Cooking for Change

Cooking for Change:

The Politics of Fine Dining in Cuba

Havana, Cuba, the center of a food revolution. Photo: gildemax, Creative Commons

Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez’s illness is threatening not only his life, but also the subsidies from Venezuela that Cuba survives on. That’s why, a new class of private businessman, that exists thanks to Raúl Castro’s “reforms,” is rushing to consolidate national profits (with investment aid from Cubans in exile). Among the most successful of the new businesses is haute cuisine, which is served in glamorous settings by a highly trained wait staff.

1. 
2. Is it worth-while to focus on the last images and letters coming from the inside of the last living utopia on Earth? Is Cuba by now a contemporary country or just another old-fashioned delusion in the middle of Nowhere-America? A Cold-War Northtalgia maybe? Can we expect a young Rewwwolution.cu within that Ancien Régime still known as The Revolution? I would like to provoke more questions than answers.
3. 
4. Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo was born in Havana City and still resides and resists there, working as a free-lance writer, photographer and blogger. He is the author of Boring Home (2009) and is the editor of the independent opinion and literary e-zine Voces.

Though the prices are in hard-currency (Cuban Convertible pesos) —and far too high for ordinary Cubans—numerous cafés, bars, and restaurants (Mango Habana, Le Chansionner, Mamma Mia, La Pachanga, Río Mar, and others) have brought the ailing Havana night back to life, something the State could never achieve.
Like a legacy from the 1950s, there are now thriving spaces for after-hours Bohemian dialog: Those democratizing debates that are such a source of panic for the totalitarian powers.
Whether from Creole cuisine or exotic lands, the food and drinks in these new, chic places (including a kitsch design favoring a mindless excess of buying) are always served with imagination. This, added to the pleasant surroundings and intimate music, has created a climate of public confidence after half a century of bellicose revolutionary speech. Little by little, the culinary arts are letting communist austerity be forgotten.
The owners of these bubbles of success in the middle of a worn social fabric, don’t much like cameras and microphones. They know that their licenses depend on this silence. The restaurant La Galería, for example, was closed down last month after hosting a freelance visual arts exhibition. But, as much as the chefs may try to keep it a secret, change is the perennial seasoning for their recipes. The exhausted image of the Cuban Revolution as a totem of proletariat paradise is further and further eaten away with each citizen that eats a luxury dinner. The ideal of the New Man has shifted from guerrilla to gourmet.
Translator: Alex Higson

East Asia & Pacific on the rise | Making development work for all »Use social media to ask the World Bank about the type of skills and education that are needed in today's global economy. The global economic recession has made the search for a good, stable job ev...

East Asia & Pacific on the rise | Making development work for all »
Use social media to ask the World Bank about the type of skills and education that are needed in today's global economy. The global economic recession has made the search for a good, stable job ev...

Nepal Dissolves Assembly as Talks Fail

Nepal Dissolves Assembly as Talks Fail: Nepal dissolved its four-year-old Constituent Assembly and set new elections after political parties failed to agree on the model of federalism the country should adopt in a new constitution.

With Hougang loss, PAP’s recruitment suffers another blow

With Hougang loss, PAP’s recruitment suffers another blow:
While the People’s Action Party (PAP) could probably live with not winning back Hougang from the Workers’ Party in the by-election held last Saturday, the most worrying consequence of that defeat would be its effect on the party’s ability to recruit new candidates for the next general election, due in 2016.

The shock loss of Aljunied group representation constituency in 2011 was already a seismic event. It signalled to anyone whom the PAP may approach that being chosen as a candidate is no guarantee of easy passage into parliament. For decades, smooth sailing could be taken for granted as, except for single-member wards Potong Pasir and Hougang, the PAP could coast to victory everywhere else. The loss of Aljunied had signalled that even group representation constituencies were not safe seats.
Now, not only are seats being lost to the opposition, regaining them is no easy matter. In the 2011 general election, the PAP’s Sitoh Yih Pin only managed to squeak  past Lina Chiam in Potong Pasir after opposition stalwart Chiam See Tong had suffered a stroke and decided to contest Bishan-Toa Payoh rather than defend his old seat.
The PAP’s defeat in Hougang with hardly a budge in vote share only underlines the fact that electoral calculations have now changed irrevocably.
Potential candidates approached by the PAP will be asking themselves whether the investment the party expects of them – in time, energy, loss of privacy, suffering possible attacks in new media – will pay off. What if the party places them in Aljunied or Hougang at the next election? Or some other constituency that suddenly becomes a hard fight, such as East Coast or Tanjong Pagar?

