Asian countries on alert for North Korea rocket launch

Asian countries deployed anti-missile batteries and went on alert Thursday as North Korea announced the imminent launch of a long-range rocket. The regime says the launch is part of a space program, while observers call it a disguised missile test.

By News Wires (text)

 

AFP - North Korea's five-day window to launch a rocket opened Thursday with no confirmed firing, but Asian countries remained on alert as Washington rallied world opinion against the communist state.
The morning timeframe in which North Korea plans to launch its 30-metre (100-foot) rocket came and went Thursday with no sign of liftoff from a newly built space centre on the country's northwestern Yellow Sea coast.

North Korea successfully launched a long-range rocket

North Korea launches long-range rocket

North Korea successfully launched a long-range rocket on Wednesday, sparking condemnation from the UN and the White House, which described the move as a "highly provocative act that threatens regional security".

By Yuka ROYER (video)
FRANCE 24 (text)

North Korea successfully fired a long-range rocket on Wednesday, defying international warnings as Kim Jong Un’s regime took a big step towards potentially developing a nuclear missile.

Ex-leader of Myanmar monk rallies arrested

Ex-leader of Myanmar monk rallies arrested

Buddhist monks march down a street in protest in Yangon in September 2007. A leader of Myanmar's 2007 monk rallies has been arrested, an official said Tuesday, in his latest brush with the law since being freed from jail along with hundreds of other political prisoners this year.

Australia prank call station says tried to contact hospital

Australia prank call station says tried to contact hospital

Flowers are left outside the nurses accommodation block near the King Edward VII hospital in London on December 9, 2012 in memory of ethnic Indian nurse Jacintha Saldanha who was found dead two days ago. The nurse at the hospital that treated Prince William's pregnant wife Catherine, was found dead on December 7, days after being duped by a hoax call from an Australian radio station.

Exile media crafting new role from inside Myanmar

Exile media crafting new role from inside Myanmar

This picture taken in August 2012 shows a newspaper vendor in Yangon. Their journalists risked jail terms to report inside Myanmar under years of brutal junta rule, but once-exiled media now operate openly -- and face flak for being too cozy with the new leaders.

Japan mobile phone will monitor skin condition

Japan mobile phone will monitor skin condition

A model demonstrates how to take pictures of her face with a smart phone to chech her skin condition, produced by Japan's computer maker Fujitsu, during a press conference in Tokyo on November 29. The 'Hada Memori' (skin memory) programme allows women to keep tabs on their complexion and track changes over time by storing records in the cloud.

AFP - A mobile phone that monitors the user's skin condition, checking for blemishes and colour, was unveiled in beauty-conscious Japan on Thursday.
The "Hada Memori" (skin memory) programme allows women to keep tabs on their complexion and track changes over time by storing records in the cloud.
Users can also share their data through social networking sites, said IT giant Fujitsu, which plans to use the information to target advertising of beauty products.
A spokeswoman said the skin system comes with a small card that has a 15 millimetre (0.6 inch) hole, which must be pressed to the cheek. The smartphone's camera then takes a picture of the skin and analyses the result.
The Hada Memori is the first of a series of devices that will measure users' stress levels, exercise habits and quality of sleep, helping the company gather a significant pool of health data which it can then sell on.
"We will be able to offer the data to service providers eventually," said Hayuru Ito, senior manager of Fujitsu's strategic planning division.
Fujitsu is aiming to have one million users of the system in the next two years.

Japan school aims to create 'Asian leaders'

Japan school aims to create 'Asian leaders'

Lin Kobayashi (pictured in July), 37, a former investment analyst at Morgan Stanley and one-time IT venture company director, pictured during an interview with AFP, at the International School of Asia, Karuizawa (ISAK), at Japan's mountain resort town Karuizawa in Nagano prefecture, central Japan.

53 students from 14 countries are seen holding hoops with their fingers as part of a cooperation learning exercise at a class of the International School of Asia, Karuizawa (ISAK) at Japan's mountain resort town Karuizawa in Nagano prefecture, central Japan.

