Dynamic growth and an expanding middle class are making Southeast Asian consumers among the most confident in the world when it comes to their economic prospects, a survey showed Tuesday. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
In Indonesia, land-clearing blazes dot the countryside. Fires for clearing land have been outlowed for all but the smallest landowners, but the “slash-and-burn” practice still persists despite cloaking Southeast Asia in toxic pollution for weeks. Better and more available satellite technology is helping identify culprits behind land-clearing blazes in Indonesia. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Phys.org
Safer ways for informal miners in South and Southeast Asia to prospect for gold will be investigated under an Australian Government grant won by The Australian National University (ANU) and Minelab. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Phys.org
Desperate times are calling for icky measures in Cincinnati, where zoo officials are looking to mate their lone Sumatran rhino female—with her baby brother. With as few as 100 of the hairy, two-horned critters left in the wild in their native Southeast Asia, the race is on to breed… …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Newser – Home
China’s slowing economic growth is weakening momentum throughout the rest of Asia, the Asian Development Bank said on Tuesday as it revised down its forecasts for the region.
A day after Beijing released data showing its economy slowed for a second successive month in April-June, the Manila-based ADB trimmed its outlook for developing Asia this year to 6.3 percent, from 6.6 percent.
In the update to its annual Asian Development Outlook publication, first published in April, the bank also pared its 2014 forecast for developing Asia to 6.4 percent, from 6.7 percent.
The update is only a little better that what the bank described in the report as the region’s “relatively sluggish” growth pace of 6.1 percent last year.
“The drop in trade and scaling back of investment are part of a more balanced growth path for (China), and the knock-on effect of its slower pace is definitely a concern for the region,” the bank’s chief economist, Changyong Rhee, said in a statement.
“But we are also seeing more subdued activity across much of developing Asia,” Rhee added.
Developing Asia groups 45 nations or territories from Central Asia through to the Pacific islands, but excludes Japan.
The report cited a marginally better outlook for the advanced economies, particularly Japan.
However, this did not lead to stronger demand for Asian exports, and the first-half economic performance across the region was “unexpectedly subdued”, it added.
China said Monday gross domestic product expanded 7.5 percent in the second quarter, following 7.7 percent in the previous three months and 7.9 percent in October-December.
The ADB said it now sees China’s economy growing 7.7 percent this year and 7.5 percent in 2014.
Both figures are lower than its April forecasts of 8.2 percent and 8.0 percent. The Asian economic giant grew 7.8 percent last year.
The ADB now expects Southeast Asia’s economies to expand 5.2 percent this year, down from 5.4 percent.
It also trimmed its forecast for South Asia to 5.6 percent this year, while maintaining its 6.2 percent projection for 2014.
On a positive note, the ADB said slower GDP growth was helping the region contain inflation., while expanded global natural gas production was also helping suppress energy prices.
The bank lowered its inflation forecasts for developing Asia to 3.5 percent this year and 3.7 percent in 2014, the latter on par with the 2012 rate.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
A United Nations envoy urged Cambodia Monday to let opposition leader Sam Rainsy play a “full part” in politics as the recently-pardoned politician prepares to return ahead of elections.
Sam Rainsy, who lives in self-imposed exile in France, had faced 11 years in jail after he was convicted in absentia on charges that he contends were politically motivated, including publishing a false map of the border with Vietnam.
He was pardoned by King Sihamoni on Friday and has vowed to return to Cambodia on July 19 to help his party fight national polls that are widely expected to be won by strongman premier Hun Sen.
The UN’s special rapporteur on human rights in Cambodia, Surya Subedi, said in a statement that he was “very pleased” with the royal pardon, which was “in the interests of stronger and deeper democratisation” of the country.
“I now hope that with this development, the government will take the necessary action in order to allow Sam Rainsy to play a full part in the national politics of Cambodia,” he said.
Rainsy, who is seen as the main challenger to Hun Sen, has been removed from the electoral register and is unable to run as a candidate in the July 28 general election unless parliament amends the law.
The French-educated former banker — who worked with global finance giant Paribas in the 1980s — was pardoned at Hun Sen’s request in a move welcomed by the United States.
While all political parties are free to canvass voters and hold public events, observers say there is little chance of unseating Hun Sen and his Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), which won the last two polls by a landslide amid allegations of fraud and election irregularities.
Hun Sen, now 60, has run Cambodia for 28 years, making him one of Southeast Asia’s longest-serving leaders.
