STRONG EARTHQUAKE STRIKES PERUVIAN COAST
ICA, Peru - Last week deadly blaze wept through Peru Rehab centre killing 26 people. And this morning at 00:11 am (4.11:11pm AEDT) a strong earthquake measuring 6.3 shook an area near the Pacific coast of central Peru today, US government researchers said. The epicentre of the tremor was 23km southeast of the town of Ica, the US Geological Survey said.
The depth of the epicentre was 39km. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.
The reading was based on the open-ended Moment Magnitude scale used by US seismologists, which measures the area of the fault that ruptured and the total energy released.
UN URGES AFRICAN UNION TO RESPECT GAY RIGHTS
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia - United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has urged African leaders to respect gay rights. Discrimination based on sexual orientation had been ignored or even sanctioned by many states for too long, Mr Ban told an African Union summit.Homosexuality is illegal in many African countries - a situation which has drawn increasing criticism from activists and the West.
Ban Ki-moon told delegates that discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity "prompted governments to treat people as second class citizens or even criminals".
Homosexual acts are illegal in most African countries, including key Western allies such as Uganda, Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt and Botswana.Both the US and UK have recently warned they would use foreign aid to push for homosexuality to be decriminalised on the socially conservative continent.
Source: Agency
Ban Ki-moon told delegates that discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity "prompted governments to treat people as second class citizens or even criminals".Homosexual acts are illegal in most African countries, including key Western allies such as Uganda, Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt and Botswana.Both the US and UK have recently warned they would use foreign aid to push for homosexuality to be decriminalised on the socially conservative continent.
NEW TASTE FOR THAI ELEPHANT MEAT?
BANGKOK, Thailand — A new taste for eating elephant meat — everything from trunks to sex organs — has emerged in Thailand and could pose a new threat to the survival of the species.Wildlife officials told The Associated Press that they were alerted to the practice after finding two elephants slaughtered last month in a national park in western Thailand.
Poachers typically just remove tusks, which are most commonly found on Asian male elephants and fetch thousands of dollars on the black market. A market for elephant meat, however, could lead to killing of the wider elephant population, Damrong said.- Consuming elephant meat is not common in Thailand, but some Asian cultures believe consuming animals' reproductive organs can boost sexual prowess.
Damrong said the elephant meat was ordered by restaurants in Phuket, a popular travel destination in the country's south. It wasn't clear if the diners were foreigners.- The accusation drew a quick rebuttal from Phuket Governor Tri Akradecha, who told Thai media that he had never heard of such restaurants but ordered officials to look into the matter.
Poaching elephants is banned, and trafficking or possessing poached animal parts also is illegal. Elephant tusks are sought in the illegal ivory trade, and baby wild elephants are sometimes poached to be trained for talent shows.- "The situation has come to a crisis point. The longer we allow these cruel acts to happen, the sooner they will become extinct," Damrong said.
- The quest for ivory remains the top reason poachers kill elephants in Thailand, other environmentalists say.
- A NEW taste for eating elephant meat, everything from trunks to sex organs has emerged in Thailand and could pose a new threat to the survival of the species.
- Wildlife officials told The Associated Press that they were alerted to the practice after finding two elephants slaughtered last month in a national park in western Thailand.
- Soraida Salwala, the founder of Friends of the Asian Elephant foundation, said a full grown pair of tusks could be sold from 1 million to 2 million baht (RM97,970 to RM195,940), while the estimated value of an elephant's penis is more than 30,000 baht (RM2,939)..
- "There's only a handful of people who like to eat elephant meat, but once there's demand, poachers will find it hard to resist the big money," she cautioned.
Thailand has fewer than 3,000 wild elephants and about 4,000 domesticated elephants, according to the National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department.The pachyderms were a mainstay of the logging industry in the northern and western parts of the country until logging contracts were revoked in the late 1980s. Domesticated animals today are used mainly for heavy lifting and entertainment.
MASS RALLY IN SPAIN OVER GOV'T SPENDING CUT
BARCELONA, Spain - Tens of thousands of demonstrators have taken to the streets in Spain's northeastern city of Barcelona to protest at spending cuts hitting major services in the Catalonia region.The protesters chanted anti-government slogans and held banners reading “Let's stop the spending cuts. No to the financial dictator,” as they marched from Catalonia Square to La Ciutadella Park on Saturday.
