News Stories

[Ithekro]

Children with no passport? Babies?

[Bri]

Originally Posted by GDB

How can you have unidentified on a flight?

I think it had to do with dual nationalities. They have been identified now and the remaining victims are 1 American and 3 Dutch passengers.

[Xellos-_^]

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/20/wo...T.nav=top-news


Ms. Thangjam’s death led to months of local protests, including one in which a dozen women stripped naked in front of the local military headquarters carrying a red-lettered banner, “Indian Army Rape Us.” The circumstances of her death were so outrageous that even the prime minister at the time, Manmohan Singh, promised redress.
But a decade later, no one has been arrested or charged with a crime. Activists, lawyers and ordinary people here say they know exactly why: a colonial-era law in effect in India’s periphery that gives blanket immunity from prosecution in civilian courts to Indian soldiers for all crimes, including rape.

so the world's so call biggest democracy is going to overtake China

[Jazzrat]

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

so the world's so call biggest democracy is going to overtake China

Overtake China in what? I'm pretty sure India have plenty of it's own problem before.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by Jazzrat

Overtake China in what? I'm pretty sure India have plenty of it's own problem before.

As a state with the most criminal cover-ups via connections.

How do you say "My father is Li Gang" in Hindi?

[Jazzrat]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

As a state with the most criminal cover-ups via connections.

How do you say "My father is Li Gang" in Hindi?

Every nation have it's skeleton in the closet when you dig hard enough. Those with power and connection will bend the law to their will irregardless of their nationality. I doubt China is any different from any other major nation.

Unfortunately in this case, it's occuring in Kashmir which is mostly populated by muslim but held by India and contested by Pakistan. There's probably a lot more human rights abuse that have yet to be uncovered.

[SaintessHeart]

China's bloggers don't swallow fast food safety scandal

Another food safety scare in China has roped in McDonald's, KFC and Starbucks, but on social media fingers are pointing at the country's regulators, with even less confidence in local restaurants.

And wtf (and inb4 TRL) :

City 'sealed off' after man dies of plague in China - See more at: http://www.straitstimes.com/news/asia/east-asia/story/city-sealed-after-man-dies-plague-china-20140722#sthash.SDI7XBuo.dpuf

BEIJING (AFP) - A Chinese city has been sealed off and 151 people placed in quarantine since last week after a man died of bubonic plague, state media said on Tuesday.

The 30,000 people living in Yumen in the north-western province of Gansu are not being allowed to leave, and police at roadblocks on the perimeter of the city are telling motorists to find alternative routes, state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) said.

The 38-year-old victim died last Wednesday, the report said, and had been in contact with a dead marmot, a small furry animal which lives on grasslands and is related to the squirrel.

"The city has enough rice, flour and oil to supply all its residents for up to one month," the report added. "Local residents and those in quarantine are all in stable condition."

[SeijiSensei]

Upstart Populist Elected President of Indonesia

JAKARTA, Indonesia — Joko Widodo, the governor of Jakarta whose common touch has made him a political phenomenon, was declared the winner of Indonesia’s presidential election on Tuesday, completing an improbable ascent from child of the slums to leader of the world’s fourth most populous nation.

But the announcement, while widely expected, did not end a simmering controversy, as his opponent, Prabowo Subianto, a retired army general, rejected the results as fraudulent and threatened to withdraw from the race.

The General Elections Commission announced that Mr. Joko, with 53 percent of the vote, had beaten Mr. Prabowo, with 47 percent. Nearly 135 million Indonesians cast ballots in the emotionally charged July 9 election, in which voters chose a new president for the first time in 10 years.

Nice to see that the Suharto era has perhaps finally come to an end. Joko won by eight million votes, so even if there was some form of recount, it is pretty unlikely Prabowo would be declared the actual winner.

[maplehurry]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

China's bloggers don't swallow fast food safety scandal

It's just expired chicken meat, not random chemicals. That's an improvement.

[monster]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

Upstart Populist Elected President of Indonesia



Nice to see that the Suharto era has perhaps finally come to an end. Joko won by eight million votes, so even if there was some form of recount, it is pretty unlikely Prabowo would be declared the actual winner.

threatened to withdraw from the race.

Wouldn't that just make his opponent be the victor by default?

