VILAFLOR, Canary Islands, July 18 (UPI) -- At least 1,800 people have been evacuated from their homes as forest fires burned across Tenerife, the largest of the Canary Islands, officials said Wednesday.

The fires on Tenerife have been raging since Sunday, but fires on the islands of La Palma and La Gomera, were mostly under control Wednesday, thinkSpain reported.

Emergency services personnel evacuated hundreds of residents from Vilaflor and were building a firewall around the town to protect it.

The eastern face of the fires was the most difficult to bring under control because of low humidity, emergency officials said. Some parts of the blaze were unreachable by land, limiting firefighting efforts to hydroplanes.

The Canary Islands is a Spanish archipelago just off the northwest coast of Africa.

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Canary Islands fire forces evacuations

17 July 2012 Last updated at 03:45 ET By Richard Black Environment correspondent, BBC News

The Solomon Islands has become a hub for "laundering" wild birds into the global captive-bred bird trade, says the wildlife trade watchdog Traffic.

Thousands of parrots, cockatoos and other exotic birds have been exported over the last 10 years, they report.

But officials say there are no major captive breeding units in the islands.

The Solomons recently joined CITES, the global wildlife trade convention, which sets different conditions for trading captive-bred and wild animals.

"Declaring exported birds as being captive-bred has all the hallmarks of a scam to get around international trade regulations," said Chris Shepherd, Traffic's deputy director for Southeast Asia.

Some of the 35 bird species exported from the Solomons are on the internationally recognised Red List of Threatened Species.

They include the Critically Endangered yellow-crested cockatoo (Cacatua sulphurea), and the chattering lory (Lorius garrulus) and blue bird of paradise (Paradisaea rudolphi), which are both categorised as Vulnerable.

Under CITES - the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species - all trade in the yellow-crested cockatoo is banned.

For the others, exports of wild-caught birds are strictly regulated.

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Solomons 'launders' exotic birds

Falkland Islands Holdings plc

("FIH" or "the Company")

Director's Dealing

Falkland Islands Holdings plc, the AIM quoted international group which owns essential services businesses focused on retail, transport and logistics announces that it has been informed that on 16 July 2012 Jeremy Brade, a director of the Company, acquired 1,047 ordinary shares of 10 pence each ("Shares") at a price of 388 pence per Share. Following the acquisition, Mr. Brade holds 6,000 Shares representing 0.05% of the Company's total voting rights.

Enquiries:

Falkland Islands Holdings plc

David Hudd, Chairman Tel: 07771 893 267

John Foster, Managing Director Tel: 01279 461 630

WH Ireland Ltd. - NOMAD and Broker to FIH

Adrian Hadden / Nick Field Tel: 0207 220 1666

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Falkland Islands Hlg - Director's Dealing

Beijing (China Daily/ANN) - Tokyo's sensationalising of the Diaoyu Islands issue will stir up nationalism within the country and help more right-wing politicians win seats in parliament, which will inevitably cast a long-term shadow over China-Japan ties, analysts warned.

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Tokyo's islands stance harmful to ties with China

More than 54,000 wild birds, including critically endangered species, were laundered through the Solomon islands into the global wildlife trade between 2000 and 2010, a wildlife group said Tuesday.

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Wild birds 'smuggled through Solomon Islands'

Shares in UK oil explorer Borders & Southern Petroleum (Other OTC: BDRSF.PK - news) have plunged more than 70pc after the company reported disappointing results from its latest Falkland Islands well.

The company revealed in a statement on Monday morning that it had found found evidence of gas in the Stebbing well but not in quantities that were likely to be commercial.

Technical difficulties meant the well did not reach lower targets, a result it called "disappointing".

Borders & Southern's disappointment follows the company's initial success when its first well, also drilled south of the islands, found gas condensate, a liquid which often trades at a premium to crude oil.

Oil exploration by British companies off the Falklands is irritating old wounds with Argentina and tensions between it and Britain have been risen this year, the 30th anniversary of the war the two fought over the islands.

The British government tabled a White Paper last month officially pledging to defend the Falkland Islands and declared there would be "no weakening" in the country's resolve.

The Falklands look set to be transformed into a new oil producing region following an oil discovery made by another British firm, Rockhopper Exploration , two years ago off the north coast of the islands. Rockhopper signed a $1bn deal with Premier Oil (LSE: PMO.L - news) last Thursday to help fund the development of the oil field.