In May he said he would try to stay in power until he is 74. He had previously vowed to hold office until he reached 90.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
China’s leaders face new pressure to stimulate a slowing economy after growth decelerated for a second consecutive quarter, hurt by weak trade and efforts to cool a credit boom.
The world’s second-largest economy expanded 7.5 percent over a year earlier in the three months ending in June, down from the previous quarter’s 7.7 percent, data showed Monday. Growth in factory output, investment and other indicators weakened.
The fifth straight quarter of growth below 8 percent is “a clear sign of distress,” said IHS Global Insight analyst Xianfang Ren in a report. With investment weak, she said growth might be “at risk of stalling.”
Analysts said growth could fall further in the current quarter, adding to pressure on communist leaders who took power last year and are trying to shift China from reliance on exports and investment to slower, more sustainable growth based on domestic consumption.
Chinese leaders are likely to respond by launching new stimulus to make sure growth hits their target for this year of 7.5 percent, said Credit Agricole CIB economist Dariusz Kowalczyk. He said that might include weakening the Chinese currency to spur exports or pumping money into the economy through higher public works spending.
“We will seem some targeted measures to stimulate growth,” said Kowalczyk. “They have to do something. Otherwise they will miss their target. And they cannot afford that, because this is their first year in power.”
A decline in Chinese economic activity could have global repercussions, denting revenues for suppliers of commodities and industrial components such as Australia, Brazil and Southeast Asia. Lower Chinese demand already has depressed prices for iron ore and other raw materials.
Despite the slowdown, communist leaders have expressed determination to stick to plans aimed at nurturing slower and more sustainable growth.
“Major indicators are within our targeted range but we face a complex situation,” said a spokesman for the statistics bureau, Sheng Laiyuan, at a news conference.
Sheng said the government’s goal is to “promote restructuring” and make more of the “driving force” of the market.
Growth in factory output slowed to 9.3 percent for the first half of the year, down 0.2 percentage point from the first quarter’s rate, the statistics bureau reported. Growth in investment in …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
Cambodia’s newly pardoned opposition leader said on Saturday he would return from exile on July 19 to join his party’s campaign to defeat Prime Minister Hun Sen in upcoming elections.
Sam Rainsy, who lives in France, had faced 11 years in jail after he was convicted in absentia for charges that he contends were politically motivated, including publishing a false map of the border with Vietnam.
The French-educated former banker — who worked with global finance giant Paribas in the 1980s — was pardoned by King Sihamoni on Friday at Hun Sen’s request.
“I will arrive at Phnom Penh International Airport on Friday, 19 July, 2013 in the morning at 9:05 on a Thai Airways flight,” Rainsy wrote on his Facebook page, in a post that was widely shared and received thousands of “likes”.
A spokesman for his Cambodia National Rescue Party, Yim Sovann, confirmed the travel schedule, adding that it would take time to arrange Rainsy’s return due to some “issue with his travel document”.
Rainsy, who holds joint French and Cambodian citizenship, is travelling on his French passport as his Cambodian passport was revoked by the government after his criminal convictions.
Thousands of opposition supporters are expected to turn out to welcome him at the airport, according to his party.
Rainsy told AFP on Friday he was “very happy” to be able to return to Cambodia, adding that the pardon was “a small victory for democracy” but also warning that “much more remains to be done”.
Rainsy, who is seen as the main challenger to strongman Hun Sen, has been removed from the electoral register and as a result is unable to run as a candidate in the July 28 general election unless parliament amends the law.
Hun Sen is one of Southeast Asia’s longest-serving leaders and has steered the impoverished country from the ashes of civil war and overseen a growing economy through development, tourism, and garment exports.
But his government is regularly accused of suppressing political freedoms and muzzling activists. He is widely expected to win a majority in this month’s polls.
In May he said he would try to stay in power for another decade, until he is 74. He had previously vowed to hold office until he reached 90.
While all political parties are free to canvass voters and hold public events, observers say there is little chance of unseating Hun Sen and his Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), which won the last two polls by a landslide amid allegations of fraud and election irregularities.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
With less than a week to general elections, Malaysia‘s opposition alliance is banking on the promise of bold change to end the governing coalition’s 56-year rule. It says a new economic playing field will strip away decades of race-based policies that it believes bred corruption and hampered growth
The three-party opposition alliance led by former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim says it cannot be business as usual in Malaysia, where affirmative action policies that favor majority ethnic Malays in business, jobs and education have polarized the country and suppressed its economic competitiveness.
