Page 2 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
ASIA / PACIFIC
June 19, 2017
Pole banned from Nepal mountains after illegal entry
KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — A Pole who illegally traversed Mount Everest
has been banned from climbing in Nepal for 10 years and faces deportation,
according to an official. Janusz Adam Adamski, 49, had scaled Everest from the
Chinese side in May and descended on Nepal’s side, said Durga Dutta Dhakal,
an official with Nepal’s Mountaineering Department. Adamski had no visa to
enter Nepal or permit to scale Everest, he said. Dhakal said the Mountaineering
Department imposed the ban and handed him over to the Immigration
Department, which is likely to deport him. Adamski is the second climber who
was banned this year, after South African Ryan Sean Davy was caught
attempting to scale Everest without a permit. Hundreds of climbers and their
guides scaled Everest during the spring mountaineering season from both the
Nepal and Chinese sides of the peak. Climbers must pay the $11,000 fee to
obtain a permit from Nepalese authorities.
NET GAIN. An Indian fisherman pulls back his fishing net with his early morning catch at a beach in Goa, India, in this
October 14, 2016 file photo. Two years after switching nets, Indian fishermen say local fish stocks are recovering since
they adopted a square-shaped mesh that allows small fish to escape to maintain a breeding population. The project was
one of many showcased at a major conference on oceans in early June at U.N. headquarters, where the United Nations
pleaded with countries to help halt a global assault on marine life and ecosystems threatening jobs, economies, and even
human lives. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath, File)
Indian fishermen try new
nets for healthier oceans
Cambodia charges Australian with spying for using drone
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — An Australian filmmaker in Cambodia
has been charged with espionage after being arrested for flying a camera drone
over an opposition party campaign rally. James Ricketson was charged with
collecting information prejudicial to national defense, which is punishable by
five to 10 years in prison, Phnom Penh Municipal Court spokesman Ly Sophana
said. Ricketson, 68, was arrested on June 3 after filming the last day of
campaigning for local elections a day earlier. The ruling party of long-serving
Prime Minister Hun Sen won a majority of the commune council seats. It had
been unclear whether Ricketson was arrested for flying a drone without official
permission, breaking immigration laws, or violating the national security
statute. The article under which he was charged defines his offense as “receiving
or collecting information, processes, objects, documents, computerized data, or
files, with a view to supplying them to a foreign state or its agents which are
liable to prejudice the national defense.” The government has been critical of
media it considers sympathetic to the opposition, and Ricketson was known for
filming the activities of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party.
Elephant in Sri Lankan Buddhist procession kills monk
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — An elephant that was part of a Sri Lankan
Buddhist procession has attacked and killed a monk, according to police. Police
spokesman Priyantha Jayakody said three elephants were walking in the
procession when one suddenly went on a rampage and attacked the monk in the
coastal town of Kochchikade, about 26 miles north of Colombo. The 25-year-old
monk died at a hospital. Colorfully decorated elephants are an important part of
Buddhist religious processions and festivals. Temples and wealthy families
often own the animals and rent them out for such events. However, animal-
rights activists say the elephants are often kept in inhumane conditions and
receive insufficient food. Authorities say there are about 127 tamed elephants
that are used for processions and other religious ceremonies by Sinhalese
Buddhists, who make up 70 percent of the island’s 20 million people. Having an
elephant in the backyard has long been a sign of wealth, privilege, and power.
For hundreds of years, elephants have been used for such religious activities as
well as for battles by ancient kings. Sri Lanka has about 6,000 elephants, but
those in the wild are threatened by habitat loss and degradation. An estimated
200 elephants are killed every year, mainly by farmers trying to protect their
crops. In the 19th century, there were believed to be up to 14,000 elephants.
Police say Filipino casino attacker was indebted gambler
MANILA, The Philippines (AP) — The lone suspect behind a deadly attack on
a casino and shopping complex in Manila was a heavily indebted Filipino
gambling addict, according to police, bolstering their claim that the assault was
not related to terrorism. The man’s immediate family confirmed his identity as
Jessie Carlos — a married father of three and former finance department
employee who owed more than $80,000. The revelations confirm that “this is not
an act of terrorism,” Manila police chief Oscar Albayalde told a news conference.
“This incident is confined to the act of one man alone as we have always said.”
