Page 2 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
ASIA / PACIFIC
February 3, 2014
“The Ellen DeGeneres Show” now shown in China
BEIJING (AP) — Ellen DeGeneres’s talk show is getting a new audience —
viewers in China. The lighthearted, celebrity-focused show is now available in
China on video site Sohu, with Chinese subtitles and within 48 hours of its
original U.S. broadcast. It is the first U.S. daily talk show to be carried in China,
according to a statement by distributor Warner Brothers and Sohu.com Inc.
Sohu Video, like other Chinese online video sites, licenses many hit American
television shows. Last month it unveiled the late-night U.S. comedy sketch show
“Saturday Night Live” as an addition to its lineup. “The Ellen DeGeneres Show”
is in its eleventh season and has won many U.S. awards. Sohu CEO Charles
Zhang said the company believes “it could also have strong appeal and relevance
with the Chinese audience.”
South Korean credit card data theft highlights lapses
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A massive theft of customer data from three
major credit card firms in South Korea has shown security lapses in the financial
industry. Financial Services Commission chairman Shin Je-yoon said the credit
card companies failed to ensure adequate security. The chief financial regulator
urged credit companies to be vigilant about data theft not only by hackers, but
also by employees and contractors. Prosecutors said an employee of a contractor
stole the data of 80 million credit card customers beginning in 2012 by copying
data to a USB device. Another official said the stolen data from Lotte Card Co.
and the credit card units of KB Financial Group and NongHyup Bank was
unencrypted. He said the companies were unaware of the theft until prosecutors
began an investigation.
113 Filipino military men test positive for drugs
MANILA, The Philippines (AP) — The Philippine military says more than 100
of its troops were found to have used illegal drugs during random testing last
year. Military spokesman Lt. Col. Ramon Zagala said 113 mostly young and
low-ranking personnel tested positive on tests involving 20,000 troops in the
120,000-strong armed forces. If follow-up tests and an investigation confirm the
initial findings, they may be discharged from service. A military statement did
not say if the findings marked an increase in the number of drug users in the
military, but said that the army and navy, particularly the marines, have
consistently registered the most number of personnel who tested positive in past
years. The Philippine military, one of Asia’s most ill-equipped, has been working
to improve its equipment and training.
Nepal doctors end strike after promise of reform
KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Doctors in Nepal ended a five-day strike after
the government assured them there would be changes in the country’s medical
education system. Mukit Ram Shrestha of the Nepal Medical Association said
hospitals across the country reopened last month. The protest was triggered by a
physician who went on a 15-day hunger strike to demand the removal of the
government-appointed head of Tribhuwan University Teaching Hospital. The
protesters said political appointees should not hold top positions at government
hospitals, and that schools must be independent. The strike caused major
slowdowns at hospitals across Nepal, a poor country where people often travel
long distances from rural areas to seek medical care.
Chinese police find 790,000 fake ID records
BEIJING (AP) — Police in China have discovered 790,000 fake ID records in
their system, which can be used to gain benefits, hide assets, and circumvent
property ownership restrictions. The fake records that included the same people
registering with different details came to light when police used image matching
technology, the Ministry of Public Security said. The IDs have been nullified and
those involved in the forgeries punished, according to the statement from the
public security ministry, which did not give details. It also said any police
officers found to have been involved would be fired. In China, citizens have to
register their residency with police. This gives them access to housing and
education benefits and an ID card. People with multiple IDs can gain access to
additional benefits. In a high-profile case last year, a former vice president of a
rural bank, Gong Ai’Ai, was found to have acquired multiple identities and more
than 40 pricey Beijing apartments. Dubbed “Sister House,” she was sentenced to
three years imprisonment for forging and trading official documents. The
official Xinhua News Agency reported that a former police officer was sentenced
to one year in prison for helping Gong to obtain the fake IDs.
TURTLE TROUBLES. This undated photo released by the University of Queensland shows a green sea turtle at the
bottom of the sea in the waters off Derawan Island, East Kalimantan, Indonesia. Green sea turtles remain a rare sight in
many parts of the world, but one Indonesian island tasked with protecting them is now being overrun by far too many.
New research suggests the gentle endangered creatures are crowding into a marine reserve in numbers never recorded
anywhere, gobbling seagrass to the point that they risk destroying the food source that’s vital to their survival. (AP Photo/
University of Queensland, Marjolijn Christianen)
Endangered turtles face
new threat in Indonesia
By Margie Mason
The Associated Press
AKARTA, Indonesia — Green sea
turtles remain a rare sight in many
parts of the world, but one Indonesian
island tasked with protecting them is being
overrun by far too many.