Borders & Southern, which is listed on the AIM index, is leading the charge to find oil off the south coast of the islands. The Stebbing well will now be plugged and abandoned, with the rig being assigned to Falkand Oil & Gas (Euronext: IXSOG.NX - news) .

The shares fell 44.25 - 71.1pc - to 18p in early trading.

Meanwhile, Tullow Oil (Stuttgart: 591219 - news) shares fell 1.3pc after the company revealed drilling operations in the Georgetown Block, Guyana, have ended "and the well will be plugged and abandoned at a depth of 4,876 metres, without reaching the primary objective".

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Borders & Southern Petroleum shares plunge 70pc after Falkland Islands well disappoints

LA-based group Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti climbs to the top of The Hype Machine's most blogged artists chart on Monday, July 16, and Future Islands also moves up the list.  

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Most blogged artists: Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti, Future Islands

Tokyo's sensationalizing of the Diaoyu Islands issue will stir up nationalism within the country and help more right-wing politicians win seats in parliament, which will inevitably cast a long-term shadow over China-Japan ties, analysts warned.

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Tokyo's islands stance harmful to ties

Tokyo's sensationalizing of the Diaoyu Islands issue will stir up nationalism within the country and help more right-wing politicians win seats in parliament, which will inevitably cast a long-term shadow over China-Japan ties, analysts warned.

The analysts made the remarks as the local government and cabinet are weighing plans to "buy" or "nationalize" the Diaoyu Islands, which have stood under Chinese sovereignty since ancient times.

Japanese politicians represented by Shintaro Ishihara, governor of Tokyo, have attempted to use the Diaoyu Islands issue as a tool to win support in future elections, said Liu Jiangyong, an expert on Japanese studies from Tsinghua University.

Hawkish right-wing politicians such as Ishihara use the Diaoyu Islands issue to raise nationalism among the Japanese public, Liu said. This will negatively affect Sino-Japanese relations, he added.

Liu's comments came on the heels of Japanese Ambassador Uichiro Niwa's return to Beijing on Monday after being summoned to Japan on Sunday by the country's foreign ministry.

The Japanese embassy in China confirmed Niwa's arrival with China Daily, but refused to say whether or when he will communicate with China.

Diplomatic sources said Niwa will convey the messages with China in an informal way.

Niwa on Sunday discussed "new trends" and countermeasures concerning the Diaoyu Islands with Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba, according to Japan's Kyodo News Agency.

Gemba instructed Niwa to "properly explain Japan's stance to China" toward the disputed islands when he returned to Beijing.

"The Foreign Ministry claimed Niwa's return to Japan is not a 'recall' aimed at protesting against China. However, a temporary visit home, as a diplomatic convention, is often used as a countermeasure," Kyodo said.

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Eastday-Tokyo's islands stance harmful to ties

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VIDEO: Channel Islands welcome 2012 torch

Ornithologists have presented the first results of the field season 2012 at the Solovetsky Islands. Correspondent reports BakuToday, during the month of the Solovki branch of the White Sea biological station of the Moscow State University. Lomonosov was on the islands of the archipelago and adjacent territories ornithological monitoring. The results of the expedition everybody could see at a public lecture held by Vladimir Semashko, Alexander reviem and B.e. erenkovym in the Conference Hall of the St. Petersburg hotels Solovki Museum-reserve.

During the breeding period, most favorable for learning disorder, studies have been conducted on the Solovetsky Islands in the archipelago, as well as on Zhizhgin island. During the expedition revealed that the population of solovetsk birds remains stable, and in some species there is a positive trend: the number of birds even increases. On the General background of the not-so-favorable optimistic situation of terns: largest colony on the islands of Maly Zayatsky, Malaya Muksalma and Cape of Kolguev. Unser decreased significantly. Scientists have been slow to sound the alarm, believing that such changes may represent a natural cyclical process, although not precluded and the influence of anthropogenic factors. In connection with this proposal to resume visits to these islands until the limit of 15 July, before the bird breeding period.

Ornithological studies are conducted at the Solovetsky Islands regularly for over 20 years. Since 1996, the monitoring is carried out mainly by the Solovki branch of BBSING. They have been a description of all bird species, their number, size, description of nests, ringing, etc. Over the years research has about 570 Islands in the White Sea, 250 species of birds, including 220 solovetsky (from constantly 120 nesting in the archipelago), BakuToday Solovki Museum.

