China's new European trade hub: An Irish town of 18,000 - Christian Science Monitor
The Athlone Institute of Technology hosts more than 200 Chinese students – one of the links that helped bring the trade hub to the town, says Prof. Ciaran Ó Catháin, the president of the school and one of the players in the project negotiations. Professor Ó Catháin would not disclose ...
Vietnam’s Problems, Promises - Asia Sentinel/RTÉ World Report
“We tend to lose around 20% of our staff every year after Tet” (the Vietnamese New Year), said Kim Jung Hee, manager of a factory in Binh Duong province, an hour's drive from Saigon's centre. Her Korean company NB Blue employs a thousand workers, in a clean and well-lit factory ...
Thailand sentences American to prison for insulting king - Los Angeles Times
"In Thailand they put people in jail without proof," Lerpong said Thursday, his arms and legs shackled, wearing an orange prison jumpsuit. "I was born in Thailand, but this does not mean I am Thai. I am proud to be an American citizen."
DMZ: Road trip to the world's most heavily armed border - CNNGo
SEOUL - As the tour bus moves from central Seoul to the city outskirts, the seamless transition from one of the world's biggest and most vibrant cities to the world's most heavily armed border is as surreal as it is functional, with roadside bus-stops giving way to military watchtowers even ...
Potent mix for Timor-Leste - Asia Times
DILI - Land, corruption and poverty are all on the table as Timor-Leste gets into political mode ahead of parliamentary and presidential elections scheduled for 2012, with one controversial figure already throwing his hat into the ring.
If Samuel Beckett met Pol Pot - Asia Sentinel/Irish Examiner
TIK PANHAO, CAMBODIA - In some of Cambodia’s thousands of killing fields, the bones of the dead can sometimes be seen, rising to the surface after storms or rain, like grisly emblems of an unburied past. Perhaps 16,000 died at the s-21 Detention Camp in Phnom Penh, or at Choeung ...
Voting ends in southern Sudan referendum - Sunday Tribune
Kyeli, Blue Nile State, Sudan - “Soon after we married, my husband was killed during the war”, says Hawa Abdul-Gadr. Her eyes show a suppressed grief, but her demeanour is purposeful. That said, there is a perceptible sadness - long-kept under wraps but perhaps closer to the surface than she ...
An unbreakable bond? – Asia Times
JERUSALEM – In 'The Great Divorce' C.S. Lewis attempted to allegorise about a reality which he admitted he could not know, but tentatively hoped to suggest. The US-Israeli relationship, to most, seems like an unbreakable bond, and any potential divorce might be regarded as unimaginable. But when Israeli Prime Minister ...
Narcotic use, drought rob babies of food – The Washington Times
DIRE DAWA, Ethiopia | When drought and food shortages hit, it is the very young who suffer first, and most. Weighing only 10 pounds, Ayaan is among nearly 100,000 Ethiopian children whose lives are at risk. Just four days before her first birthday, she is lighter than an average 3-month-old ...
Corruption trumps tribalism – New York Times (IHT)
Kenyans were cynical about their political establishment long before the latest election violence. One wisecrack doing the rounds since last year says "there is more chance of a Luo becoming president of the United States than president of this country" - referring to Barack Obama, whose father hails from the ...
Bangkok Eyewitness: Hardcore protestors run amok as army moves in – The Irrawaddy/Fox News/CBS News/RTÉ/Todayfm/Newstalk
May 19th, 2010
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=18503&Submit=Submit
http://video.foxnews.com/v/4202801/bangkok-burns-after-protest-leaders-surrender (Video)
http://www.newstalk.ie/news/news-headlines/bangkok-standoff-comes-to-an-end/
http://audio.todayfm.com/1238182.wav – Audio file (Lunchtime news)
http://audio.todayfm.com/0850450.wav – Audio file (Morning report)
http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0519/news1pm.html
BANGKOK – The Thai army launched a final crackdown on the main redshirt protest area today, leading to the surrender of the main protest leaders. Redshirt leaders told protesters at the group’s rally site in Bangkok of their intention to surrender to police, and asked the protesters to evacuate the site and return home. This provoked anger among a hardcore group of armed militants. These have fought on, burning the shopping malls under which the reds have sheltered at their main protest site since earlier today.