New research suggests the gentle endan-
gered creatures are crowding into a marine
reserve in numbers never recorded anywhere,
gobbling seagrass to the point that they risk
destroying the food source that’s vital to their
survival.
Up to 20 turtles were spotted in an area
covering about two U.S. football fields at
Derawan Island off Indonesia’s part of Borneo
in 2011. That means snorkellers are almost
guaranteed to see a turtle every moment
they’re in the water. The rate was four times
higher than non-protected areas elsewhere
and also topped historic numbers reported
before the reptile was hunted by humans.
The graceful creatures with heart-shaped
shells usually just munch on seagrass much
like cows grazing in a field. But the increasing
population has pushed them to desperation:
With no top leaves left, they now claw at the
plants with their flippers and use their mouths
to violently rip the seagrass out by the roots,
leaving patches of white sandy ocean floor.
Such behavior has not been seen elsewhere,
according to findings published in the journal
Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
They are “creating sort of piles of mud in the
seagrass bed where they’ve eaten the
underlying root matter, and it can take a hell
J
of a long time for that to come back,” said
co-author Peter Mumby, a marine ecologist at
the University of Queensland in Australia. “So
essentially, they’re going to eat themselves out
of house and home.”
Using modelling, the research team, led
from 2008 to 2011 by Marjolijn Christianen of
Radboud University Nijmegen in the
Netherlands, found that nearly all turtles
would need to be removed from the area in
order for the seagrass to recover. If they are not
stopped, the beds could be destroyed within
the next five to 10 years, the study suggests.
Mumby said a short-term solution may be to
try to relocate the turtles to less populated
reserves, but he added that larger conserva-
tion issues must be addressed by the govern-
ment. Pesticide, fertilizer, and sediment run-
off from nearby mining and agriculture
operations, including rapidly expanded palm
oil plantations, are smothering seagrass beds
in areas outside the decade-old reserve. The
turtles are also congregating in the protected
area for safety because they are being poached
outside. The heavy hunting of sharks, a major
turtle predator, could be another factor
contributing to the rising numbers.
Many of the turtles feeding off Derawan do
not nest there and instead come from outside
areas including Malaysia and the Philippines,
said Windia Adnyana, a turtle expert from
Udayana University in Bali who has worked
for years in the marine reserve. And while
there are more turtles coming to eat, he said
the number nesting on the island continues to
decline with an estimated 10,000 turtles
Continued on page 7
Asian Currency
Exchange Rates
Units per U.S. dollar as of 2/01
Vietnam sentences 30 people to death for drugs
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — A Vietnamese court has sentenced 30 people to
death for trafficking heroin at the conclusion of a mass trial. State media
reported the 21 men and nine women were convicted of being part of four
connected rings that smuggled nearly 2 tons of heroin from Laos into Vietnam
and then on to China. The 20-day trial in the northern province of Quang Ninh
involved the largest number of defendants sentenced to death in a single trial in
Vietnamese court history, according to provincial court chief Ngo Duc. The
fairness of Vietnam’s criminal-justice system has been questioned by
human-rights groups and foreign governments. Vietnam has tough drug laws
and possessing or trafficking 600 grams (21.16 ounces) of heroin can result in a
death sentence. There are currently nearly 700 people on death row. In 2011, the
country switched from firing squads to lethal injection on humanitarian
grounds. Since then it has only executed a handful of people because of the
difficulty in acquiring the required drugs.
Experienced Business and Family Attorney
Since 1985
(503) 226-4644
Business Setup s Buy-Sell s Leases s Real Estate Foreclosures
Real Estate - Sales and Disputes
s Family Law and Guardianship
www.woodworthlaw.com
www.portlanddivorcelawyer.com
Bangladesh Taka· ·
Cambodian Riel · ·
China Renminbi · ·
Fijian Dollar · · · ·
Hong Kong Dollar ·
Indian Rupee · · · ·
Indonesian Rupiah ·
Iranian Rial · · · ·
Japanese Yen · · ·
Laos New Kip · · ·
Malaysian Ringgit ·
Nepal Rupee · · · ·
Pakistani Rupee · ·
Papua N.G. Kina · ·
Philippine Peso· · ·
Russian Ruble · · ·
Saudi Riyal· · · · ·
Singapore Dollar · ·
South Korean Won ·
Sri Lankan Rupee ·
Taiwan Dollar · · ·
Thai Baht · · · · ·
Vietnam Dong · · ·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
77.675
3995.0
6.0612
1.8982
7.765
62.657
12213
24721
102.03
8035.0
3.3433
100.04
105.47
2.424
45.32
35.154
3.7504
1.2767
1081.0
130.75
30.326
33.02
21060