Omo river, which flows through their traditional land on its way to Lake Turkana in Kenya.
But their way of life, which has remained largely unchanged in thousands of years, is now being devastated by the Ethiopian government's plans to turn the Omo valley into a powerhouse of large commercial farming. Malaysian, Indian and other foreign companies have been allocated vast areas of land and water resources to grow palm oils, cereals and other crops.
Red Obsessions: Film Business Moves from Hollywood to Asia
By Lars-Olav Beier
The movie industry is increasingly shifting toward Asia, especially China, striking fear in the hearts of Hollywood studio executives. The two cultures are about to clash at the Berlin International Film Festival, which opens with the Chinese epic film "The Grandmaster" by Wong Kar-wai.
Ms. Cheng is proud of how she bought a bottle of Bordeaux wine, a Château Lafite, at an auction in Hong Kong. At some point, she says, she lost patience, around when the bidding had reached 700,000 Hong Kong dollars (€67,000, or $91,000). "Suddenly I shouted '1.5 million!' and the bottle was mine."
The film tells the story of how the wine business is shifting to the East. It depicts French winemakers bravely defending their wine cellars against the greed of their Asian customers. "Red Obsession" gives the viewer a foretaste of what could also happen in the film industry.
Carnival crackdown on public urination
February 7, 2013 - 2:51PM
Rio de Janeiro: Rio de Janeiro has in recent years evicted drug dealers from hillside slums, carved fast-moving bus lanes into sclerotic streets, and cracked down on unauthorised food vendors along the city's 93 km of beaches.
Now, as they gear up for the 2013 Carnival, officials are taking aim at another old Rio scourge: public urinating.
Urine flows as freely during Rio's famous annual festivities as beer and the cane liquor known as cachaça.
For as long as locals remember, the sight of people relieving themselves - and the stench of their steamy puddles - has been as much a part of Carnival as half-naked women, samba schools, drag queens, body paint, and drunk and sun-burned foreigners.
Bulgaria's opposition questions blaming Hezbollah for bus bombing
The opposition says there isn't proof yet that Hezbollah is responsible for a bomb attack that killed Israeli tourists, and is accusing the government for looking to curry favor with the US.
By Angel Krasimirov, Reuters
Bulgaria's opposition criticized a government statement that Hezbollah carried out a bomb attack that killed Israeli tourists, saying on Wednesday the conclusion was unjustified and dangerous.
The July attack in the coastal city of Burgas raised tensions in the Balkan country, where 15 percent of the 7.3 million population are Muslim, and opposition parties said the government acted under Israeli and US pressure.
(Read up on the issue from Monitor reporter Nicholas Blanford: Bulgaria blames Hezbollah for bombing, refueling terrorist listing debate)
The charge made by European Union and NATOmember Bulgaria on Tuesday may open the way for Brussels to join the United States in branding the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant movement Hezbollah a terrorist organization.
Australian sport is rocked to its core after investigation uncovers widespread use of performance enhancing drugs, match fixing and organised crime
Professional sport in Australia is set to be rocked to its core after an Australian Crime Commission (ACC) investigation uncovered widespread use of performance enhancing drugs in Australian sport as well as links to match fixing and organised crime.
A federal government press conference today revealed that the ACC has conducted a 12-month investigation into the link between drugs and professional sport entitled 'Organised Crime and Drugs in Sport'.
"There are clear parallels between what has been discovered in Australia and the USADA investigation into Lance Armstrong, which underlines the transnational threat posed by doping to professional sport, both from a 'fair play' perspective and as a broader integrity issue," said the report.
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