ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece needs to cut bureaucracy and push through languishing investment projects, not sell its islands to attract funds crucial for its struggling economy to return to growth, a Deputy Development Minister told Reuters on Wednesday. Seven major investment projects, ranging from tourism to energy and worth half a billion euros in total, have been stuck for months awaiting ...
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Six Chinese surveillance ships have entered Japanese waters near disputed islands in the East China Sea The Japanese government and coast guard said six Chinese surveillance ships entered Japanese waters on Friday near disputed islands in the East China Sea, adding to tensions between the Asian giants. It was the first intrusion by Chinese vessels into what Japan says are its waters since Tokyo ...
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China's national defense minister warned Tuesday that Beijing reserves the right to take further action against Japan in the ongoing dispute over uninhabited islands in the East China Sea.
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In Beijing on Tuesday there were two unusual occurrences. First, the city saw the largest protest in years take place outside of the Japanese Embassy. Thousands of Chinese took to the streets, angry over Japan’s claim to disputed islands in the East China Sea. Second,...
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A youngster from the Solomon Islands has taken on the future king of England in a show of football prowess - and won.
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The 81st anniversary of a Japanese invasion brought a fresh wave of anti-Japan demonstrations in China on Tuesday, with thousands of protesters venting anger over the colonial past and a current dispute involving contested islands in the East China Sea.
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Reuters
The wave of anti-Japanese protests currently sweeping across China has its roots in history but more recently can be traced back to April, when the firebrand governor of Tokyo announced plans to buy a group of islands claimed by Japan, China and Taiwan.
He did so without the apparent knowledge or approval of the Japanese government.
Spying an opportunity to assert Japanese control over the Senkaku islands, or Diaoyu as they're known in China, Governor Shintaro Ishihara launched an online appeal fund to buy them from their private owners.
Donations poured in, prompting a sharp rebuke from China and forcing the Japanese government to wade into the dispute with its own offer for the contested land.
Who is Shintaro Ishihara?
Ishihara has a long history of making inflammatory comments about China, so much so that in 1999, when he was appointed Tokyo governor, Japan's then chief cabinet secretary, Hiromu Nonaka, sought to reassure China that relations would remain "friendly."
Before taking office, Ishihara was a well-known author whose name became famous in his early twenties after writing "A Season of the Sun," which won Japan's most prestigious literary prize.
He's an outspoken nationalist who in the past has cast doubt on historians' account of the 1937 Rape of Nanking, in which hundreds of thousands of Chinese were killed by Japanese troops.
After launching the fund, Ishihara likened China's claim to the islands as like "a burglar in Japan's house."
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TOKYO (Reuters) - The United States urged Japan and China on Monday to settle their increasingly angry dispute over islands claimed by both sides, saying it was in everyone's interests to have good relations between Asia two biggest economies. The mounting tension over ownership of the islands in the East China Sea triggered protests in a number of cities across China at the weekend and warnings ...
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Population survey reveals disputed islands' population has not grown since 2006 – and some residents are getting worried A census in the Falkland Islands has found that fewer than a third of people consider themselves British, while 59% say their national identity is "Falkland Islander". The survey also puts the average annual income at $32,213 (£20,000) – much higher than Argentina's $9,620 as ...
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Falkland Islands census shows fewer than a third of people identify as British
AVARUA, Cook Islands (AFP) - Once banned by Christian missionaries as a barbaric, heathen custom, traditional tattooing is making a comeback in the Cook Islands as locals in the Pacific nation reconnect with their cultural roots.
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Security personnel outnumbered the crowds of Chinese protesting against Japan outside its embassy on Sunday, a day after demonstrations over islands that both nations claim spread across China and turned violent. Japan's leader said the dispute was affecting the safety of Japanese citizens in China.
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By the CNN Wire Staff
updated 3:00 AM EDT, Fri September 14, 2012
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Tokyo (CNN) -- Six Chinese maritime surveillance ships entered waters around a group of islands at the center of a heated territorial dispute between Tokyo and Beijing, ignoring warnings from the Japanese authorities.
The Chinese ships arrived near the uninhabited islands -- which Japan calls Senkaku and China calls Diaoyu -- on Friday morning and began patrols and "law enforcement," China's state-run news agency Xinhua reported, citing a government statement.
The islands, situated in the East China Sea between Okinawa and Taiwan, are currently under Japanese control, but China claims they have been an "inherent" part of its territory "since ancient times."