Hard search for talent

Already, the party appears to be having trouble getting talent for its future leadership.
Just prior to the 2011 general election, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (also Secretary-General of the PAP) said Singaporeans could expect the next prime minister (i.e. his eventual successor) to come from the batch of new candidates the party was presenting. His reasoning was that that person would be in his forties in 2011, and after about ten years serving in the cabinet would be in his fifties. By then (2021), Lee would be nudging 70 years of age and should be retiring.
It sounded neat, though one is immediately struck by (a) the conceit that Lee and the PAP feels it’s a matter they control, and (b) the smooth conveyor-belt model he assumed.
It’s instructive to look at what then happened. Only four new candidates presented in 2011 made it to at least junior minister positions. They were Heng Swee Kiat (born 1961) who was made Minister for Education; Chan Chun Sing (born 1969) made Acting Minister for Community, Youth and Sports; Tan Chuan-Jin (1969), Minister of State for National Development and Manpower; and Lawrence Wong (1972) Minister of State for Defence and Education.
Even if the two ministers of state make it to full minister in a short time, the pace of renewal is still slow. There are 14 ministries even if we exclude the totally useless one (the “minister without portfolio” whose job is to hold the leash on trade unions). Four new faces at each general election means it will take 3.5 general election cycles (about 17.5 years) to refresh the cabinet entirely.
Having cabinet ministers stay for an average of 17.5 years is more a liability than asset. It’s easy to point to the value of experience, but this is likely outweighed by the human tendency to get highly defensive about one’s record and past decisions. What we will have is a government that is resistant to change. It will not even admit to errors, because it is they who would be responsible for those errors in the first place.
With recruitment of new blood getting harder, this trend may get worse.

More than numbers, the type of talent

Beyond the underwhelmingly few new faces inducted after the 2011 general election, there is also the question of quality, or the type of ‘talent’ being inducted. For example, a few persons who attended a recent closed-door dialogue session with Chan Chun Sing told me they didn’t come away with a good impression of the man. While I shan’t go into the specifics of what I was told, it was entirely in keeping with what I expected.
Chan is one of two new appointees coming from the military; the other being Tan Chuan-Jin. A military background brings dangers. The military indoctrinates its men and staffers with a certain perspective – that of Singapore being a highly vulnerable country always under siege.  The credo leans towards survival of the fittest, and softness tends to be equated with weakness and rot.
In an increasingly complex domestic and international landscape, such instincts can be self-defeating. This is not to say that people can’t unlearn what they have been taught, or that either or both of these men do not have the capacity and intellectual qualities to surmount their backgrounds, but at this point, the best we can say is: We haven’t seen any sign yet.
Lawrence Wong and Heng Swee Kiat come from civil service backgrounds. I have not met them in person, nor have I followed closely their careers. But generally speaking, civil service backgrounds can have potential. I have met many senior civil servants who genuinely do understand the issues and hold dissenting views of existing policies. But I have also noticed – again generally speaking – a timidity in pushing their own ideas forward. I reckon the civil service culture in Singapore over-emphasises collegiality and harmony. It’s not a culture that values leaders and change-makers. The minority who have these qualities will quickly become frustrated and leave.
Quitters, however, would be considered to lack the right team-player attitude, and will very unlikely be chosen by the PAP as election candidates.

What then after Hsien Loong?

What if none of these four prove themselves able to command the respect of their peers and win the confidence of Singaporeans? How will Lee Hsien Loong’s succession plan play out?
If they still insist on choosing an unsuitable leader from among the four, then either the PAP will suffer electorally, or Singapore will suffer from incompetence.
However, I can also see an alternative scenario: some other PAP cabinet minister, not from the 2011 cohort, saying: Why should the next leader be picked only from that cohort? Why not me? A messy intra-party succession struggle may well erupt. And that will be the moment when politics in Singapore takes another step to normality.

Philippines chief justice’s fate hangs on 2 laws

Philippines chief justice’s fate hangs on 2 laws: Some senators of the Philipplines find Chief Justice Renato Corona’s explanation for not reporting his bank accounts in his financial disclosures “absurd†and his waiving his right to confidenti .....

Millions rejoice as Thai king visits Ayutthaya

Millions rejoice as Thai king visits Ayutthaya: Dressed in a military uniform, the King of Thailand Bhumibol .....