Lin Kobayashi, 37, a former investment analyst at Morgan Stanley and one-time IT venture company director, pictured during an interview AFP at the International School of Asia, Karuizawa (ISAK) at Japan's mountain resort town Karuizawa in Nagano prefecture, central Japan.

AFP - Asia may be driving growth in the world economy but a Japanese businesswoman behind an innovative new school believes the region is over-reliant on Western-style leadership.
Lin Kobayashi hopes her foundation outside Tokyo will help change that by breeding a wave of political and business leaders -- but with what she sees as a more "Asian" way of thinking.
Building work on the International School of Asia, Karuizawa (ISAK) began in September. The launch of classes, all taught in English, is planned for 2014 making it Japan's first international boarding high school.
Kobayashi, 38, a former investment analyst at Morgan Stanley, said the school will bring together students from a wide range of cultures and socio-economic backgrounds, with scholarships for poor students funded by donations.
But she said she wasn't aiming to simply rival elite schools such as Britain's Harrow or Dulwich College, which have set up Western-style campuses in places such as China, Hong Kong and Thailand.
And she added she wanted to change what she sees as an assumption in Asia that it was preferable to seek out education systems in which Western-style leadership was taught.
"Asia is already at the centre of the world's economy, but is still relying on Western-style leadership that thinks charisma is only to be found in a loud, top-down approach," said Kobayashi, formerly of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation and also the UN Children's Fund in Manila.
"I think we need Asia-oriented leaders who value consensus and harmony and can combine that with deep background knowledge about the complicated history and diverse cultures of Asia."
The foundation has so far collected 1.5 billion yen ($19 million) in donations and private funding to cover initial costs, while inviting prominent business figures to come on board as advisors.
In July it opened its third annual 10-day summer school, with 53 students from 14 countries. The course cost 300,000 yen.
Kobayashi said the school will place particular emphasis on regional history, a subject that divides a continent where narratives differ widely from country to country and are at the root of various territorial stand-offs.
Tensions have recently flared between Japan and China in a row over disputed islands in the East China Sea, with trade between the two countries looking set to suffer. The relationship was worth well in excess of $300 billion last year.
"We don't teach one-sided history. It is important to learn about diversity of historical perspectives and the multi-ethnic structure of the region," Kobayashi said, adding that she wanted to bring in teachers from many different backgrounds.
Lzaw Saw Nai, a 14-year-old student from Myanmar who joined this year's summer school, said he was "very much interested in leadership".
"We have political and many other problems in my country," he said. "I feel I should do something, but first I need to learn. So, I came here."
Tareq Habash, 13, from Palestine, said: "My country is in need of leaders who can understand the need of the country and not just for what they want for themselves."
Kobayashi said she hopes potential future leaders of Japan, a place where politics is often criticised for its lack of talent, will also benefit.
"Japanese education does not do enough to train people to lead," she said, adding that this was something the country desperately needed in a region increasingly dominated by a rising China.
In the wake of defeat in World War II, Tokyo fashioned an education system that prized uniformity.
While observers say this was one of the things that helped drive the miracle of recovery, they also argue that uniformity is now hampering progress, amid calls for strong, free-thinking leaders who can drive the country forward.
Yoshiaki Nomura, an expert in leadership education at Osaka University, said the idea of the new Asian school was timely.
"I think a curriculum that will foster a new elite is needed," said Nomura. "We have learnt a lot about classic theories of Western leadership, but I often feel that what we need in Asia may be different."
Jun Nakahara, associate professor of higher education at the University of Tokyo, agreed that leadership is not always an innate quality but rather "something you have to learn about".
But he said on-the-job experience may be more valuable than classroom-based learning.
"They have to provide students with opportunities for practical experience in which they can exercise their own leadership," he said.
He added that the school could be a ground for future networking opportunities but that it would "take some time" before it enjoyed the kind of influence of its established rivals in the West.

South Korea’s ‘Gangnam Style’ breaks YouTube record

“Gangnam Style” by South Korean rap star Psy on Saturday became the most-viewed music video ever on YouTube, with more than 809 million views, beating Canadian singer Justin Bieber's 2-year-old video for his song "Baby".