The demonstration comes as Catalonia's regional parliament is debating cuts worth EUR 625 million for its 2012 budget, in an attempt to contain its deficit by 1.3 percent of its gross domestic product. - “We hit the streets to say no to these unfair cuts that are not inevitable. There are other budgetary policies that do not harm the citizens or workers,” said Josep Maria Alvarez, the head of Spain's UGT (Union General de Trabajadores) union.
The UGT, the second largest union in Spain, represents a wide range of public sector workers and pensioners. - The cuts are expected to include tax raises and lowered public servant salaries. The Catalan government, which is held by the nationalist Convergence and Union parties, has cut public spending in the region by 10 percent since it took power in November 2010.
The rally was attended by members of the police, firefighters, hospital staff, prison guards and teachers. While authorities put the turnout number at 15,000, most media outlets said at least 125,000 showed up. - Meanwhile, the latest unemployment rate released by Spain's National Statistic Institute on Friday showed a record high of 22.85 percent, with 5.27 million people out of work.
- “I have been unemployed for one year now and with no prospect of finding a job because the news says there are 5 million people unemployed, and logically at my age, it's quite complicated,” said an unemployed woman in Madrid.
- Regional governments in Spain are under pressure from the central government to lower the country's deficit to avoid a debt crisis.
Hit by the global financial downturn, the Spanish economy collapsed into recession in the second half of 2008, leading to the loss of millions of jobs. There are fears that more delays in resolving the country's deficit could lead Spain into a debt crisis that has already forced heavily indebted countries such as Greece, Ireland and Portugal to seek financial bailouts.
Source: Agency
DEADLY BLAZE SWEPT THROUGH PERU REHAB CENTRE KILLING 26
LIMA, Peru - A fire swept through a Lima private rehabilitation centre for addicts on Saturday, killing at least 26 people and injuring 10.One resident of the Christ is Love centre for drug and alcohol addicts in Lima's eastern Zarate district said he was eating breakfast on the centre's second floor when he saw flames coming from the first floor, where the blaze apparently originated.
- Gianfranco Huerta told local RPP newsradio station that he leapt from a second floor window to safety.
- "The doors were locked, there was no way to get out," he told the station.
- Health Minister Alberto Tejada said the number of deaths had risen to 26 with 10 people injured.
- Peru's chief fire fighter, Antonio Zavala, said the fire was of "Dantesque proportions." Firefighters had to punch a hole through a wall with an adjoining building to help the people trapped inside the rehabilitation centre.
- "We've had to use electric saws to cut through the metal bars of the doors to be able to work," Zavala said.
- Television images showed relatives of centre residents weeping in front of the building, located in a poor section of eastern Lima.
- The cause of the fire is still not known, said Zarate police chief Clever Zegarra.
Local media reported the Christ is Love rehabilitation centre sought to use biblical teachings to help treat addicts. No representative of the centre could be immediately reached for comment.Peru's fire fighters are notoriously underfunded. All the South American country's firefighters are volunteer and the annual firefighting budget for the entire country is $US19 million ($A17.94 million).
UK ACTIVIST PROTES AGAINST WAR ON IRAN AND SYRIA
Britain's Stop the War Coalition has organized a protest rally in front of the US embassy in London on Saturday 28 January to stress opposition to an invasion on Iran.
LONDON, U.K. - The protest rally entitled “Hands Off Iran and Syria: No Western intervention”, will be held on Saturday from 2pm-4pm outside the US Embassy building in Grosvenor Square London W1, said the Stop the War Coalition in a statement.The protest campaign is supported by Unite union, War on Want, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Campaign against Sanctions and Military Intervention on Iran (CASMII), Friends of Al-Aqsa, Goldsmiths Student Union and SOAS Student Union, the statement added.
It said that the growing threats against Iran in recent weeks have been backed up with increased unilateral sanctions imposed by the US, Britain and their European allies in the NATO military alliance.
“As we know from Iraq, these (the threats and sanctions) are a prelude to war, not an alternative to it. There are signs of covert intervention already in Iran, as there are in Syria. Stop the War opposes all military intervention from the west in the region, for which there is absolutely no justification”, the statement added.- Israeli regime is talking more and more of an attack to 'deal with' Iran's nuclear capability, even though it is the only entity in the Middle East that actually has developed nuclear weapons, the coalition noted in its statement.
“Following a year when Britain and France led the intervention in Libya the dangers of further western attacks in the region are very real. Under the guise of 'humanitarian intervention' there are already signs of covert intervention in both Iran and Syria. An attack on either country would set the Middle East on fire. Now is the time to start building opposition to these new wars. Join with us to say no to western intervention”, added the statement.BESIDE HOME, GLOBAL WARMING ALSO HITTING GARDEN?