Lady Gaga in Bangkok

Lady Gaga in Bangkok:

Bangkok went ga-ga this weekend after 50,000 screaming fans filled Rajamangala Stadium in Lady Gaga’s first concert in Thailand. This was the biggest concert held by any international artist in more than a decade.
For a moment Thais forgot the mundane problem of rising living costs and splurged on Gaga’s tickets that went for 1,500, 2,500, 3,500, 4,500, and 7,000 baht ($50-$235). Hey who knows if Lady would ever come back, right? This could be a once in a lifetime event!
Getting ready for the concert is already a feat in itself, given the artist’s over-the-top, highly provocative, and just plain crazy outfits. Several websites dedicated to mimicking Gaga’s fashion popped up in no time, complete with tips on make-up and costume ideas.
Lady Gaga indulged in all that Thailand can offer. As soon as her private jet landed, she tweeted “I just landed in Bangkok baby! Ready for 50,000 screaming Thai monsters. I wanna get lost in a lady market and buy a fake Rolex.” Later that night Lady and her crew showed up, unannounced, at Asia Hotel’s Calypso Cabaret.
Thailand can certainly offer the singer plenty of counterfeit watches, cabaret shows and even Gaga’s own fake CDs.
Celebrities and Thai fans alike showed up in outrageously creative outfits. Even Princess Siriwanwaree Nareerat showed off in her pretty pink feathers.
The Born This Way Ball features expletives, simulated sex acts, and people being gunned down onstage – so it certainly isn’t for the sexually and morally faint of heart.
At one point, Gaga borrowed a Thai chada from a fan and put it on her head, while she herself was (barely) wrapped in leather bikini-like outfit. “I love and respect your country…Bangkok is so beautiful…I feel like crying.” Then she hopped on a Harley and told the fans how much she appreciated Thais for being so open to the “girls” like those in the cabaret shows.
And it went without any major controversy.
Elsewhere in Asia, Gaga faced some opposition ranging from a small protest to threats of violence. Her June 3 show in Jakarta has remained tentatively cancelled because of threats from hard-core Islamists to disrupt it. The Church in the Philippines protested against Gaga’s influence on gay youths. In Korea the government, wary of her provocative performance, bans youth under the age of 18 from attending.
Lady’s message for gay rights or her outrageous outfits didn’t meet the same resistance here in Thailand.
In fact, Gaga’s concert is being used by the authorities as a means to rescue the country’s image abroad.
Suwat Liptapanlop, head of the concert’s committee and Chart Pattana Peua Pandin party chief, revealed the motivations behind the Born This Way Concert: “We discussed at length about how we could salvage our reputation and image abroad given recent political turmoil, economic problems and last year’s devastating flood. We all agreed that Lady Gaga’s concert in Bangkok would do just that.”
Given the success of the concert, perhaps the singer did manage to do just what our politicians can’t….
Gaga – you’re a savior!
Aim Sinpeng is a PhD candidate at the University of British Columbia, Canada

Will Dr M & Co appear as witnesses?

Will Dr M & Co appear as witnesses?:
By Lim Kit Siang
Malaysians must thank former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir for furnishing the fifth evidence of the highest-level campaign to vilify and demonise Bersih 3.0 and Pakatan Rakyat and why the Hanif Omar “independent advisory panel” to investigate into Bersih 3.0 violence is totally unacceptable and should be scrapped altogether.
The four evidence were earlier provided by the Prime Minister, the Home Minister and two former Inspector-General of Police, viz:

• The wild and baseless allegation by the Prime Minister, Najib Tun Razak that Bersih 3.0 rally was coup attempt by the opposition to topple the government;

• The instant public support for Najib’s coup allegation by former Inspector-General of Police, Hanif Omar who said he identified pro-communist individuals at Bersih 3.0 from demonstrations in the 1970s with futher allegation on the use of provocateurs and children in the Bersih 3.0 rally as tactics of the communists!

• The equally instant public support for Najib’s coup allegation by another former Inspector-General of Police, Rahim Noor who went on to allege that Bersih 3.0 had used “Marxist” tactics as well as accusing the Opposition of wanting blood shed as it was not confident of taking over Putrajaya.

• The allegation by Home Minister, Hishammuddin Hussein in an interview with Sunday Star on May 20 that “democracy was hijacked” on April 28.

Mahathir’s blog two days ago that the Bersih 3.0 rally was a “preparation” and “warm-up” by Pakatan for violent demonstrations to reject the results of the 13th general election should the opposition fail to win it is the fifth evidence of the highest-level campaign of vilification and demonization of Bersih 3.0 and Pakatan Rakyat.
However none of them have furnished one iota of evidence to substantiate their serious allegations in the past month.
Appear as witnesses at panel