 

South Korean rap star Psy’s music video “Gangnam Style” on Saturday became the most watched item ever posted to YouTube with more than 800 million views, edging past Canadian teen star Justin Bieber’s 2-year-old video for his song “Baby.”
The milestone was the latest pop culture victory for Psy, 34, a portly rap singer known for his slicked-back hair and comic dance style who has become one of the most unlikely global stars of 2012.
Psy succeeded with a video that generated countless parodies and became a media sensation. He gained more fame outside his native country than the more polished singers in South Korea’s so-called K-Pop style who have sought to win international audiences.
YouTube, in a post on its Trends blog, said “Gangnam Style” on Saturday surpassed the site’s previous record holder, Bieber’s 2010 music video “Baby,” and by mid-day “Gangnam Style” had reached 805 million views, compared to 803 million for “Baby.” Within a few hours, “Gangnam Style” had gone up to more than 809 million views.
“Gangnam Style” was first posted to YouTube in July, and by the following month it began to show huge popularity on YouTube with audiences outside of South Korea.
“It’s been a massive hit at a global level unlike anything we’ve ever seen before,” said the YouTube blog.
The blog also said the “velocity” of the video’s popularity has been unprecedented for YouTube.
In his “Gangnam Style” video the outlandishly dressed, sunglass-wearing Psy raps in Korean and dances in the style of an upper-crust person riding an invisible horse.
The song is named after the affluent Gangnam District of Seoul and it mocks the rampant consumerism of that suburb. Psy, whose real name is Park Jai-sang, is no stranger to wealth as his father is chairman of a South Korean semiconductor company.
His parents sent him to business school in the United States but he confesses that he bought musical instruments with his tuition money. He later graduated from Berklee College of Music in Boston and won fame in South Korea with his 2001 debut album.
The viral success of “Gangnam Style” on YouTube also has translated into strong record sales. In late September, the song jumped to the top of the British pop charts and it also has sold well in other countries.
Popular parodies of the “Gangnam Style” video included one featuring the University of Oregon’s duck mascot, and another done in the “Star Trek” language Klingon.
The official YouTube view count for Gangnam Style represents only the figure for the original video posted to the site, but copycat versions, parodies and videos by people commenting on the song have been posted to the site and elsewhere on the Web.
Counting all those different versions, “Gangnam Style” and its related videos have more than 2.2 billion views across the Internet, said Matt Fiorentino, spokesman for the online video tracking firm Visible Measures.
“Without the dance, I don’t think it would have been as big as it is,” Fiorentino said. “And the other thing is, Psy has a unique sense of humor which comes through in the video. He doesn’t take himself too seriously.”

Sandy Island goes missing in the South Pacific

A team of scientists doing a geographical survey and tasked with locating a South Pacific island released a report of their findings on Thursday. What they found, or more importantly what they did not find, has left them befuddled.

By FRANCE 24 (text)

 

A small sausage-shaped island, roughly 20 miles long and five miles wide and located in the South Pacific Ocean is posing a big problem for scientists after apparently vanishing off the face of the earth.
Sandy Island, believed to be located in the Coral Sea midway between Australia and the French-governed New Caledonia, might exist on world maps and on Google Maps, but it seems it no longer exists in reality.
A team of Australian scientists, who went in search of the land mass during a recent geographical expedition, reported Thursday that Sandy Island was nowhere to be seen.