The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack on Resorts World
Manila, where 37 patrons and employees died, mostly from smoke inhalation as
they tried to hide in one of the casino’s VIP rooms on the second floor. Authorities
have rejected the claim of the militants, saying there is no evidence to back it and
pointing out the assailant shot no civilians during the two-hour ordeal despite
being heavily armed. They also used video footage of the attack to bolster the
argument that it was a botched robbery attempt by one man with no known link
to terrorism.
By Vineeta Deepak
The Associated Press
S
INDHUDURG, India — The fishermen
were dubious when ocean experts sug-
gested they could save their dwindling
marine stocks just by switching to new nets.
It took years for the United Nations
Development Program (UNDP) to convince
the fishing communities along India’s tropical
western coast that the diamond-mesh nets
they were using were trapping baby fish, while
a square-shaped mesh could allow small fish to
escape to maintain a breeding population. But
two years after the new nets were fully
adopted, fishermen insist they’re making a
difference.
“This square net is a blessing for us,” said
John Gabriel Naronha, who runs six trawlers
in the area. “When the small fish grows up, the
fishermen can really benefit ... we can get good
prices for big fish. And the small fish gets a
chance to grow.”
The project, launched in 2011, was one of
many showcased at a major conference on
oceans where the United Nations pleaded with
countries to help halt a global assault on
marine life and ecosystems threatening jobs,
economies, and even human lives.
“The oceans of the planet are in dire need of
urgent action,” said Marina Walter, deputy
director for UNDP in India. That action is even
more urgent now that climate change is
causing ocean temperatures to rise while
waters also become more acidic, causing
widespread destruction of coral reefs that
sustain a quarter of all marine species.
But conservation efforts work best when
they’re linked with local livelihoods, Walter
said. “You cannot work on biodiversity or life
underwater in isolation, without looking at the
livelihoods of people, the bread and butter.”
No one in 80 or so fishing villages of
Sindhudurg district expected to have problems
fishing, after centuries of their families relying
on the sea. Located in one of India’s 11 eco-
logically critical coastline habitats, the area is
teeming with life from more than 350 marine
species including Indian Ocean dolphins and
Olive Ridley turtles. Colorful corals span the
shallows, while tangles of mangrove forests
protect the land from water erosion.
But that bounty has suffered against the
twin assaults of overfishing and pollution,
which caused a steady decline in local fish
stocks and forced fishermen to push further
out to sea.
Since switching to the new nets, fishermen
say fish stocks are recovering, though there is
no data collected yet to prove it. Surveys of fish
populations may be conducted at the end of
this year, when the UNDP finishes its six-year
project in the area.
The struggles of India’s fishermen are hard-
ly unique. About one out of every 10 people in
the world relies directly on the ocean to sur-
vive. Most of those are among the world’s poor-
est and most vulnerable, meaning they have
few substitutes when marine life declines.
And it is declining rapidly, thanks to in-
creased fishing for an expanding global popu-
lation and unchecked runoff of industrial
chemicals, sewage, and other pollutants.
Already, about 90 percent of wild fisheries
around the world are over-exploited or col-
Continued on page 3
GRASS-FED
BEEF FOR SALE
Singapore police arrest first female Islamic State suspect
SINGAPORE (AP) — Police in Singapore have detained a preschool assistant
who shared pro-Islamic State materials online and intended to travel to Syria,
their first arrest of a female alleged sympathizer of the radical group. The Home
Affairs Ministry said in a statement that 22-year-old Syaikhah Izzah Zahrah Al
Ansari was arrested in early June under the country’s Internal Security Act,
which allows for indefinite detention without trial. The statement said she had
been radicalized in 2013 by online propaganda related to the Islamic State and
in turn posted materials on social media supporting the group. It said she had
expressed a willingness to go to Syria, take military training, and marry an
Islamic State member. Singaporean authorities have detained 14 male
suspected Islamic State sympathizers since 2015.
Call (503) 980-5900 for details
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Raised in Newberg, Oregon
Beef available as:
q Quarter cow q Half cow q Whole cow
Beef is processed by a Portland butcher.
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Asian Currency
Exchange Rates
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80.866
4053.8
6.8105
2.0659
7.8008
64.427
13299
32470
110.88
8245.8
4.2762
103.08
104.85
3.2764
49.933
57.63
3.7499
1.3829
1134.2
152.82
30.349
33.936
22814