Captured redshirts at Ratchadamri, taken as reporters took cover from grenade and gunfire (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
Earlier, burnt out piles of tyres were pulled away by trucks and bullzozers after armed personnel carriers ramped over and through the barricades. Journalists following events were penned in by crossfire at Ratchadamri, after statements by militants that reporters would be targetted. Journalists at Bangkok Post said they were evacuating their building following threats from the redshirts.
After an Italian reporter was shot dead, a Canadian journalist was wounded by shrapnel from a m79 grenade which appeared to come from the protestor side, landing less than 20 m away from this correspondent. 2 soldiers were injured, just moments after they posed for cameras holding weaponry found in the areas of the encampment which the redshirts retreated from. (more…)
Thai army moves in for the kill – ISN
May 19th, 2010
Much of central Bangkok is a no-go area after recent street fighting. A senate mediation proposal has fallen flat, and this morning the Thai army is moving in on the main protest site.
Soldiers on the lookout at protestors back down the Rama 4 road. (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
By Simon Roughneen in Bangkok for ISN Security Watch
As deadly clashes continue in central Bangkok, another proposed mediation effort has gone awry.Thai senators offered to act as go-betweens in the hope that this would bring the government and the redshirts back to the table. The redshirts welcomed this, after exiled de facto leader Thaksin Shinawatra called for UN intervention and asked the government to rein in the army. However, the government says it will not talk to the redshirt leaders – most of whom face terrorism charges – until the thousands of demonstrators leave the downtown shopping and hotel area they have occupied for six weeks. (more…)
Dramatic intervention needed to quell Bangkok fighting – The Daily Mail/The Casual Truth/Crikey/BBC Ulster
May 18th, 2010
http://www.thecasualtruth.com/story/war-violence-streets-bangkok
BANGKOK – Three hours after a Government deadline to vacate their campsite in the middle of Bangkok’s glossiest shopping and hotel district, anti-Government ‘redshirt’ protestors remained defiant. “I’m here for democracy”, said Peter Siriya, a 33 year old from Samutpakarn Province. Like many of the other redshirts, he comes from up country, and says he is disgusted by the recent bloodshed in Bangkok.
Protestors fire basic home-made weapons at Thai troops on Bangkok's Rama 4 road. (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
36 people have died since last Thursday in street fighting at a number of locations around the main rally site. The redshirts have set up another stage on a highway beyond the main area, countering the army’s drive to blockade the main rally area. (more…)
3pm deadline looms as death toll rises – The Irrawaddy/RTÉ News at One/Newstalk Breakfast Show
May 17th, 2010
http://www.irrawaddy.org/highlight.php?art_id=18481
http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0517/news1pm.html
http://irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/world/bullets-fly-in-battlefield-bangkok-457889.html
Most of the women have so far decided against leaving the rally site. Some are making the move back home however. (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
BANGKOK – “I’m going home, back to Chiang Rai”, said one redshirt, refusing to give her name, as she wheeled her suitcase along under the shelter of a rail overpass running over the main rally stage. By Sunday evening, a small number of the estimated 5000 protestors had left, with more heading for the Red Cross-managed sanctuary established at a nearby Buddhist temple.
The Thai Government wants redshirt protestors to evacuate their main rally site at Rajaprasong by 3pm Monday. But as street fighting leaves 35 dead it is unclear whether or not the bulk of women and children at the Rajaprasong rally site will leave. Redshirt leaders have said that the protestors can leave the site. The Thai PM has defended the crackdown, despite the death toll so far, putting the blame for the violence on the redshirts. Army spokesman Col. Sansern Kaewkamnerd said that “If the protesters will not end the situation, we will have to enter the encampment.”
Pointing up at what she says are army snipers prowling the roof of a nearby high-rise, Manissa, who says she works at Bumrungrad Hospital, scoffed at the thought of leaving. “I’m staying here, and I think most people will. We’re here 2 months now”. Back at the rally area, a mostly female crowd, many middle-aged and above, listened and cheered as speeches were given in the draining 85% humidity and 35 degree heat.
