Latest Asia Pacific News
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Japan finds highly toxic strontium in Fukushima groundwater
TOKYO (Reuters) - High levels of toxic strontium-90 have been found in groundwater at the devastated Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan, the utility that operates the facility said on Wednesday Strontium-90 is a by-product of the fission of uranium and plutonium in nuclear reactors as well as nuclear weapons, according to the website of the U.S. Environmental Protection ...
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News Corp. print assets start trading in Australia
0.00% fell 15 Australian cents to 14.85 Australian dollars ($14.04) Wednesday as they began trading in Sydney. The company holds the publishing assets that were spun off by media conglomerate News Corp. More than 4.6 million New Newscorp shares were traded in the first 15 minutes of their debut, according to FactSet data. News ...
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Snowden says NSA used Cisco to spy China media
+0.49% routers to spy on Chinese networks. The report on the Chinese-language site Techweb.com, dated Tuesday, also said that Cisco had been involved in many major Chinese Internet infrastructure projects, including those of military and government networks. However, ...
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German coach claims credit as Australia go to Rio
Australia's captain Lucas Neill (L) celebrates victory with teammate Mark Bresciano after defeating Iraq in the World Cup qualifier in Sydney, on June 18, 2013. Coach Holger Osieck claimed vindication for his methods after Australia qualified for the Cup with a last-gasp ...
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Japans May trade deficit widens on import costs
TOKYO (AFP) - Japan extended a string of trade deficits in May, official data showed on Wednesday, as the country's import costs rose on the weak yen, but shipments to the United States and China soared.The strong export data -- up 10.1 percent over last year -- comes after earlier figures showed the world's third-largest economy grew faster than expected in the first quarter, as ...
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Japan US hold joint landing drill off California
Japan's Self-Defense Forces joined US troops conducting a landing drill on an island off the US coast of California on Monday. About a thousand Japanese amphibious troops consisting of Ground Self-Defense Force members and personnel from destroyers were sent overseas for the first time as a group. In the drill, US Osprey transport aircraft landed and dropped off about 80 Marines. A large ...
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Heavy rain kills more than 50 in N India
Continuing torrential rain has claimed more lives in mountainous regions of northern India. Officials of the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand say the rain has killed 54 people and injured more than 100. The officials say swollen rivers swept away buildings and landslides buried a Hindu pilgrim town at the foot of a mountain. More than 60,000 people, including residents and pilgrims, are ...
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Study Homosexual Community at Increased Risk for HIV
One of the challenges of fighting HIV around the world is the difficulty of reaching those at risk. A new study from South Africa indicates that the homosexual community is at increased risk for HIV, and that widespread homophobia may keep these men from receiving the information and care that they need. Gay men in Africa face extreme homophobia and violence within their communities, and in ...
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NASA Humans Could Visit Asteroid in 2021
The U.S. space agency says its proposed asteroid capture mission takes several of NASA's ongoing initiatives and aligns them for one major mission. These chunks of ancient space rocks hold clues about the formation of the universe, pose threats to our planet, and present new territory for explorers. NASA's proposed asteroid mission is a logical next leap for the space agency, says ...
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Turkeys PM Hits Back at International Critics of Crackdown
LONDON -- The U.N. Commissioner for Human Rights has strongly criticized Turkey's crackdown on anti-government protests, joining the European Union in condemning the police response. But Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has hit back, defending the security forces and questioning the democratic legitimacy of his European critics. After weeks of anti-government demonstrations in cities ...
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New Head For US Central Bank
WASHINGTON -- U.S. President Barack Obama says Ben Bernanke has done an "outstanding" job leading the central bank and coping with the worst recession in decades. But some analysts say Obama is likely to appoint someone else to head the Federal Reserve in a few months. analysts have mixed opinions about Bernanke's efforts. President Obama praised Ben Bernanke during a recent ...
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Japan look to avoid early exit face Italy next
RECIFE, Brazil (AFP) - The task facing both, Asian champions Japan and three-time world champions Italy is clear cut in Recife at the Confederations Cup.An Italian win on Wednesday, on the heels of Sunday's success over Olympic champions Mexico should propel the Azzurri into the semi-finals, while also ending the Blue Samurais' interest in this summer's event.The pressure is off ...
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VECCI’s Top Ten Tips When Sourcing From China
The opportunities to make your business more competitive through importing components from overseas or manufacturing overseas are too great to be ignored. Generally speaking, better prices for manufacturing components or whole products can be found in China than elsewhere. Sourcing from China isn’t a simple process though. There are significant risks - from missing goods, substandard ...