[SeijiSensei]

Originally Posted by monster

Wouldn't that just make his opponent be the victor by default?

Yes, unless it's the prelude to another coup.

[risingstar3110]

Meanwhile in Gaza, two Malaysian airliner were shot down caused 600 deaths.... eh I means... Israel started new strikes on Gaza as death toll reach 600

[Ridwan]

Prabowo has rage quitted, and his political career is dead.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by maplehurry

It's just expired chicken meat, not random chemicals. That's an improvement.

Always looking positive eh?

[TinyRedLeaf]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

Upstart Populist Elected President of Indonesia

Nice to see that the Suharto era has perhaps finally come to an end. Joko won by eight million votes, so even if there was some form of recount, it is pretty unlikely Prabowo would be declared the actual winner.

It's heartening to see how far democracy has come in Indonesia, especially in the light of how low it has sunk in Thailand.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

It's heartening to see how far democracy has come in Indonesia, especially in the light of how low it has sunk in Thailand.

I wish I share your optimism. There is a Chinese saying going 上梁不正下梁歪 (if the upper beam is not straight the lower beam will be crooked) - with such a long time being mired in corruption, how democratic is it going to be down the road?

There is alot to clean up. The thing is, how much can he do in his term?

EDIT :
Damn Reuters beat me to it.

[Ridwan]

We have transformed from the local Roman Empire into the region's most democratic country. This is not unimpressive, but people usually exaggerate how much of an achievement it is. We have enough precedents, functioning framework and an intact, large, old elite class and burgeoning middle class to quickly disperse political power towards after the fall of Suharto. It is another question why, unlike Egypt after Arab Spring, Indonesia didn't quickly revert to adjusted despotism right after Reformasi. One might points to the retreat from East Timor as the cause, which undermined the prestige of Indonesian military even if not their raw financial nor weight throwing strength. One might also point rivalries between generals that prevented united front from the army to seize power. Either way, Indonesia had a relatively safe fall back after autocracy since it was essentially a continuation of New Order, only without autocracy. Naturally, we became the messy, corrupt, unconsolidated oligarchy through the way we democratized. Yet, despite the terrible starting point, the post-dictatorship establishment pretty much retains the drive for development of the older regime, if exhausted, confused, discredited and desperate one initially. And as how the previous regime gave birth to the seeds of Reformasi, it'll might about to bear an unintended consequence this time around.

The election of Jokowi is a game changer, because he is a completely New Order free professional administrator. Yet, he's not much an ideological reformer as much a very determined repairer. It means that he doesn't yet have a full all-encompassing vision to reshape the system upon. It also explains his lack of information over some issues such as South China Sea dispute, though it's the part I believe he can overcome. But while his election towards the office does indicate a significant shift on how the system will operate, it doesn't mean the dethronement of the old elite nor the military and instant removal many of the root problems of Indonesian society. Political spectrum won't even spread that much. Not to mention that within his own camp he's being surrounded by... well, let's say monsters, all from the older generation. But we can expect for a major consolidation of the system and an increasing broadening of political awareness and critical expressions that will influence the former's course. That will might help Jokowi in the long run against awaiting challenges, among them his imminent collision against his patron Megawati and perhaps, after the fiasco in Karawang between local yeomen and troopers-backed real estate mogul, questions over agrarian law reform, which will become the most potentially explosive issue. Still, in facing them he will need to negotiate with some of the neo-liberal oligarchs and generals and play them against other neo-liberal oligarchs and generals and settle with only partial success, which will disappoint many but perhaps the best course of action to take. This is the part we need to watch closely upon, IMO.

[ganbaru]

Not really a ''new'' but a reading (sadly in French) than might interest some about the military operation in Gaza:
Un ancien officier israélien : « Notre but était de semer la peur »
http://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/...0857_3232.html

[RRW]

(Reuters) - Authorities have lost contact with an Air Algerie flight en route from Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso to Algiers with 110 passengers on board, Algeria's APS state news agency and a Spanish airline company said on Thursday.

APS said authorities lost contact with flight AH 5017 an hour after it took off from Burkina Faso.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/...0FT0YC20140724

third one of aircraft relaetd accident for this month

[demonix]

Originally Posted by RRW

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/...0FT0YC20140724

third one of aircraft relaetd accident for this month

Now confirmed to have crashed