Most of the men seem to be at the frontiers of the protest site, clashing with soldiers as gunfire and explosions rang out across the city. Some have pushed the boundaries, literally. (more…)
Smoke over Bangkok as fighting continues – Sunday Business Post/Fox News
May 15th, 2010
http://www.sbpost.ie/news/world/death-toll-still-rising-as-bangkok-protests-continue-49245.html
BANGKOK – By Saturday afternoon eighteen people had died in three days of street fighting at various locations across the sprawling capital. Plumes of smoke rose over high-rise hotels and offices, as gunfire and explosions were heard at a number of fronts around the commercial center of the city. The Thai Government declared certain locations as ‘live fire’ zones, saying that the army could not guarantee the security of people present.
After series of shooting and explosions on Sat. afternoon, protestors run out to taunt the troops from behind the smokescreen. (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
On Saturday afternoon soldiers shot at protestors on the Rama IV highway, after grenades exploded close to a Thai boxing stadium, where soldiers sheltered at the roadside. This correspondent was among a group of journalists scurrying for cover amid the maelstrom. A Canadian reporter working for France 24 was seriously wounded by army fire during the previous day’s street fighting, after a Japanese cameraman working for Reuters was shot dead during deadly April 10 clashes, when the army last tried to disperse the two-month old demonstration. Shooting continued sporadically at the flashpoint, with protestors rolling burning tyres at the army lines. (more…)
Bullets over Bangkok – The Irrawaddy/CBS Radio
May 15th, 2010
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=18478
BANGKOK – Thailand’s capital has been a warzone since late Thursday night, as soldiers and police do battle with redshirt protestors on some of the main thoroughfares in the heart of the city. 16 people have been confirmed killed and 157 injured during clashes that are speading across the city.
Redshirts crouch as shots ring out close to Chulalongkorn Hospital on Saturday afternoon. (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
Since an as-yet unexplained hit on controversial Major-General Khattiya, known by his nom de guerre Seh Daeng, on Thursday evening, the combat zone has widened to take in new flashpoints across the city. The Rama IV highway has been blocked off, as redshirts try to stop soldiers from moving up the road to get closer to the main protest area. After bus-burnings early on Friday, soldiers and protestors clashed into the night and on Saturday morning. (more…)
Population Control in the Philippines – NC Register
May 13th, 2010
http://www.ncregister.com/register_exclusives/population_control_in_the_philippines/
Wrangle Over Legislation set to roll on After Election
Mass at Greenbelt, Makati City. (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
MANILA – It is 6pm in Greenbelt, one of Manila’s high-end shopping malls. Elsewhere, commuters are stopping-off for a post-work coffee or browsing through the array of boutique names next door to the chapel. But bang-in-the-middle of the mall, a dome-shaped part-open church is packed for evening Mass – one of four celebrated there each day. Passers-by genuflect or bless themselves, gingerly laying down their shopping as they pause on their way.
Out of 92 million people, 85 percent of Filipinos are Catholic, and the country is well-known for eye-catching displays of public devotion. During the election season, daily vigils and prayer services were held all over the country. Inside the election commission hq, statues of the Virgin Mary and posters exhorting the recitation of novenas sat between nuts-and-bolts election information for parties, voters, candidates and media.
An ongoing battle over a ‘Reproductive Health’ Bill looks set to roll on into the new administration. Winning Presidential ticket Benigno ‘Noynoy’ Aquino III opposes the Church position on the bill. At time of writing, with 90% of votes counted, Aquino had 40% % , with former President Estrada, who also backs the RH bill, second on 25%. Early front-runner and business billionaire Manny Villar finished a distant third on 11%. He publicly-backed the Church’s take on RH, but well before he spoke out his popularity was on the slide due to corruption allegations. (more…)
Aquino set for office, but will he be in power? – The Irrawaddy
May 12th, 2010
http://www.irrawaddy.org/highlight.php?art_id=18457
MANILA – Despite an almost-certain landslide win for Benigno ‘Noynoy’ Aquino III in Monday’s presidential election, it is not clear whether this will translate into a mandate for the anti-corruption and reform measures he promised on the campaign trail. He was elected in what is being deemed a clean election, though ten people died on polling day itself, after well over one hundred more candidates and election workers were killed during the campaign.