The Chinese ships entered Japanese territorial waters despite warnings from the Japanese Coast Guard, said Shinichi Gega, a spokesman for Japan's 11th Regional Coast Guard Headquarters. Three of the ships have since left Japanese waters, he said.
The Japanese government will "take all possible measures to ensure security" around the islands, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said Friday.
See a map of Asia's disputed islands
Two of the Chinese ships responded to a Japanese Coast Guard vessel's warning by reiterating China's territorial claim to the islands and saying they were carrying out patrol work, according to Gega. Japanese ships are continuing their own patrols of the area, he said.
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Chinese ships begin patrols around islands at center of dispute with Japan
By Junko Ogura and Jethro Mullen, CNN
updated 7:03 AM EDT, Fri September 14, 2012
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Tokyo (CNN) -- Six Chinese maritime surveillance ships briefly entered waters around a group of islands at the center of a heated territorial dispute between Tokyo and Beijing, ignoring warnings from the Japanese authorities amid escalating tensions in the region.
The Chinese ships arrived near the uninhabited islands -- which Japan calls Senkaku and China calls Diaoyu -- on Friday morning and began patrols and "law enforcement," China's state-run news agency Xinhua reported.
The islands, situated in the East China Sea between Okinawa and Taiwan, are currently under Japanese control, but China claims they have been an "inherent" part of its territory "since ancient times." The long-running argument over who has sovereignty has resulted in occasionally violent acts of public protest.
The United States,a key ally of Japan, has repeatedly urged Tokyo and Beijing to resolve the dispute through dialogue. U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta will meet with his counterparts in Japan and China during a visit to the region that begins this weekend, the Department of Defense said Thursday.
The Chinese ships entered Japanese territorial waters Friday despite warnings from the Japanese Coast Guard, said Shinichi Gega, a spokesman for Japan's 11th Regional Coast Guard Headquarters.
The vessels had all left the waters by mid-afternoon and headed north, the Japanese Coast Guard said later Friday, noting that sea in the area was getting rough as a huge storm, Super Typhoon Sanba, approached from the south.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said Japan would intensify its own patrols of the area in response to what he described as an "unprecedented scale of invasion" of Japanese waters.
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Chinese ships carry out patrols around islands at center of dispute with Japan
We have heard a lot about Cayman Islands banking during this election season, but what about Cayman Islands endangered species? The three tiny islands that make up the CaymansGrand Cayman, Little Cayman and Cayman Bracare home to a handful of endangered species that arent found anywhere else in the world. In the case of at least one of them, they might not even be found in the Caymans much longer.
Human development and habitat loss have put the Cayman Brac parrot (Amazona leucocephala hesterna) and the Grand Cayman parrot (A. l. caymanensis) into fairly dire straits. Both birds are subspecies of the Cuban Amazon parrot and can only be found on the islands that bear their names, but the loss of many of the trees that they used for shelter and food have made it harder for the otherwise hardy birds to withstand the hurricanes that frequently batter the region. Hundreds of birds died during hurricanes Ivan (2004) and Paloma (2008).
Today the Grand Cayman parrot is down to an estimated 4,300 birds. The Cayman Brac parrot now numbers about 425, including just 20 to 60 breeding pairs. Biologists warn that the Cayman Brac could be extinct in as few as 40 years. The biggest danger right now is that the trees the birds would use for reproduction and nesting are disappearing as new subdivisions pop up across the islands. Frank Rivera-Miln, a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), told The Caymanian Compass that the Brac [parrot] is going down the drain very fast. Development there is too fast.
Luckily, the Brac parrot does have a few friends. The Cayman Brac Parrot Reserve, run by the National Trust for the Cayman Islands, maintains 280 acres of protected old-growth forest, 34 hectares of which was acquired in 2005 with the help of a grant from the FWS. But that might not be enough for the long term. The reserves Web site says The long-term future of the parrotsdepends critically on the conservation of enough old-growth forest areas on the Brac to support this inherently endangered species.
Both Cayman Islands parrots face additional threats. As on many islands, predation by cats and invasive rats is an ever-present danger. The birds are also sometimes illegally captured from the wild for the black market pet trade, although they rarely survive long enough to be sold.
Another endemic Cayman species, the Grand Cayman blue iguana (Cyclura lewisi), represents a conservation success story. The iguanaswhich were only recognized as their own species in 2004 after previously being classified as a subspecies of the Cuban iguanawere nearly wiped out by dogs, cats (them again) and cars. By 2003 the wild population of blue iguanas was estimated at just five to 15 individuals. Today, a breeding program has increased their number to approximately 700.
