Showing posts with label BBC World. Show all posts
Showing posts with label BBC World. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 13, 2016

South Korea fires warning shots at 'N Korea drone' over DMZ

South Korean soldiers have fired warning shots at a suspected North Korean drone flown across the heavily fortified border.
Yonhap news agency cited officials saying that soldiers fired about 20 rounds before the craft turned back.
Earlier, South Korea's president urged China to impose the strongest possible sanctions against North Korea, following its apparent nuclear test.
Pyongyang claims it has tested a hydrogen bomb.
That claim is doubted by experts, who say the blast, though probably nuclear, was not big enough to have been a thermonuclear explosion.

Analysis: Kevin Kim, BBC News, Seoul

In a country as impoverished and isolated as North Korea, drone technology is the last thing one might expect from the military.
But on Wednesday South Korean troops spotted a surveillance drone flying near a front line observatory. The military in Seoul said the unmanned craft flew in from the north and crossed into the Demilitarised Zone. After soldiers fired warning shots, the craft turned back.
The military believes that the drone was launched by the North to identify South Korean troop positions that have been bolstered since North Korea's nuclear test a week ago.
Earlier in the day, propaganda leaflets carried by giant balloons from the North were also found near and in the South Korean capital Seoul. Some of the messages demanded that South Korean loudspeaker broadcasts across the border, stop. They were restarted in retaliation for the North's nuclear test last week.
line break

Response 'must differ'

In her annual press conference, President Park Geun-hye said the international community's response to North Korea "must differ from the past", without giving details.
She said new sanctions on Pyongyang must go further than before, with China's support crucial. She also warned of possible further action by North Korea, including "cyber terrorism".
China, North Korea's closest ally, has repeatedly condemned North Korea's nuclear tests but is often accused of doing little to try and stop them.
Ms Park stressed China's past statements but added: "I am certain that China is very well aware if such a strong will isn't followed by necessary steps, we will not be able to stop the North's fifth and sixth nuclear tests and we cannot guarantee true peace and stability on the Korean peninsula."
"I believe the Chinese government will not allow the situation on the Korean peninsula to deteriorate further."
Last week US Secretary of State John Kerry also urged China to take a tougher line, telling his Chinese counterpart the relationship with North Korea cannot be "business as usual".
President Park also spoke about the steps South Korea was taking with the US to "neutralise North Korea's provocative actions" including additional deployments of American military assets on the Korean peninsula.
Answering a question about whether Seoul would consider ending its involvement in the jointly-run Kaesong industrial zone, just north of the border, Ms Park said its future depended on Pyongyang's actions.
Seoul has already limited access to Kaesong from the South, to only those directly involved in its operations.

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Vegans upset over 'discriminatory' Australia Day ad

Vegans upset over 'discriminatory' Australia Day ad

An action movie-style advertisement campaign to promote Australian lamb has angered vegans who call it "discriminatory".
The commercial, by Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA), was released on Saturday and has since gone viral.
It shows a SWAT team "saving stranded Aussies" abroad from missing a barbeque on the country's national day.
The Advertising Standards Bureau (ASB) said it has received about 250 complaints, mostly from vegans.
ASB said it was also reviewing complaints of violence, and discrimination against Indigenous Australians.
The campaign has been accused of cultural insensitivity for using the slogan "Operation Boomerang" - an Indigenous term - to mark Australia Day.
The national day commemorates the arrival of the first Europeans in the country but is seen by many Indigenous Australians as a day of mourning.
Burning tofu
In one scene in the advert, a SWAT team smashes into the home of a man in New York saying "C'mon mate, in a few hours you'll be eating lamb on the beach", to which the the bearded man responds: "But I'm a vegan now...".
The ad later cuts to a shot of a flamethrower-wielding SWAT officer burning a bowl of kale on the vegan's table.
Meat & Livestock Australia said the ad was "tongue in cheek".
"Consumers are free to make up their own minds in relation to lifestyle choices, including what they eat. We appreciate that not all Australians eat lamb," group marketing manager for MLA Andrew Howie said in a statement.
"MLA is also aware of some complaints about the use of the word "boomerang" in the advertisement. It is not our intention to cause any offense through the use of this term which is used to symbolise Australians returning home for Australia Day."
Extracts of the complaints will be published on the Advertising Standards Bureau website after its next board meeting in about two weeks time, an ASB spokesperson said.