Liberal party/Aquino supporters at their final campaign rally, Quezon City last Friday. (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
After a last-minute panic over the viability of the computerised counting system, the election is being depicted as a success, all things considered. The technical armageddon never materialised, and “on the whole, the election went well by national standards”, says Telibert Laoc, who works with the National Citizens Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL).
Mr Laoc told The Irrawaddy that the most serious nationwide problem with the elections was a de facto “absence of a real secret ballot”. At five different polling stations in the Manila metropolitian area, The Irrawaddy saw voters sitting side-by-side in the open, in the middle of polling stations where they were surrounded by hundreds of other voters, poll watchers and officials. The sole impediment to this correspondent taking photos of the voter as he or she marked the ballot. was the voter’s own willingness to photographed.
Voter respite from Philippines prison blues – Global Post
May 10th, 2010
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/philippines/100510/makati-prison-inmates-voting-rights-election
In a landmark event for the Southeast Asian country, prisoners were allowed to vote in today’s national elections.
MAKATI CITY, Philippines — “They’re probably drinking coffee and smoking big cigars,” sings the jailed protagonist in
Janet, 27, was first to vote. Here she has her finger daubed with indelible ink, a measure to prevent multiple votes being cast by one person. (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues,” imagining his well-to-do counterparts living it up on the outside.
Inmates in the Philippines got a taste of life outside of jail today. In a landmark event for the Southeast Asian island nation, prisoners voted in the country’s national elections.
Final results for the overall election are still forthcoming, but unofficial tallies of 57 percent of votes cast showed presidental favorite Beningo “Noynoy” Aquino well in front with 40.6 percent, ahead of former President Joseph Estrada in second place.
First up to cast her ballot this morning at Makati City Jail in Manila was a 27-year-old who gave her name as Janet. Appearing non-plussed, she told GlobalPost that her voting experience “felt OK. I knew who I wanted to vote for, so it was no big deal.”
Inmates received voter education from a number of NGOs in recent weeks. “They all had a couple of dry runs,” said prison guard Bautista, watching as inmates were called up one by one from the holding area behind an iron gate. The warden’s office — temporarily converted into a polling station for the 481 inmates — filled up with prisoners who collected their ballot papers before sitting down to mark their choices.
Prisoners then returned their paper before having their right index finger marked with indelible ink. This is a staple of election transparency in many countries, aiming to prevent multiple votes being cast by one person. International electoral observers kept a close eye on the proceedings and prisoners were quickly shuffled back to their cells. (more…)
Philippines votes in the shadow of gunmen – Asia Times
May 10th, 2010
http://atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/LE11Ae01.html
MANILA – The ever-present shadow of violence and intimidation hangs over the 50 million voters going to the polls at the Philippines’ presidential, legislative elections and local elections on Monday. The prospect of a fully free and fair election is also in question, with well-documented worries over a new partially automated voting and counting system and vote-buying seemingly omnipresent – boxing champion Manny Pacquiao last week offered 500,000 pesos
(US$10,980) to a village in Mindanao if it backed his campaign for a congress seat.
The number of political killings has surged during the electoral campaign, with local clans and politicians eliminating their electoral rivals. The single worse incident came last November, when an unprecedented 57 civilians were murdered in Maguindanao in the restive southern Philippines.
Voters line up at Valenzuela precinct, 5 hours into polling. Many had queued all morning as the temperature reached 37 degrees. (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
By April 14, the latest date for which figures are available, 38 election candidates had been killed during the January to mid-April campaign period, according to Felix Vargas, spokesman for the government’s task force on elected government officials. The figure does not include campaign workers and candidates’ assistants who were killed.
Professor Rommel C Banlaoi, the director of the Philippine Institute for Peace, Violence and Terrorism Research (PIPVTR), told Asia Times Online that “cases of election related killings from the use of illegally armed groups have been recorded and to date numbers more than 100″.
The Maguindanao atrocity made international headlines due to its grisly details, but also because it was the largest recorded mass killing of journalists in a single incident. The massacre was carried out to deter an opposition clan, the Mangudadatu family, from running in the elections against the government-backed Ampatuan clan. This case and less well-known clashes in the southern Philippines and elsewhere illustrate how elections raise the stakes for volatile local bigwig rivalries. With patronage links to the center at stake, the prospect of elections intensifies rido, the term for honor-driven violence and vengeful clan feuding in the region. (more…)