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The Solovetsky Islands decreases the number of terns (Arkhangelsk region)

CHARLOTTE AMALIE, U.S. Virgin IslandsJustice officials in the U.S. Virgin Islands have exonerated a police officer accused of destruction of evidence, extortion and embezzlement.

Deputy Attorney General Bruce Marshack announced Sunday that the policeman's recent arrest on evidence-tampering allegations was a regrettable mistake. He said all charges against Officer Anderson Poleon have been dismissed.

Poleon was arrested Wednesday on the island of St. Croix and had faced the possibility of 30 years in prison on all the criminal charges.

But justice officials say they recently discovered a document that has cleared Poleon of any wrongdoing. They did not disclose more details.

A lawyer for the exonerated officer claims his client was the victim of a vendetta by St. Croix police Chief Christopher Howell.

Howell did not immediately return calls Sunday.

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Virgin Islands officials exonerate accused officer

Overseas Chinese protest against Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's decision to "nationalize" the Diaoyu Islands, which belongs to China, in front of the Japanese consulate in Los Angeles on July 12, 2012. Japanese vessels interfered with Chinese official patrol of waters off the Diaoyu Islands, Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said on Friday.

Original post:

Islands move sparks protest

Falkland Islands Holdings plc

("FIH" or "the Company")

Director's Dealing

Falkland Islands Holdings plc, the AIM quoted international group which owns essential services businesses focused on retail, transport and logistics announces that it has been informed today that on 13 July 2012 John Foster, a director of the Company, acquired 1,883 ordinary shares of 10 pence each ("Shares") at a price of 403 pence per Share. Following the acquisition, Mr. Foster holds 20,000 Shares representing 0.16% of the Company's total voting rights.

Enquiries:

Falkland Islands Holdings plc

David Hudd, Chairman Tel: 07771 893 267

John Foster, Managing Director Tel: 01279 461 630

WH Ireland Ltd. - NOMAD and Broker to FIH

Adrian Hadden / Nick Field Tel: 0207 220 1666

See original here:

Falkland Islands Hlg - Director/PDMR Shareholding

Posted on July 13, 2012, Friday

Chinese patrol ships encounter Japanese Coast Guard vessels near the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea, July 11, 2012. Three Chinese fishery patrol ships engaged in a verbal confrontation with Japanese Coast Guard ships during a routine patrol in waters near the Diaoyu Islands on Wednesday, fishery authorities said Thursday. (Xinhua/Luo Zhengguang)

BEIJING: The Japanese side has staged a series of acts to buy Chinas Diaoyu Islands in recent weeks, but the country should be wary that its farcical ambitions may result in the situation spiralling out of control and seriously damaging China-Japan relations, Xinhua reported.

Against the backdrop of frequent shifts of leadership in recent years and a serious split within the Ruling Democratic Party on a tax hike bill, some Japanese politicians attempted to divert the attention from internal to external affairs by playing a leading role in the drama of buying the Diaoyu Islands.

The provocative move by the Japanese side seemingly helps Japan create some evidence for its real control over the Diaoyu Islands, but it will by no means change the fact that China has indisputable sovereignty over the islands.

On the contrary, Japanese provocations will only lead to escalating tensions with China, its major economic partner, and will harm bilateral ties and regional stability, and ultimately Japans own interests.

For Chinas part, its commitment to the path of peaceful development doesnt mean blindly self-surrender, especially on issues that are related to crucial national interests.

China has always expressed its position on defending its territorial sovereignty over the Diaoyu Islands, and will never tolerate any of Japans unilateral moves to infringe on Chinese territorial integrity.

Given the fact that Japan went ahead with its provocative plan to buy the Diaoyu Islands, anti-Japanese sentiments among Chinese netizens have run high over the recent months, which would obviously undermine the public will for stronger bilateral ties.

Besides, rising tensions have also aroused speculations among some Japanese media outlets about whether there would be conflicts between the two East Asian countries.

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“Buying-Islands” farce to badly damage hard-won China-Japan relations

This section displays the last 50 news articles that were published.

Professional hockey is now officially in Watertown. The 1000 Islands Privateers introduced themselves to the city on Thursday. As our Brian Dwyer tells us, the team will become not only the hockey anchor for the area, but also plans to play a major role in the community.

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WATERTOWN, N.Y. -- After two seasons in Alexandria Bay, the 1000 Islands Privateers now officially have a new home.