Rice and palm oil risk to mangroves

Rice and palm oil risk to mangroves

The threat posed by the development of rice and palm oil plantations to mangroves in South-East Asia has been underestimated, a study has suggested.
Rice and oil plantations accounted for 38% of mangrove deforestation between 2000 and 2012, the research showed.
As well as being important carbon sinks and rich in biodiversity, mangrove forests provide fuel and food for coastal communities.
The findings appear in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
"Aquaculture has largely been held responsible for causing mangrove deforestation, particularly in countries like Thailand and the Philippines," explained co-author Daniel Richards from the National University of Singapore.
He told BBC News that a study of eight countries around the world between the 1970s and the early 2000s found that 54% of deforested mangroves were replaced with aquaculture ponds used for fish or shrimp/prawn production.
"Our study found that aquaculture was still important but we were surprised that in South-East Asia between 2000 and 2012, just 30% of deforested mangroves were replaced with aquaculture.
"The impact of other drivers, like rice and oil palm agriculture, was greater than we expected."
Fishing boat on a river (Image: BBC)
Image caption
Mangrove forests provide a key habitat for biodiversity and coastal communities
Mangroves - natural defences
•Mangroves are salt-tolerant evergreens that grow along coastlines, rivers and deltas
•Found in more than 120 tropical and subtropical nations
•The plants' root systems have been shown to dissipate wave energy
Dr Richards observed: "Almost 25,000 hectares of Myanmar's mangroves were converted to rice paddy between 2000 and 2012."
He added that while there had been a few previous studies that had highlighted the role of oil palm production as a cause for mangrove loss, they had no idea of the scale of the deforestation.
"Sixteen percent of all deforested mangroves in Southeast Asia were replaced with oil palm plantations during our study period," he said.
"We usually think of oil palm as an issue which affects tropical forests on land but our study shows that demand for oil palm is also driving deforestation in coastal mangrove forests."
'Very threatened'
Dr Richards and his colleague, Daniel Friess, used Google Earth to monitor how land was used once mangrove forests had been felled.
"We viewed [more than] 3,000 deforested mangrove patches, and recorded the land-use that they were replaced with," Dr Richards said.
"This study also builds on some great existing data sets that were provided by scientists at the University of Maryland and the US Geological Survey."
He warned that mangrove forests in the region were "very threatened":
"Our study focused on quite a recent period of time but mangroves in South-East Asia have experienced widespread deforestation for decades.
"Previous research suggests that around 90% of Singapore's original mangrove forests have been lost."
The region is home to about one third of the world's mangroves, including some of the most biodiverse.
The researchers said mangroves were important to people because they provide fish and crabs, wood and charcoal, and can help protect coastlines from erosion.
Mangrove forests also stored very high densities of carbon so had a role in regulating carbon in the atmosphere, they added.
In other regions, such as Sri Lanka, the value of intact mangrove forests has been recognised by authorities and measures have been put in place to protect them.
Growing awareness
Dr Richards said that the importance of mangrove forests is becoming better understood, but it was a slow process.
"It is encouraging that our study found low rates of mangrove deforestation in Vietnam, the Philippines, and Brunei, and this is partly due to stronger protection of mangroves in these countries.
"There are initiatives to restore mangroves in some countries: the Mangrove Action Project in Thailand, and Blue Forests in Indonesia, are working with governments and local communities to protect and restore mangrove forests."
But he warned that more needed to be done: "Indonesia has more mangrove forests than any country in the world, and the mangroves in the more remote parts of the country, such as Indonesian Papua, are almost intact.
"However, these mangroves may be at risk of deforestation [as a result of] recent plans to grant concessions and develop the agriculture industry in this region.
"If we want to protect Indonesia's remaining mangroves then we need to act quickly."

