"The U.S. Department of Defense's latest assessment of the Chinese military provided new detail on China's land reclamation efforts on several of the islets that it occupies in the South China Sea. These include Fiery Cross Reef, Gaven Reef, Johnson South Reef, Mischief Reef, and Subi Reef in the Spratly archipelago. By December 2014, the report estimated that China had reclaimed as much as 500 acres of new land, creating full-fledged islands where only coral reefs or sand spits existed before. Since then, China has only accelerated its efforts, expanding the total land area that it has reclaimed to 2,000 acres and building military facilities, ports, and at least one airstrip on the islands."
"THEY live in stilted shacks built on a mud flat above piles of oyster shells, broken glass and rubbish, their nomadic days on the seas of South-east Asia gone forever.
Liya Pramongkit, an elder and midwife of Thailand's largest group of Moken-speaking sea gypsies, saw her people on the small island of Koh Lao dying at the rate of one a week, many of them starving mothers and babies.
"We have lost our traditional way of life as our children no longer hear the stories that have been handed down by our ancestors," Liya says, her deeply lined face showing the hardship the Moken have suffered since they were forced to leave their seafaring lives, where the only things that mattered were the tides, the fish, the storms, the moon and the sea spirits.
"Before, when we lived and died on the sea, life was much better," she says.
Advertisement
More than three decades working in Bangkok's slums did not prepare Catholic priest Joe Maier for what he saw on Koh Lao when he made his first 30-minute boat ride here from the Thai fishing port of Ranong, in South-west Thailand, four years ago.
"The people were literally starving to death, trapped between the modern world and the Moken world," Father Maier says. "I have never seen people as poor.
"The women did not have milk in their breasts to feed their babies and everyone had [intestinal] worms ... there were no traditional values ... it was a matter of basic survival."
For centuries, home for the Moken were hand-built boats called kabang which they plied through the Mergui Archipelago, where 800 islands are scattered along 400 kilometres of the coasts of Burma and Thailand, in the Andaman Sea.
They lived on fish, molluscs, sandworms and oysters, accumulating little and living on land only during the monsoons.
But massively depleted fishing stocks, the declaration of marine reserves and crackdowns on itinerant fishers in Burma forced them off their boats into an uncertain future where they are struggling to survive in a Th
Iceland 'best country for gender equality'
Iceland's government is led by a female prime minister, Johanna Sigurdardottir
Continue reading the main story
Women in the Workplace
Job gap 'narrowing for mothers'
Gender case hits insurance costs
Call for more women on boards
Women find glass ceiling 'intact'
Iceland remains the country that has the greatest equality between men and women, according to an annual report by the World Economic Forum (WEF).
It is the second year in succession that Iceland has topped the foundation's Global Gender Gap Report.
Nordic nations dominate the top of the list of 134 countries, with Norway in second place and Finland third.
The report measures equity in the areas of politics, education, employment and health.
Continue reading the main story
Lowest gender gaps in 2010
1 Iceland - no change from 2009
2 Norway - Up from 3rd
3 Finland - Down from 2nd
4 Sweden - No change
5 New Zealand - No change
6 Republic of Ireland - Up from 8th
7 Denmark - No change
8 Lesotho - Up from 10th
9 Philippines - No change
10 Switzerland - Up from 13th
11 Spain - Up from 17th
12 South Africa - Down from 6th
13 Germany - Down from 12th
14 Belgium - Up from 33rd
15 UK - No change
Source: World Economic Forum
Sweden is in fourth place, with New Zealand fifth.
"Nordic countries continue to lead the way in eliminating gender inequality," said Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum.
"Low gender gaps are directly correlated with high economic competitiveness. Women and girls must be treated equally if a country is to grow and prosper."
The UK came 15th in the latest rankings - no change from 2009.
France was one of the biggest fallers, down to 46th place from 18th in 2009. WEF that said was a result of a decline in the number of women holding ministerial positions in the French government.
Meanwhile the US has risen to 19th place from 31st in 2009, because of a higher number of women in President Obama'
Freer Trade Could Fill the World's Rice Bowl
TWITTER
LINKEDIN
SIGN IN TO E-MAIL OR SAVE THIS
PRINT
REPRINTS
SHARE
By TYLER COWEN
Published: April 27, 2008
RISING food prices mean hunger for millions and also political unrest, as has already been seen in Haiti, Egypt and Ivory Coast. Yes, more expensive energy and bad weather are partly at fault, but the real question is why adjustment hasn't been easier. A big problem is that the world doesn't have enough trade in foodstuffs.
Enlarge This Image
Alanah Torralba/European Pressphoto Agency
Filipino port workers unload sacks of rice imported from Vietnam to be distributed by the National Food Authority.
Related
Times Topics: Rice
Blogrunner: Reactions From Around the Web
Managing Globalization: Can rice Farming Be Laissez-Faire?
The damage that trade restrictions cause is probably most evident in the case of rice. Although rice is the major foodstuff for about half of the world, it is highly protected and regulated. Only about 5 to 7 percent of the world's rice production is traded across borders; that's unusually low for an agricultural commodity.
So when the price goes up - indeed, many varieties of rice have roughly doubled in price since 2007 - this highly segmented market means that the trade in rice doesn't flow to the places of highest demand.
Poor rice yields are not the major problem. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that global rice production increased by 1 percent last year and says that it is expected to increase 1.8 percent this year. That's not impressive, but it shouldn't cause starvation.
The more telling figure is that over the next year, international trade in rice is expected to decline more than 3 percent, when it should be expanding. The decline is attributable mainly to recent restrictions on rice exports in rice-producing countries like India, Indonesia, Vietnam, China, Cambodia and Egypt.
At first glance, this seems understandable, bec