Asia

Two weeks before the start of the Rio+20 Summit Mr. Kazumi Matsui, Mayor of Hiroshima and President of Mayors for Peace has added his signature to the [Rio+20 Appeal](http://www.inesglobal.com/Disarmament-for-Sustainable-Development.phtml) calling on governments to cut military spending in favor of sustainable development.

Political commentator Sai Latt says human rights abuses and violence are committed not only by the state but also by different ethno-religious groups against each other. Racism and racial profiling in the media deserve careful attention, and the transnational nature of fostering ethno-religious intolerance as part of the new dynamic of human rights need to be addressed.

Protesters marched Sunday 10 June (2012) as the first official account of labour activist Li Wangyang’s suspicious hospital death arrived in the territory accompanied by news of statements of local authorities claiming that relatives requested cremation. The spontaneity of the protest march took many locals by surprise and surely much more so the authorities!

Well-known freelance journalist and blogger Ismail “Hilath” Rasheed was stabbed in the neck near his Malé home today and was rushed in a critical condition to the city’s ADK hospital where he underwent an operation and was then placed in an intensive care unit.

Following the World March, when organisers and friends of the Humanist Movement made it to Nepal and that took place from 2009 to 2010, plus, with the start of the building of Nepal’s model of a Parks of Study and Reflection, at Panauti, the influence on this small town is seen at this cultural event where most of the town enjoyed a literary day of poems and partying.

Thousands of people have attended the candle-light vigil in Victoria Park to commemorate those who died during the crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations in Tiananmen Square 23 years ago. Organisers said more than 180,000 people were there, although police put the figure at 85,000. brought to our attention by Pete Spurrier, (from RTHK report).

India had more than one message for China prior to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s 3 day visit to Myanmar, the world’s newest darling of democracy being wooed with ardour by the two Asian giants and the US
From New Delhi went the un-subtle message that prime minister’s visit was actuated by the neighbourly intent of peace and prosperity; and, not by any expansionist design.

Statement issued by People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) May 16, 2012 was an urgent clarification that the peaceful organisation was not party to any bomb threat but sees that allegation as a ploy by the local authorities to stifle further sit-ins and civil disobedience. There were reports in the media that KKNPP received three letters threatening bomb attacks.

The declarations of ‘no fishing’ in the seas around the disputed rocks off the coast of the Philippines by first China, then the Philippines, has wider ramifications and the David and Goliath scenario needs careful judgement, especially by ‘David’! The big picture includes the USA’s strategic encirclement of China. Beware Philippines.

While Japan is to nationalize Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco), the Indian central government is paying off Tamil Nadu State big-wigs for co-operation to reopen Kudankulam nuclear plant. In Europe the 15M movement is gathering forces while the Greek citizenry rethink the bailout. Such undercurrents indicate a groundswell of hitherto unrecognised forces at work – the human factor!