Sandy Island , as located on Google Maps Agrandir le plan

"We’re really puzzled. It’s quite bizarre," Dr Maria Seton from the University of Sydney told AFP after the team’s 25-day voyage aboard their ship, the Southern Surveyor. "It’s there on Google Earth and other maps but when we went to check it out there was no island."
When the scientists, who were tasked with identifying fragments of the Australian continental crust, arrived in the area where the island was meant to be, the ship’s navigation charts reported water depths of 1,400 metres. A sign Sandy had well and truly vanished.
"How did the island find its way onto the maps? We just don’t know, but we plan to follow up and find out," Dr Seton vowed.
Human error or in the wrong place?
There appear to be a few strong leads for scientists to follow up in their quest to solve the riddle of the missing island, which according to Google Maps should belong to France because it is located inside the territorial waters of New Caledonia.
The Australian Navy’s Hydrographic Service believes human error may be behind the mysterious disappearence of Sandy.
The service, which is responsible for producing official nautical charts, told Australia’s Fairfax media it took the world coastline database "with a pinch of salt", due to the fact that some entries were old or erroneous.
Another theory is that the Australian scientists may simply have been in the wrong place. A quick search through Bing Maps, a rival service to Google Maps run by Microsoft, indicates that Sandy Island is actually located on the other side of Australia, just off the west coast.
To muddy the waters even further, Wikipedia also makes reference to a Sandy Island but places it north of the atoll ‘Oeno’, among the British owned Pitcairn Islands, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
Google, for its part, offered an attempt to explain the presence of Sandy on its map system by appearing to suggest the device might be out of date.
"One of the exciting things about maps and geography is that the world is a constantly changing place and keeping on top of these changes is a never-ending endeavour," a spokesman for the internet giant told AFP.
In recent days, geography buffs have been offering up their own theories on the missing island on Internet sites.
On the Above Top Secret site, discussions were robust, with one poster claiming he had confirmed with the French hydrographic office that Sandy was indeed a phantom island and was supposed to have been removed from the charts in 1979.
The author of another post claimed Sandy's presence could be due to the fact that map makers deliberately put mistakes into their maps "so they know when someone steals the map data".
Unfortunately FRANCE 24 was unable to contact any Sandy Island inhabitants - real or imagined - to verify their location

China arrests 90 over child abductions

China arrests 90 over child abductions

File picture. Police have arrested 90 gang suspects across China and freed 28 children who were allegedly kidnapped from the far west and taken to various cities to steal, the China Daily said. Authorities carried out the operation last month in Beijing and various provinces around the country.

AFP - Police have arrested 90 gang suspects across China and freed 28 children who were allegedly kidnapped from the far west and taken to various cities to steal, the China Daily said.
"Suspected gang members 'beat, abused or threatened' these young children to force them to steal and rob in public places," it quoted the Ministry of Public Security spokesman Huang Shihai as saying.
The locations ranged from shopping centres to underpasses and railway stations, he said.
Authorities carried out the operation last month in Beijing and various provinces around the country as part of a campaign launched in April last year that has netted 2,700 suspects and rescued 2,300 children.
The gangs often targeted youths in the Xinjiang region where the Uighur ethnic minority speaks a different language, making their cases more difficult for police to investigate, criminal investigation expert Dai Peng was quoted as saying.
The traffickers also often targeted poor children who had dropped out of school, promising them a path to prosperity in cities elsewhere, a Uighur interpreter named Ablikim who helped with police investigations told the newspaper.
But once they arrived the children were forced to beg or pick pockets.
"It has become a profitable industry," Ablikim said. "Every child has to get back a certain amount of money or the boss may hit him or her."

China think-tank calls for end to one-child policy

China think-tank calls for end to one-child policy

A group of young Chinese children take part in a swimming contest at the National Swimming Centre in Beijing on September 22. China should phase out its unpopular one-child policy and let families have two children by 2015, an influential think-tank with close links to the government has proposed.

AFP - China should phase out its unpopular one-child policy and let families have two children by 2015, an influential think-tank with close links to the government has proposed.
The suggestion comes from the China Development Research Foundation (CDRF), adding to growing calls for a relaxation of a policy first introduced over 30 years ago.
It would see the world's most populous country eventually abandon a measure that has been blamed for creating a demographic timebomb, with an ageing population foreshadowing huge economic and social problems.
The policy has also fostered a gender imbalance.
"Problems in population structure, quality and distribution have become increasingly visible and will have a profound impact on China's future social and economic development," the CDRF said in a report, according to a Xinhua news agency dispatch late Tuesday.
"China has paid a huge political and social cost for the policy, as it has resulted in social conflict, high administrative costs and led indirectly to a long-term gender imbalance at birth."
The report calls for family planning to be "loosened" in those provinces with stricter controls -- which are commonly urban areas -- allowing families nationwide to have two children instead of one by 2015.
All restrictions should be lifted by 2020 "as people will make more rational decisions on birth issues", the CDRF said.
The southern province of Guangdong asked Beijing in July for permission to relax the policy and allow couples where just one parent is an only child to have a second baby.
But the plan was dropped when Zhang Feng, director of the province's population and family planning commission, said there would be "no major adjustments to the family planning policy within five years".
Family planning officials in Beijing have defended the one-child policy in the past, claiming China's population -- currently 1.3 billion -- would have hit 1.7 billion without it.