Monday, January 11, 2016

Threat from deadly bushfire eases in Western Australia

A massive bushfire in Western Australia that killed two people continues to burn, but milder conditions are helping firefighters bring it under control.
The fire engulfed the entire town of Yarloop near Perth last week, destroying at least 128 homes.
Police say the bodies of two men in their 70s have been discovered in the debris of burnt-out houses.
More favourable conditions on Sunday allowed firefighters to set up containment lines.
The fire perimeter is currently around 232km (144 miles), the Department of Fire & Emergency Service (DFES) said.
Image copyright AFP
Firefighter's account of Australia Waroona fire
How events unfolded
Fighting Australia's bushfire threat
In pictures: Bushfire devastates swathes of Western Australia
The alert for the region has been downgraded to "watch and act", with residents of Harvey and Waroona being told they can return to their homes.
"It's not under control yet but we are very optimistic about the next 24 hours as well," Western Australia's Emergency Services Minister Joe Francis said.
The fire was sparked by a lightning strike on Wednesday. Some 67,000 hectares (166,000 acres) of land has been destroyed.
Authorities' handling of the fire has come under heavy criticism from residents, who have complained of a lack of communication and emergency warnings, and a lack of water.
But officials have pointed out that many of the small towns affected by the fire had their own water grids which were knocked out when the fire cut power.
Western Australia fire commissioner Wayne Gregson told reporters: "There will be plenty of people who will come out with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight. There'll be no shortage of armchair generals to tell you what you should have, could have or might have done."
He said they had given warnings up to two days before the fire, and had told residents not to rely on the power or water mains supplies to defend their homes.http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-35259733

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Why are Chinese fishermen destroying coral reefs in the South China Sea?

What I came across on a reef far out in the middle of the South China Sea has left me shocked and confused.
I'd been told that Chinese fishermen were deliberately destroying reefs near a group of Philippine-controlled atolls in the Spratly Islands but I was not convinced.
"It goes on day and night, month after month," a Filipino mayor told me on the island of Palawan.
"I think it is deliberate. It is like they are punishing us by destroying our reefs."
I didn't take it seriously. I thought it might be anti-Chinese bile from a politician keen to blame everything on his disliked neighbour - a neighbour that claims most of the South China Sea as its own.
But then, as our little aircraft descended towards the tiny Philippine-controlled island of Pagasa, I looked out of my window and saw it. At least a dozen boats were anchored on a nearby reef. Long plumes of sand and gravel were trailing out behind them.
Image caption Pale plumes stretch out behind the small boats in the foreground
"Look," I said to my cameraman, Jiro. "That's what the mayor was talking about, that's the reef mining!"
Even so, I was unprepared for what we found when we got out on the water.
A Filipino boatman guided his tiny fishing boat right into the midst of the Chinese poachers.
They had chained their boats to the reef and were revving their engines hard. Clouds of black diesel smoke poured into the air.
"What are they doing?" I asked the boatman.
"They are using their propellers to break the reef," he said.
Again I was sceptical. The only way to see for sure was to get in the water.
It was murky and filled with dust and sand. I could just make out a steel propeller spinning in the distance on the end of long shaft, but it was impossible to tell exactly how the destruction was being carried out.
The result was clear, though. Complete devastation.
This place had once been a rich coral ecosystem. Now the sea floor was covered in a thick layer of debris, millions of smashed fragments of coral, white and dead like bits of bone.
I swam on and on. In every direction the destruction stretched for hundreds of metres, piles and piles of shattered white coral branches. It seemed so illogical. Why would fishermen, even poachers, destroy a whole coral system like this?
Then, down below me, I spotted two of the poachers, wearing masks and trailing long breathing hoses behind them. They were manhandling something heavy.
As they struggled up the sandy underwater slope, through a stream of bubbles, I caught sight of what they were carrying - a massive giant clam, at least 1m (3ft) across.
They dropped it on to a pile near their boat. Next to it lay three others they had pulled out earlier. Clams of this size are probably 100 years old, and - as I discovered later on an internet auction site - can sell for between $1,000 (£665) and $2,000 a pair.
We motored out to a group of much larger fishing boats anchored just off the reef. These are "mother ships" to the small poacher boats on the reef. On board the big boats I could see hundreds of clam shells stacked high.
On the stern of each boat, two large Chinese characters spelled out the name, Tanmen.
I'd heard of Tanmen before. It's a fishing port on the large Chinese island of Hainan.
In May 2014 another boat from Tanmen had been caught by Philippine police on another reef close to the Philippines called Half Moon Shoal. On board, the police had found 500 Hawksbill sea turtles, most of them dead.
Hawksbill turtles are critically endangered and protected under the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites).
Image copyright Getty Images
A Philippine court sentenced the nine Chinese poachers to a year in prison.
Beijing was furious. The foreign ministry demanded the convicted poachers be immediately released and accused the Philippines of "severely violating China's sovereignty… by illegally detaining Chinese fishing vessels and fishermen in waters off China's Nansha Islands".
None of this proves China is protecting the poachers. But nor does Beijing appear to be doing anything to stop them. The poachers we saw showed absolutely no sign of fear when they saw our cameras filming them.
Back on Pagasa, a Philippine marine corps officer told me the destruction of the reef has been going on for at least two years, day and night.
"You men are armed," I said to him. "Why don't you go over there in your speedboat and chase them off or arrest them?"
"It's too dangerous," he said. "We don't want to start a shooting war with the Chinese Navy."
I still found it hard to understand why these Chinese fishermen, who have a long tradition of fishing on these reefs, are now destroying them.
Greed may be one answer. In newly wealthy China there is far more money to be made from looting and trading in endangered species than in catching fish.
There is another sad fact about what is going on out here.
However shocking the reef plundering I witnessed, it is as nothing compared to the environmental destruction wrought by China's massive island building programme nearby.
The latest island China has just completed at Mischief Reef is more than 9km (six miles) long. That is 9km of living reef that is now buried under millions of tonnes of sand and gravel.
Images: CSIS Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative / DigitalGlobe