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Japan logs $10.4 billion trade deficit for May
Money traders work under a screen indicating the U.S. dollar is traded at 100.845 yen at a foreign exchange company in Tokyo, Friday, May 10, 2013. INQUIRER file photo TOKYO – Japan’s trade deficit for May expanded 9.5 percent from a year earlier to $10.4 billion, official data showed Wednesday as import costs rose on a weak yen. Data from the finance ministry showed Japan incurred ...
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Australias World Cup history – in pictures
After two unsuccessful campaigns, Australia finally qualified for their first World Cup. Australia were dealt a tough group. Games against East and West Germany (pictured above), ended in defeat. They gained a point against Chile but it wasn't enough to save them from group-stage elimination. Photograph: ...
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Tanzania Japan seal $32m agreement on flyover project
Tanzania and Japan on Tuesday signed an agreement of more than $32 million to finance a flyover project in Dar es Salaam, the commercial capital of the East African country.The two countries sealed the grant agreement of 52.5 billion Tanzanian shillings ($32.8 million) on the project in Dodoma, where Japanese Ambassador to Tanzania Masaki Okada said the initiative is meant to de-congest Dar es ...
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Chinas central bank signals no policy loosening
People's Bank of China (PBoC) Tuesday drained 2 billion yuan from the money market despite banks' reported call for cash injection, suggesting regulators are keen to keep liquidity tight amid growing jitters of China's financial risks.The 2-billion 91-day bills, though tiny by amount, were viewed as the central bank's commitment to squeezing out excessive funding.Shanghai ...
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Sierra Leonean president to visit China
Sierra Leonean President Ernest Bai Koroma will visit China at the end of June, the Chinese Embassy in Freetown said on Tuesday.Chinese Ambassador to Sierra Leone Kuang Weilin told journalists here that President Koroma was invited by Tsinghua University to attend the World Peace Conference in Beijing, capital city of China.During President Koroma's visit to China, he is expected to hold ...
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Vietnam China have huge potentials for cooperation Vietnamese President
Vietnam and China "have huge potentials for further speeding up cooperation in the future," Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang, who will start his three-day state visit to China from Wednesday at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, said in an interview with Xinhua and other Chinese media on Tuesday."Vietnam and China are close neighboring countries. The two peoples ...
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China Ghana work closely to tackle illegal mining
China and Ghana are working closely to properly handle the issue of Chinese nationals engaged in illegal gold mining in the West African country, a senior Chinese official said here on Tuesday.Gong Jianzhong, the Chinese ambassador to Ghana, told a press conference that the issue of Chinese nationals involved in illegal mining activities in Ghana was a disharmony in the course of development of ...
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China endeavors to boost wildlife protection
To better protect the country's biodiversity, China is pooling efforts to further protect endangered species and crack down on illegal animal trafficking."China will intensify and coordinate efforts to strengthen wildlife protection," said Yin Hong, deputy director of the State Forestry Administration (SFA), at a recent briefing.China has rich wildlife resources. More than 6,500 ...
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China streamlines health-related approval procedures
The National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) has delegated approval authority over certain issues to agencies at local level, a government statement said Tuesday.It is among China's follow-up efforts to turn into realities a cabinet reshuffle plan that was adopted by its legislature in March, according to a central government statement.The NHFPC has delegated approval ...
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Japan is moving away from goal of normal country
For decades, Japan has been aspiring to become a "normal country" politically. But Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is apparently moving the country toward the opposite direction.He has angered many people in neighboring countries and around the world with revisionist comments on Japan's war crimes during World War II.Such remarks, in an attempt to whitewash the country's militarist ...
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Cathay Pacific traffic figures for May 2013
Cathay Pacific Airways released combined Cathay Pacific and Dragonair traffic figures for May 2013 that again show a year-on-year drop in the number of passengers carried and cargo and mail tonnage. Cathay Pacific and Dragonair carried a total of 2,338,703 passengers in May – a drop of 0.8% compared to the same month last year. The passenger load factor was up by 0.5 percentage points ...
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China sets legal weapons against pollution offences
China's top court and procuratorate jointly issued an interpretation on the conviction and sentencing standards of criminal cases involving environmental pollution on Tuesday. Experts said the interpretation will provide "legal weapons" to combat such crimes. "At present, environmental pollution is very serious across the country, which seriously harms the ecological ...
Fiji Feature
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Fiji needs to focus more on needs of the poor
Fiji is facing a major problem with informal housing or ‘squatter colonies’, especially on the outskirts of major cities such as Savu, which draw people in with the promise of jobs and prosperity. An ongoing effort by government to provide affordable housing for low-income earners is hampered by mismanagement, a lack of funds and the reluctance to evict non-payers from their homes.
Fiji is one of the more developed countries of the South Pacific island nations, but a large proportion of the population remain in poverty and exist through subsistence means rather than through formal integration with the national economy. Read more
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