What they have done is to collectively stack grounds to justify the case why the Hanif “independent advisory panel” should be scrapped altogether as nobody expects the Hanif panel to be able to independent, impartial and objective when there is the highest-level involvement in the campaign of vilification and demonisation of Bersih 3.0 and Pakatan Rakyat.
In fact, Hanif, together with Najib, Mahathir, Hishammuddin and Rahim Noor should be required to appear as star witnesses to substantiate their preposterous allegations before a truly independent and credible inquiry into what went wrong at Bersih 3.0 on April 28 as to cause the deplorable incidents of violence and brutality, regardless of whether the victims are police personnel, media representative or peaceful protesters.
If the five – Najib, Mahathir, Hishammuddin, Hanif and Rahim Noor – are unable to produce any evidence to substantiate their allegations against Bersih 3.0 and Pakatan Rakyat, then these five VVIPs should have the decency to publicly retract their preposterous allegations and tender public apologies.
In this connection, is Mahathir telling the world that his daughter Marina is naïve to be a pawn of Bersih 3.0 and Pakatan to topple the Najib government by violence?
Is he using the same brush to tar the 200,000 to 300,000 Malaysians regardless of race, religion, region, class, gender or age who had performed a supreme act of patriotism and national service in coming out peacefully on April 28 in support of a common national cause – a clean election and a clean Malaysia?
Mahathir should be commending Marina for her commendable public-spiritedness and patriotism in participating in both Bersih 3.0 on April 28 and Bersih 2.0 on July 9, 2011 instead of throwing brickbats as her and Malaysians who had rallied to the Bersih cause.
The writer is the Ipoh Timur MP and DAP senior leader.

Tens of thousands protest against Morocco government

Tens of thousands protest against Morocco government:
CASABLANCA (Morocco): Tens of thousands of Moroccans took to the streets of Casablanca yesterday in the largest opposition protest since an Islamist-led government took office, reflecting mounting tensions over unemployment and other social woes.
The protest was organised by trade unions which accuse Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane of failing to deliver on the pledges of social justice that brought his party to power in the wake of the Arab Spring.
“There are more than 50,000 people who are demonstrating to call on the government to start a genuine dialogue addressing our country’s social ills,” opposition Socialist MP Hassan Tariq said.
A official estimated the crowds at between 15,000 and 20,000.
“The trade unions are united and the message to the Benkirane government is clear: he needs to change his strategy,” said Tariq as the crowd marched through the heart of Morocco’s largest city and its economic capital.
Union leaders have been appealing to the government for talks on improving salaries and social conditions in a country where almost half of people aged between 15 and 29 are neither working nor in school, according to a World Bank report this month.
The report said Morocco’s large youth population – 30% of the total of 32 million people – could be an “engine of growth” but that young people faced numerous obstacles.
Morocco’s government is grappling with a crisis caused by drought and a sharp slide in tourism revenues, the country’s largest source of income along with transfers by Moroccans abroad and phosphate exports.
Hundreds of youths from the February 20 Movement – known as M20 – also turned out in Casablanca for the demonstration yesterday.
Their movement was born of the wave of protests which took hold in the kingdom last year after pro-democracy revolts in Tunisia and Egypt toppled long-standing regimes.
King Mohammed VI nipped the protest movement in the bud by introducing significant reforms to curb his near-absolute powers.
The ensuing November 2011 election saw the Justice and Development Party – a moderate Islamist party – win the most seats and head a coalition government.
It had pledged to address the protest movement’s grievances and fight for more social justice in a country mired by high unemployment and illiteracy rates.
But less than six months after it was sworn in, Benkirane is facing renewed discontent from protesters who see no change.
“Benkirane and Fouad Ali El Himma are two sides of the same coin,” was one slogan chanted in the streets of Casablanca, referring to the king’s closest advisor.
In April, parliament adopted a 2012 budget that trims the public deficit but continues efforts to reinforce social spending.
It foresees a public deficit at 5.0% of gross domestic product this year, down from over 6.0% last year as the previous government splurged on subsidies, notably on food, to defuse the growing protest movement.
Finance Minister Nizar Baraka has said the country’s economy would likely grow by around 3.0% this year, less than the 4.2% forecast in the budget because of the drought and the debt crisis in the eurozone, which is Morocco’s biggest trade partner.
- AFP