"We're so enthusiastically happy about moving here," 1000 Islands Privateers owner Nicole Kirnan said. "We just see this as a tremendous opportunity. It's such a much more populated area. We're that much closer to Fort Drum."

The Privateers are a professional "A" level team that's designed to help teach and grow players, maybe even advancing their career to leagues like the ECHL. And as it gets ready to take the ice in a few months, the team promises to not only leave behind some of the on-ice issues it had in Alexandria Bay, but to bring a high quality product to Watertown that can compete for championships.

"We want to have a tough team," 1000 Islands Privateers head coach Paul Kelly said. "We want guys who are willing to go, pay the price and go the extra mile to be successful."

As part of that extra mile, the team promises to be great off the ice as well, saying it'll have players visiting schools, hospitals and helping at camps on off days.

"We understand that to make a team like this work, we need to be in the community. We can't just come in and expect people to support us, we need to support everything that's going on in the community," Kirnan said.

And for a city that's been looking for that anchor for its arena, Mayor Jeff Graham says the Privateers are a great fit.

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1000 Islands Privateers officially in Watertown

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Islands Trust is looking for input

Victoria Bergsman is causing a buzz on the blogs with her new song "Dreams" and Future Islands re-enter The Hype Machine's most blogged artists charts on Thursday, July 12. 

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Most blogged artists: Taken by Trees, Future Islands

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi met Japanese counterpart Koichiro Gemba in Phnom Penh where he "reaffirmed China's principled position" on the islands, known as Senkaku in Japanese, and Diaoyu in Chinese.

"He stressed the Diaoyu Islands and their affiliated islets have always been China's territory since ancient times, over which China has indisputable sovereignty," the Chinese delegation said.

Japan summoned the Chinese ambassador in Tokyo as three patrol boats approached the chain of islands.

The crew of the vessels, which have since left the islands' immediate vicinity, initially rebuffed Japanese orders to leave.

"We are conducting official duty in Chinese waters. Do not interfere. Leave China's territorial waters," the crews said, according to Japan Coast Guard.

The waters around the disputed islands, which are close to oil reserves, have been the scene of previous rows, including the arrest of a Chinese trawlerman in late 2010.

Yesterday's spat is the latest clash over disputed territory between China and its neighbors that threatens to overshadow attempts to smooth regional relations at an Asian security summit in Cambodia this week.

The 10 members of Southeast Asian regional body ASEAN have been trying to agree a long-stalled "code of conduct" for the South China Sea that would help settle overlapping claims in the resource-rich waterway.

The Philippines is leading a push for ASEAN to unite to persuade China to accept a code based on a United Nations law on maritime boundaries that would delineate the areas belonging to each country.

Excerpt from:

Islands spat with Tokyo flares again

The early human colonisation of islands might not have been plain sailing. Instead of using boats to deliberately settle on Indonesian islands, hominins may have arrived as castaways, carried on floating debris after floods.

David Wilkinson of Liverpool John Moores University and Graeme Ruxton of the University of St Andrews, both in the UK, used population estimates from the early settlement of Polynesia to model the likely success of island settlement attempts in human prehistory.

They found that five young couples had a 40 per cent chance of giving rise to a population of 500 or founding a population that survived for 500 years. Ten random castaways had only a 20 per cent chance of similar success. But throwing in between one and four additional castaways every 50 years raised the chances of an accidental settlement succeeding to 47 per cent.

Stone tools show that hominins possibly Homo erectus reached Flores 1 million years ago. The famous Homo floresiensis may have descended from this population of H. erectus. Meanwhile, a study earlier in the year concluded that Neanderthals had access to boats 100,000 years ago, which they used to reach the Greek islands of Lefkada, Kefallonia and Zakynthos, where their stone tools have been found.

The new finding suggests that in both cases the hominins could have reached the islands without boats. We already know that other mammals managed the feat: rats and Stegodon, an extinct relative of the elephant, crossed the deep-water channel between the Indonesian islands of Java and Flores. Elephants are strong swimmers, and rats could have travelled on storm debris.

Accidental colonisation of Flores by hominins would have been difficult, but not impossible, says Mike Morwood of the University of Wollongong in New South Wales, Australia. However, he adds, "the rapid colonisation of Greater Australia and major islands of western Melanesia 45,000 to 50,000 years ago indicates deliberate colonisation voyages by people using directed craft".

Journal of Human Evolution, DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2012.05.013

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Hominins did not need boats to settle islands