Page 2 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
ASIA / PACIFIC
January 6, 2020
Indonesia nabs suspected smugglers of leopard, lion cubs
Guam judge rejects effort to nullify cockfighting ban
HAGATNA, Guam (AP) — A judge in the U.S. territory of Guam has ruled
against a local businessman’s attempt to continue cockfighting despite a new
American law banning it. U.S. District Court of Guam magistrate judge Joaquin
Manibusan Jr. denied Sefrey Linsangan’s motion for a preliminary injunction
against the new prohibition, the Pacific Daily News reported. Linsangan,
described in court papers as a business owner involved in “gamefowl raising and
competition” for 40 years, argued the ban was unconstitutional. “It is not only
part of his culture, custom, and tradition but also a hobby, pastime, exercise, and
sport,” the lawsuit said. President Donald Trump last year signed a law banning
all animal fighting in U.S. territories. The law took effect in mid-December.
Prior to the law, cockfighting had been illegal in the 50 states but not U.S.
territories. The judge wrote that Linsangan failed to show how the federal ban
deprives him of “life, liberty, or property without due process of law.” He said
Linsangan didn’t show that enacting the cockfighting ban discriminated against
him or any person on account of his race, language, or religion. Manibusan said
the law applies uniformly throughout the 50 states and territories. He said he
sympathized with the argument that the people of Guam have been
disenfranchised because the territory’s residents aren’t allowed to vote for
president, nor are they allowed to elect voting members of congress. “The
remedy for such disenfranchisement lies within the political, not judicial,
process,” he wrote. Governor Wanda Vázquez of Puerto Rico, another U.S.
territory, signed a bill authorizing cockfighting in defiance of the federal ban.
The measure says it is legal for Puerto Rico to host cockfights as long as people
don’t export or import cocks or any goods or services related to cockfighting.
Seniors join Indian citizenship law protests
GAUHATI, India (AP) — Senior citizens in India’s northeastern Assam state
have protested against a new citizenship law passed by Prime Minister
Narendra Modi’s government that excludes Muslims. About 1,500 senior
citizens held a protest in the state capital, Gauhati. Protests in the state against
the law have spread across the country, claiming at least 23 lives. “Until our last
drop of blood, we will not allow them to implement it,” said Gajendra Nath
Pathak, 81, who joined the senior citizens’ protest. Bina Bora, 70, said she
couldn’t sit at home while other people were protesting the law. “Why is the
government forcefully implementing such a law, which will destroy unity,” she
asked. The new Citizenship Amendment Act allows Hindus, Christians, and
other religious minorities who are in India illegally to become citizens if they can
show they were persecuted because of their religion in Muslim-majority
Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. It does not apply to Muslims.
Thousands of people have protested in Assam recently, setting up blockades and
disrupting traffic and business. At least five people were killed in the state when
police fired to quell the demonstrations. Assam was the site of an earlier
government program to create an official list of citizens to weed out foreigners
living in the state illegally. About 2 million people were excluded from the list,
about half Hindu and half Muslim, and have been asked to prove their
citizenship or else be considered foreign. Opposition parties say the Citizenship
Amendment Act could provide a fast track to naturalization for many of the
Hindus left off Assam’s citizenship list, while explicitly leaving out Muslims.
Nepal detains 122 Chinese on suspicion of financial crimes
KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Police in Nepal have detained 122 Chinese
nationals who are suspected of being involved in financial crimes. Police official
Shailesh Thapa said the suspects were detained in Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital.
Details of the cases were not released because the investigation was still open,
but the suspects are likely to be presented before a judge to determine how long
they can be held for investigation. Among them were 116 men and eight women.
They were held at different detention centers in Kathmandu. Police were also
investigating if they had violated immigration laws by overstaying their visas.
“As far as I know, these citizens are suspected of engaging in cross-border online
fraud activities, and the cases are currently under investigation,” said Chinese
foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang. “It is an important operation carried
out by the police of China and Nepal. China is willing to strengthen cooperation
with Nepal in various fields, including law enforcement, to jointly combat cross-
border crimes and promote friendly exchanges between the two countries.”