Despite posting robust economic growth in the past decade, the opposition says the cost of living has surged in Southeast Asia‘s third largest economy, outpacing rise in wages. The country is lagging behind many of its Asian peers such as Taiwan and South Korea, as its race-based policies fueled a brain drain abroad. Corruption is endemic, and the government ran a budget deficit for the last 15 years, swelling the national debt.
Anwar’s People’s Alliance promises a more competitive merit-based system and a clean break from what it calls a corrupt past if it wins May 5 national polls.
Its election manifesto says it will end monopolies in sectors such as telecommunications, rice and sugar that kept prices high. It will review suspicious government concessions, abolish highway tolls, cut taxes to lower car prices and free up civil liberties.
“This election offers a possibility of a political transition of power. The campaign will come down to who can deliver more genuine and fundamental reforms and who will give them a better deal,” said Bridget Welsh, a political science professor at Singapore Management University.
Anwar’s alliance surged into political prominence in 2008 elections when it won more than a third of seats in the federal parliament and gained control of several states. It was the biggest blow for Prime Minister Najib Razak’s National Front coalition since independence from Britain in 1957 and was spurred by discontent about corruption and racial and religious discrimination.
The keystone of the opposition policies is reform of preferential treatment started in 1971 to lift Malays, who account for 60 percent of Malaysia‘s 29 million people, from poverty after race riots. The policies are credited with enlarging the Malay middle class and putting 20 percent of corporate wealth in Malay hands, but the opposition says the system has been abused to enrich the well-connected elite and distorted the economy. Many contracts go to businesses
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
So far, the promotional videos for Glass have given us an idea of what it would be like to shoot videos through a wearable computer, so long as your life is incredibly cool otherwise. We’ve seen skydiving, ice sculpture carving, canoeing down an exotic river in Southeast Asia, and other amazing things you or I will likely not be posting on . Now that the first test units of Google Glass have gone out, however, we’re beginning to see what something closer to what real humans might do with it.
A Chinese vessel that ran into a protected coral reef in the southwestern Philippines held evidence of even more environmental destruction inside: more than 22,000 pounds of meat from a protected species, the pangolin or scaly anteater.
The steel-hulled vessel hit an atoll on April 8 at the Tubbataha National Marine Park, a UNESCO-designated World Heritage Site on Palawan island. Coast guard spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Armand Balilo said Monday that some 400 boxes, each containing 25 to 30 kilograms of frozen pangolins, were discovered during a second inspection of the boat Saturday.
The World Wide Fund for Nature Philippines (WWF-Philippines) said the Chinese vessel F/N Min Long Yu could have been carrying up to 2,000 of the toothless, insect-eating animals rolled up in the boxes, with their scales already removed.
“It is bad enough that the Chinese have illegally entered our seas, navigated without boat papers and crashed recklessly into a national marine park and World Heritage Site,” said WWF-Philippines chief executive officer Jose Ma. Lorenzo Tan. “It is simply deplorable that they appear to be posing as fishermen to trade in illegal wildlife.”
The boat’s 12 Chinese crewmen are being detained on charges of poaching and attempted bribery, said Adelina Villena, the marine park’s lawyer. She said more charges are being prepared against them, including damaging the corals and violating the country’s wildlife law for being found in possession of the pangolin meat.
It is not yet clear which of the four Asian pangolin species the meat comes from. The International Union of Conservation of Nature lists two species as endangered: the Sunda, or Malayan, pangolin, and the Chinese pangolin. Two others, including the Philippine pangolin endemic to Palawan, are classified as near threatened.
The animals are protected in many Asian nations, and an international ban on their trade has been in effect since 2002, but illicit trade continues. The meat and scales of the pangolin fetch hundreds of dollars per kilogram in China, where many believe they cure various ailments.
The IUCN says rising demand for pangolins and lax laws are wiping out the toothless anteaters from their forest habitat in Southeast Asia.
Alex Marcaida, an officer of the government’s Palawan Council for Sustainable Development, Philippine authorities consider the Philippine pangolin threatened because of unabated illicit trade. He said the Chinese crewmen have said the pangolins came from Indonesia, but officials were still verifying the claim.
WWF-Philippines said the global illegal wildlife trade is estimated to yield at least $19 billion per year, comprising the fourth-largest illegal global trade after narcotics, product and currency counterfeiting and human trafficking. It said the risks are low compared with other crimes, and that high-level traders are rarely arrested, prosecuted or convicted.