Women on the rise in Mexican drug cartels

Women on the rise in Mexican drug cartels:
MEXICO CITY: The high mortality rate in Mexico’s drug war has seen women progress quickly in the shadowy underworld of the cartels and they are increasingly taking on key management roles, a new book says.
“Female Bosses of Narco-Traffic,” by Arturo Santamaria, a researcher at the Autonomous University of the State of Sinaloa, traces the ascent of women in drug trafficking organisations.
“The narco-traffickers will become stronger as a result of this,” wrote Santamaria. “They will be more difficult to fight because the women appear to be acting smarter.”
An estimated 50,000 people have been killed since 2006 in a government crackdown on organized crime that has set off turf wars among rival groups even as they fight off the Mexican military’s counter-narcotics units.
Santamaria said the dead have been mainly males belonging to the cartels, which has led to a changing of the guard with younger men and women rising to the top of drug trafficking organizations.
“Widows, daughters, lovers and girlfriends of the men, who are part of the same criminal families,” have had to lend a hand, he said.
Interviews with researchers and journalists reproduced in the book tell their story.
“After they killed my father, my brother remained,” recalls one of these women. “But he was gunned down in the most recent shootout, and now I have taken the reins.”
In the northwestern state of Sinaloa, Mexico’s main poppy and marijuana producing region and home to leading drug lords, many young women grew up around the business.
“They absorbed it from the time they were girls. They know what it is and how it works,” said Santamaria.
Women were initially recruited into the business to extract juice from poppy, a delicate process requiring gentle handling.
“After that, they started transporting drugs, laundering money and engaging in so-called narco-diplomacy,” using their charms to corrupt government or police officials, said Santamaria.
“Later, they started getting involved in operations,” he said.
They learned how to manage people, run operations and move money, skills that ultimately prepared them to take over entire operations.
As of October last year, 46 female cartel leaders have been arrested by Mexican authorities, according to the country’s attorney general’s office.
In the United States, 2,143 Mexican women have been arrested over the past decade for involvement in drug trafficking.
Santamaria said women act with more caution and use deadly force more sparingly than men.
“Maybe this is because they are mothers and have children,” argued the researcher, while cautioning that younger women were apt to be as bloodthirsty as men.
Zetas, the dominant cartel in western Mexico, has recruited women as hired killers more actively than other cartels. Unlike the Sinaloa cartel, which prefers to stick within known families, the Zetas hire all over the country.
Manuel Clouthier, a businessman and politician from Sinaloa, said he believed women in the drug trafficking business were more responsible, more loyal and, therefore, more effective.
And he warned that the rise of women augurs ill for the war on drugs.
“It used to be that mothers told their sons and husbands to leave the business or not get involved in it,” said Clouthier.
“But if the mother is the one who is already involved, she’s not likely to be the one to tell a son: Don’t get involved!”
- AFP

When pseudo-Malays seek control

When pseudo-Malays seek control: Mariam Mokhtar Umno believes that it represents all the Malays. It doesn’t. Millions of Malays have rejected Umno and without Malay support, Umno will become extinct. Bersih has awoken the Malays and therefore Bersih is Umno’s biggest threat. The Bersih 3.0 rally forced the worst out of the Umno Malays last week: there were supposedly [...]

‘BN has failed Indian community’

‘BN has failed Indian community’:

I trust the wisdom of the masses that they will do the right thing, says Anwar Ibrahim at a Pakatan-backed Indraf 2.0 rally.

KUALA LUMPUR: The pro-tem committee members of Indian Rights Action Front (Indraf 2.0) today held a rally to call upon all political parties to look into pressing matters concerning the Indian community and to urge them to provide a solution for Malaysian Indians.

Organised by NGO Malaysian Indian-Voice (MI-V), the rally attracted about 3,000 people to the Girl Guides Hall in Brickfields.

The rally was backed by Pakatan Rakyat and helmed by DAP leader and Penang Deputy Chief Minister P Ramasamy. Other Indraf pro-tem committee members are V Ganabatirao, R Kengadharan and Thasleem Mohd Ibrahim.

Ganabatirao and Kengadharan were part of the Hindraf (Hindu Rights Action Force) five who were arrested under the Internal Security Act in the aftermath of the Nov 25, 2007 rally.

Whereas Thasleem was a key figure in galvanising NGOs to oppose the usage of the Interlok novel in secondary schools as the book contained offensive terms against the Indians.

The Indraf rally, themed ‘Unity – Road to Putrajaya’, marks an attempt by the organisers to assume a leadership role for the Indian community by trying to suggest that it has taken over the role played by Hindraf in the run-up to the 2008 general election. No one from Hindraf attended the rally.

Speaker after speaker spoke about the misgivings of the Barisan Nasional government and the changes that would have to be made by a Pakatan federal government for the Indian community.

The organisers also presented 10 resolutions at the rally. Among these include:

• To introduce and implement a ration card system to primarily eradicate both rural and urban poverty ensuring that distribution of benefits is transparent.

• That the government should take constructive steps to preserve Tamil schools, the Tamil language, Tamil literature and to be serious in transforming all 523 Tamil schools as fully aided schools.

• For the government to engineer and expedite a more comprehensive pensionable scheme for those in the private sector.