SOLAR SHOW. Students hold special filters to view a solar eclipse at Santiratwitthayalai School in Bangkok, Thailand,
on December 26, 2019. People along a swath of southern Asia recently gazed at the sky in marvel of a “ring of fire” solar
eclipse. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Thousands in Asia marvel at
“ring of fire” solar eclipse
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AP) — People
along a swath of southern Asia gazed at the
sky in marvel of a “ring of fire” solar
eclipse.
The so-called annular eclipse, in which a
thin outer ring of the sun is still visible, could
be seen along a path stretching from India and
Pakistan to Thailand and Indonesia.
Authorities in Indonesia provided tele-
scopes and hundreds of special glasses to
protect viewers’ eyes. Thousands of people
gazed at the sky and cheered and clapped as
the sun transformed into a dark orb for more
than two minutes, briefly plunging the sky
into darkness. Hundreds of others prayed at
nearby mosques.
“How amazing to see the ‘ring of fire’ when
AP Photo/Rifka Majjid
PEKANBARU, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian police have arrested two men
suspected of being part of a ring that poaches and trades in endangered animals
and seized from them several lion and leopard cubs and dozens of turtles. One of
the suspects, identified only as Yatno, was arrested in Pekanbaru, the capital of
Riau province, after picking up suspicious boxes from a speedboat at a port in
Dumai district, said Andri Sudarmadi, Riau police’s chief detective. Police found
several boxes containing four lion cubs, a leopard cub, and 58 turtles in his van.
The turtles and the leopard cub are listed as critically endangered by the
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and
Flora, or CITES, while the lion cubs are listed as endangered. Yatno’s arrest led
police to capture another suspect who was planning to sell the smuggled wildlife
to a trader on Java island, Sudarmadi said at a news conference. The second
suspect was identified only by his initials, IS. Sudarmadi said the two men were
allegedly part of an international trafficking syndicate and that they bought the
haul from a smuggler in Malaysia. They told police each cub is valued at $32,000
on the black market, while the turtles fetch $1,200 apiece, Sudarmadi said. The
two suspects, if found guilty, face up to five years in jail and $7,000 in fines for
attempting to smuggle wildlife.
the sun disappeared slowly,” said Firman
Syahrizal, a resident of Sinabang in Indo-
nesia’s Banda Aceh province who witnessed
the eclipse with his family.
The previous annular solar eclipse in
February 2017 was also visible over a slice of
Indonesia.
Pakistan study blames HIV
outbreak in kids on bad healthcare
By Kathy Gannon
The Associated Press
SLAMABAD — A group of Pakistani
doctors blames a recent outbreak of HIV
among children in a southern city on poor
healthcare practices such as using dirty
needles and contaminated blood, according to
a statement.
The doctors are also urging Pakistan’s
government to do more to understand how the
virus went from high-risk groups such as drug
users and sex workers to the general
population. They also warned that there isn’t
enough medication in the city of Ratodero, in
southern Sindh province, where 591 children
need medical treatment.
The outbreak is extremely worrying, said
the doctors, calling it “one of the worst” in
Pakistan. They studied medical data of 31,239
I
people in Ratodero, where the HIV outbreak
took place and who agreed to the study.
Out of that group, 930 were positive for HIV,
with 604 of them being younger than five years
of age and 763 younger than 16 years,
according to the study published by the inter-
national Lancet Infectious Disease Journal.
By the end of July when the study was being
completed, only one in three children had
started antiretroviral treatment “due to an
inadequate supply of drugs and a lack of
trained staff,” the statement said.
The study said 50 of the children examined
are showing signs of “severe immuno-
deficiency” but did not specify if they have
full-blown AIDS.
“The results, which are the first scientific
report on the outbreak, appear to confirm
observations ... that HIV was mostly trans-
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Asian Currency
Exchange Rates
Units per U.S. dollar as of 1/03
Bangladesh Taka· ·
Cambodian Riel · ·
China Renminbi · ·
Fijian Dollar · · · ·
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Indonesian Rupiah ·
Iranian Rial · · · ·
Japanese Yen · · ·
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Malaysian Ringgit ·
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Pakistani Rupee · ·
Papua N.G. Kina · ·
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84.6
4070.8
6.9649
2.1106
7.7776
71.761
13916
42029
107.92
8904.9
4.1005
115.4
154.42
3.381
51.1
61.935
3.7515
1.3484
1165.2
181.4
30.032
30.18
23224