The Philippine military quoted the fishermen as saying they accidentally wandered into Philippine waters from Malaysia. They were being detained in southwestern Puerto Princesa city, where Chinese consular officials visited them.
Tubbataha is a 239,700-acre marine sanctuary and popular diving destination 640 kilometers (400 miles) southwest of Manila. The massive reef already had been damaged by a U.S. Navy ship that
From: http://feeds.foxnews.com/~r/foxnews/world/~3/6lq5CFwi6NA/
By Gordon G. Chang, Contributor On Tuesday, Fitch Ratings downgraded China’s long-term local currency debt one notch, from AA– to A+. The primary reason for the move was the country’s too-rapid expansion of credit, one of the “underlying structural weaknesses” the agency cited in its announcement. Many analysts in fact think the debt resulting from then Premier Wen Jiabao’s borrowing binge, which began to accumulate in earnest in late 2008, is now China’s number one economic risk. There are, of course, other risk factors now undermining the country’s economic growth. Among them are an eroding environment, unfavorable demographic trends, and persistent internal discontent. Yet the events since early last month in North Asia—the tearing up of the Korean War armistice, Pyongyang’s promises of pre-emptive nuclear strikes on the U.S., and the deployment of North Korea’s mobile missiles, to name just a few of them—suggest the biggest threat to the Chinese economy may be the least discussed one: turmoil in the region. As Fitch carefully noted in its explanation of Tuesday’s downgrade, “The ratings assume there is no significant deterioration of geopolitical risk, for example a conflict between China and Japan or an outbreak of war on the Korean peninsula.” North Asia looks like the world’s most volatile region at the moment. An assertive China is working to push America aside, grab territory from an arc of nations from India in the south to South Korea in the north, and close off the South China Sea so that it becomes an internal Chinese lake. Last month, while Chinese leaders talked about enhancing cooperation in the region, two Chinese vessels attacked a Vietnamese fishing boat, setting it on fire. There are many reasons for Beijing new assertiveness, but one stands out: slowing GDP growth, evident since the early summer of 2011. The economic problems in particular have created a dangerous dynamic, trapping China in a self-reinforcing—and self-defeating—loop. In this loop, the slumping economy is leading to a crisis of legitimacy, the legitimacy crisis is causing Beijing to fall back on nationalism and increase friction with its neighbors, and the increased friction is aggravating the country’s economic difficulties. Caught in a trap of their own making, Beijing leaders will continue to blame foreigners for the problems evident in Chinese society and then lash out, as they did in September against Japan, over the uninhabited Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea. And as they lash out, they are making their problems worse. The anti-Japan protests in China last fall, for instance, are resulting in Japanese industry reducing its commitment to China by shifting investments into Southeast Asia, as Nissan announced at the end of October. That, in turn, could push the Chinese economy past the tipping point. Moreover, the North Korean crisis, which Beijing has been aggravating behind the scenes, is not helping the Chinese economy either. Commerce between China and the North seems largely unaffected, as various reports from the border crossings indicate. But the Kim regime in Pyongyang seems to be targeting the South Korean economy
From: http://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonchang/2013/04/14/the-biggest-threat-to-chinas-economy/
Myanmar’s president said Sunday his country needs to learn from the violence and instability that has wracked the Southeast Asian nation over the last two years if it is to overcome the challenge of democratization.
Thein Sein spoke in a radio address broadcast to mark the start a day earlier of a traditional New Year holiday that is celebrated by revelers across Southeast Asia with friendly water fights.
Thein Sein, a former general, took office two years ago after Myanmar’s long ruling junta stepped down. He has since led an unprecedented transition toward democratic rule, releasing political prisoners, easing censorship and signing cease-fire deals with all but one of the nation’s rebel groups.
But the country has also been plagued by a war with ethnic Kachin rebels in the north, sectarian violence in western Rakhine state, and anti-Muslim pogroms in central Myanmar last month that left 43 dead in the city of Meikhtila and turned whole Muslim neighborhoods to ashen ruins.
“We have achieved successes that we had not hoped for and also experienced shocking and saddening events we had not expected,” Thein Sein said. But “during this long road toward democracy, we have to sustain our successes and take lessons from the losses, and be prepared to face the challenges ahead.”
