Page 2 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
ASIA / PACIFIC
March 2, 2015
China’s first female astronaut has baby, resumes training
BEIJING (AP) — China’s first female astronaut has begun training for her
next mission after having a baby, state media reported. The selection of China’s
female astronauts had been somewhat controversial because of a reported
preference for married women who have children, purportedly to guard against
radiation damaging their reproductive health. Those fears have so far proven
unfounded, although no pregnant woman has flown in space as far as is known.
The official China Daily newspaper quoted Liu Yang as confirming at an award
ceremony that she had given birth, but the report gave no more details about the
child. She was quoted as saying she was training for her next mission, an
attempt to dock with a future space station for which no firm date has been set.
Liu, 37, was a member of the three-person Shenzhou 9 mission that flew the first
trip to China’s experimental space station Tiangong 1 in 2012. China plans to
launch a more permanent Tiangong 2 space station in about five years. China
sent its first astronaut into space in 2003, becoming the third nation after Russia
and the United States to achieve manned space travel independently. Soviet
cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space in 1963.
Twenty years later, Sally Ride became the first American to travel to space,
flying twice on the space shuttle Challenger before leaving NASA in 1987. A
total of 59 women have flown in space.
Kim Jong Un, Ban Ki-moon exchange New Year’s cards
SKY SCRAPER. Three of Red Bull’s single-engine and single-seater aircraft fly in a formation while performing on the
second day of the Aero India 2015 at Yelahanka air base in Bangalore, India. During a performance later the same day, two
aircraft of the aerobatic team from the Czech Republic scraped each other in the sky. Both landed safely, but the wing of
one of the planes was damaged. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)
Aerobatic stunt duo has scrape
in sky, lands safely in India
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Nothing says Happy New Year like a holiday card
from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. In an exchange that raised eyebrows,
the young leader and the United Nations secretary-general, who is South
Korean, sent each other holiday cards last month. A diplomat with North
Korea’s mission to the U.N., Kim Song, confirmed the rare exchange of
greetings. “Our leader has sent a New Year’s card in return for Ban Ki-moon’s
New Year card,” he said. A spokesman for Ban did not comment on the exchange,
which follows a letter from Kim that North Korea’s foreign minister delivered to
Ban last year during the annual U.N. General Assembly. North and South
Korea technically remain in a state of war, and Pyongyang strongly objects to
Seoul’s joint military drills with the U.S.
BANGALORE, India (AP) — Two aircraft of
an aerobatic team scraped each other in the
sky last month while performing stunts at an
air show in southern India. Both landed safely,
but the wing of one of the planes was
damaged.
Aircraft from the Flying Bulls stunt team
from the Czech Republic grazed each other at
the Aero India show held on the outskirts of
Nepal pledges to improve climbing conditions on Everest
Spy chief says teenager joined Islamic State group
KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Nepal is improving weather forecasting
systems, stepping up security, and promising swift rescues if needed during the
upcoming climbing season on Everest in an attempt to recover from the worst
mountaineering disaster on the world’s highest peak last year. Fees for
individual climbers will also be reduced to attract climbers back. The chief of
Nepal’s Mountaineering Department, Puspa Raj Katuwal, said the government
will ensure that conditions are safer for both international climbers and
Nepalese guides, and that officials will be deployed at base camp for the
three-month climbing season that begins this month. An avalanche near base
camp last April killed 16 local guides and prompted climbers to abandon the
2014 climbing season. A full-time office tent is being set up at base camp
throughout the climbing season that will allow officials to quickly respond to any
problem on the 29,035-foot mountain. They will also provide security, settle
disputes among climbers, and monitor the activities of the hundreds of climbers
and guides at base camp. The Nepalese government has been repeatedly
criticized for not having a presence at base camp and doing too little despite
earning millions in permit fees. Additionally, the country’s national weather
service will provide forecasts for Everest for officials to release at base camp. The
officials will also monitor the amount of garbage taken by climbers down the
mountain.
Overfishing driving slavery on Thailand’s seafood boats
SAMUT SAKHON, Thailand (AP) — A British environmental group says
overfishing and the use of illegal and undocumented trawlers has ravaged
Thailand’s marine ecosystems and even encouraged the use of slave labor in the
industry. A report released by the British nonprofit Environmental Justice
Foundation says Thai fishing boats are now catching about 85 percent less than
what they brought in 50 years ago, making it one of the most overfished regions
on the planet. Depleted fisheries in the Gulf of Thailand and Andaman Sea have,
in turn, pushed Thai fishing boats farther and farther from home. Fewer Thais
are willing to take on the dangerous, low-level work, so fishing operators now
use brokers and agents to enlist migrant workers from impoverished
neighboring countries such as Myanmar and Cambodia, often through trickery
and kidnapping.
Bangalore city.
Hundreds of people had gathered to see the
show.
Aero India is a biennial event with flying
demonstrations by stunt teams and militaries
as well as commercial pavilions where aviation
companies display their products and
technology. The Czech team had performed
previously in Bangalore in 2011 and 2013.
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SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A teenager
who went missing in Turkey in January is
probably the first known South Korean to join
the Islamic State group, according to officials.
The director of South Korea’s National
Intelligence Service, Lee Byung-kee, told
legislators in a closed-door meeting that the
18-year-old man is now in Syria with an
Islamic State group unit that trains combat
personnel, opposition lawmaker Kim Kwang
Jin said.
Kim said Lee didn’t reveal how the spy
agency obtained the information or where the
Islamic State group unit is based.
The man, identified only by his last name,
Kim, was last seen leaving a hotel in the
Turkish border town of Kilis on January 10.
An official from Seoul’s Foreign Ministry, who
spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing
office rules, confirmed that he would be the
first known South Korean to join the militant
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Activists slam Lunar New Year variety show for sexist jokes
BEIJING (AP) — China’s annual Lunar New Year variety show, which
mocked unmarried women and suggested female officials provide sexual favors
to get promoted, has led to online outrage and some state media to urge more
attention to discrimination against women. Sexism at the gala is nothing new.
But this year, women’s rights activists sent an open letter to broadcasting
regulators demanding that reruns of the show be suspended and that the
director and state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) apologize for it.
This year’s gala was directed by a woman, who hasn’t publicly commented on the
criticism. Despite waning viewership, CCTV’s annual gala is the country’s most-
watched program and is used to push political messages. Letter signatory Feng
Yuan said activists counted 44 examples of sexism in the four-and-a-half hour
show.
group.
Kim’s religious beliefs are unclear, and
Muslims are a very small minority in South
Korea.
Police said in a news conference that Kim
probably attempted to enter Syria with the
intention of joining the Islamic State group,
citing his computer, social media, and
telephone records that showed him actively
communicating with people suspected to be
recruiters from the group.
Kim, the lawmaker, also said Lee told the
legislators that there was no evidence to
support media reports that Kim Kyong Hui,
the aunt of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un,
was dead. Kim Kyong Hui last made a public
appearance in September 2013, three months
before Kim Jong Un executed her husband,
Jang Song Thaek, on treason charges,
according to South Korea’s Unification
Ministry.
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Asian Currency
Exchange Rates
Units per U.S. dollar as of 2/28
Bangladesh Taka· ·
Cambodian Riel · ·
China Renminbi · ·
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Indonesian Rupiah ·
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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 · · ·
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77.925
4049.9
6.2694
2.0396
7.7555
61.839
12932
27669
119.63
8108.5
3.6042
99.027
101.86
2.6351
44.095
61.754
3.7503
1.3629
1098.0
133.15
31.458
32.358
21348