• For the government to enact an Inter-Race Relation Act and Minority Protection Act to avoid serious violations of universal values.

‘Do the right thing’
Pakatan Rakyat supremo and PKR’s de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim who spoke at the rally lashed out at Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak over his failure to solve the problems besieging the Indian community.

“I want to make a stand. It’s not about politics or a contest for power. It’s not just an Indian issue – it’s about every minority.

“It’s not an Indian problem, it’s a national problem. What is Najib doing about this? No Malaysian should be insulted or abused in this country,” he said.

He also suggested that that race was a major factor for the harrasments faced by Bersih 2.0 co-chairperson S Ambiga in recent weeks.

“What’s Ambiga’s fault until she is subjected to such harrassment? She is fighting for free and fair elections.  So just because she’s doing this, a group of people show her their behinds.

“I am Malay – but I hate this kind of behavior. We must know how to fight with purpose. If the prime minister is firm and responsible, do you think these people would get away with something like this?” he asked.

He said that the Umno-led government has failed in its duty to protect the rights of the people.

“Why is it so difficult for a Malaysian-born to have the right to legal identification? I trust the wisdom of the masses that they will do the right thing,” he said.

Lembah Pantai MP and PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah meanwhile said Pakatan Rakyat “hears what Indraf wants”.

“We have to defend our rights as a people to build a better Malaysia for our children,” she said.

Other Pakatan leaders who attended the rally included Lim Guan Eng, Lim Kit Siang, Mohamad Sabu and A Sivanesan. Also present was Tamrin Ghaffar, some of former deputy prime minister Ghaffar Baba.

Time to Look at Indonesia's New Time Zones - Jakarta Globe

Time to Look at Indonesia's New Time Zones - Jakarta Globe:

Time to Look at Indonesia's New Time Zones Jakarta Globe The plan to move the entire archipelago to a single time zone within the year received overwhelming support on Friday from businesspeople and economists, who say it would improve Indonesia's competitiveness. The country's current westernmost time zone ... Single time zone may begin in late OctoberJakarta Post all 2 news articles »

Smoking Clouds Indonesia's Image at UN Level - Jakarta Globe

Smoking Clouds Indonesia's Image at UN Level - Jakarta Globe:

Jakarta Globe

Smoking Clouds Indonesia's Image at UN Level Jakarta Globe Smoking is likely to have long-term affects on Indonesia's economy and the health of its citizens. (Reuters Photo/ Enny Nuraheni). Indonesia's c igarette addiction is threatening its demographic bonus potential — the decade from 2020 to 2030 when the ... Increased tobacco consumption may threaten “demographic bonus”Jakarta Post all 2 news articles »

Gaga cancellation could lower world opinion of Indonesia

Gaga cancellation could lower world opinion of Indonesia: The cancelation of Lady Gaga's concert could lead to negative international perceptions on Indonesia's ability to be a democratic country that guarantees freedom of expression and ...

Watching dissidents is a booming business in China

Watching dissidents is a booming business in China: Every workday at 7:20 a.m., colleagues pick up Yao Lifa from his second-floor apartment and drive him to the elementary school where he taught for years.This is no car pool. Yao is a prisoner, part ...

Last of Mondulkiri commune torn down by authorities

Last of Mondulkiri commune torn down by authorities: Authorities in Mondulkiri province started tearing down the last of 195 houses claimed by villagers in Rayum commune at about 7 a.m. this morning. Three hours later, not one was standing.

Bahraini activists convicted over 'Iran plot'

Bahraini activists convicted over 'Iran plot': Six activists given up to 15 years in prison for allegedly working with Iran to topple government, charges they deny.

Bomb targets Pakistan police near Quetta

Bomb targets Pakistan police near Quetta: Remote-controlled bomb detonates under donkey cart as police pass by, killing three pedestrians and wounding six others.

Ahmadinejad reaches out to hardline rivals

Ahmadinejad reaches out to hardline rivals: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad calls on newly elected parliament to stand with him against "evil ones" encircling Iran.

Mali government rejects north's independence

Mali government rejects north's independence: Official categorically rejects idea of Islamic Azawad state declared by Tuareg separatists and Ansar Dine fighters.

Syria blames Houla deaths on 'terrorists'

Syria blames Houla deaths on 'terrorists': Syrian government spokesman denies its troops were responsible for killing scores of civilians and children in Houla.

Lady Gaga calls off Indonesia concert

Lady Gaga calls off Indonesia concert: Organisers cancel show after religious conservatives threatened "chaos" if pop diva entered Muslim-majority country.