For many decades, Myanmar’s four-day New Year festival, known as Thingyan, has marked one of the few times people here could cut loose under the watchful eye of their repressive leaders — albeit with squirt guns and high-powered hoses used to soak civilian targets.
The water has symbolically been used to cleanse past ills, and Thein Sein said people this year should use it to “cleanse black spots like the clashes, conflicts and instabilities” which plagued the nation.
Thein Sein‘s government imposed a state of emergency in the wake of the violence in Meikhtila last month, deploying the army to restore order.
From: http://feeds.foxnews.com/~r/foxnews/world/~3/5uCOZWoAeqM/
Activists warned Thursday that wild populations of Southeast Asia‘s striking Tokay Gecko were in danger of being over-hunted for use in traditional medicine in China and other countries.
By Royston Wild, The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
LONDON — Shares of cruise ship operator Carnival have endured a torrid time in recent weeks, slipping 15% from mid-February’s near-two-year high of 2,628 pence to current levels. The company has continued to endure tough press headlines following the Costa Concordia disaster in Jan. 2012, with an engine room fire and subsequent marooning of passengers on its Carnival Triumph ship in February once again denting investor interest in the company.
However, I view recent weakness as an excellent buying opportunity. Indeed, Liberum Capital has placed a 3,000 pence price target on the stock, illustrating the stock‘s excellent upside potential.
Carnival sails back into profit
Carnival announced in last month’s first-quarter update that it swung into a net profit of $37 million from a net loss of $139 million during the corresponding period in 2012. However, the results were overshadowed by news of further mechanical failures at two of its other liners, raising fresh fears over hefty repair bills and effect on customer demand.
The firm advised that, although cumulative advance bookings for this year are behind those of the same point in 2012, bookings have picked up in recent weeks, helped by attractive price promotions. And over the long term, I expect Carnival to successfully negotiate its current travails and boost passenger numbers — Investec has penciled in a compound annual capacity growth rate of 3.7% through to 2016.
In particular, Carnival looks set to make further headway into promising emerging markets, especially in Southeast Asia, and the company announced yesterday that its Sapphire Princess ship will be based in Singapore from the end of 2014. The firm told AFP that it expects cruise liner passengers in Asia to rise from around 1 million currently to 7 million by the end of the decade.
Double-digit earnings growth anchors investment case
City forecasters expect earnings per share to bounce back in the year ending Nov. 2013 after last year’s disastrous 23% drop to 118 pence. Growth of 14% is expected this year, to 134 pence, before steaming 22% higher in 2014 to 164 pence.
The holiday specialists currently change hands on a P/E ratio of 16.6 and 13.6 for this year and next, providing a discount to a forward earnings multiple of 17.6 for the broader travel and leisure sector.
Despite Carnival‘s earnings pressure in 2012, the company still hiked its dividend 21% to 63.5 pence per share, and broker estimates expect this to continue rising in the medium term. Payouts of 73.3 pence and 82.8 pence are penciled in for 2013 and 2014, correspondingly, up 15% and 13% on an annual basis and providing yields of 3.3% and 3.7%.
Not only are dividends set to shoot above the 3.2% average yield for the FTSE 100, but this exciting dividend growth is also expected to remain well protected, with coverage of 1.8 times and two times for this year and next around the widely regarded security threshold of two times.
Bolster your investment income with the Fool
If you already hold shares in Carnival and
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
By Dan Caplinger, The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
Earnings season has begun. On Thursday, Infosys will release its latest quarterly results. The key to making smart investment decisions on stocks reporting earnings is to anticipate how they’ll do before they announce results, leaving you fully prepared to respond quickly to whatever inevitable surprises arise.
Infosys was the poster child for the outsourcing trend during its initial rise to prominence, but the IT services company has emerged as a powerhouse in its own right. But as emerging-market growth has slowed, will Infosys be able to hold onto its growth? Let’s take an early look at what’s been happening with Infosys over the past quarter and what we’re likely to see in its quarterly report.
Stats on Infosys
|
Analyst EPS Estimate |
$0.74 |
|
Change From Year-Ago EPS |
(8.6%) |
|
Revenue Estimate |
$1.99 billion |
|
Change From Year-Ago Revenue |
12.3% |
|
Earnings Beats in Past 4 Quarters |
1 |
Source: Yahoo! Finance.
Will Infosys keep serving up profits to investors?