Samsung finds 'inadequate' practices in China plants

Samsung finds 'inadequate' practices in China plants

The Samsung Electronics logo is seen outside its offices in Seoul. Samsung said Monday that a probe of its suppliers in China had found no evidence of alleged child labour, but did uncover some "inadequate" employment practices that needed to be remedied.

AFP - Samsung Electronics said Monday that a probe of its suppliers in China had found no evidence of alleged child labour, but did uncover some "inadequate" employment practices that needed to be remedied.
The South Korean technology giant inspected 105 Chinese partners in September following a report by China Labor Watch that at least one supplier was employing children under the age of 16.
The US-based watchdog said staff at some plants were forced to work up to five times the legal overtime limit and denied basic labour rights.
Samsung said its investigators had reviewed employment records at all 105 suppliers and conducted face-to-face ID checks, but "did not identify any instance of child labour".
However, they did find "several instances of inadequate practices" including excessive overtime and a system of fines imposed for lateness or absenteeism.
"We have identified the need for initiatives to reduce employee overtime as a top priority, and we are researching and developing measures that will eliminate hours beyond legal limits by the end of 2014," Samsung said in a statement.
Samsung said it would finish reviewing 144 additional suppliers by the end of this year.
From 2013, working conditions at all 249 suppliers in China would be monitored by a third party audit programme, it added, vowing to terminate contracts with any found to be using child labour.
All suppliers have been told to correct irregularities in labour contracts, and to provide adequate safety equipment and sufficient safety training, the statement said.
Managers will receive additional training on sexual harassment and physical and verbal abuse, while hotlines are being established for workers to report any inhumane treatment or labour violation, Samsung said.

Thai anti-government protesters clash with police

Police in Thailand fired tear gas and arrested dozens of anti-government protesters on Saturday in Bangkok, in the largest public demonstration against Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra since she came to power last year.

Thai police fired tear gas at stone-throwing demonstrators and made dozens of arrests on Saturday as thousands demanded the overthrow of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra in the biggest street protest yet against her 16-month-old government.
Protesters from the royalist Pitak Siam group, led by retired military general Boonlert Kaewprasit, repeatedly tried to breach police lines in the Thai capital and rammed a six-wheel truck into a security barrier but were held back.
They accused Yingluck’s government of corruption, being a puppet of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, Yingluck’s brother, and of disloyalty to Thailand’s monarchy. Many were members of a yellow-shirt protest movement that helped trigger a coup by royalist generals in 2006 that toppled Thaksin.
“If I can’t overthrow this government, I am prepared to die,” Boonlert told supporters. He made a plea for “soldiers to come and protect us” shortly before ending the protest as torrential rain fell in early evening.
The clashes revived memories of a tumultuous 2008, when yellow-shirted protesters seized government offices, fought street battles with police, and occupied Bangkok’s main airports for eight days. Amid that turbulence, two pro-Thaksin prime ministers were forced to resign by the courts.
Yingluck won a 2011 election by a landslide on support from the rural and urban poor. Her supporters, who wear red shirts at protests, held mass street rallies in 2010 against a military-backed Democrat-led government. Those demonstrations ended with a bloody army crackdown in which 91 people were killed.
“Our biggest concern is if Pitak Siam decides to escalate their rally or protesters move into key government buildings including parliament,” said Piya Uthayo, a national police spokesman.
Pitak Siam, or Defend Siam - an old name for Thailand—taps many of the same supporters who backed the yellow shirts: the traditional Bangkok elite that includes generals, royal advisers, middle-class bureaucrats and old-money families.
Saturday’s rally follows a visit to Thailand by U.S. President Barack Obama—part of a three-country tour of Asia -- during which he praised Yingluck, calling her a “democratically-elected Prime Minister who is committed to democracy.”