WASHINGTON, U.S.A. - Global warming is hitting not just home, but garden. The colour-coded map of planting zones often seen on the back of seed packets is being updated by the government, illustrating a hotter 21st century.It's the first time since 1990 that the US Department of Agriculture has revised the official guide for the nation's 80 million gardeners, and much has changed. Nearly entire states, such as Ohio, Nebraska and Texas, are in warmer zones.
The new guide, unveiled on Wednesday at the National Arboretum, arrives just as many home gardeners are receiving their seed catalogues and dreaming of lush flower beds in the spring.
It reflects a new reality: The coldest day of the year isn't as cold as it used to be, so some plants and trees can now survive farther north. "People who grow plants are well aware of the fact that temperatures have gotten more mild throughout the year, particularly in the wintertime," said Boston University biology professor Richard Primack. "There's a lot of things you can grow now that you couldn't grow before."- The giant fig tree in his suburban Boston yard stands as an example: "People don't think of figs as a crop you can grow in the Boston area. You can do it now."
- The new guide also uses better weather data and offers more interactive technology. For example, gardeners using the online version can enter their ZIP code and get the exact average coldest temperature.
Also, for the first time, calculations include more detailed factors such as prevailing winds, the presence of nearby bodies of water, the slope of the land, and the way cities are hotter than suburbs and rural areas.The map carves up the US into 26 zones based on five-degree temperature increments.
The old 1990 map mentions 34 US cities in its key. On the 2012 map, 18 of those, including Honolulu, St. Louis, Des Moines, Iowa, St. Paul, Minn., and even Fairbanks, Alaska, are in newer, warmer zones.
14 YEARS BOY SACRIFIED FOR HIDDEN TREASURE IN INDIA
HYDERABAD, India - A 14-year-old boy was killed by a gang of people who believed a human sacrifice would yield them a secret treasure in Andhra Pradesh's Nirmal town, police said yesterday. The police yesterday recovered the body of Ganesh at Shyamgarh Fort on the outskirts of the town.One man, Raju, who reportedly sold the boy for Rs20,000 (Dh1,466) to the treasure seekers, has been arrested while eight members of the gang which sacrificed him are yet untraced and on the run, police said.
The boy was sacrificed for hidden treasure believed to be in the fort on Amavasya (new moon night) on January 24-25. He was buried in the same area.- Ganesh was a Class 9 student at a private school, and was lured away with snacks by Raju, the boy's family members alleged.
On interrogating, Raju confessed to have sold the boy to a man named Prabhakar.- The angry relatives of the boy blockaded a road, demanding the police take immediate action against all accused.
- According to locals, several people in the town and other areas in the district believe in hidden treasures and that a human sacrifice would reveal these.
BRITONS LESS HONEST THAN A DECADE AGO?
LONDON, U.K. - Britons are more tolerant of extramarital affairs and drink-driving than they were a decade ago but more likely to condemn people cheating on welfare benefits, research showed yesterday.The study from the University of Essex, which questioned more than 2,000 adults about whether a range of activities could ever be justified, concluded that British people are less honest than they were 10 years ago.
In 2000, seven out of ten people said cheating on your spouse could never be justified, but this has now dropped to just over half.- Attitudes to driving while under the influence of alcohol have also softened, although more than 85 per cent of people still believe it is never justified, down from 90 per cent in 2000.
- Meanwhile the proportion who condemn picking up
money found in the street has fallen from almost 40 per cent to fewer than 20 per cent, while tolerance of smoking cannabis and underage sex has also significantly increased. - The one area where British people appear to have become less tolerant of misdemeanours in the last decade is cheating the benefits system, with 78 per cent condemning the practice in 2000 but 85 per cent doing so in 2011.
It is perhaps no coincidence that Prime Minister David Cameron's government is currently trying to push through major reforms of the welfare system. Young people were much more likely to condone bad behaviour than older people, with the under 25s recording on average 47 points on the "integrity scale" against an average of 50, compared to 54 points for the over 65s.
Professor Paul Whiteley (left photo), director of the Centre for the Study of Integrity at the University of Essex, said the results had implications for how people viewed civic duty in Britain today."If social capital is low, and people are suspicious and don't work together, those communities have worse health, worse educational performance, they are less happy and they are less economically developed and entrepreneurial," he said.