Algerian MPs boycott parliament session

Algerian MPs boycott parliament session: Opposition legislators boycott inaugural session of parliament, claiming fraud in election held earlier this month.

Malian rebels and Islamic fighters merge

Malian rebels and Islamic fighters merge: Tuareg separatists and Ansar Dine fighters agree to join forces and set up Islamic state in captured northern territory.

Greece's pro-bailout party gains ground

Greece's pro-bailout party gains ground: Polls suggest New Democracy has slight lead over anti-bailout, leftist Syriza party in run-up to June polls.

Wikipedia Zero expands into Asia, drops mobile data charges for 10m subscribers in Malaysia

Wikipedia Zero expands into Asia, drops mobile data charges for 10m subscribers in Malaysia:
Wikipedia Zero, a project launched by the Wikimedia Foundation to offer free mobile access to Wikipedia in emerging countries, expanded into Asia for the first time this week via a partnership with Malaysian operator Digi, opening access to more than 10 million subscribers in the country.
Wikipedia and Digi began offering access to the online encyclopaedia on May 21 but it wasn’t formally announced until yesterday. Now, if a Digi customer has an Internet-connected phone, they are able to access the millions of entries on Wikipedia via the Opera Mini browser without costing them a cent.
Free access is limited to the mobile-centric text-only version of Wikipedia, which is available via the zero.wikipedia.org URL.
Via its partnership with Digi, Wikipedia’s free-to-access service is now available in three countries, joining Uganda and Tunisa:

Due to its lightweight footprint and increased usage in emerging countries, Digi has stipulated that Malaysian users have to access Wikipedia Zero via Opera Mini. This allows the operator to lower page sizes and reduce the strain on its networks by leaning on Opera’s server-side compression technology.
Telenor — the parent company of Digi — has signed a deal with Wikipedia to expand the free service to additional countries in 2012, cutting data access fees for subscribers in Thailand, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Serbia, Montenegro, and India, which is expected to be rolled out in the coming months.
Facebook also employs its own free-to-access mobile site called Facebook Zero, announcing the service in 2010.

Pakistan: Prosecute Ahmadi Massacre Suspects

Pakistan: Prosecute Ahmadi Massacre Suspects:

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Pakistan’s federal and provincial governments should bring to justice those responsible for the May 2010 attacks on Ahmadiyya mosques that killed 94 worshipers.

(New York) – Pakistan’s federal and provincial governments should bring to justice those responsible for the May 2010 attacks on Ahmadiyya mosques that killed 94 worshipers, Human Rights Watch said today.
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Khmer Rouge justice a race against time - Bangkok Post

Khmer Rouge justice a race against time - Bangkok Post:

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Thailand fishing: Desperate life at sea - Alaska Dispatch

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Defense minister visits Cambodia to boost ties - China Daily

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Press and Quick Reaction Unit

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Two Monks Burn Themselves in Lhasa

Two Monks Burn Themselves in Lhasa:
Two young Tibetan monks set themselves on fire in Lhasa Sunday in protest against Chinese rule—the first self-immolations reported in the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region, according to sources.

The monks burned themselves in front of Jokhang Temple in central Lhasa—reputedly the ultimate pilgrimage destination for Tibetan pilgrims—and were swiftly bundled away by security forces who arrived in several vehicles and cleared the area within 15 minutes, the sources said.

The identities and other personal details of the monks and their condition were not immediately available.

The two were believed to be among a few Tibetan youths who gathered to protest against Chinese rule outside the temple.

"The security forces arrived immediately and put out the fire and all the tourists in the area were cordoned off from the site. Within 15 minutes, the area was cleaned and not a trace of the incident was left at the site," an eyewitness told RFA.

"The flames were huge and witnesses are presuming that they [the two] were dead in the fire," one Tibetan source living in exile said, citing contacts in the region.

"Lhasa city is now filled with police and para-military forces and the situation is very tense,” the source said.

Tensions

Another source in Lhasa said tensions gripped the tourist area around the Jokhang Temple and nearby Potala Palace, the former residence of the Dalai Lama, amid heightened security following the self-immolations.

"All those who pass through the main ground in front of Potala place are being searched and there is much tension," the source in Lhasa said.

Unconfirmed reports said Tibetans gathered to protest after the burnings and that there were more arrests.

This is the second self-immolation incident in the Tibetan Autonomous Region as Tibetans protest against Beijing's rule and call for the return of Tibet's exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, exile sources said.
Prior to the incident, there had been 35 Tibetan self-immolations reported since March 2009. Thirty-four of them had occurred in Tibetan-populated Chinese provinces.

Auspicious month

The self-immolations came as Tibetans flock to Lhasa to mark the auspicious Buddhist month of Saka Dawa commemorating the birth, enlightenment and death of Buddha.

The Chinese authorities had issued directives barring government employees and retirees and students from participating in the religious activities for the whole month, sources in Lhasa said.

"Today is the sixth day of the auspicious Tibetan Buddhist month of Saka Dawa and several hundred Tibetans came out in the city and prayed and circumambulated the temple and Potala Palace," the eyewitness to Sunday's self-immolations said.

Self-immolation protests which intensified over the last year had also sparked demonstrations in Tibetan-populated Chinese provinces criticizing Chinese policies, which Tibetans say are discriminatory and have robbed them of their rights, and calling for greater freedom and for the return of the Dalai Lama to Tibet.

'Holistic view'

The Dalai Lama has blamed Beijing's "totalitarian" and "unrealistic" policies for the wave of self-immolations, saying the time has come for the Chinese authorities to take a serious approach to resolving the Tibetan problem.

He called on the Chinese leadership to adopt a "holistic view" in resolving the Tibetan crisis instead of a "self-centered" approach backed by power and wealth to suppress the Tibetans.

Chinese authorities however have labeled the self-immolators as terrorists, outcasts, criminals, and mentally ill people, and have blamed the Dalai Lama for encouraging the burnings.

The self-immolation protests have resulted in a Chinese security clampdown in the Tibetan-populated provinces of Sichuan, Qinghai and Ganzi, as well as in the Tibet Autonomous Region.

Aside from detaining hundreds of monks from monasteries, Chinese authorities have jailed scores of Tibetan writers, artists, singers, and educators for asserting Tibetan national identity and civil rights, exile sources said.

Reported by RFA's Tibetan service. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written in English by Parameswaran Ponnudurai.

Png Eng Huat wins Hougang by-election

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Singapore in keenly-watched poll

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Anwar claims symbolic win after former prosecutor joins legal team

Anwar claims symbolic win after former prosecutor joins legal team:

By Anisah Shukry

May 22, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR, May 22 — Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim claimed a symbolic victory today in having the man who unsuccessfully prosecuted him for sodomy join his legal team to defend an illegal assembly charge, pointing out that someone who was in government did not want to be a part of what he called the “dirtiness”.

Anwar has repeated his charge that the latest charge against him is politically-motivated, and said that former Solicior-General II Datuk Yusof Zainal Abiden’s entry into his legal team was “meaningful” to him and a “positive development”.

“I received information that he was willing to join my legal defence team, so I as the accused contacted him for help,” Anwar (picture)told reporters.

“This is a positive development... I think more lawyers are biding their time to join me as well,” he said.

“Yusof’s presence is very meaningful to me. It shows that someone inside the government is aware of the ‘dirtiness’ and does not want to be a part of it,” he added.

Anwar pointed out that if Yusof truly thought he was guilty, then the former solicitor-general would not have agreed to join his legal team.

“Yusof came here with full commitment and his performance today is proof that he only wants justice to be served,” he said.

Yusof joined Anwar’s legal team as the opposition leader was today charged with taking part in an illegal street demonstration on April 28.

It was a startling turn of events as Yusof had led the Sodomy II prosecution against Anwar, which saw the latter being acquitted earlier this year.

Yusof has joined Anwar’s legal team.

He has since retired from the Attorney-General’s Chambers.

“Anwar called me last night and I had no hesitation,” Yusof told The Malaysian Insider when approached.

The Malaysian Insider understands that Yusof’s ties with Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Ghani Patail have been cool for some time and he had disagreed with the way some high-profile cases had been handled.

Yusof was earlier spotted mingling with Anwar’s other defence lawyers.

PKR leader and lawyer Sivarasa Rasiah had earlier confirmed with The Malaysian Insider in a text message when asked if the former government lawyer was on the PKR de facto head’s legal team.

Sivarasa said Yusof was assisting Anwar’s lead counsel Karpal Singh. The other lawyers on Team Anwar are Karpal’s son Ram Karpal Singh Deo and Sankara Nair.

Anwar, PKR deputy president Azmin Ali and Rembau PKR chief Badrul Hisham Shaharin were today charged with taking part in the April 28 Bersih 3.0 rally under section 4(2)(c) of the Peaceful Assembly Act, less than a month after the new law aimed at allowing public gatherings “in accordance with international norms” was enforced.The offence under the Peaceful Assembly Act carries a maximum fine of RM10,000.

All three claimed trial.

Sessions Court judge Mahmud Abdullah set July 2 as the next mention date for the trial.

~ The Malaysian Insider

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Muslim Brotherhood and military will square off in Egypt

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GOP showing small shifts on taxes

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