Fred Burton, director of the Blue Iguana Recovery Program, told the Associated Press that the program succeeded due to their low-tech methods: rough-hewn wooden breeding pens were built with tight passageways where the young iguanas could take shelter from predators. The pens were built in 2001 and every infant born that year survived. The recovery program also maintains wire cages for slightly older iguanas. They are released into the protected Salina Reserve at about two years old, when they are big enough to defend themselves against cats and other predators. All of the iguanas born in the program are implanted with microchips to help identify them.
The recovery program now aims to reach a milestone of 1,000 blue iguanas living in the wild, which they may hit in another few years. After that, Burton says, the breeding program may no longer be necessary.
None of these species, however, are out of the woods quite yet. If anyone cares to invest in anything in the Caymans other than a bank, I can think of a few worthy recipients. And who knows, maybe someday the Caymans could be as good a haven for wildlife as they are for taxable income.
Photos: Grand Cayman parrot by Paul Locke via Flickr. Cayman Grand blue iguana by Pete Markham via Flickr. Used under Creative Commons license
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Endangered Cayman Islands Parrots and Iguanas Could Use More Shelters and Havens
The Japanese government and coast guard said six Chinese surveillance ships entered Japanese waters Friday near disputed islands in the East China Sea, adding to tensions between the Asian giants.
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14 September 2012 Last updated at 04:10 ET
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The BBC's Rupert Wingfield-Hayes explains the background to the tension
Six Chinese surveillance ships briefly entered waters around islands claimed by both Japan and China, amid a bitter territorial dispute.
China said the ships were carrying out "law enforcement" to show jurisdiction over the islands, called Diaoyu in China and Senkaku in Japan.
Three vessels left after a short time and the other three have now also left, the Japanese coast guard said.
The move came after Japan sealed a deal to buy three of the islands.
Japan controls the uninhabited but resource-rich East China Sea islands, which are also claimed by Taiwan.
Three were in the hands of a private Japanese owner but the Japanese government bought them earlier this week.
The Japanese Coast Guard said the first two Chinese boats entered Japan's territorial waters at 06:18 local time (21:18 GMT Thursday), followed by another fleet of four other ships just after 07:00.
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BEIJING/TOKYO (Reuters) - Six Chinese surveillance ships briefly entered waters near disputed islands claimed by Tokyo and Beijing on Friday, raising tensions between Asia's two biggest economies to their highest level since 2010. Japan protested to China and urged that the situation not be allowed to escalate - an outcome neither side would welcome given the two countries' tight economic links ...
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By Junko Ogura and Jethro Mullen, CNN
updated 7:03 AM EDT, Fri September 14, 2012
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Tokyo (CNN) -- Six Chinese maritime surveillance ships briefly entered waters around a group of islands at the center of a heated territorial dispute between Tokyo and Beijing, ignoring warnings from the Japanese authorities amid escalating tensions in the region.
The Chinese ships arrived near the uninhabited islands -- which Japan calls Senkaku and China calls Diaoyu -- on Friday morning and began patrols and "law enforcement," China's state-run news agency Xinhua reported.
The islands, situated in the East China Sea between Okinawa and Taiwan, are currently under Japanese control, but China claims they have been an "inherent" part of its territory "since ancient times." The long-running argument over who has sovereignty has resulted in occasionally violent acts of public protest.
The United States,a key ally of Japan, has repeatedly urged Tokyo and Beijing to resolve the dispute through dialogue. U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta will meet with his counterparts in Japan and China during a visit to the region that begins this weekend, the Department of Defense said Thursday.
The Chinese ships entered Japanese territorial waters Friday despite warnings from the Japanese Coast Guard, said Shinichi Gega, a spokesman for Japan's 11th Regional Coast Guard Headquarters.
The vessels had all left the waters by mid-afternoon and headed north, the Japanese Coast Guard said later Friday, noting that sea in the area was getting rough as a huge storm, Super Typhoon Sanba, approached from the south.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said Japan would intensify its own patrols of the area in response to what he described as an "unprecedented scale of invasion" of Japanese waters.
Read more here:
China sent six surveillance ships into waters near disputed islands in the East China Sea on Friday, but quickly withdrew them in a sign that Beijing does not want tensions with Japan to rise too sharply.
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China reacts with surveillance ships to Japan's purchase of disputed islands