More from the Magazine

Rupert Wingfield-Hayes flies over China's new artificial islands built on coral reefs in the South China Sea, and gets a furious and threatening response from the Chinese Navy.
Read more: Flying close to China's new South China Sea islands
Subscribe to the BBC News Magazine's email newsletter to get articles sent to your inbox.

The wrong man

Jailed for life when the real killer had already been convicted
Video 2:27

Family portraits

Gay couples in first years of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts

Back to reality?

Star Wars director leads move away from CGI effects

Big deal?

Would ordinary Americans be affected by a rate rise?

Branded v generic

Why do people buy expensive painkillers?

Leave this area!

China warns BBC reporter to fly away from its new islands

Court v racecourse

Should a horse have beaten Serena to top award?

Thursday, December 10, 2015

Fugitive South Korean union boss in temple surrenders

Police in South Korea have detained a trade union leader who has been taking refuge in a Buddhist Temple in Seoul for almost a month.
Han Sang-gyun, head of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), surrendered to police on Thursday
He is accused of inciting violence at an anti-government rally on 14 November.
On Wednesday police began an operation to enter the temple to arrest him but delayed it on the request of the monks.
The monks warned said it would be an act of religious persecution for police to raid the temple.
"If the police raid the temple, it... will be tantamount to a state clampdown on the Jogye Order and on the whole Buddhist movement in South Korea," temple officials said in a statement.
Image copyright AFP
Image caption The police operation to seize him had already begun when the temple said Mr Han would surrender
As hundreds of police surrounded the temple on Wednesday evening, the executive chief of the temple held a press conference saying the Jogye Order would resolve the issue by noon on Thursday, after which police suspended the raid.
On Thursday, Mr Han finally emerged, paid his respects at the main temple, addressed his supporters and the media, and then gave himself up to waiting police.
South Korean religious venues, particularly Christian churches, were often used by political activists seeking refuge in the 1980s. There is no law preventing police from raiding such buildings but they have often opted not to.
Image copyright AP
Image caption The rally was one of the biggest in the city in years
Those at the protest in November had a diverse range of grievances, from President Park Geun-hye's plans to make it easier to sack workers, to a decision to use only one, state-approved history textbook in the nation's schools.
The rally, which the government says was illegal, saw clashes between police using pepper spray and water cannon, and protesters, some of whom were armed with metal pipes and sharpened bamboo sticks.
The subsequent police crackdown prompted a smaller demonstration on Saturday - 14,000 people, rather than the 60,000 estimated at November's protest - to demand an apology from the president.
Ms Park has drawn the ire of labour unions and farmers for planning to make it easier to dismiss workers and to cap the salaries of senior employees. However, many of her labour market policies are more popular with the general public, according to polls.
The BBC's Stephen Evans in Seoul says there is an increasingly bitter division between South Korea's conservative government and its left-wing critics, who accuse it of diminishing democracy.http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35058281

Myanmar stock exchange signals new economic era

Myanmar opened its first stock exchange on Wednesday, despite having no companies listed until next year.
Six groups have been approved, but delays in confirming underwriters pushed back the timeframe for listings.
The Yangon Stock Exchange is housed in a newly restored colonial-era building.
It underlines Myanmar's drive to revitalise its economy, following the victory by Aung San Suu Kyi's pro-democracy party in elections last month.

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

China denies Australia Bureau of Meteorology 'hack'

China has denied it was behind an alleged cyber-attack on Australia's Bureau of Meteorology (BoM).
The Australia Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported a "massive" hack on Wednesday, saying it had been told by "multiple official sources" it almost certainly came from China.
The BoM, which owns one of Australia's largest supercomputers, said it would not comment on security matters.