In recent months, analysts have changed their views on Infosys in both directions, cutting their estimates on the just-ended quarter’s earnings by $0.01 per share but boosting their full-year fiscal 2014 calls by $0.05. The stock, though, has seen a positive move, with the shares up more than 20% since the beginning of the year.
For years, Infosys benefited from the trend toward outsourcing IT services rather than attempting to manage technology in-house. Yet recently, Infosys hasn’t been as certain about its future, as it reined in its enthusiasm in its otherwise favorable report last quarter by giving only “cautiously optimistic” guidance about its first-quarter prospects. Rival Accenture noted that its growth rate in its Asia-Pacific region was much slower than its Americas-based growth, although its outsourcing business overall has been much healthier than its general consulting segment.
Infosys has faced increased competition coming from both the U.S. and Southeast Asia. Accenture’s outsourcing business is a major rival, but domestically focused Cognizant Technologies has also done its best to play to its home-field advantage by attracting U.S. customers seeking to keep their outsourcing closer to home. Meanwhile, Indian firm Wipro is still a big rival for Infosys in its home market, as it competes for talent and acts as a check on Infosys’s ability to take advantage of cheaper Indian labor costs to widen its profit margins.
In an interesting twist, Infosys announced last month that it would insource jobs back into the U.S. by adding 200 new staffers in its facility near Atlanta. Given the growth that the southeastern U.S. has experienced over the past decade, Infosys has targeted a lucrative area for expansion, and it expects additional job openings in the near future.
In its earnings report, watch for Infosys to provide a gauge not just of its own business but of the IT outsourcing and consulting markets generally. Any jump in activity could bode well …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
Model calculations predict a sea level rise of about one meter by the end of this century and of up to five and a half meters by the year 2500. Until now there are few studies on the potential impacts of a rising sea level on biodiversity. Florian Wetzel and colleagues of the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna together with Walter Jetz of Yale University, USA have now published modelling results for the Southeast Asia and Pacific regions. Their results show that many terrestrial vertebrates are vulnerable to sea level rise and the risk of extinction is highest for endemics found only on certain islands and already endangered species. Their findings are published online in the journal Global Change Biology. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Phys.org
Wildlife authorities are using aerial drones to oversee a sprawling natural game park in northeastern India to protect the one-horned rhinoceros from armed poachers.
Security officers conducted flights of the unmanned aircraft over the Kaziranga National Park on Monday and will fly drones at regular intervals to prevent rampant poaching in the park in the remote Indian state of Assam.
The drones are equipped with cameras and will be monitored by security guards, who find it difficult to guard the whole 185-square mile reserve.
“Regular operations of the unmanned aerial vehicles will begin once we get the nod of the Indian defense ministry,” said Rokybul Hussain, the state’s forest and environment minister.
The drones will also be useful during the annual monsoon season when large areas in the Kaziranga reserve are flooded by the mighty Brahmaputra River and three other rivers that flow through the game park, park officials said.
Hussain said the Central Bureau of Investigation, India‘s equivalent of the FBI, will soon begin investigations into the steep rise in rhino poaching this year.
Poachers armed with automatic rifles killed 22 rhinos last year, but have killed 16 rhinos already this year.
Rhino horn is in great demand in China and Southeast Asia where it is believed to have medicinal properties.
A rhino census conducted in Kaziranga reserve two weeks ago put their number at 2,329, up from 2,290 in 2012.
In recent weeks, wildlife authorities in Assam have deployed 300 armed guards to protect the rhinos in Kaziranga but they have been no match for organized gangs of poachers who have been managing to strike at the rhinos with increasing regularity.
“What worries us is the use of automatic weapons like Kalashnikovs by the poachers,” said Assam police chief Jayanta Narayan Choudhury.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
This weekend in Los Angeles, Activision and Xbox are hosting the Call of Duty Championship — the culmination of weeks of regional tournaments in North America, Europe, and Southeast Asia, where 32 teams will compete in Call of Duty: Black Ops II for a prize pool of $1 million. The event kicks off with round-robin pool play today, Friday April 5th, at 12:30pm PST. It will continue through the weekend with the final bouts scheduled for Sunday afternoon.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at IGN Video Games
It is no secret that Toyota Motors sees the next wave of growth coming from developing markets in Southeast Asia and South America. Low car ownership combined with rising disposable incomes bode well for the auto market demand in these countries in the long term. Toyota’s image as a no-frills, low-maintenance and good value for money product company resonates well with the demands of customers in the emerging economies. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest
