26 November 2003 12:27
Conservationists say whales threatened by Sakhalin 2 project
WASHINGTON - U.S.-based conservation groups said Wednesday they have urged Export-Import Bank of the United States
(Ex-Im Bank) to rigorously review funding the expansion of an oil and gas development project off Sakhalin Island in
Russia's Far East which they say threatens a whale habitat.
Following similar moves by three bipartisan lawmakers, 11 groups submitted a letter Tuesday to Ex-Im Bank President
Philip Merrill in a bid to protect the western Pacific gray whale, which they say is critically endangered.
Japan, S. Korea defense chiefs discuss Iraq, N. Korea
TOKYO - Defense Agency chief Shigeru Ishiba and South Korean Defense Minister Cho Young Kil met in Tokyo on Wednesday
to discuss the two countries' participation in the reconstruction of Iraq as well as the situation surrounding
North Korea.
The talks were held at the Defense Agency. Cho is expected to explain to Ishiba about the activities of South Korean
ground troops dispatched to Nasiriyah in southern Iraq and the worsening security situation in the country, Japanese
officials said.
AIDS epidemic in Asia serious, head of global fund says
TOKYO - The HIV/AIDS epidemic in Asia is becoming serious and the number of new infections will grow even faster if
programs for prevention and treatment are not enhanced and carried out over the short term, the head of an international
fund playing a central role in fighting AIDS said Wednesday.
"The center today is southern Africa but the center is rapidly moving toward Asia," said Richard Feachem,
executive director of the Geneva-based Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
NTT DoCoMo unit releases customer info without consent
OSAKA - An Osaka unit of NTT DoCoMo Inc. provided its customers' names and addresses to a research company
between 2001 and 2003 without their consent, the company said Wednesday.
NTT DoCoMo Kansai Inc., a unit of Japan's largest mobile phone group, denied any wrongdoing, saying its actions
were permitted under government guidelines.
Japanese hospitalized in H.K. not infected with SARS
HONG KONG - A 29-year-old Japanese man hospitalized in Hong Kong with fever has not contracted severe acute
respiratory syndrome (SARS), local health authorities said Wednesday.
The patient tested negative to the SARS virus, a spokeswoman for the Department of Health said.
After closing to ease crowds, sex exhibition may reopen
BEIJING - Organizers of a sex culture exhibit that closed in Beijing after one day to stop dangerous overcrowding
plan to reopen in two to three months at a venue restricted to experts, a person in charge said Wednesday.
Leaders with the population and family planning commissions of Beijing and one of its districts are talking about how
to reopen the 700-piece Sex Culture Exhibit to professors and intellectuals without drawing outside crowds, said Li
Yanli, promotions department manager with the district association.
[AIW [Asia Africa Intelligence Wire]] |
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